Northern Parula

2024-04-22 Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary
2024-04-22 Sheepshead Bird Sanctuary

Monday, the birding gods blessed us with a *significant* fallout. Most of us here have seen a *MAJOR* fallout, where birds carpeted the lawns and filled the trees. Monday’s event…

2023-05-07 Magee Marsh Ohio
2023-05-07 Magee Marsh Ohio

After a lovely 3-day visit with my friends Bruce and Loretta in South Dayton, I hit the road again. I revised my trajectory into Canada from Niagara Falls to Detroit,…

2022-09-16 SPI on a Friday
2022-09-16 SPI on a Friday

Friday, after my morning visits with the birds at Sheepshead and later at the SPI Convention Centre, I took a break from the worst of the midday heat, and retired…

2022-09-15 Thursday on the Island
2022-09-15 Thursday on the Island

As my time on South Padre draws near its end, I wish I could stay for months, instead of the weeks available in my time-budget. It is especially hard to…

2022-09-12 SPI on Monday
2022-09-12 SPI on Monday

September days on South Padre Island can be hot as hell, with enough humidity to keep me dripping in sweat from dawn to dusk, and through the night. It can…

2022-09-11 Sunday on South Padre Island
2022-09-11 Sunday on South Padre Island

After breakfast Sunday, I stopped at Sheepshead, where I met a Northern Parula and a more typical female Blackburnian Warbler than the bird I met on Saturday at the SPI…

2022-09-08 on the Island
2022-09-08 on the Island

Thursday and Friday I split my time between the SPI Birding and Nature Center and the SPI Convention Centre. But it was my long day at the Convention Centre Thursday…

2022-09-06 SPI Convention Centre
2022-09-06 SPI Convention Centre

What can I say about the South Padre Island Convention Centre I’ve not said already? For me, last Tuesday had an added enjoyable dimension to my visit, when my friend…

2022-09-05 SPI Convention Centre
2022-09-05 SPI Convention Centre

Having skipped one day of birding on Sunday, I was eager to get out and hunt for birds. It was a dreary, drizzly morning on the island, with a lot…

2022-09-03 Saturday at the SPIBNC
2022-09-03 Saturday at the SPIBNC

I spent the day soloing at the SPI Birding and Nature Center (BNC), and had a lovely time with the birds and with the people there with me, enjoying the…

2021-04-29 Mini-Fallout at SPI
2021-04-29 Mini-Fallout at SPI

Thursday morning started off slow and stayed that way most of the day, but ended with a flurry of activity when a new batch of warblers fell from the sky.…

2021-04-22 SPI On A Slow Thursday
2021-04-22 SPI On A Slow Thursday

My stay at the Convention Centre was relatively brief this Thursday. There was a lull in the migration, but even on a slow day, good things can occur here. In…

2021-04-13 South Padre Fog
2021-04-13 South Padre Fog

I left Brownsville in the darkness of pre-dawn, with plans to meet birds on South Padre Island as they began their morning rounds. It seemed a good idea to be…

2021-04-11 SPI: New Actors and Familiar Faces On Stage
2021-04-11 SPI: New Actors and Familiar Faces On Stage

I should have learned my lesson by now. This day reminded me when I’m trying to track a subject bouncing through the canopy, the effort is all-consuming. There’s not always…

2021-03-30 SPI Convention Centre
2021-03-30 SPI Convention Centre

In the coming weeks, I intend to spend as much of my time on South Padre Island as I can. Spring migrant birds could begin trickling into Texas any time.…

2021-01-28 Sabal Palms, Ten Days Hence
2021-01-28 Sabal Palms, Ten Days Hence

It was a foggy morning ten days ago when I visited Sabal Palm Sanctuary for the first time. It added an air of mystery to my introduction to this amazing…