Welcome!

     Hello there!
     As one might guess, this blog is dedicated to the subject of birding (for those of you not yet familiar with the lingo, "birdwatching"). I recommend that you start your whirlwind tour by reading Evolution of a Birding Evangelist and Be Patient... Or Not. These posts should give you a decent introduction to this blog and birding in general. Of course, you're not restricted to reading just those. You should really read all of the posts. Here's a briefing on what you might expect to see in the future as far as posts:

     Reviews: I'll be writing posts discussing local birding spots in terms of what an inexperienced birder might see there, and take into account issues such as accessibility and ease of viewing. These posts will be a bit more detailed than the info on the Local Birding Sites page.
     Birding Stories: It's kind of like fisherman telling each other about the one that got away, except it's usually more exciting when the bird is actually found. I'll be starting up pretty soon regaling you all with my tales of crazy birding over Spring Break, featuring 30-mph winds, birds seen from airplanes, Boston traffic, and a bird sitting on my head.
     Tips & Advice: What's a good birding blog without teaching people about birding? These will (should) be the main focus of the blog, with everything from where to go to how to identify birds to setting up feeders in your backyard.
     What Is It?: Everyone loves to be hypercompetitive. That's why there's "What Is It?". In these posts, I show you a photo (or two, or three) and you get to try to identify the bird shown. The full rules will be reposted in the next "What Is It?". You might notice as well that there is a leaderboard for those who obsessively identify the most, which I will reset to 0 for everyone once I put out the next "What Is It?". Until then, the Nonfiction Writing students who tried it last semester can bask in their glory as birders-in-training.

     Also be sure to read previous posts and check out the Recent Sightings, Local Birding Sites, Birdlists, and Photos pages, accessible through the navigation bar below the big blue rectangle with the title of the website.

     Something noteworthy: I was wandering around the I.D.E.A. Store looking for materials for my English project when I came across this:

Photo by the Author

     I decided that $20 was a small price to pay for a second spotting scope (I tested the optics before purchasing it--very high quality), so I bought it. It's pretty corroded and worn on the outside, but the lenses and prisms are in perfect working condition. Once I got home I did a little research, and identified it as an Argus M49 Spotting Scope (civilian version; there was also a military version used by the Marines from WWII through Vietnam), which dates it to the late 40s or 50s. I'll probably do a little refurbishing of the case (and figure out how to mount it on a real tripod).
     One more thing: be sure to send questions to and read the answers on the spinoff blog, Flyway Truck Stop Q&A.

     Happy Birding!