Photo of the Week: Third Annual October Big Day of Birding

chunky brown bird with brown smudges on white breast and thin white eyering perches on bare tree.

Hard to believe 2020 marks the third year of October Big Day, a global 24-hour event for birdwatchers around the world to watch and report all the birds they’ve seen.

This year had an added bonus for October Big Day, this weekend was also the first Global Bird Weekend.

I’ve participated every year and was happy it didn’t rain this year like it did for my first October Big Day in 2018.

Word has spread about the fun you can have birding!

The first year, over 13,000 people participated. In 2019, more than 20,000 people participated in Global Big Day.

And for 2020, I joined almost 29,000 people in submitting 66,843 checklists of 6,799 species (as of October 18, 2020 at 6:30pm Eastern Time). Continue reading Photo of the Week: Third Annual October Big Day of Birding

Photo of the Week: Fall Color on Michigan’s Backroads

Arching branches of gold, yellow, and orange leaves form a tunnel of color along a dirt Michigan backroad.

Shorter days, longer nights, and cooler fall weather in Michigan bring with them something I long for all year: fall color change in Michigan. One of my favorite things to do in fall, besides birding, is to travel along Michigan’s backroads to gaze at the beautiful colors. Whether I’m walking, bicycling, or driving, there’s nothing… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Fall Color on Michigan’s Backroads

Photo of the Week: Black Vulture in Michigan

large gray-faced, black bird perches on fence post looking over the pond.

The first time I saw a Black Vulture was on Florida’s Atlantic Coast on the way to Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge to see my nemesis bird, the Painted Bunting. The Black Vulture is common in southeastern United States, where they can be found year-round. I’ve seen them in southern Ohio in the past few… Continue reading Photo of the Week: Black Vulture in Michigan