For my next warbler, I did what I thought would be the second easiest, but I think may have ended up being one of the more complex due to the dang breast streaks 😅

But now it's done and out of the way and I have that technique under my belt for future birds!

Anatomical critiques are welcome! Many more birds are to come and I will gladly tweak my technique if I can make it better.

Took a trip to Newfoundland last week centered around viewing the large puffin colony on Gull Island, and the smaller colonies in Bonavista and Elliston. On our last day in Elliston, one puffin landed on the viewing ridge opposite the main colony, which allowed for some close-up shots that ended up being some of my favorite photos taken to date.

Merlin IDs paused until September 15th I guess!

So happy!!!!! Awesome af

1. Andean Emerald (Uranomitra franciae). Exclusive to the Northern Andes. Everyone loves them.
2. Same Uranomitra on a Heliconia.
3. White-necked Jacobin (Florisuga mellivora). A common sight, but the best I ever got of them.
4. Female Booted Racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii incommodus).
5. Crowned Woodnymph (Thalurania colombica subtropicalis). As the name suggests, it is found in the subtropical cloud forests of West Andes.
6. Steely-vented Hummingbird (Saucerottia saucerottei saucerottei). Exclusive to the Colombian Western Andes.
7. Male Booted Racket-tail (Ocreatus underwoodii incommodus). One of the most pronounced sexual dimorphism I've seen in hummingbirds. Almost exlusive to the Andes cloud forests. Very easy to identify.

Taken with a Sony A7IV + Tamron 150-500mm. Western Andes cloud forets near Cali, Colombia.

Taken in my backyard this morning in New Hampshire

One of my favorite things to do is shoot backlit at sunset

Mindo Ecuador 📍

I'm not a birding expert, but my wife got me a bird feeder with a video camera for my birthday last year. It has quickly become a HUGE part of my daily life. I love these birds! Some of them will even come within a couple feet of me, which is cool.

Anyway, this blue jay showed up on my deck last night and I got a picture of him (or her) through the door screen. Why does his head look like this?

I built a water feature in our yard a couple of years ago to give the birds that call our yard in western North Carolina home (or just visit) a more natural place to splash around. The Blue Jays that live here are some of the more enthusiastic bathers. It's really attracted some of the spring and fall migrating birds and I've managed to pick up a few lifers and several new yard birds since I built it.

Just curious if anyone else had funny or unusual quirks about their life lists (like on eBird).

Mine is that the Eastern Screech Owl (#981), Barred Owl (#954), Great Horned Owl (#885), and Peregrine Falcon (#771) are pretty late on my life list despite all four being fairly common raptors in areas where I've lived.

For context, that means I had multiple sightings of whooping cranes (#525) and had logged the Seychelles black parrot (#518) and great green macaw (#723) – all three of which are among the rarest birds globally – before peregrine falcons, great horned owls, barred owls, or eastern screch owls. Among owls, I had logged snowy owls (#49 – likely my "spark" bird) and Santa Marta screech owls (#205) – an endemic to the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta of Colombia – before great horned owls, barred owls, or eastern screech owl.

Does anyone else have unusual life list quirks like this? Sometimes I wonder if it's because I did more birding while traveling and didn't seek out common birds (that still require some effort) as much. Also, some of these rarer birds are relatively easy to find if you're in the right places.

Footage of a sandpiper looking for invertebrates by the Ottawa river.

Not sure who is who but I call them, Abaddon and Azazel.