Long-tailed Ducks
Happy New Year! We hope you are flying into a wonderful 2016 like these gorgeous Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis), and we at the Roger Tory Peterson Institute of Natural History wish you a happy and healthy New Year. Good birding to you and good luck assembling your Big January list this month. Share your sightings and your stories as you tally your list and get outdoors with your friends and family. Don’t forget your Peterson Field Guides, of course, and be sure to show us how much you are putting them to use!
Read MoreClimate Change in the United Kingdom
Around 20-30 plants should be flowering on New Year’s Day in the United Kingdom. This year there were 368 species in bloom. Three hundred sixty-eight. That is a strong 15% of all flowering plants and comes after 2014 was the warmest year on record in the UK. Now THAT is some changing climate.
Read MoreFirst Species of 2015
What was your first bird of 2015? The Blue Jay was my #1 New Year species. It is definitely a repeat winner given that their screaming and screeching calls can be heard indoors with the windows closed – I did not even have to get out of bed! Thanks for all too typical “alarm”, guys and gals! Are you planning on a “Big January” to see how many species you can find? If you have yet to decide on a birding game plan for 2015 I would definitely recommend trying a geographical challenge and largely restricting yourself to birding in your own town or city. You will end...
Read MoreGlaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus) by Twan Leenders
How did your first day of birding go in 2014? Twan had a few cool sightings yesterday in Chautauqua County while checking out some local hotspots. At Barcelona Harbor in Westfield on Lake Erie he picked out this Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus) that he noted dwarfs the Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) that is next to it and even closer to his camera. What did you see in the field yesterday?
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