Bird Nerd Jess
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birdnerd126.bsky.social
Bird Nerd Jess
@birdnerd126.bsky.social
150 followers 110 following 210 posts
Seeking a simpler life. I love nature, especially birds. Love my rescue dogs, too. Working on project to re-wild and reforest 16ha of cattle pasture in Pacific Coast Panama (most to be protected long term as a private nature reserve). Also, I make typos �
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birdnerd126.bsky.social
Having trouble IDing this teeny fall migrant... seen yesterday in Rhode Island (sorry for terrible pics- it was foraging way up in the canopy in late afternoon) I thought maybe a Kinglet or Gnatcatcher but doesn't seem to match. Any ideas? 🤔
#birding #nature #birds 🦉
@melchio1.bsky.social
a small "myster bird" sits perched in the canopy of an oak tree. It's back is overall blue-gray with a distinctly white underparts from the throat to belly. Its markings include black crown, eyestripe, and mustache and white brow. Black wing patches and white wing-bars, and a small black tweezer-like bill that appears to be slightly upturned, Small bird shown landing on a branch in the canopy of an oak tree. (Photo super cropped and zoomed). 1st photo has full description of bird Just the head , throat and belly of a small bird poke out of the thin branches of an oak tree. The bird is high up in the canopy. (Photo super zoomed; for description please refer to 1st photo).
October 7, 2024 at 7:02 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
Red-Tails might be a dime a dozen up north but it’s exciting to see a pair in courtship 😊
Here’s a sequence just as one was flying away- it’s hard to tell but it seems bigger so maybe that’s the female? 🧐
#Birds 🦉
#birdbot
#ornithology
#nature 🌿
2 Red-tail Hawks in a tree, one in the midst of pushing off the ranch with its talons, taking flight 2 Red-tail Hawks in a tree, one in the midst of pushing off the ranch with its talons, taking flight One of a pair of Red-tail Hawks can be seen flying off out of frame, while the remaining partner looks directly into the camera
March 27, 2024 at 2:54 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
First Blue Birds of the year in South Kingston, Rhode Island today. This pair was definitely house shopping if not already moved in ☺️
#Birds 🦉
#nature 🌿
#birdbot
#naturephotography
@melchio1.bsky.social
March 20, 2024 at 9:03 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
So surprised to see that what I thought were scaup turned out to be Ring-necked Ducks! As if the pair of Northern Shovelers wasn't excited enough- both lifers!
(Plus: Coots and Ruddy Ducks... all in my home town!)
#Birds 🦉 #Science 🌎 #photography 📸 #nature 🌿 #birdwatching @melchio1.bsky.social
Ring-necked ducks and a coot Ring-necked ducks on a pond with reeds in the fore-ground, one is actively diving with just its tail remaining above water Adult male Northern Shoveler in profile on a pond with obscured reeds in the foreground Northern Shoveler paddling away on a pond, with reeds in the foreground
March 15, 2024 at 12:25 AM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
Mushroom up on a cliff, right along a fairly remote cove. We noticed a lot less vegetation than in previous years and visits (mainly arid scrub/brush and cacti with some small trees).. so this fairly large fungi caught our eyes quickly. @melchio1.bsky.social
🌎
#nature
#fungi
#mushrooms
🍄
Zoom-in (from distance) on a large, cream and white colored mushroom emerges from the base of a tree. white cap seems to be inverted, maybe broken as it is wrapped around a small stick or branch. The gills are darker and beige colored, visible, as is the stem Mushroom at distance (although still zoomed from the ground below the cliff it sits on).
February 8, 2024 at 6:02 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
This is the Grey Kingbird's 2nd attempt to toss and catch the berry, but it doesn't exactly work out that way... it watched it fall.
Any ideas about this behavior? Could it be practice for catching flying prey items? (2/2)
#birds 🦉🪶
@melchio1.bsky.social
February 2, 2024 at 10:55 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
My previous post tried to show the sequence of this Grey Kingbird playing catch with a red berry, all in one image-
in hindsight it is easier to see with individual photos.
(1/2)
#birds 🦉🪶
@melchio1.bsky.social
February 2, 2024 at 10:45 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
**I guess clicking doesn't make it much larger- I'll post some individual photos of the berry tosses:
February 2, 2024 at 10:39 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
#throwbackthursday

Photos are super zoomed and cropped but glad I managed to document these 2 Peregrine Falcons battling (likely over a shorebird or baby chicken).
Look closely in the background of last photo & you’ll see a there’s a Brown-footed Booby!

