Recently, I traveled to the Swiss Alps with the outdoor brand Columbia to test out their newest technology. Omni-Heat Arctic is an insulating technology that is inspired by how a polar bear‘s fur works to keep it warm in frigid arctic conditions. Though polar bears appear white, they actually have heat-absorbing black skin and two […]
Tag: osprey
With nests on telephone poles, once-endangered osprey are flying high in Illinois
Wildlife biologist Chuck Rizzo climbs into what looks like an enormous white bucket and slowly begins to rise. The metal arm of an aerial lift truck propels him higher and higher, above thick underbrush and then even some treetops, toward a striking sight in an otherwise ordinary Cook County, Illinois, forest preserve: a sturdy, stick-strewn […]
Good News and Bad News
First the bad news, currently the weather is very unsettled with plenty of rain and very cold for June. This recent bad weather brought disaster to the local nesting great crested grebes. They had constructed their nest and were incubating three eggs as previously reported. A subsequent visit found no sign of nest or eggs. […]
Chiffchaff
Yesterday saw me visit Maridalen and Nordre Øyeren. Maridalen was extremely quiet although the Black Redstart was still present and attracting a stream of admirers. At Nordre Øyeren the water level is a whole metre higher than normal for this time of the year but there is still shallow water and mud to find and […]
Whimbrel At Carlos Pointe: Part II
The Whimbrel that had been reported daily at Carlos Pointe for nearly a week prior to my visit was of course not guaranteed to be there. The Whimbrel was difficult to identify as it was found to be loafing with its bill hidden in its right wing while surrounded by Marbled Godwits and Willets. The […]
Whimbrel At Carlos Pointe: Part I
Although there was a very welcome breeze at dawn on the morning of 11 August, I was not prepared to walk miles from Carlos Pointe at Big Carlos Pass along Little Estero Lagoon with the temperature already at 78 degrees. The primary purpose of my visit to the freshwater pool at Carlos Pointe was to […]
Thrush Nightingale
May, guiding and demanding kids makes blogging difficult! Yesterday I guided Gene and Susan from Minnesota and we had a great day under a hot sun. Marsh Harrier, Water Rail, Shoveler, Ruff, Wryneck, Osprey, Icterine, Reed and Sedge Warbler plus all three flycatchers was a pretty good showing. Today, as forecast, we had rain in […]
Amazing Discovery: Yucatan Bird’s IQ – Superior to Humans’
We have all heard or used the expression “Bird-Brain.” Birds have comparatively small brains, and because of that we humans place them at a very low level of intelligence. Yes, we recognize that we can train birds of certain species to react to a limited assortment of commands, but animal science has, until now, been […]