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1 January 2024
Yard list 2023
Another year has elapsed at the usual rate, and now it draws to a close. Time for me to tally up the year’s sightings. My goals for the year were to be in the Top Ten eBird users in my county, and to attempt to take a good photo of each species. I ended up at #6, and I’m happy with the photos I got (a selection of you will …
7 November 2023
Near-empty seas, near-empty air
Callan is currently at sea aboard the research vessel Thomas G. Thompson, crossing the North Pacific Ocean from Seattle to Honolulu. In this post, he explores a fascinating aspect of life on the high seas: there is shockingly little life! Explore the scant copepods and albatrosses and reflect on life in the oligotrophic open ocean.
5 August 2023
Bird update “July” 2023
Oops – July slipped by without a monthly bird update! Maybe that’s not the end of the world – I spent much of the month in Montana, and only tacked a few new species onto my county list – a Swallow-tailed kite, a Northern bobwhite, and a Great egret (photo above, 2nd column in the 2nd row). So for those keeping track, that puts me at 154, which is ranked …
29 June 2023
Bird update June 2023
Click to enlarge A brief update here, since it’s getting close to the end of the month. I’ve added a half dozen species to my county list since I last reported out to you all. I’m up to 151 for the county for the year. This means that I’m still ranked in the top ten, but I’ve slipped to #4. I’m helping to lead a public-facing birding walk on Saturday …
23 May 2023
Bird update May 2023
Click to enlarge Greetings friends … It’s been slow around the blog for some time now, and partly that’s due to being very busy with the spring semester, and partly due to a lack of inspiration. But I have been inspired to keep birding, and now that the books are closed on the semester, I have some time to sit and think and feel around for strands of creative inspiration. …
26 April 2023
Bird update April 2023
Click to enlarge Another month gone by… and spring migration is cranking along! I’m up to a 111 species in my county for the year so far. Migration is cranking right now, and there are lots of new species arriving each day (or just passing through en route to higher latitudes). I haven’t been making the most of it, frankly – due to family and work obligations, and a general …
25 February 2023
Bird update February 2023
Click to enlarge February has zipped by, but then again it’s a short month. I’ve continued birding intensively this month, so I’ll provide another update like I did last month. I’ve racked up 71 species this month, and pushed my 2023 total up to 77 (from January’s ending total of 66). The past few days have been very productive, as unseasonably warm temperatures have drawn north some early birds, such …
20 January 2023
Bird update January 2023
Click to enlarge Well, we are two-thirds of the way through January now, and I thought I might give an update about my birding. Usually I only do this once annually, but I’ve been diving deeper into the practice this year, and so I thought I would share a few thoughts. Maybe I’ll do this monthly in 2023? I’ve been birding every day so far this year, sometimes submitting as …
1 January 2023
Yard list 2022
Click to enlarge It’s an annual tradition here on New Year’s Day to share my “yard list” for the previous year. This is a list of all the birds I’ve seen in my yard over the course of one calendar year, in chronological order. Last year’s list had 87 species. This year, I spent a lot of time birding, and I boosted the count to 114. The list is below, …
9 December 2022
Pillbug tracks in ash from Mt. St. Helens
Reader Nancy Weidman (who supplied the Wind River boudinaged basaltic dike images from earlier in the week) sent me this interesting note: Your ichnoanalogue post reminds me of the insect or pillbug tracks I found in Mt. St. Helens ash deposited in Missoula, Montana. At least some of the tracks, if I recall correctly, ended in dead bugs, presumably dead after its breathing tubes clogged with ash. No fossils from …
Callan Bentley is Associate Professor of Geology at Piedmont Virginia Community College in Charlottesville, Virginia. He is a Fellow of the Geological Society of America. For his work on this blog, the National Association of Geoscience Teachers recognized him with the James Shea Award. He has also won the Outstanding Faculty Award from the State Council on Higher Education in Virginia, and the Biggs Award for Excellence in Geoscience Teaching from the Geoscience Education Division of the Geological Society of America. In previous years, Callan served as a contributing editor at EARTH magazine, President of the Geological Society of Washington and President the Geo2YC division of NAGT.