WHAT'S NEW?
3 Feb 2024 — a page on Montlerey County bird highlights from October-December 2023 is now available
3 Jan 2024 — the Monterey County 400 Club has been updated through 15 January 2024, with new members, new totals, and some new photos
25 Oct 2023 — a page on Montlerey County bird highlights from July through September 2023 is now available
25 June 2023 — a page on Monterey County bird highlights from the first half of 2023 is now updated through June
22 Jan 2023 — the late fall 2022 highlights for Monterey County birds (including September's passerines) is now posted.
11 Nov 2022 — the summer highlights for Monterey County birds (through September's non-passerines) is now updated.
30 Aug 2022 — a photo-heavy discussion of Short-tailed Albatross on Monterey Bay and vicinity between July 2021 and July 2022, in now available
4 July 2022 — the opening page of MTY bird highlights for 2022, covering January through June, and featuring a new MTY bird, is now complete. A revised family page is up on Tityras
22 Apr 2022 — a MTY bird highlight for 2022, covering January into May, is up. New revised family pages are up for Cotingas, Antbirds, Puffbirds, Motmots, Jacamars, and Mitrospingid tanagers
5 Jan 2022 — the MTY highlights page for Oct-Dec 2021 has been completed; revised family pages are up for Loons and Sandpipers
18 Dec 2021 — revised family pages are up New World Vultures, Coursers & Pratincoles, Crab-Plover, Plains-wanderer, and Painted-Snipes
4 Dec 2021 — revised family pages are up for Boobies, Hoatzin, Sunbittern, Kagu, Magpie Goose, Thick-knees, and Skuas & Jaegers
25 Oct 2021 — a page on MTY bird highlights from June-September is complete, and new MTY highlights page starting in October has been initiated
21 June 2021 — revised family pages are up for Skimmers, Parrotbills, Quail-thrushes, Fairywrens, and Honeyeaters. Also the MTY bird highlight page for 2021 has been updated through May.
10 May 2021 — a MTY bird highlight page for 2021 have been posted, covering January through early May. New revised family pages are up for Ibisbill, Rockjumpers, Spot-throat & Allies, and Fairy Flycatchers.
1 May 2021 — revised family pages are up for Australasian Robins, Owlet-nightjars, and Manakins
24 Apr 2021 — revised family pages are up for Bustards, Wrens, Dippers, Cisticolas, and Silktails
7 Apr 2021 — revised family pages are available for African & Green Broadbills, Asian & Grauer's Broadbills, African Warblers, Donacobius, and Leaf Warblers (Phylloscopidae)
22 Mar 2021 — a discussion of oystercatcher i.d. issues in California — particularly the topic of hybrids, the race frazari, and Jehl's (1985) work — is available; more revised family pages are up for Australian Mudnesters, Thrashers, Long-tailed Tits, Silky-flycatchers, and Screamers
4 Mar 2021 — revised family pages are up for Nuthatches, Shrikes, Bushshrikes, Ioras, Leafbirds, and Gnatcatchers, and updates made to the "Top 50 Birds" and "Top 50 Best Mammals" projects
10 Feb 2021 — the MTY bird highlight for fall 2020 have been updated to year's end. Revised family pages in the Bird Families project are now up for Thrushes and Muscicapids [Old World flycatchers, robins, chats & allies] — together those two families have 490 species, half of which have changed families since my 1999 initial pages, so these are massive updates — plus updated pages for Larks, Gnateaters, Crescentchests, Antpittas, Weavers, and Waxwings
24 Dec 2020 — a new MTY bird highlight in fall 2020 is updated into early December, and the MTY bird highlight for summer 2020 have been concluded. Revised family pages in the Bird Families of the World project are now available for pipits & wagtails, New World warblers, icterids, and cockatoos
20 Sep 2020 — revised family pages for Nightjars, Cranes, Tinamous, Reed Warblers, Finfoots, and Oystercatchers are available
20 Aug 2020 — the MTY bird highlight in summer 2020 are updated into August, and revised family pages for Jaçanas, Swallows, and Parids are up
12 July 2020 — an updated family page on Curassows & Guans is now available
30 May 2020 — a page on MTY bird highlights for January-May 2020 is now available. The Trogon page is significantly updated since first posted in 1999
20 May 2020 — After delays during computer upgrades and learning new software, there is a new seven-page gallery on Mammal Families of the World. Comprised of photos taken over the last 47 years, the gallery has examples of 82 mammalian families (sometimes to the level of subfamilies and/or tribes) that are illustrated through my photos
1 Dec 2019 — An updated annotated, illustrated list of the Top 10 and Top 25 birds in Monterey County is now available
22 Nov 2019 — A page on late fall bird highlights in Monterey County is updated through 3d week of November. In my "bird families" project, the page on New World Vultures [first posted 5 Sep 1999] is now updated with new photos some 20 years later
23 Aug 2019 — A page on Monterey County highlights for the second half of 2019 is up with July-Sep bird highlights
28 July 2019 — An update to my 16th edition of my Bird Families of the World project is now available, called "edition 16-B," with minor adjustments and a significantly new sequence; there are now updated pages in the Bird Family projects for Hawks & Eagles, for Sandgrouse, and for Grebes. My "portal page" for Monterey County rarities has also been updated, and I've revised multiple photos in my personal gallery of bird family photos
15 June 2019 — A Monterey County highlights for the first half of 2019 is now up
30 May 2019 — A gallery of highlights from a March trip to Bhutan is now available
24 Dec 2018 — The 16th edition of my Bird Families of the World project is now available, adding five more families, and resequencing the taxonomy. New pages are now up for Crested Shrikejay, Royal Flycatchers & allies, the Alcippe Fulvettas, Puerto Rican tanager, and Yellow-breasted Chat.
16 Nov 2018 — The Monterey County 400 Club has been updated with a 23rd member, and all totals updated to 15 Nov 2018
12 Nov 2018 — The Monterey County highlights for late 2018 have now began with October news, while the Highlights for June-Sep have been completed. My personal chronology of National Parks is updated with my 50th National Park.
19 Aug 2018 — The Monterey County highlights for summer 2018 are initiated, mostly with news of tropical boobies
4 July 2018 — The Monterey County 400 Club has been updated with a 22nd member, and all totals updated to 1 July 2018
28 May 2018 — The Monterey County bird highlights for Jan-May 2018 are updated and concluded
7 May 2018 — A new page on a spring 2018 visit to Southeast Arizona in search to ABA rarities, with many photos
2 Mar 2018 — A new page, compiled by Michael Rieser, Rita Carratello, and me, sets out our choices for the Top 10 Rare Birds in Monterey County; it was so hard to pick just ten that it actually portrays Monterey's "Top 20" rare birds, with photos.
19 Feb 2018 — A new page on Monterey County bird highlights for early 2018 has been updated through mid-February.
29 Dec 2017 — The Falcon family page has been entirely redone after 18 years
3 Dec 2017 — The page on Monterey County bird highlights for autumn 2017 has been updated through Thanksgiving. The Monterey Bay site has been updated with a link to a full discussion of county boundaries offshore, including details of the border between Monterey Co. (MTY) and Santa Cruz Co. (SCZ)
15 October 2017 — A new update on Monterey County bird highlights for autumn 2017 has begun. Meanwhile, the update to summer highlights for Monterey County has been wrapped up with August rarities, and the page on our Masked/Nazca Booby at Pt. Pinos in mid July has new comments [spoiler . . I think it is a Nazca]. My personal chronology of National Parks and chronology of National Monuments is updated with new places visited
25 July 2017 — An update to Monterey County bird highlights page has brings us into early July, and there is a new page on issues related to a Masked/Nazca Booby at Pt. Pinos in late July. A new set of personal pages highlight my "top 10 personal bird finds in California," my "top 20 personal bird chases in California," and a third page with poems, cartoons, and thoughts on chasing rare birds in California
14 June 2017 — The 15th edition of my Bird Families of the World project is now available, adding four more families, and resequencing the taxonomy
3 May 2017 — The Monterey County bird highlights page has been fully updated through April 2017
5 Mar 2017 — The Monterey County 400 Club has been updated with two new members
23 Jan 2017 — A Monterey County bird highlights page for early 2017 has been initiated
25 Nov 2016 — The Monterey County bird highlights page for late 2016 has highlights to Thanksgiving, and an old Bowerbird family page has been significantly updated
19 Nov 2016 — The Monterey County bird highlights page for late 2016 now has highlights to mid-November, and I continue to update/update older version of Bird Family pages. There are now recent updates for frigatebirds, berrypeckers, satinbirds, and stilts & avocets
15 Oct 2016 — The Monterey County bird highlights page for late 2016 now has highlights to mid-October
21 Aug 2016 — The Monterey County bird highlights page for mid 2016 has been updated again, There are also new versions of the families Charadriidae [plovers], Prunellidae [accentors] and Urocynchramidae [Przevalski's Pinktail]
3 July 2016 — The Monterey County bird highlights page for mid 2016 has been initiated, updated to 3 July
11 June 2016 — The Monterey County bird highlights page for early 2016 has been updated through early June
28 May 2016 — The Bird Families project is updated with a new page on the Zeledoniidae, and the page on Cuckoos & allies has been completely redone. For local eBirders, there is a new detailed map and directions for eBirding at Pt. Pinos and vicinity, and an update to the Top 10 Birds at Pt. Pinos.
