FLIGHT LINES
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Flight Lines: No mystery, now is the height of songbird migration
Dates are important. Always have been; just ask Julius Caesar about the Ides of March. Whether to recognize birthdays or anniversaries, or to memorialize an event for a specific reason (eg. June 6, 1944, D-Day), people all over the world have long looked at certain spots on the calendar as being significant.
By Keith Corliss , May 23, 2012
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Flight Lines: First flycatcher of spring defies convention 
There is any number of ways we can divide birds into groups: Pelagic (oceangoing) vs. land-based, precocial vs. altricial young, cavity nesting vs. nest building, or perhaps vegetarian vs. flesh-eating.
By Keith Corliss , May 09, 2012
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Flight Lines: West Fargoan adds species to county bird list
A 2006 poll conducted by the US Fish and Wildlife Service showed North Dakotans among the least likely Americans to be bird watchers on a per capita basis at 14 percent. Only Hawaiians polled lower among the 50 states. I’ve got my own theories as to why this might be the case but let’s put that aside for another time and assume the data are reasonably accurate.
By Keith Corliss , April 25, 2012
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City-dwelling raptors no longer things of rarity
On the 18th of December, 1993, I saw my first merlin sitting in a tree in Fargo’s industrial park. By then I had been birding for over 15 years and merlins—those energetic falcons with an attitude I’d heard so much about—were quite near the top of the list of birds I wanted to see. I now realize there were two reasons it took me so long to find one.
By Keith Corliss , April 04, 2012
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Flight Lines: Roadrunner very real, just not here
From the following list of cartoon birds, select the one with the specific real life counterpart and matching name: Big bird, Roadrunner, Woody Woodpecker, Daffy Duck, Woodstock, and Tweety. Woody Woodpecker comes close, I guess, and Daffy Duck even includes the word “duck.” But only roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) meets the specifics called for in the first sentence.
By Keith Corliss , March 21, 2012
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Flight Lines: Morning, lengthening days lead to singing birds
“In the Spring a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love,” wrote British poet Alfred Lord Tennyson in his work titled, Locksley Hall. Indeed there is something about the slightly warming weather, the ever longer days, and the slow greening of the landscape which stirs the hearts of not only young men, but young organisms of all types.
By Keith Corliss , March 07, 2012
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Flight Lines: Sorting through natural relationships not always easy
The other day I received an email with an attached video showing scenes of a crow and a house cat frolicking and carrying on in a playful and friendly manner. Strange as it would seem, these two normally antagonistic creatures were boldly defying nature in a peaceful, even affectionate, fashion. Or at least defying nature as we typically recognize it.
By Keith Corliss , February 22, 2012
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Flight Lines: Black-capped chickadee everyone's favorite
Just for fun, let’s say we’ve been asked to manufacture a bird species using a list of certain characteristics, as if something like this were possible.
By Keith Corliss , February 08, 2012
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Flight Lines: Recent bird survey exceeds expectations again
Local birders round up 54 species during annual count
By Keith Corliss , January 04, 2012
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Holiday gift ideas for the birder in your life
Christmas shopping has never been a strong area for me. I’m not entirely sure why, it just happens to be that way. I think the hype and hustle of the season blur my ability to reason clearly and I end up buying something spontaneously, something a little odd, or – worst of all – something unwanted.
By Keith Corliss , December 21, 2011
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Flight Lines: Sharp snowy owl contrast between last two winters
We are under an invasion. Unlike Orson Welles’ 1938 radio adaptation of H. G. Wells’ novel, War of the Worlds, this one is real and it’s coming from the north.
By Keith Corliss , December 07, 2011
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Outdoor oddities always pique a birder’s curiosity
Just by happenstance – I call it luck – I live in the same West Fargo neighborhood as North Dakota Game and Fish Department biologist, Doug Leier. Not only have we watched each other’s children grow through the years, but we’ve shared many outdoors stories. They’re often a little unconventional; such was the case just last week.
By Keith Corliss , November 09, 2011
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Flight Lines: Leaf drop reveals handiwork of nesting birds
Remove the leaves from trees and all manner of secrets are exposed to the world. Secrets which had been hidden for the summery months in the dappled verdant bosom of leaf canopy now lay bare and vulnerable to chilly autumn winds.
By Keith Corliss , October 26, 2011
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Flight Lines: Pelican colony destruction strikes a chord
Like almost every morning, last Friday found me leafing through the pages of the Forum newspaper. Separating this day from most was a story on page A7 which carried the following headline: “Farmer ‘flipped out’ at pelicans.”
By Keith Corliss , October 12, 2011
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Making a pitch for the outdoors; lobbying on behalf of the LWCF
Lobbying. The very word makes me cringe. It connotes all manner of unseemly political chicanery from bought-and-paid-for votes on contentious issues to the unflattering influence money brings to the process.
By Keith Corliss , September 28, 2011
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