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Way back on 30 October of last year a Lewis’s Woodpecker was seen coming to a backyard bird feeder in Ontario County, New York, and was quickly identified.  Why is that awesome?  Well, first of all, Lewis’s Woodpecker is one of the most amazing woodpeckers in North America, with a color scheme of pink, red, [...]

Birding at the eastern end of Long Island in the depths of winter, especially a winter like we have had in New York this winter, is not for the faint of heart.  When you get out to Montauk Point at the eastern tip of the south fork of the island water surrounds you on three [...]

Back in 2007 when I was doing my New York State big year I dipped on a Tufted Duck way up in the northeasternmost part of the state when Jory, Will, and I couldn’t find the bird on Lake Champlain.  Perhaps the same Tufted Duck was on Lake Champlain again last winter but with a [...]

Pretty much the last thing I expected to do today was see a first state record of a wood-warbler.  You see, tomorrow I am going to North Carolina for several days and had set aside today as a non-birding day (a strategy which, of late, hasn’t worked out too well).  Then we found out that [...]

Though Jones Beach State Park on the south shore of Long Island is rightfully famous for its beaches there is far more than the junction of sand and salt water to entice visitors from Long Island, New York City, and further afield.  Fishermen ply their craft on both the bay side of the state park [...]

It is not every day that you get a phone call alerting you to a bird in your state that has never been in your state before.  But today just that happened when I received a phone call from Jean, a fellow Queens birder, about a Common Ground-Dove being seen well at Captree State Park [...]

On Tuesday morning, after being a New York-based birder for five years and several months, I finally saw a Yellow-breasted Chat in New York State.*  It was the 353rd bird checked off my New York State checklist and one of the few regularly occurring and expected birds left for me to see in the Empire [...]

As if Cory’s Shearwaters, a Brown Pelican, and Royal Terns weren’t enough, Seth, Dave, Bobby and I made our way out onto the mudflats at Cupsogue Beach County Park as soon as the tide had receded enough to let us cross the deepest water without soaking our optics.  This is a different strategy then I [...]

On Saturday, for the second weekend in a row, my plan to get on a boat and search for seabirds off the tip of Montauk fell through.  Last week’s villain was a flat tire and this week the problem was a predicted lack of visibility at sea, a product of too much heat and humidity.  [...]

After our successful search for Upland Sandpiper and a quick visit to the Shawangunk Grasslands for Eastern Meadowlarks, we three birders, Seth, Stella, and I, were off to Orange County, New York, to see about some recently reported rarities.  More specifically, we were off to the “black dirt” section of Orange County, an area known [...]

This will be the last post using material from the pelagic trip I took over a week ago, but I think I might have saved the best for last.  Northern Gannets Morus bassanus are an amazing bird to watch, especially from a boat where one can see them up close in their element.  On the [...]

In the words of the A-Team’s indomitable leader, Hannibal, I love it when a plan comes together. I also love it when new birders come together. It all came together for me this past weekend, at least in terms of birding. The plan was first set in motion, though I didn’t know it at the [...]

Though it may sound like Dick Cheney’s fondest dream – putting fifty-plus fanatics on a boat for eight hours in the Atlantic Ocean in the middle of winter with a storm coming – in this case it was not torture.  In fact, this specific group of fifty-plus fanatics not only wanted to be on a [...]

The first day of November was absolutely glorious in Rochester, a bright balmy Sunday that stood in marked contrast to the bluster and gloom with which October closed. The conditions appeared ideal for Seth and me to hit a variety of regional birding hotspots, starting with Lake Ontario. The pier at Charlotte offers a nice [...]

Was it Samuel Taylor Coleridge who famously wrote, “Birds, birds everywhere but not a one worth a @#*$” or was it just me? I’m sure plenty of birders know what I’m talking about… the summer doldrums. Despite the patently obvious fact that birding can be somewhat boring when one is confined to resident breeders, Seth [...]

It’s been eight days since my trip on Friday, 3 July, to upstate New York to see the Mississippi Kite and I still haven’t told the full tale of the trip.  That will now be rectified with apologies for the two of you who have been sitting on the edge of your seat constantly hitting [...]

Just yesterday, 3 July, I headed north out of the city by bus, met up with more birders in New Paltz, and continued all the way up to the town of Root in Montgomery County, New York, all in order to see my first-ever Mississippi Kite (Ictinia mississippiensis).  Present at the location, at the intersection [...]

Shai Mitra is a birder-extraordinaire, a wonderfully patient teacher, a member of the New York State Avian Records Committee, and editor of The Kingbird, the peer-reviewed publication of the New York State Ornithological Association.  He was also nice enough to give directions to good birds in Suffolk County when a pair of bird bloggers headed [...]

A million colors come with spring but one particular shade of blue bedevils the imaginations of northeastern American birders this time of year: cerulean. Actually, this lovely hue only matters when it adorns the plumage of the dynamic Dendroica cerulea, better known as the Cerulean Warbler. Seth and I have both seen ceruleans before but, [...]

I have been fortunate over the last week in that my folks let me borrow their car, which means I’ve had transportation for which I get to devise schedules and routes for the first time in the over-a-year I’ve lived in New York City.  What does this have to do with anything?  Well, by virtue [...]