Author Archives: George C. Wood

Three days in the Santa Rita mountains south of Tucson, Arizona produced EIGHT lifers! Without the enthusiastic, expert guidance of local birding professional Brian Gibbons, my trip would have been a bust. Brian and I hiked miles and miles of … Continue reading →

A week in the San Francisco area served many purposes. Rekindling and making new friends, eating healthy foods like kale and soybeans, drinking healthy beers like Blue Moon, selling Haverford (of course!),…did I mention birding? Basically I had my binoculars … Continue reading →

In order for me to reach the magical “700 Club” of North American species sightings, I knew I needed to have the Henslow’s Sparrow. Each new bird from this point on is going to be a struggle…not to mention potentially … Continue reading →

A birder cannot visit Gambell on St. Lawrence Island without visiting NOME, too! Better known as the end point of the annual legendary Idatarod “musher” race from Anchorage, it is also a fantastic birding destination. Accessible only by boat and … Continue reading →

Serious North American birders absolutely have to witness spring migration in Alaska. Extreme “listers” will venture out to one of the islands with hopes of seeing North American birds which either migrate through or breed in the arctic and also, … Continue reading →

Southeastern Arizona is the premier destination in North America to search for owls and hummingbirds. The mesquite-lined washes in the seemingly endless desert around Tucson are dramatically framed in the distance by the Huachuca and Chiricahua mountains to the south … Continue reading →

Of course, I had to try for the Black-tailed Godwit again! It was seen Thursday (the day I missed it), Friday and yesterday. Sunday morning was wide open……. so off I went. Unfortunately, only a mile from the Chincoteague Refuge … Continue reading →

For over three weeks a “code 3” vagrant (Black-tailed Godwit) has been seen every day at Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge in Virginia. I simply could not remove this bird’s image from my obsessive-compulsive-disordered (?) brain, so I signed out for … Continue reading →

Spring Break afforded me the opportunity to “bird” (that IS an action verb) the southernmost portion of Texas. Starting with Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the gulf coast….the winter home of the 300 or so wild Whooping Cranes left on … Continue reading →

I have always kept a North American “life-list” but balancing a career and family slowed  down my birding in the 1990’s and 2000’s. Additionally, I lived in England for six of those years. My kids encouraged me to focus on … Continue reading →