Trip to Iceland pt.1

Hello bird fans. You may have noticed, or maybe not, that your favorite bird blog hasn't updated in a pretty long time. There are several reasons for this, but most crucially, I just don't have that much time. Don't have much time for trips where I might get to do some good birding, don't have much time for photography don't have much time to write these little updates. It doesn't help that I left twitter due to it becoming a cesspool, and so now my audience is just you, the person who stumbles upon this or who I know on facebook.

Anyway, it's ok for me to be out of the bird blogging game, I am content. I've seen a lot of good birds, and I will always love birds, and the experience of identifying birds, either for myself, or for others. So that being said, this will not be a traditional bird blog, but more like a travelog. Those who go way back might remember my other blog. Imagine something like that. 

Now, recently I was able to sneak a little trip to Iceland in during what was otherwise a summer family vacation to Nova Scotia. Our plan for our first day was a drive on the fabled Golden Circle- a circuit of natural wonders easy driving distance from Reykjavik, where we were based. After partaking of a lovely hot springs (the second of the trip), we were on to our first natural feature, the famous waterfall Gullfoss (lit. Golden Falls).

It was an incredible waterfall, easily making it's way in to my top tier of waterfall experiences, despite the grey weather we had that day. Just look at this bad boy, it's got it all- a rugged and striking landscape, massive volume, an aesthetically pleasing mist, and... wait a minute... 

Computer, enhance. 

Is that a fucking BIRD???

Oooooh shit, every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in. I mean it folks, when I saw this swan just completely chilling as millions of gallons of water (this is literally true, it is an approximately 1.7 million gallons/minute waterfall) rushed past it, I said "ok, I guess I will do a bird blog about this".

So who do we have here? I'm glad you asked

Whooper Swan aka. The Elk aka. Hooper aka. Wild Swan (Álft)
Gullfoss, Selfoss, Iceland
Member of the Duck, Goose, and Swan Family
★The National Bird of Finland★
★The Largest Native Herbivore in Iceland★
§A Lamentation of Swans§

~True Bird Fact~ Very accomplished fliers, despite their size (frequently noted online as 'one of the heaviest flying birds'. Their typical airspeed is around 62mph, however, they have been known to travel to extraordinary heights, up in the lower stratosphere, in order to make use of the jetstream. One group of birds was clocked traveling almost 100 miles per hour using this technique while migrating from Iceland to Ireland. Extremely tough!

~Real Bird Myth~ A wikipedia 'citation needed' fact (off to a strong start) notes that sounds this bird makes upon death and the source of the phrase 'swan song'. I did not hear any of them die, so thus cannot verify myself.

~Real Icelandic Bird Myth~ A 1921 Icelandic Fairytale, Sagan af Dimmalimm by Guðmundur Thorsteinsson, recounts a tale of a princess who, through the power of love, breaks a curse on a swan, who then becomes a prince. It's essentially Swan Lake.

Well, I hope my extremely scant handful of readers have enjoyed this rare bird blog. But you know what? I'm going to do some more. Because shockingly being in Iceland for 4 days without my kids afforded me the time to see some pretty cool birds. And now you're going to see them too, or at least you will, if you keep clicking on the bird blog.

Ruffed Grouse

Ruffed Grouse aka. Patridgde, aka. Pheasant, aka. Prairie Chicken (all colloq., inaccurate) aka. Thunder-chicken

East Glacier Park, Montana, USA
August 2023
Member of the Turkey, Grouse, and Partridge Family
§A Pack of Grouse§
★The State Game Bird of Pennsylvania★ (Ranked the worst state bird by this website, due to not being a state bird (Pennsylvania does not have one)
★The most widely distributed game bird in North America★

~True Bird Fact~ They are described as an "immensely popular game bird" by allaboutbirds.org, and I see no reason to argue with that characterization, given that they appear to have an enormous organization named after them. Yes, you heard me, The Roughed Grouse Society exists, and appears to have an extremely slick website, and a history of working with state governments to improve forest management to create more appropriate grouse habitats. 

