I’ve had so much fun at the San Diego Bird Festival this weekend both as a volunteer and participant. It’s been great getting outside, meeting new and experienced birders, learning about birds and conservation, and finding “bird joy”. Also I’ll never grow old of seeing American Kestrels like this guy!...
One homemade solution I’ve considered is Acopian BirdSavers. They can be made using paracord and hang like thin curtains. They also have some for purchase. https://www.birdsavers.com/
I love hearing studies like this because it both validates my own experience and shows how to make birding more positive. I record bird counts for science but I definitely want to incorporate paying more attention to what birds I enjoy most. It elevates the mindfulness of birding. Each bird...
Liked “Winter Morning at Lake Carnegie Dam” by Khürt Williams
Yes, this is a year-in-review post about 2023 posted in 2026. I considered skipping straight to 2025, but the completionist in me wants to capture the years I’ve missed. Plus I already had written some interesting tidbits during the year with little updates during the year. So this update is...
Time to fly
Had a special visitor today. Thanks for hanging around the house. It’s nice when the birds come to you instead of the other way around.🦉
Followed some strange noises at the park after our softball game and found a few of these guys chatting.
Found this artist amongst Tracy’s beautiful spring flower pictures and I just love the personality in their flat bird designs. There are a good variety of products too showing some impressive creativity.
We went back to the San Diego Zoo this weekend and I came home with some fun pictures. I think my favorite animals to look at were the White-fronted Bee-eater. Though the weaver birds in the same aviary exhibit were also impressive. Despite a short downpour of rain, I had...
Despite the poor lighting I was really pleased this kingfisher posed enough for me to snap this digi-scoped pic. I lightly edited it for extra mood.
This month I attended the Wings Over Water Birding Festival in Blaine, Washington. This was the first birding festival I’ve attended but I had been wanting to do more social birding events. We got the idea when a family member recently moved there and my wife and I stayed at...
I’ve really enjoyed the Wings Over Water birding festival this weekend, but one of my favorite surprises was finding the artwork of Laurel Mundy. Her artwork is so vivid and beautiful that we bought a few pieces and I added some to my /stickers page. I highly recommend checking out...
Today I learned that the Christmas Bird Count started as an alternative to Christmas day “side hunts”. Framing bird watching in contrast to hunting makes me want find some people to go birding with. I just might have to sign up at some point.
The birder in me loved this exhibit titled “Aviarium Cuarto Suspiro” in La Biblioteca de Investigación Juan de Córdova in Oaxaca. The exhibit used ceramics to flip the symbolism of the avian and human worlds to create fascinating shapes.
Aa a birder, I can totally relate to this. I think birds that are comfortable around people and that appear in large numbers are unsettling. But they are also beautiful birds. I’ll never forget the time we vacationed in Costa Rica and the evening skies were filled with grackles flying...
I love how its eye peaks through the leaves! Coopers hawks are so cool looking.
Following my 2021 birding summary, I’m excited to share my 2022 birding review! My travels brought me to 7 different states, Italy, and a bonus layover sighting. Between the varied locations and some active days, my total number of species identified was up slightly over the previous year. But my...
The San Diego robin irruption is real. Our backyard has recently been filled with American Robins. I’ve counted at least 50 in our immediate yard and probably over 100 in the neighborhood. It’s a phenomenon that’s been seen all across San Diego County. The birds which are rarely seen this...
I would just like to wish everyone a #SuperbOwl day. Whooo needs Eagles when you have owls?
Typically I do a year-in-review of my birding, but I fell behind posting 2021. Before I share about my birding in 2022, I wanted to give a quick update to fill in the gap. Despite the continuing pandemic and being busy with a new house and foster care, I still...
Felt like posting a photo today. This was a fun one from the San Diego Safari Park. It’s a Great Blue Turaco.
Saw quite a few of these handsome California Quail out hiking this weekend.
We saw a beautiful sunset this weekend with our friends. The gulls seemed like they were ready for the day to be over.
