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kirbyadams.bsky.social
(He/Him) Naturalist, writer, birder, chess player, dungeon master, and a few other things. Politically progressive, socially awkward.
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It's a dark and shameful day for America, the land of my birth and residence. But I'm going to keep immersing myself in nature, because I can and I must. The Sandhill Cranes returned to my yard and fields today. Please don't flash unsuspectiong onlookers like this guy. #birds #birding

submitted 4 minutes ago • 0 comments

Barred Puffbird (Nystalus radiatus), Rio Indio valley in Panama. A drive up the Rio Indio on the border of the Coclé and Panamá provinces is a natural and cultural adventure, albeit not so good for your vehicle's suspension. #birds #birding #panama

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

Pyramid Lake, Nevada is a salty sink lake in the Great Basin. This is where all of the water of Lake Tahoe (that doesn't evaporate) ends up. It flows down the Truckee RIver to this lake and evaporates or sits here, as there is no outlet. It's a spectacular biding spot. #PyramidLake #Nevada

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

The Truckee River drains out the west side of Lake Tahoe, but then turns abruptly north and then east to flow through mountain canyons down to the Great Basin. Here it is the foothills just after it crosses into Nevada. This is only non-evaporative export from Tahoe and it's going somewhere cool.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

QuotePost with a picture you took in a National Park. #NationalParkService America’s Best Idea Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota. Sunset over Painted Canyon, June 2012.

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

#LakeTahoe is more than homes and a playground for wealthy people. It's a great spot to look for birds and take in some scenery. The Nevada side (seen here) is particularly attractive for birding and low-key exploration. Photo from May 2019.

submitted 5 days ago • 0 comments

Ending my week of #shorebirds with a Ruddy Turnstone from Cape Henlopen State Park in Delaware in August 2023. I'll need to do another shorebird week before long - there are just too many candidates! #birds #birding #ProtectPublicLands

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

Semi-palmated Plover at Cape Hatteras National Seashore on North Carolina's Outer Banks. You don't often get such a dramatic look at these diminutive birds. I was lying in the sand AND the bird was on a rise. #birds #birding #NationalParkService #OBX #shorebirds #CapeHatteras

submitted 7 days ago • 0 comments

Upland Sandpipers are pretty cool. So are the wonderful people who work for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. This bird was at Belle Foursche National Wildlife Refuge, South Dakota in June of 2020. #ProtectPublicLands #NationalWildlifeRefuges #birds #birding

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

"For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest." I'm not much of a Bible reader, but that line about sandpipers is very true. Least Sandpipers on the Lake Michigan shore, near Ludington, Michigan. September 2024. #birds #birding #shorebirds

submitted 9 days ago • 0 comments

Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) on the Laguna Madre (west) side of #SouthPadreIsland, Texas. The other side of the island, of course, being the Gulf of Mexico. The boardwalks behind the SPI Birding and Nature Center are phenomenal. December 2019. #birds #birding #shorebirds

submitted 10 days ago • 0 comments

American Oystercatcher (Haematopus palliatus). Never mind that oysters aren't all that difficult to "catch," this character is one of the best #shorebirds in my humble opinion. Just look at that eye! Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware, August 2023. #birds #birding #CapeHenlopen

submitted 11 days ago • 0 comments

How about a whole week of shorebirds? I love shorebirds (waders) and I need that escape for the five minutes it takes to post every day. Here's an American Golden-Plover at Whitefish Point on the shore of Lake Superior in Michigan. September 2022. #birds #birding #shorebirds #WhitefishPoint

submitted 12 days ago • 0 comments

The Hemlock Varnish Shelf fungi often have these beetles associated with them. And if you're going to be a beetle, call yourself the Heroic Pleasing Fungus Beetle (Megalodacne heros). This is in Cathedral State Park, West Virginia, another hemlock haven. #beetles #coleoptera

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

Reason #173 to wander old growth Eastern Hemlock forests is the Hemlock Varnish Shelf (Ganoderma tsugae). A gorgeous fungus that graces some of the (severely threatened) hemlock stands of the central Appalachians. This one at Swallow Falls State Park, Maryland. #mycology #fungi #ProtectPublicLands

submitted 14 days ago • 0 comments

White-tailed Ptarmigan on Trail Ridge in #RockyMountainNationalPark. In their summer colors (seen here), they're almost impossible to see. I nearly kicked this one, only noticing a "rock" starting to walk away when I was one step away. #birds #birding #ProtectPublicLands #NPS #NationalParks

submitted 15 days ago • 1 comment

If you see this, quote post with a photo of a beach from your gallery. (Ship Island, Mississippi)

