Phil Brown, editor of Adirondack Explorer (a newsmagazine), visited Bigelow Road in the Adirondacks to try to find boreal birds a couple of weeks ago…and failed miserably.  He should have accompanied Will and I back in February.

Once I looked beyond the annoying use of “bird brain” in the title of his piece that appeared in the Albany Times Union I was reminded of my first several times out birding.  I didn’t know a single bird call beyond chick-a-dee-dee-dee and couldn’t ID a single species of warbler.  I basically just wandered around in the middle of the day in the hot sun and pointed my bins at anything that moved…and failed to identify about three-quarters of what I saw.

Fortunately, help was available on the local listserv and from members of the Hudson Mohawk Bird Club.  I’m no expert but I’m getting better.   Reading lots of books and blogs about birds and birding has helped too.

So, Mr. Phil Brown, if by some chance you happen to google yourself and stumble upon this humble little blog, the next time you plan to head out looking for boreal birds, or any birds at all, drop me an email.  I’ll be glad to help you figure out what you’re looking at, or, failing that, I’ll share your frustration at the ones that get away.

Written by Corey
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.