When in doubt over birding travel, always trust the counsel of your birding bestie (BB). In my case, my BB, Jessica, encouraged me to take the plunge and participate in the inaugural international Reader Rendezvous. This was during the 2016 American Birding Expo in Columbus, Ohio. She and I co-led the volunteer brigade: Jessica oversaw the event’s registration operation, and I… Read more »
As an experienced birder, I field a lot of questions about birding. Recently, Nancy, a relatively new birder, eagerly asked, “When is the best time to go birding?” My knee-jerk response was, “Any time is a good time for birding.” That’s true. Birds are always around. You don’t need a special time. However, later when… Read more »
by Bryony Angell It’s been a looooong winter, and one of many changes. Not just for me, but the world at large. I moved house and city, and the coronavirus hit. The “Brooding birder” title of this post is a bit of a pun, the “brooding” for emerging from winter, but also describing how bummed… Read more »
by Joseph Downs Holy earthworms, sunflower seeds, and suet! You think you have your hands full with the coronavirus pandemic? You should be one of the feathered friends who are essential to the psychological economy of our kind. Then you would know how it is when push comes to shove. I live on the fourth… Read more »
I thought it was a bird at first. As I continued walking along the bike path along the Muskingum River in Marietta, Ohio, I convinced myself that the rounded bowling pin shape perched in a tree on the bank was just a piece of plastic trash. The dark bluish-black portion I’d first believed was a… Read more »
by Tom Ferguson I grew up in Texas, playing football. Then I joined the Army and became an Airborne Ranger. I was sure I was unbreakable. Ranger school is the world’s most stressful school, and I survived. After military service, I jumped headfirst into the culinary world. I graduated from the Culinary Institute of America… Read more »
[Editor’s note: We invited Katie Fallon, author of Vulture: The Private Life of an Unloved Bird, to share her thoughts on the negative attention vultures have received in the news lately. Here is the second of two posts she has graciously provided. Click here to read her first post.] I’m not ashamed to admit it:… Read more »
By Bruce Wunderlich | Production Director, Bird Watcher’s Digest “Oh no! You’re not really going there, are you?” That was the reaction I received from most of my friends when I told them I was going to Honduras on a birding tour. I have to admit, their reactions concerned me a little. This was my… Read more »
Alvaro recounts tales from Japan, including fish eagles, fish owls, and talking toilets. Also, the guys discuss the Chilean/Argentinian divide, and geography’s impact on both bird distribution and human culture. The topic turns to the true Zen nature of birding and how it may challenge some of your bird ID assumptions! All this and more… Read more »
They say a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. Be that as it may, I like to name things. Through naming comes knowing and in knowing, understanding. I can name most of the mammals and many of the reptiles and amphibians I encounter, and I’m well acquainted with the birds. But when… Read more »
