A friend just brought this band to my attention. Bird Show of North America… pretty sweet!

Last week I received my copy of Ted Floyd’s Smithsonian Field Guide to the Birds of North America and after spending some time reading it through, I have finally sat down to write a review. Below I give you my “In a nutshell” which is basically a summary of my thoughts regarding the book. Following the summary is a more in-depth review of each aspect of the book. At the end of the review I provide some pros and cons, as well as my final conclusions. Overall I’m very impressed with this photographic guide, which is saying a lot given my usually strong preference for illustrated field guides. Here’s my full review…

… N’awlin’s music, to be specific. Do you love it? Does it make you tap your feet, or get you out of your seat and make you dance spontaneously? Well it does to me… and I’m totally getting my fix on http://www.radiofreeneworleans.com. In a time when very little comes cheap, this online station is a welcome find. Of course, you can also create your own personalized stations on Pandora Radio which I also find quite useful and fun (and free!).

Good listening on this rainy day

David

Just when you think it’s getting easy, Mother Nature throws you a curve ball… here’s the radar from sunset last night through 5:00am this morning.

Frames are every 1/2 hour for reflectivity and velocity, and every hour for the regional composite. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Last night’s radar wasn’t the easiest to interpret, so ground truthing this one will be very important. It looks to me that two decent sized waves of birds made their way to Florida this morning; one from Cuba, and the second from the Caribbean. Both appear to be moving on easterly winds, so the wave from Cuba would only be evident in the lower Keys and maybe the Tortugas, while the Caribbean wave appears to be making landfall from Miami to Fort Lauderdale. Birders in these areas, especially along the coast, should keep an eye out for new arrivals, and consider the possibility that these are not only passerines (they could be shorebirds). Any reports from the field would be most welcome.

Good Birding,

David

Please don’t forget to become a member of the Badbirdz/Woodcreeper flock today. You can read the Become a Member post to find out more information.

Well, with another night of light southwesterly winds at all altitudes, the only explanation for the lack of migrating birds is that (I hate to admit this, but) spring migration (at least the vast bulk of it) is over. I’ll keep an eye on the radar for any migration which may occur, but until then I’ll be focusing more on what’s going on up here in New Jersey (come visit me on www.woodcreeper.com).

Please come back and visit often, as I’ll be posting to this blog throughout the summer months… and Fall is only a few months away!

Good Birding, and thanks for all of your contributions to the website,

David

More of the same last night, as only a trickle of birds made their way across the Straits of Florida onto the mainland. Here’s the radar from sunset last night through sunrise this morning.

Frames are every 1/2 hour for reflectivity and velocity, and every hour for the regional composite. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

Good Birding,

David

Please don’t forget to become a member of the Badbirdz/Woodcreeper flock today. You can read the Become a Member post to find out more information.

Fire panoramic

Originally uploaded by woodcreeper.

Sometime late last Tuesday night, or early Wednesday morning, some nefarious creature decided it a wise decision to light a fire on the eastern boundary of Everglades National Park, at a location commonly known as “Mustang Corner” (named because of the propensity for folks to drag-race on the secluded road). By Wednesday morning at 8:30am the fire had been discovered by Everglades Fire Management, and assessed at two acres. With the easterly winds building quickly, though, the fire threatened to make a run to the west… right into critical sparrow habitat during the most vulnerable time of the year.

Between 8:30am and 6:00pm, the fire had grown to almost 13,000 acres in size, consuming most of the vegetation in its path and leaving little to no habitat mosaic into which sparrows might seek refuge. By Wednesday night the fire had reached the eastern boundary of Shark Slough, a low-lying trough that remains (at least partially) wet even during the driest season of the year. This year, being a drought year, the slough has been particularly important in keeping the fire from tearing across the entire Everglades landscape.

Over the last week, reinforcements from around the country and Puerto Rico have come to Everglades to help contain the Mustang Corner fire. One of our field camps (the one at which I’ve been doing my phd research) lies just a couple of kilometers south of the southern boundary of the fire, right in the center of the second largest population of the federally endangered sparrow. Thanks primarily to all of the hard working fire fighters, and secondarily to fortunate winds conditions, this southern front has been kept from spreading through the entire population, which would definitely spell devastation for the sparrow.

If you are interested in finding out more about the Mustang Corner fire, the Incident Information System website provides very timely reports and maps of the incident. My first manuscript on the effects of fire on the Cape Sable seaside sparrow can be found here, and the second is currently in review at The Auk.

Very similar to last night, with only a sprinkle of birds leaving Cuba and entering Florida airspace last night.

Unfortunately I think we’re nearing the end of any major nocturnal flights over Florida. Here’s the radar from sunset last night through sunrise this morning.

Frames are every 1/2 hour for reflectivity and velocity, and every hour for the regional composite. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

On southwest winds, I would have expected to see much more migration if indeed there were still migrant-ready birds coming up from the Caribbean and Yucatan. While some birds were still apparent on last night’s radar, it was only a trickle out of Cuba and probably not evident on the ground this morning. The regional composite does show some heavy migration though, but only for the panhandle, and only for birds leaving Florida. Summer is here, and so are the birds. Of course, I’ll keep an eye on the radar and post anything interesting as it happens.

Good Birding,

David

Please don’t forget to become a member of the Badbirdz/Woodcreeper flock today. You can read the Become a Member post to find out more information.

West winds dominated the peninsula last night, and migration over the mainland was light at best. That said, a light sprinkling of migrants from the Caribbean and possibly the Yucatan (given the strong westerly winds) could be seen moving northward to Florida. Here’s the radar from sunset last night through sunrise this morning.

Frames are every 1/2 hour for reflectivity and velocity, and every hour for the regional composite. Click on the thumbnail to view the full-sized animation.

While both radars show considerable amount of clutter, some “blips” can be seen moving from S–>N across the Florida Straits. Given the very dispersed signal, I’d assume these birds would be very difficult to discern on the ground, but I’d still be happy to hear from anyone out in the field today to confirm or deny. While I really enjoyed my time down in Florida, it’s nice to be back where I can count on the internet to download the radar!

Good Birding,

David

Please don’t forget to become a member of the Badbirdz/Woodcreeper flock today. You can read the Become a Member post to find out more information.