23 Apr 2016 — The Monterey County highlights page for early 2016 has been updated through April
10 Apr 2016 — in the Bird Families project, the Estrildid finches have been updated. And, from a personal perspective, there is a 16-page gallery of my efforts to see (and sometimes photograph) all the bird families — at one photo per family in the gallery — including former families and proposed new families. In my National Park Service project, my choices for Top Ten National Monuments has been revised (one added, one demoted), and my personal chronology of National Monuments is updated.
29 Mar 2016 — The Monterey County highlights page for early 2016 has been initiated with many new photos.
9 Mar 2016 — after more than 17 years, my Bird Families of the World project now has a web-page for each Family on the list. Some are very old and need updating, but at least there is something there [it may take another 17 years to revise all the old ones... ]. The newest pages include Jacamars, Puffbirds, Flowerpeckers, and Vireos.
3 Mar 2016 — Three new choices and some rearrangements have revised my 50 Best Birds in the World project. In the Bird Families project, there are new pages up for Antthrushes, Sugarbirds, Starlings, and Old World Sparrows.
7 Feb 2016 — my Bird Families of the World project is now updated to a 14th edition. It adds 10 new families and merges two, for a net change of 8 families. There are new pages for all the new families, including Ploughbill, Berryhunter, Ifrita, Silktails, Melampittas, Shrike-tit, and Austral Storm-Petrels, plus new or updated pages for Northern Storm-Petrels, Cassowaries & Emu, Megapodes, Guineafowl, Mohouids [Whitehead & allies], Whistlers, Fantails, Old World Buntings, and New World Sparrows.
14 Jan 2016 — the Monterey County highlights for late 2015 has been wrapped up
8 Dec 2015 — new or updated pages on Elachura, Rosy Thrush-tanager, Berrypeckers, Painted Berrypeckers, Treecreepers, Australian Treecreepers, and Woodhoopoes are now up in my "Bird Families of the World" project
27 Nov 2015 — new Monterey County highlights pages for 2015 are now up for mid-September through October and November-December. The latter features the Monterey Audubon Society's dawn-to-dusk seawatch at Pt. Pinos
1 Aug 2015 — new pages covering Rails and Pittas are now up in my "Bird Families of the World" project
25 July 2015 — a new project celebrating National Parks and Monuments in the U.S., including photo compilations of my choices for Top 10 National Parks, for Top 10 National Parks that used to be National Monuments etc., for Top 10 National Monuments, and a personal chronology of visits of National Parks and to National Monuments. Also, the Monterey County highlights page for early 2015 has been concluded and the Monterey County highlights page of mid-2015 has been started
20 Mar 2015 — pages on Asian barbets, African barbets, Toucans, and Toucan-Barbets have been updated in design and new photos added
28 Feb 2015 — my website again has a site-specific "search" function on the Home page. [You may need to refresh my home page to get the updated search function.] This is thanks to my friend John Sullivan, who recently redesigned his great website Wild Herps on things reptilian or amphibian. Also, my New World barbets page has been updated.
20 Jan 2015 — The Monterey County highlights page for early 2015 has been initiated with many new photos, and there is a retrospective "Birds Birds of 2014 in Monterey County." Also, the Monterey County bird highlights for late 2014 have been updated through year's end.
7 Dec 2014 — My project on the "50 Best Birds of the World" and the "50 Best Mammals of the World" have been somewhat revised and updated with new photos and details; you may have to refresh your browser if older versions are in your cache [i.e., the overall background color of the mammal project is now a pale tan, rather than red]. The Monterey County bird highlights for late 2014 have been updated through October. [I am aware that my 'search' function no longer works as that company has disbanded; I need to locate another one.]
31 Aug 2014 — The Monterey County bird highlights for mid 2014 has been updated with may photos form July-August. The Crow & Jay family page has been completely redone, and there is a new family page on Frogmouths. A new photo comparison page illustrates small Calidris sandpipers.
29 June 2014 — The Monterey County bird highlights for mid 2014 has been updated with news of out-of-season June birds. The Dipper family page has new photos from last weekend's visit to Sierra County.
6 June 2014 — The Monterey County bird highlights page for mid 2014 has been initiated, and the highlights page for early 2014 has been concluded; it does include comments on the passing of Alan Baldridge. Maps for using eBird hot spots at Carmel R. mouth vicinity are now available. On a different topic, my Top 50 Civil War sites project has been revised and updated, and a page added on a re-enactment of the Battle of Mansfield. On yet another topic, there is a page on dragonflies encountered in east Texas in April 2014 (plus herps).
18 Apr 2014 — my 13th edition of Bird Families of the World has been tweaked to add another family, following a very recent decision of the South American Checklist Committee. This decision splits the typical parrots into two families: Psittacidae [New World & gray parrots] and Psittaculidae [Lories, lovebirds & Old World parrots]. Click on those links for new Family pages on this 'new' approach to parrot phylogeny. [Unfortunately it seems that the provider of the internal 'search' function has gone out of business; I will attempt to replace this when I can.]
30 Mar 2014 — new Family pages are up for Rollers and Erpornis.
24 Mar 2014 — my 13th edition of Bird Families of the World is now available, with new or updated pages on Caribbean tanagers [Phaenicophilidae], Mitrospingid tanagers [Mitrospingidae], Whydahs & Indigobirds, and Hylias. Five new families are added in this new edition (not all have linked family pages yet). I am aware that some of my older "family pages" are now quite dated. Although I tend to focus on creating new pages [several new family pages are in preparation], updating the old "family pages" is planned as time permits.
2 Feb 2014 — The Monterey County highlights page for early 2014 has been initiated, and the highlights page for late 2013 has been concluded.
24 Nov 2013 — This summer I stumbled upon David Quammen's (2003) book Monster of God, a consideration of those alpha predators that think of us as prey, and mankind's reaction to them "in the jungles of history and our minds." It was a great read and struck a deep chord in me. For the last two months I've been putting together my own 6-page project of photos (including some great shots lent by friends) and text — " in search of 'monsters of god' " — and now ready for your perusal.
20 Nov 2013 — The Monterey County highlights page for late 2013 has been initiated, and the highlights page for mid-2013 has been concluded.
10 Sep 2013 — a two-page, photo-filled discussion of the ranges and identification of subspecies of Marsh Wren in North America is now available, with emphasis on California. However, all three major eBird "Groups" of Marsh Wrens in the U.S./Canada are covered to a degree. In addition, the Monterey County highlights page for early 2013 has been completed, and a new highlights page for mid-2013 has been initiated.
24 Mar 2013 — a much revised and expanded discussion of the ranges, identification, and migration of Song Sparrows in California is now available, with many comparative photos and with an emphasis on coastal central California. Resident species are discussed on the first page, with migrants to California on the second.
2 Mar 2013 — the Monterey County 400 Club is fully updated with 3 new members, and new totals for all; a highlights page of early 2013 has been initiated, and the highlights page for late 2012 was updated a final time.
9 Dec 2012 — a family page is added for the Hyliotas of Africa; here in California, I have put up some photos of the State's first Gray Hawk.
16 Nov 2012 — my 12th edition of Bird Families of the World is now available, with new or updated pages on Babblers (with 3 subfamilies), Sylvids, Parrotbills, Vangids (with 3 subfamilies), Cettids, Bristle-flycatchers, and Hylias.
12 Nov 2012 — the Monterey County highlights page for autumn 2012 has been updated; there are also pages on this fall's Common Cuckoo in Watsonville, and on a personal birding milestone.
11 Oct 2012 — the results of Monterey Audubon's 2012 Black Oystercatcher breeding success project are now available
27 Sep 2012 — a Monterey County highlights page for autumn 2012 has been initiated with rarities from Sep 2012
19 Aug 2012 — Updated two-page sets on MTY "birding sites" are now available for Monterey Bay and for Moss Landing/Elkhorn Slough (more to come)
21 July 2012 — a fully revised family page on Sunbirds is now up. I've started to update my "birding site" pages for Monterey County; check out a two-page discussion of Pt. Pinos (more to come)
19 June 2012 — the first-half 2012 Monterey highlights page is now completed with recent photos of vagrants, and a page on the second-half highlights for 2012 has been published. The page on Western Bluebird nesting in Pacific Grove has been updated. And now there is a page on the i.d. and distribution of Rabbits in Monterey County.
6 May 2012 — the 2012 Monterey highlights page has been updated with news & photos from the annual birdathon, and page on Western Bluebird focuses on the first nest in Pacific Grove for 96 years!
24 Mar 2012 — new bird family pages are available for Cuckoo-shrikes, Drongos, and Reed-Warblers
3 Mar 2012 — a new feature on my Bird Families of the World project is a set of page on species of uncertain affinities. Selected for coverage at this moment are Malia, Geomalia, Wattled Ploughbill, and Blue-capped Ifrita. Future research is likely to place these where they belong but, for the moment, they are enigmas.
19 Feb 2012 — the page on California Condors in Monterey County has been revised significantly; the New World Quails get a Family page
11 Feb 2012 — the Nicators have a Family page, and updated pages are now up for Hornbills and Ground-Hornbills.
6 Feb 2012 — the 2012 Monterey highlights page has been updated with photos of Yellow-billed Loon by various photographers. The Rockfowl family page is completely revised, and there are small re-arrangements and new photos in the "50 Best Birds of the World" and the "50 Best Mammals of the World" pages.
