On June 14th 2021 at roughly 11:00pm, a Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush was discovered near the borrow pit in Utquiagvik, Alaska by a birder named Knut Hansen. 

On June 15th at 2:32am, St. Paul Island lead tour guide Sulli Gibson texted me about this bird. 

When I woke up on this fateful morning and saw the message from Sulli, I knew we were on the verge of witnessing history. As timing would have it, 15 of us were scheduled on the flight from Anchorage to Utquiagvik less than 9 hours later. As long as we could get on our regularly scheduled flight from Anchorage to Utquiagvik we would have a good chance of re-finding this beauty.
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Given the constant rain for 2 days I decided to check some local spots around Reno for anything that may be pushed down with the inclement forecast. The University of Nevada Reno Agricultural fields always have a lot of birds, so a quick check was warranted. Immediately after parking, a huge white bird caught my eye in the distance. I jumped in the car and sped ahead and got a poor, but interesting, photo of the bird in question before it disappeared.

20 April 2018 – South Fork, Cave Creek Canyon

The Chiricahua Mountains have long been a favorite destination for birders in the United States.  Among the most famous hotspots in this area is "South Fork."  I was fortunate enough to have a few clients who asked for nothing more than to see an owl (any species) and to look for the Elegant Trogon.  Anywhere else in the U.S. of course might seem preposterous, but in southeastern Arizona?  Downright reasonable!

South Fork did not disappoint.

Hi all,

I stepped outside with my laptop to do a bit of office work – things you can say when you live in southern Arizona – and, naturally, got distracted by trying to bump up the yard list for the month.  A quick scan around the cloudy skies revealed an impressive Golden Eagle soaring close to my yard's airspace.  Awesome!  I need to answer emails outside more often...
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Yesterday's visit to the Foothills Road feeders in Portal, AZ was certainly a more exciting way to start the day than I had envisioned!  Experiences like this are a great reminder to me, and hopefully to others: don't ignore bird feeders as an early morning stop if they're available, often that's when you find the really good birds there!

Among the 25 species we saw while sitting in a single spot was this stunning PLAIN-CAPPED STARTHROAT:

Note the large white patch above the rump, in the lower

Once again, the Atascosa Highlands Christmas Bird Count was a blast!  Although the point of CBC's is to monitor wintering bird populations by conducting surveys in a repeatable manner each year, it basically just involves going out to a pre-designated area and birding.  And, just like any birding, it's always fun when you rack up a decent species list!  Our team ended up with 65 species for our section for the day.

After my 6th attempt to locate the PINE WARBLER at Reid Park I was finally successful in seeing it for a while!  Though no pictures were obtained of that gem, I did manage a few of the waterfowl in the park.

Did you ever wonder how ducks can see their prey underwater, or perhaps how raptors protect their eyes from greedy chicks grasping for food?  I was able to catch a picture of this Ring-necked Duck that helps explain how.

Today (1/21/14) I found (one of) the continuing Black-and-white Warblers that frequent Sweetwater Wetlands in Tucson this and every winter.  This individual is lacking prominent dark ear coverts and has buffy flanks.  Both attributes suggest the sex as female.

Jake Mohlmann and Corey Mitchell just returned from an amazing trip with Norman Carr Safaris in Zambia’s South Luangwa National Park.

We were part of a group of ten friends, who also happen to be colleagues, which met up in one of Africa’s premier wildlife hotspots for a ten day safari. South Luangwa is infamous on the safari circuit for its high density of leopards.
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This sounds like a fun event! Wish I had time to go myself...

John Yerger

Adventure Birding Company

Texas Hill Country Spring Bird Watching and Songbird Festival

by guest blogger Tracey Louis

If you have time for a quick trip or know a Texas birding enthusiast, you’ll want to make note of the upcoming 13th Annual Songbird Nature Festival occurring April 26-29th.
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