Oil spill and important bird areas (American Bird Conservancy)

Bird Group Warns that Oiled Birds Found Onshore May Be a Fraction of the Total Toll on Birds From Gulf Spill

As bird rescue groups prepare to deal with hundreds or potentially thousands of oiled birds resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf, American Bird Conservancy President George Fenwick cautioned that the toll from the spill may be far greater when the unseen impacts are factored into the environmental disaster still ongoing in the Gulf of Mexico.
Read the rest of this entry »

Screech owl nest

Wildest Bird Nests!

Guess what, everyone? There’s still time to enter (one more week) my fourth annual Gary’s Wildest Bird Nest Contest!

Do you have a bird nest (or nests) in your yard? Grab your camera, take a photo and enter it!
Read the rest of this entry »

If you like wild birds, you definitely need to visit the website for The Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Click on the link below and you’ll see what I mean. Enjoy! /Gary

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/netcommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1478

Bald eagle nest. Photo by Flickr user keithminer used under a Creative Commons License.

Wildest Bird Nests!

Guess what, everyone? It’s time for my fourth annual Gary’s Wildest Bird Nest Contest!

Do you have a bird nest (or nests) in your yard? OK, it may not be an eagle nest, but grab your camera, take a photo and enter it anyway!
Read the rest of this entry »

Western bluebird (Joe Oliver/Walnut Creek, CA)

Count records more than 600 bird species across the continent

The 13th annual Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) results are in and it was a record-breaking year for participation. During the four-day event in February, more than 97,200 bird checklists were submitted by an estimated 63,000 volunteer bird watchers from across the United States and Canada. From reports of rare species to large-scale tracking of bird movements, the GBBC provides insight into the lives of bird populations.
Read the rest of this entry »

Hummingbird nest and hummingbird with egg

It’s time once again for the 4th Annual Gary’s Wildest Bird Nest Contest!

Categories: 1. Most Unusual Nest Building Materials. 2. Flimsiest Nest. 3. Weirdest Nest Location. 4. Most Unique Bird. 5. Most Artistic Nest.

NOTE: A Grand Prize will be awarded for the Most Wonderful Nest of All. (More on this later.)
Read the rest of this entry »

Birds migrating. (ABC/FWS photo)

Our friends at the American Bird Conservancy in Washington, D.C., just sent me a news release on “10 Ways people Can Protect Birds This Spring.” Check it out below. If you can just do one of these 10 things, think of all the wild birds you’ll be helping to save. Of course, you’ll actually be doing all 10 … right? Thanks for caring. /Gary

FROM ABC:
As warmer temperatures begin to arrive and we spend more time outdoors, we hear the many, familiar sounds of spring, including the songs of our returning migrant birds. At this time of year, American Bird Conservancy (ABC) often gets asked how people can help birds. Toward that end, ABC has identified the top 10 things people can do to aid or protect declining birds in their homes and yards.
Read the rest of this entry »

Mother Goose sitting on her rooftop nest in 2009

A female Canada goose has returned once again to build her nest on a Contra Costa Times’ rooftop for the 5th year in a row.

It almost didn’t happen.
Read the rest of this entry »

Photo by Camille Sobalvarro, Brentwood, CA

Gary:
I thought you’d appreciate the humor in this photo I shot in Brentwood, CA, on Friday!
Camille Sobalvarro, Brentwood, CA

Camille:
Kind of says it all, doesn’t it? Great photo! Funny. Thanks for sharing it. /Gary

Can you find the REAL bird in this picture?

Thanks, Marilyn Berg Cooper, for taking this wonderful photograph at Lafayette Reservoir, Lafayette, California! /Gary