Tim Akimoff

Anyone else tired of executive orders?

“The age of men is over.” - Gothmog

An Indigo bunting perches in a tree and sings.

An Indigo bunting perches in a tree and looks in the direction of the camera lens.

An Indigo bunting gives some strong side eye to the camera.

Went looking for a Cape May warbler, because I’m generally an optimistic guy, but I found an Indigo bunting and some seabirds instead. It still cracks me up that something that is a rare jewel for me is a common birds for much of the rest of the country.

Shows an American oystercatcher in flight over water.

Shows an American oystercatcher hopping through sea foam on a beach.

Shows an American oystercatcher looking at the photographer over a hill.

Shows an American Oystercatcher near a lighthouse

The world is yours Oystercatcher

📍Cape May, New Jersey - July 23, 2025

Or watched. I’m on like four hours of sleep. ‘Scuse the fat finger typos this morning.

Shows an angler holding up a small shark in one hand.

Hey, @whysharksmatter.bsky.social, about two hours after you finished your last presentation at the ACI conference in Atlantic City, I washed an angler catch this shark, which she carefully released shortly after. The first live shark I’ve seen in several years. Thanks for what you do!

A man in a cap posed in front of a metal bean.

Coming up on 24-hours of being awake while trying to get home to Oregon. These Midwestern thunderstorms are haunting my waking dreams while I visit imaginary beans.

I have long-wanted to see Eastcoast Oystercatchers. I was so delighted by them.

Went to Cape May on a free afternoon during this conference in Atlantic City and found a cool lifer. Indigo buntings are pretty little singers.

Politicians don’t spend enough time in rural America. I’ve ridden along with ranchers, biologists, townies, off-gridders, small-town doctors, bar tenders, grocery store clerks and Sheriff’s deputies, and the one thing they all had in common was an NPR pre-set on their radio.

A Puffin flies over Cannon Beach with a mouthful of bait fish for baby puffins.

I was rather shaken to find out I hadn’t taken my daughter to see the puffins on the haystack rock at Cannon Beach in all the years we’ve lived here. Her favorite bird!?!?! Sadly, we couldn’t see them on the rock, but we did see about 14 in flight, including this one with fishy snacks for pufflets.

YouTube video by Tim Akimoff Tea in Beautiful Places: Missoula, Montana

Norman Maclean once wrote: “The world is full of bastards, the number increasing rapidly the further one gets from Missoula, Montana.”

That’s one of the reasons I had to get back there to make a Tea in Beautiful Places at the top of Mt. Sentinel with my Missoula friends.

youtu.be/jpEjsfHkRJk?...

Shows someone splitting a small round of wood with a hand axe.

Shows a hand axe resting on wood near a fire pit.

Shows a firepit burning next to a pile of wood and a small hand axe with a pair of gloves.

Mid-July, also known as the time to burn the Christmas tree. I had three years worth of Xmas trees to chop up and a handy, little Gränsfors Bruk hand axe to make short work of it.

A Sonoran king snake checks out the camera with its tongue

A porcupine looking ridiculously cute

Baby skunk!

Mountain king snake, porcupine and baby skunks were my heroes today. Rescued animals that get a second chance as animal ambassadors are amazing.

Shows a cat staring menacingly at the person who feeds him.

I mean, this cat literally thinks he’s the darkness.

One firecracker later and he’s under our bed upstairs for a week.

Perfect choice!

Shows a gongfu tea setup with green tea from Minto Island growers.

Shows a hand holding up green tea leaves before steeping with a Chinese gongfu tea set in the background.

Shows someone pouring green tea from a sharing pitcher into a tea cup.

If you know me, you know I’m a bit obsessed with tea. How strangely fortuitous that some of the best tea made in North America is actually grown a few miles from my house!

Shows a juvenile chickadee struggling to cool down on a hot day.

When I say I’m a hot mess, this is what I mean.

Shows a male Bushtit either a small, flying insect in its beak.

Never look directly into the eyes of a Bushtit, especially when it’s about to devour its prey. Their eyes are a wormhole, a portal to another dimension.

Shows Willow Creek Hot Springs in the foreground with hills behind lit up by moonlight and lights from a camp nearby. There are wispy clouds in the sky and vegetation around the spring.

From a few weeks and a thousand mile ago. The light on the hills behind Willow Creek Hot Springs are lit up by a moon rising behind me. I’m in the shadow of a hill in front of the spring. This is one of my favorite places in Oregon.

Shows three raised-bed gardens in a backyard next to a fence.

Shows celery growing.

I love her for many reasons. Her summer gardens bring me more joy than she will ever know.

Dory Boat Fishing in Pacific City - Oregon Coast Visitors Association It’s Oregon law that the entire Coast is open to everyone. Explore all 363 miles. Check out our post, 'Dory Boat Fishing in Pacific City' to learn more.

Probably the best fishery I've ever participated in. Launching off the beach, watching the Puffins at Haystack rock and hauling up seamonsters from the rocky intertidal is so much fun. visittheoregoncoast.com/travel-guide...

My father has been re-tracing their route over the years and meeting up with family and friends who stayed behind. He originally wanted to write a book but is now wanting to tell that story through audio. He's blind in one eye now, so I'm going along to help him navigate and do some recording.

Additional background - My grandparents fled what became Ukraine in the 1930s and made their way on foot through Central Asia to Ürümqi, where they met and married. My dad and his brother and sister were born in China before they fled to the Philippines for four years before seeking US asylum.

I purchased this Helm Field Guide, but it won't arrive until August. I've traveled to 50 countries over the years but none other than Mexico in the last 15 years. Pretty set with camera and binos and enough Russian language to get around. What new travel things do you love?

A book cover showing Birds of Central Asia from Helm Field Guides.

A map of Central Asia with Ürümqi, Bishkek, Tashkent, Samarkand and Turkmenebad highlighted.

I'm traveling back to my father's birth village near Ürümqi in NW China in September. He's been re-tracing some of our family's journey from Ukraine to China through Central Asia and wants to do some of the Silk Road portion. How do other birders prepare for crazy, once-in-a-lifetime trips?

A Nighthawk disappears into the dusky sky.

I need more Nighthawks in my life. In the same way I need more lightning bugs in my life. My infrequent sojourns in the desert or the Midwest are not enough to sustain me.

A Yellow-headed blackbird hangs out beneath a bird feeder with ground squirrels and cowbirds.

A Yellow-headed blackbird contemplating whether there is truth in the statement: You are the company you keep.

Thanks!

A White-faced ibis stretches its head back far enough to rest it on its back while standing in a marsh on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Ibis drama