In this Monday, Dec. 17, 2012 photo, an American bittern hides in the grass during an annual 24-hour Christmastime ritual to count birds along the Texas Gulf Coast in Mad Island, Texas. The data ...

Birders love birds; botanists love plants. They both like to identify the “object of their affection.” Birders seem to like common names for birds, although a bird may be identified by genus, species ...

The onk-a-chonk call of the American bittern at Market Lake Wildlife Management Area was close and unmistakable. In fact, it was almost like a Clint Eastwood/Dirty Harry taunt, “Go ahead punk, try and ...