Mike O’Connor owns the Bird Watcher’s General Store at the Orleans rotary on Cape Cod, an institution celebrating, if I figure it right, its 25th jubilee next year (the store, I mean, not the rotary or Cape Cod). In those two and a half decades, he has answered thousands of questions; most, he writes, were easy–”the hard part […]

I like larks, and if I have anything to regret about being born a North American, it’s that we have only one (but a splendid one, of course) species of alaudid to entertain us. It’s different in the Old World, and Bulgaria has its nice little share of fancy larks to enjoy.
Skylarks, of course, were […]

Beauty and accessibility were not enough to make Montosa Canyon famous, but the Black-capped Gnatcatchers that moved in there several years ago pulled it off. Nowadays, this gorgeous shallow canyon on the west flank of the Santa Ritas is perhaps the easiest place in the US to find the species.

When they’re there, that is. A […]

The little seaside village of Sinemorets was a relaxing base for a couple of mid-trip days. Red-backed Shrikes and Hawfinches were easily watched in the gardens, and a Little Owl frequented the balconies of one of the newer hotels. But the real attraction was a brushy pasture atop a steep cliff, five minutes’ walk from […]

Thank you to Dale for consulting none other than Fiona Reid to identify our Panamanian rat. It turns out to be a Dusky Rice Rat, Melanomys caliginosus, found in low- to mid-elevation (ca. 1,000m) Caribbean-slope forest.

Thank you, Fiona! (And her new Peterson guide is outstanding, by the way, for which thanks as well.)