How many of you are bird watchers?

[Halichoeres]

Happy belated, Blaine!

Great owl photo, @ceratopsian!

[bmathison1972]

I was in Tampa, Florida for my annual baseball stadium trip this weekend and of course, birded .

Got 8 lifers! Here is the complete trip report:

https://ebird.org/tripreport/221719

Non-avian highlights included American alligator, green anoles, raccoon, eastern grey squirrel, and (possibly) fox squirrel. The most exciting non-avian highlight, and the only one I don't think I've seen, certainly not in that region, were fiddler crabs, quite inland but near water!

[bmathison1972]

I was in Los Angeles, California this past weekend speaking at a meeting and took an extra day to go birding. I have a friend there who is a grad student at UCLA and an avid/expert birder. Yesterday we covered everything from Bear Divide down to the coastal lagoons. I got 114 species, including 14 lifers:

trip report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/224844

[bmathison1972]

I was teaching in Minneapolis this past weekend, and in addition to getting the privilege of having dinner with @BlueKrono and his family, I got some birding in .  I racked up three lifers, the Connecticut Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Complete eBird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S174239164

[BlueKrono]

I was teaching in Minneapolis this past weekend, and in addition to getting the privilege of having dinner with @BlueKrono and his family, I got some birding in .  I racked up three lifers, the Connecticut Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Complete eBird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S174239164

It was a real pleasure meeting you B @bmathison1972 ! Now I just gotta hop the pond to meet up with some of our British and German members.

[DinoToyForum]

I was teaching in Minneapolis this past weekend, and in addition to getting the privilege of having dinner with @BlueKrono and his family, I got some birding in .  I racked up three lifers, the Connecticut Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak.

Complete eBird list: https://ebird.org/checklist/S174239164

It was a real pleasure meeting you B @bmathison1972 ! Now I just gotta hop the pond to meet up with some of our British and German members.

We're well overdue a big DinoToyForum meet-up!

[GojiraGuy1954]

I'm not a birdwatcher, but I do look at birds a lot.

[bmathison1972]

Just got back from about 24 hours in Vegas (for baseball). Got some birding in. No lifers, but five year birds (the roadrunner is an 'ebird lifer' not a 'true' lifer as I grew up with them in Arizona:

https://ebird.org/tripreport/247618

I also got a mammal lifer in the white-tailed antelope squirrel. Other mammals were black-tailed jackrabbit and desert cottontail. There was also an unidentified whiptail lizard of sorts.

[Shuvuuia]

Roadrunners are my favorite bird. Haven't had the chance to see one in the wild yet, but hopefully someday. I do a lot of casual birding in New England.

[Shane]

Just got back from about 24 hours in Vegas (for baseball). Got some birding in. No lifers, but five year birds (the roadrunner is an 'ebird lifer' not a 'true' lifer as I grew up with them in Arizona:

https://ebird.org/tripreport/247618

I also got a mammal lifer in the white-tailed antelope squirrel. Other mammals were black-tailed jackrabbit and desert cottontail. There was also an unidentified whiptail lizard of sorts.

That's awesome. I spent some time in Arizona for a friend's wedding some years back, and I was really excited about what kind of animals I'd see. I had my eyes peeled for a roadrunner but never spotted one. I did see some quails and lots of prairie dogs, and a collared lizard, but that was about it.

[Stegotyranno420]

Not sure if this is rekated enough, but on the topic of watching nature, does anyone here observe stars and planets in addition to wildlife?

I was not sure whether to do its own thread or not.

[bmathison1972]

Was in Atlanta for six days for work. Very busy meeting, very little time for birding but I got some in. Nothing new, however.

https://ebird.org/tripreport/252712

[Zephyr2007]

Shorebird migration is upon us now. Good to go out and check those coastal areas and wetlands for plovers and sandpipers. Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper, Killdeer, and Lesser Yellowlegs at a small local wetland:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S186787225

Would be worth taking a longer field trip out to a place with large concentrations of migratory shorebirds. Migration is amazing!

