Isaac Land
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coastalhistory.bsky.social
Isaac Land
@coastalhistory.bsky.social
2.6K followers 900 following 2.3K posts
_The Craft of Historical Research: A Practical Guide from Start to Finish_ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024). Professor Emeritus, Indiana State University. Former co-editor, Coastal Studies & Society journal.
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coastalhistory.bsky.social
Greetings from Oaxaca, #horrorwatch pals, and ¡Feliz Día de Los Muertos!
November 2, 2025 at 1:02 AM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Actually holding a physical copy of Craft of Historical Research, what a joy! Very much the book I wish I’d had as a student, so happy to see it out in the world. 🗃️ You can find it as an affordable paperback or eBook.
Laughing academic in a sweater holding a copy of Craft of Historical Research
October 16, 2025 at 1:31 AM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Male Yellow-bellied Seedeater (Sporophila nigricollis) in Jardín, Colombia last week. #hiking #senderismo #nature #photography 🪶
Little bird striking a Napoleonic pose atop a shrub. The black hood contrasts with the yellow belly. Same bird, more in repose with the fluffy feathered chest very evident.
September 29, 2025 at 12:49 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Green Jay (“Inca Jay” variety) at Gulupa Ecolodge, Jardín, Colombia yesterday. #nature #photography 🪶
Jay gazes directly at viewer in crisp morning light, its bold color scheme matching its bold gaze. Andean foothills recede, gently rolling, into a bed of puffy clouds and blue sky. A town is nestled far below
September 22, 2025 at 9:52 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
If this gives you a reference point for how close the passengers were to the water, I could have scooped up this little fella in my hand as he swam by the previous day we were out (wouldn’t have been a good idea, Hydrophis Platurus is venomous). Other whale watching boats were the same size as ours.
September 19, 2025 at 6:22 AM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Oilbird at Reserva Los Guácharos, Jardín yesterday. You descend into a canyon and cross a wire-and-plank bridge to see them. #Colombia #hiking 🪶 #nature #photography
The Andes peaks, ringed by clouds, dissolve into inky blue and purple like a watercolor painting. Trees appear as black silhouettes in the foreground A roosting Oilbird appears to be shouting at me, but maybe its wide open mouth is just for echolocation. These nocturnal birds use it, like bats.
September 18, 2025 at 1:37 AM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Sometimes you go looking for nature, and sometimes nature comes looking for you 😆 I just sat in the boat with my iPhone 11 and kept filming. #nature #photography #whales
September 18, 2025 at 12:53 AM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
You just never know what the field marks will be for a new species, I noticed this male pattern baldness 😆 while photographing the heck out of this pair of birds in the rainforest only to later learn that Merlin cites this “black yarmulke” as definitive for a Whooping Motmot. 🪶 #nature #panama
Two Whooping Motmot perched close together, though facing opposite directions. Their eyes are red and fierce, the sharp contrast of cerulean blue and black makes their heads appear brilliantly painted. The same birds at a less flattering angle, the lower one’s head plumage looks damaged or mangy, but the Merlin guide says that’s how this species looks.
July 23, 2025 at 11:47 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Aracari, aracarier, aracariest! Wish I could credit my wilderness skills for this embarrassment of riches here, but it’s actually right on the property of the AirBnB where I’m staying, Gamboa has a bunch of excellent and affordable ones for birders. #panama #nature 🪶
No less than three Collared Aracari greet the morning from a perch high atop a mostly dead tree festooned with epiphytes and luxurious vines.
July 23, 2025 at 11:40 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Here’s a slatier-looking tail (different photo of the same bird), in case you were wondering. 😆 I was struggling with the photo editing to compensate for how my lens was fogged up! 🪶
Slaty-tailed Trogon peers upwards from its perch. The saturated red belly contrasts with the dark slaty tail.
July 19, 2025 at 5:45 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
This morning in Gamboa. #hiking #nature #photography #panama 🪶
Butterfly making its escape, leaving my camera to focus only on the orange flower Slaty-tailed Trogon resplendent in turquoise and red hues. I was frantically wiping the condensation off of my camera lens—it’s very very humid here in Gamboa!
July 19, 2025 at 5:40 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Just leaving this here. Rembrandt self portrait from 1630s. #horrorwatch
www.ashmolean.org/sites/defaul...
