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letteredolive.bsky.social
@letteredolive.bsky.social
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letteredolive.bsky.social
Spotted a Hooded Oriole on Athens, Georgia today, a thousand miles away from their traditional range of Texas and the Yucatan Peninsula!!
A male Hooded Oriole in a Camilla bush in Athens, Georgia.
January 14, 2026 at 1:25 AM
letteredolive.bsky.social
I got three new lifers today, a Green Heron, a Great Egret, and a Swallow-tailed Kite. Surprisingly, of all the new lifers, the Swallow-tailed Kite was the most cooperative when it came to letting me take photos.🪶 #birds
A Swallow-tailed Kite soars above me, showing off its white belly and head along with its black wings and forked tail. A Great Egret soars towards me over a pond while I peer through the trees. The bird was truly massive and the complete white plumage made it stick out all the more when looking for it. A Green Heron is perched on a tree surveying the surrounding landscape of a pond. A Turkey Vulture suns itself while perched on a dead pine tree. I was birdwatching over at a landfill where I found all my new lifers and there was at least twenty turkey and black vultures in the area.
July 9, 2025 at 9:16 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
Saw a Barred Owl yesterday evening surveying from a low branch looking for its next meal. The Catbirds and Robins in the local area were not at all pleased with him being in the area. 🪶 #birds
A Barred Owl surveying from a low branch in a tree in the evening light. A Barred owl looking to another tree trying to figure out if there is any prey over there to catch. The owl was being mobbed by several unhappy Catbirds and Robins who had young nearby and Barred owls will take young birds if given the chance and they only stopped mobbing him after he flew up a tree to the higher branches.
July 7, 2025 at 7:50 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
Got some more spectacular photos of an American Robin at the Trial Gardens at UGA yesterday!! I especially love the intricate details of the orange scalloped feathers on the robin’s chest!! 🪶 #birds
This American Robin is perched on a railing on one leg surveying a garden. A close up picture of the body and head of an American Robin’s perched on a railing surveying a garden. Robins I’ve generally noticed are some of the boldest birds when it comes to humans but I was still quite surprised that I could get so close to this bird! Granted, seeing how this is a campus bird this individual has been desensitized to people but it is still a joy to be able to look at a bird in such detail!! A horizontal picture of an American Robin’s head perched on a railing and surveying a garden!! This little guy was perched up there for a good couple minutes and seemed to be no rush to do anything, which definitely benefited me in getting these photos!! Seeing as the Fourth of July is today, I figured one interesting fact is that the American Robin is the most populous bird in the United States with a population of over 300 million birds in the country!! They have been able to adapt supremely well to man made environments though the same can’t be said for many bird species. Especially considering all the environmental regulations that have been stripped by the current administration, it’s more prescient than ever to stand up for environmental protection and do everything in our power to protect our local wildlife. Yes, I know that this message has been said a million times and more but for this Fourth of July, instead of celebrating an administration that has done everything in its power to make the lives of the average citizen worse, why don’t we instead celebrate the nature around us what there is around to protect! A good first step at least would be to not set off any fireworks today considering the harm they pose to local wildlife. A close up picture of an American Robin’s head and chest. You can see a reflection of the garden with a large tree at the center in the Robin’s eye. I also love how this image shows off all the filaments that make up each of the Robin’s orange scalloped chest feathers!! It’s particularly interesting seeing how some of the feathers have a white fringe at the edge clearly defining the shape of the feather!!
July 4, 2025 at 6:20 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
A couple of days ago, I was testing out ISO settings on my camera and I was able this image of an American Robin that had just caught a maggot. The background is blown out but I’m still happy with the result, the robin looks absolutely stunning and I love the orange chest feathers!! 🪶 #birds
July 2, 2025 at 11:30 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
I got some great photos of a Female Downy Woodpecker yesterday!! It’s always a joy listening to them forage around and woodpeckers in general play a vital role in controlling insect populations and making cavities for nests for other species!! #birds #downywoodpecker #birdphotography #Nikon
A cropped photo of a female downy woodpecker foraging for insects nestled in the bark of a tree. The original uncropped version of the previous photo of a female downy woodpecker foraging for insects. This photo was taken on a Nikon D3400 with a 300mm lens and an ISO of 6400. This is the same Downy woodpecker from a different angle on the same tree foraging for insects. A flash photo of the same Downy woodpecker on a different tree. As far as woodpeckers go, this female was especially cooperative as most woodpeckers I see are very flighty and leave at the first sign of a human approaching them.
