All Blog Posts (177)

This edition of Bird Banter appeared June 13, 2007 in the Outdoors section of the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle. Please ask permission from the author to reprint it in virtual or hard copy, bgorges4@msn.com. Thanks.

Plenty of bird action despite low count. By Barb Gorges

The Cheyenne - High Plains Audubon Society Big Day bird count this year on May 19, at 109 species, was not our lowest count, but it was a long way from our record count of 169 species in 1993, or the 137 species…

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Posted 5/14/07

by Paul Kerlinger

Outdoors Editor

Cape May, NJ - Who in his right mind would be bird watching at 3 AM?

It was only 5 minutes after we began the 2007 World Series of Birding that I asked that question. But there I was with four other crazed birders, listening for owls at the end of Bayshore Road at the canal.…

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Finally sat down to tally up work we have accomplished over last two years in our 12,000 sq ft landscape effort. Bought two more Canada Red Cherries today. For those interested ... this effort has definitely increased our bird population--80+ yard species. Yard list follows plantings.

Landscapings (Nunn, Colorado)

Hackberry - 3 (Western Kingbirds nest for three consecutive years)

Dwarf Rabbitbrush (Green/Blue) - 21

Austrian Pine - 8

Witchita Blue Juniper -…

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WALDEN, Colo. - People jostled cameras and squirmed on benches inside a trailer on a high-mountain meadow as the tour guide gently opened retractable doors, turning the bird blind into a window on one of nature's most spectacular shows: Strutting, chest-puffing male sage grouse in the last throes of mating season.

Read full story at Yahoo! News

Highlights:

Boats offer quieter way to sneak up on some birds.
Subdued colors like sand or green best for approaching birds.
Safety orange markings useful in high-traffic waterways.
Some boat owners offer bird watching excursions.

Read full story at CNN.com

U. S. Forest Service Wildflower Viewing Rocky Mountain Region

The Rocky Mountain Region of the USDA Forest Service includes eleven national forests and grasslands in Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas. The ecological and biological diversity on these lands is amazing: ranging from the many peaks above 14,000 feet in elevation down from alpine tundra, through coniferous and aspen forests, to…

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By the way, I grew up in New Jersey and at the time knew nothing of birds.

Starting at midnight tonight, birders from 25 states and four foreign countries will fan out across New Jersey for the annual World Series of Birding.

By the end of the 24-hour competition, midnight Saturday, the winning team will most likely have identified well over 200 different species in the course of their travels from one end of the state to the other.…

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Colorado bird watchers have dozens of new places to go birding and a great new cyber resource to locate them. It’s called “The Colorado Birding Trail.”



“With a simple click of a mouse, people can get directions to new places they haven’t been before,” said John Koshak of the Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW).



For the last two years, the DOW and a consortium of groups interested in promoting wildlife watching have been working with public and private landowners in…

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Various studies have shown that more than half of the American public enjoys observing, studying, or photographing the vast varieties of fish, wildflowers, wildlife, and scenery. This trend is predicted to more than double by the year 2040.

In 1986, the President's Commission on Americas Outdoors identified wildlife-associated recreation as one of the nation's most popular outdoor activities. The commission recommended that protection and enhancement of recreational…

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Dawn comes late to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on winter mornings. When the sun finally edges over the high ridges that crowd the town of Jackson and paints the Tetons pink, the huddled mounds studding the snow-covered meadows along Flat Creek finally come into focus as thousands of sleeping elk. They stir, shaking the hoarfrost from thick pelts with a clatter of antlers and flapping of ears. Plumes of breath rise from thousands of black nostrils, forming a shimmering cloud in the frigid air as the… Continue

The latest report from the National Academy of Sciences recognizes that properly-sited wind power holds great promise as a source of renewable energy that can reduce global warming pollution. If we don't find ways to reduce global warming pollution, far more birds and people will be threatened by climate change than by wind turbines. Read full story here.

One thing is for certain: Biofuels are generating enormous buzz. Government and business leaders worldwide are touting agricultural crops as sources of energy that are more climate-friendly than fossil fuels. But just how environmentally friendly is it to convert natural resources like sugar cane, corn, and palm oil into fuel? Read full story here.

For those many birders familiar with the Nunn water tower ("Watch Nunn Grow") .. we'll soon be changing our town motto to "Watch Nunn Glow".

Issue at hand: According to recent news reports and Powertech Uranium Corp's Web site, the Centennial project includes 5,760 acres of uranium mineral rights in Weld County with more than 3,000 drill holes totaling approximately 1 million feet of drilling already completed.

Concerned northern Colorado residents built a…

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On the Wellington Wildlife Area, we found one Glossy Ibis and two White-faced Ibis.

On the Central Plains Experimental Range,(US 85 CR 114, we found McCown's Longspur and Chestnut-collared Long-.spur.

Near Gary Lefko's home, a male Chukar was singing from a rooftop.

A Stilt Sandpiper was at Crom Lake near Pierce, CO.

The best bird at Loloff Reservoir was a Semipalmated Plover, but we also found Willets, Black-necked Stilts, and Pectoral…

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"Consider the Birds of the Field for they sow not nor reap...consider the Lilies of the Field how they grow and toil not...Yet God cares for them...so will he Care for you" (abbrv from Matthew 6:26-34

Birding began for me in 1998 at the age of 39 looking at a single bird feeder in our backyard. It was given to me as a gift from my spouse. Day after day I watched as new bird after new bird showed up to eat. I was compelled to identify these visitors to our house so I went to the nearby bookstore and purchased a field guide to try and identify my new friends.

As the weeks went by I began to identify my daily guests. I…

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