22 Jan 2012 — A photo-filled page of Hawaiian Endemic Birds is now available, mostly from a Christmas vacation trip there this winter. The last 2011 Monterey highlights page was updated, and a new page begun on 2012 Monterey highlights. In the Bird Families project, there is a new project on Pigeons & Doves (featuring photos of at least 32 species) and on Egyptian Plover, and new updated pages on Birds of Paradise and on Satinbirds. I thank the many photographers who contributed excellent photos for these projects. I have also slightly revised and updated my "50 Best Birds of the World" pages.
7 Sep 2011 — My Bird Families of the World list has gone to its 11th ed., with one old family re-elevated [Sharpbill], and the sequence of families re-ordered to match the latest Clements update. Although now following the Clements sequence, my list continues to have a number of families not yet adopted by either Clements or IOC . . .
5 Sep 2011 — the initial 2011 Monterey Highlights page has been updated with photos through August, and then almost immediately an autumnal 2011 Monterey Highlights page has been added with rarities from early September
16 July 2011 -- and now for something completely different: a project on The 50 Best Civil War sites. This 6-page project reviews visitor experience at American Civil War sites, balanced against the importance of the site, and suggests books and media related to them.
30 May 2011 — the Bulbul family now has a page
5 May 2011 — the 2011 Monterey Highlights page has been updated with photos from March-April, including the annual birdathon
20 Mar 2011 — a revised Furnariidae is now a three-page project, featuring the ovenbird subfamily (main page), woodcreepers, and miners, each with many new photos
30 Jan 2011 — Anhinga and darters have a Family page, and so do the Emberizidae: New World sparrows and Old World buntings.
21 Jan 2011 — a five-page photo-packed trip report on a visit to the Qinling Mountains, central China, in November 2010
11 Dec 2010 — The Bird Families of the World list has evolved into its 10th ed., with 7 new splits and one family lumped. Much of this was created by the "break-up" of the babblers into five families. I have new family pages available for the tree babblers & scimitar-babblers [Timaliidae], fulvettas & ground-babblers [Pellorneidae], sylvid babblers, parrotbills, Wrentit & allies [Sylviidae], laughingthrushes & allies [Leiothrichidae], and white-eyes & allies [Zosteropidae], plus a page on an unexpected split, the Cinnamon Ibon [Hypocryptadiidae], and my split of the shrike-babblers [Pteruthiusidae].
30 Oct 2010 — a ten-page, photo-heavy Brazil trip report is finally ready, covering the Pantanal, Emas, and the Atlantic forests. Also, the Monterey highlights page is updated into October.
29 Aug 2010 — my "50 Best Mammals of the World" project is revised [2 species added, 2 downgraded, some re-ordered]; I have new photos on my Great Cats page; and there is a new bird family page for Tapaculos.
5 July 2010 — new family pages are up for Woodswallows and for Butcherbirds & Bell-magpies. I also re-jiggered the Bird Families of the World list a bit. I had previously followed the Christidis & Boles (2008) checklist in lumping woodswallows with butcherbirds in an expanded Artamidae, but as these are very different sets of birds and the rest of world checklists split them, so now do I. Further, I now follow the majority of world checklists in lumping the Asian Frogmouths with Australasian Frogmouths.
4 July 2010 — a new Monterey highlights page has begun with June-July rarities
20 June 2010 — our search for California's endangered Blunt-nosed Leopard Lizard is now illustrated
15 May 2010 — a page on our local 2010 Birdathon is up with photos, and the Monterey highlights page is updated again
25 Apr 2010 — a 4-page project on the status and identification of the 3 subspecies of White-crowned Sparrow that regularly occur in Monterey County
1 Apr 2010 — flowers & birds at Carrizo Plain NM from a 28 Mar 2010 visit there
27 Mar 2010 — a project the identification and status of Fox Sparrow in Monterey County begins on this introduction page, with separate pages for each of the four 'groups' of P. iliaca
26 Mar 2010 — new family pages are up for Wrens and for Dippers
15 Mar 2010 — a five-page trip report on my short visit to North Island, New Zealand in Nov 2009 is up, and I am pleased with some of the pelagic photos . . .
10 Feb 2010 — an updated and somewhat revised version of the "50 Best Birds in the World" is available.
30 Jan 2010 — a 2010 Monterey County highlights page has been initiated
31 Dec 2009 — the Kiwi family page is revised; the 2009 Monterey County highlights page is updated for the final time
25 Dec 2009 — the Monterey County 400 Club has been updated
13 Dec 2009 — a six-page trip report on my short visit to South Australia is now up
17 Oct 2009 — the Mousebird family has a page; the Monterey County highlights page is updated again
12 Oct 2009 — The Monterey County highlights page is updated through early October 2009. New pages on these bird families are available: Whistlers, Old World orioles, and Crested Bellbird & allies ("oreoicids")
30 Aug 2009 — my list of Bird Families of the World has been further revised with new information, and there are now Fairy Flycatcher and Woodshrike family pages. The Monterey County highlights page is updated through summer 2009
18 Aug 2009 — the Chipmunk pages have been revised; they are expanded to 3 pages with new photos, and prior mistakes have been corrected
8 Aug 2009 — there is a new family page on Flamingos, and the Alcid page is updated
25 July 2009 — both the Sapayoa and the Storm-Petrel family pages have been updated
16 July 2009 — The Cardinalidae [Cardinals, Grosbeaks & allies] now have a family page, and the Tanager family page is slightly revised again to adapt to new AOU/SACC decisions
5 July 2009 — more from our East Coast trip in June 2009, featuring historic sites and eastern wildlife pages
30 June 2009 — see highlights from two pelagic trips off Hatteras, North Carolina, including a discussion of possible new splits in Atlantic seabirds
7 June 2009 — the MTY highlights page for 2009 continues with a new page, beginning with June birds. The highlights for Jan-May 2009 have been updated through 31 May
6 June 2009 — photos from a hummingbird feeder in Alpine County are now up from our late May visit
18 May 2009 — a visit to Del Puerto Canyon, Stanislaus Co., is illustrated with birds, odes, and a cool snake
4 May 2009 — the story of the 2009 Birdathon in now on-line
25 Apr 2009 — the annual update to my List of Bird Families of the World is complete; this 9th edition has 231 families [adds 4, lumps 6]
30 Mar 2009 — a discussion of local races of Song Sparrow on the central California coast
11 Mar 2009 — a new MTY highlights page for 2009 is up with a Long-eared Owl, a gull, and some geese
1 Feb 2009 — a two-page investigation of i.d. characters between local MTY subspecies of Cackling and Canada Geese is now on-line
25 Jan 2009 — a trip report from a California chase trip for Parakeet Auklets has a selection of photos
9 Jan 2009 — family pages for Antpittas and Antthrushes are now up
3 Jan 2009 — My home page now has a new design; you may need to hit "refresh" to see it. Also new is a nine-page Australia trip report (southwest, Red Centre & Tasmania) from Aug 2008.
31 Dec 2008 — The MTY highlights page for 2008 was updated with Christmas Count photos.
1 Dec 2008 — I've posted a book review of Birdwatcher: The Life of Roger Tory Peterson by Elizabeth Rosenthal, and also included a couple of photos of Roger there. The MTY highlights for fall 2008 have been updated again.
16 Nov 2008 — An i.d. page on Peregrine Falcon subspecies includes many photos. The MTY highlights for fall 2008 have also been updated.
25 Oct 2008 — The MTY highlights for 2008 page has been updated several times this month
25 Sep 2008 — A new MTY highlights for 2008 page is up for fall migration, and there is a separate page on the Little Stint at Moonglow
13 July 2008 — The Chipmunk page has been revised considerably and is now a two-page set; the waterfowl family [ducks, geese & swans] has been updated; and the MTY highlights for 2008 page is updated again with July birds, some rare and some not.
14 June 2008 — the MTY highlights for 2008 page is updated with totally unexpected June birds. I've slightly revised my Best Mammals of the World project [substituting Babirusa for Koala in picks 41-50], and there are now photo pages with local shots of Western Red Bat and Long-tailed Weasel.
1 June 2008 — new and dramatic shots of a breaching Humpback whale are available, as is an updated version of the Cormorant family, with recent shots of local cormorant species
26 May 2008 — the MTY highlights for 2008 begins a new set with late May vagrants; the Swifts have a family page, and there are updated pages for Woodpeckers and Wallcreeper bird families
11 May 2008 — a portal page on Monterey swallows and a dedicated identification of brown swallows page are new additions
1 May 2008 — full results and photos of the 2008 BSOL Birdathon are now available; other recent shots update the MTY highlights page for 2008; and there is a page on the newly minted Crescentchests family [Melanopareiidae]
10 Mar 2008 — a new 8th edition list of Bird Families of the World is now available. Four more families are added, bringing the total to 233. You may need to 'refresh' the page to bring up the new listing.
5 Mar 2008 — the MTY highlights page for 2008 have been updated. The kingfishers have been split into three families, following the new Australian checklist: a portal page takes you to new pages for each family. There are also revised pages for Pheasants (and it has links to two subfamilies), Ostrich, and Gulls.