Orange-crowned Warbler hiding in bushes on the San Diego coastline. Birding should be a place where all feel welcome. As part of #BlackBirdersWeek there is a live stream today at 7 PM ET hosted by @blackafinstem and @audubonsociety discussing #BirdingWhileBlack. It’s a great chance to allow black birders to be...
Brown Pelicans are one of the most striking birds you’ll find along the west coast of the US. My favorite thing about them is they will make dramatic dives into the water to catch fish, sometimes multiple birds in a row. They’ll also fly together in small flocks neatly lined...
Today kicks off #BlackBirdersWeek and day 1 is celebrating people who are #BlackinNature. This event was organized in response to the threats made against Christian Cooper while he was birding in NY. All people should feel safe to enjoy nature. There are lots of great naturalists, birders, photographers, and scientists...
This one was close…too close; as in this house sparrow was right next to me so I couldn’t get it in focus quick enough. I still like how the background turned out.
This weekend Bekah and I saw a family of Peregrine Falcons on the San Diego shoreline. I’ve been wanting to see these birds for a long time and we happened to find a whole fam while out on a hike. The adults can reach speeds of 320 km/h (200 mph)...
Finally went through my #GlobalBigDay picture. Love this one of the neighborhood Mallards.
Today, I participated in the #GlobalBigDay birding event. The past year, I’ve gotten back into bird watching and even gone on guided tours into jungle forests. Even though I stayed in town today, I still managed to find 27 species including this Greater Roadrunner in our neighborhood park. I even...
One of my favorite photos from our weekend camping several weeks back. Took forever to capture this Anna’s hummingbird’s colorful gorget. If the light isn’t at the right angle it looks black. Interestingly the lighting was best on the cloudiest day.
Sometimes the camera captures the picture you want. Sometimes it captures something else. Pictured in background: Allen’s Hummingbird
Outside the window of my home office there is a fence that a neighborhood Black Phoebe likes to perch on while it looks for insects. I love watching it perform aerobatic maneuvers, jumping up in the air before landing back down with it’s catch. #workingfromhome
We went camping in February!?! We stayed at Lake Skinner last weekend with some friends from church. Had lots of sun on Saturday, but we had our coldest day of the month when the weather shifted to cloudy, windy, and 50°F (10°C) on Sunday 😁 Even though we stayed in...
I’ll add my own #SuperbOwl day post. This is Heidi, a Great Horned Owl at the Coachella Valley Wild Bird Center. She is unreleasable and so serves as a foster parent for young owls.
Saw one of these Yellow-rumped Warblers today (yes the do really have yellow backsides). I love the variations in coloring they have. They look different depending on where in North America they are.
I had fun messing around with our camera this weekend and snapped this pic of a female hummingbird in flight. 😁🐥🌹
Today Bekah and I went with her brother, sister-in-law, and their two boys to the Wild Bird Center where volunteers care for injured birds. The boys were so cute running around and checking out the different cages and the large number of ducks on the pond. Some of the birds...
Happy #NationalBirdDay which highlights the threats that the illegal caged-bird trade and habitat destruction pose to wild birds. Try checking out what birds you can see in your own neighborhood. These are some I saw today. Clockwise from the top left red-shouldered hawk, northern cardinal, northern flicker, American crow. ...
Beautiful morning for Christmas time #birding in Connecticut
@bekahbugs and I really enjoyed walking down the beach and getting Shake Shack shakes at Crystal Cove state park near Laguna Beach. Saw quite a few new birds like this Black-bellied Plover down by the seashore. Totally worth getting sunburned 😎😬
While we were in Peru, I had a lot of fun discovering different kinds of birds. By the end of our trip I had seen 75 different species. @bekahbugs found it quite comical that we saw “hundreds of Peruvian Boobies” on the Ballestas Islands in Paracas. Who said birding was...
This map of Ruby-throated hummingbirds lights up in the summer as they follow warm weather looking for flowers. Source: @team_ebird
This @team_ebird animation of Sandhill Crane migrations illustrates the dramatic movements of populations over the course of the year.
I can confirm that the murders in Springfield OH (a small city) were crazy big. They didn’t bring me quarters though… twitter.com/publicroad/sta…
Also look for posts tagged #birds on other websites registered with octothorp.es.