Pajareo sin fronteras

  The theme of my life for the past year or so has been my long, slow move from the Philippines back to the US. It started because of a change in my employment that forced me to be based out of Washington DC, and it was as extended as it was because Nikki still, somehow, doesn't have a visa so that she can join me. Just one of the many, many joys of interacting with the American immigration system. That whole process seems to be finally (finally!) drawing to a close, but the long wait meant that I decided to do one more visit home to Sorsogon this spring to spend some time with Nikki, and help move yet more things from the Philippines to the US. Conveniently I timed my visit for the absolute hottest part of the year- in an El Niño year at that, when the Philippines has been breaking all-time temperature records left and right. It's the sort of thing that instills a healthy amount of existential dread if you think about it long enough, and spending lots of time in an apartment w...

  People who have met me in person know that I love complaining about birding around Washington DC. It's too far east for the good warblers breeding in the Appalachians, too far west for interesting coastal birds, too far south for good wintertime ducks, and too far north for Southeastern specialties like spoonbills or anhingas (vagrants notwithstanding). That said, the one time where it really does stand out is during migration time. We seem to be enough inside the major flyways that practically every bird that breeds in eastern North America will make its way through, including rare stuff like Connecticut Warblers, Cerulean Warblers, and Bicknell's Thrushes.  Naturally, it seems like every year I manage to be outside of DC for the best migration periods. That happened last year when I arrived too late in the spring, and then spent most of the fall gallivanting around Southeast Asia. And, well, it happened again this year, when I headed out for yet another extended Southeas...