Fairweather Zealot

Herons, Egrets & Bitterns

Family: Ardeidae

# of Heron Species: 4

# of Night-Heron Species: 2

# of Egret Species: 4

# of Bittern Species: 2

Species Seen / Photographed: 12 / 10

This group of birds are common visitors to most wetlands and watery areas in our country. Their large size and noticeable behavior makes them recognizable to even many non-birders. They run a wide variety of sizes from the smaller white egrets to the larger Great Blue Heron, and a range of habits from the open fishing habits of the GBH to the more secretive lifestyles of both species of bitterns. Similar in form, they represent a mostly common set of feeding habits, focused mostly on fish but taking opportunities for a wide variety of other prey including small mammals, reptiles, amphibians and anything else that gets too close to their large bills. Continue reading

Pelicans, Anhinga, Cormorants & Gannets

Families:Pelecanidae (Pelicans), Anhingadae (Anhingas), Phalacrocoracidae (Cormorants), Sulidae (Gannets & Boobies), Fregatidae (Frigatebirds)

# of Species: 14

Species Seen / Photographed: 8 / 8

The Pelecaniformes are probably the most diverse group on this list, encompassing 5 families of distinct birds. The whole group consists of fish-eating birds who live and spend a majority of their time in or around water, across the United States. I’ve been lucky enough to see a large number of them although I’ve yet to have a quantifiable ID of any of those in Sulidae yet. Continue reading

Next up on the list are what I call the “Tubenoses”: Albatross, petrels, shearwaters and storm-petrels.

Tubenoses: Albatross, Petrels, Shearwaters and Storm-Petrels

Families:Diomedeidae, Procellariidae and Hydrobatidae

# of Albatross Species: 2

# of Petrel Species: 4

# of Shearwater Species: 5

# of Storm-petrel Species: 6

Species Seen / Photographed: 0 / 0

The “Tubenoses” are a group of pelagic birds who spend much of their lives in open water, rarely coming to shore except to nest. There ranges tend to keep them away from most birders who aren’t willing to board a ship, except during migration or when storms force them toward land. Unfortunately, that has resulted in me not having seen a single species in this group – I am fairly sure I was a storm-petrel in North Carolina on evening but can’t be sure.

Sigh… one of these days…

Next up on the list are the GREBES.

Grebes

Family:Podicidpedidae

# of Species: 7

Species Seen / Photographed: 5 / 5

Grebes are found throughout the United States, primarily in marshy and coastal areas. Pied-billed Grebes are the most common of the group, the only species that can be found in all states at some point of the year. The majority of the grebe species breed at least partially in Canada, with only the Clark’s Grebe and Least Grebe breeding only in the U.S., the latter restricted to only a few specific locations in the Lower Rio Grande Valley of southern Texas.

I’ve always enjoyed grebes, although there only few times I get to see them other the most common pied-billed grebes.
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Best of the Birds I – Loons

The first category of birds in the guide is the LOONS.

Loons

Family: Gavidae

# of Species: 5

Species Seen / Photographed: 3 / 3

Loons are primary northern birds, with 4 of the 5 species spending the majority of their time in northern climates (Maine, Washington, Canada). For me, the majority of my loon sightings are at Barnegat Light, where I have seen quite a number of Common Loons and Red-throated Loons. Common loons are just what the name implies – the more commonly seen version, and the source of the famous loon call heard in many movies.
Continue reading

I want to be more active on this blog, and to do that, I’m going to try to post a collection of my bird photography on a semi-daily basis, using the Sibley Field Guide to Birds as the guide to the order I present them in. Hopefully, doing at least that limited post will stimulate me to write more in general, both here an on my UX blog (which I really need to work on).

Here is my list as I’ll tackle it over the next few months. Continue reading

On the first day of my 4-day ‘vacation’, I decided to take some time for myself and visit a favorite haunt, Palmyra Cove. I knew that most of the rest of the weekend would be taken up by work (both my real job and some side work I’m doing), so this might be my only chance to get out and enjoy myself. It turned out that it wasn’t particularly birdy, but there were TONS of butterflies and dragonflies around (although strangely, no damselflies). Continue reading

Day 2 started early as I met fellow Flickr birders Photo Patty and her husband Al for a day of birding in Monterey. I have to say right off that Patty wins the “Good Trooper” award for coming along two days after breaking her leg (she insisted).  I was excited to have some locals to show me hot spots, but I couldn’t have expected the pinpoint accuracy they would have with their predictions. Not only were they able to produce many new birds on my list, but they seemed to almost always do it at the first place they tried. Anyway, the trip to Monterey was nice as we caught up since their visit last July, talked about our trips to Arizona (man, I really want to go back), and they filled me in on the places we would be checking out. Continue reading

The end of May was a flurry of activity: lots of work, and then I was asked to fill in for a co-worker at the Mobile Health 2010 conference out in California. It meant missing out on my long- awaited Phils-Red Sox game but I was excited because I’ve been doing a lot of mobile stuff lately. Plus, since the tickets were for Saturday and the conference didn’t start until Sunday, I would have some time to explore the area (read, bird). Continue reading

Another year has passed and I get to look back at what I have done throughout the year. In this case, I get to see what I did and enjoyed when looking at birds (and butterflies & dragonflies). It was a slower year for me – I got out a lot less than I had in the past, and was able to enjoy many fewer walks and hikes to search out the peace I get when I’m birding. In the past, even going to nearby Palmyra Cove a dozen times a year and walking the familiar paths after work or on a Saturday morning was a joy – but one that seemed to escape me all too often this busy year. On the other hand, I had the amazing experience of birding in Arizona in April & May – something I would love to repeat someday soon. Continue reading