Richard A. Fleming
@donflan.bsky.social
Birder, writer, artist, sound-recordist. Author of Walking to Guantánamo. Following mostly traveling birders and posting mostly bird travels.
Pinned
Richard A. Fleming
@donflan.bsky.social
· Mar 11
Surf scoters are the most metal bird out there. If you disagree, post a bird that's more metal. #birds #birding #birdsseenin2025
Reposted by Richard A. Fleming
The amount of talking some birders do, I’m surprised they manage to see or hear anything
October 10, 2025 at 12:54 PM
The amount of talking some birders do, I’m surprised they manage to see or hear anything
Reposted by Richard A. Fleming
6 hours in the Celtic sea on a pelagic birding trip today.
Some great birds and some good laughs.
This raft of Great Shearwater calling to each other was a surprise.
Some great birds and some good laughs.
This raft of Great Shearwater calling to each other was a surprise.
September 29, 2025 at 9:26 PM
6 hours in the Celtic sea on a pelagic birding trip today.
Some great birds and some good laughs.
This raft of Great Shearwater calling to each other was a surprise.
Some great birds and some good laughs.
This raft of Great Shearwater calling to each other was a surprise.
Burchell’s Coucal is an absolutely mind-blowing giant cuckoo that I saw exactly this single one of in two weeks in #SouthAfrica, a bird made all the more special because I didn’t have it on my list of likely or even unlikely sightings for the trip! #birds #birding #birdsseenin2025
September 27, 2025 at 12:14 AM
Burchell’s Coucal is an absolutely mind-blowing giant cuckoo that I saw exactly this single one of in two weeks in #SouthAfrica, a bird made all the more special because I didn’t have it on my list of likely or even unlikely sightings for the trip! #birds #birding #birdsseenin2025
An Eared Grebe I found four days ago at Jamaica Bay’s West Pond in NYC. It’s a rare but approximately annual visitor to the region that looks like a floating Russian fur hat. #birding #birdsseenin2025
September 26, 2025 at 11:54 PM
An Eared Grebe I found four days ago at Jamaica Bay’s West Pond in NYC. It’s a rare but approximately annual visitor to the region that looks like a floating Russian fur hat. #birding #birdsseenin2025
Reposted by Richard A. Fleming
One of the most important and magical shorebird stopover sites in the country is the Bolivar Flats Bird Sanctuary in Texas. It is currently under threat from development and we are in a race to save it. houstonaudubon.org/conservation...
September 26, 2025 at 2:01 AM
One of the most important and magical shorebird stopover sites in the country is the Bolivar Flats Bird Sanctuary in Texas. It is currently under threat from development and we are in a race to save it. houstonaudubon.org/conservation...
Booted Eagle last month near Paarl, #SouthAfrica, where it is an uncommon migrant visitor. Not much larger than many hawks, it still has the structure and long-fingered look of an eagle. #birdsseenin2025 #birds #birding
September 8, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Booted Eagle last month near Paarl, #SouthAfrica, where it is an uncommon migrant visitor. Not much larger than many hawks, it still has the structure and long-fingered look of an eagle. #birdsseenin2025 #birds #birding
I’m a complete sucker for elegant ducks, many of which turn out to be teal! This is the Cape Teal, snapped at Strandfontein in Cape Town, #SouthAfrica a few days ago. Petite, handsome, red-eyed, the whole package. #birds #birding #birdsseenin2025
August 19, 2025 at 5:47 PM
I’m a complete sucker for elegant ducks, many of which turn out to be teal! This is the Cape Teal, snapped at Strandfontein in Cape Town, #SouthAfrica a few days ago. Petite, handsome, red-eyed, the whole package. #birds #birding #birdsseenin2025
Southern Boubou, uncharacteristically and very briefly sitting out in the open in the coastal scrub of the Western Cape, #SouthAfrica. Their liquid calls are usually heard coming from somewhere deep inside a dense, dark bush. #birdsseenin2025 #birding
August 19, 2025 at 8:01 AM
Southern Boubou, uncharacteristically and very briefly sitting out in the open in the coastal scrub of the Western Cape, #SouthAfrica. Their liquid calls are usually heard coming from somewhere deep inside a dense, dark bush. #birdsseenin2025 #birding
