Avian Ecologist

Vis MiG

Today was one of the most incredible days I’ve ever had! I went to DE ave. where the road ends at Cape May county park. I met some new friends over a spectacular sight: thousands of warblers migrating down the road, many at eye level! They were flying past us into the hedge row. I […]

Visible Migration

This morning, I went in search of #vismig to “the place” in Cape May: Higbee dike! It ended up being a relatively slow morning, so I meandered to the meadows. I took the main trail down over the dunes, but didn’t walk all the way out to the beach. I then took the dune trail […]

Black Rails in Action!

Every birder holds their breath for a chance to see a rare rail, and I love coming across stories of those who “won the bird lottery.” This album below was especially inspiring and basically makes me want to live at the meadows; click through for the photographer’s story in the captions! The photos were taken […]

Higbee

I finally went to “the” migration headquarters, and learned about the field numbering system. I walked around field 4 before taking a break from the sun. Then, I walked the green trail at Cox Hall Creek in the evening!

Planning to Visit “Brig”

I’m still learning the nicknames of all of the south Jersey birding spots. So, I found out “Brig” is a unit in Forsythe NWR.

Cox Hall Creek

We took a walk on the red, yellow and blue trails today!

We’ve Arrived!

We got in this evening and I have to say, I’m pretty thrilled with our native-filled yard in an otherwise unassuming neighborhood. I found a neglected hummingbird feeder that I scrubbed out and hung near my “work from home” window, under the shade of a small tree. Hopefully we’ll have more birdie visitors soon! Where […]

My Favorite Places I’ve Been Birding

Phew — just typing that title sounds daunting; there are so many! I don’t know how I’m going to break this list up but I figured I’d at least start it and chip away as I go. Please comment regionally with your favorite places too! My current home city is Duluth, MN so my favorite […]

MD Historic Land Cover

This is long overdue, but I’m finally trying to do a deep dive into what my home landscape would have looked like. The land cover would have been broadly (i.e. statewide) hardwood-dominated forest composed of “oak, tulip-poplar, eastern hemlock, beech, loblolly pine, white pine & American chestnut.” However, a more detailed account records a fascinating prehistory: By 400 CE, holly, […]

MD Butterflies

We arrived late tonight/early morning at home, where we’re stopping over before making the final leg of the move. So, I compiled a list of species that can be found in my home region (PD) this time of year (L-July)! pipevine swallowtail spicebush swallowtail little yellow sleepy orange dainty sulphur hickory hairstreak: historical records from […]