Sep 12 2009
I was out walking the dog around 9:30 AM this morning when I got a phone call from Forrest Rowland, who is once again scanning the skies over the Cape Henlopen Hawk Watch. He said that he had heard from Derek Stoner that the Delmarva Ornithological Society group Derek was leading on their annual Cape May field [...]
Apr 14 2009
Easter Egg hunts are one of those activities engineered to give participants a better than average chance of success. The eggs are hidden, but they’re not too hidden–just tucked away behind a few obvious obstacles dotting a nice expanse of perfect green lawn. Now, I know, some of you probably had an especially mischievous parent [...]
Apr 03 2009
Don’t get me wrong…sapsuckers are cute. But in the Amazonian forest surrounding Sacha Lodge, I made the acquaintance of a sap eater that frankly blows our nifty little woodpeckers right off the tree in the cuteness department. Say hello to my little friend:
Behold the Pygmy Marmoset–the world’s smallest monkey. How small? Well, according to Wikipedia, [...]
Mar 18 2009
From March 10-15, I had the rare pleasure of spending most of five days in the lovely cloud forest at Cabanas San Isidro, tucked into the east slope of the Ecuadorian Andes at about 2200 meters. I have very little time to share any of the many wonderful things I got to see and do [...]
Nov 24 2008
Forrest Rowland and I got out early this morning with the intention of birding Burton’s Island, but we had made it only a few meters down the trail when my cell phone rang. It was Michael O’Brien, calling from Cape May to say that Mark Garland and a Cape May Bird Observatory group that Mark was [...]
Nov 17 2008
A strange thing happens within birding circles–a rare bird can go from a point of pride to a source of a certain kind of shame. Up until this year, having seen a Cave Swallow in Delaware was a distinction that would have produced at least low-level envy among many in this community. Now, it’s rapidly reaching [...]
Sep 30 2008
While the stock market was falling through the floor, Monday, 29 September saw the highest count ever of migrating raptors at the Cape Henlopen hawk watch–1048, to be precise. Above, some of the participants in the day’s count spell out “1000″ while I try to hustle Brecon and myself into the frame before the shutter [...]
Sep 15 2008
Last Thursday, September 11, I visited the hawk watch at nearby Cape Henlopen State Park. During the two or so hours I was there, it was nearly hawk-free. This sort of thing happens all the time when birding–the hoped-for species or phenomenon simply fails to materialize, or if it does, the birder fails to perceive [...]
Sep 07 2008
Undeterred by yesterday’s scarcity of storm-driven birds, we returned to Cape Henlopen first thing this morning to see if any birds that may have been blown into Delaware Bay were returning to the open ocean. It’s a longish walk out to the point, but very pleasant in the lovely post-storm weather.
A Sanderling probes for breakfast.
Sharon [...]
Sep 07 2008
Here’s a quick tour of yesterday’s birding during Tropical Storm Hanna:
Sharon Lynn scans offshore from Cape Henlopen
Forrest Rowland, Bill Stewart, and Judy Montgomery watch millions of dollars of beach replenishment sand get washed back out to sea in Rehoboth.
Property damage was mostly minor…
Surfers at Indian River Inlet (cue “Wipe Out” for the soundtrack).
A Forster’s (L) [...]
