Day 4 / April 10 – Our first ‘chicken’ dance turned out to be one of the best I have every witnessed. Greater Sage Grouse are the largest and most majestic of our grouse, and the lek this morning was full of activity. Over the course of several hours, beginning well before dawn, we watched…

Day 3 / April 9 – We returned to the summit at Loveland Pass after breakfast and quickly found two White-tailed Ptarmigan. This at least made up for all our efforts yesterday! They were positioned out of the wind above the snowline, slowly walked to the edge of a berm. Through the scope we could…

Day 2 / April 8 – We had a wonderful start to the morning when we visited Glenmere Lake in Greeley. We came to watch the Black-crowned Night-Heron rookery (above) in full swing which had many pairs attending to their nests, but our attention was turned to a Cooper’s Hawk calling. It turned out the…

Day 1 / April 7 – Vicky, Richard, Carol, Ron and I were all on the same flight from Philadelphia that arrived mid morning in Denver. It was not long before ubiquitous Horned Larks and Western Meadowlarks were spotted flitting about the flat grasslands that dominant the eastern plains of Colorado. A dark morph Ferruginous…

PA Young Birders at the John Heinz NWR. The leaders at Wildside Nature Tours not only have a passion for nature, but also a passion for introducing kids to nature. We understand how important it is to get kids outside to see our world’s beauty and discover birds, frogs, salamanders and anything else that we…

I have just been watching amazing footage of a Bald Eagle feeding her day old chicks, and you can to! The first two chicks have hatched and there is one more to come! Click here to see the 24/7 UStream video from a nest in Decorah, Iowa 

The latest issue of the American Birding Assocation’s (ABA) magazine Birding has arrived. On the cover is a wonderful drawing by Louise Zemaitis of an American Kestrel perched on a snag overlooking the forest at Tikal in Guatemala. The American Kestrel has been chosen by the ABA as the 2011 Bird of the Year. This…

Toucans and aracaris are among my favorite bird species. Why? It’s their big, flashy bills, of course! Their oversized beaks are not as burdensome as they look.  They are actually quite light, being hollowish like honeycombs.  The males sport a larger, slightly more colorful bill than the females; ornithologists believe this plays a role in attracting…

While leading birding and wildlife tours around the globe, I am often asked about the quantity of bird species in the world, and far less so, the number of bird families. Ornithologists quibble over the exact numbers, but agree there are approximately 9700 species, comprised of 193 bird families. An interesting fact is that there…

A simple way to show your support for conservation is to wear with pride a badge, available from National Wildlife Refuges, depicting the latest Federal Duck Stamp.  It is easy, simple, inexpensive and shows everyone that you support conservation. Buy one when you buy your next Duck Stamp, which for $15 give you free entrance…

I am fascinated by the latest posting in the world of citizen science. This webcam in Irvine, CA focuses on the minute by minute life of a female Allen’s Hummingbird raising her brood of two. The chicks are now about 10 days old. They will grow fast and fledge (leave the nest) when they are…

Day 10 / March 10 –  Our final morning in Mexico was full of bright sunshine, delicious food and spectacular scenery.  We returned to Cozumel’s north grid at dawn, where we got good looks at our final target, a Cozumel Rufous-browed Peppershrike.  Cave Swallows and Grey-breasted Martins swooped overhead while we scoped some perched White-fronted…