Whether Pink-footed Shearwater has a (very rare) dark morph, or whether occasional individuals are melanistic, are interesting semantic questions. But the bottom line for field observers is that apparently dark-plumaged Pink-footed Shearwaters are out there, and they could be confused with Flesh-footed Shearwater. Although some have questioned this assumption (e.g., […]
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Málaga, situated on the sun-kissed Costa del Sol in Andalucia, southern Spain would hardly seem like a venue for urban birding. But surprisingly, it has a lot to offer. The city, which is one of the oldest in the world, is one of Spain’s major tourist spots but yet even […]
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In August 2013, my friend Jonathan Meyrav of the Israel Ornithological Center approached me at the British Bird Fair & first told me of the Champions of the Flyway. A fantastic new bird race (or Big Day) to benefit bird conservation along the flyways between Africa & Eurasia. The event […]
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In 2016 a team of expert birders is being formed by members of Lonely Birder in conjunction with The Urban Birder. We are being sponsored by the Department of Tourism at the Regional Government of Extremadura (Spain) and suported by the Israel Ministry of Tourism and Leica to take part […]
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The Las Vegas strip is a dream location for some. However, if nature is your thing, this sterile, urban environment makes it real challenging to get your daily wildlife fix. Recently, I found myself in the middle of the strip and decided to pit my skills against that challenge. I […]
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There’s a lot more to birding than bright colours and big wingspans – it’s often the unobtrusive, smaller species that can give the most pleasure and awe-inspiring observation experiences. This was the case when Leica took a group of journalists and dealers to WWT Slimbridge Wetland Centre at the end […]
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Last September I found myself on Chincoteague Island, setting of the mythical Misty of Chincoteague, a favorite book from my childhood. I’d arrived about a day and a half before to help facilitate a workshop to develop the Pacific Americas Shorebird Conservation Strategy. Partners from all over the Pacific coast […]
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In March 2015, the Leica / Cape May Bird Observatory „American Dippers“ achieved the improbable, when we returned home from Eilat, Israel with the coveted Champions of the Flyway cup in hand. While less familiar with the Eastern birds, we carried the experience of well over 100 individual big days […]
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