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Though it is largely limited to the northeastern United States and eastern Canada, Ron Pittaway’s yearly winter finch forecast is always eagerly anticipated by birders with thoughts of Evening Grosbeaks, Pine Siskins, and Red Crossbills in their heads.  Want to know what’s in store for the winter of 2011-2012?  Check out the Winter Finch Forecast [...]

It was no longer early morning as I walked back to my apartment from campus, but in Missoula right now it’s hard to tell the difference. It takes until long after the official hour of ‘sunrise’ for the actual sun to stagger over the horizon, and the days are mostly overcast. With students leaving in [...]

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 [...]

Daisy and I spent this weekend in Saugerties visiting my folks, and, as is only to expected when we spend a weekend upstate, especially when it is the weekend of the Great Backyard Bird Count, I spent quite a bit of time watching the feeders and photographing the birds that showed up for free food.  [...]

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 [...]

The first day of winter, I’ve learned, carries a lot more significance when one lives in a place that experiences a real winter. By real, of course, I mean a frigid, intemperate, icy season accompanied by snowfalls measured not in inches but in feet. Welcome to my winter in western New York! Since I was [...]

In recounting my Rochester Snowy Owl encounter last week, I mentioned my new birding buddy, Laura Kammermeier.  Bill of the Birds made our mutual acquaintance but in spite of our efforts, we hadn’t actually found the opportunity to go birding together. Fortunately, we found time to make a run at the waves of White-winged Crossbills [...]

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 by [...]

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 of Malone [...]

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 me in [...]

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 [...]

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 like [...]

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 Common [...]

Daisy and I took advantage of her spring break and one of my precious vacation days to spend the day birding in the Adirondacks. Normally students on spring break wear sunglasses to protect their eyes from the bright tropical sun in some place like Cancun. Not Daisy. She wore sunglasses to protect herself from going [...]

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 the amateur ornithologist [...]