Yes, these are hunters, which is not really my thing, but I think the lesson to take here is that a bird species thrives when attention and care is paid to it, although maybe not for ideal reasons in this case. Anyway, this aforementioned website is filled with great quotes. Like this one, about the birds comfort with humans "they can still be killed with a canoe paddle or thrown stones in Minnesota wilderness forests, and are not considered much of a sporting bird in western mountains and north into Canada due to their confiding “fool-hen” nature."

And this one about Ruffed Grouse chicks "The chicks are precocial, which means that as soon as they have dried following hatching they are ready to leave the nest and start feeding themselves. Grouse chicks are not much larger than a man’s thumb when they leave the nest. They are surprisingly mobile and may be moving farther than 1/4 mile a day by the time they are 3 or 4 days old. They begin flying when about 5 days old, and resemble giant bumble bees in flight."

I also learned that "Ruffed Grouse are almost exclusively “flower-eaters,” living on the dormant flower buds or catkins of trees such as the aspens, birches, cherries, ironwood and filberts. Extensive feeding upon flower-buds in apple orchards caused Ruffed Grouse to be placed on the list of bountied animals in some New England states at one time."

Man, what a great website.

So anyway, I went to Montana, to Glacier National Park specifically, to continue my bucket list dream of visiting all the National Parks. Didn't actually get that many birds there, due to not really taking a birds-first approach, but I did get some, that I'll be posting in the coming (months? years?). I did also capture some strange non-bird animals, that maybe you'd have a passing interest in. Like this one

Moose (Shiras subspecies)

Fishercap Lake, Glacier National Park, Swiftcurrent, Montana, USA
August 2023
Member of the Deer Family
§A Herd of Moose§
★Largest and Heaviest Member of the Deer Family★

{Etymology Corner} from the Algonquin "Moosh" from the Innu people. Meaning "stripper and eater of bark"

Purple Martin

 

Purple Martin
Vollmer Peak, Orinda, California, USA
July 2022
Member of the Swallow Family
§A Gulp of Swallows§ (dubious about this claim)
★The Largest North American Swallow★

{Etymology Corner} So, when I was preparing this blog I stopped for a moment and thought 'why are they called Martins instead of, you know, Swallows, like all the other members of the Swallow Family. So, as you do, I googled it, for the blog. The answer is interesting enough that I'm just going to fully quote The Online Etymology Dictionary directly"

Martin (n.) kind of swallow-like bird (Chelidon urbica), 1580s (earlier in diminutive form maretinet, mid-15c.), from Old French martin, which is apparently from the masc. proper name Martin in some sense. Writers in 17c. said it was named for St. Martin of Tours (d. 397 C.E.), patron saint of France, whose festival day (Martinmas) is Nov. 11, about the time the birds are said to depart for winter. But OED says the naming "may have been purely arbitrary," and Century Dictionary says "the name has no specific meaning ...." Usually with a qualifying term: the common house-martin is so called because it nests under the eaves of houses. The American purple martin is so called by 1804.

So named after, literally, the name Martin, or maybe just nothing. Amazing work language, you're doing great.

~True Bird Fact~ Purple Martins have a rare and interesting relationship with humans, having developed, over the centuries an almost symbiotic relationship with us. Purple Martins are almost 100% reliant on humans for the creation and maintenance of their nests. The bird migrates between North and South American, and Native peoples in pre-colonial times would hang up hollowed out gourds for nests. The people get a bird that eats tons of insects that would otherwise be eating crops, and the birds get a home. The practice of building and keeping up Martin nests continues to this day, although there is concern that it's becoming less popular with young people (Millennials are killing Martins with their lattes and avocado toast! (I am being sarcastic here)). There are not many birds with a whole non-profit dedicated to their continued existence, but this bird has one. Cool stuff, Martin!

So this is my last blog of the year. Usually I do some kind of year in review post, outlining the best birds, best posts, etc. Well, this year, as you might have noticed, we have had a grand total of 3 blogs, coming in well under my own goal of doing one a month. What can I say, this is the year my son went from 3 to  4 and my daughter went from 0 to 1. It's been a bear, folks, but hopefully, next year will be more like a bird, which is to say I'll do more bird watching and blog more birds in the new year. Best wishes, Amateurnithologist signing off for 2022. 

