House Wren singing with mouth open while perched on skinny branch against green background

Our 10 Favorite Bird Audio Recordings From 2020

Recording bird sounds has a been a source of great joy for us, as well as a boon to our birding-by-ear skills. First, making a recording forces us to listen intentionally for much longer than we may have otherwise, which helps commit vocalizations to memory. Then, uploading audio to The Macaulay Library allows us to revisit a recording with the helpful visual addition of its corresponding spectrogram.
 
In 2020, we uploaded 270 audio recordings to our eBird checklists. We picked our favorites to compile this Top 10 list, presented in chronological order. We hope you enjoy them! Continue reading “Our 10 Favorite Bird Audio Recordings From 2020”

American Robin female with grassy nesting material in beak while standing on the ground in Sonoma County Bay Area Northern California

Home-Patch Breeding Bird Activity

Even the most common bird species offer a wealth of fascination if you simply tune in to the minutia of their daily lives. Breeding season is fantastic for observing behavior, as bird activity is bustling. Our dedicated home-patch birding during the pandemic has allowed us to closely follow the progression of breeding activity in our neighborhood. Continue reading “Home-Patch Breeding Bird Activity”

25 Birds of the Redwood Forest & Russian River (Spring Edition)

Coast redwoods and douglas-firs dominate our home patch near the Russian River in Northern California. A short distance from our front door, we can view the river from above and can also access a fire road that winds through the mixed evergreen forest. With spring breeding season in full swing, we wanted to share some species we’re fortunate to observe on a typical walk. Continue reading “25 Birds of the Redwood Forest & Russian River (Spring Edition)”

ebird photo quiz

In Praise of the eBird Quiz

We’re bird quiz-aholics. If there’s a bird quiz online, chances are we’ve taken it. We pore through bird photo Flickr pages and cover up species names to quiz ourselves. On our laptop, you’ll find folders labeled “Wren Calls” and “Warbler Chips,” from which we frequently pop-quiz each other.

Say, which wren’s scold is this?

Okay, is this a Hermit or Black-throated Gray chip note?

Continue reading “In Praise of the eBird Quiz”

Chestnut-backed Chickadee perched on redwood branch in Guerneville California

20 Birds of the Redwood Forest & Russian River (Winter Edition)


Interested in which birds are around during Spring and Summer? Check out the Spring Edition of 25 Birds of Our Patch – The Redwood Forest & Russian River here!


We live in a beautiful forested area dominated by Coast Redwoods and Douglas-firs near the Russian River in Northern California. We bird our home patch daily, walking through our neighborhood to a fire road that winds through dense conifer forest. With winter soon drawing to a close, we wanted to share some of the species we’re fortunate to encounter on a normal day. Continue reading “20 Birds of the Redwood Forest & Russian River (Winter Edition)”