Author Archives: George C. Wood

The American Birding Association (ABA) finally voted to include our 50th state in its geographic territory in December, 2016. Hence, there has been a recent surge of birders booking trips with the hopes of adding Hawaii’s unique species to their … Continue reading →

The Eurasian Skylark population registers in the millions in Europe and Asia but the only place it resides in North America is on the southern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia…between Sidney and Victoria. The subject of countless British poems … Continue reading →

Spring break afforded me the opportunity to go west. Visiting friends with Nina in San Diego was the primary goal but unfortunately I was struck hard with a nasty chest cough at the end of the weekend stay. Rather than … Continue reading →

Okay, maybe not the New York Times but the Reading Eagle pictured the unprecedented Black-backed Oriole on the front page of its February 4th edition. Why? Because this Central Mexican bird has NEVER been reported in the USA or Canada … Continue reading →

The Ross’s Gull (code 3) is an ARCTIC bird rarely seen in the Lower 48 states. It would be a “code 5” except that you can reliably see it in October…..in Barrow, Alaska! Two weeks ago I had a plane … Continue reading →

Birding Arizona is always a treat but the winter season tends to bring certain rarities to the region. For several weeks I had read about a Streak-Backed Oriole (code 4) regularly appearing at a remote homestead’s orange slice feeders on … Continue reading →

The first sighting of an Amazon Kingfisher in North America occured in 2010 in Laredo, Texas. A second one appeared a couple of years ago nearby and now a third (female) has been frequenting the Rio Grande this Winter near … Continue reading →

The spring break plan was always centered around seeing our Miami-based Sarah…the person who originally suggested this birding blog. A trip to the Everglades was sandwiched between South Beach exquisite dinners, retail therapy and even Bikram yoga. Chasing rare birds … Continue reading →

My friend Shel Severinghaus sadly passed away last week after a difficult bout with cancer. The Severinghaus Family was instrumental in developing my interest in birds, starting in the late 1960’s with trips to southern Florida. Well lucky me, the … Continue reading →

THANK YOU to those of you who $upported Dano Weisbord and me in yesterday’s birding effort benefiting The Hitchcock Environmental Education Center in Amherst, Mass. Your contributions were motivating and know that every dollar matters! We birded from 4:30am to … Continue reading →