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Showdown In Arroyo Grande: The Search For The Ivory Gull

By January 24, 2012 6 comments

Today I shall weave a tale of dispair. A tale of jealousy. Of hopelessness. Of anger, fear, aggressioon….the dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your…..ahem. Let me start from the beginning. It was the year 2010. One Seagull Steve was living in San Francisco, on a [...]

Rufous Hummingbirds – The Accidental Tourists

By December 23, 2011 No comments yet

Any hummingbird in December in stoney Manhattan is a remarkable sight — after all, hummingbirds are such tropical-looking birds… Wait. What does that even mean, tropical-looking? Why are these traits — small, quick, vivdly-colored and gleamingly metallic — associated with warm, lush climes? In part because of hummingbirds in the first place. For native people, [...]

Hoopoe

By November 13, 2011 14 comments

Hoopoe Upupa Epops With a name like that you would just want to see this bird! It sounds good and it looks good….even a non-birder would be impressed! We saw these birds in Egypt in 1994 and they were just great and Grant saw 5 in Busan, South Korea a few weeks ago, just after [...]

State firsts I have known (and one I haven’t)

By October 4, 2011 4 comments

There was a time, a few years back, when I had some really good luck getting on a run of first state records for North Carolina.  There’s no denying the adrenaline pumping, heart pounding excitement that comes with the announcement – be it phone, or email, or text – of something that has never been [...]