Least Sandpiper

Least Sandpiper
Clipper Yacht Harbor, Sausalito, California, USA
January 2021
Member of the Sandpiper and Pharalope Family
§A Time Step of Sandpipers§ (?)
★The Smallest Shorebird★ (always nice when the name is accurate)

~True Bird Fact~ What more do you want they're the world's smallest shorebird? About the size of a sparrow, weighing less than an ounce! Ok, fine, they also are impressive migrators, traveling about 2000 miles over the ocean without stopping between their winter and summer homes.

No thoughts
No desires
Just serene stillness of mind

Good Birds, Bad Pics: Mono Lake Edition

 Hello bird fans! As you might have known from my Grouse Grousing last month, I recently took a trip to Mono Lake. It was a wonderful trip, but to be honest, not as bird-bountiful as I might've wanted. It was a little early to catch the big migrations, but still, it's away from home, and that means new birds. Just not, like, a lot of new birds. And certainly not cooperative new birds. So below I present to you some of the finds that I'm happiest about having seen, even if I didn't exactly nail it in the picture department. These days it feels like the busy amateur birder should feel pretty good about having even tried, right?

Clark's Nutcracker
Mono Lake County Park, Lee Vining, California, USA
July 2020
Member of the Crows and Jays Family
§A Jar of Nutcrackers§ (the other ones are worse)

~True Bird Fact~ Yup, he's named after That Clark, of Lewis and Clark fame. I'm not going to do a naturalist profile in this one. I just did one of those. Go read about how birds shouldn't be named after these guys anyway.

Picture Crime: Far away, in shadow. Basically you can barely see it well enough to ID.

Wilson's Phalarope
Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Preserve, Lee Vining, California, USA
July 2020
Member of the Sandpipers and Phalaropes Family
§A Dopping of Phalaropes§
★The Largest Phalaropes★ (of...3)

[Etymology Corner] Phalarope, that's a weird word, huh? It comes from the Latin name of the bird, and it breaks down to mean Coot-footed. So this bird is named after having lobed feet, similar to a coot. Ironically, this member of the Phalarope genus actually doesn't even have the lobed feet. Pretty messed up that the birds have similar feet but one is named after the other. If only the cards had been dealt a different way, perhaps the coot would've been named Phalarope-footed (but this would cause a time paradox, unfortunately). 

~True Bird Fact~ Unlike most birds, the female is the dominant member of the species. She is larger, more colorful, and males watch the nest while she is out finding more partners. Girlboss!

Picture Crime: Far away, in a group, breeding plumage appears to have not quite come all the way in yet. Other birds nearby confuse me and make me less confident in my ID. They could be juveniles, non-breeding birds, or even non-breeding Red-necked Phalaropes.

Brewer's Sparrow
Gem Lake Trail, June Lake, California, USA
July 2020
Member of the American Sparrows Family
§A Ubiquity of Sparrows§

~Interesting Bird Facts?~ None. Hey, it's named after that same guy from Brewer's Blackbird. That's something, I guess.

Picture Crime: Obstructed behind a branch. Slightly out of focus. Sparrow, so, inherently boring. I already forgot which one it is. 

Well, thanks for slogging through those medium pictures. Still, it's 3 birds I didn't know before, and sort of know now. See you next time when we get into some of the birds I got slightly better shots of.

White-breasted Nuthatch

White-breasted Nuthatch
Chestnut Hill Reservation, Brighton, Massachusetts, USA
June 2019
Member of the Nuthatch Family
§A Jar of Nuthatches§
★The Largest of the Nuthatches★ (Not for nothin, but still quite a small bird)

~true bird fact~ Like many birds, this one is monogamous. The reason for this arrangement is pretty easy to guess at, it makes both birds less likely to get surprised by a predator. This is also, evolutionarily, a reason many birds travel in flocks. However, this relationship isn't of equal benefit to both partners. The male nuthatch has to watch out less for predators, but the female has to also watch out for the male crowding her out of foraging areas. That means the male ends up better off, and the female, well, probably better off too, but not as much. Sounds familiar somehow... The ladies out there know what I'm talking about.

First Described by....

