Jaap van Heerden’s Birding pages

About me:

I retired from my job as AV Media Technician at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Campus Center, although I am still connected with that department on a part-time basis.

I enjoy Travel, Birding, Photography, and a variety of cultural interests: Classical Music, Dance, Art, and Mesoamerican Archaeology among them.

Birding-related links:

Locally, in the Amherst area, the Hampshire Bird Club is a very active organization, of which I am currently a Board member.

Information about bird sightings in Massachusetts, and a great number of useful links can be found on MassBird.

The Northampton Birdwatcher's Club website provides additional information on local sightings.

Here are some pages with my pictures:

2005:

Banding the Peregrine Falcons on top of the 27 story W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst

on May 31, 2005. Some pictures of the developing fledglings included. There were three fledglings in 2005.

2006:

· The appearance of a White-tailed Hawk in Hadley, MA, a species mostly restricted to Southern Texas. This bird was first seen by Scott Surner and his birding class on April 22, 2006. It stayed around the area until the morning of April 24. Discussions on the origins of this bird continue.

· Banding the new crop of Peregrine Falcons on the University of Massachusetts Library, on June 5, 2006. There are two chicks this year, one male, one female.

· On Tuesday morning, June 20, 2006, one of the Peregrine Falcon fledglings made a premature flight down to ground level and settled on the

railing surrounding the Library courtyard. After causing quite a bit of excitement among passers-by, it was captured and placed back in the nest box on top of the Library.

The progress of both fledglings can be seen in pictures added on June 28 and some rainy day scope pictures of both fledglings on top of Thompson Hall, added on June 29.

On July 1, both fledglings were seen flying around the Graduate Research Tower, accompanied by both adults, proving that both birds are capable of sustained flight.

Other Bird news:

· The appearance of a Western Reef Heron (Egretta gularis) in Portsmouth, New Hampshire caused quite a stir among birders in September 2006. The provenance of this West African bird is still being debated.

2007:

· Iceland birding stopover: A day-long birding excursion from Reykjavík to the tip of the Snæfellsnes Peninsula in Western Iceland.

· NEW!! :

· Three Peregrine Falcon chicks hatched at the University of Massachusetts Library this year. They were banded on May 30, 2007.

Photo equipment used:

· For general photography: Panasonic Lumix FZ 7, 6 Mp camera (12x stabilized Leica zoom), with Olympus TCON 17 telephoto 1.7x adapter if needed.

· For digiscoping: KOWA TSN 4 77mm Fluorite scope, with KOWA 30 WA eyepiece, KOWA TSN-DA1 adapter, and Kodak 7630 camera

6 megapixel, usually set to 3x zoom.

Last modified June 14, 2007