It was just a couple of weeks ago that summer was coming to an end. I was walking through the fields and you could feel the cooler air pushing in the morning fog. It’s usually around the end of September that Great Egrets start showing up at the rookery where the Great Blue Herons left […]
Author: Larry Nichols
Married, I am not a casual weekend birder,-still learning-still making mistakes. I am not a writer or photographer but enjoy blogging about my outdoor adventures. I am currently using a Canon PowerShot SX50 HS camera, Meopta Meostar 8x42 binoculars, and a vortex spotting scope. The Name Brownstone Birding Blog comes from the fact that I in which Portland has been known for its brownstone quarries for many years. Much of the brownstone used for older buildings in New York came from the town of Portland.
From Baby Beggar To Brash Adult Mockingbird
A couple of weeks go I was rushing from place to place on a frantic search for warblers. Now the peak of spring migration has passed and we are entering the nesting season. This past Saturday I was down at the shore intending to look for shorebirds. Instead, I found myself sitting on a tree […]
Birdie Beauty Contest
I took a lot of bird photos over the last week and didn’t know what to do with them so I thought I’d have a bird beauty contest. My favorite for this week was this Cedar Waxwing so I’m giving it first place. I thought these baby Canada Geese were kind of […]
Like Pieces Of A Puzzle Falling From The Sky
For most of the month of April spring migration was moving along gradually as swallows, phoebes, and early warblers started to arrive. While others like Dark-eyed Juncos began heading north. Saturday was a sunny day so I got an early start by checking the area surrounding our local reservoir. The […]
Pictures Don’t Always Tell The Whole Story
It’s hard for me to remember what it was like to go birding without bringing my camera along. I like having a visual record of what I see but there is a lot that happens when I’m birding that I never capture on film. For example, seconds after I saw this American Oystercatcher a jolly […]
The Robin Says Why Am I Not Good Enough?
Most birders I know don’t get all that excited when they see a robin. No one would want gold if it could be found in everyone’s back yard. It is part of human nature that we tend not to appreciate what we have but instead covet what we don’t have. The American Robin is a […]
Past The Old Tobacco Fields In Search Of Birds
I took a walk on Easter morning and passed by some old agricultural fields where I earned my first paycheck picking tobacco leaves in the late 70’s. All that remains of those days are the ghostly remains of old tobacco sheds and distant memories of tar-covered clothes. These days the fields are used for planting […]
Stared Down By A Merlin
I went down to the shoreline this weekend looking for shorebirds but was stopped in my tracks when I came face to face with a Merlin. We stared each other down for at least a minute as we both sat perfectly still. No one was going to come between her and a meal. Not even […]