#birds 🦉
#nature 🌿
@melchio1.bsky.social
2 Peregrine Falcons (1 adult and 1 immature) battling over a prey item, each with at least 1 talon on their meal. Backdrop: Bay of St Jean, St Barthelemy
February 1, 2024 at 3:19 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
📢 Calling all herpetologists! Non-sea turtle seen on small Caribbean island w/no fresh h20, but some rainwater collection canals & brackish/saltwater mangrove ponds. I've been told "no freshwater turtles here" but saw many in the drainage canal- any ideas? #nature 🌿 #turtle
@melchio1.bsky.social
Small turtle (no longer than 20cm) on land, about to enter the water- 1 of at least a dozen seen in the same rainwater collection and management canals. These canals eventually lead to the brackish and saltwater mangrove estuaries, but they are clearly not sea turtles. Small turtle with similar physical appearance to individual in 1st photo. Eyes and head slightly exposed above the water, as is the dorsal ridge along the shell. Definitely not a tortoise, as we have those on the island as well and this is certainly an #aquatic #turtle
January 27, 2024 at 3:42 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
Starting to get nostalgic preparing to move to the US then Panama🤞!

I'll miss the commute to work thru town even as it rapidly loses its authenticity

BUT it's well worth it if I get to enjoy a new commute in the not so distant future & work will be for a better good 🥰 #nature
@melchio1.bsky.social
Gustavia, St Barthélemy. Back street lined with some older buildings but many new facades, cobblestone street and sun beaming through palm trees. (Vantage point sitting on a 4-wheeler) Animal crossing sign placed by the Panamanian Ministry of the Environment. Symbols include a road with an Iguana, a viper, and a monkey. This sign just happened to be placed adjacent to our Finca (and future nature reserve's access road) ! New road built to access the beautiful "Sunset Coast" in Torio, Azuero, Panamá. The previous road acted was very difficult to drive on, and acted as a filter for those looking to exploit the nature in the region (which has already been ravaged by cattle farming). As a result, an ecotourism and environmentally conscious community has been slowly growing (Panamanians along with newcomers willing to make the long trek). With this new road we hope to have a sustainably prosperous region that can turn away from industrial farming, and focus on the viability of ecotourism and agroforestry as ways for all to thrive. A hillside with a packed clay dirt road, taken from the passenger window of a small suv. Vantage point out into the hills of Malena, Veraguas, Panama. Car is parked at the final descent to the river and entrance of our Finca!! The land is most of what is seen to the right of the road. Little by little we'll have a drivable access point with which scientists and visitors can access the trails. 16ha of secondary and, along the river and creeks, some old growth forest. Photo taken at end of dry season so it gets much greener. So many magical things to discover here, I can't wait to be there.
January 26, 2024 at 4:05 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
@wildgreenmemes if you are out there… this is amazing
#birdwatching

#birds #nature
🪶🦉🌿
January 26, 2024 at 3:15 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
#ToughGuyTuesday … Is that thing?
Throwback to last year, when our neighborhood American Kestrel was being mobbed by, of all things, a Hummingbird!! ( A Green-throated Carib to be specific).
Quality of photo not good- came from phone vid 🤫
@melchio1.bsky.social
#birds 🦉🪶
#nature 🌿
An American Kestrel continues eating its prey item (likely an Anole lizard) as a Green Throated Carib is poised and ready to attack from the air. (Screen grab from a phone video where the hummingbird spent at least 2 minutes harassing the kestrel).
January 16, 2024 at 8:00 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
This Lesser Antillean Bullfinch seemed to be annoyed & in this pic he's letting us know! It seems that we interrupted the argument it was having (with its own reflection in the car mirror). Luckily no one seems to have gotten hurt
#nature 🌿
#birds 🪶🦉
#naturephotography 📸

