This site uses cookies to improve your experience. To help us insure we adhere to various privacy regulations, please select your country/region of residence. If you do not select a country, we will assume you are from the United States. Select your Cookie Settings or view our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Used for the proper function of the website
Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
Cookie Settings
Cookies and similar technologies are used on this website for proper function of the website, for tracking performance analytics and for marketing purposes. We and some of our third-party providers may use cookie data for various purposes. Please review the cookie settings below and choose your preference.
Strictly Necessary: Used for the proper function of the website
Performance/Analytics: Used for monitoring website traffic and interactions
A couple of weeks ago I watched and photographed a young House Sparrow getting fed by its mother. I also watched, but failed to get pictures of, the same young bird being fed by two different male House Sparrows. This post was first published in June 2008, but we’re sharing this tender moment to celebrate World Sparrow Day !)
This is a chance to recharge out batteries, spend a little quite time together and try to get in a whole bunch of birding done. In the same day, just a few meters up the arroyo, there is a plethora of desert species. This was a real bonus spot last year, especially with migratory sparrows. Then, I try to you avoid the bad parts.
I should say trying to start my car because the battery had died overnight and it would not start. Neither was evident as I scoped the inlet and the ocean, though Northern Gannets just off the end of the jetty, a host of sea ducks, four species of gull, and a constant flow of Long-tailed Ducks flying in and out of the inlet kept me busy.
But, as I detailed last week , that drive to the Pacific Coast was a rather spectacular failure, because of a highly unseasonal rain, and my failure to recharge my camera battery. But this time, it would be in the afternoon, with strong winds and brilliant sunshine… and a full camera battery. White-crowned Sparrow.
The Song Sparrows were wet. And the White-crowned Sparrows were very, very wet. I had thought that my camera use on two previous neighborhood outings was not enough to demand recharging its battery. I’m fond of photos of birds in a visible mist or drizzle. But these ones looked almost as bedraggled as I did. I was wrong.
Two more sparrows on the macadam ahead of me… In my early birding days, I would simply assume that they are sparrows, possibly not even taking another look at them, but now I am too old to be so naive.
1PM – Clare: Cameras with AA Batteries are the Best. 7PM – Jochen: Spring Sparrows are Way Cooler than Spring Warblers. 1PM – Carrie: Invasive Species Can Be Awesome. If you managed to miss anything during our week of belligerence and strong opinions here’s your chance to go back and click on some wonderful posts!
I dropped my meager box of baby supplies off and stopped to chat to the two volunteers who were already helping people who had stopped in looking for warm clothing, batteries, and a sympathetic ear. Also, we saw a Blue Grosbeak , some Fox Sparrows , and both species of kinglets. I have never seen Evening Grosbeaks in Queens.
We are more refined, merely enjoying invasive species, thinking extinct birds are gone and you should get over it, and that those who like to watch gulls probably have a screw or two loose. 1PM – Clare: Cameras with AA Batteries are the Best. 7PM – Jochen: Spring Sparrows are Way Cooler than Spring Warblers.
No need to page through dozens of plates of similar looking species anymore. Where do you charge your batteries in Namibia’s Kaokoveld during a longer trip away from lodges and hotels? Off to the Amazon? Download the relevant images and info into a location specific guide. On a day trip to Oregon for business?
It is a birding challenge where a team of birders stays in one spot for the entire day to see how many species they can record for their location. As always, we were high above the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens, perched precariously on the platform atop Battery Harris, the old artillery battery built to defend New York Harbor in World War II.
As always, we held our sit high atop Battery Harris at Fort Tilden on the Rockaway Peninsula in Queens. Eastern Towhee “che-winking,” Northern Cardinals with their sharp chip note, a White-throated Sparrow singing twice, American Robins “tut-tut-tutting,” and on the morning went. The birders kept coming too!
One such controversial bird is the Veraguan Mango , a small hummingbird species that was, until very recently, believed to be a Panamanian endemic. Veraguan Mango by Carlos Bethancourt Although the Neotropical region supports fewer bird families than Africa, there are considerably more bird species here than anywhere else on earth.
At five-forty-five Sunday morning I started the eBird checklist while perched atop the Battery Harris Platform at Fort Tilden. As always, I was the first to the platform and in the light northwest wind and under a full moon I sipped my coffee and willed birds to make some noise so I could start checking off species.
The days for me to add to my Little Big Years species count are getting fewer and fewer, and with it, my budget. That, and 10 days back on the way was going to be a great to recharge the batteries after a long round-the-world trip. Little Big Year species count: 834. US species count: 139. eBird Submissions: 251.
The Cornell team is no doubt having a fantastic day of birding up there in beautiful spring Colorado while they identify Cassin’s Sparrow, Prairie Falcon, Lazuli Bunting , and other western birds in some of the same places I surveyed in 1997 and 2001. I will nevertheless be counting birds despite not actually going birding.
We had persevered through four years at the top of Battery Harris Platform and could bring our experience to bear on the task of trying to record as many species as possible on a single day from that single spot. At 8:30AM we were already at 53 species and we knew we still had many more easy birds to find.
172 lists were shared and 1004 species were seen, both records for October, so well done beats! Fox Sparrow – Passerella iliaca. Chestnut-backed Sparrow-Lark – Eremopterix leucotis. Southern Gray-headed Sparrow – Passer diffusus. Stripe-headed Sparrow – Peucaea ruficauda. has reached 54.
In addition to having more participants, we had more bird species, 76, beating out last year’s inaugural effort by two whole species. We really had to work hard for our 76 species this year too, and it makes me wonder if it will possible to ever break a hundred species from the platform during an October big sit.
All birds are equal on this list; parking lot birds or pelagic species, breeders or fly-overs, all will be accorded the same status and each shall be worth 1 credit on the list. Battery Pt. Hainlin Mill Sparrow Drive. Hainlin Mill Sparrow Drive. Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark – Eremopterix griseus. 05 Jan 2016.
All birds are equal on this list; parking lot birds or pelagic species, breeders or fly-overs, all will be accorded the same status and each shall be worth 1 credit on the list. Battery Pt. Hainlin Mill Sparrow Drive. Hainlin Mill Sparrow Drive. Ashy-crowned Sparrow-Lark – Eremopterix griseus. 05 Jan 2016.
We organize all of the trending information in your field so you don't have to. Join 30+ users and stay up to date on the latest articles your peers are reading.
You know about us, now we want to get to know you!
Let's personalize your content
Let's get even more personalized
We recognize your account from another site in our network, please click 'Send Email' below to continue with verifying your account and setting a password.
Let's personalize your content