Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Right-handed Hummer, Pending Birds and Trees Workshop, and If You're Looking Northward Next Summer. . .

[Dale Rosselet popped her head into my office and asked if I wanted to take a picture of a hummingbird. Well, of course, right? This guy has been perching in the same spot outside CMBO-CRE in Goshen all day, right in front of Dale's window. It's a young male, interestingly so far growing in new gorget feathers only on his right side. The extent and location of irridescent gorget feathers in young male Ruby-throated Hummingbirds is variable and may change as more are gradually replaced during the fall. Any new gorget feathers in the fall get replaced again in March-April prior to their northbound migration, when these youngsters develop a full ruby throat. ]

A few spots still remain in CMBO's Bird and Tree I.D. workshop next Monday-Tuesday, September 20-21, which I'll be leading with Mark Garland. (Hit the link and scroll down for workshop details).We'll mainly bird in the morning, but learn tree fundamentals and how to i.d. some of the common species in the afternoons.

And, speaking of leading with Mark, we'll be teaming up again next summer for an NJA tour to Alaska on just the sort of trip we both prefer to lead: broad-based natural history, with a birding focus. That's typical of many NJA tours - we craft itineraries for a great all-around nature experience, but generally don't obsess about getting every last rarity (though it usually turns out we find most of them).

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