Hey, everybody. Birding magazine is sunsetting this account. But we're also getting set up over on Bluesky. Same handle: @BirdingMagazine. We'll sign off with these Bushtits, seen earlier this Sat. afternoon, Nov. 30, in Boulder Co., Colo., USA. See you on Bluesky!

Studies of an American Dipper near Boulder, Colorado.

This Cinnamon Flycatcher has his head screwed on backwards. (Quidío, Colombia, Aug. 23, 2024.)

Upland Sandpiper at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge near Denver, Thurs. morning, Aug. 1, 2024.

This beautiful Harris's Sparrow, uncommon in our area, was at Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, Denver, Colo., earlier this Sat., Feb. 24, 2024. @FriendsRMANWR @USFWSRMA_Alert @USFWS

Short video of a dipper feeding in icy Boulder Creek yesterday. Just upstream from the busy intersection of U.S. 36 & Arapahoe Rd.

A Black Oystercatcher works the tide pools near the Fort Wilson lighthouse at Port Townsend, Wash., USA, Jan. 21, 2024.

Wait. What? It's already two full weeks into 2024? Anyhow, here's an American Dipper earlier this frigid Sun. afternoon, Jan. 14, at the 75th St. bridge in Boulder, Colo.

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the Colorado Rockies! This Type 2 Red Crossbill was feeding in a ponderosa pine right at sunrise this frigid Christmas morning just west of Boulder.

This female Common Merganser was soaking up some rays at sundown on the winter solstice a couple of hours ago. (Lafayette, Boulder Co., Colo., USA.)

A goose channels its inner phalarope . . . (Boulder Co., Colo., USA, Wed., Dec. 6, 2023.)

Here's another entry in the "Bushtits do the darnedest things" category. This cellphone video (and it's an old cellphone!) is from the car wash at the Conoco at US 287 & Baseline in Lafayette, Colo. Go figure!

Protip: Use eye color to sex ducks. Upper left: male Hooded Merganser. Upper right: female Hooded Merganser. Lower left: male Northern Shoveler. Lower right: actually a MALE Northern Shoveler. All were at a Hecla Pond, Louisville, Colo., earlier this Wed. afternoon.

A Pygmy Nuthatch ascends the trunk of an old ponderosa pine at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colo., USA. (Nov. 18, 2023.) @NCAR_Science

Ducks in late-afternoon light at Hecla Pond, Louisville, eastern Boulder Co., Colo., USA, Tues., Nov. 14, 2023. Upper left: Common Goldeneye. Upper right: American Wigeon. Lower left: Hooded Merganser. Lower right: Northern Shoveler.

A Killdeer photobombs a Wilson's Snipe. At Hecla Pond, Louisville, Boulder Co., Colo., USA, earlier this frigid Sun. afternoon, Oct. 29.

This poor White-crowned Sparrow at Greenlee Wildlife Preserve, Lafayette, Colorado, DOESN'T HAVE A MOUTH!!

Watch as this Greater Roadrunner breaks open an egg case of the Arizona mantis. Sound ON for some enchanting human commentary. :-) (Sabino Canyon Recreation Area, Tucson, Arizona, Mon., Aug. 14.)

One goes to Ouzel Falls in Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, and one sees an ouzel. ("Ouzel" = American dipper, Cinclus mexicanus.)

Woodpeckers peck on wood. The flicker is a kind of woodpecker. But flickers get most of their food by digging for ants. Flickers have morphological and even biochemical convergences with anteaters! This flicker was probing for ants in Lafayette, Colo., yesterday evening.