Greetings,

As some of you know, one of my favorite passions is art, and in particular, bird art, and that of general nature. This of course is split into both photography, and illustration. Currently I am working on new pen and ink pieces that will hopefully make publication, as well as grace the pages of this site. Prints are also going to be made, and I will be selling them locally with any luck. However, if there is a good demand, I might make some of them available for sale over the internet; we will see. (more…)

Greetings,

With a few minutes today before an obligatory bank run, I took a quick 15 minute walk down the local trail near my house in Claverack (Columbia County). Within the first 100 feet I found several Cedar Waxwings and Gray Catbirds, including young of both, as well as a small mixed species flock. (more…)

Greetings,

Considering it wasn’t raining, upon waking up I decided to take a walk down the local private Rail Trail to see what birds I could muster up in the cool morning sun. (more…)

Greetings,

For those of you who have read my posts for the past few months, the name Cesar Abrill may sound familiar. If it does, then you might recall that Cesar was one of my housemates, coworkers, and dearest friends while I was employed by the New Jersey Audubon Society. (more…)

Since my experience has taken me across the country, from Maine to California to New Jersey, I have worked with a myriad of professionals, all of whom in my mind are conservation heroes. However, there are always some that stand out. (more…)

Greetings,

It is no surprise in my neighborhood to see the occasional hawk; sometimes it is an adult Red-tailed perched in the treeline looking over the agricultural field across the street, at other times it is a young Sharp-shinned during the winter trying to nab the unassuming feeder bird. However, over the course of the last year there seems to be at least one, if not two adult Cooper’s Hawks in the area- the Terror of the Neighborhood. (more…)

Greetings,

As a lover of all things pelagic, and especially seabirds and cetaceans, it brings me great joy to read on BirdLife International’s website the inception of the Taputeranga Marine Reserve in New Zealand. The official opening for the reserve will be next month (September 7th), and will help protect hundreds of Wellington’s south coast ocean species. The formation of this reserve has been 17 years in the making since the idea was first proposed by Forest and Bird (BirdLife in New Zealand). It was about time!

To read more on this breaking news, please follow the link here.

Seabirds Forever,
~Chad

Greetings,

Recently a Bicknell’s Thrush x Veery hybrid was found in Vermont, leading some avian ecologists to wonder if this is a sign of climate change. Could it be? You can be the judge. To read more about this interesting finding, click on the following link, and don’t forget to post your thoughts on this issue below:

Bicknells Thrush x Veery Hybrid Article

Greetings,

It has been quite some time since I’ve done any major birding to a new destination, and with recent talks here at the office of pelagic trips and birding in the tropics, I couldn’t help but sit back and wonder about what trips I wish to do in my near future, and in my lifetime. With that said, here is a set of lists for my birding trip wishlist. Enjoy, and feel free to share with us your destinations that you wish to make in the near future:

North America

1. Alaska (mainland and offshore islands)
2. Southeast Arizona (late summer)
3. Texas Hill Country and Big Bend National Park
4. Gulf Stream Pelagic, North Carolina
5. Southern Florida (Everglades to Dry Tortugas)
6. Churchill, Manitoba
7. Washington State (Puget Sound to Cascades)
8. Point Pelee, Ontario
9. Zax-sim Bog, Minnesota
10. Great Salt Lake, Utah

World 

1. New Zealand (Seabirds and Endemics)
2. Costa Rica
3. Galapagos Islands
4. Peru (Amazon to Andes)
5. Kenya
6. United Kingdom
7. Australia
8. Brazil
9. Japan
10. Chile & Argentina

Greetings,

Two weeks ago, I had the fortune of meeting up with Chat Happens Co-Founder, Ryan, as he paid me a visit in southern NJ, while I worked for the New Jersey Audubon Society. The visit, as always, was too short, and was shortened even more by the sporadic weather that we had on Saturday with heavy winds and heavy rain. However, despite having to work two of the days during his visit, and with the weather on Saturday, we had the ability to get out a few times and look for birds around various parts of Cumberland and Cape May Counties. Such southern NJ specialties as Yellow-breasted Chat, White-eyed Vireo, Acadian Flycatcher, Yellow-billed Cuckoo, Prothonotary Warbler, and even Orchard Oriole came with relative ease. Other hopefuls like Blue Grosbeak, Whip-poor-will, and Chuck-will’s-widow were not detected, even though they are fairly common in the area, and are seen or heard on a nearly daily basis. (more…)