To ensure you attract birds, butterflies and other wildlife in Monarch Butterfly Photo Credit: Deborah Rivel abundance to your yard, there is no better choice than planting a meadow with native plants. Not only is a mature meadow a stunningly beautiful sight of waving flowers with butterflies and birds darting in and out, but it’s […]
Blog Category: Migration
What Do Birds Do In a Hurricane?
The iconic image and story of Harvey, the terrified juvenile Coopers Hawk who desperately fled the onslaught Harvey, the Coopers Hawk Photo Credit: William Bruso of hurricane Harvey by landing on the passenger seat of a Houston taxi cab was a welcome story of hope. Harvey was rescued by the driver, taken to Texas Wildlife […]
ID Warblers With a Free Downloadable Guide
ID Warblers With a Free Downloadable Guide Warblers are in our midst right now and for some of us, every year it’s a similar challenge to make the correct ID of all the different species of this popular songbird migrating A downloadable Warbler Guide from Princeton University Press through, or nesting in our area. The […]
Purple Martins Are Coming Your Way!
Purple Martins are Coming – Be Ready! Photo Credit: Deborah Rivel Purple Martins are on their way north and looking for nesting sites. With their enchanting song and effective insect removal efforts – especially when there are chicks in the summer – these birds are a delight to have around. And if you want to […]
Confusing Fall Warblers
Confusing Fall Warblers It’s that time of year again when even the most experienced birder might be puzzled by the fall plumage of warblers. For new birders, fall warblers can be a real challenge as not only are they much quieter (so it’s often difficult to make the ID with sound), but their molt takes […]
Your Fall Backyard Tuneup
Your Fall Backyard Tuneup In fall, birds’ needs start changing. The bird houses you set up in spring and which saw a lot of activity are now vacant. Pressure to secure food for hungry mouths in the nest has subsided, and now many birds are bulking up for migration. To create a friendly backyard for […]
Watching Migration Fly By
Watching Migration Fly By We couldn’t resist this terrific piece of info on migration from Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Using millions of pieces of data from ebird combined with other sources, they put together an animated map of 118 species of birds and their movements including migration, throughout one year. It’s fascinating to see that some […]
The Mystery of the Migration Route
The Mystery of the Migration Route Do birds fly the same route on migration in spring and fall? Would it surprise you that many of them don’t? In fact, scientists are finding out that many birds, especially in spring, follow a path of new plant growth — what is called a “green wave” of migration […]
Where to Watch Hawk Migration
Where to Watch Hawk Migration Fall migration means many species of birds are on the move. September and October are great times to see birds heading south, and this month we have a terrific fall migration hotspot to visit. Duluth, Minnesota is located on the western tip of Lake Superior, the largest freshwater lake in […]
Making That First Migration
Making That First Migration Young birds are leaving the nest, and many of them are getting ready for their first trip south. Migration is a hard and risky business for any bird, but the first marathon voyage for many species of birds takes place shortly after they have fledged. How do they do it? Songbirds […]
World Osprey Week: Tracking Osprey Migration
One of our favorite birds of prey is about to start their migratory trek north and you can watch it happen! Breeding Osprey are found not just in the US but also in Europe. Scientists have put GPS trackers on some of these birds making it possible to follow their migration patterns, and what a […]
Don’t Miss The Cranes!
If you want to take part in an ancient avian ritual that takes place every March for about 6 weeks and involves hundreds of thousands of Sandhill cranes, then get over to the Platte River right now! For it is there that every March for millennia, Sandhill cranes which have left their over-wintering grounds in […]
Hawk Watching This Fall — Watching the Kettle
Hawk Viewing This Fall — Watching the Kettle Hawk watching stations are great places to visit during hawk migration. You can watch Accipiters dive at each other, or see eagles soaring. Many avid hawk watchers love to see Broad-winged Hawk migration because Broad-winged Hawks are the only hawks that are gregarious on migration. That is, […]
Where To See Birds: California’s Central Valley
WHERE TO SEE BIRDS: California’s Central Valley The Central Valley of California is a great spot for overwintering waterfowl. It has also been making the Snow Geese – Gary Zahm, USFWS news a lot lately as the drought there has reached epic proportions, and it’s not just farmers who are affected. About 60 percent of […]
Watch Ospery Migration Live Online
Watch Osprey Migration Live Online! Compared to other birds of prey, Ospreys start their migration south early. Ospreys cannot tolerate cold weather and they start their trek to warmer climes in August before temperatures start to drop. In recent years scientists have been attaching transmitters to Ospreys, enabling them to track their movements in real […]
Radar Birding: What It’s All About
Radar Birding: What’s It All About Stay on the cutting edge of birding with RADAR data! Meterologists have being using RADAR stations throughout the country to track and predict weather patterns for decades. But recently, birders have been using RADAR technology to track and understand bird movements! Here is a brief guide to getting started […]
The Timberdoodle Skydance
The Timberdoodle Skydance Have you ever heard of a Timberdoodle? These days the official name for the Timberdoodle is American Woodcock (but if you still want to call them Timberdoodles that’s fine with us!). April is a great time to see Woodcocks displaying. They have a pretty amazing spring mating ritual — made all the […]
Snowy Owls and Airports
IN THE NEWS: Snowy Owls and Airports Snowy owls are coming into the US in record numbers this year, and are being seen as far south as South Carolina! If you enjoyed reading about the current irruption of Snowy owls last month in our newsletter, you might be interested in this news story. Snowy owls like […]
Gale Force Migration
Gale Force Migration Bird migration is heavily linked to weather patterns and systems as they move across the country. In the fall, fast Cormorants migrating moving northwest winds, especially ahead of a front, help speed migrating birds ahead of tempestuous weather. But fall migration coincides with another huge event in North America — hurricane season […]
Making Tracks with Ospreys
Making Tracks With Ospreys Ospreys are the second most widespread raptor in the world — second only to Red-Tailed hawks. Colloquially known as the Fish Hawk, Osprey make their annual southbound journey each year starting as early as August. This fall, Ospreys have been counted again in the thousands migrating through some of the biggest migration […]