‘Tis the season

Since we are now in the peak migration period for Broad-winged Hawks in the northeast, I figured I’d share some videos I took this afternoon at the Quaker Ridge Hawk Watch in Greenwich, CT (over 6000 were seen there today). Broad-wings migrate in large groups, often forming “kettles” of swarming, swirling birds. Quite a sight! [...]

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Matinicus Rock, Part 2

(Be sure to also see Part One of this post.) If one visited Matinicus Rock during the day, finding evidence of Leach’s Storm-Petrels (short of checking burrows) would be hard to find. At night, though, Leach’s calls sometimes fill the air. We checked a plot of storm-petrel burrows on three occasions to assess the number [...]

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Matinicus Rock, Part 1

(Be sure to also see Part Two of this post.) I just returned from three weeks on Matinicus Rock, in Maine’s Penobscot Bay. About twenty miles off the coast of Rockland, the 23-acre Rock is home to a diverse array of breeding seabirds, including Atlantic Puffins, Razorbills, Black Guillemots, Arctic and Common Terns, and Leach’s [...]

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