June 15, 2025 at 1:20 AM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
A few more shots of that same American Pygmy Kingfisher. Was in plain view but under some palm branches, thanks to @stacebird.bsky.social for pointing it out! 🪶 #nature #photography #Panama
Side view. The blue almost appears greenish tinted in this light. White throat is a sharp color contrast. Even the eye is in focus here. Kingfisher gazes off into the middle distance Kingfisher’s head is fully turned so the beak points directly at the camera for a somewhat comedic effect
June 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
The many moods of an American Pygmy Kingfisher, seen at Metropolitano Nature Park, Panama City with @stacebird.bsky.social 🪶 #nature #photography #Panama
Small puffy kingfisher with mouth wide open (not vocalizing, though). Orange belly topped with intense slaty blue wings and head Same kingfisher with mouth closed and head turned to almost directly face the camera
June 10, 2025 at 3:39 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
“Who you callin’ fluffy?” Hook-billed Kite seen with @stacebird.bsky.social at Panama City’s Metropolitano Nature Park. 🪶 #nature #photography #panama
Hook-billed Kite seen from far below, heavily ruffled feathers in the chest capped by a dark head with an indignant looking round eye and the distinctive sharp hooked beak. View of the Panama City skyline and the Pacific Ocean in far distance, framed by trees and dense foliage. This park is close to a big shopping mall and airport, and you’d never guess it.
June 10, 2025 at 3:32 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Snail Kites (Rostrhamus sociabilis) at Lake Gatún yesterday. We saw quite a few, they were common in this location and happy to pose for me!🪶 #Panama #nature #photography
Snail Kite perches, leaning slightly and gazing to the side, its pale orange talons grasping a reed. It is framed by a delicate backdrop of wispy tall grasses. Snail Kite turns its head to look directly at me as I snap the photo, its reddish, round eyes and white head ghostlike or a little comedic Juvenile (?) or female (?) snail kite shows off its elegant dappled chest, the alternating grays and whites like the ermine fur that a monarch might wear. The specialized hooked bill is very evident here.
June 1, 2025 at 12:15 AM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
A tiny Bananaquit in a coconut palm, also a squirrel came along. Lazy birding from a hammock is a new thing for me, but I could get used to this. 🪶 #Panama #nature #photography
Tiny bird (Bananquit) with a yellow belly, dark top, and vividly white facial stripe darts about the (comparatively) massive palm tree. Small, dark chocolate colored squirrel looks down at me from the same palm tree. Its yellow-orange stomach is exactly the same color as the coconuts at the moment.
May 2, 2025 at 10:24 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Ruddy-tailed Flycatcher (Terenotrychus erythurus) yesterday with @stacebird.bsky.social 🪶 #panama #nature #hiking
Small gray-headed flycatcher perched on a twig in dense rainforest vegetation. These birds are considered cute with their large round eyes
April 30, 2025 at 9:14 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
And a still shot or two of the Black-chested Jay. 🪶
Bird perched vertically on a branch, its upper body sharply demarcated by a black coloration that sets off its yellow eye. Same bird, same branch, a more horizontal orientation.
April 30, 2025 at 4:04 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Out roaming the forest with @stacebird.bsky.social yesterday. Here’s a Black-chested Jay (Cyanocorax affines). Range is confined to Panama and some little corners of adjoining countries. 🪶 #hiking #nature #Panama #photography
April 30, 2025 at 4:01 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Yellow-headed Caracara spotted with Bocas Biodiversity Tours @stacebird.bsky.social yesterday. There were several in the trees! 🪶 #panama #nature #photography
April 27, 2025 at 12:39 AM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Rufous-tailed hummingbird (Amazilia tzacatl) today in Bocas de Toro. 🪶 #nature #photography #panama
Hummingbird sits on a telephone wire, its tiny claws grasping its perch. Fine detail of its feathers is visible on its chest. Same hummingbird in same basic perching pose but with the head cocked and leaning the body diagonally, and looking a bit sassy with the rusty red tail feathers unexpectedly spread. The deep iridescent green of the chest and neck really comes through here.
April 12, 2025 at 10:42 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Crimson-fronted parakeet (Psittacara finschi), Bocas de Toro. 🪶 #nature #photography #panama
Zoomed in closeup of two parakeets in the highest part of a palm tree, the brilliant red in the front of the face stands out against the green background. The eyes, circled with yellow, also stand out. Parakeets descending an arch like palm branch An alert parakeet cocks his head to keep track of me as he perches on a diagonal that echoes the angle of the palm fronds around him
April 3, 2025 at 12:02 AM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Worn out from a day’s hiking, and waiting for my ride back down the mountain, but Finca Lérida wasn’t done with me yet—Central America’s smallest hummingbird (Selasphorus Scintilla, Scintillant Hummingbird) dropped by to say hello. This was a female or immature male. 🪶 #nature #photography #panama
March 22, 2025 at 7:35 PM
coastalhistory.bsky.social
Scarlet-Thighed Dacnis in Boquete, Panama today. Tiny and hyperactive, I assumed it was a Euphonia. 🪶 #nature #photography
Adult male (black with blue hood) with perhaps a juvenile who’s very tufty and fluffy with unsettled coloration. Male. The red eye, and startling turquoise on black coloration come through clearly here. With its mouth open, it seems expressive. It was not singing. Same bird, same location, slightly more in focus with a sense of the fine feathery texture of the turquoise “hood.” Always tricky with nearby vegetation and flowers, but I believe there’s a glimpse of the scarlet “ thigh” here. Per Merlin, thats hard to see in the wild, and I only briefly glimpsed it.
March 19, 2025 at 5:30 PM