Rather close to where I live there is an area that least terns return to eachApril-Mayto nest. They are a small shorebird with a wingspan of 22-24 cm long. Their nesting coloniesappear along marine or estuarine shores, and are not dense. The nests arejust smallindentations in the sand. Because of the way they nest, the […]
Birds of India Part I
A recently completed tour of Amazing India was spectacular. My partner Dr. Caesar Sengupta and I worked together to create a series of 3 seminars, and then a workshop tour to the Southern Himalayas. Superb success, so many happy guests, and lots of fun would summarize this experience. The travel was more then interesting, and […]
Birds on Poopy Perches
I bet you are wondering what I mean by “Poopy Perches”, I know I would be if I saw that title. Am I talking about perches that are man-made and ugly? Or perches that are just not all that appealing visually? I am really talking about poopy perches that go by the names manure, dung, […]
Lush Green Spring at Britannia and Mud Lake
We had a good day today at Britannia and Mud Lake. The promised rain kept away all morning, and we had clear skies, although a bit humid. We had several warblers, such as Magnolia, Nashville, Black & White, Black-throated Green, Yellow and Blackpoll Warbler. There were Black-crowned Night Herons everywhere, and we also saw a […]
California condors numbers pass the 400 mark for the first time for 100 years
226 free flying condors May 2012. California condor numbers have crept above 400 for the first time since they teetered on the verge of extinction. There are currently 226 wild flying condors, 125 in California, 80 in Arizona and a small population of 21 in Baja Mexico. Of these birds, 29 fledged in the wild, […]
Fungus among us
More bad news for bats, I’m afraid—the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has confirmed that white-nose syndrome (WNS) has now spread to the endangered gray bat. The fungus, which has devastated large populations of North American bats, was detected in Tennessee gray bats although biologists did not find evidence that it had killed any animals […]
Yellowhead, Mohoua ochrocephala
Yellowhead, Mohoua, Bush Canary Yellowhead warble Mohoua, or Yellowhead One of the most distinctive of our smaller forest species, Yellowhead or Mohoua are one of the 4 species returned to Ulva Island after rats were eradicated. Absent from Stewart Island for many years their numbers have increased slowly on Ulva and we often see them […]
I never lost the faith of a dedicated birder
Ever since those dreamy childhood days when I would lie on my back on a straw rick listening to the chattering and murmuring of a flight swallows as they wheeled and swooped in the yard outside the barns on my fathers farm I have been a birder at heart. Saddened as I am by the […]