Midwest Birding Symposium 2009: Photos of Photographers
I’m just back from the 2009 Midwest Birding Symposium, which was without doubt one of the best organized and coordinated events of its kind, ever. I kept pretty busy, giving a presentation on the uses of digital technology in birding, successfully chasing a Kirtland’s Warbler that turned up nearby, burning the midnight karaoke oil, and so on. I took very few photos, except for a series of quick, informal portraits that I’m presenting here. Bill Thompson III (aka Bill of the

European Golden-Plover near Smyrna, DE photo by Anthony Gonzon
Congratulations to Andy Urquhart for his astonishing find of a European Golden-Plover (Pluvialis apricaria) just southeast of Smyrna, Delaware. The bird is hanging out in the fields at Wick’s Potato Farm, on the west side of Route 9, just south of the turnoff for Bombay Hook National Wildlife National Wildlife Refuge. Time to write is short, as you can imagine, as a bunch of us are heading out the door to attempt to re-find the bird. In the meantime, here is one of Anthony Gonzon’s photos from this morning, both full-frame and cropped.

Lark Sparrow at Fort Miles, Cape Henlopen State Park, DE
I was out walking the dog around 9:30 AM this morning when I got a phone call from Forrest Rowland, who is once again scanning the skies over the Cape Henlopen Hawk Watch. He said that he had heard from Derek Stoner that the Delmarva Ornithological Society group Derek was leading on their annual Cape May field trip had already seen two Lark Sparrows. Forrest said he was seeing and hearing lots of passerines around him and gently but firmly suggested that if I didn’t have anything too pressing, I get my butt over to Cape Henlopen (just 11 miles across the bay from Cape May) and look for Lark Sparrows or other rare or scarce species that might be present. Forrest, being la