16 Feb 2008 — new family pages are available for Frigatebirds and for Ibises & Spoonbills; the Albatrosses family page is almost entirely new
3 Feb 2008 — the Motmots now have a family page
2 Feb 2008 — the Hummingbird family page has been updated for the first time since 1999, and the Manakin family page is updated from the 2000 edition; mostly new photos appear on the revised pages
1 Feb 2008 — a trip report from our Dec 2007 trip to Costa Rica is now on line, and it runs for ten pages. It includes not only a full bird report but also separate pages focused on hummingbirds, endemics, mammals, herps, and dragonflies.
21 Jan 2008 — the MTY highlights pages for 2007 have been updated with final photos and year-end roundup
15 Dec 2007 — a two-page set of photos from our June visit to Machias Seal Island includes close-ups of Razorbill and Atlantic Puffin
4 Dec 2007 — now available are a set of page about my 2007 California Odes Big Year, including links to many photo-heavy pages. Some fun pages include a State map with links to many great odeing sites; an Acknowledgements page with many people pics; a Planning page that (among other things) categorizes the State's odonates; and a page with things like "Most Stressful Ode" or "Best Birds Found While Odeing" this year.
16 Nov 2007 — the Best Mammals of the World project has upgraded to my "top 50 picks" of the earth's best mammals, plus choices from 3 other mammal-watchers, spread over 7 web pages
6 Nov 2007 — the Tityras are a newly created family, based on convincing molecular evidence; this now requires revision of the Cotinga family
23 Oct 2007 — a new MTY highlights page has new photos of bird rarities from October. Also new is a page on odeing along the Colorado River , Imperial Co., plus details of two vagrant Striped Saddlebags found this October.
24 Sep 2007 — the MTY highlight page has many new photos of bird rarities from September; there is also a page on odeing at Frenchmans Flat on Piru Creek, Los Angeles Co.
16 Sep 2007 — a report on a boat trip of 15 Sep 2007 features photos of a rare Monterey Bay cetaceans; also a page on visits to Willow Lake, Plumas County, for dragonflies is now up
27 Aug 2007 — photo journal pages are up about recent odeing trips: a visit to the San Lorenzo River on the MTY/SBT border; a visit to Paradise Road on the upper Santa Ynez River in Santa Barbara County; Fire & Brimstone in the Imperial Valley in early August; Ode Blitz III in the Owens Valley; and a trip to the headwaters of The Mighty San Benito River.
18 July 2007 — two new bird families are added because of publications in 2007 with DNA results. Pages are now up for Stitchbird and Rail-babbler, and these families are added to the world listing of bird families
14 July 2007 — a few summer trips have aimed at dragonflies at distant venues within California. Should you care to visit vicariously, pages are up for Dos Palmas Preserve, Riverside Co.; a variety of spots in Modoc County in June; Modoc NWR in July, called "Modoc Meadowhawk Mania;" and a tribute to Ash Creek Campground, Lassen Co., aka "Gomphid City." Plus a tribute to the puffins of summer 2007
27 May 2007 — the Monterey County portal page has been revised to make it easier to locate pages related to local wildlife. In the bird families of the world project, the Penduline Tits now have a page
21 May 2007 — Horned Puffins galore highlight an update to the Monterey County 2007 highlights page
14 May 2007 — the stories of the discoveries of the first Exclamation Damsels in MTY and first Western River Cruisers in MTY are now on-line
1 May 2007 — results and photos from the 2007 Monterey County Birdathon are now available ... another fine effort!
18 Apr 2007 — the Trumpeters now have a family
page in my Bird Families of the World project, thanks to a great photo
by David Fisher. In the ode world, a page on "Clubbing in
Placer & Sacramento" counties features a clubtail and a
snaketail.
10 Apr 2007 — new are the unraveling of the Sep 2006 mystery warbler, and a page on odes at the Marin watershed lakes
30 Mar 2007 — an illustrated, annotated Checklist of Dragonflies & Damselflies of Monterey County is now available, with individual species pages for 45 species, plus a History and Chronology of the MTY ode Checklist.
24 Feb 2007 — a Monterey County 2007 highlight page has been initiated with rarities from January and February
31 Jan 2007 — a Smew as Art? page has photos of the recent Russian duck in Tuolumne County
7 Jan 2007 — new and compelling evidence requires a revision of the Broadbill family. I have new page on recently split family Calyptomenid Broadbills and Eurylaimid Broadbills; the page on Asities has also been revised with the new information. The Family List has been revised to reflect the split. The updated pages also have new photos by David Fisher and Lois Goldfrank.
31 Dec 2006 — "Postcards from Florida" is a short collection of bird, bug, herp, and historic site shots from a pre-Christmas visit to Florida. Also, the Monterey County 2006 highlight page has been updated several times recently, including through the stars of the Monterey Peninsula Christmas Bird Count
28 Oct 2006 — the Monterey County 2006 highlight page has been updated with Blue-winged Warbler and Chestnut-collared Longspur; also see new pages on MTY odes and Townsend's Big-eared Bat, and first MTY records of Paddle-tailed Darner and California Spreadwing.
1 Oct 2006 — some shots of a breaching Humpback Whale from a 30 Sep boat trip on Monterey Bay are now up, and the Monterey County highlights page is updated
21 Sep 2006 — photos of a mystery warbler, possibly an intergeneric hybrid, are now up; it was captured by BSOL on 20th Sep. Comments are requested on the "Frontiers of Bird I.D." discussion group. Mystery dragonflies, one a darner and the other a skimmer, are also up; comments are being compiled on CalOdes. On a personal note, a page on my Uncle Vince's 90th Birthday Party is also available for family.
4 Sep 2006 — a new Monterey County 2006 highlight page has been started for the fall season. In addition, there is a new portal page on Dragonflies [Odonata] with recent pages on Giant Darner and Pacific Spiketail.
31 July 2006 — the Monterey County 2006 highlight page has been updated again with new photos, and there is a new dragonfly page featuring the "Monterey Ode Motherlode"
21 July 2006 — the Monterey County 2006 highlight page has been updated with a discussion of recent reports of midsummer Ferruginous Hawks in the county, and some actual rarities. In addition, there are new dragonfly pages featuring the Arroyo Seco River; one documenting an apparent first MTY record, entitled "Those Darn Darners;" and a page focusing on Common Green Darner, the Lord of June.
9 July 2006 — a small photo gallery of adults stuffing food down the gullets of baby birds is available, as are these non-bird topics:
implications for all world birders who have any interest in bird Families. This all means there is a need for a 7th edition of my list of Bird Families of the World, and it is now on-line. This impacts many groups of birds, and I have started the process of re-writing old family accounts and beginning new ones. Now available are new accounts of the Leaf-Warblers, the Cettid Warblers, and Megalurid Warblers, and re-written accounts of Sylvid Babblers, Parrotbills & Allies, and a new Babbler account. Unrelated to the break-up of the old 'Sylviidae,' but related to new genetic research, is a tentative family account for Pink-tailed Bunting, and also a new family account of Magellanic Plover [Pluvianellidae]
16 June 2006 — the Monterey County 2006 highlight page has been updated with many new photos from June; see also the small quiz you may enter
18 May 2006 — a trip report to rarely-visited San Clemente Dam on the Carmel River, featuring a variety of wildlife and a retrospective look at a 1987 visit
1 May 2006 — full results and photos of the 2006 Monterey County Birdathon are now available ... another new record!
23 Apr 2006 — the "Monterey County 400 Club" has added a new member, and the page now has updated totals for all 15 members
19 Apr 2006 — a photo-heavy trip report of last week's visit to San Diego & Imperial Counties is up, with both rare and common birds featured. I've also recently updated the Monterey County highlights page for 2006 with new photos of Caracara and Painted Bunting.
1 Apr 2006 — my page on Broadbills has been upgraded with new photos, including some by Gareth Knass and Hideo Tani
30 Mar 2006 — a new project is up on California counties: photo gallery and introduction. It features my own photos from the past 35 years plus a short intro to birding in each county
29 Mar 2006 — the Monterey County highlights page for 2006 has been updated with news of a California Condor nest and a Crested Caracara, both in Big Sur, and more!
19 Mar 2006 — I've initiated a Monterey County highlights page for 2006; there is not yet much to put on it, so we'll have to live with some nice yard birds . . .
19 Feb 2006 — check out photos of an adult Glaucous Gull at the Elephant Seal colony at Pt. Piedras Blancas SLO
13 Feb 2006 — a trip report on the Philippines is now available: 4 pages of "journal" and an annotated list. All with many photos by Blake Matheson and me
28 Jan 2006 — a family page for Nuthatches and a heavily revised page on the Rhabdornises are now on-line
16 Jan 2006 — Solano Sunday Stakeouts Startle Snowy Skeptic has photos of local rarities in Solano County (no owls, though)
21 Nov 2005 — photos and discussion of a controversial duck at Stockton ponds in Nov 2005
11 Oct 2005 — these web pages are created in my spare time, but I do intend to update pages as time permits. New research has prompted me to completely redo the pages of Bush-Shrikes, Helmet-Shrikes, and Vangas, and to put up a new page on Batises & Allies. These were all once thought to be related to Shrikes but that proved to be false. I have also slightly revised the Shrike page.