John Latham

(1740-1837)

This guy! This is a fun guy! I'm excited I get to talk about him, because I feel like in many ways, he's the spiritual predecessor to Amateurnithologist (this blog). We'll get there, but first, some boring stuff. He was an English physician and ornithologist, and the bulk of his work was in Australian birds, which began making their way to England in the 1780's. His first book, A General Synopsis of Birds (nailed it on the title) contained 106 illustrations, which he did himself, many of them never previous described in England. Sounds pretty awesome, but whoopsa-doopsa, he forgot to give them scientific names (the Linnean binomial system was pretty new at the time. He tried to fix his mistake by publishing the same book 10 years later, but this time with a latin title (Index Ornithologicus, still nailin' it) to go along with latin names for all the birds. Unfortunately by that point another dude had already named many of the birds that Lathan had first described, meaning the other guy gets the name and the credit. Still though, they were some pretty good birds that John here introduced to his Western audience, including Emu, Black Swan, and Hyacinth Macaw. No word on how this North American Nuthatch made it's way into his body of work.

He also was not particularly good at identifying birds- his books often had the same bird described multiple times with different names, causing confusion among Ornithologists for years to come. He was still publishing books in his 80's, and according to one reviewer his misidentifications only got worse with time. Quoth one Alfred Newton "his defect as a compiler, which had manifest itself before, rather increased with age, and the consequences were not happy." Ouch. Shoutout to a real one, John Latham, I know your struggle.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

Yellow-headed Blackbird
Woodland Water Pollution Control Facility, Woodland, California, USA
April 2019
Member of the Blackbird Family
§A Cloud of Blackbirds§
★The Worst Song of Any North American Bird(?)★ Described in my various sources as "a strange mixture of honking, gurgling and strangling noises", "a rusty farm gate opening", "hoarse, harsh scraping", and "bizarre grinding", there seems to be broad agreement that it's pretty bad. Judge for yourself here.

~true bird fact~ Yellow-headed Blackbirds have an interesting way of foraging en-masse. Birds from the back will always fly first, 'rotating' to the front, which gives the flock the appearance of rolling across a landscape. Very aesthetic, and very fair.


Quick to make friends
Talks about the memes he likes, loudly and publically
Has an explanation for everything, even if that explanation doesn't really make sense. At least you know he's thought about it.

Tricolored Blackbird

Tricolored Blackbird
Vanden Road, Vacaville, California, USA
April 2019
Member of the Blackbird Family
§A Merl of Blackbirds§
★North America's Most Colonial Landbird★ (see below to find out what that means)

~true bird fact~ To encourage their fledglings to leave the nest, parents will arrive with food, but then, instead of feeding the babies, immediately fly off again. This encourages the young to follow. Good parenting? Bad parenting? Sound off in the comments.

Sings badly, but enthusiastically
Can say something off the cuff that just sounds like a well known quote
Pays attention to keeping their white patch looking really white. If it were mine it would probably have a stain on it in seconds. How do they do it?



How Endangered Are They? Classified as 'Threatened' by the IUCN (that's the middle one). There's a lot of disagreement on how many of these nice birds there are now, but everyone seems to agree they're in quite a lot of danger. In my research, I saw numbers between 145,000 and 300,00, depending what year and who was estimating, and everyone seems to think numbers are still declining pretty precipitously. A significant loss, regardless, for a bird that used to number in the millions. Why so endangered? Well, like many birds that have been wiped out (think Passenger Pigeons), they are colonial breeders- meaning that their breeding colonies are relatively few, but in extremely high numbers. Descriptions exist of million-bird flocks. This kind of breeding helped protect colonies from predation. However, now that the marshy habitat they breed in is so regularly lost to development, there are few places that can support such great numbers of birds. The group I observed was probably less than a hundred. Many of the few places that would support them are farm land, which get harvested regularly, leading to massive causalities. Combine this with their small range (they are basically only in California's central valley), and you have a recipe for disaster. Still, many people are trying to save them. They're a 'priority bird' for the Audubon society, and they have their own webpage and conservation program over at UC Davis. Let's all cross our fingers that we can get it together for the Tricolored Blackbirds

For comparison purposes, this is a Red-winged Blackbird, a close relative. They flock together with Tricoloreds and sometimes these guys even have yellow epaulets to make you even more confused. You're looking for bright white. Also, their call is much different.

