You are browsing the archives of 2003 September.

Our one scheduled excursion for our California mini-vacation was a trip to Joshua Tree National Park. Both of us have visited this phenomenal park, but we’d never been there together. So, we packed lots of water and drove 140 miles inland to the desert.

Joshua Tree in its glory
One great feature of the California ecology is [...]

Once our ceremonial duties at Jay and April’s wedding were concluded, it was time to move south to visit old friends in Orange County. We wished the happy couple the best of luck and took off. But first, we had to go back to Sepulveda Basin! We saw all of the birds [...]

The Core Team was in the air at 7:15 AM Eastern and in Los Angeles by 10:15 AM Pacific Standard Time.  We were in for a long day.  Since I was the best man in our good friend Jason’s wedding, we had no choice but to hit the ground running.  During our whirlwind tour of [...]

One British reviewer said of our site that “It’s written more stylishly that (sic) your average anorak’s blog.”  That’s nice and all, but what is an anorak?
That’s easy, say the fashion-inclined out there.  An anorak is a jacket, or more specifically a heavy, waterproof jacket with a hood.  Lots of birders wear anoraks when pursuing [...]

While doing some site research yesterday, I discovered not one, but two brief reviews of our site.  Those of you unacquainted with the Core Team should know that I am the narcissistic one (hence, the googling of my own URL!)  I mention this only so that you understand the great sense of pride that came [...]

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology is a membership institution whose mission is to interpret and conserve the earth’s biological diversity through research, education, and citizen science focused on birds. A serious scientific institution, their research projects explore the causes and consequences of variation in the distribution, abundance, and survival success of birds. The lab is [...]

After a week of inaction, the Core Team finally made it out into the field. My dearest aunt Janet invited us to a “Birding and Breakfast” event through the beautiful orchard and gardens of Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson, NY. The combination of an expert-guided bird walk and a hearty 18th century-style breakfast proved irresistible.
Our [...]

The birding family tree bears many twisted branches from feederwatchers to world birders. Yet, few are considered as twisted as the slavering hordes of ‘listers’ and ‘twitchers’. As a card-carrying member, I should know. You probably already know that a lister is a birder who keeps track of birds spotted through the use of checklists [...]

Some people believe that nothing worth having comes easily.  These contrary individuals are undoubtedly birders at heart.  Many bird watchers, especially members of the lister and twitcher branches of the birding community, place a value on their bird sightings in direct proportion to the number of obstacles they needed to overcome to spot said birds.
Virtually [...]

Summer isn’t even over yet and I’m already thinking about our next trip abroad. Maybe you are too. If so, you must consider Central America. Not only is the natural beauty spectacular and the Maya ruins fascinating, but Central America is a birding paradise. During our week in Belize this past [...]