There is so much to see…

Read Victorian travel logs and accounts abound not only of the vastness of the natural world, but of wildlife in such remarkable numbers as to defy imagination. Imagine 19th-century herds of American Bison roaming the prairies, stretching from horizon to horizon.

Five days into my five-week South American adventure as a naturalist about the Hapag-Lloyd ship m/v HANSEATIC Inspiration and I finally had the opportunity to go birding—not that I haven’t been birding, literally, all the time—what I mean is REALLY go birding.

Despite a low ceiling and a light, misting drizzle at the beginning of the day, we managed 29 species!

This article was published in the March 01, 2012, edition of The Bar Harbor Times. Snowy Owls persist. Red-bellied Woodpeckers in Hulls Cove, Maine. A fly-by Razorbill off Acadia National Park’s Great Head. Bohemian Waxwings. Merlins making White-throated Sparrows nervous. All these and more are highlighted in Rich’s column this week. 

This article was published in the February 16, 2012, edition of The Bar Harbor Times. The Manset, Maine, Dovelie persists. Snowy Owls galore! An early Turkey Vulture. Northern Shrike. All these and more are highlighted in Rich’s column this week. 

This article was published in the February 02, 2012, edition of The Bar Harbor Times. Highlights in Rich’s column this week focus on a Dovekie in Manset, Maine, and the ducks of the Somesville mill pond, including three American Wigeon and five banded Mallards. 

This article was published in the January 19, 2012, edition of The Bar Harbor Times. In this week’s column, Rich departs from discussing local observation in order to share sightings from a trip to Sarasota, Florida. 

This article was published in the January 5, 2012, edition of The Bar Harbor Times. In this week’s column, Rich shares observations from a pelagic boat trip to Mount Desert Rock, 25 miles offshore. He also summarized the results from the 2011 Maine “Big Year” birding competition.