Author Archives: Bob

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About Bob

A lifelong naturalist, Bob's avocation is birding, including field observation, study, photography and writing. He spent a career in computers and consulting, but his free time has been spent outdoors backpacking, fishing and enjoying nature firsthand. Bob has traveled extensively, exploring and photographing above and underwater in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia, Egypt and throughout the United States, Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America. Now retired, as an amateur ornithologist Bob studies, photographs and writes primarily about birds of the Western Hemisphere. Formerly the Feature Writer for Latin America and Caribbean Travel at Suite101.com, he has been Suite101's Feature Writer for Birds and Birding since January, 2010, and has received seven Editor's Choice awards, which are listed below. Bob also writes a monthly birding column for a newspaper in Arizona, and his work appears in the travel magazine, Another Day in Paradise, published in Zihuatanejo, Mexico. His blog, Birding the 'Brooke and Beyond, discusses birding, travel and other topics in Southeast Arizona and beyond. Bob is a member of the National and Tucson Audubon Societies, Western Field Ornithologists, Arizona Field Ornithologists, the American Birding Association and other birding and conservation organizations. Bob and his wife, Prudy, live in the Santa Catalina Mountain foothills near Tucson, Arizona. To date, Bob has received Suite101 Editor's Choice awards for the following articles: • Birding by Cruise Ship in the Caribbean • The Xantus' Hummingbird, Baja California's Only Endemic Hummer • Birding the White Mountains in and Around Greer, Arizona • The Greater Roadrunner, New Mexico's State Bird • Where to Find Steelhead on the Lower Deschutes River in Oregon • Birding La Bajada near San Blas, Mexico • The 2008 Christmas Bird Count at Estero del Yugo in Mazatlan

Thanksgiving and a Tale of Two Turkeys

When November rolls around, thoughts turn to Thanksgiving, being thankful and, inevitably, turkeys.  Whether turkeys think about our holiday has yet to be proven, and except for the annually-pardoned White House bird, domestic turkeys have no reason to be grateful.  … Continue reading

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Ravens and Crows and Ravens, Oh My!

Like a lot of other folks, you might think Edgar Allen Poe when someone mentions ‘raven’, and in fact many western poets, authors and cultures have associated the raven with danger and death. But not all is midnight dreary with … Continue reading

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Smallest North American Bird, the Calliope Hummingbird

Many of us might guess (correctly) that the California Condor is North America’s largest wild bird, but few of us know that our smallest bird is the Calliope Hummingbird. California Condors are pretty hard to ignore.  Once nearly extinct, and … Continue reading

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Orioles in Arizona

Probably our most striking set of summertime visitors are members of the genus Icterus, the new world orioles.  Orioles are part of the family Icteridae, a group that includes seemingly unrelated birds like grackles, blackbirds, bobolinks, cowbirds and meadowlarks.  Though … Continue reading

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Birding the East Coast in Summer

If you are an Arizona grandparent with grandkids graduating in Virginia and Connecticut in the summer, you go.  If you are a birder, you take your binoculars.  We just returned from such a trip, visiting family, celebrating graduations and touring … Continue reading

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Are Playback Apps Good or Bad for Birding?

I would guess there are few people around unfamiliar with apps, but if you’re one of them, here’s a quick explanation:  Apps, short for ‘mobile application software’, are clever little programs you can download (often for free) onto your iPhone, … Continue reading

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Birding Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula

Development of Cancun as a tourist destination was begun in January, 1970, when there were just three residents.  The last census in 2010 reported 628,306 residents.  Today, Cancun is Mexico’s primary tourist destination with more than three million visitors each … Continue reading

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The Sweet Sound of Springtime Birdsong

(note the following was published after the severe desert winter of 2010/2011)   After the cheerless chill of an especially harsh winter, and the depressing sight of moribund palms and citrus, it’s nice to hear our birds singing again.  We … Continue reading

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SaddleBrooke’s Spring Switch in Lineup of Birds

Baseball spring training tests player skill, compatibility, interaction and adaptability, ultimately producing a lineup that hopefully succeeds until fall.  Similarly, Mother Nature has been managing the spring lineup of birds for eons, long before Abner Doubleday (or whoever) dreamed up … Continue reading

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Free Guided Bird Walks in Southeast Arizona

  An article in the August 5, 2011 issue of USA Today, titled Bird-watching is Big Business in Arizona, named our part of the state as one of the “two or three best places in the United States to look … Continue reading

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