Popular pesticides are causing bird species to decline at an alarming rate in the US, adding fuel to a 50-year downward trend in bird biodiversity, a new report has found. In addition to spray-on pesticides, farmers are widely using chemicals that coat seeds. These pesticides, called neonicotinoids or neonics, deter insects as the seeds sprout […]
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 […]
It was fairly quickly learned that the feeders used to attract wildlife didn’t entice just the birds. In mid-winter as the squirrels appeared to become more numerous, they became destructive and a disturbance to the winged creatures. Eastern Bluebirds briefly investigated a pair of bird houses that had been hung for them but the squirrels […]
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 […]
The White-throated Sparrow is one of my all-time favorite birds. I saw and heard my first on April 12, 1975, when I was a brand-new birder. I was in Virginia for an environmental education conference right when White-throats were in full migration down there. Within a week or so, they were up in Michigan where […]
The first time I ever noticed my aspen tree in full bud, back in early May in 1982, at least one Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, and Yellow-rumped Warbler could be seen in its branches just about every time I looked. That has been one absolute constant I can count on no matter how spring unfolds […]
Spring is a week away and the signs of the season are everywhere. Crocuses are blooming all over New York City. The cardinals seem suddenly more active and vocal. Same for the blue jays. They seem busy and preoccupied. I’ve been able to get close enough to photograph them, which is unusual. The bees are […]
On Dec 8, I found one of my nemesis birds for Seminole County: a Clay-colored Sparrow (White-throated Sparrow, Western Kingbird, and Yellow-breasted Chat are next on my list). I’ve been trying to find one here for years. It’s been hanging out here for about a week now, so I’m hopeful that it might winter here […]