Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

There are no moderate republicans – only extremists and cowards.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

This chaos was totally avoidable.

Text STOP to opt out of updates on war plans.

The real work of an opposition party is to oppose.

We know you aren’t a Democrat but since you seem confused let me help you.

This has so much WTF written all over it that it is hard to comprehend.

You passed on an opportunity to be offended? What are you even doing here?

Conservatism: there are people the law protects but does not bind and others who the law binds but does not protect.

In after Baud. Damn.

Many life forms that would benefit from greater intelligence, sadly, do not have it.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

No one could have predicted…

Usually wrong but never in doubt

“But what about the lurkers?”

Michigan is a great lesson for Dems everywhere: when you have power…use it!

He wakes up lying, and he lies all day.

Let me file that under fuck it.

How any woman could possibly vote for this smug smarmy piece of misogynistic crap is beyond understanding.

“Can i answer the question? No you can not!”

Their boy Ron is an empty plastic cup that will never know pudding.

Is it negotiation when the other party actually wants to shoot the hostage?

I have other things to bitch about but those will have to wait.

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Albatrossity

On The Road – Albatrossity – Spring in the Heartland – 4 (Warblers)

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(click the image below for a bigger, non-blurry verison of the schedule)

On The Road - Albatrossity - Spring in the Heartland – 4 (Warblers) 10

Albatrossity

I needed to cobble together a set of images before I left for Costa Rica; by the time you read this I will have been in Costa Rica for a week. I discovered that even though my patch of Flyover Country does not host an abundance of wood warblers, I have seen enough this spring to generate a set from just warblers alone. Enjoy!

On The Road - Albatrossity - Spring in the Heartland – 4 (Warblers) 9
Near Manhattan KSMay 9, 2024

American Redstart (Setophaga ruticilla) male. They catch a lot of insects on the wing, and consequently do a lot more hovering/fluttering than most warblers. Click here for larger image.

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On The Road – Albatrossity – Spring in the Heartland – 3

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Happy Monday!

We’ve got a great mix of things this week.  Should be fun!

(click on the schedule below for a bigger, non-blurry version)

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Albatrossity

The rush of migrant birds increases after Tax Day, and each day usually brings species that have not been seen since last year. Birders have acronyms for lots of things, and so of course they have one for this occasion. FOS – First of Season, or FOY – First of Year. So let’s look at some mid-April FOS birds.

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Near Manhattan KSApril 19, 2024

One of the highlights of spring here is the reappearance, for just a few days, of the Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus). The Animal Science department at Kansas State University has a research unit less than half a mile from my house, and those large animal operations attract flocks of blackbirds at various times of year. Mid-April is when these magnificent specimens show up, with their unique squawks and whistles, and I look forward to it every year. Click here for larger image.

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On The Road – Albatrossity – Spring in the Heartland – 2

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Happy Monday!

Rumination from Albatrossity, and Mayan Ruins from lashonharangue!

(click on the schedule for a bigger, non-blurry version)

On The Road - Albatrossity - Spring in the Heartland - 2 10

Albatrossity

The pace of migration quickens in April here, and although the crescendo is not reached until May, there are plenty of species coming and going every week in April. And the local non-avian fellow-travelers start making their appearance as well.

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Near Manhattan KSApril 14, 2024

This Woodchuck (aka Groundhog, Marmota monax) has been a presence at one of my local birding spots for several years now. It is still not a fan of humans, but it was curious enough about me to poke its head out of the burrow long enough to give me a chance to photograph it. I’ve seen them there, and 25 or so miles west of here, but this is getting close to the western limits of this rodent’s range. Click here for larger image.

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On The Road – Albatrossity – Spring in the Heartland – 1

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Happy Monday!

(click for a larger, non-blurry schedule for the week)

On The Road - Albatrossity - Spring in the Heartland - 1 10

Albatrossity

The quickening of migration in March hints at the flood of migrants to come, and this time of year is eagerly anticipated by birders and other nature lovers. So let’s spend some time on migrants, both those who are arriving and those who are emigrating further north for the summer.

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Near Manhattan KSMarch 15, 2024

Ducks are a great way to get into birding, since they are large, easily found in the right habitats, and gorgeous in their spring finery. This male American Wigeon (Mareca americana) is a great example. Those rusty sides, white belly, and flashy white underwing patches make this species easy to identify from a distance, and easy to appreciate up close. Click here for larger image.

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On The Road – Albatrossity – The Birds of the Palouse

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Happy Monday!

(click on image below to see bigger, non-blurry schedule for the week)

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Albatrossity

This will be the last installment of the account of a trip to the Palouse in 2015; next week will probably be images from the quickening spring migration period. In May we are headed to Costa Rica (I’ve never been there, but I hear they have some nice birds), and I am greatly looking forward to it. So there will be those in the future as well. But for now, springtime birds from eastern WA are the menu today.

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The PalouseJune 26, 2015

There was an image of the Black-headed Grosbeak (Pheucticus melanocephalus) in a previous installment, but I think these guys are pretty enough for a re-run. Interestingly, I have quite a few images of this species, but very few pictures (and no good ones) of our local congeneric, the Rose-breasted Grosbeak. I do have this amusing low-res video from my bird-banding days, where a grosbeak would seemingly rather chomp on the bander’s hand than fly away free… Bloodthirsty, they are! Click here for larger image.

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On The Road – Albatrossity – Spring migration begins

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Happy Monday!

(click the image below for a bigger non-blurry version of this week’s schedule)

On The Road - Albatrossity - Spring migration begins 10

Albatrossity

We’ll take another hiatus from chronicling my 2015 road trip to the Palouse, because migration is warming up here in Flyover Country, and I had an experience I wanted to share with all of you. I took a road trip to one of my favorite national wildlife refuges, Quivira NWR in south-central KS, and most of these pics are from that trip, with a couple of local birds tossed in to fill up this post.

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Quivira NWRMarch 28, 2024

Shorebird migration is slow to start, and we are a few weeks away from peak numbers. But one of the earliest shorebird migrants here is the Baird’s Sandpiper (Calidris bairdii), which may look like a small undistinguished (or undistinguishable) peep, but it has a cool story or two, especially if you are interested in energetics. This species nests in the high Arctic of Canada, Alaska, and even Siberia. It winters in South America, from the Ecuadorian Andes to the tip of Tierra del Fuego. So twice a year it expends a LOT of calories on a migration that can be as long as 15,000 kilometers (that’s 9,300 miles in American).

More amazingly, the females arrive in the Arctic with essentially zero body fat. Nevertheless, a few days later, they lay one egg a day for four consecutive days. The eggs total up to 120% of her body biomass. As one author understated “The energetics of this accomplishment remain unstudied.” Looking for a doctoral thesis project? You are welcome! Click here for larger image.

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On The Road – Albatrossity – Westward 2015, week 3

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It’s Albatrossity Monday!  (Big thanks to Albatrossity for the April Fools fun last week.)  We go to a parade on Tuesday and then head to Cook Islands for the rest of the week.

(click on the image blow for a bigger, non-blurry version of the schedule for this week)

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Albatrossity

I hope you all had fun with the April Foolery last Monday. Now we can get back to real birds, catching up on a trip to the Palouse from 2015.

While Elizabeth was hobnobbing with friends and colleagues at her conference at the University of Idaho, I was free to explore eastern Washington and western Idaho. Wandering around on my own certainly means that I missed some good spots, but I did see a lot of beautiful country, for sure.

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Eastern WashingtonJune 24, 2015

The margins of some of the fields in the Palouse were rimmed with poppies, and they added a nice splash of color to the landscape. Click here for larger image.

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