Marty May 11th, 2008
Yesterday was a LONG day of birding - perhaps the longest day I’ve ever had. My buddy Joe is a naturalist and signed on to do a bird count that was happening throughout the day in Delaware. He had a fairly sizable chunk of real estate to cover and asked if I wanted to come along to count the birds in the Dover area, including the shore. I’ve never done something like this, so I figured why the heck not. I hadn’t quite figured on the dedicated effort he was going to put in, but found out quickly when we started making plans for getting together. He had said early - he had meant he wanted to be on-site by 3:30 a.m., which meant a 2:30 departure from his house - which mean a 1 a.m. wake-up for me. Gulp. Continue Reading »
Marty May 7th, 2008
Gray Catbird
Dumetella carolinensis
After working almost 30 days in a row, I desperately needed some ‘me’ time - and with the weather we had yesterday, I took the morning off to go birding at Palmyra Cove. There were some nice warblers about but it was often hard to hear them over the yellow warblers and the 1,000,001 catbirds about. Lucky for them that they are so darn photogenic. Continue Reading »
Marty May 4th, 2008
I was getting ready to mow the lawn when I heard a call that I knew wasn’t normal for my yard. I quickly figured out it was a pine warbler, but then heard another call that I recognized but couldn’t ID. A quick listen to some songs revealed it to be a prairie warbler. I went out with binoculars and found both birds - and dozens more. Continue Reading »
Marty April 28th, 2008
I went out looking for migrant birds Saturday - because I just needed to get out of the house and away from work, although the weather wasn’t helping much (overcast and spritzing). But I did get to see some cool birds at Palmyra Cove, including a lifelist worm-eating warbler. Continue Reading »
Marty April 13th, 2008
Well, we’re back from our trip to see my nephew for his 3rd birthday. I haven’t gotten to see Caleb as much as I might like over the few years of his life, but we’ve been making a more concerted effort to stay in touch and see the little guy. So, for our trip to Georgia, we made an extended vacation that would allow us some time with him and my sister outside of the ‘group’ visits we’ve had (like the beach where there are 8 families, and too little private time). Continue Reading »
Marty March 31st, 2008
I finally got out for some birding on Saturday morning at Palmyra Cove. It was a little chilly, and there weren’t any real big migrants there, but I still have a good time. One of the highlights was seeing quite a few Field Sparrows (Spizella pusilla) - a species I had seen before but not yet photgraphed. This little casanova was singing his heart out near the beaver pond. Continue Reading »
Marty February 19th, 2008
Well, after a scare at the end of last week, things took a turn for the better over the weekend. Grandpop was back to his old self (well, at least he was back to having some strength and liveliness), although he did check himself out of the hospital a day early against doctor’s orders. Continue Reading »
Marty February 18th, 2008
I’ve been really wanting to get out birding for a while - a real trip and not a quick run out to a local spot - and on Sunday finally made it up to Sandy Hook where they had been seeing a number of rarities for the area. Unfortunately, the weather and birds didn’t cooperate very well Continue Reading »
Marty February 7th, 2008
We went to an “Owl Prowl” tonight at Palmyra Cove, complete with a introductory session with the ‘demo owls’ as my mother-in-law called them. They had a beautiful red-morph eastern screech owl, a rather aloof Barred Owl and this beautiful western Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus. Continue Reading »
Marty January 30th, 2008
This little female was struggling for some time to get a peanut out of the bottom of the feeder, only to have it break off and fall to the ground just as she was about to get it. But she persevered and ended up getting a trophy nut for herself. Continue Reading »
Yesterday was a LONG day of birding - perhaps the longest day I’ve ever had. My buddy Joe is a naturalist and signed on to do a bird count that was happening throughout the day in Delaware. He had a fairly sizable chunk of real estate to cover and asked if I wanted to come along to count the birds in the Dover area, including the shore. I’ve never done something like this, so I figured why the heck not. I hadn’t quite figured on the dedicated effort he was going to put in, but found out quickly when we started making plans for getting together. He had said early - he had meant he wanted to be on-site by 3:30 a.m., which meant a 2:30 departure from his house - which mean a 1 a.m. wake-up for me. Gulp. Continue Reading »
