Bryan's Blog
Find Bryan's latest essays at Chasing Nature »
The Forecast Calls for Birds
By Bryan on May 22, 2013 (Revised May 7, 2014) Songbirds pouring from the skies at dawn. Thousands of hawks gliding past a mountain summit. Rare oceanic birds blown in to shore. Birdwatching like this doesn’t necessarily begin when you…
What’s This? No. 6
Our previous What’s This? challenge (Number 5) was much too easy. So I’m back at it a day later with a new one from a woodland spruce bog in Vermont on February 13, 2011. Name it and win $5 off any…
What’s This? No. 5
Your next installment of What’s This? came from Rondeau Provincial Park in Morpeth, Ontario, Canada, on May 17, 2005. Name what you’re seeing here and win $5 off any of my outings or workshops. Submit your answer in the comments section below….
Flight Happens
May 18, 2013: A breakout day for flying things. It began on one of my guided bird walks to Berlin Pond: Virginia Rail at our feet. Yellow Warblers glowing above. Scarlet Tanager, in a naked white ash, fully framed in…
What’s This? No. 4
Our next installment of What’s This? was growing in northern hardwoods on the way to the summit of Burnt Rock Mountain in Fayston, Vermont, on August 7, 2011. Name what you’re seeing here, including species, and win $5 off any of…
What’s This? No. 3
This came from a woods road in Pownal, Vermont, on May 30, 2008. The first to name it wins fame on bryanpfeiffer.com and $5 off any of my outings or workshops. Keep reading to learn the answer and see full-frontal photos.
When It Rains Birds
AH, THE VERNAL DESIRE, the explosion of insects, the bustle of wings, the struggle for existence, the great rush north of migrating birds. In few places is it more dramatic than here along the shores of Lake Erie. Yeah, Lake…
Berlin Pond Birding Bonanza
An Osprey smacks the water and emerges with a bass struggling in its talons. Common Loons linger at a nest nearby. And warblers turn the trees into sparkling palettes. Another May morning at Berlin Pond. This year we’ll visit during…
What’s This? No. 2
I found it in the woods on May 29, 2006. The first to name it gets fame on bryanpfeiffer.com and $5 off any of Bryan’s outings or workshops. Read on for the answer.
Mob Mentality
The Black-capped Chickadee may be the perfect songbird. It is vocal and approachable, inquisitive and dependable. Even the casual birdwatcher finds in the chickadee a neighbor, a friend, an entertainer, a mobster. A mobster? Well, not exactly Al Capone. But…
What’s This? No. 1
Here’s the debut image in my “What’s This?” challenge. The normal location for this twig is under water. I pulled it up for a photo on April 17, 2013. What are the little white lumps? The first to name them…
Twisted Duck Sex
The screwy truth — and kinky experiment — about how female ducks have evolved a strategy for sexual assault.
