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The Jodrey State Fish Pier at Gloucester Harbor is one of my favorite places to bird in winter.  Visiting the pier each of the last three winters before, during, and after the Superbowl of Birding has been a great pleasure and the views I have had of a variety of species have been breathtaking.  If [...]

This past Saturday the Bloggerhead Kingbirds once again, for the third consecutive year, participated in the Superbowl of Birding.  Our third attempt netted us more species and points than ever before but we finished out of the money, with not a single award being won by our team.  None of us even managed to win [...]

This morning, after we Bloggerhead Kingbirds competed at the Superbowl of Birding all day Saturday (more on that later), we made our way to the Gloucester fishing pier (in Essex County, Massachusetts) and into a gull-conundrum.  You see, a couple of other birders, Tim and Brian, had a gull and it wasn’t just any gull. [...]

It is January and the deep freeze has locked New England in the clutches of snow and ice.  Half-hearties are perishing, winter finches are flocking, and alcids await just offshore.  Yes, it is time.  Time for that most marvelous and mad of birding events, the Superbowl of Birding. Once again, just like in 2009 and [...]

The International Birder of Mystery is on the case. He strikes quickly and silently. You won’t even know he is there until a post appears. Here is the first. Agent; Redgannet Mission; Capture Autumn Colours Theatre of Operations; Boston, Mass.  I had been specially selected for this operation. “Redgannet? We need you.” (See?). The call [...]

Wow – my first post as a “beat writer” on 10,000 Birds.  It’s kind of a cool and hip feeling – like getting to hang out with the cool kids all of a sudden. So, why would a cool, well-known, often-read, highly regarded blog need a beat writer for New England you ask? (OK, so [...]

You may remember that back in January I rejoined the Bloggerhead Kingbirds and competed in my second Superbowl of Birding.  You may also, if you have an absurdly good memory, remember that the day before the competition we tried to chase down some good birds.  What you are most likely not at all aware of [...]

Though most people probably have only heard of eiders in relation to eiderdown pillows, the Common Eider is a bird well worth getting to know for more than its warm, insulating feathers.  Somateria mollissima is a seaduck that breeds colonially in the far north across North America, Europe, and Siberia (it is in the far [...]

With many, many, many apologies to Wallace Stevens, who does not deserve what I am about to do to his most famous poem, here is my take on the Superbowl of birding, which has been covered almost exhaustively already by my teammates on the Bloggerhead Kingbirds, Andrew, John, Christopher, Mike, and Nate.  So, without further ado, [...]

Yes, the Superbowl of Birding was an absolute blast and I will be recounting in exquisite detail the day the Bloggerhead Kingbirds had in a future post, but for the moment it will be enough (I hope) to recount our day before the Superbowl of Birding, that is, this past Friday, 29 January.  After all, [...]

On both the day of and the day after the Superbowl of Birding I was amazed at how the ducks, loons, and gulls (way maybe not so much with the gulls) were willing to go about their lives so close to people.  Some of the shots I got digiscoping with my Swarovski equipment have already [...]

When we spotted White-winged Crossbills during the Superbowl of Birding we were hardly able to stop and appreciate them.  We were, after all, in the midst of an hours-long competition to see as many species as possible, and as prime a species as White-winged Crossbills are we simply couldn’t give them any time (we similarly [...]

On the next to last weekend in January, when the cold wind is blowing snow and ice and there is nothing I’d rather be doing than reading a book while curled up on my couch under a blanket and a cat or two , I’ll be birding.  Not only will I be birding, but I’ll [...]

Just like so many of you, we love an avian identification challenge. Thanks to the 10,000 Birds Clinic, we certainly get our share. The beauty of this arrangement is that even when the three of us are stumped, we have a veritable birding brain trust to turn to. That’s where you come in! Wendy from [...]

After having a blast touring the Swarovski headquarters and trying my hand at digiscoping last Thursday, we bird bloggers visiting New England for the Swarovski bird blogging summit headed to the beach on Friday.  No, we weren’t going to improve our suntans and our swimming strokes: we were going for the birds!  And we had high [...]