This morning, I’m sharing some of the biggest, most exciting news of my entire life: starting November 1, I will be the new President of the American Birding Association! Kenn Kaufman broke the news here on his estimable blog. Here, too, is a pdf of a letter from ABA Board Chair Dick Ashford announcing the good news. I want to sincerely thank David Hartley at ABA and  for his efforts to pull these communications together on short notice and under personally challenging circumstances. And as for Kenn, well, my gratitude knows no bounds.

So what’s next? I’ll be moving to Colorado Springs in a little less than a month! Liz will join me there soon after.

Both of us are so excited we can hardly stand it. Not to mention reeling at the thought of how we’re going to wind up our commitments here in Delaware and embark on a new chapter of our lives in a matter of weeks.

More information will be coming out soon. For now, I hope you’ll share my excitement and enthusiasm. And I hope you’ll join or renew your membership with ABA.

Good birding to all of you!

While I certainly intend to keep putting up blog posts when I have something that fits better here than elsewhere, if you’re interested in keeping up with what I’m doing, for now, Facebook is where I am. There’s a badge at the upper left of the page that you can click to find my personal Facebook profile and send me a friend request.

There’s also a badge where you can become a fan of Peterson Field Guides and I would appreciate it very much if you would do that. At the moment, the PFG fan page is, well, it’s me. But only in that I’m responsible for posting content there and serving as moderator. Like all things social media, it is meant to encourage interaction. And in only a week and a half, we’re already seeing a great response, with fans sharing their own photos and experiences.

Of course, I’m honored that the people at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt have asked me to take on the PFG fan page. It’s an opportunity to share a lot of great content from the Peterson vaults, create my own, and to have other interested naturalists share theirs. I’m especially pleased that we’ll be covering the vast range subjects of natural history that are featured in Peterson guides, though you can expect that birds will feature most prominently. I know it will be a big opportunity for me to learn, which is wonderful.

As an example of the kind of things I’ve been doing on the PFG page, below is a video I made and posted last week. It’s just a quick sequence of calling Spring Peepers, but I think it’s nice, especially if you haven’t been out and actually watched this classic sound being produced.

You can also click here to go to the HD version of the video on Facebook itself. It’s much better looking in HD, to say the least.

So, that’s where I am these days. I don’t know if six months from now Facebook will be over and we’ll all have moved on, but at the moment–most of the time–it feels like the place to be.

But please, keep this blog on your RSS subscriptions…or check back every once in a while, if you don’t do RSS. You never know when I’ll have something that only fits here. Thanks for stopping by!

Sure enough, they were the brand-new Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America and the similarly titled but quite distinct, Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Eastern and Central North America. That’s right, fully updated Peterson bird guides are once again available in a more portable size and narrower geographic scope. Liz snapped a shot of me unboxing this bounty, attired in my très très chic walking outfit.

At last, here they were in-hand.

These new volumes are exciting to me for a couple of reasons, particularly in that they feature my photography. Now, don’t get too upset…they’re still very much Peterson bird guides, with RTP’s paintings, digitally revised by Michael O’Brien and Michael DiGorgio, as in last year’s continent-spanning Peterson Field Guide to Birds of North America. But where last year’s model featured fifteen bird photographs by Roger himself, employed as decorations for title pages, section headings, and such, these two volumes each contain fifteen shots by me. Me. Me? Me! Cool, huh?

Over the next few weeks, I’d like to share those 30 photos with you, along with a few stories about how and when and where they were taken.

PS: I know it’s been months and months and months since my last post, but I find that there are few things more boring and less necessary than bloggers apologizing for how they haven’t been blogging much lately. Readers, if your’re still here, thanks. If you’re new, welcome.

Atlantic Puffins at (Machias) Seal Island

You don’t need a fancy camera to take a puffin photo like this one–you just need to be in the right spot. I took the above shot with a compact, point & shoot stye camera. And you can, too, if you want. Or you can just enjoy one of North America’s great natural spectacles, right in front of you.

I’m looking for a couple more people to join me in August for a wonderful week-long getaway to the Bay of Fundy region, just Down East of Maine. Of course, the trip is built around a visit to Seal Island, also known as Machias Seal Island, which features the most enjoyable seabird colony experience I have ever had, with the sole exception of Antartica, a much more difficult and expensive trip, to say the least. 

It’s loaded with gawky but gorgeous Atlantic Puffins and dapper Razorbills, with the occasional Common Murre thrown in for good measure. There are also Common and Arctic terns, plus plenty of Leach’s Storm-Petrels, though these last generally remain unseen in their burrows. 

