Chasing rare birds is rarely convenient. Unless you’re single, unemployed and avoid human interaction, jumping in a car at a moment’s notice to drive likely hours away will definitely impact “real life.” Thus, when a hot sighting hits the wires, hard decisions will need to be made, often amidst incredulous gazes from coworkers or skeptical […]
In the Davis Mountains of remote west Texas, I finally overcame a multi-year bout of “Montezuma’s Revenge.” Eight years, in fact. I first succumbed to the ailment in Southeastern Arizona. Three years later, it flared up again on my second trip to the region. While it was most intense in the grassy pinewoods of the […]
It was a warm evening even though the sun had disappeared behind the marine horizon hours prior. Thickly vegetated trees—faintly illuminated by the incandescent porch lights—swayed gently in the sea breeze. The waves rhythmically massaged the stretch of sand on the dark, unseen beach beyond, a beach we’d driven three hours to visit, at night. […]
“Oh, you’re trying to find as many species as possible today?” I was a bit stupefied when these words came out of the mouth of our Trinidadian guide. It was early afternoon, a full eight hours into our Birdathon, and it appeared that the foundational strategy for the 24-hour challenge hadn’t yet sunk in. Toby […]
Do you live in Utah or will you be traveling to the “Beehive State”? If so, don’t forget your binoculars! Developed in partnership with Wasatch Audubon Society and Great Salt Lake Audubon, the Birding Utah iPhone app brings you over 150 excellent areas for birdwatching throughout Utah, all vetted by local experts. Use GPS to […]
When I was a child, the California Condor made me cry. Not due to physical trauma, mind you. I wouldn’t have stood a chance against a bird that stood nearly as tall as my five-year-old self. It reflected emotional pain. I loved birds and, when I learned the plight of the near-extinct species, I was […]
Cuba lies fewer than 100 miles off the Floridan coast and despite being just the size of Virginia – or half of Utah – the country holds twenty-seven species of birds that are found no where else on earth (which neither state can claim). In October 2014, BirdNote initiated its international travel program with a […]
Nemesis bird. Some may think this refers to the antagonist in a Finnish smart phone game about “ill-tempered” avians. But it’s a term (painfully) familiar to most birders. A nemesis bird is a title begrudgingly bestowed onto a species of bird after the nth attempt see it (the minimum value for n is influenced by […]
It was our first backpacking trip of the year, and we knew there would be a few cobwebs: an obese backpack, forgotten necessities, atrophied quads, and sore heels. It was already late in the season: the first weekend of August. A social get-together with some out-of-town friends on Friday night compressed our timeline to just […]
Spotted Redshank. Terek Sandpiper. Dunlin. Lesser Sand-Plover. North Korean Border Guard. Red-necked St—wait, North Korean what? I was at the northern most point of the Yellow Sea, scanning an extensive, undulating mudflat on the bank of the Yulu River. A quiet cement road, lined with derelict light poles, ran down the Chinese shoreline to my […]