My first visits to Key West as a young graduate student were doused in the costumes and Mardi Gras beads of Fantasy Fest. Crowds of boozed up revelers stumbled from one bar to the next along Duval Street, parting only long enough to admire elaborate...
Our banka glided across a protected cove toward rock drapery spilling from the forested cliff above. From a distance the cave entrance appeared merely as another fold in the rock; but, as we slipped into its darkness, our boatman’s headlamp revealed a tunnel that opened...
Our group stood quietly in the forest trying to ignore the mosquitoes buzzing incessantly as our guides played a softly-repeating whoop-like call over their loud speakers. We all listened as they paused the audio, straining to hear the faint response of a Gray-fronted Quail-Dove. Our...
Satyr Tragopan Our tour bus erupts in commotion on a partially paved road high in the Himalayas. Binoculars swing to the left. Middle rows stand. Back-seaters move forward. Windows shove open and camera lenses burst forth. A flurry of flakes and frigid air seep into the...
Let’s face it, birders can be a serious bunch. There are both written and unspoken rules that garner more than just glares if broken - God forbid you point or wear white boots. I’m pretty sure laughter is generally frowned upon as well. Yet it...