In the small tree in my small backyard right now there are 2 redstarts, a myrtle warbler, and a parula. Migration!

Last year I moved from the nice, green part of Long Island to the most sterile, nature-free part. That's put a serious damper on my bug finding (also work & kids). In my struggle to transform our new home into something more like our old one, I planted a patch of common milkweeds in the front yard.

🧪About 20 years ago I was volunteering at the Braddock Bay Bird Observatory. One morning, on a net run, I heard a blood-curdling scream. I thought someone was being murdered but I was assured there was nothing to be concerned about. The sound of death was actually a #CaspianTern flying over.🧪

Let’s talk about restoration ecology. On the campus of UC Irvine is an Ecological Preserve set aside It’s a neat place. It was a cattle ranch for a century after being seized from Native Americans. There were cows grazing there until the 1980s, earning the university the nickname UC Bovine.

Let’s talk about #ConservationEcology. Recently, I was in Los Padres National Forest looking for condors, unsuccessfully. But I got to see firsthand how the sanctuary is not just for condors but for everything else that lives in the #TopatopaMountains.