Superficially confusing in both name and appearance, the Little Rush Warbler and the Lesser Swamp Warbler occur abundantly together in the vast reedbeds at Strandfontein in Cape Town. This is one of those two #birds. Can you tell which, without reading the alt text? #birdsseenin2025 #birding
August 17, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Superficially confusing in both name and appearance, the Little Rush Warbler and the Lesser Swamp Warbler occur abundantly together in the vast reedbeds at Strandfontein in Cape Town. This is one of those two #birds. Can you tell which, without reading the alt text? #birdsseenin2025 #birding
Karoo Long-billed Lark on territory a few kilometers south of Robertson, #SouthAfrica a few days ago for @birdsseenin2025. These #birds do an amazing vertical display flight and emit a piercing whistle, making them much easier to find in the pre-breeding season! #birding
August 16, 2025 at 1:05 PM
Karoo Long-billed Lark on territory a few kilometers south of Robertson, #SouthAfrica a few days ago for @birdsseenin2025. These #birds do an amazing vertical display flight and emit a piercing whistle, making them much easier to find in the pre-breeding season! #birding
Rock Kestrel at Strandfontein in Cape Town, #SouthAfrica about four hours ago, and only about an hour after my landing at the airport here. The #birding has already been awesome! #birdsseenin2025
August 5, 2025 at 7:41 PM
Rock Kestrel at Strandfontein in Cape Town, #SouthAfrica about four hours ago, and only about an hour after my landing at the airport here. The #birding has already been awesome! #birdsseenin2025
Enjoy splitting the entrenched centrist interests vote with mayor Adams, 🤡!: Cuomo Will Stay in the Race for N.Y.C. Mayor to Challenge Mamdani www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/n...
Cuomo Will Stay in the Race for N.Y.C. Mayor to Challenge Mamdani
www.nytimes.com
July 14, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Enjoy splitting the entrenched centrist interests vote with mayor Adams, 🤡!: Cuomo Will Stay in the Race for N.Y.C. Mayor to Challenge Mamdani www.nytimes.com/2025/07/14/n...
Reposted by Richard A. Fleming
Expecting more vicious attacks from the New York Times on Mandani today, like the revelation that he's never had his own landline.
July 8, 2025 at 9:56 AM
Expecting more vicious attacks from the New York Times on Mandani today, like the revelation that he's never had his own landline.
It took three visits to the lily-clogged Sharrott’s Pond on Staten Island, and multiple hours of careful scanning, before this #purplegallinule, the county’s first, finally poked its head up out of the pads just while I was looking in the right place! #birds #birding #birdsseenin2025
July 1, 2025 at 11:22 AM
It took three visits to the lily-clogged Sharrott’s Pond on Staten Island, and multiple hours of careful scanning, before this #purplegallinule, the county’s first, finally poked its head up out of the pads just while I was looking in the right place! #birds #birding #birdsseenin2025
What is a double grosbeak day? Is it these two birds with massive bills? From the Pole Farm, Mercer, NJ, #birdsseenin2025 #birds Rose-breasted, and Blue
July 1, 2025 at 2:11 AM
What is a double grosbeak day? Is it these two birds with massive bills? From the Pole Farm, Mercer, NJ, #birdsseenin2025 #birds Rose-breasted, and Blue
Anyone want to guess how many dynamic young canvassers knocked on my door in 99 deg heat over the last two days stumping for @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social versus the # of geriatric representatives of the ossified old-guard democratic party getting out the vote for Cuomo? #voteNYC #zohran
June 25, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Anyone want to guess how many dynamic young canvassers knocked on my door in 99 deg heat over the last two days stumping for @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social versus the # of geriatric representatives of the ossified old-guard democratic party getting out the vote for Cuomo? #voteNYC #zohran
Reposted by Richard A. Fleming
i think cuomo did well considering he couldn’t campaign while the sun was up
June 25, 2025 at 2:14 AM
i think cuomo did well considering he couldn’t campaign while the sun was up
I was requested not to share the location of this breeding-plumage Dickcissel, actually breeding. It’s very rare as a breeder on the eastern seaboard. I didn’t see the female until HE dropped down low in the tree and they did the wildest wild thing! #birds #birding #birdsseenin2025 New Jersey….
