Category Archives: Birding

Black-and-White Warbler

Posted on September 28, 2021 by Roger Gosden

A perky little warbler of mixed woodlands that migrates through Tidewater Virginia. A few remain here to breed. It creeps along branches and up and down tree trunks looking for insects in the same manner as nuthatches and creepers. A … Continue reading →

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Ferruginous Pygmy Owl

Posted on September 21, 2021 by Roger Gosden

You may have to travel a long way to see this species. Inge saw it in south Texas, at the northern limit of its range. A tiny owl with a longish tail, it is no bigger than an Eastern Bluebird. … Continue reading →

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Peregrine Falcon

Posted on September 14, 2021 by Roger Gosden

These iconic falcons have slowly re-established in Virginia after their decimation decades ago from pesticides. This pair of young adults considered nesting under the Chickahominy river bridge, close to the James River. Inge suspects that too much human attention frightened … Continue reading →

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Wood Stork

Posted on September 7, 2021 by Roger Gosden

Compared to the handsome storks of Europe in Hans Christian Andersen’s story and those that carried us in a natal cradle, American Wood Storks look like old countrymen with bald, wrinkly heads exposed to too much sun. A featherless head … Continue reading →

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Songbirds Taste Sweet

Posted on August 10, 2021 by Roger Gosden

Hummingbirds don’t visit feeders to quench a thirst. They have a taste for sweetness, like us, although different receptors on their tongues (T1R1 + T1R3). Now, we learn that songbirds taste it too. Several avian ancestors emerging in Australia 30 … Continue reading →

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