What you'll find in our October issue, on newsstands now!

Posted Wed, Sep 28 2011 10:40 AM by Chuck Hagner

Have you seen the October issue of BirdWatching magazine yet? The issue went on newsstands at the beginning of this month. (Find a newsstand near you.)

Here's a what you'll find inside.

Three feature articles…

1. Photographer Dave Welling writes about 17 conservation-minded ranches in Texas that welcome wildlife photographers.

2. Journalist William Jobes shares photos of kingbirds, mockingbirds, and blackbirds mobbing a family of Red-tailed Hawks and explains why little birds gang up on larger birds -- and why the big birds don't fight back.

3. And in our cover story, Alabama writer Kathie Farnell writes about her beloved Gulf Coast one year after the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig in April 2010. She lists the varied habitats put at risk by the resulting oil spill and recounts scientists' efforts to understand and assess its effects on resident, wintering, and migratory birds.

Important news and winter birding destinations…

In "Birding Briefs," our expanded news section, you'll find a summary of the latest changes to the AOU checklist; an explanation of how hummingbirds remember nectar-producing flowers; a report on a potential reclassification of the endangered Eskimo Curlew; and our regular photo gallery of recent rare-bird sightings. This one includes photos of the first Double-toothed Kite and the first Rufous-collared Sparrow ever recorded in the U.S.

In "Hotspots Near You," local birdwatchers describe four great places to go birding this winter: a spit of land at the top of Wisconsin where you can see Pomarine, Parasitic, and Long-tailed Jaegers; a state park in Virginia that's great for Peregrine Falcon, Merlin, and American Kestrel; a lake in California that's superb for Long-billed Curlew, American Avocet, and Loggerhead Shrike and provides critical foraging habitat for California Condor; and a park in British Columbia that is THE place in winter to see Bald Eagles in breathtaking numbers.

Download PDF packages of great birding destinations, organized by regions of the country.

And from our contributing editors…

Eldon Greij explains the important roles played in the life of John James Audubon by a cast of fascinating people: the artist's father, his stepmother, his wife Lucy, the Scottish ornithologist William MacGillivray, and Napoleon Bonaparte.

Pete Dunne describes two instances when artwork from the famed wildlife painter Louis Agassiz Fuertes fell unexpectedly into his hands.

Julie Craves answers readers' questions about the effects on Asian swiftlet populations of bird's-nest soup, a delicacy that requires the harvesting of nests, and about the types and effects of ticks that prey upon birds.

Paul Kerlinger describes three migrants that birdwatchers should look for in September and October -- White-throated Swift, Cooper's Hawk, and Eastern Phoebe.

Kenn Kaufman describes birds that can be found around New Mexico's Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge.

And David Sibley once again calls our attention to a critically important birding detail: He tells how the tiny feathers located between a bird's eye and bill differ from other feathers, and he explains how your line of sight can change how dark or how pale the feathers appear.

I hope you like the issue. Please send me a letter or leave a comment if there's something you'd like to see in a future issue. -- Chuck Hagner, Editor

Watch a video about the October issue.

See the contents of the October issue.

Read about our new downloadable collections of hotspot articles.

 

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