Good news! I’ll be giving a virtual nighthawk talk for the Olympia Bird Alliance 11/13/25, 7pm. Registration is here: southsoundbirds.org/event/novemb...

And my thoughts (5 of 5):

(4 of 5):

(3 of 5):

(2 of 5):

Some thoughts from Will C De Man and my own (1 of 5):

Welp! Spring is here.
Green winged teal
Swainson thrush
Yellow rumped warblers
Tree swallows tweeting high up in the cottonwoods. Don’t know why I’m surprised when they come back every spring.
My first bumblebee, cranefly and moths of the year, a treat for the swallows.
Scaups
Ruddy ducks

To heat or not to heat a hummingbird feeder. Read more at my Feathered Reptile blog at gretchennewberry.wordpress.com/2025/02/14/t...

A bit of backyard birding here in Portland where we don’t often get snow. The juncos leave pretty little animal tracks.

My quarantini is Ellen Swallow Richards, named for the first woman to earn a graduate degree in Chemistry in the US and the mother of sustainability. I call her Ellie.

A bit of birding break from it all

I saw Common Pauraques in Costa Rica last year. At night, I saw them flash their wings in a mating display. Like nighthawks they call loudly to each other from their territories over and over. During the day, I searched for nests with no luck. I’ll have to content myself with my imagination.

Check out my book! I share my story of becoming a biologist, the unusual birds I studied, and hope for the biodiversity crisis. “The Nighthawk’s Evening: Notes of a Field Biologist”. Photo: Roger Dietrich. Bird is being held with the legal permits. Flash photography of birds is not recommended.