Grosbeak Quintet

Happy 1-year grosbeak quintet anniversary to me. May 31, 2021 was unforgettable: my first (and possibly only) time of seeing five different grosbeaks on the same day. And though my featured photo above shows five Evening Grosbeaks, that’s not the quintet I’m referring to. No, May 31, 2021 held encounters with 5 different species of … Continue reading Grosbeak Quintet

Spring Surprises

Surprises come in two variations—positive and negative. Like most people who care about our planet and its denizens, I worry about contagion, wars, and climate change. While I’m extremely grateful that nobody is shooting at me or making me leave my home and country, that water flows when I turn on the faucet and electricity … Continue reading Spring Surprises

Birding Highs And Lows

So little divides utter joy from abject sadness. Like many Colorado bird lovers, I made a September pilgrimage to a Denver suburb, where a perspicacious birder had discovered an uncommon avian species. As the rare bird reports poured into my Email inbox for four successive days, I tried to suppress the little voice in my … Continue reading Birding Highs And Lows

Unrivaled

One of my most memorable recent avian encounters was with a species not commonly observed in Colorado. When Rare Bird Alerts from a birding hotspot in Denver kept popping up in my Email inbox day after day in late July, a birding friend suggested a day trip north, to try our luck. The bird in … Continue reading Unrivaled

Lost?

To look for one bird in a flock of thousands is like trying to find the proverbial needle in the haystack. When I arrive at Milavec Reservoir in Frederick, about 100 miles north of Colorado Springs, on this early January day and am greeted by the resounding calls of countless Canada and Cackling Geese, I … Continue reading Lost?