27 Sep 2005 — recent research has required dickering with the Bird Families List again, adding three new families; a page on one of them [African Warblers] is now available
22 Sep 2005 — a trip report on southwestern Africa sprawls over 10 pages; also, the Monterey County highlights for the second half of 2005 have been updated
10 Sep 2005 — photos of an odd Dendroica warbler from Carmel are up; it might even be a hybrid . . .
5 Sep 2005 — a page on my 5000th world bird, a personal milestone
21 Aug 2005 — a new page on Rockjumpers, an endemic south African family of amazing evolutionary affinities, and (now that I've seen one) among my favorite birds
17 Aug 2005 — new pelagic photos are featured on the update of Monterey County highlights for the second half of 2005
15 Aug 2005 — a page on post-breeding dispersal in Xantus's Murrelets with a remarkable photo and some interesting speculation
10 Aug 2005 — my first page from a just-completed southern Africa trip is Scenes from a boat trip on 4th of July out of Cape Town
25 June 2005 — family pages are now up for Emu, the Screamers, and the Kiwis [but I'm off to Africa and nothing more will be created for some time]
19 June 2005 — fine Bill Hill photos highlight the first entry on a page of Monterey County highlights for the second half of 2005
12 June 2005 — my boat trip got canceled so I created a page about birds at our backyard fountain that is interactive and leads to many photos
10 June 2005 — family pages are now up for Storks and for Whipbirds, Wedgebills & Jewel-babblers [so many birds . . . so little time]
6 June 2005 — print out Civil Code section 846, which insulates landowners from liability when they allow you to study nature on their land; also the "Monterey County highlights 2005 page" has been updated
4 June 2005 — a new page on Bewick's Wren has a fun dust-bathing sequence
30 May 2005 — a Memorial Day jaunt to view the Cassin's Sparrow in Sacramento County brings a little music, a little excitement, and a few photos
6 May 2005 — a 50+ page web project on the History of California Birding 1965-1989 is now available
5 May 2005 — a report on Monterey County's winning entry in America's Birdiest County event is now on-line
2 Apr 2005 — scenic shots (and one bird) from the Death Valley flower show a couple days ago
10 Mar 2005 — some photos from a weekend in Yuba, Yolo, and Solana counties include a vagrant Hammond's Flycatcher
27 Feb 2005 — a summary of my encounters with wild canines in Africa has photos and short snippets of ecology
12 Feb 2005 — the "Monterey County highlights 2005 page" has been updated with longspurs, Sage Thrasher, and more
7 Feb 2005 — a selection of my photos from the Central Valley from the last two weekends is available, and I've added a fine Herb Clarke shot of the C. Black-Hawk in Stockton
3 Feb 2005 — the Long-tailed Tits page has been updated with a fine Blake Matheson photo of a .... Long-tailed Tit. What a concept!
21 Jan 2005 — photos of the apparent 3rd-cycle Slaty-backed Gull at Half Moon Bay in San Mateo Co., California, are now on-line
9 Jan 2005 — the "Monterey County highlights: second half 2004 page" was updated through year's end; a "Monterey County highlights 2005 page" initiated; and my personal biography page revised by adding some recently found old prints.
24 Dec 2004 — a Christmas present page on the Antbirds of the steaming Neotropical lowlands, enlivened by ornamental photos by Arthur Grosset, Simon Wooley & Julia Casson, and Bob Tintle; happy holiday to all!
19 Dec 2004 — an overview of our day on the Big Sur Christmas Bird Count (19 Dec 2004) with digital shots & written details of rarities observed
13 Dec 2004 — the "Monterey County highlights: second half page" has been updated again with new photos, including a fine shot by John Sorensen, and the second gallery of "digiscoped favorites" has little flitty birds plus something larger....
12 Dec 2004 — the Cotingas have a family page, enlivened by wonderful photos by James Ownby, Arthur Grosset, and Greg Lasley; there is also a page on Hume's Groundpecker, although I'm the only one in the world who thinks it might be a family
7 Dec 2004 — a photo discussion of apparent hybrid white geese, with emphasis on a bird at Crespi Pond in Dec 2004. Also posted is the first in a potential series of occasional galleries on "digiscoped favorites" to share various random shots at largish size but low resolution
29 Nov 2004 — take a tour through all the Monterey grebes with links to species' pages for each one
23 Nov 2004 — a photographic review of an early fall identification problem between Eared Grebe and Horned Grebe is available
30 Oct 2004 — the Terns now have a family page; also, Monterey County highlights for 2004 have been updated again.
24 Oct 2004 — new family pages on Accentors and Boatbills, the latter a recently-elevated family endemic to Australasia
17 Oct 2004 — a new species page on Vermilion Flycatcher is added to the MTY collection
15 Oct 2004 — a two-page gallery of digiscoped Fall Waders, with commentary on ageing, is now on-line, as is an updated "Monterey County 400 Club" with two new members in the last couple of months!
1 Oct 2004 — a five-family set of new or revised pages is now available on the "greater barbets", to wit, Asian Barbets, African Barbets, American Barbets, Toucan-Barbets, and Toucans. Each page has a discussion of the molecular evidence to support this five-way division, but, more importantly, the pages have lovely photos by Arthur Grosset, James Owenby, Cagan Sekercioglu, Ed Harper, Marc Fenner and others that add significantly. In addition, consistent with a new look at family level taxonomy in my 6th ed. listing, there is a heavily revised page on Old World Warblers, plus my innovations, Grassbirds and Malagasy Warblers.
28 Sep 2004 — an identification essay on separating Philadelphia Vireo from Warbling Vireo features many photos; thanks to Bill Hill, BSOL, and others; the "Monterey County highlights: second half of 2004" is also updated again....
22 Sep 2004 — photos and details of an interesting Empid at Crespi Pond are available
6 Sep 2004 — new pages on Shrike-tits and Painted Berrypeckers, with greats shots by Trevor Quested and Hideo Tani, respectively, and revised pages on Quail-Thrushes [stunning shot by Rohan Clarke] and Bowerbirds, are now available
26 Aug 2004 — a page on "Monterey County highlights: second half of 2004" begins with a gallery of seabird shots by Les Chibana
21 Aug 2004 — a page on Donacobius, and an upgraded page on the Scolopacidae (Sandpipers), are both now available
15 Aug 2004 — a new portal page features my wife Rita Carratello, and her "Life in the Theatre" with links to snaps of her plays
12 Aug 2004 — new or seriously updated pages are now available on Thrushes and for Old World Flycatchers & Chats [Muscicapidae]
6 Aug 2004 — a new page celebrating California 'most beautiful' snake is available for perusal
28 July 2004 — a full trip report from north China is now available: 3 pages of highlights with many photos, and an annotated checklist
27 July 2004 — the Monterey County highlights page for 2004 has been updated with news of breeding success in gulls and terns
25 July 2004 — a 6th edition list of Bird Families of the World adds a dozen new families with a different approach; much explanatory information is included
12 July 2004 — new pages on my China trip focus on north China redstarts (photos of all 10 seen) and Qinghai lizards; more to come . . .
2 July 2004 — the Monterey County highlights page for 2004 has been updated with a summary of the fabulous June by BSOL banders and Big Sur R. mouth birders
30 June 2004 — a page on the Cranes of north China appears after my return from that destination
5 June 2004 — take a short quiz on common desert lizards in e. California at "Digiscoping Dozing Dinos in the Desert"
24 May 2004 — now linked to the illustrated MTY checklist are "species pages" on Yellow-throated Vireo, White-eyed Vireo, and, ahem, European Starling (believe it or not)
21 May 2004 — the Monterey County highlights page for 2004 has been updated with new vagrants banded at BSOL
12 May 2004 — a pictorial chronicle of a Killer Whale attack on a mother Gray Whale & calf; film at 11
5 May 2004 — full details and many photos from the 11th BSOL Birdathon, and our entry to the 2004 America's Birdiest County event, are now on-line
27 Apr 2004 — the Monterey County highlights page for 2004 has been updated again
17 Apr 2004 — a MTY species page on Yellow-billed Loon is added
31 Mar 2004 — a portal page to a new project on National Parks & Monuments is up, but it will be a long time before all the linked pages are there. For now, California park pages are active.
28 Mar 2004 — MTY species page on Black Oystercatcher is added
7 Mar 2004 — a complete, annotated, and illustrated checklist of the birds of Monterey County is now available. This takes you to a portal page with links to the eleven segments of the illustrated checklist. To the extent possible, each species is illustrated with a photograph taken in Monterey County; the photos of over 35 photographers are included. Each species' status and distribution is summarized, and there are links to individual species pages when available. These species pages will be added over time; for now, an example is a Thayer's Gull in Monterey County page, discussing where it can be found in Monterey County, and how it can be identified from similar gulls. I welcome new photos from Monterey County that upgrade the presentation on the illustrated checklist.
6 Mar 2004 — a Monterey County highlights page for 2004 is initiated with Marbled Murrelet and Ross's Goose
2 Mar 2004 — James Hecht's fabulous photos highlight a page on the Marvelous Spatuletail of northern Peru
24 Jan 2004 — a page of Silky-Flycatchers is now on-line
7 Jan 2004 — the Monterey County highlights page for the 2nd half of 2003 has been updated with a final photo & year-end wrap
2 Jan 2004 — some preliminary thoughts on beginner's digiscoping with an Olympus Camedia D-560 digital camera
28 Dec 2003 — progress continues on bird families with pages on Jaçanas, Honeyeaters, Sittellas, and Pseudo-babblers; some feature photos by Hans & Judy Beste and/or Ed Harper
17 Dec 2003 — family pages on Pipits & Wagtails and the Australasian Treecreepers make further progress in passerines
10 Dec 2003 — a page on Cranes is now up; kudos to Greg Lasley and Bhoulu Khan for the nice photos than supplement my own
8 Dec 2003 — a page on Thick-knees features nice shots by Will Betz, Barry McLaughlin, and Dale & Marian Zimmerman
6 Dec 2003 — added a Atomz "search" feature to the home page, allowing a complete search of these web pages; also updated the Carmel River mouth list and the totals of birders who keep a Carmel R. mouth area list.
