Saturday, like the day before and the day after, dawned dark and wet, but Judy and Alison and I struck off for Oneida Lake anyway. The woods in Verona Beach State Park were dripping when we arrived–at first with water, and then with birds. A small flock of Black-capped Chickadees formed the core of a [...]

It’s been almost three years since our first formal Big Sit at Catalina State Park; that year, if I remember right, we set a world record for the highest species count without Mallard. Confident that we can duplicate that feat this year–the Mallard-free part, not necessarily the world-record part–Aimophila Adventures has registered again for this [...]

I love the National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife-Associated Recreation as much for its little absurdities as I do for the very important ammunition it provides to the fight for conservation. I just received an Addendum to the 2006 report, and while I haven’t had a chance to read through it yet, a couple [...]

Spontaneous generation just ain’t what it used to be. I’m willing to accept that maggots do not arise from spoiled meat, and suppose I can even believe that mollusks don’t magically become geese. But this time of year it’s really hard for me to imagine that the juvenile Phainopeplas that descend on our yard in [...]

And now upon this splendid creature
A dull piece of pedantry remains
Hopelessly fixed.
- Arthur Cleveland Bent (on the Pileated Woodpecker)