Author: marcuscengland
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On Jinx Birds and the Great Snowy Owl and Bighorn Sheep Conspiracy
Most birders are familiar with the concept of a “jinx bird”. A jinx bird is a species that you have made repeated efforts, often over many years, to see. It is one where you have shown up repeatedly at locations where the species has been reported, and it has always just left the area right […]
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Get to the Finish or Die Trying: The 2015 Angeles Crest 100
It is really difficult to move happily through life without adjustments along the way. Stagnation is a key component of misery. It is important to understand what makes you happy, what goals you need to achieve to become happy, and what you are willing to sacrifice to meet those goals. Odds are that happiness will […]
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Don’t Cry For Me, Ensatina: An Ode to the Joys of Cooper Canyon
Today was the final stop on my Tour of Otherwise Enjoyable Places That Will Make Me Cry on Race Day. Six days hence, I will be running my third attempt at the Angeles Crest 100. While the course is stunningly beautiful, and enjoyable recreation opportunities abound in the San Gabriel Mountains, attempting to enjoy 100 […]
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The Voice of Doubt
I suck at running. It is one of the few things in my life that I have chosen to fully embrace despite having a mediocre skillset. My lack of running prowess is the primary reason that I run long distance races: There would be little point for me to work and work at becoming competitive […]
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A Sense of Place: Ohio and the Mohican 100
As I write this, I am sitting on Southwest flight 4472, returning from a week in my home state of Ohio. While I have gone back to Ohio one or two times per year since I moved to California in 2003, this is my longest return visit, and the first where I’ve spent most of […]
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On Family and Falling: 254 Species
My younger brother and I have a history of adventuring through the wooded hills of Ohio. Through a series of both fortunate and unfortunate events, we have spent much of our adult lives separated by as much as half of the planet Earth, and even when he ended up in northern California several years ago, […]
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You Win Some, You Lose Some: Big Year Species 251
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve added a new species to the Big Year count. I think it’s getting to that point where I actually have to make a concerted effort to find new ones, primarily by chasing after species reported by others. While I’ve been birding for over 30 years all over the […]
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Birding (and Botanizing) on the Run: The Mt. Wilson Toll Road
A year or more may elapse before it is finally settled, but there is little doubt that a great astronomical observatory will shortly grace Mt. Wilson and make Pasadena a central point of interest to the scientific world! – Pasadena Star, April 8, 1892 Today, I ran the Mt. Wilson Toll Road. In fact, I […]
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Big Year Update – 250 Species
My Los Angeles County Big Year is rolling along, if ever so slowly. I’ve picked up four new species in the last week.
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Big Year Update – 246 Species
After completing a survey fairly early this morning, I went a little ways up the coast to Palos Verdes. At Pt. Vicente, there was a large flock of shearwaters and other seabirds quite a ways off the coast. The handful that came in close enough to ID were Black-vented and Sooty Shearwaters, both new species for […]
England | Ecology 