30 Nov 2003 — a new page on a new family, the Cnemophilines, is up, along with a significantly revised Birds-of-Paradise page with fabulous photos by Will Betz and Hans & Judy Beste
22 Nov 2003 — a page on Lyrebirds features a couple great photos by Hans & Judy Beste
15 Nov 2003 — the Monterey County highlights page for the 2nd half of 2003 has been updated with a new sketch and photos, thanks to Alex Cruz & Roger Wolfe
12 Nov 2003 — the Monterey County highlights page for the 2nd half of 2003 has been updated again with a link to a separate page on the Elkhorn Slough godwit
6 Nov 2003 — a 5th
edition of my Bird Families of the World list is now
finished.
After much waffling over the past couple years in trying the guess what
Handbook
of the Birds of the World would use for their passerine families,
that
information is finally available in HBW, vol. 8. I now follow the HBW
family
list and its sequence except for various small revisions (of most
interest:
7 extra families retained by me for some time), all explained following
the list. The list remains at 204 families. This should be the
end
of tinkering with this list for some time.
Also, the Bornean
Bristlehead page is much improved with the addition of photos by
James
Eaton.
5 Nov 2003 — after much consideration, I've made the first revisions to my "Top Fifty Birds of the World" listing; two are out and two are in. The link goes to the project intro page but all the changes are in picks 41-50.
29 Oct 2003 — a portal to California lizards is open with several linked pages to specific lizards or lizard groups; more linked pages will appear over time
21 Oct 2003 — the Pheasants & Partridges have a page with several nice photos, including those by Sujan Chatterjee and Rita Carratello
10 Oct 2003 -- a page on Kingfishers is now on-line, including fabulous shots by Hans & Judy Beste, Dale & Marian Zimmerman, and Rita Carratello
28 Sep 2003 -- in response to a few questions, additional comments on Nutting's Flycatcher have been added at the bottom of the linked page
27 Sep 2003 -- the Grouse now have a family page. Also the front of the family list is reorganized to follow newest AOU supplement sequence
24 Sep 2003 -- a trip report from Borneo includes linked daily log and annotated list pages, all with photos
11 Sep 2003 -- the Broadbill family page has been redone with new photos from Borneo
10 Sep 2003 -- the Monterey County highlights for the "second half" of year 2003 have been updated
26 Aug 2003 -- now the Treeswifts are available
21 Aug 2003 -- a new family page on Bristlehead, an endemic family to Borneo
24 June 2003 -- now a page on Pythons & Boas of the world
19 June 2003 -- a portal to California snakes is open with one linked page so far: to California rattlesnakes (photos and taxonomic research)
15 June 2003 -- the Monterey County highlights continue with a new page for the "second half" of year 2003 featuring BSOL banding prizes
2 June 2003 -- a new family page on the Pardalotes of Australia, with photos by Ed Harper
31 May 2003 -- the Monterey County highlight page for 2003 has a link to a gallery of photos and information about a one-day-wonder Louisiana Waterthrush
28 May 2003 -- a gallery of photos comparing apparent hybrid Indigo X Lazuli Bunting with typical examples of each (all in-hand birds, most banded by BSOL)
26 May 2003 -- new family pages feature Bustards and Honeyguides, and new photos from Kim Risen and Murray Lord highlight upgraded pages on Rheas and Gnateaters
14 May 2003 -- the Monterey County highlight page for 2003 has been updated with several new photos, including Hawaiian Petrel
11 May 2003 -- the story of Monterey County's entry into the "America's Birdiest County" contest has details, photos, and a complete list
24 Apr 2003 -- Family pages now up for New World warblers and the scrub-birds of Australia.....
22 Mar 2003 -- I've posted a memorial page celebrating the life of the late, great Stuart Keith, and what he meant to me
11 Mar 2003 -- the Monterey County highlight page for 2003 has been updated with several new photos
1 Mar 2003 -- the monotypic Osprey family is now up, with a fine photo by John Van de Graaff. The Painted-Snipes page is significantly revised with new photos, including the South American species by John & Karen Shrader. The two oldest family pages on line, created back in Feb 1999, have been entirely redone with many new photos: Hornbills and Ground-Hornbills (and I've learned a bit about page design in those 4 years)....
24 Feb 2003 -- tinkered with the "bird families of the world" listing again, and a new 4th edition list is now on-line [it adds two families]. Added a family page on Sapayoa.
22 Feb 2003 -- the Alcidae is the newest family page, and the Trogons have been revised by the replacement of half the photos, including adding a fabulous new shot by Paul Huang of Singapore
19 Feb 2003 -- the Monterey County highlight page for 2003 has been updated with many new photos
11 Feb 2003 -- a page on Eastern Tropical Pacific cetaceans features the dolphins and whales found on a NOAA cruise I did back in 1989
5 Feb 2003 -- a series of 7 pages on the identification of Nutting's Flycatcher, with special reference to the Santa Cruz bird, begins with an introductory page, and from there links will take you through the remaining pages of the set. It is recommended they be considered in order; each page is wordy with lots of photos
1 Feb 2003 -- the Carmel R. mouth listers' totals have been updated through 2002
6 Jan 2003 -- a Monterey County highlights page for 2003 has begun
3 Jan 2003 -- a discussion and photos of a Nutting's Flycatcher in Santa Cruz have been added
30 Dec 2002 -- two years in the making, a series of a dozen web pages now cover all of Monterey Bay's pelagic birds (from our common species to the rarest), plus all of Monterey Bay's pelagic mammals (cetaceans, seals, sea otter), plus sea turtles. All pages begin at a Monterey Bay portal page, and all are heavily illustrated with photos.
24 Dec 2002 -- an errata for Monterey Birds 2d ed. is now on-line
9 Dec 2002 -- photos of the Sedge Wren in San Mateo Co. are now available
14 Nov 2002 -- my new book Monterey Birds 2d ed., is released
30 Oct 2002 -- the Monterey County highlight page has been updated with new photos of late fall vagrants; also, an introduction page to Monterey County wagtails with links to pages with many details and photos of two controversial birds
26 Oct 2002 -- a family page on Monarchs & Paradise-Flycatchers is now on-line
24 Oct 2002 -- a full trip report from our Uganda
2002 visit is now available, with links from that intro page to
a daily log and an annotated trip list, all with a selection of photos.
My
personal
trip chronology has also been updated through 2002.
15 Oct 2002 -- the Monterey
County highlights 2002 page has been updated with shots of a
species
never before photographed in the county [a note to myself: visitor
50,000
recorded
on 7 Oct 2002]
26 Sep 2002 -- the Monterey County highlight page has been updated, and I've posted a new page discussing Crested Caracara in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties
21 Aug 2002 -- after a month in east Africa, I have a new page: Shoebill. Also, my top 50 birds and my top 30 mammals pages have been updated with new photos for a few species, plus minor revisions.
9 June 2002 -- the The Top 50 'Best Birds' in the World is now a month old, and it's fun to add some comments by others on the choices. Then, for something different and yet-so-similar, a Top 30 'Best Mammals' of the World set of page is now available for review and comment. Yes, even birdwatchers can enjoy other things. In fact, Martin Reid has contributed photos of wild cameloids that now enhance the Camel page....
10 May 2002 -- a project that has been in the works for a long time is an updated version of my choices for the The Top 50 'Best Birds' in the World. It is now a colorful project with an intro page and five linked pages with art and photos and explanations, fun to scroll through and mull over.
4 May 2002 -- after 11 years to mull it over, Rita & Don got married
24 Apr 2002 -- the Monterey County bird highlights in 2002 page has been updated, and the Pelican family page has been revised with the correct limerick and attribution (thanks to Katie Olson of Valparaiso University)
16 Apr 2002 -- a full El Triunfo, Chiapas, Mexico, trip report is now available with linked pages to specific locales on the hiking trip, a herp page, and daily logs and annotated trip lists from 2002 & 1986
6 Apr 2002 -- the Monterey County 400 Club has been updated with a long-overdue new member, and updated totals for all
5 Apr 2002 -- after a March trip to El Triunfo, Chiapas, Mexico, the first trip page is ready -- on herps seen at El Triunfo
4 Mar 2002 -- a new portal page to California salamanders is available; it will eventually provide links to many specific accounts but for now it has links to photo discussions on slender salamanders, Santa Cruz Long-toed Salamander, and Siskiyou Mountains Salamander. In a similar vein for mammals, a portal page to the Even-toed Ungulates is ready but not all linked pages have been created -- currently there are pages for Spiral-horned Antelope (the 'Magnificent Seven'!), Wild Cattle, Camels, Peccaries, and Tapirs.