July 1, 2025 at 5:18 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
I got these photos of a friendly Tree Swallow in the evening light a couple of weeks ago. The silhouette it casted in the evening sky is quite striking! Another interesting feature of these photos is how Tree Swallow feathers are iridescent and are only blue in certain conditions. #birds 🪶
An adult Tree swallow stares directly at me in the evening light. This one was perched on a sign for several minutes while I was taking photos. Swallows in general are pretty flighty birds so it was unusual to be able to be so close to one. Some of the blue iridescent feathers can also be spotted along the edge of the body in areas while the body directly faces the evening light. An adult Tree swallow looks beyond while perched on a sign in the evening light. This photo also demonstrates the short wide bill that swallows possess and their forward facing eyes that help them focus on the insects they catch on the wing. Swallow eyes are similar to eyes found on birds of prey in that they have two foveae in eye compared to a human’s one which allows them to spot prey from great distances and accurately judge the distance of their prey. An adult Tree swallow looks beyond while perched on a sign in the evening light. This photo also demonstrates the short wide bill that swallows possess and their forward facing eyes that help them focus on the insects they catch on the wing. Swallow eyes are similar to eyes found on birds of prey in that they have two foveae in eye compared to a human’s one which allows them to spot prey from great distances and accurately judge the distance of their prey. An adult Tree Swallow stares out while perched on a sun and being basked in the evening light. I personally feel this photo along with the other one’s help demonstrate the scientific name of Tachycineta bicolor which means moving quickly for the genus name and two colored for the species name. It’s always a joy to watch them fly about making sudden turns or skimming just above the water to grab insects from the surface.
June 30, 2025 at 12:25 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
I’ve been using a Nikon D3400 over the past month and I recently got some great photos of a Carolina Wren family a couple days ago! It’s always a joy to listen to their song anytime I go for a walk in the woods!! #carolinawren
A juvenile wren that landed next to me on a table after being chased by a chipmunk. I don’t think most people realize just how carnivorous chipmunks can be, chipmunks often eat meat and will readily take baby birds if given the chance. Thankfully this little guy was able to fly away and the adults mobbed chipmunks if they ever got close for the rest of the time I was over there. I believe that this Carolina Wren was a male as the other adult that was in the area was smaller and adult males on average are larger, being the only noticeable form of sexual dimorphism in the species. This guy was surprisingly tolerant of me and flew up to me multiple times. This is the same male from the previous picture resting on an iron bar and surveying the surrounding landscape. Here is the same male wren from the previous two photos looking out from a bush after having grabbed a worm and feeding one of the juveniles, dirt still covering its bill.
June 28, 2025 at 1:13 AM
letteredolive.bsky.social
Here are photos from yesterdays No Kings protest in Athens!! Attendance is estimated to be around 3,000 people, it’s certainly that largest protest I’ve been to in Athens!!
A Banner reading DEI is being held up right before the protest and was covering up three counter protesters who were trying to sing happy birthday to Donald Trump and was describing all immigrants as violent criminals. Thankfully, when one of the counter protesters later returned, a woman with a cowbell chased him off constantly ringing in his ear. This is the size of the crowd towards the start of the protest as it started to rain. Thankfully, despite the downpour most people stayed around for the entirety of the protest. People are filling up both sides of the street and the Median at the No Kings protest. This is the size of the crowd towards the end of the protest as the rain finally let up and speakers went to the podium.
June 15, 2025 at 11:34 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
Got a wonderful video of a Northern Mockingbird singing right next to me yesterday!! I love how they are able to blend in different birdsongs and noises to create a unique melody!!
May 13, 2025 at 4:33 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
Got a wonderful video today of both a Mourning Dove cooing and then the sound from its flight feathers as it takes off. Mourning Doves are among my favorite birds, they can be both silly and majestic at the same time! I never really realized how much they puff up when they coo!!
April 28, 2025 at 3:21 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
Got a wonderful video of a Grey Catbird singing in the Trial Gardens at UGA this morning. They really are under appreciated birds, they belong to the same family as mockingbirds and have the same ability to mimic the songs of other birds.
April 22, 2025 at 1:00 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
Saw the best little dog over at the #Handsoff Rally in Athens today!
Dog wearing a sign stating “Dogs for Democracy” over at the Handsoff rally in Athens, Georgia.
April 6, 2025 at 1:55 AM
letteredolive.bsky.social
Considering how awful this week has been, here’s a video of a squirrel enjoying a nut if anyone needs a bit of serotonin.
March 1, 2025 at 11:11 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
Came across two squirrels fighting today with one of them flagging their tail in frustration.
February 3, 2025 at 3:47 AM
letteredolive.bsky.social
At least the snow is extremely pretty, it’s been years since Georgia had snow on such a basis.
January 21, 2025 at 11:02 PM
letteredolive.bsky.social
Two snow days in Georgia in the same month with temperatures reaching into sixties in between, we are so cooked when it comes climate change, I can’t imagine how all the plants are dealing with the wild temperature changes I can only imagine we’ll be getting more freak weather events as time goes on
January 21, 2025 at 10:56 PM