Welcome to the 133rd edition of
I and the Bird! For new readers, this is the biweekly blog carnival devoted to birds and birdwatching. Blog authors can submit posts from their own blogs, and the host compiles and publishes the links. If you have not participated before, there are directions for doing so at the bottom of this post. On to the submissions...
Rare birds can be a huge attraction, especially if they are miles from where they would normally be found. Bob of
Tales of the Nishiki tells the story of a successful twitch in
The Best Tick of the Year.
Unfortunately rarity seeking does not always go quite as planned. Carrie of
Great Auk or Greatest Auk explains why in
American Dipper.
Fall migration is full swing in the northern hemisphere. Shorebirds have already made a major push south, and songbird numbers are building. The arrival of true migrant songbirds is usually preceded by a few weeks of post-breeding dispersal, as Nate of
The Drinking Bird describes in
Late summer, Mason Farm.
Corey of
10,000 Birds went with a few other birders to look for shorebirds; find out what they found in
Birding Coastal Nassau County.
When birds depart the U.S. and Canada they usually end up somewhere in Central or South America.
Jan Axel went looking for shorebirds around the Bay of Panama; you can read about it at
Shorebirds close to home.
Birders in Costa Rica are eagerly awaiting the arrival of migrant songbirds.
Costa Rica Living and Birding describes the experience of migrants arriving in
Migrants are on their way back to Costa Rica.
Late summer creates some identification challenges as birds transition from one plumage to another or young birds appear in formative plumages.
Greg Laden describes one such problem in
We Walk Among Ducks in Wolves Clothing. And Wolves.
Sometimes it is fun just to watch bird behavior up close. Cindy of
Dipper Ranch received a visit from a flock of vultures and had a chance to photograph them up close. She has the story and photographs in
Vultures on the Barn.
Sara of
i am the finch wench also received a surprise visitor. She has video of the encounter in
Aviary Visitor.
Eric of
making owls cool since 1986 describes a visit from hummingbirds in
New Hummingbird Neighbors.
Dave Ingram got to watch some Surfbirds, which he writes about in
Surfbird Surprise.
Larry of
The Birder's Report watched and photographed some
Common Mergansers Playing and Preening.
Alan of
Birds 'N Such describes the large colony of swallows on Roanoke Island in
The Purple Martins of Manns Harbor. The colony is significant enough that the local authorities have reduced the speed limit near it to avoid killing low-flying birds.
While on a birding tour, John of
Kind of Curious observed roosting Roseate Spoonbills, among other things. Read more about it in
Tour of the Matanzas River.
Susannah of
Wanderin' Weeta has a whimsical post in
Hard at work ...
Birds' encounters with humans do not always end well. Yojimbot of
The Origin of Species found an Osprey with broken wings and tells the story with photographs in
Take These Broken Wings. (Sadly the bird had to be euthanized.)
Michael of
counting coots watched a gull pick up and swallow a red balloon. He has documented the case with
a gull eats a balloon.
One of the pleasures of bird blogging is having the chance to connect with people who have similar interests. Occasionally we get the opportunity to meet them in person. Recently Dan of
Nature Observances joined with other bloggers for a
BwBTC Group Outing to Charlestown, Rhode Island.
Two weeks ago I joined Patrick of
The Hawk Owl's Nest for some county birding. You can read about it in my post,
Terns and Shorebirds along Raritan Bay.
Coming attractions
Grant McCreary of
The Birder's Library will be hosting the next edition at his birding blog,
Birds on the Brain. If you would like to participate, send your links to him at gmccreary AT gmail DOT com. Several
opportunities for hosting the carnival are available in October and November; if you would like to host those or a future edition, you should ask Mike Bergin (mike AT 10000birds DOT com) for a hosting slot.
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