Western Grebe

Western Grebe aka. Dabchick aka. Swan Grebe aka. Swan-necked Grebe
Lake Merritt, Oakland, California, USA
December 2018
Member of the Grebe Family
★Largest North American Grebe★
§A Waterdance of Grebes§ (and you should really check out that waterdance. These are technically different Grebes (Clark's), but these guys do the same thing, and were once thought to be the same species actually)

Chain-smoker
The type who wants to reach the peak of his hobby or interest. Driven
Zine contributor


You know, there weren't that many fun facts about this guy, aside from that water dancing (which, again, you should really take a look at), so that means there's time for a Naturalist Profile!

Sir William Lawrence

(1783 - 1867)

A busy and complicated guy, William Lawrence was a surgeon and author. He helped found The Lancet, a really important medical journal, and wrote a bunch of medical textbooks. He might have even been coined the term Biology. He's more famous, however, for his pre-Darwinian takes on evolution and human development. His wikipedia page is long and dense, but the long and short of it is he was right about a lot of things that few people were right about at the time, wrong about a lot of things, and also was declared blasphemous by the English court at the time. It is said that the level of caution with which Darwin published his early work could be attributed to what happened to Lawrence. He bounced back from this ignominy eventually and was made a Baron by the queen shortly before his death.

What does any of this have to do with birds? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. There is no mention of this Grebe, or indeed of birds, birding, or even naturalism in his wikipedia page. It almost makes me wonder if I have the wrong 'Sir William Lawrence', but multiple sources describe him as the original describer of this bird, despite it being a bird of the American West, and him being a British Surgeon. A mistake? Who knows! If it were, this would certainly be the first time this blog has been wrong about anything, that's for sure.

Brown Thrasher

Brown Thrasher aka. Brown Thrush aka. Fox-coloured Thrush (erroneous, archaic)
Centennial Olympic Park, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
April 2018
Member of the Mockingbird and Thrasher Family 
§ A Shred of Thrashers§ *
★State Bird of Georgia★ (and a good one at that, IMO. Top 10 in the definitive State Bird Power Ranking is nothing to look down on)

{Etymology Corner}  Thrasher is a weird name for a bird, huh? Sounds closer to a 90's AOL Screen-name than a medium sized mockingbird. Speculation is that it's a derivation/evolution of Thrush, a type of bird that this is not, but this does at least offer an explanation of why some people call it a Brown Thrush.

~true bird fact~ Able to vocalize somewhere between 1000 and 3000+ songs, depending on who you're asking. Some sources say this puts him at the rank of the ★bird who knows the most songs★


Sensitive to bad smells
Has an unassuming quality that makes people underestimate her 
Sometimes solves mysteries

Semipalmated Plover

Semipalmated Plover (Chorlitejo Semipalmeado)
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico
November 2017
Member of the Lapwing and Plover Family
§A Deceit of Plovers§ (shocking)
★The Most Common Plover on Migration in Most Areas★ (ehhhh...)

{Etymology Corner} Semipalmated Plover just has one of those birds where you're sure they meant to translate the name into normal-person-speak at some point and just never got around to it (lookin at you, Pyrrhuloxia). Semipalmated, this Plover's mouthful of an adjective, means 'somewhat palm-like', and describes the bird's semi-webbed feet. Aaaaand now you know that!

~true bird fact~ Unlike most plovers, this guy can actually swim. But, like, you know, only a little bit. So don't get too excited about this bird fact.

Caries a big camera around everywhere on vacations, but never shows off his photos
When compared with other Plovers, somewhat plain. You could think of him as the default Plover
I'll just come right out and say it, not a faithful partner. Shame on you, Semipalmated Plover

Magnificent Frigatebird

Magnificent Frigatebird aka. Man O'War (archaic, totally metal) (Rabihorcado Magnífico [literal translation: Magnificent Forked-tail])
Cabo San Lucas, Baja California Sur, Mexico
November 2017
Member of the Frigatebird Family
§A Fleet of Frigatebirds§
★The Largest Frigatebird★

~true bird fact~ This bird has an interesting lifestyle- they are oceanic birds, but rarely, if ever, touch the water. They can't really swim at all, and don't float, so landing is a risky business. The fly day and night (only one other bird does this- the Common Swift) for over a hunderd miles at a time. They feed by catching fish at the surface of the water, or jumping flying fish, but are most well known as kleptoparasites, which means they pirate the meals of other seabirds, harassing them into dropping whatever they just caught. It's not pretty, but you gotta eat.

