Bird vs. Fish

In Canada, Without Cell Data Connection

We’re reverting to a more primitive age of birding: one without real time alerts or info, that requires trip planning and carrying paper guides. Here, it’s especially fun to get back to these ways because there’s so much new to see. We have general ideas of what we’re looking for (and thus what habitats to […]

East Sooke park

At the end of the day, we saw a Pacific wren along the Pike Rd. trail. At the same time, we heard what we identified as Vaux’s swifts by call overhead. Further down the trail, we saw a Pacific hairy woodpecker. On the way back, we may have heard a northern Pygmy-owl. It sounded exactly like a northern saw-whet owl […]

Birding Victoria: Spots & Bird Lists

waterfront… wandering tattler rock sandpiper If we want to find a skylark… island view nursery spots along Hwy 17: central Saanich bulb fields Victoria international airport Rocky Point Bird Observatory black-headed grosbeak Cassin’s vireo Hammond’s flycatcher Race Rocks tattler western gull black-legged kittiwake ancient murrelet rock sandpiper Pacific loon Laysan albatross sooty shearwater Other birds […]

Kubota Garden

As we walked some of the trails we heard the harsh calls of Steller’s Jays and got our best looks yet of the trip! Then, as we were leaving we saw what we’re identifying from its display as a rufous hummingbird; it was not a lifer for either of us but cool to see again […]

Discovery Park

Today, my parents joined us for a day of hiking and sightseeing. We got great looks at lifer chestnut-backed chickadees and Steller’s jays. As for “not lifers but neat west coast birds,” we got really nice looks and listens of Bewick’s wren and some good glimpses and a few calls from a spotted towhee. We […]

Swallow-Tailed Gull!

When we first arrived in Seattle and picked up our rental car, we went to Alki beach for lunch. I saw my lifer Glaucous-winged gulls, insofar as we could tell. There were many “Olympic type” gulls but several that looked like pure glaucous-winged gulls to the eye. We chased an ABA code 5 that showed […]

Planning for Birding in Seattle this Fall!

My boyfriend and I will be joining my parents on vacation to Seattle in Sept! (Species in bold are things we may have a good chance of seeing given the timing of our visit.) As it turns out, my parents are interested in birding with us too! I’m not sure how far they’ll want to go, […]

Why Reputation Matters in Birding

Now we’re getting into a little bit of a sticky topic: how and why your reputation as a birder matters, and what it has engendered in birding! Birding is an “honor-based” hobby. That means that no one else can tell you you didn’t see something if you say you did. However, this is where the […]

Why Am I Procrastinating?

I’m happy to get back to work, but there’s some sort of a fear too, that is heavily associated with procrastination. Heck, I’m procrastinating by writing this post, but I’m rationalizing it by at least trying to better understand my urge and do something about it. I haven’t always been like this, and I have […]

The Element of Discovery in Birding

I’m not much of a lister beyond keeping a life list, but admittedly adding “lifers” is my favorite part of birding. Maybe the main part of what drives me in birding is what also drives me in being a naturalist: there’s so much to see in the natural world! You couldn’t see it all in […]