BillBowBaggins

BillBowBaggins

@billbowbaggins.bsky.social

Hi I'm Nate. I write a weekly newsletter where I inexpertly discuss birds and try to be funny. Subscribe to win my undying love. Handy link provided below 👇 billbowbaggins.substack.com

718 Followers 862 Following 186 Posts Joined Jul 2023
12 hours ago
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FOY Eastern Phoebe is always dedicated to @phoebe13.bsky.social

Them’s the rules

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1 day ago
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An unplanned trip to Cleveland turned into a three-part adventure, including my search for a great big lifer gull. Read all about it in my latest post!

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

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1 week ago
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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...

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2 weeks ago

Ahhhh. We saw the exact same bird 😂

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2 weeks ago

Yesss!!! Where did you see it?

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2 weeks ago
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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...

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1 month ago
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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...

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1 month ago
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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-...

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1 month ago
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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...

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1 month ago
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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...

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2 months ago
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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...

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2 months ago
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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...

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2 months ago
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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 🪶

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3 months ago
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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 🪶

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

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...

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3 months ago

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

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3 months ago
Preview
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...

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3 months ago
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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 🪶

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4 months ago

What kind??

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4 months ago
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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 🪶

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4 months ago
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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 🪶

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4 months ago
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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...

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5 months ago

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

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5 months ago

So THIS is where you’ve been hiding!

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5 months ago
Preview
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 🪶

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5 months ago
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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 🪶

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

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

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5 months ago
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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 🪶

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6 months ago

MOTION 🍗

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6 months ago

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

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