Kirby Adams
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kirbyadams.bsky.social
Kirby Adams
@kirbyadams.bsky.social
(He/Him) Naturalist, writer, birder, chess player, dungeon master, and a few other things. Politically progressive, socially awkward. An American who will do whatever it takes to defend Canada.
Pinned
Intro thread:
1/3 I travel a bit looking for birds, but I'm really looking at, well, everything. Every photo posted here was taken by me. I'm not a photographer, but I aim to present images that take you to a place or put you in the presence of an animal. (Here's my yard in rural Michigan).....
We're having a Milkweed Tussock Moth invasion. Coincidentally (or not!) we're having a Black-billed Cuckoo invasion. Ecology lessons in the backyard! (Full story in the cuckoo pic alt text.) #nativeplants #birds #backyardwildlife
September 11, 2025 at 12:57 AM
Elegant moment in the yard with this Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) alighting on blossoms of Virgin's Bower (Clematis virginiana). At the time I didn't notice the Sauron-looking bug (or moth? or part of the plants?) lurking in the background on the right. #butterflies #nativeplants #pollinators
August 12, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Gray Treefrog "drinking" from the "cup" of a Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum). We're having a severe drought in Michigan, so I spray the cups every evening to make sure they act as a patch of tiny oases for insects...and apparently frogs. #nativeplants #frogs "Drinking" explained in alt text.
August 11, 2025 at 4:31 AM
Common Eastern #Bumblebee heading out on a foraging run in my yard. Her corbiculum (pollen basket on the rear tibia) is empty, so she's either eating the groceries at the store instead of taking them home to the family, or she ust got there. Nice view of anthers in the coneflower in the first pic.
August 7, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) on Virginia Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum) in my yard. No plant on the property attracts the diversity of wasps that the Pycnanthemum does. Six or seven species on one small clump is not unusual. #wasps #nativeplants #backyardwildlife #insects
August 5, 2025 at 4:19 AM
Harlequin Ducks on McDonald Creek in #GlacierNationalPark, Montana a couple weeks ago. I finally got to see a breeding male in the wild. They never lifted their heads for a photo, because ducks are inconsiderate lile that, but I still love them. #birds #birding #ProtectPublicLands #NPS
June 29, 2025 at 1:13 PM
Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) at Missouri Headwaters SP, Montana. Appropriate that a sandpiper typical of rivers would be hanging at the birthplace of North America's mightiest stream. I wish we could rename them Riverpipers. #birds #birding #shorebirds #montanastateparks #missouririver
June 21, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Lincoln's Sparrow along Prospect Creek at 9000' in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains. Taken on 5 June 2025, just before a snow squall passed over. Habitat photo as well. #birds #birding #bighorns #wyoming
June 17, 2025 at 1:03 AM
I don't know enough about #lichen ecology and taxonomy, but taking a close look at this little stick reveals a whole world begging for exploration. Images taken with a digital microsope at around 20X. #lichens
May 28, 2025 at 2:11 AM
This Yellow Warbler I encountered yesterday looks cute and happy, and we all need more cute and happy in our lives. (Otis Lake, Michigan) #birding #birds #warblers
May 26, 2025 at 4:41 PM
This Falsehorn Fly (Temnostoma sp.) was in my yard, apparently plotting something evil. (Rubbing the hands together meanacingly is the universal symbol for evil, no?) In reality, it's just going to fly around and pollinate some fleabane. #Diptera #Flies #BackyardWildlife
May 25, 2025 at 2:25 AM
1/2 I don't think about damselflies much in May. Partly because there aren't many around, and partly because birds consume my interest during this month of spring migration. This immature female managed to pull my eye away from the warblers - no small feat! #odonata #Damselflies #odonates
May 20, 2025 at 2:32 AM
I used to live where I could see Kirtland's Warblers daily, and now I live where they're only a two hour drive away. So I kinda take them for granted. (Horrible, I know!) Still, it was unexpected and fabulous to get great looks at one in Ohio on Saturday. #MageeMarsh #BiggestWeek #BWIAB #birding
May 13, 2025 at 2:17 PM
Cranesbill Miner (Andrena distans) on Wild Geraniium (Geranium maculatum). A lot of these Mining Bees are closely tied to, if not obligate with, particular spring ephemeral wildflowers. #Bees #NativeBees #BackyardWildlife
May 6, 2025 at 1:16 PM
Was approached to judge a cute-off by these two birds. I declared them both adorable - no clear winner. Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Golden-crowned Kinglet, Montcalm County, Michigan, 19 April 2025. Don't usually have one of each in the same brush at the same time. #birding #birds #kinglets
April 20, 2025 at 2:25 AM
My first Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) of the year. Seen today in my Michigan backyard. #butterflies #lepidoptera
April 14, 2025 at 4:15 AM
Foxy Day 2025 was ten days later than its historical average, but I celebrated nonetheless. First Fox SParrow of the year on my Eaton County, Michigan property. 12 April 2025 #birds #birding #sparrows
April 13, 2025 at 2:22 PM
Spent a half hour today with a good friend in Michigan- this Rusty Blackbird. Their population has collapsed over the past half century, falling by an estimated 90%. A variety of factors have likely caused that, including loss of suitable stopover habitat during migration. #birding #birds
April 7, 2025 at 2:31 AM
My favorite warbler, mostly because it's secretive and earth-toned. Worm-eating Warblers are really difficult to photograph. This one was deep in a dark and wet forest hollow in the Hocking Hills of Ohio in May 2023. #warblers #birds #birding
March 29, 2025 at 7:45 PM
Back to Magee Marsh in Ohio on a May morning a few years ago. Prothonotary Warblers (Protonotaria citrea) breed in the woods along Lake Erie, so you can see them tending to their young in nest cavities along the Magee Marsh boardwalk. #warblers #MageeMarsh #birds #birding
March 28, 2025 at 3:12 PM
A Cape May Warbler (Setophaga tigrina) in Michigan several Mays ago. It's a far more common migrant here than in Cape May, New Jersey where the type specimen was collected. I think Tiger Warbler, alluding to the scientific name, would be a better moniker. #warblers #birds #birding
March 27, 2025 at 11:25 PM
A Palm Warbler explores the woods at Magee Marsh in Ohio in May of 2019. Palms are one of the early wave of warblers to hit our region and always a welcome sight. You know the big influx of ALL THE BIRDS is right behind! #MageeMarsh #warblers #birds #birding
March 27, 2025 at 2:27 AM
A Blackpoll Warbler (Setophaga striata) during May migration a few years ago near my home in southern Michigan. We got to hear them on the top of Mt. Mansfield in Vermont as well - one of the few areas they breed in the lower US. #warblers #birds #birding
March 26, 2025 at 1:57 AM
Since I'm longing for May and the peak of migration, let's do a week of warblers for warm-up! Here's a Chestnut-sided Warbler (Setophaga pensylvanica) at Magee Marsh, Ohio way back in 2011. #warblers #MageeMarsh #birds #birding
March 24, 2025 at 7:34 PM
A universe probably exists where I know and study #lichens, but it ain't this one. I know some of the big charismatic types, but things like this mixed colony on a withered old Green Hawthorn in my yard I admire for what they are...without knowing exactly what they are. #lichen #BackyardHabitat
March 23, 2025 at 8:21 PM