8^th - 17^th May. So the rest of the month may be a bit quiet when it comes to birding. Reason? Well I spent around 10 days over in the USA, on my first proper birding trip abroad visiting the North West of Ohio and participating in The Biggest Week in American Birding, a celebration of migration and a stunning spectacle in both volume and diversity of birds. I went with my father and we both had a memorable time seeing around 150 species and I managed to photograph almost 140. Of course the pictures are going to be put up and it's very much a work in progress task as I managed to take around 16,000 photos, many of them blurry and grainy but there are some belters in there too! Check out my new American bird pictures site by clicking on the link or read about the trip on my expanding Biggest Week 2011 Blog which gets more verbose as I trawl through the pictures chronologically! Needless to say I was blown away by American birds, their colour, diversity, abundance in the right habitats, approachability, and also with American birders - what a special breed! The whole thing was a world away from the UK with virtually no negativity, no competitiveness, a huge open propensity for learning and sharing, and overall tremendous enthusiasm from all ages and both sexes. I'll never forget the gasp and audible delight when a Connecticut Warbler finally showed to the impeccably behaved crowd of 100 or so watching birders. I can't recommend it highly enough and it shows what we have to learn about watching, appreciating and sharing wildlife this side of the pond. It’s certainly changed my birding perspective!