For most of my life, I didn’t pay attention to birds. Only in my 40s did I become a person whose heart lifts whenever he hears a grosbeak singing or a towhee calling, and who hurries out to see a golden plover that’s been reported in the neighbourhood, just because it’s a beautiful bird, with […]
Majestic as they are, bald eagles can lead surprisingly scrappy lives. In addition to aerial battles waged over territory, the birds sometimes wield their sharp talons while tussling over a bite of fish. Photographer Christian Sasse recently captured an eagle altercation in slow motion in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, part of the Aleutian Islands. The video […]
Well, this is not actually a post about birding by the sea, but birding by the Long Island Sound at Hammonasset Beach State Park. Images in this post are from a trip to Hammonasset in mid-January when I met world eBirders Julie Hart and Daniel Schlaepfer with four additional visits in February. Julie was kind […]
The death of a bald eagle—a national symbol—in the U.S. capital has stirred a wider debate about potential impacts of lead bullets and other sources of harmful metals in the environment, especially given a recent ruling by the federal government. When veterinarians in Washington, D.C., took in a bald eagle on Tuesday, it was already […]
Most people know Prince Edward Island (PEI) for Anne of Green Gables, red soil and potatoes. I can confirm that all of these things exist on the island (especially the potatoes, they are everywhere!), but it was the Prince Edward Island birding that really excited me. In August there are shorebirds galore, mixed warbler flocks, […]
Taking a bath can be one of the more relaxing things in life – even for bald eagles. Pausing briefly to give us a curious look, the eagle dipped its head into the cool water and fluffed out its feathers, sending droplets in all directions. Birds of all sizes seem to enjoy time in the […]
“Every day I said ‘I wouldn’t count on him being there tomorrow!’ But it’s been six weeks and he’s still adapting,” said David Hancock, an eagle biologist who started the Hancock Wildlife Foundation. Since early June, Hancock has been monitoring a red-tailed hawklet that seems to be, despite all odds, surviving in a nest full […]
In the wild, bald eagles and red-tailed hawks are natural-born enemies, frequently fighting each other to the death – with larger bald eagles typically winning those bloody battles. That’s why it’s so amazing that instead of serving her offspring a 4-week-old red-tailed hawk she may have snatched, a bald eagle in British Columbia has literally […]
On May 19, we celebrate Endangered Species Day, but this year the Endangered Species Act (ESA) itself could become endangered. Those opposing the ESA want to make it easier to develop anywhere — even in wilderness areas that encroach on crucial habitats.“‘States, counties, wildlife managers, home builders, construction companies, farmers, ranchers, and other stakeholders are […]
What a frigid morning! But if we were cold, the birds seemed even colder. We had something of a fall-out at Park Point—I’m sure our numbers for most of the songbirds are way lower than the actual numbers. We had a couple of Lesser Yellowlegs (the most we saw as a group was one, but […]
Rare eBird lists for Connecticut remain a little shorter than those for Florida in my experience. Nonetheless I was intrigued by reports of rare species of goose being reported at Donald W. Barnes Boat Launch in Hartford County Connecticut in mid-winter. A species commonly seen here in New England in the winter months was remarkably […]
I hate political, or personal, drama—it’s rather an odd thing for a Chicago woman of Irish descent, born-and-raised as a Cubs fan, but that’s just the way I am. I got all three of those traits, along with my normally low blood pressure, from my Grandpa. But today I can feel that blood pressure rising, […]
Once nearly extinct, gray wolves have rebounded in recent years under the Endangered Species Act. In Wisconsin, their numbers grew to around 900 in 2016—a 16 percent increase over the previous year. To James Holte of the Wisconsin Farm Bureau, this is not good news. “As wolf populations continue to increase, interactions between farmers, their […]
