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Some sites simply must be sought out by North American birders, at least those of us in the East Coast set. Cape May, for example, is one of those hotbeds of avian excitement, a vortex of auspicious energy that seems to beckon birds and bird watchers alike. The celebrated Cornell Lab of Ornithology, wellspring of [...]

As always when I am in the car, while Daisy and I drove to my folks’ house in Saugerties, NY, to join family for the Christmas holiday, I paid careful attention to any and all bird life I could see. I did not, however, expect to have yet another encounter with what is now [...]

What better way to spend Christmas Eve than driving so far north in New York State that you are actually north of the Adirondacks (to look for birds, of course)? Nothing! So when Daisy dragged me out of my warm bed before sunrise this morning, insisting we head way up to the town [...]

This year, for the second year in a row, Sector C of the Saratoga Christmas Bird Count was mine. Last year, Will, Tom, Bruce and I managed to track down 39 species but none of them were spectacular (though our four Red-winged Blackbirds set a new count high). This year, only Will joined [...]

are erupting from the far north in serious numbers. Matt Medler of the Boreal Songbird Initiative has the details on eBird.

I was in Plattsburgh, NY, for work, minding my own business and walking across SUNY-Plattsburgh’s campus. Bird calls, familiar bird calls: Pine Grosbeaks. Of course, I had my camera with me, as they had recently been reported there on a local listserv and, hey, you have to be prepared to see Pine Grosbeaks!

messy eater
It feels [...]

After my last adventure in the high hills of western Albany County I got an email from Christine, the birder who found my year Lark Sparrow, asking if I might be willing to try to show some Pine Grosbeaks to her over Thanksgiving weekend. Of course I was game, not only because I felt [...]

This is a big year for winter finches! Already John of A DC Birding Blog has summarized Ron Pittaway’s Winter Finch Forecast for 2007-2008 and Nicholas of Biological Ramblings has posted on the Invasion of Winter Finches, to say nothing of the Backyard Finches Drew of The Nemesis Bird has spotted or the irruptive [...]

The Adirondack Mountains have long fascinated me. There are some seriously deep woods up there where bears roam and people are scarce. Winters are harsh with below zero temperatures the norm rather than the exception and snow that may not melt until May. This winter is even more interesting than most for [...]