Trinidad’s cloud forests typically aren’t birded much. After all, the habitat is restricted to the highest and mostly inaccessible reaches of the mountain range across the north of the island. MORE

Last Sunday, it was raining hard, but I went out to Chongming Island, a part of Shanghai, anyway. Mostly I went because some farmers there keep a lovely dog in a cage, and I have started taking him for long walks around the fields. MORE

With the sad passing of Prince Philip this week I thought I should share with you a book that we own that he wrote. This book was gifted by my father, Philip, to his father, Harry, for his birthday on 4th October 1962. MORE

Among all the birding locations I have found, Pino Real was my first love. I was just getting back into birding, and had only gone to some urban sites, during 2012 and 2013. I had tried out Lake Cuitzeo, and Laurelito, a wonderful town outside of Morelia that another birder had recommended. MORE

Birds are arriving in North America, flying from places far to the south. Many come from Central America, a good number fly much further. MORE

Comprehensive surveys of U.S. birders are rare, so the recent release of a “ National Survey of Birdwatchers: Nationwide and Flyway Comparisons ” is notable. Although the results are largely unsurprising, empirical confirmation of impressions or anecdotes is always useful. MORE

Like so many, the majority of my birding since the Covid-19 pandemic began has centered on my own backyard and local walking excursions. But as we kicked off 2021, I found myself far from my current home in North Florida, surrounded by a plethora of Maine birds! MORE

When I picked up a bottle of this week’s featured wine last March at a shop in southern Quebec (on my last trip out of the United States before the pandemic), I assumed the European heron on the label of the 2018 Domaines Paul Mas ‘Vignes de Nicole’ Cabernet – Syrah blend was a Gray Heron ( Ardea cinerea ). MORE