@melchio1.bsky.social
A Male Lesser Antillean Bullfinch sits on the side view mirror of a car, calling towards the camer.
January 16, 2024 at 12:32 AM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
#birds 🪶 It's neck and head were so well hidden, as well as the size of its body. Seeing the legs we assumed it to be our resident immature Yellow-Crowned Heron, but instead it was the stealthy Great Blue @melchio1.bsky.social
A Great Blue Heron stand in a creek, stealthily still and hiding behind light vegetation with neck posed, ready to strike a target in the water below
January 16, 2024 at 12:24 AM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
Nothing to see here, move along... just some flowers, a pair of legs and a razor sharp spear wielded by hunter with sniper-like precision.
Aside from the legs, this GBH had us totally fooled until, upon closer inspection we saw it's eye. Impressive!
@everyheron.bsky.social
January 16, 2024 at 12:14 AM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
I concur. I've only seen pygmy owls, but of the two, without revealing my choice... Is there anything more charismatic than burrowing owls? Those legs!
So do these Ferruginous Pygmies @melchio1.bsky.social
A pair of Ferruginous Pygmy Owls perched on the same branch, calling to one another. (Punta Duarte, Veraguas Province, Panama)
January 8, 2024 at 8:56 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
Ah... I can see the conflict, but you weren't driving the boat so glad you got to share their beauty and hopefully introduce them to people- that balances it out? 🙂
We almost walked right by one, had a nearby pair of Tody Flycatchers no captured our attention right nearby. It flew off pretty quickly
January 7, 2024 at 9:47 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
In honor of #NationalBirdDay here are some Least Terns with their chicks that we had the pleasure of monitoring the year before last
🦉🌿📸
@melchio1.bsky.social
(They’re all fully zoomed and cropped, but better to be far away than to disturb 💚)
8-10 chicks and fledglings await their food delivery (least terns) Super zoomed and cropped image of adult Least Tern feeding chick as another looks in Back lit photo of a Least Tern colony with 2 chicks and 3 adults shown Two fairly young chicks look at each other with an adult closely monitoring
January 5, 2024 at 10:32 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
Some more #birds 🦉 from last spring’s visit to the Western Azuero Peninsula, Panama… including a top ten must-see #lifer for me: the bizarre and beautiful, reclusive mangrove dweller, the Boat-billed Heron (1st pic).
@melchio1.bsky.social
#nature #naturephotography
🌿📸
Boat-billed Heron lurking in the shadows of a mangrove swamp… unfortunately we disturbed it’s nap 😴 A King Vulture sits in a tree aside 2 Black Vultures A Common Tody Flycatcher poses on a branch with back facing camera but head in profile. White-tailed Hawk soaring against backdrop of a cloudless blue sky
January 3, 2024 at 6:27 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
Missing Panama 🇵🇦 big time right now… but first things first. Have to work to fund our project (finca turned nature reserve), but so grateful to be closing in on our goal!
For now I have my obsessive photo taking to lean on & keep me filled with the joy of the nature there 🦉🌿
@melchio1.bsky.social
2 Capuchin monkeys grooming (they were just 2 of a 20+ member troop) Lesser Yellow-Headed Vulture with multicolored head, on the ground presumably searching my for carrion Baby Mantled Howler Monkey on adult’s back, barely seen peeking through foliage while the rest of the family foraged Our finca in the distance… re-wilding nicely and awaiting the upcoming biodiversity surveys. Vast stretch of mixed tropical forest and unfortunately deforested cattle pasture in the hills of Torio, Panama 🇵🇦
January 3, 2024 at 2:47 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
Some screen grabs from video:
@melchio1.bsky.social & I came across a huge ant colony in the Tropical Dry Forest of Panama (this nest was still active- will post videos when possible).
We’ve seen the armies marching before but never the nest/colony.

✅Checked that off the bucket-list
#invertfest 🪲🐜
December 28, 2023 at 4:43 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
Is it too late for #invertfest ? 🪲 Because this Giant Metallic Wood Boring Beetle (Euchroma gigantae) was hoping for its 15 minutes…
We had 2 buzzing around our Cabana in Panama and this 1 landed on a nearby tree to checkout our breakfast.
Unfortunately no wood left on our plates to share. 🤓🪲
December 28, 2023 at 4:16 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
A few more pics of the GBH hunting and grooming at sunset... this adult is one of the most beautiful I've seen on the island, or maybe ever!That beautiful chestnut along the wings and legs 🤩
#birds 📸🪶
#goldenhour
#naturephotography
#nature
@melchio1.bsky.social
@everyheron.bsky.social
Great Blue Heron stands in a calm coastal marsh, hunting, seemingly ready to strike Great Blue Heron stands still in the corner of a marsh at sunset. Great BlueHeron shakes its neck and fluffs up in corner of a marsh at the golden hour.
December 27, 2023 at 9:36 PM
birdnerd126.bsky.social
Coming in for landing - I forgot that we saw this GBH in flight so I was confused when first looking at this photo until I zoomed in and then was delighted to see such a beautiful heron flying through the marsh. #goldenhour @melchio1.bsky.social
December 27, 2023 at 9:26 PM