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New Region-specific quizzes

Sep 082014

Are you serious enough about birding that you now take birding-targeted vacations? If so, then you might be interested in our slideshow quizzes that highlight birds of specific geographical regions. So, for example, if you are traveling to Texas or Florida, or are taking your first birding vacation to the eastern or western United States, take our quizzes to test your ability to identify the target species from those states.

Texas
specialties

Florida specialties

Similarly, if you are planning on a birding vacation to Central America or South America, it can be daunting and outright overwhelming to be inundated with so many new species (and even new FAMILIES) of birds in a short period of time. Wouldn’t it be nice to sample the birds from places like Belize or Costa Rica or Panama or Ecuador before you see them in person? For an updated list of our birding-specific quizzes, scroll to the bottom of this page and get started. Two new quizzes on birds from the western slope of Andes in Ecuador were added this week, with more quizzes to come.

Western Ecuador quiz #1

Western Ecuador quiz #2

Weekend Birding Excursion to Delaware Aug. 8-10, 2014

Aug 112014

This past weekend I joined with some friends from one of my birding clubs, the Edgar A. Mearns Bird Club, from Orange County NY for an excursion down to Delaware. I had not been birding in Delaware previously, so this trip was an opportunity to explore new territory with good birders who are more familiar with this area. Of course, it also was an opportunity to search for some target species that are difficult to see in our area, with the main targets being American Avocets, Black-necked Stilts, and Brown-headed Nuthatch. We were not disappointed. The trip began here in NJ with a stop at Forsythe NWR, where a trip around the dike produced many shorebirds on the receding tide, but the highlights were three tough tern species: Caspian, Least, and Gull-billed. The feeding Black Skimmers were a delight. We crossed Delaware Bay on the Cape May-Lewes ferry, accompanied at each end by Dolphins. Very near to the Lewes DE dock is Cape Henlopen State Park where we spent two hours or so, rewarded by good looks at Brown-headed Nuthatches, Blue Grosbeaks (which ended up being very common on this trip), Piping Plovers, and the first-for-me Ghost Crab. It was a nice start to my Delaware birding history.

The next day was spent entirely in Bombay Hook NWR, slowly progressing around the drive and carefully scanning the pools for shorebirds. The highlight for me came early in the day, with 275 American Avocets amassed closely in in Raymond Pool in the morning sunlight. Wow, what a great place for shorebird fans. There were large numbers of shorebirds in this pool, and when they took off in unison and circled the pool, it was quite impressive. Near the end of the loop we searched for a previously reported Sedge Wren, and we were able to first hear it, and then got decent looks at the bird (although no photos). This was a nice unexpected surprise for me,and only my second Sedge Wren ever.

Our last day was spent at Prime Hook, with the main target being the stilts…Black-necked Stilts and Stilt Sandpipers, each of which eluded us at Bombay Hook. With all the skilled eyes and a bit of good fortune, we found both species at our first stop, within a few yards of each other. Nice! It was a good ending to the trip, with 104 species seen by the group, including nearly all of our targets.

Protected: Mom’s 90th Birthday Party

Jul 192014

New quizzes are on-line

Feb 232014

After a far-too-long hiatus due to lifestyle changes (good-bye old job, hello new home!) and the need to overcome technical difficulties (after all, I’m a birder, not a programmer), I’m thrilled to report that new quizzes are on the assembly line. I’m planning many quizzes using the new slideshow format, and the first of these quizzes, which covers the ducks and geese of North America, can be found here. It appears that the major bugs in the system have been worked out, but if you have technical problems viewing or using the quizzes, please drop me a line at greg at birdquiz.net. Enjoy.

Hosting Danish birders

Mar 172013

Sometimes you can have a great day of birding without seeing many birds. Today was one of those days, but the story actually began yesterday. I was at the NY Botanical Garden, ending a good day by finding a Winter wren. Two guys came up the trail, saw me and the bird and asked in a foreign accent if it was a Carolina. I explained, and then we started talking. Turns out they are two Danish guys…Kel and Christopher… stopping over in NY for a few days on their way to a birding vacation in Trinidad and Tobago. They will be in NY for one more day and asked for advice on where to go. I suggest Croton Point Park, which they can reach by train. And if they are interested, I can meet them there and show them the park. So that’s what I did today…spend a day birding with two complete strangers from Denmark who I had only known for about five minutes, and I had a blast. Except for the species that they already saw in NYC, everything was new to them, and they were still enjoying the species that they saw over the past few days. I had a few targets in mind for them, and miraculously the birds cooperated, with these guys seeing their first four bald eagles within 5 minutes of leaving the Croton train station and high fives passed all around. At one point I promised them that the next new birds we see would be Red-breasted nuthatches (what was I thinking?), and of course that’s what happened. As they were taking photos of the nuthatches I called them over and pointed out a Barred Owl perched in plain sight (we looked for it in that same area earlier in the day but came up empty), at which point they nearly lost control. Having eventually run out of new species likely for them to see, I asked if they ever saw a Killdeer. The answer was no, and it turns out that for Kel that was a species that he really wanted. I took them to the baseball field, and there were 4 Killdeer. I never saw anybody so happy at finding one of our common species, and they immediately annointed me as master birding guide. I don’t know who had more fun…these guys seeing new birds, or me getting the opportunity to show them. Either way, it’s hard to think of a birding day that I enjoyed more. So thanks to Kel and Christopher.

Battling turkeys

Mar 132013

Wild turkeys were feeling their oats this weekend, putting on quite a show. The colors on the faces of the toms were brilliant and explosive, as if to pronounce their dominance by simply having more color than their challengers. Even moreso, two of the males decided to battle it out, first by pushing each other around the underbrush, with their necks aligned side-by-side. Eventually they raised the battle to a new level by locking jaws and continuing to push each other around. Eventually others in the flock joined the melee, inadvertantly disjoining the original two combatants, which helped to restore order. It was quite sight to witness. Here are some photos of the battle:

Ready to Roll

Jan 282013

The site has finally reached a viewable state, with eight multiple choice quizzes, including at least two for each skill level. There’s still long way to go, but at least now you get a sense of what we’re trying to accomplish here. Check back again, as new quizzes are on the way.

First quizzes uploaded

Dec 042012

After much reading and learning about how to construct these pages, the first test quizzes came on-line today. There’s still a long ways to go, but its a big step in the right direction.

Web site construction in progress

Nov 282012

The process of building this web site begins.

Hey, I’m just starting this page…. have patience. Good things are worth waiting for.

Let’s hope the construction phase doesn’t take too long.

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