16 Feb 2002 -- a discussion page of a Santa Cruz hummingbird, and the problems of hybrids in the Costa's v. Anna's group, is on-line with lots of photos
28 Jan 2002 -- as an antidote to the discussions of mystery winter gulls, offered is a portal page to the Odd-toed Ungulates with links to photo discussion pages of the three extant families
16 Jan 2002 -- the Monterey County bird highlights in 2002 page has begun
6 Jan 2002 -- a page about the Three Big Bustards of the world and efforts to see them
3 Jan 2002 -- The 2001 Monterey Co. Highlights have been updated again to complete the annual account
30 Dec 2001 -- FWIW, the Pt. Pinos list and Pt. Pinos listers' totals have been updated
15 Dec 2001 -- thanks to photos from Ed Harper, a page on Painted-Snipes is available
10 Dec 2001 -- as much for my own reference as any reason, a personal trip chronology of my international birding
8 Dec 2001 -- trip report for Gabon 1996 with photos, daily log, and link to annotated trip list
26 Nov 2001 -- now the Coursers & Pratincoles have a page
25 Nov 2001 -- Thanksgiving holiday ruminations on the Wild Turkey as a re-introduced native California bird
12 Nov 2001 -- Only twenty (20) years late, a full trip report for my Kenya trip in Nov 1981 in now available, linked to a fully annotated species list for the 1981 trip; both are choc-'o-bloc with photos ...
21 Oct 2001 -- A long and photo-heavy preliminary investigation in separating the 'Dark-rumped Petrel' group: Hawaiian Petrel v. Galapagos Petrel, with an emphasis of determining which occurs off California
17 Oct 2001 -- a virus shut down the server on which this website is posted from 2-9 October; it also wiped out everything posted after 19 September. Now all those pages have been reposted (see the next few entries below). Today, the 2001 Monterey Co. Highlights have been updated again with a variety of new photos & sketches; the year has also been cut in half and now covers two pages (which are linked)
2 Oct 2001 -- the Fantail family is now available
30 Sep 2001 -- now a page about Hypocolius; also, my Chipmunk page has new photos
29 Sep 2001 -- new is a page on the true Shrikes
8 Sep 2001 -- a Tapaculo family page is added; the 2001 Monterey Co. Highlights page is updated again
27 Aug 2001 -- new pages featuring wild mammals (The Great Cats, Elephants) are on line; use the Mammals portal
11 Aug 2001 -- a page on the Procellariidae, the shearwaters and petrels, with many photos
29 July 2001 -- announcing the opening of the first pages in yet another project: the Creagrus California list, a pretentious way of saying "my personal list." The concept is to have one photo of every species that I've taken in California on-line (some good, some bad, but the best I've taken to date), a brief summary of that bird's status, and my own personal records of interest. The opening pages are on ibises through vultures, on jays & crows, and on grosbeaks & buntings. The portal pages introduce the family or families and link to individual species pages. Other groups are in progress -- D. Roberson
28 July 2001 -- a page on Oxpeckers, recently revived to family rank in Africa
22 July 2001 -- the Gnateaters have a page even if no photo of a bird
19 July 2001 -- Monterey County 2001 highlights updated with a great photo by John Sorensen
24 June 2001 -- The halfway point of my "bird families" project is reached with the addition of pages on the Oilbird and the Logrunners; some fine photos are posted by Brad Schram and Ed Harper, respectively. There are now 101 family pages on-line. At this point I make the first major revisions to the Bird Families of the World list. After additional research and consultation with editors of the Handbook of the World series I have adopted six changes and some significant reordering of the sequence. The list still has 202 families but there are three additions (Megalaimidae, Lybiidae, Buphagidae) and three demotions (Oxyruncidae, Cisticolidae, Paramythiidae). The reasoning for each of these changes is discussed at the bottom of the new family list page.
23 June 2001 -- for something different, a page on chipmunk i.d. & distribution
20 June 2001 -- Monterey County 2001 highlights updated with details & some photos of spring vagrants
3 June 2001 -- the Long-tailed Tits have a page; very fine photos by Ron Saldino and Bill Hill
31 May 2001 -- and now the Babbler family
26 May 2001 -- Monterey County 2001 highlights updated with some rare geese photos by Bill Hill; a Parrotbills page added
20 May 2001 -- a Crab Plover page, another "family of one"
18 May 2001 -- now a photo-illustrated trip report to the United Arab Emirates [March 2001] with link to trip list
13 May 2001 -- a photo-illustrated trip report to India [Mar-Apr 2001] is on-line with links to an annotated trip list
7 May 2001 -- home page redesigned [at ~21550 visitor mark]
2 May 2001 -- thanks to some great photos by Ron Saldino (who was also just in India) there are now pages for the Wallcreeper and Fairy-Bluebird families; my own shots engendered a page on Black-breasted Parrotbill in the threatened & endangered world birds project. Locally in Monterey County the Carmel R. mouth list has been updated
22 Apr 2001 -- returning from a trip to India & the UAE, there is now posted a page on the Ibisbill and, in the first in a new series on threatened & endangered world birds, a White-browed Bushchat page
28 Feb 2001 -- posted the first installment of a Monterey County highlights in 2001 page
19 Feb 2001 -- the Australo-Papuan Robins have a page
14 Feb 2001 -- a page celebrating Bee-eaters [for Rita on Valentine's Day]
24 Jan 2001 -- the Tyrant Flycatcher family; a new map on Carmel R. mouth page
6 Jan 2001 -- a new page on the Nutting's Flycatcher experience in Orange County; update to Monterey's 400 Club.
28 Dec 2000 -- the recent Monterey Co. highlights page is updated with a late fall wrap-up and an unexpected rarity photo.
15 Nov 2000 -- the recent Monterey Co. highlights page is updated with side-by-side photos of three Painted Buntings banded at Big Sur R. mouth (thanks to Ivan Samuels and BSOL)
10 Nov 2000 -- herewith Curassows & Guans (Cracidae)
5 Nov 2000 -- pages on Fairywrens & Grasswrens and on Skimmers are new; the Moonglow Dairy page (Moss Landing, Monterey Co.) has been updated with a new photo of the owners (Louis & Carol Calcagno) receiving an ABA commendation award; and the Ground-Roller page has a new shot. Thanks to Trevor Quested, Anke Poggel, and Greg Lasley for photos on some of these page.
19 Oct 2000 -- now a page on Falcons
27 Sep 2000 -- a set of pages on Elkhorn Slough & Moss Landing includes a photo introduction to birding sites with links to a special MoonGlow Dairy page, a MoonGlow checklist, and a gallery of rarity photos
28 Aug 2000 -- new is a photo discussion of i.d. problems with titmice at Lava Beds Nat'l Monument, Siskiyou Co., CA
20 Aug 2000 -- a series of pages on the Big Sur River mouth & Pt. Sur vicinity includes a photo introduction with links to a complete area list, a history of Big Sur birding and the "300 Club," and a gallery of rarity photos
30 July 2000 -- the recent Monterey Co. highlights page is updated with July news and a unique photo by Richard Ternullo; an updated Sea-Turtle page summarizes all 8 species and has photos of five of them; and there is a new i.d. page comparing North American scrub-jays for no particular reason than I have photos of all three...
17 July 2000 -- a page on Sea Turtles is new; the Western Palearctic page has been rearranged & updated
11 July 2000 -- headlining the Tanagers is a great shot of the rare & local Azure-rumped Tanager by Lou Jost
1 July 2000 -- herewith a page of Vangas
25 June 2000 -- a "Condors in Monterey County" page has great photos taken "in the wild" by Ivan Eberle, and details on the condor's local history, re-introduction status, and "countability,"
21 June 2000 -- a Cuckoo family page was a major project because that this group may actual contain 4-6 families....
15 June 2000 -- a Secretarybird page has good photos by Ed Harper and Dale & Marion Zimmerman (many thanks)
3 June 2000 -- the recent Monterey Co. highlights page is updated with breeding birds of note, and more...
30 May 2000 -- visitor 10,000 today is celebrated with a page of Manakins
24 May 2000 -- the "Monterey 400 Club" has been updated with a new member
22 May 2000 -- a longish discussion of Proto-Families has photos and details on groups of birds considered worthy of "family" status by other authorities, but not by the Handbook of the Birds of the World series, or this web site
21 May 2000 -- the Carmel R. mouth page has links to an updated "Carmel R. m. area" checklist and current lister totals
19 May 2000 -- the Booby family page includes a couple great shots by Bob Pitman
14 May 2000 -- a new page on Parrots has way too many photos
30 Apr 2000 -- check out the Woodpeckers, featuring (among others) photos by Parker Backstrom and Jeff N. Davis
29 Apr 2000 -- the Limpkin and Hoatzin pages are now on-line [apologies for the service outage in mid-April when my ISP's mainframe crashed... all is well now]
12 Apr 2000 -- after consulting with a variety of world birders, I've revised my "top 50 best birds of the world" [thanks Phil Rostron, Armas Hill, Harold Lebo, Steve Bailey, Rita Carratello, and the late Arnold Small]; details of why each species was chosen are on the respective Realms pages, reached through the "Birding the World" portal
5 Apr 2000 -- the Sungrebe/Finfoot family is new, with a very nice Marc Fenner photo
4 Apr 2000 -- photo highlights from a short Lesser Antilles trip include birds, people, rare cetaceans and a turtle; also the recent Monterey County highlights now include a fine Eastern Phoebe shot by Bill Hill
1 Apr 2000 -- a Thrasher & Mimds family page includes a brand-new photo of a trembler, a very odd bird indeed
14 Mar 2000 -- the Loon family is added, bringing the total family pages to 71 within a year, or about 35% of the "bird families" project (at least in my 1st ed. format; older pages will eventually be updated as ways to make them more attractive are learned). And as the one-year web counter anniversary approaches, here comes visitor 7500.
