On the Wing #79: Aiming for Gold

As many people probably already know, I'm a little bit loopy. Verbally, action-wise, and philosophically, I'm completely off the wall. It's an asset in a job where I'm both batty about nature and batty in general. However, despite my setbacks with my old computer what with losing my life list, year list, and SBMWA property bird list, I'm still determined to hit 350 species this year.

I currently have 316 with the most recent edition being a Louisiana Waterthrush (Parkesia motacilla) seen in the Stony Brook a few weeks ago at camp. I'm hoping for some excellent migrants in the form of shorebirds, songbirds, and shearwaters. Yeah. You heard me! Welshie's going to sea and wants to find himself some mutton birds!

Okay, okay...maybe not that badly, but a whale watch is definitely an excellent excuse to look for pelagic birds like shearwaters, gannets, and terns. Who knows? I might even seen some storm-petrels.
It's only mid-August after all and I figure that while it sucks that my lists aren't digital (excepting eBird of course) at the moment, it certainly would be nice to get out and bird after camp is over. The oceanic bird quest can wait for now, but Edwin B. Forsythe NWR might be in my future. We'll see what the future might hold.

Stay tuned...

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Nature Note #187: Devil Down Head

Image
I love old nicknames for birds. Whether they are folk names, sportsmans colloquialisms, or even names from other languages, learning how other groups of people identify certain animals and plants is always an interesting journey through the history of human culture and wildlife identification. The title of this post refers to an old folk name for a common yard and feeder bird, the nuthatch. Here in the northeast, we have two species of nuthatches; the white-breasted ( Sitta carolinensis ) and the red-breasted ( S. canadensis ). White-breasted nuthatch Red-breasted nuthatch Both species are perhaps best known for their tree-scaling ability that would make any free climber jealous of their skills. Many ornithologists have been equally amazed by the skills of the nuthatch. The economic ornithologist, Edward Howe Forbush noted in his Birds of Massachusetts that: "They seem to have taken lessons of the squirrel which runs down the tree headfirst,  stretching out his hi
Read more

Nature Note #122: Adventures in Pennsylvania: (Non-Native) Space Invaders

Image
As the first week at the Outdoor School* ended and the weekend arrived, I thought about what to write about this week. I had made it a goal to learn some common night-singing insect calls by visiting the Songs of Insects website and while I haven't done that yet, Sunday isn't over either. After returning from Giant to get some milk, I went for a walk to find some subjects for this weeks post. I decided to settle on three invasive plants that have appeared on the property over the summer. We were introduced to the first during orientation while walking from the group challenge field over the Pennypack Creek that runs through the property. The plant's huge leaves were what surprised me the most, as well as seeming so tropically out of place with the mid-Atlantic environment they were now living in. Initially we were stumped as to their identity, but after one of my bosses did some research, he determined that they were Empress or Princess Trees. Their scientific name is Pa
Read more

Nature Note #201: Blue Cranes and Long Whites

Image
There is a small pond on the Trinity Center property I walk past everyday and is exceptionally buggy. Even when you are covered head to toe with 25% DEET bug spray, it seems to have no effect. The other day, as I rounded a bend, something lifted off from the top of a gnarled cedar. A tall bird croaked with agitation, flying away on long wings and extending a snaking neck. The bird in question was a great blue heron ( Ardea herodias ), a charismatic and recognizable marsh bird that is familiar to most people. Despite their common presence around wetlands, ponds, and rivers, I have heard them mistaken for another tall marsh bird, and are sometimes called "blue cranes". Immature great blue seen near Bogue Sound in Pine Knoll Shores, NC. Photo by me. Bird misidentification isn't a new issue. Even as naturalists and budding ornithologists like John James Audubon and Alexander Wilson were traveling the country identifying the birds they could; even they used colloquial n
Read more