Latest posts
A Birds Eye View: Birding for Boomers
Birding for Boomers: And Everyone Else Brave Enough to Embrace the World’s Most Rewarding and Frustrating Activity is a book by Sneed B. Collard III. The publisher provides a good description: a friendly, accessible, and humorous guide to discovering the joys of bird watching. Beginning birders of all ages will get answers to every question…
Birds Eye View: eBird – What is it? And how does it work?
Do you use eBird? Maybe you’ve heard of it, but you’re not really sure how to use it. Most bird enthusiasts use eBird to track and report the bird species they see in a particular area. But what exactly is eBird and why should you bother reporting the birds you see? More importantly, HOW do…
SIB Member Profile: Bob & Eileen Mercer
Silver Lake Park is a 465 acre wildlife and recreational property in Bucks County, PA. Bucks County is north of Philadelphia and across the river from New Jersey. The lake within the park was created as a man-made mill pond with the 1687 building of a dam on Otter Creek. Much of what was once…
SIB “Bird of the Week” – Red Knot
Red Knot – Calidris canutusLength: 10.5″; Wingspan: 23″; Weight: 4.7 oz. One of the most exciting visitors to our beach March-May are the Red Knots. They have one of the longest migrations of any bird, about 18,000 miles round trip, from the tip of South America to the Arctic tundra where they breed. Our beach is an important…
Bird of the week-Meet the Yellow-throated Warbler
The Yellow-throated Warbler, Setophaga Dominica, is a common warbler in this area year round and breeds west to Texas and north as far as Illinois. They are part of the family of Wood Warblers or Parulidae. If you are lucky enough to spot this stunning warbler, it is an easy bird to identify. It has…
SIB Bird of the Week – Hermit Thrush
Hermit Thrushes are part of a genus (Catharus )that includes four other similar thrushes in North America: the Veery, Swainson’s Thrush, Gray-cheeked Thrush, and Bicknell’s Thrush. The Hermit Thrush is a medium-sized thrush native to North America. It’s known for its beautiful, flute-like song, often described as ethereal and melodic, making it one of the…
SIB – What’s your state bird?
State birds are chosen as symbols to represent the natural heritage and culture of each U.S. state. They are often selected based on their uniqueness, popularity, or significance to the region. Here are a few reasons why states have official birds: 1. State Pride & Identity Each state wants to showcase its natural beauty and…
A Bird’s Eye View: Slow Birding
If you have an Amazon Alexa device, you already know Alexa is good at suggesting items for you to buy on Amazon. Usually it’s something I need and she’s just reminding me it’s time to reorder, but with books she often recommends similar reads to what I’ve previously purchased. When Alexa recently suggested a book…
Ask SIB – Why do so many birds have white bellies?
If you pay close attention, you will see this general color pattern in not just birds, but in a wide array of species, in everything from insects, fish, reptiles, birds, and mammals. There must be an evolutionary advantage! Back in 1896, Abbott H. Thayer wrote a paper describing the dark top, light underneath as a…
New Experiences at Ocean Winds
Spring has sprung on Seabrook Island and at the Rookery on the Ocean Winds golf course. Every Spring, the Rookery, which is located on hole four at this course comes alive with nesting activity. We scheduled the Seabrook Island Birders Golf Course Learning Together outing, for the March and April months, on Ocean Winds so…
