Here in Humboldt we’re pretty famous for our shorebirds. Among birders, anyway. A whole lot of shorebirds, in fact: Humboldt Bay is estimated to host to around 850,000 of them annually. There’s even an international birding festival here, Godwit Days, named for one of our most celebrated sandpipers. With much of the county located on […]
Sarah Hobart
Posted inLife + Outdoors
The Chase
To “chase” in birding is to drop what you’re doing and look for a bird that’s been reported, usually a rarity of some sort. The majority of chases, at least for me, end in abject failure — birds have wings, after all, and hardly ever sit around waiting for throngs of admirers to show up […]
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Earbirding Humboldt
Summer in Humboldt is the perfect time for family vacations, trips to the beach or river, exploring the farmers markets and seeing the sights from atop a Ferris wheel. But for bird enthusiasts, it’s slim pickings. The spring migrants have flown the coop and most of the local residents are keeping a low profile while […]
Posted inLife + Outdoors
My Father’s Birding Lessons
My dad wasn’t made from the same mold as other dads. Every weekend there were adventures and usually misadventures. In sub-zero New Hampshire winters we’d snowshoe through frozen river gorges and huddle around a tiny camp stove roasting bratwurst and scalding our taste buds on hot soup from a Thermos. He taught us food tastes […]
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Spring Migration
For Humboldt birders, May is a magical month. Spring migration is in full swing, and throughout the county the skies, marshes, forests, bay and grasslands are filled with birds. Some are here for a quick stopover on their journeys, to rest and replenish; others are back home on the North Coast to build their nests […]
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In Search of the Marbled Murrelet
Earlier this year, I celebrated a major birthday — well, “survived” is perhaps the better word. It was one of those milestones that falls on the far side of middle-aged, where it’s a lot harder to convince yourself the crackling sounds you hear when you heave yourself out of your cushy recliner are coming from […]
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An Eye on the Sparrow
Sparrows, in my opinion, get a bum rap. Few species give birders — even expert ones — more ID trouble. They’re small and typically some shade of brown, hence their nickname “LBBs” (little brown birds). They favor dense brush or tall grass, occasionally making short, low flights before dropping out of sight again. Their markings […]
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Scouting for Beginner’s Birding Binoculars
For my 11th birthday, my parents surprised me with a pair of Jason Statesman zoom binoculars from a discount catalog. I was crazy about birds and while by today’s standards the Statesmans weren’t exactly cutting-edge, to me, they were perfect. It’s a common misconception that birding is an expensive hobby. It certainly can be. By […]
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Birding at the Arcata Marsh
Humboldt County has more than its fair share of great places to go birding but one of my very favorites is the Arcata Marsh and Wildlife Sanctuary. It’s not just that it’s chock full of birds — 342 different species have been recorded there, and during spring and fall migrations flocks of shorebirds literally fill […]
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A Feast for Feathered Friends
When you love watching birds, you’re often willing to sacrifice the comfort of your cushy armchair for an hours-long vigil under a Humboldt downpour in pursuit of your hobby. But suppose you could have both — what if the birds came to you? That was my vision a few years ago when I decided to […]
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Searching for Bertie
For Tim McDonald and Julie Geary, schoolteachers from the Los Angeles area, a July road trip up the coast with a stop in Arcata to see friends from his Humboldt State University days, was both a first and a last chance to get away after a year hunkered down and before the new school year. […]