You are browsing the archives of 2005 May.

10 May 2005
Local time: GMT +4
Approx noon temp: 30C
Weather: Sunny with a few scattered, light clouds
 

 
Just before I left for this trip I got a mail from Steve James, an old mate who now lives in the UAE, saying that there had been a huge “fall” of migrants in the emirates, and that - with [...]

Hillman Marsh, Ontario 18 May 2005
 
Hillman Marsh is the fourth largest marsh in Essex County, and covers 980 acres (400 hectares). A narrow beach separates the marsh from Lake Erie and there are lowland woods, scrub thickets, and successional old fields present on the reserve. Species seldom seen in Ontario but seen at here include [...]

Point Pelee, Ontario 18 May 2005
 
Situated to the east of Detroit and to the south-west of Toronto, Point Pelee, a 10-kilometre sandspit with its southern point equal in latitude to the northern border of California, contains one of Canada’s smallest but most unusual national parks. A thin triangle jutting into Lake Erie at the southernmost [...]

Philadelphia Vireo Vireo philadelphicus
Rondeau, Ontario May 2005.

The Philadelphia Vireo was first discovered (as it’s name suggests) in Philadelphia in the 1940s, but is only a migrant through that area. The vast majority summer in southern Canada and are only migrants through the eastern half of the United States. They are most often found [...]

When the Core Team went birding this past weekend, we weren’t just looking for warblers. Rumor had it that sparrows beyond the typical House and White-throated varieties could be found lurking about Central Park. Like 99.99% of the population, we have trouble distinguishing one little brown job from another, but that doesn’t stop us [...]

Woodchat Shrike Lanius senator
Portland, Dorset May 2005
 
A rare spring and autumn migrant on Portland, there have been just over 50 previous records - the majority in May, though there have been records as early as March.

This bird was aged as a first-summer male because of the slight scaling on the flanks, retained (and worn) flight [...]

The world is surely an odd place. Every day is thick with tales of woe and madness, a glut of spin and sin that ultimately jades even the most inquisitive soul. How else can one explain how the mystery of the exploding toads failed to make the front page of every newspaper. I mean, toads [...]

African Stonechat Saxicola torquata
South Africa 2003/2004.
 

Male, 14 October, Nr Johannesburg.

Male, 14 October, Nr Johannesburg.

Male, 14 October, Nr Johannesburg.

Female, 14 October, Nr Johannesburg.

Female, 14 October, Nr Johannesburg.

20 May, Nr Johannesburg.

20 May, Nr Johannesburg.

 
All photographs © Charlie Moores
 

Spring migration has hit NYC hard, like a horde of bloodthirsty barbarians rampaging across the boroughs, except that the barbarians are actually exquisite songbirds that are thirsty for insects and seeds rather than blood. Yes, that metaphor is extremely awkward but my original one, a bird bomb exploding in Manhattan, seemed in poor taste. Suffice [...]