The Nemesis Bird » life http://www.nemesisbird.com birding in s.e. Pennsylvania Thu, 01 Jul 2010 20:24:03 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 The Snowstorm http://www.nemesisbird.com/2009/02/the-snowstorm/ http://www.nemesisbird.com/2009/02/the-snowstorm/#comments Wed, 04 Feb 2009 20:25:09 +0000 Drew http://www.nemesisbird.com/?p=592 Last night the forecast was calling for a dusting to 2″ of snow. Around 9 pm the snow really started falling and was already 4 inches deep when we went to bed at 11pm. We expected that to be it, but it continued on and we ended up with 10″+ of snow, our first good snowfall of the year. Here’s what our backyard looked like. Throughout the day there were about 40 Pine Siskins coming in to feed, the most I’ve seen here.


snowstorm

The Millersville forecaster made this image to show where the snow event took place. Amazingly it was an incredibly narrow area that ranged from 1″-12″. The yellow region is what received a 1″ snowfall with pockets of 6″ and 12″ snow. 

 

Meso-snowfall

image from snowball.millersville.edu/~cws/SpecialWeatherDiscussion.html

]]> http://www.nemesisbird.com/2009/02/the-snowstorm/feed/ 2 Training http://www.nemesisbird.com/2008/05/training/ http://www.nemesisbird.com/2008/05/training/#comments Wed, 14 May 2008 10:51:25 +0000 Drew http://www.nemesisbird.com/?p=133 Today I am heading off to training for my third season as a field biologist for the 2nd Pennsylvania Breeding Bird Altas. I will be doing point counts across the state as part of an effort to determine densities of breeding birds in PA.

On the drive out, I will be stopping at some flooded fields in the hopes of seeing shorebirds. I was out there yesterday and picked up three new state birds for my list: Stilt Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, and Wilson’s Phalarope. Apparently there were also 2 Red-necked Phalaropes there but I missed them. These fields have produced 20 species of shorebirds this season, a very respectable number for an inland site.

After training I am heading to Cape May, NJ for a weekend of birding with my family and some friends. Maybe I will have some good updates from that.

]]> http://www.nemesisbird.com/2008/05/training/feed/ 0 Big Day attempt and final day of the hawk watch http://www.nemesisbird.com/2007/05/big-day-attempt-and-final-day-of-the-hawk-watch/ http://www.nemesisbird.com/2007/05/big-day-attempt-and-final-day-of-the-hawk-watch/#comments Fri, 11 May 2007 21:47:00 +0000 Drew http://drewweber.wordpress.com/2007/05/11/big-day-attempt-and-final-day-of-the-hawk-watch/ Today was a sad day in some respects. My last day at the hawk watch and last day with all the wonderful people that came up to help me scan the skies for the migrating raptors. I ended the season with 2,966 raptors, just shy of the more impressive looking 3,000 mark that I was hoping for. Still, due to strong flights by several species, it was a respectable and very enjoyable season. I also managed to rack up a total of 124 species seen from the watch, including 20 warbler species, 6 swallow species, 5 thrush spp. and 4 vireo spp.

The exciting thing is that in approximately 5 hours from now, my fiance and I are going to do what I am dubbing a “Medium Day”. It is in the spirit of a big day and we will certainly try to see and hear as many birds as possible. But, we will also be trying to get good looks at quite a few species that she has never seen and so our pace will be somewhat slowed by that. I am still hoping for around 100 species of birds seen in the maybe 15 hours that we will spend out in the field. Wish us luck as we bird n. New Jersey in hot pursuit of 20-30 warbler species and as many other things as we can get our eyes and ears onto! ]]> http://www.nemesisbird.com/2007/05/big-day-attempt-and-final-day-of-the-hawk-watch/feed/ 0 The Watch is about to begin, what’s up with this weather http://www.nemesisbird.com/2007/03/the-watch-is-about-to-begin-whats-up-with-this-weather/ http://www.nemesisbird.com/2007/03/the-watch-is-about-to-begin-whats-up-with-this-weather/#comments Thu, 15 Mar 2007 03:12:00 +0000 Drew http://drewweber.wordpress.com/2007/03/15/the-watch-is-about-to-begin-whats-up-with-this-weather/ Tomorrow marks day one of the Montclair Spring Hawk Watch, weather permitting. After reaching about 75°F today the thunderclouds are rolling in and we might get a good storm tonight. Thats all good but what about this…snow on Friday? That could make things really interesting. Well, hopefully I will have some reports soon and some pictures to go along with it.

I went to the Montclair Bird Club tonight and was treated to a great slide show of western Montana, one of my favorite places that I’ve been. I would recommend it to anybody. My best experience in Montana was driving on backroads. One day my fiancee and I were meandering along and approached some roadkill that a Black-billed Magpie was feeding on. I was already slowing down to get a better look when I noticed some thing large swoop out of the sky to my right. I slammed on the brakes and watched in awe as an immature Golden Eagle swooped down and plucked the roadkill off the road, much to the chagrin of the magpie. ]]> http://www.nemesisbird.com/2007/03/the-watch-is-about-to-begin-whats-up-with-this-weather/feed/ 0 Montclair Hawkwatch http://www.nemesisbird.com/2007/03/montclair-hawkwatch/ http://www.nemesisbird.com/2007/03/montclair-hawkwatch/#comments Fri, 09 Mar 2007 17:53:00 +0000 Drew http://drewweber.wordpress.com/2007/03/09/montclair-hawkwatch/ This weekend I will be moving to NJ Audubon’s Weis Ecology Center to start as the counter for the Montclair Hawkwatch. I suppose I will be giving updates on the flights and the progression of spring as I watch it come northward everyday for the next two months. I am excited about being outside for 2 straight months in the spring after spending the entire fall outside at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. There is something special about being able to see the different waves of migration and leaf out as it happens and not miss any of it. ]]> http://www.nemesisbird.com/2007/03/montclair-hawkwatch/feed/ 0