Carlos

[bmathison1972]

Shorebird migration is upon us now. Good to go out and check those coastal areas and wetlands for plovers and sandpipers. Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper, Killdeer, and Lesser Yellowlegs at a small local wetland:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S186787225

Would be worth taking a longer field trip out to a place with large concentrations of migratory shorebirds. Migration is amazing!

Carlos

Nice Z @Zephyr2007 . BTW I will be in Norfolk, VA in October for work. They gave me permission to stay an extra night to go birding. I am hoping to do some tidewater/wetlands birding!!!!!

The Solitary Sandpiper would be a lifer for me. They show up here, but not commonly.

[Totoro]

Shorebird migration is upon us now. Good to go out and check those coastal areas and wetlands for plovers and sandpipers. Spotted and Solitary Sandpiper, Killdeer, and Lesser Yellowlegs at a small local wetland:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S186787225

Would be worth taking a longer field trip out to a place with large concentrations of migratory shorebirds. Migration is amazing!

Carlos

Carlos, I used to work for Audubon in Texas back in the 90's and also did my dissertation down studying two rare plovers.  I spent a lot of time on South Padre Island, which frames the large, shallow hypersaline Laguna Madre and it's wide tidal flats (covered in blue green algal mats instead of complex vegetation due to the high salinity). 

There'd be flocks in the hundreds of thousands down there, largely made up of western and least sandpipers, dunlin, willets, yellowlegs, and many plovers, including the piping plover and snowy plover that I studied. 

But the best sightings I ever watched was when a huge flock of reddish egrets hunted cooperatively.  They'd form a large circle around some drum or redfish just like dolphins corral sardines.  They'd be dancing around gobbling fish while, inside the circle, ducks would be swimming around eating as royal and Caspian terns took turns diving into the fish school.  Just a bunch of dinosaurs working together to eat some fish.       

[Zephyr2007]

B @bmathison1972 You will have a lot of fun, Blaine! Both Chincoteague NWR (VA) and Assateague NWR (MD) offer fantastic birdwatching for shorebirds, herons/egrets, and terns. There are also good sites for Seaside Sparrow and Clapper Rail in that area.

@Totoro How fun! I am familiar with South Padre Island. It is a fantastic place. Migration across the Texas Gulf Coast is pretty intense, and I have fond memories of Brazoria NWR, Bolivar Flats, and nearby turf farms in August further up the Texas Coast with species like American Golden-Plover, Buff-breasted Sandpiper, and large colonies of various terns.

My immediate area isn't the best for shorebirds in northern VA, so I have to make a special trip to see diversity (10+ species). Bombay Hook NWR in Delaware is by far the best at 3 1/3 hours away. It's one thing I miss about living in Miami, where I had constant access and practice with a good diversity of American plovers, sandpipers, etc including both Piping and Snowy Plover. I see Old World species more frequently these days.

It might be fun to have a list of big shorebird sites across the world people can visit. There is a special kind of joy in seeing large concentrations of life.

Carlos

[bmathison1972]

Forgot to report this on Wednesday, got a lifer in the Red Crossbill:

https://ebird.org/checklist/S188622064

[Ajax88]

I'm one of those madman birders. Ive logged over 1000 species so far after around 9 years of birding. Living dinos are just as cool as the exctinct ones!

[bmathison1972]

Wow @Ajax88 - over 1000 species? I am creeping up on 400 for North America!

Huge birding adventure yesterday. Was invited to join a group tour! Got four bird lifers: Canada Jay, Pine Grosbeak, Red-necked Phalarope, and Mountain Bluebird.

https://ebird.org/tripreport/263450

other vertebrates of interest:
Mule Deer
American Red Squirrel
Uinta Chipmunk (mammal lifer)
Snowshoe Hare (mammal lifer)
Coyote
Desert Cottontail
Common Side-blotched Lizard

[Halichoeres]

I didn't know snowshoe hares got that far south!