Loads of toursits visit the Statue of Liberty when they come to New York City for the first time. Few of them realize that Liberty State Park, located smack-dab on the Hudson River amidst the crush of humanity in Jersey City, is a local birding hotspot. With a mix of large open fields, marshland, a pine grove, [...]
Entries from February 2009
February 27, 2009
Skywatch-Great Horned Owl
Screeeeeeech! Crunch, crunch, crunch. (The sound of squealing brakes and gravel under the tires as we pulled off the road.)
I don’t often see owls and only twice in my life have I seen them just hanging around on the side of the road. The first time was in Utah at dusk and this time I [...]
February 25, 2009
Not all Red Birds are Cardinals
Cardinals were everywhere at Brazos Bend State Park . I was seeing 10-15 at a time. They were in the shrubs, trees, bushes and on the ground. I’m tellin’ you there must have been a flock of 70 birds there. Often I would see movement, only to swing up my bins to see yet another [...]
February 23, 2009
Bird Photography Weekly – Least Grebe
Meet Life Bird #612. This is one of the Least Grebes that was hanging around the San Bernard National Wildlife Refuge. I saw it on the auto loop around Moccasin Pond. Look at that orange eye.
February 22, 2009
Bittern Mantra
Ohmmmm. I am one with the reed.
Ohmmmm. I am one with the reed.
Ohmmmm, I am one with the reed.
Seriously. What are you looking at? I know you can’t see me. You got some sort of reed envy thing going on?
You too can be one with the reed.
Ohmmmmm. WE are one with the reed.
February 21, 2009
New Technology for the Traveling Birder
I have to tell you about this wickedly cool thing I saw at the conference. I went to a roundtable on photography and web 2.0. You know I use a lot of photos on my blog so if there is anything that can make that easier for me I want to know about it. I saw a [...]
February 19, 2009
Bird Photography Weekly
Look at that tail! Let’s see–at the beach, in Texas, long wonky tail, must be a Boat-tailed Grackle. I can usually tell the difference between the Boat-tailed and Great-tailed Grackle not by size, and the tail of a Great-tailed Grackle is a crazy thing to behold, but by voice and habitat. The Boat-tailed Grackle is [...]
February 18, 2009
Birding San Bernard NWR
Do you read Birding on the Net regional lists before you travel? I do. A few weeks before the trip I started to see reports on TexBirds of a Least Grebe at San Bernard NWR. Although I had seen this bird in Costa Rica, I did not have it on my North American list. Since I was still [...]
February 17, 2009
Birding Sam Houston National Forest
Years ago I met some birders at King Ranch who were extending their Texas trip to drive north and try to see the endangered Red-cockaded Woodpeckers. Up to that point, I thought they were over in the Carolinas and other southern states; apparently I had never really studied their distribution map. However, as soon as I [...]
February 15, 2009
Downy Woodpecker
Have you ever seen this before? Look at those 2, count them, 2, red patches. When I first saw him, I thought maybe he was something else, but no, look at that small bill. He is definitely a Downy; but a bird with a different sense of style. If one red patch is good then [...]
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