While a number of sites could boast a similar species list and some are larger, what makes Seal Island the very best is the chance to land–weather permitting, of course, but it usually does in early August–and view these birds from blinds set only feet away from the birds. It’s not uncommon to hear the pitter-pat of puffin feet as they go marching across ther blind’s roof!

Seal Island is certainly the high point, but it’s got stiff competition from the rest of the birding in the Grand Manan/Bay of Fundy region, not to mention whale watching (possibly including spectacular North Atlantic Right Whales), scenery, and local seafood. And don’t worry–if you’re one of those unfortunates who doesn’t like lobster, there’s plenty of other great food to keep you happy and healthy and enjoying the trip.

Time is of the essence here: the trip begins August 8th in Bangor, Maine and ends there on Agust 14th. If you’d like to join a small, aimiable group please contact me ASAP–we need signups by July 1.

For more information, you can e-mail me at jeffgyr@mac.com, or call or e-mail Karen Turner at the Field Guides, Inc., office (kturner@fieldguides.com / 800-728-4953). I may be a bit out-of-internet the next day or two, so Karen may be the better bet for now.

Thanks for considering the trip, or for passing the info along to anyone you know who might be.

Hello out there!

I’m checking in, as it has been 2+ weeks since my last post. In the meantime, I’ve been madly working away on a photography project that has taken me to four states, including Oregon–a lifer for me and the 49th U.S. state in which I have set foot.

On top of that, today is my birthday–my 45th birthday. Maybe next year I can go to South Dakota for my birthday for an even 50. Or maybe I should wait 5 years. Hmmmm, 50 states–50 years. That’s got a nice ring to it.

Oh, and don’t forget: today is Flag Day in the United States. Fly ‘em if you got ‘em!

Mr. & Mrs. Gordon

Redden State Forest

27 May 2009 

I think I may have missed the boat here. Looks like the traditional gift for 3rd anniversaries is, um, leather…

Oh well. We went out taking pictures of birds (and bees!) instead. It was not the most romantic anniversary ever, but it was lots of fun. Thanks to Kevin Fleming for taking this picture of us.

Last night, I had the pleasure of speaking to the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club in Philadelphia. DVOC meets in pretty sweet digs: the Academy of Natural Sciences, especially when they are able to use the main auditorium, which they were last night. I gave my presentation on Kingfishers & their Allies, which seemed to go over well.

Liz & I couldn’t resist taking a couple of quick photos with a few of the wildlife dioramas. I’ll leave it up to all y’all to insert “horny” jokes in the comments!

Thanks to Frank and all the DVOCers for a great night!

I have a spark bird, too–Pine Siskin. It was sometime early in 1977, February, I think. I was sitting in the rec room at our house, which at that date was still appointed with amazing, inch-high neon orange shag carpet. I was looking at the birds visiting our feeders, something I’d been doing in a casual way for years. Enough years that I fancied myself pretty well-informed about what was what. I knew House Finches, towhees, nuthatches, and so on. And of course I knew goldfinches. I knew they were yellow in the spring and duller in the fall and that the females were heavily streaked below. That day, for reasons I don’t remember, I had turned to the finch page in our Golden Guide when–BOOM!–it hit me: those streaky little guys weren’t female goldfinches, they were something entirely different. Pine Siskins. How long had they been right under my nose, but not in my consciousness? The sense of discovery was absolutely electric. In that moment, I became a birder.

No, this isn’t THE Pine Siskin, but perhaps it’s a great great great great grandchild.

It’s amazing how transformative an experience like this can be. Recently, I came across a photo of me taken just a year and a half after that siskin. I don’t remember the exact day, but it certainly looks like the Delaware Bayshore, perhaps at Cape Henlopen or Prime Hook. I’m 14 and have just started 9th grade. You can see I’ve already browbeaten my parents into getting me a spotting scope and tripod and man, I am off to the races. All directly traceable to 15 grams of siskin.

The dude abides

But that Pine Siskin, by itself, might not have made a dent. Many sparks fly, but only a few catch. To overextend the analogy, in the winter of 1977, I had a huge build-up of fuel just waiting to ignite. In 1976, I had been lucky to make two amazing trips with the Delaware Nature Society. In April, I went to Okefenokee Swamp in Georgia. Then, over Christmas vacation I went to Everglades National Park in Florida. The Georgia trip served to ramp up my virtually lifelong interest in nature. I paid attention to birds, especially trying to photograph them, at that time a brand-new interest of mine. But in Okefenokee, I was still very much a generalist and even a little bird-phobic, if the truth be told. I just found birds to be too frustrating. Too small, too fast, too far away.

