BillBowBaggins

What a great time I had talking birds and nature with Vermont-based birder/writer/field biologist Bryan Pfeiffer, someone who's spent a life observing and thinking deeply about the natural world, and finding endless joy in discovery. Enjoy our convo!

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/ten-birdin...

Ahhhh. We saw the exact same bird 😂

Yesss!!! Where did you see it?

We had a surprise guest for the Great Backyard Bird Count. Six surprise guests, actually. How did your GBBC go?

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/great-back...

I went after my first lifer of the year on Tuesday. Spoiler alert: it's the most beautiful thrush in the ABA area.

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/lifer-ques...

You've heard of a bar crawl. I prefer a duck crawl. That's where I hit the hotspots along the Allegheny River to try to see as many ducks as possible. This was my second annual Allegheny Duck Crawl. This time I took a friend.

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/allegheny-...

I've been saying for years that I'm going to learn gulls in my 50s. Well, my 50s are here.

#birds #birding #birdwatching #gulls #naturewriting

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/can-i-be-a...

2025 was a damned good birding year. My best year for number of species. I wrote up a recap.

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/my-birding...

For my latest podcast episode I interviewed Memphis-based birder and singer/songwriter Bonner Black, who is every bit as fun to talk to as you'd expect.

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/ten-birdin...

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! For my latest I had fun identifying (and misidentifying) the birds of London in our collection of advent calendars.

#birds #birding #naturewriting 🪶

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/a-very-bir...

I wrote a recap of our Christmas Bird Count last Sunday! Conditions were brutal. Would we break our species record? Would a fourth generation of bird counters be joining us?

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/christmas-...

#bird #birding #naturewriting 🪶

Did you go through some quirky phase when Covid hit?

Before birds, I had a brief but intense obsession with cheap aftershaves. I wrote about it.

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/on-birds-a...

#birds #birding #naturewriting 🪶

YouTube video by Alexandra Hidalgo Want to Get Into the Christmas Spirit? These Christmas Classics Will Do the Trick!

Now that #Thanksgiving is come and gone and it’s time to get into the holiday spirit. Here are #ChristmasMovie recs from Gina Washington, Matilda Washington, Devin Smith, @billbowbaggins.bsky.social, our boys and me! You're sure to find plenty to love on this list!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewvt...

I should add that the book, released earlier this year by @timberpress.bsky.social, is beautifully illustrated by @chelseabeck.bsky.social

Ten Birding Questions, with Ryan Mandelbaum The Birding with BillBow Podcast, Episode 7

I had so much fun talking to @ryanfm.bsky.social about their book and birds and much more on my latest podcast episode. Give it a listen and don't forget to buy a copy of Wild NYC!

Pod 🎧 billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/ten-birdin...

Book 📕 bookshop.org/p/books/wild...

I wrote about a dead bird I found last Monday. There was a lifer too. Eventful week.

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/the-dark-s...

#birds #birding #birdwatching #naturewriting 🪶

What kind??

Trying a reset when it comes to cameras and photography.

I want to take better pictures of birds. How's it going? Dunno 😅

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/photograph...

#birds #birding #naturewriting 🪶

In my latest podcast episode I talk with the amazing Andrés Chávez, who was my bird guide in Quepos, Costa Rica. What a fascinating man Andrés is, and how committed to Costa Rica's ecological future. This was a wonderful convo.

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/ten-birdin...

#birds #birding 🪶

For my latest post I wrote about the annual trash pickup I just did in my birding patch, which includes a driving range. Can you guess how many golf balls I collected?

I collected a LOT of fun stuff that day 🤢

#birds #birding #naturewriting 🪶

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/my-big-tra...

Cool cool. I’ve missed vicariously enjoying your homemade stream 😅

So THIS is where you’ve been hiding!

Ten Birding Questions, with Kelly Ballantyne The Birding with BillBow Podcast, Episode 5

In my latest podcast I interview Chicago-based birder, artist, and animal behaviorist @kellycballantyne.bsky.social. Kelly and I had a great talk about her trip to Colombia, how to overcome art anxiety, and much more!

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/ten-birdin...

#birds #birding #naturewriting 🪶

I loved Listers. Have you seen it? I wrote about it in my latest post!

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/on-listing...

Happy migration!

#birds #birding #naturewriting 🪶

YouTube video by Alexandra Hidalgo What Creatures Come Into Your House if You Live in the Tropical Wilderness?

In the US, we tend to live with screens on our windows to keep #nature outside. We just spent 4 days in a house in #CostaRica that was mostly open and surrounded by #wilderness. So, what came in and out of the house while we were there? #Animals youtu.be/-lFsKOs27Jg?... @billbowbaggins.bsky.social

Final post from Costa Rica. The Pacific Coast, where I got the most lifers, not all of them avian.

billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/birding-in...

#birds #birding #costarica #naturewriting 🪶

MOTION 🍗

Amazing beach. Monkeys, sloths, macaws…even an ear infection

And couldn’t get the boys out of the water

It sure was! Amazing adventure