Nic the Birding Chick

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.

10/01/2025

Today, the world mourns the loss of Dr. Jane Goodall who was a luminous spirit, a tireless advocate, and a voice for the voiceless. She passed away peacefully at age 91 of natural causes while on a speaking tour in California.

09/30/2025

Yellow-rumped Warblers are on the move! These lively little migrants are filtering south, filling treetops and hedges with quick flits and soft chips.

Watch for the tell-tale flash of their bright yellow rump patch, it’s often the easiest way to spot them as they dart through branches.

Have you noticed “butter butts” showing up in your area yet?

09/19/2025

Mega-rarity alert!

This morning and I chased a lower 48 first record in Santa Clara County…and we GOT IT!

A Dark-sided Flycatcher, a lifer for us both and one of those birds you dream about but never expect to actually see here. We were out of the house by 4 a.m., arrived just in time to hear “got it!” called out, and there it was, perched right in front of us.

We spent over an hour soaking up this little gem before heading home with huge smiles and strong nap cravings. Birding magic at its finest!

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?

08/23/2025

I’ll be joining this fun big day with the Global Birding Swarovski women’s team! Will you join me!? It’s simple. Follow the directions on the original post. 🦉🤎

🙋‍♀️Calling all women who love nature & birds

🏆Join other women around the world and be part of this great team for October Big Day, on Saturday 11 October, part of Global Bird Weekend 2025
https://ebird.org/news/october-big-day-2025

😀 Last year the GBW Swarovski Optik Women’s Team was created

✅With 7 team members in 2024 we came in 7th place in the team rankings with 348 species

⭐️This year we would love other women across the world to join us

✅Simply join in on 11 October 2025 for October Big Day
➡️ Share your list to our women’s team account
📲GBW Swarovski Optik
📧 [email protected]

https://ebird.org/profile/NjQwODMzMw/world

🔭 You don’t have to be a Swarovski Optik user to join in!

🌍 We would love women across the globe to join on this special day as

🗺️ Let us know if you can join in and where you will be! It’s exciting to welcome you all!

📝 Whether you are new to birdwatching, a professional bird guide or field scientist - or anything and everything in between, we would love you to be part of the team!

🙏🏽 Thank you everyone who joins us!

💻 Just set up your eBird account and make sure you are familiar with creating a checklist and sharing it before the event to save any stressful moments - and enjoy your day!

👀 https://support.ebird.org/en/support/solutions/articles/48000625567-editing-and-sharing-checklists

08/19/2025

Lifer in the Sierra today!
Black Backed Woodpecker at Tahoe National Forest. Burn scars and lodgepole. Sharp taps in the quiet. and I went up to help collect soil samples for the California Biodiversity Project and we were gifted this bird. A good day of soil, pine resin, a blue sky with funky clouds, and that life bird thrill when a new species flies into view.

What is your most recent lifer and where did you see it?

08/17/2025

Patagonia, AZ, came through with the magic! Paton’s Hummingbird Center, a Mississippi Kite soaring overhead (life bird!), black vultures keeping watch at the cemetery, and even a fuzzy oak moth that decided to land on me. Birding always brings surprises, and sharing them with my favorite adventure partner makes it all the better. 💚

08/09/2025

Today wasn’t about chasing a list or racking up lifers.

I let myself rest, shared good food with amazing humans, and simply enjoyed being with people who feel like community.

Some days the best birding or exploring isn’t about how far you go, it’s about noticing who or what shows up right where you are.

08/07/2025

No Purple Gallinules at Sweetwater Wetlands but plenty of delights: Western Kingbird on a bare branch, odonates patrolling the reeds, butterflies dancing, bullfrogs croaking, lizards darting, and ground squirrels foraging. What wildlife surprised you while celebrating the slow? 🐦🦋🐸🦎

08/07/2025

An early morning in Miller, Ramsey’s, and Ash Canyon paid off! Steve finally checked off his nemesis life-bird, a paired set of Flame-colored tanagers at Miller Canyon. I got Inca Dove at Ramsey’s Canyon. And, the Lucifer hummingbirds that zipped around at Ash Canyon were showstoppers!

07/23/2025

Sooty Grouse déjà vu.
Last July we stumbled upon a female Sooty Grouse with a chick in this patch of Tahoe forest. This summer another Sooty Grouse turned up in almost the same spot. Maybe the same individual, maybe not. Either way, the habitat is telling on itself.

Returning to places shows what shifted and what still works. That is how we learn rhythm, not just rack up tick marks on our lists.

Do you refind species year to year?