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

Some adorable alpine plants from around 12000' elevation in #RockyMountainNationalPark. Walking the trails above treeline in July is such a treat thanks to an explosion of flowers carpeting the "tundra." Plant ID's in the alt text. #NPS #NationalParks #AlpineWildflowers #ProtectPublicLands

submitted 16 days ago • 0 comments

American Pipit in the alpine habitat on Trail Ridge, #RockyMountainNationalPark. If you've seen these birds only in migration, getting to see them on breeding grounds doing display flights is quite the treat. Just don't over-exert; it's 12,000 feet (3650m). #birds #birding #NPS #NationalParks

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

Let's get above treeline in #RockyMountainNationalPark #Colorado. This is in July at 11,700' where the birds are sparse but fascinating, the alpine wildflowers are outstanding, the marmots are curious, and the scenery is....this. #ProtectPublicLands #NPS #RockyMountains

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

I'm ready for spring here in the Great Lakes. Longing for mornings when I can wonder into the yard and wander how many species of warbler the day will bring. The Bay-breasted Warbler (seen here at #MageeMarsh in Ohio) is always a favorite. #birds #birding #warblers

submitted 18 days ago • 0 comments

One more pick from the Tablelands in #GrosMorneNationalPark, Newfoundland. At the edge of the serpentine rock there are some stunted Tamarack, in which you may find a Savannah Sparrow. At least I hope you do. They're joyous little birds. #birding #sparrows #birds #Newfoundland

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment

Common Buckeye (Junonia coenia) among the asters in my yard last fall. I'm a fan of eyespots, so this is one of my favorite local butterflies. It's also one of 38 species of butterfly I tallied for my Michigan yard in 2024. #butterflies #CommonBuckeye #lepidoptera #BackyardWildlife

submitted 21 days ago • 1 comment

Western Maidenhair (Adiantum aleuticum), a fern of the northwest coast of NA up to the Aleutian Islands - except for a smattering of disjunct populations in the Rocky Mountains, Vermont, Quebec, and this patch in the serpentine rock of #GrosMorneNationalPark in #Newfoundland. #ferns #adiantum

submitted 22 days ago • 0 comments

Speaking of the Tablelands in #GrosMorneNationalPark, here are some scenics. The serpentine rock there is peridotite - lots of Magnesium and Iron, not hospitable to normal plants. And it looks more like a desert or the surface of Mars than #Newfoundland. Freaky cool place. #ParksCanada

submitted 23 days ago • 0 comments

Alpine Catchfly (Viscaria alpina) growing in the inhospitable serpentine rock of Newfoundland's "Tablelands." The rock is extremely alkaline and full of metals, but this plant can handle that. The tablelands in #GrosMorneNationalPark are a great place for botanizing. #Newfoundland #serpentine

submitted 24 days ago • 0 comments

Blue Racer (Coluber constrictor foxii) in west-central Michigan. It came up to investigate me while I was looking for prairie birds. It pays to look down. You never know when you'll see an exquisite character like this right at your feet. #snakes #herps #BlueRacer

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

I've seen 36 species of duck, but my favorite is the Northern Pintail. They're simply the most elegant of all the ducks I've encountered. Their binomial, Anas acuta, means "sharp duck." Can't argue with that! These photos are from South Padre Island, Texas. #birding #birds #ducks #pintail

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

Some people see potential farmland, housing developments, resorts, and gas wells. "Wasted space" they call this. I see a vastly rich ecological web and call it heaven. (Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, Kansas) #ProtectPublicLands #Prairie #Kansas #NatureConservancy #NationalParkService

submitted 27 days ago • 2 comments

Robber Fly (Promachus vertebratus) on a Wild Bergamot seed head in my backyard last summer. Along with the various large skimmer dragonflies, these are the most fearsome insect predators that patrol these fields. I haven't been bitten by one, but I hear it hurts a bit. #diptera #BackyardWildlife

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments