On Saturday, December 17, I led a group of junior birders from Rushton on the first of two PA Young Birders Winter Bird Counts this season.  We enjoyed a busy morning with a variety of activities to engage the kids in the excitment of winter birding. The morning began with a brief powerpoint presentation explaining…

Visiting Peru you can’t ignore the wonderful culture. A visit to the Cusco Market offer many smiling faces… vendors selling everything from bread to whole pigs and many sundry items.   Colors abound around every turn as we meander through the unending aisles filled floor to ceiling! Nearly anything you can think of… as well…

Huacarpay Lakes Region After a mid-morning flight to Cusco we meandered in our bus to the Huacarpay Lakes Region. This high-elevation wetland (9000-10000 ft) offers great waterfowl, passerines and even a few good raptors! Andean Teal Andean Teal and Cinnamon Teal are regular sights here, as are Andean (Ruddy) Ducks and Puna Ibis. After hearing…

Crossing the dunes Our September 2011 Peru trip started with a day of birding along the coast south of Lima. This was an excellent opportunity for shorebirds, seabirds, waterfowl and even coastal/marsh passerines. A pair of Great Grebes courted in one of the small ponds amid the dunes. Cinnamon Teal and Andean Coots were also…

Red-capped Cardinal in Peru I have been traveling almost non-stop since August 1, 2011. The two August trip reports have already been posted — Galapagos Islands and the Ecuador Hummingbird Photo Safari. However, in September we enjoyed another fun PERU: Manu to Machu Picchu adventure followed by a second Galapagos Islands trip in October!  …

Enjoy this spectacle of starlings in flight. It is a extraordinary to watch.

It appears that this winter is shaping up to be an irruption year for Snowy Owls along the East Coast with numerous owls beeing seen in the north east. I went to visit the Snowy Owl sighted closest to Philadelphia, this being the one at Merrill Creek Reservoir, in Harmony Twp, Warren County, New Jersey first found…

Happy Thanksgiving! Indeed it was!! This morning while walking around John Heinz NWR I found a Northern Shrike (above). This is a species that breeds in the northern reaches of our continent, and in winter is an uncommon visitor to the northern United States. Along the east coast, central Pennsylvania and New Jersey is about as…

PA Young Birders Club continued its busy weekend with a morning outing at Riverbend Environmental Education Center in Gladwyne, PA. We guided a bird walk for a small group. The 30 acres property, along the Schuylkill River, featured several different habitats with ample opportunity to learn about open meadow species such as bluebirds; robins eating crabapples; woodpeckers…

On this gorgeous autumn morning, kids were excited to participate in PA Young Birder activities at both Rushton Woods Preserve in Chester County, and John Heinz NWR in Philadelphia. At Rushton, Adrian, Blake and Lou facilitated a program about cavity-nesting birds. The three girls handled power tools with care, knowledge and enthusiasm, to construct a…

Due to last weekend’s unexpected snow storm we had to rescheduled our PA Young Birder’s Halloween Saw-whet Owl banding event at Rushton Woods Preserve for last night. We had a tremendous turn out with well over 50 kids for the 2 hour evening event. Blake began with a outdoor slide presentation about Saw-whet Owls, that…

Saw-whet Owl banding season have been underway since the middle of October at Rushton Woods Preserve in Chester County. After a banner inaugural season in 2010 with 91 birds, to date 2011 has been slow, with only 5 birds including the owl above, caught before Saturday’s premature snow storm! This is not unexpected as major…