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Nassau County, New York, March 2009 After having fully explored the trail around the West Pond at Jamaica Bay, we four bird bloggers agreed to load up Patrick’s car and head over to Jones Beach to see what kind of birds we could find there and some other locations in Nassau County.  Carrie had been [...]

When you spend a lot of time outdoors you get to see strange things happen. Birds are consumate improvisors and they are always open to the demands of the moment. So while they may have regular habits, weird things do occur and the field guide will only help you to a point… the rest is [...]

“There is, perhaps, no better place in the world for birds than this country. Even in the tropics there are few birds that excel some of our own in elegance and beauty of plumage and we have an unusually large number of species considering the smallness of the area they inhabit.” (Woodward brothers, “Natal Birds”, [...]

There’s something about a toucan, isn’t there? Toucans tell you that you aren’t in Kansas anymore. They affirm that the tropics are true, not just myths manufactured to make those of us with winter jealous. Thanks to a childhood steeped in sugary cereal, I’ve always had a soft spot for Toucan Sam and his ilk. [...]

It’s March and most birders over here are eagerly  anticipating the arrival of the first spring migrants from whichever far-flung corner they’ve been wintering. In the meantime one of our earliest migrants and most familiar species is bobbing it’s tail northwards by the thousand. Many of ‘our’ British Pied Wagtails never reach far-flung corners, in [...]

We are currently filming in Botswana. What this land-locked country lacks in endemic birds it more than makes up for in accessibility of tough species, numbers of birds and the overall wildlife experience. I will be writing a series of detailed posts on this magnificent country but wanted to share a few images captured by [...]

Yesterday evening, Sunday evening, I had plans to get to bed, wake up on Monday morning, and go to work. That changed when I got on the computer and learned that a birder way up in northern New York, on the Tug Hill Plateau, had reported a heck of a bird coming to her feeder. Nancy [...]

The Roseate Spoonbill lives up to its name, spectacularly. The bird is, after all, roseate, and, not only that, but it has a big honking circle on the end of its bill that sure looks like a spoon. Platalea ajaja is a marvelous bird and I was delighted to make its acquaintance - for only the second time in [...]

Over much of North America, the Lesser Scaup Aythya affinis is more than just common.  Rather, it could be considered the aythyian background noise against which to discern the other, more appreciated species. But one man’s trash bird is another man’s treasure, and the Lesser Scaup is a species that inspires awe and wonder in a birder’s [...]

This post comes courtesy of Mrs Gannet who became rather taken with the Little Owl when we found him in Mote Park last month. It has recently been sitting proudly outside his hole in a great oak on the lawns in front of the big house and gave me the opportunity for some photos at last. [...]

Marabou Storks are ugly/lovely. They have character. They are unmistakeable. I won’t expend too much energy trying to describe them… I’ll just let the pictures do the heavy lifting this week. Marabou Storks are gigantic. Twelve feet tall at the shoulder! OK it’s more like five feet from head to toe, but they do have [...]

The waterfront of Brooklyn on either side of the Verrazano Bridge is the best place in New York City to see Purple Sandpipers. Every year they winter there on the rocky breakwater mere feet from the path between lower New York Harbor and the Belt Parkway that innumerable joggers, walkers, and bikers use. Of course, [...]

Why would I call these beautiful woodpeckers the “clowns of the avian world?” Besides the facial features of the Acorn Woodpecker (Melanerpes formicivorus) appearing somewhat clown-like, they are a joy to watch and some of their antics are sure to bring a smile to anyone’s face. Both the male and female of the species have [...]

I don’t know what it is, but since I bought Dick Forsman‘s “The Raptors of Europe and Middle East” my interest in buzzards has gone through the roof. In fact it got so bad that when we bought a new car, my only decision criteria was whether it had a full glass panorama roof or [...]

Weird flocks are fun. One does not typically find a Black-crowned Night-Heron mixed in with Rock Pigeons and American Coots. I think the night-heron knows it too.   Thanks for stopping in again birders. Today’s post is as simple as it can be. FLOCKS. You know them and you love them…except when your car gets smeared [...]

Purple Gallinules are awesome. And I am in the enviable position of having a surfeit of images of Porphyrio martinica to share. Such is the burden that a digiscoping bird blogger bears when he visits the Circle B Bar Reserve in Lakeland, Florida in January. Grant McCreary of The Birder’s Library, who shared the experience with [...]

Southern Florida offers many unique wintering birds, but perhaps none more so then the sparrows that call different parts of Florida their winter homes. Tom Dunkerton tipped me off to an area on the Black Merritt National Wildlife Refuge where some of my target birds can be seen. Tom spends most of his daylight hours [...]

There are certain families that I habitually fail to encounter when opportunities arise. I’ve had pretty lousy luck when it comes pittas and broadbills, and I also am really bad when it comes to the various night birds such as owls, nightjars and related species. It isn’t that I never see them, just that I [...]

There really isn’t much to say about the Mottled Duck. It is one of several species in the Mallard-complex of ducks, along with American Black Duck, Mexican Duck, and quite a few others. You find them in the south from Florida to Texas and down into Mexico, occasionally as far north as the Carolinas in [...]

Tanzania has an enormous variety of exquisite birds but unfortunately it has an equal number of distractions that can interrupt your birding experience. Take these pesky Lions for instance. While seeking out tiny brown birds in the drizzle, we came upon this amorous duo and for some reason everyone in the car decided that the [...]