Never really pauses to consider her dire or difficult personal circumstances
Spends lonely hours on a CB radio
Has a sense that she's 'seen it all'

Summer Tanager

Summer Tanager
Big Bend National Park, Texas, USA
July 2017
Member of the Cardinal Family
§A Season of Tanagers§
★North America's Only Completely Red Bird★ ...I guess that's something?

~true bird fact~ So you might've noticed above that this bird is called a Tanager, but is grouped taxonomically with Cardinals. So what's the deal with that? Basically there was a switch in families back in 2009, when scientists realized that he and his immediate family members had more in common with Cardinals than their previous categorization. Oddly, this means that Hawaii has a few birds that are called Cardinals, but are actually Tanagers, and the mainland has a few birds that are called Tanagers, but are actually Cardinals. This indicates to me that no one has any idea what they're doing wrt Cardinals and Tanagers, and maybe just generally.

~a second true bird fact~ Really good at eating bees and wasps and other dangerous insects. Summer Tanager can catch these guys mid air and then strike them against a tree to kill them. Then, before they can eat them, they dexterously remove the stinger by rubbing it against a branch. They're so good at hunting wasps that they can kill all the adults in a hive, then tear it open to eat the larvae as well. Brutal.

Has a good grasp on esoteric bureaucratic procedures
A manager
Spring is his favorite season

Eared Grebe

Eared Grebe aka. Black-necked Grebe
Lake Merritt, Oakland, California, USA
April 2017
Member of the Grebe Family
Cirque du Soleil presents §A Water Dance of Grebes§
★World's Most Abundant Grebe★ (congratulations!)

~true bird fact~ Eared Grebe goes through a pretty astounding cycle of transformations every year. While 'staging' (the period of prep time before migration), his body doubles in weight and he becomes completely flightless to bulk up. Then, right before migration, his digestive organs all shrink and his flight muscles and heart increase in size dramatically, allowing him to make the mirgratory flight. This process takes so long that this grebe has both the ★Latest Fall Migration of any North American Bird★ and the ★Longest Period of Flightlessness★ for any flighted bird (9-10 months of the year). I guess this goes without saying, but he also seasonally gets those cool head frills. This bird is a more compelling transformer than anything in those terrible Michael Bay movies, and you didn't even have to pay 15 dollars to see him.

Very high level of energy, seems to never run out of things to do
Cares a lot about being addressed with "respect"
Loves bawdy jokes
Has a pretty deep knowledge of old time-y hair products that he uses to get that look

American Flamingo

American Flamingo aka. Caribbean Flamingo
Ardastra Gardens, Nassau, New Providence, The Bahamas
April 2017
Member of the Flamingo Family
§A Colony of Flamingos§
★The Most Widespread Flamingo★
★State Bird of Gujarat, India★

~true bird facts~ This is one weird bird, so there's a lot of cool facts about them. Problem is, you probably already know most of them. Here's some cool things you already know about flamingos:

We've all learned this one at some point- they've got that distinctive pink color because of the brine shrimp and algae that comprises much of their diet. Much like our friend the Roseate Spoonbill, their feathers would be grey without this supplement.

Thanks to their recent brush with virality you probably also know why they stand on one leg. It's because of the alignment of their hip and knee joints- they balance perfectly in the center of the bird when bent, meaning that standing this way actually uses almost no energy. It's also a way to regulate body temperature. Important for large animals that don't sweat.

You might've also seen their entertaining synchronized walking-dancing thing they do. It looks like this (these are not American Flamingos, but rather Chilean). It's a mating/pairing ritual, but no one is really sure how the birds decide exactly. It has to do with when they move in unison and when they stop.

One thing you might not know is that Flamingo tongues were considered to be a prized delicacy in ancient Rome. Why do we know so much stuff about Flamingos? I can only assume it's because they're big and cool looking.

