Bird

It always seemed as though Larry Bird's 15-year tenure with the Pacers has been on borrowed time. He never looked comfortable on the sideline, as if he were counting the seconds before he could retire and return to French Lick. Bird, who was named NBA Executive of the Year last week, is not comfortable in the spotlight, a primary reason why he stepped down as coach of the Pacers after the 2000 season to become the team's vice president. He inherited the job of president when mentor Donnie Walsh stepped down in 2003, and it has taken years for him to rebuild the Pacers into a...

Recent bird sightings on Cape Cod (as of May 16) as reported to the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Mass Audubon's annual Bird-a-thon fund-raiser was held, bringing birders from all over the state to the Cape in hopes of big species lists. One of the highlights was a sandhill crane seen by many teams at both the Beech Forest in Provincetown and the Pilgrim Heights hawk watch. Lots of night birding produced many secretive owls and rails, including clapper rails in Wellfleet, Brewster, and Harwich, Virginia rails in many locations, a sora in Chatham, and Northern saw-whet owls in several...

Recent bird sightings in Western Mass. (as of Aug. 30) as reported to the Massachusetts Audubon Society. Hurricanes are seabirds' worst nightmare. Birds are picked up and carried far from their normal places, and they must find enough food to gain the strength to return to where they belong. While they do this on inland lakes and ponds, they fulfill every birders fantasy of seeing a species they never thought to see so close to home or so well. This happened recently: A white-tailed tropicbird, a sooty tern, 11 Hudsonian godwits, seven black-bellied plovers, two golden plovers, two ruddy turnstones, two common...

WHO Bill Thompson III WHAT Bill Thompson III is editor of the bimonthly Bird Watcher's Digest and author of "The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of North America. " He lives in Ohio and will be at the Harvard Museum of Natural History in Cambridge on May 26 for "Watch Out for Vulture Vomit and Other Adventures in Bird Watching. " (2 p.m. 617- 495-3045. www.hmnh.harvard .edu) Q. Why did you write a bird-watching guide for kids? A. I first sparked on bird-watching in 1968 when a snowy owl came into our yard in Iowa.

A golden, juicy bird looks grand in the center of the Thanksgiving table, but the stars of the feast are the sides. This harvest array bears a striking resemblance to the red, orange, and yellow hues of the last foliage. Glorious sides can be made from winter squashes, golden or sweet potatoes, cranberries, onions, spinach, Brussels sprouts, kale, leeks, broccoli, cauliflower, parsnips, and turnips. But it’s fun to throw in some unexpected dishes. Wrap dates with bacon, roll goat cheese in bright pistachios, pass a plate of crudites, devil eggs, offer a crustless ricotta quiche, or stamp out biscuits.

PHILADELPHIA - There's a chance the American League East could begin to change when the Red Sox begin a three-game series against the Orioles Monday night at Camden Yards. Not that a sweep would allow the Sox to overtake the Orioles, but they could tighten things up and send a message to the team that kept them out of the playoffs last season. Fact is, the Sox are coming together as a team. Something has clicked. They are different now. "People were saying Josh Beckett was a cancer," said David Ortiz after Beckett tossed 7 ⅔ innings and allowed one run in a 5-1 win over the Phillies...

Recent bird sightings as reported to the Massachusetts Audubon Society: With spring migration near its peak last week, a variety of migrants were reported from a number of locations, including latecomers such as black-billed and yellow-billed cuckoo, common nighthawk, olive-sided and Acadian flycatcher, Swainson's thrush, cedar waxwing, and Tennessee, bay-breasted, blackpoll, and mourning warblers. ► Newburyport: Northern shoveler, ring-necked duck, one olive-sided flycatcher, and at least 14 species of warblers, including a hooded warbler, were spotted at the Parker River...

It always seemed as though Larry Bird's 15-year tenure with the Pacers has been on borrowed time. He never looked comfortable on the sideline, as if he were counting the seconds before he could retire and return to French Lick. Bird, who was named NBA Executive of the Year last week, is not comfortable in the spotlight, a primary reason why he stepped down as coach of the Pacers after the 2000 season to become the team's vice president. He inherited the job of president when mentor Donnie Walsh stepped down in 2003, and it has taken years for him to rebuild the Pacers into a...

Three bombs struck near simultaneously at a busy bird market in eastern Baghdad on Friday morning, killing five people and wounding dozens, police and health officials said. Two police officials said the bird market in the Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City was crowded with shoppers when the bombs exploded at around 7:00 a.m. The officials added that 37 people were wounded in the blasts. A hospital official confirmed the casualty toll. All the officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the media.

A bird strike caused a deadly helicopter crash at Camp Pendleton last year that killed two Marines, according to a Marine Corps investigation. The AH-1W Cobra attack helicopter collided Sept. 19 with a red-tailed hawk that had a wing span of about 4 feet and probably weighed about 3 pounds, according to a report obtained by U-T San Diego ( http://bit.ly/KxrFT1). Both pilots onboard, Capt. Jeffrey Bland, 37, and 1st Lt. Thomas Heitmann, 27, were killed in the crash. The hawk hit the top of the helicopter and damaged the pitch change link,...

Pacers president Larry Bird was voted the NBA's Executive of the Year, becoming the first person to win that award, plus the league's MVP and Coach of the Year honors. Bird's moves to strengthen the team during the offseason included promoting Frank Vogel from interim to head coach and signing forward David West . Bird was a three-time MVP as a Celtic player. As a coach, he led the Pacers to a 147-67 record in three seasons and their only finals appearance in 2000.