Before I began birding . . . my visits to Texas were on business: Houston, Dallas and as an occasional layover at an airport. When I thought about Texas it was Roger Staubach; Tim Duncan and Nolan Ryan or in the political vein Bush ’41, Bush ’43 and Ted Cruz. Then my wife got me into […]
As we watch birds . . . I often forget that I am watching wild animals that regularly kill and are killed for food. Yesterday on a birding boat trip near South Padres Island, Texas . . . we watched a coyote consume at White Pelican that it had killed. Horrific in many ways but […]
With nearby National Wildlife Refuge closed due to the Government Shutdown over “the Wall”, we changed plans and headed an hour west to Quinta Mazatlan, A 1930’s country estate in the heart of McAllen, Texas. Quinta Mazatlan is an historic Spanish Revival adobe hacienda surrounded by lush tropical landscaping & native woodland. A unique conference & […]
Christmas presents were opened . . . breakfast was eaten . . . where upon Ingrid and I waved good bye to our grown children, packed and headed to Boston for an early morning flight to the southern tip of Texas. The Lower Rio Grande Valley is filled with wintering species and year round species […]
American White Pelicans winter in Mexico and southern parts of California, Texas and Florida. During the summer they can be found in the Dakotas, Montana, Oregon, Northern California, Alberta and Saskatchewan. Last week one appeared in Maine for a few days . . . and today it showed up on the coast of New Hampshire. […]
Cold weather, work and Christmas demands have limited our birding . . . but managed to get out at sunrise this morning. I briefly saw what I think was a Northern Shrike . . . but my view wasn’t good/long enough to call it as a first of the year sighting. The rest of the […]
With 19 days left in the year . . . I’ve been trying to chase the few birds regularly seen in Maine that Ingrid and I haven’t been able to check off. Today I was looking for the Barrows Goldeneye but stuck out again. Still I managed to see some nice birds and take a […]
A Black-backed Woodpecker is being reported in a nearby town . . . a bird that lives in the Northern Maine and Canadian Boreal forests. I’ve only seen once back in 2015. At lunch I drove over to look for him. Saw lots of Woodpeckers (including a rare for Maine Red-bellied) but no luck […]
I’ve seen a number of Common Goldeneyes in the last month but always at an extreme distance. Today I saw a half dozen not too far from a busy part of Route 1 in Woolwich and decided to stop and try to get some photos. Not long after I pulled over and started snapping away, […]
Most Decembers are a quiet time for birding in Maine . . . but this year Maine is the Big Year Destination of the country as the Great Black Hawk continues to hang out in Deering Oaks Park in Portland. Ingrid and drove through Portland yesterday and at least a dozen birders were watching the […]
| Copyright 2024 |