Nic the Birding Chick

Nic the Birding Chick Let’s Bird! Join me on my adventures in birding!

You do not have to be fast to be a birder.You do not have to be fearless.You do not have to travel far.You do not have t...
12/02/2025

You do not have to be fast to be a birder.
You do not have to be fearless.
You do not have to travel far.
You do not have to know every name.

You can bird from a bed, a bench, a porch, a car, a patch of sun on the wall.
You can bird with pain, with fatigue, with anxiety, with curiosity that comes and goes.

NTBC is a space for slow birding.
For beginners.
For disabled bodies.
For q***r joy in wild places.
For people who were told the outdoors was not made for them.

You already belong here.

Follow if you want to notice birds without pressure.
Save this for the days when leaving the house feels like too much.
Share this with someone who thinks birding is not for them.

You don’t have to be an expert to share nature. You don’t even have to know the names.What you do need is a place, a tin...
12/01/2025

You don’t have to be an expert to share nature.
You don’t even have to know the names.

What you do need is a place, a tiny theme, and a little bit of time.

Next time you’re outside, try this:
1. Choose one small thing to pay attention to
Colors, textures, water, shadows, things growing in cracks, whatever pulls your eye.
2. Stay in one spot for a few minutes
Let your senses catch up. Notice light, sound, movement, temperature, even smells.
3. Explore slowly from that same place
Look closer at bark and rocks, trace the edges of leaves, watch how the air moves the grass.

That’s all an interpretive program (of any kind) really is, one clear idea, and a chance to notice more than you did before.

You do NOT need to be able to ID everything to have a real nature moment.
You only need to slow down and pay attention.

If you try this, tell me in the comments what tiny theme you chose and what you noticed. ✏️📓

I had the chance to test out the new Swarovski Optik AT/ST Balance recently. Having a field tech partner means I sometim...
11/25/2025

I had the chance to test out the new Swarovski Optik AT/ST Balance recently. Having a field tech partner means I sometimes get to try gear early. Cold, early light, moving birds, quick adjustments. The scope stayed steady and sharp the whole time. Fantastic optics with stability all in a compact easy to carry scope!

Real use, real impressions.
Follow for more gear notes and birding days.

The Endangered Species Act is being weakened, and most people don’t know it.The new proposal would:• Let economic pressu...
11/21/2025

The Endangered Species Act is being weakened, and most people don’t know it.

The new proposal would:
• Let economic pressure shape which species get protected
• Remove automatic protections for threatened wildlife
• Shrink critical habitat
• Loosen mitigation rules for developers

This puts real species and real ecosystems at risk.

If you care about the places that ground you — the birds, insects, forests, and waters we depend on — now is the time to act.

Contact your reps. Share this. Follow for clear updates you can trust.

Save this so you can take action.















A Grasshopper Sparrow in Yolo County, spotted last year, and the definition of curious. It perched on this fence and wat...
11/20/2025

A Grasshopper Sparrow in Yolo County, spotted last year, and the definition of curious. It perched on this fence and watched me as closely as I watched it. Tiny bird, big personality.
Save this for your next wonder walk.

An amazing bird!!! This Olive-backed Pipit was a long 19 chase, but I can’t complain drove the entire way to Fullerton ...
11/10/2025

An amazing bird!!! This Olive-backed Pipit was a long 19 chase, but I can’t complain drove the entire way to Fullerton and back home to Sacramento. We even ran into some fellow local birders/chasers. The morning was perfectly fall and there were even some cool bugs too!

We were tired but elated!

I know these aren’t the best photos, but I’ve decided it doesn’t matter. The memory is the same.

Every year, I forget how loud fall can be — until I’m standing in a chorus of leaves that crunch and whisper underfoot.T...
11/05/2025

Every year, I forget how loud fall can be — until I’m standing in a chorus of leaves that crunch and whisper underfoot.

The birds are quieter now, but the season still speaks.
You just have to listen a little differently.

📍Folsom, Northern California

Last night we went out chasing ghosts of the grasslands aka owling after dark in search of a short-eared owl. The fields...
10/28/2025

Last night we went out chasing ghosts of the grasslands aka owling after dark in search of a short-eared owl. The fields were quiet except for crickets and the sound of our shoes in the rocks along the railroad tracks, but then the night came alive.

Three kinds of owls kept us company:
✨ Burrowing owl watching from its culvert
✨ Barn owl drifting silent through the dark hunting
✨ Short-eared owl sweeping low under the bright planet light and neighborhood porch lights

Nights like this remind me how wild and awake the world still is when most of it is going to sleep.

📍 Northern California grasslands: Slough House

There’s a stillness before everything shifts, it’s the hush between seasons. That’s where I like to linger.What’s changi...
10/23/2025

There’s a stillness before everything shifts, it’s the hush between seasons. That’s where I like to linger.

What’s changing in your world right now, quietly?

Tahoe in October feels like breathing gold.We started the morning with bird song and bagels (blueberry sesame with straw...
10/22/2025

Tahoe in October feels like breathing gold.
We started the morning with bird song and bagels (blueberry sesame with strawberry cream cheese… yes, please), wandered through frosty grasses under that bright mountain sun, and then spent some of the afternoon at the Haldan Gallery taking in Ian Ruhter’s The Lake, a haunting, quiet, silver-on-black memories saved in light.

There’s something grounding about pairing birding with art, both are about learning to see.

A few thrift stops and one more lakeside walk later, we headed home, tired and content. A very good day.

The Slender-billed Curlew once seen skimming Europe’s wetlands and migrating across continents is now officially gone.A ...
10/15/2025

The Slender-billed Curlew once seen skimming Europe’s wetlands and migrating across continents is now officially gone.

A victim of vanishing wetlands, hunting, and habitat loss, this curlew’s silence is a reminder: conservation isn’t just about saving birds. It’s about saving the intricate web of life that sustains us all.

Every extinction leaves a hole in the sky.

Save the wetlands. Protect migration routes.

Steve and I were up in the Sierra Buttes helping with the California Biodiversity Project, collecting soil samples for ....
08/27/2025

Steve and I were up in the Sierra Buttes helping with the California Biodiversity Project, collecting soil samples for . But you know I always have my binoculars!

It’s the best kind of day: citizen science, birding, and the joy of discovery, because for me, birding isn’t just a checklist, it’s the way every bird, butterfly, and peak & valley turns into a shared narrative and history.

What bird sighting has surprised you most this summer?

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