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Sometimes a person should keep his fool mouth shut. Before the weekend began, I opined about how October felt like a real fall month as compared to the capricious climate swings of September. Then the freezing rain began! So much for my weekend… Unless you like House Sparrows more than I do, you won’t be [...]

Fall has officially fallen around here, yet somehow we’ve gotten off to an uplifting start. Finally getting out to look at some birds at the start of the season may just herald an auspicious autumn! I got out to the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory banding station to observe some masters at work. The catch of [...]

How was your weekend? North of the equator, we have precious few remaining days where light exceeds darkness. The encroaching darkness instills in me a measure of gloom, but also creates the conditions that make fall activities interesting. Remember, I’m writing to you from a fairly northern latitude, though Clare probably thinks I’m spoiled! My [...]

How was your weekend? Mine was fun and footballtastic. In fact, a game is on even as I write this, which means I’ve got no time for idle banter. The best birds of my weekend were Seahawks, Eagles, Falcons, Cardinals, And Ravens. Am I the only one here excited about the return of NFL football? Corey [...]

Did you enjoy your summer? The Autumnal Equinox may still be a few weeks away, but make no mistake: summer is over. Time to pack up your white shoes and pick up those school supplies! Fall surely has much to recommend it like migrating birds and mulled cider, but today we in the Northern Hemisphere [...]

If you live anywhere along the Mid-Atlantic Coast up to Maine, you’re probably happy that the weekend is over for a change. Hurricane Irene really delivered the pain to so many coastal cities and communities. But as Irene taketh with one 500 mile wide hand, she giveth with the other… assuming you’re a birdwatcher. To [...]

Summer thankfully persists in the Northern Hemisphere, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the birding remains dull. Shorebirds are on the march and, all too soon, songbirds will be as well. But probably not too soon, right? I didn’t run into anything unusual this weekend, so my best birds of the weekend were probably the Barn [...]

Have you used August as an excuse or incentive to travel? I highly recommend it, but then again I always advocate travel, no matter the month! Would you believe my best bird of the weekend was a Screaming Piha? Believe it, and in the ABA area no less. I took my kids on a fun [...]

If you love to learn new things, nature will never let you down. Let’s take crows for instance. Far too many Americans live in ignorance of the fact that these United States are home to more than one crow species. Certainly, anyone reading this post knows all about Fish Crows, especially since Nate wrote about [...]

Have I mentioned recently that summer is my favorite season? For me, nothing beats a hot, sunny summer, though you wouldn’t know it based on where I live. But this year has been different: days and days of high temps and bright sun. Those of you not living across a Great Lake from Canada may [...]

Yow! If your weekend was as hot as mine, you’re undoubtedly dragging your weary carcass into this new week. I don’t know what your excuse is, but I spend the weekend under a surprisingly intense sun reveling with a merry mob of friends and family. Yes, details will follow and yes, there were birds. I’ve [...]

Perfect weeks like the hot (but not too hot) one we’ve just enjoyed here in western New York remind me how good summer is for so many things other than birding. In terms of bird watching though, ’tis not the season to be jolly unless you’re either utterly devoted to your local resident  species or on [...]

Holiday weekends rank among my very favorite things, but they can be somewhat problematic. At what point, for example, is it proper to ask one about one’s weekend? Usually I ask about your weekend on Monday, since we all agree that Saturday and Sunday comprise the standard weekend. But Monday, technically a weekday, absorbs the [...]

After the annual series of false starts  – end of spring migration, first scorcher of the season, etc. — the longest day of the year has come and gone, leaving true summer in its golden wake. At least that’s the story on this side of the equator. You may be battening down for imminent winter storms, but [...]

Happy Day-After-Father’s-Day! I hope you enjoyed that day as much as I did. We got out a lot this weekend, yet my best bird of the weekend was right in my backyard: the kids and I encountered a juvenile Blue Jay in the care of what we assume to be its parents. Cute! However, my [...]

Our annual ration of glorious June weekends is now half-spent. Did you make the most of yours? A number of lovely midsummer birds crossed my path this weekend, but the one that elicited the most delight was an Eastern Bluebird keeping pace with our car as we visited Hamlin Beach State Park up on the [...]

Ah, what is so rare as a day in June? One could argue that weekend days in June are even more rare and precious, assuming you spend them wisely. Did you make the most of this one? Corey carved time out of his complicated schedule to bird Central Park with Nate. The birding gods rewarded them [...]

Is May over already? I feel like we’ve waited all year for this mighty migratory month and how it’s nearly gone. Good thing those of us north of the equator have plenty of shiny summer days ahead! I just enjoyed a lightning strike visit to NYC for family and fun, then endured the trip back [...]

What a weekend. My daughter’s birthday week (yes, we celebrate full weeks and more in my household) began with a bang and a rainbow cake, followed by some heinous plumbing problems. My house still smells like sulfuric acid, which came from the plumbing problem, not the cake! Fortunately, I didn’t have to go far to [...]

Wood-Warbler Week has drawn to a close here on 10,000 Birds, yet all around the world the warbler watching remains hot and heavy. Why is it, then, that I had such a tough time finding one this weekend? Ivy and I visited a new hiking trail in hopes of decent birding, but got completely skunked [...]