So, I have now been living in the Alps for about 4 years. And I cannot claim that it was easy at first. I grew up in South Africa where my garden list was over 200. I then lived in Central America where there were more bird species than my bird books (and my competence) [...]

There is a very distinctive smell found on seabird colonies, where thousands upon thousands of birds come to breed and, coincidentally, deposit large quantities of waste. It is a smell, however, that I am barely able to smell anymore, as three years of working breeding seasons on seabird islands of the Farallones in California have [...]

  or, How bird poop can get you a degree in Homeopathy. As a teenager, my uncle bought me a t-shirt with a bird poop ID system printed on the front. 20 bird poop splats and their respective names. Essentially a quick-guide to bird poop identification. Amazing what you find at flea markets. Anyhow, whenever [...]

The quote “What Is So Rare As A Day In June?” may be familiar to most readers (the sentiment certainly is!) but its source is fairly obscure. This line is but a snippet from the most famous work of the poet James Russell Lowell (1819-1891), a member of the gaggle of authors sometimes called the [...]

That is, if you celebrate Easter.  Personally, I don’t believe in all of the religious stuff that goes with it but I sure do like chocolate bunnies and looking for Easter eggs, so, you know, I’ll hang out with the Easter Bunnadee, a distant relation of the Bunny Tanager.  Thanks to Steph for making this [...]

I often find myself searching my memory as far back as I can go for the spark that started me birding. I know where and when I started being a birder, that bit is easy. A warm summer morning in the late eighties, a fretful baby waiting for a hernia operation and a long calming [...]

Last Sunday marked the end of an era in New Zealand with the sad passing of the conservationist and ornithologist and all round inspiration Don Merton. His career began just before the extinctions and translocations at Big South Cape Island, when I have previously mentioned the modern age of conservation in New Zealand began, and [...]

Because of my job I have, of late, been spending lots of time in southern New Jersey.  Of course I have not been spending time in the southernmost part of New Jersey because, as  a birder, I could never be lucky enough to have to work in Cape May.  No, I get to be in [...]

The Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892) is well-known for his efforts as a writer, editor, legislator, and abolitionist. Countless towns, schools, and natural formations are named for him, including Whittier Glacier in Alaska and, by extension, its tiny neighboring town, a gateway to Prince William Sound that I’ve had the profound pleasure of visiting. John [...]

Every child who has ever seen a cartoon featuring Wile E Coyote and Road Runner has to have wondered if poor Wile E ever had a fair shot at catching the Road Runner.  According to Mark Lockwood’s Basic Texas Birds: A Field Guide, with or without Wile. E. Coyote chasing it, a Greater Roadrunner can [...]

On Magical Mystery Tour, The Beatles’ famous 1967 album,  there is an odd song called “Blue Jay Way” which was written by George Harrison while he waited for Derek Taylor, who got lost trying to meet Harrison in the hills above Los Angeles on a foggy night.  The song is called “Blue Jay Way” because that [...]

There is really nothing to say about this other than, um, wow? Don’t forget that if you want to be able to identify the Angry Birds we have you covered. That is all.  Enjoy. Hat-tip to Arvind Says.

In the final version of Walt Whitman’s famed poetry collection Leaves of Grass – the “Deathbed Edition” - there is a poem dedicated to the Magnificent Frigatebird, or, as Whitman knew it, the Man-of-War-Bird.  ”To the Man-of-War-Bird” was actually first published nearly a quarter-century earlier in the British literary paper, The Athenaeum, and was reprinted in 1878 as ”Thou Who Hast [...]

Ravens fascinate people.  Their obvious intelligence, their vocalizations, their roles in the mythologies of multiple cultures, their all-black plumage, their cachet, their just plain coolness.  And a good part of what makes ravens cool to the English speaking world is Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Raven.”  Anyone who has ever heard “The Raven” read aloud remembers [...]

Swallows are a sure sign of spring the world over. The famous swallows of San Juan Capistrano are Cliff Swallows, but for me, Tree Swallows signal both the end of winter in March and its new beginning around October.  Johann Wolfgang von Goethe poem clearly perceived the connection between swallows and spring, which he memorialized in a poem [...]

John Burroughs should be as well known as Henry David Thoreau.  He was one of the preeminent naturalists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, a contemporary and friend of Walt Whitman, a companion of President Theodore Roosevelt, and a distinguished writer and conservationist.  His nature essays are a joy to read, especially for [...]

Yet again, despite my best efforts, I’ve been sucked into the insatiable vortex of popular culture. Then again, how long could I resist an addiction that encompasses three of my favorite things, namely birds, video games, and my Droid? Perhaps you’ve heard of this game Angry Birds… The survival of the Angry Birds is at [...]

In New York City temperatures have reached into the fifties on the Fahrenheit scale today and they are predicted to do the same again tomorrow.  Spring is, of course, more than just one warm spell but as of today we are getting a full hour and twenty-nine minutes more daylight then we did on the winter solstice [...]

The ground is my friend. For someone who spends so much of his time in the air, the feeling of a secure surface comforts me as a mother’s hug soothes a child. Since becoming an adult I have maintained a respectable distance between me and the ground as befits a grown-up conforming to public dignity, [...]

Whilst we are on holiday in Tasmania I thought I would take the opportunity in sharing with you some of the great road signs we saw on our last trip there two years ago. There is quite a large Pied Oystercatcher breeding territory to the south of Hobart and studies were done on these birds [...]