5 Mar 2000 -- new are the Bush-Shrikes
28 Feb 2000 -- the Sandgrouse family is added
26 Feb 2000 -- a page on Storm-Petrels is launched
23 Feb 2000 -- "One mystery solved..." is a photo essay about the search for a specimen-backed summer record of Glaucous Gull on Monterey Bay -- its a bit of a mystery story and a lesson about gulls....
22 Feb 2000 -- consistent with the new family list, Cisticolas have a page split from the revised Old World Warblers
21 Feb 2000 -- new information received as to the tentative list of families for the remaining volumes of the Handbook of Birds of the World series (whose list I'm following with a minor addition and some reorganization). A new & revised listing of 202 families is now HERE; accordingly, my taxonomic essay page was also revised to match the new list.
15 Feb 2000 -- the first rarity of the year is now up on Monterey Highlights 2000 [Harris's Sparrow]; you can still find highlights of 1999 HERE and late 1998 HERE
8 Feb 2000 -- a Memorial to Arnold Small, a good friend who will be missed
5 Feb 2000 -- you, too, can now see the Nightjar family on-line, and read the story of why they were called "goatsuckers"
30 Jan 2000 -- the traditional Corvid family -- Crows, Jays & Allies -- is available
29 Jan 2000 -- two additional Australasian families -- Apostlebirds and Magpie-Larks -- are now on-line
26 Jan 2000 -- a summary of California Short-tailed Albatrosses with photos, details on all records, history & some i.d.
23 Jan 2000 -- its raining, so added are Cormorant and Diving-Petrel families
22 Jan 2000 -- offered are the Tropicbird family plus a fairly advanced Identification of Tropicbirds page
11 Jan 2000 -- up is the Kinglet family, plus a "virtual field guide" page on Hutton's Vireo vs. Ruby-crowned Kinglet
5 Jan 2000 -- visitor #5000 -- thanks....
31 Dec 1999 -- the century ends elegantly (yes, I know its a year early) with a Stilts & Avocets page
25 Dec 1999 -- a page on Waxwings seemed appropriate for Christmas
15 Dec 1999 -- a short page on Tinamousis added, with my lone photo of anything in that family, plus Rheas
13 Dec 1999 -- a page on Hummingbirds barely introduces a family with 328 species
9 Dec 1999 -- updated my 1999 MTY rarities page with a great Orchard Oriole shot by Bill Hill, plus Blackburnian Warbler
3 Dec 1999 -- a page in praise of Sunbirds is now on-line
21 Nov 1999 -- added a page on the Hamerkop
17 Nov 1999 -- a dozen photos support the text of a Hawks & Eagles page, plus a link to a seeing the Harpy Eagle page
6 Nov 1999 -- updated/revised the recent MTY rarity page with a new photo & more info on White-winged Tern, plus recent Brown Boobies records & more
30 Oct 1999 -- uploaded a new page similar to that previously posted on Pt. Pinos; this one features the Carmel River mouth & vicinity with a photo introduction &text, a listing area map, and links to a complete site checklist, a site history & listers' totals, and a gallery of vagrant photos from the area, all of which are elsewhere on this web site.
18 Oct 1999 -- added a page celebrating Bowerbirdsand their artistry
11 Oct 1999 -- turning from worldwide perspectives to a "local patch", a new page features Pt. Pinos & vicinity with a photo introduction, a listing area map, and links to a complete site checklist elsewhere on this web site, plus a site history & listers' totals, and a gallery of vagrant photos from Pt. Pinos (including some great ones by John Sorensen & Ron Branson)
9 Oct 1999 -- on a lark, added a Larks page
6 Oct 1999 -- uploaded a Tits & Chickadees family page
25 Sep 1999 -- added add'l photos of White-winged Tern to recent MTY rarities (plus Little Blue Heron), and uploaded a page on the African Helmet-shrikes
15 Sep 1999 -- added a page on White-eyes
13 Sep 1999 -- the recent MTY rarities page is updated with a fine Ron Branson photo of White-wing Tern & commentary
12 Sep 1999 -- new is a Trogons page
5 Sep 1999 -- added a New World Vulture page with some nice pics, including some very new + a Brad Schram condor
30 Aug 1999 -- uploaded the Icterids page; also, after overwhelming demand (to wit, zero letters & comments), tinkered with the family list (adding two families) for a result that is much more satisfying.
28 Aug 1999 -- added Seriemas and Sunbittern pages; added Boat-billed Heron to Herons page
1 Aug 1999 -- updated "Monterey 400 club" with new member and current totals
31 July 1999 -- added the Mesite family page
27 July 1999 -- added an entry page for Herps (Amphibians & Reptiles) and a page onalco Crocodilian family
21 July 1999 -- uploaded the Hoopoe page
20 July 1999 -- added a Cuckoo-Roller page
18 July 1999 -- after a fine lecture on Madagascar at the Pacific Grove Mus. Nat. Hist., uploaded a Ground-Roller page
30 June 1999 -- uploaded a photo discussion on Great-tailed Grackle variation and the mysteries that it triggers
27 June 1999 -- added Herons page; alas, another photo-heavy effort with 11 mostly-quite-nice shots
15 June 1999 -- added Kagu page, including the story of seeing a wild Kagu in 1998
8 June 1999 -- added identification discussions of the Ten Most Misidentified Birds in Monterey County. This link brings up a page of thumbnails and links to a full page discussion of each of ten problems, with comparative photos.
31 May 1999 -- uploaded a Recent Monterey Co. Rarities page
30 May 1999 -- added Albatross page plus a detailed identification page on silhouetted dark albatross in the north Pacific
8 May 1999 -- added Finch page, the Fringillidae
7 May 1999 -- uploaded Owlet-Nightjars page
6 May 1999 -- posted Birds-of-Paradise page which includes a couple wonderful photos by Will Betz; also added a Will Betz photo to Birding the World page, and added a list to "best birds" page
18 Apr 1999 -- added a "Monterey County 400 page" to the Monterey County thread
16 Apr 1999 -- added page of photos & i.d. discussion on the problem between pale Am. Robins & Eye-browed Thrush
15 Apr 1999 -- new pages on Owls and for Oystercatchers
12 Apr 1999 -- uploaded Oceanic Islands page and the "3 favorite oceanic island photos" page
8 Apr 1999 -- posted Australasian page and 3 "favorite Australasian photos" page; fixed list of families to include the unintentionally omitted Austalo-Papuan babblers (bringing total of families to 196)
5 Apr 1999 -- posted North America (Nearctic) and "North American favorite photos" pages
4 Apr 1999 -- added swallows page, and, at the request of my sister, added the "about me" page
1 Apr 1999 -- added Plains-Wanderer page
31 Mar 1999 -- added a photos/discussion page on King Co., Calif., first record of Glaucous-winged Gull (reached via the "birding topics" heading), including a Luke Cole story of a Kings Co. big day
28 Mar 1999 -- added thrush page; it has a dozen photos so takes longer to load (but it IS a huge family)
23 Mar 1999 -- added leafbirds page
22 Mar 1999 -- added Asia page & 3 "Asian favorite photos" page; also posted pages for ioras and for rhabdornis
21 Mar 1999 -- added penguins page
20 Mar 1999 -- added pages for barbets (10 photos!... maybe too many?) and for Ostrich
18 Mar 1999 -- put in a web counter
17 Mar 1999 -- added pelicans page6 Mar 1999 -- added pages for the Cinclosomatidae (whipbirds & quail-thrushes) and Australo-Papuan warblerseotropics page & 3 "Neotropical favorite photos" page
13 Mar 1999 -- added a Monterey Bay Masked/Nazca Booby to i.d. page, with photos and discussion
7 Mar 1999 -- added weavers page
4 Mar 1999 -- added Western Palearctic page & 3 "Western Palearctic favorite photos" page; sev. more visitor corrections
2 Mar 1999 -- added a page of photos & story on finding the Philippine [Monkey-eating] Eagle, reached via "best birds" essay on "world birding" page
26 Feb 1999 -- added rockfowl page, made several corrections suggested by visitorsdded turkeys page, a "links" and a "birding topics" pages, announced opening
23 Feb 1999 -- added "world birding" page, "best birds" comments, an Africa page & 3 "African favorite photos" page
22 Feb 1999 -- added furnaridspage
21 Feb 1999 -- added waterfowl page, modified/corrected numerous other pages
20 Feb 1999 -- added gull page, explained "creagrus@montereybay.com" and added my CBRC votes on Swallow-tailed Gull, added text of Nebraska gull article, uploaded a publications list, and added various links throughout
18 Feb 1999 -- added broadbills and asitites page, added "about the photos" page9 -- added photos/discussion of a "Kumlien's" Iceland Gull in Orange Co., CA, to i.d. page
11 Feb 1999 -- added essay page on choosing a list of families of the world
10 Feb 1999 -- added plovers, sandpipers, todies, ground-hornbills, and hornbills pages
9 Feb 1999 -- added index page for "Families of the World" list; uploaded palmchat page
8 Feb 1999 -- acqed Internet space on montereybay.com; uploaded home page