One of those spectacular spring days in southeast Arizona, and I got to spend it outside, helping Darlene scout for an upcoming Tucson Audubon trip. It was chilly when we arrived at the Las Cienegas National Conservation Area just north of Sonoita, but that didn’t seem to bother the birds a bit.
Las Cienegas is famously [...]

I’m quite serious when I say that heaven must look a lot like the Nebraska Sandhills.
 
These 20,000 square miles (!!) of vegetated sand dunes, crossed by pristine rivers and dotted with grassy marshes, are the last great stronghold of the prairie grouse, and as I have written elsewhere, the ranchers and townspeople of Hooker County [...]

It’s a breathtakingly beautiful drive from Grand Island to Mullen, and the birds and the landscape lured us off the highway so often that it was nearly 3:00 by the time we arrived at the meeting place for our grouse excursions. The Sandhills Motel is always a delightful and comfortable place to stay, and thanks to Patty [...]

Sunrise on the Platte River in late March: no better time and no better place for a birder, especially when, as this year, you can be out there in a jacket!
Huge flocks of Sandhill Cranes had met us, right on cue, as we arrived in Grand Island Sunday afternoon, and it took us several hours [...]

All of us, I’m sure, have a secret list of common birds that somehow matter more to us than their abundance can justify. For me, Cedar Waxwing has always been one of those species: it warms the heart to remember their springtime arrival in the frontyard crabapples, and many a dismal February day has been [...]