A male Anhinga in peak breeding condition

Florida changed all that. There, along the Anhinga Trail, I could see birds up close, photograph them, study them, look them up in the book. I got the first glimmer that I might be able to make headway in a heretofore vexing world. Purple Gallinules, Common Moorhens (which we called Florida Gallinules at the time), Limpkins, Soras–it was amazing.

And perhaps even more eye-popping was Mrazek Pond, a tiny, mangrove-lined puddle that seemed to be about one third water, one third fish and one third birds. Mrazek, even then, wasn’t always crowded with birds. But in December of 1976, it was packed with egrets, ibis, Wood Storks, pelicans, and most of all, Roseate Spoonbills.

Roseate Spoonbills, Snowy Egrets, and a White Ibis jockey for position

Not only were these birds incredibly beautiful, they were incredibly unconcerned with people–they just went about their fishing seemingly oblivious to me and the dozens of park visitors standing slack-jawed just a few feet away. With experiences like this under my belt, I was primed for the siskin that I would see just a few weeks later.

I’m pleased to say that 32 years later, though much of the Sunshine State has been paved over or otherwise environmentally compromised, one can still see sights very similar to those I saw in Florida, as the photos above attest. That Anhinga was photographed at Viera Wetlands near Melbourne, Florida, while the spoonbills, egrets and ibis are from Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge. Both images were taken during last week’s Space Coast Birding & Wildlife Festival, where I was invited to speak and to lead field trips.

A Green Heron at Green Cay Wetlands

There are even a few things that have improved over the last three decades for birds and birders. Not only festivals like Space Coast, but even the birding areas themselves. Viera Wetlands, Wakodahatchee Wetlands and Green Cay Wetlands, three prime Florida birding spots, were all recenty created from the ground up as places friendly to birds and birders, reclaiming land that was being used in ways that welcomed neither. Below, Liz poses on the boardwalk at Green Cay, where our friend Eva, who blogs at The Flying Mullet, is the naturalist.

Liz at Green Cay, with Moorhens in the back left

It’s really an amazing thing, as someone whose life has been so bound up with birds and birding, to go back to Florida and be present when others first see the light. Or at least get primed to catch that spark.

Finally, I’d be completely remiss if I didn’t mention that I wouldn’t have had those bird feeders, or those trips down south, or in all likelihood my interest in nature at all if it weren’t for my mother, Kathleen. From the time I could walk, she had me outside, often tagging along with the older kids for whom she taught programs at the Delaware Nature Education Center, which has now become the Delaware Nature Society. Below is a photo I took of her in April of 1977, at Craven’s Hammock in Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge (I first went in 1976–I went back something like the next 10 years in a row, eventually becoming one of the leaders myself). She was one of the leaders on that trip, along with David Brown, seen here doing his best moonshiner imitation. It’s just 3 months after my siskin-spark and she looks like she may well be having second thoughts about fostering her son’s interest in nature. She may be still, but I hope not too often. Thanks, Mom!

Mom & David Brown in Okefenokee, 1977

Here are a couple of additional spark bird resources. Bird Watcher’s Digest has a Spark Bird Blog that features occasional posts by some of their contributors detailing their avian turning points. Also, if you’re a relatively new reader of this blog, you might enjoy seeing this short slide show I put together during the Cape May Autumn Weekend in late October of 2007. It features a number of birders, some well-known, some less so, telling their spark bird stories. What’s yours?

Actually, Delaware in November isn’t a bad place to be at all, especially if you like birds. But we do have a few drizzly, chilly days this time of the year. I’m finally back in the First State after two weeks away.

I have some good news. Liz and I were officially released from Mexico, but only after waiting through two glacially slow lines at the consulate. Turns out that waiting in the lines was all that was necessary–at the end, we were told to not worry about it. Oh well.

More good news: I and the Bird #88 is up at Aimophila Adventures. My post about the DOS sparrow trip, flatteringly, leads the list. Thanks, Rick.

I’ll be back soon with more about Panama, Mexico, and Texas. In the meantime, stay warm and dry.

I’m moving in here at WordPress. For now, you can find my old home page here: Old Home page

And my old blog is here: Jeff Gyr blog