June 22, 2025 at 1:25 AM
I was requested not to share the location of this breeding-plumage Dickcissel, actually breeding. It’s very rare as a breeder on the eastern seaboard. I didn’t see the female until HE dropped down low in the tree and they did the wildest wild thing! #birds #birding #birdsseenin2025 New Jersey….
Reposted by Richard A. Fleming
Shit I go out to tend to our new bird feeder and bird bath and all hell breaks loose
June 22, 2025 at 12:17 AM
Shit I go out to tend to our new bird feeder and bird bath and all hell breaks loose
Reposted by Richard A. Fleming
Hear me out: birdwatching is inevitable. You can slowly and depressingly descend into it (as this New Yorker article once said)
Or you can dive right in. Download Merlin and start to become an expert before the rest of your peers. When they make the descent you’ll be a hero.
Or you can dive right in. Download Merlin and start to become an expert before the rest of your peers. When they make the descent you’ll be a hero.
June 18, 2025 at 8:54 PM
Hear me out: birdwatching is inevitable. You can slowly and depressingly descend into it (as this New Yorker article once said)
Or you can dive right in. Download Merlin and start to become an expert before the rest of your peers. When they make the descent you’ll be a hero.
Or you can dive right in. Download Merlin and start to become an expert before the rest of your peers. When they make the descent you’ll be a hero.
A star bird from a few days ago at Plumb Beach, Brooklyn was this Caspian Tern, the world’s largest species of tern, looking crisp and ready to breed! They can show up at almost any time except the dead of winter, but usually aren’t around until post-breeding. #birdsseenin2025 #birds #birding
June 10, 2025 at 12:41 PM
A star bird from a few days ago at Plumb Beach, Brooklyn was this Caspian Tern, the world’s largest species of tern, looking crisp and ready to breed! They can show up at almost any time except the dead of winter, but usually aren’t around until post-breeding. #birdsseenin2025 #birds #birding
Reposted by Richard A. Fleming
Everything changed when we got the hummingbird feeders
June 10, 2025 at 5:04 AM
Everything changed when we got the hummingbird feeders
Reposted by Richard A. Fleming
Off-leash dog walking disturbs ground-nesting birds more than any other human recreational activity: doi.org/10.1111/ibi....
Video of Borys Kala - Polish Society for Nature Conservation, via Mary Colwell's account of X: x.com/curlewcalls/...
#shorebirds #waders #Curlew
Video of Borys Kala - Polish Society for Nature Conservation, via Mary Colwell's account of X: x.com/curlewcalls/...
#shorebirds #waders #Curlew
June 2, 2025 at 7:59 AM
Off-leash dog walking disturbs ground-nesting birds more than any other human recreational activity: doi.org/10.1111/ibi....
Video of Borys Kala - Polish Society for Nature Conservation, via Mary Colwell's account of X: x.com/curlewcalls/...
#shorebirds #waders #Curlew
Video of Borys Kala - Polish Society for Nature Conservation, via Mary Colwell's account of X: x.com/curlewcalls/...
#shorebirds #waders #Curlew
If you’re here for pretty bird pictures you came on the wrong day! This is the Black-necked Stilt I found yesterday, far, far away across Jamaica Bay’s west pond, at the edge of my camera’s capability, and tortured by heat shimmer. #birds #birdsseenin2025 #birdoftheyear #birding Can you see it?
June 5, 2025 at 10:24 PM
If you’re here for pretty bird pictures you came on the wrong day! This is the Black-necked Stilt I found yesterday, far, far away across Jamaica Bay’s west pond, at the edge of my camera’s capability, and tortured by heat shimmer. #birds #birdsseenin2025 #birdoftheyear #birding Can you see it?