You are browsing the archives of 2007 May.

the 80th edition of the premier science carnival can be found at Geek Counterpoint.

When I ended part one our intrepid team of bird-seekers was still at Black Creek Marsh and the sun had just risen.
Flycatchers were calling and we spent more time than we should have identifying both Willow and Alder Flycatchers. They look almost exactly alike so we told them apart by their calls: in fact, [...]

Identity theft occurs with astonishing regularity in the avian world where all too often, species share so many overlapping traits as to appear virtually indistinguishable. Empidonax flycatchers are an excellent example of this phenomenon in North America, as are scaup. More esoteric, but no more simplistic, is the difference between Gray-cheeked and Bicknell’s [...]

I returned to the robins’ nest I posted about last week on Monday afternoon to see that the four baby robins are growing amazingly fast! They have to grow fast, as they will leave the nest about two weeks after hatching. The nestlings here are about six days old.

They also have to [...]

This past Saturday was the Hudson Mohawk Bird Club’s Century Run, the annual event when teams of birders try to find as many birds as they possibly can in a single day. Some teams choose to focus on a single park, some a single county, some, like the team I was on, choose the [...]

Find 34 mouth-watering ideas in the newest Carnival of the Recipes hosted at Pancake Recipes (guess what the theme is!)

I can’t speak to other parts of the world but if you live in the northeastern United States, every moment of May birding matters. Lightning can strike at any time. Case in point, I’ve only been able to muster about 30 minutes of bird watching in the last week, yet I still pulled a lifer.
The [...]

While visiting my grandmother today I took some time to investigate what bugs were hanging out on her lilac bushes. There were lots of cool bugs, but nothing could top this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.

It was such a gorgeous specimen that I followed it when it flew to the other lilac bush!

A day with the [...]

I see you, heh, on down on the scene.
I spotted a fox on the side of the road.

Foxy
You make me wanna get up and scream.
I nailed the brakes and put the car in reverse.

Foxy
Ah, baby listen now,
I rolled down the window and when she seemed hesitant, I talked in soothing tones.

I’ve [...]

A Photo-Gallery from this year’s spring migration in Malta
 

How Malta’s hunters prefer their Turtle Doves
 

A Bee-eater - left to die and found by school-children…
 

A Greenshank…mistaken by a Maltese hunter for a Turtle Dove perhaps…
 

One of Europe’s rarest raptors, Pallid Harrier, becomes even rarer…
 

Another protected raptor, a Marsh Harrier, that tried to [...]