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Nothing frustrates me more than a report of a good bird that reaches me while I am at work or on my way there. And the frustration is magnified all the more when the bird, like the one Thursday morning, is reported from Queens and is also one that I have not yet seen in [...]

When we left our three crazies, Heydi, Doug, and I, we had just finished our morning on the coast and were heading to Forest Park to start working on adding forest species like wood-warblers, vireos, and thrushes to the day list.  Doug had foolishly wisely turned driving duties over to me because of my familiarity [...]

This past Sunday I had made plans with Daisy to take two of our close friends, Kerry and Becky, to see the Great Horned Owls in Alley Pond Park.  Neither Kerry nor Becky are birders (though, if you remember, Kerry is getting there) but the idea of seeing an owl is often enough to get [...]

It is not every day that a Great Blue Heron tolerates one’s presence from just across a small pond.  But then, it is not every Monday afternoon that one finds oneself in a position to test the tolerance of Ardea herodias, no matter how unintentionally.  But, on my vacation day from work and an off [...]

It was shortly after the Red-necked Phalarope that I had to make a pretty major decision. We, being Mike, Carrie, and me, had received word of an amazing array of wood-warblers in Forest Park, and were practically salivating at the idea of our first-ever Kentucky Warbler. Forest Park is only a quick drive north of [...]

Yes, it is time once again for the bad rhymes and horrific meter of a birding adventure described in verse. To set the stage I will say that Charlie flew in last Friday night and had to be back to his hotel to get ready to fly back to England by mid-afternoon on Saturday. This [...]

A beautiful spring day began in Woodside, Queens, with coffee, a shower, a drive to Flushing to drop off Daisy at the library (haha, law-student), and then Hempstead Lake State Park. Warblers! Black-and-white, Northern Parula, Palm, Pine, and tons of Yellow-rumps! The Northern Parula, a brilliant male singing on occasion, foraged high up in the [...]