Some might consider it a pile of grass clippings. Columnist Julie Zickefoose calls it weed control. The birds consider it a comfortable place to relax and catch some rays. Not just birds, though: Mammals are drawn to the Grass Lounge, too. Featured in Bird Watcher's Digest September/October 2018.

Autumn is an ideal time to take a pelagic trip—a boat ride into deeper waters off shore. Many birders make such a Pacific pilgrimage, and bird ID guru Alvaro Jaramillo helps distinguish among the shearwaters: sooty, pink-footed, Buller’s, black-vented, flesh-footed and short-tailed. Featured in Bird Watcher's Digest September/October 2018.

Sancho was Al Batt’s favorite birding companion. He was a wolf in a chihuahua body: brave but nervous, and bullied by ducks, but he could huff and puff and blow a squirrel out of a tree—or so he thought. Featured in Bird Watcher's Digest September/October 2018.