After studying birds for over half-a-century, we have to fess up that every time we look closer at a species, the more interesting it becomes. The closer you look, the more you see, and the more amazed you are at just how little you knew! Sometimes you find out that...
Another exciting fall has come and gone and left behind many records of rare and casual species that are always a pleasant surprise. Some birds were early or late fall migrants, some were recorded at higher elevations than expected, and some are just plain rare in...
An admirable characteristic in many people is striving to be better…to do a better job every day at one task or project. We often see this in our friends as they have grown in their birding abilities. Although we all have more to learn than we have already learned, we...
Many of us were recently encouraged to observe “Sage Sparrows” more carefully when the American Ornithologists Union (AOU), recognized that what had been one species, “Sage Sparrows,” was in fact two very similar species. These two species are...
When the dawn’s early light begins to awaken people, they seldom wake up thinking, “Today I am going to see an amazing avian event!” Those who experienced this event, one that had never been recorded in the Eastern Sierra before, had no premonition...
The Barred Owl is a large owl, only slightly smaller than a Great Horned Owl, with ebony-black eyes. It is a resident of forests, swamps, and riparian habitats and, historically, was widespread in the eastern half of the United States. The northern range began to...
The official ornithological Fall Season ended 30 November for administrative purposes. Birds don’t give a hoot, pardon the pun, about the administration of their comings and goings but journals do. So for bird data purposes, Fall includes all of August through...
The Art and Science of Field Notes Do you take notes regarding birding trips when you go into the field to bird? They are called field notes. What are field notes anyway and are they really necessary? Most good birders we know do take field notes and there must be a...
Are you ready? Ready for the change that is already underway? We are talking about the birds we have been watching all summer. Many of them are neo-tropical migrants and some are already on their way south where they will find sufficient food and cover and...
[Originally appeared in the Sierra Wave newsletter, Vol. 33, No. 5, May-June 2015] (Please go directly to PDF article to view full version with photos)
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