Easily upset stomach
Likes to complain
Beauty-product based pyramid marketing scheme
High self esteem, has a high bar for others

Amateurherpetologist

Recently the staff of Amateurnithologist was walking in the desert, like you do, hoping for the unlikely Sage Grouse or Roadrunner siting, but really just going for a hike. We had reached the trail entrance, having completed the loop, and we heard a harsh and very threatening buzzing noise coming from right beside us. It's a noise I don't hear often, but it's unmistakable, both in its source and its message. It was a rattlesnake, and it was telling us to get out, which we did (but not before I snapped a picture). An experience that was a bit scary and a bit cool, but not much more, at the time.

A few days later an extremely large lizard walked right into my house through my open back door. This is something that has never happened before. We regarded each other for a moment, me on the couch, the lizard on the floor, and then he ran under my stove. I've been unable to escort him out of the house, I assume he's around here somewhere.

These experiences, though, got me thinking- why are reptiles so aggro towards me at the moment? And then the light bulb went off- of course! They've jealous that all my animal-related attention has thus far gone to birds. Well no more, reptile friends, you're on the blog now. So no need to, like, attack me any further. Let's kick things off right with a few cool reptos I've seen lately (I call them 'reptos' for short, that's how cool I am with them).

Green Iguana aka. American Iguana 
Esplanade Park, Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA
April 2017
Member of the Iguana Family
§A Mess of Iguanas§ (not so sure about this one)

~true repto fact~ Have been used as a common food source in Central or South America for over 7000 years. Nicknamed 'bamboo chicken' or 'chicken of the trees' for their reportedly chicken-like flavor. Actually endangered in some places due to over-hunting.

World-weary

Northern Curly-tailed Lizard
Fort Fincastle, New Providence, Nassau, The Bahamas
April 2017
Member of the Curly-tailed Lizard Family
The internet presents the venery term for a group of lizards as a 'lounge', but I absolutely refuse. There is §no real name for lizards§

~true repto fact~ Introduced on purpose to South Florida in the 1940's to eat sugarcane pests. They went kinda nuts from there and are now everywhere in South Florida. This explains why I never saw them as a kid, but now see them all over the place when I'm down there.

Appreciates good food

Brown Anole aka. Bahaman Anole aka. De la Sagra's Anole
Ardastra Gardens, New Providence, Nassau, The Bahamas
April 2017
Member of the Bush Anole Family
 
~true repto fact~ This is one of those lizards that can detach his own tail. When pursued by a predator, he can just drop a big chunk of it at will, and it will continue to move on its own, hopefully distracting the pursuer. The tail, partially, grows back.

 An old-school nerd with truly esoteric hobbies. None of that pop culture stuff


Western Diamondback Rattlesnake aka. Texas Diamond-back
Ballardini Ranch, Reno, Nevada, USA
May 2017
Member of the Viper Family
§A Pit of Snakes§
★Responsible for the most snakebites in the USA★ (bites are 10-20% lethal if untreated, so get that checked out, I guess)

~true repto fact~ There is such a thing as a Rattlesnake Rodeo, which is not at all the fun thing it sounds like. It's primarily people torturing and killing Rattlesnakes they've caught for entertainment. I mean, I know we're all afraid of snakes, but that sucks. Hey, don't do this.

Loves a good campfire

So, there you have it. Did you learn about reptiles? Do you love them now? Do they love me now? Will that lizard (who research indicates is something called an Alligator Lizard) leave my house? Only time can say. Next week we'll be back with some more bird-like blog subjects.

Go Falcons! An Unbiased Bird Analysis

Peregrine Falcon aka. Peregine aka. Duck Hawk (archaic)
Point Lobos State Natural Preserve, Carmel-By-The-Sea, California, USA
October 2016
Member of the Falcon Family
§An Eyrie of Falcons§
★Fastest Animal on Earth, Clocked in at 242mph in a Swoop Are You Freaking Kidding Me★
★The World's Most Widespread Raptor, Can Be Found in Every Non-Ice-Covered Land Mass Except New Zealand Holy Moly★
★Nation Bird of the United Arab Emirates★
★Official Bird of Chicago★
 
~true bird fact~ One of the species most impacted by the use of the pesticide DDT, in 1975 there were only about 300 pairs left alive in the USA. He was on the endangered species list from 1970 til 1999, and the population remains strong today. Recovery efforts were not just aided by the elimination of our use of these pesticides, but also by centuries of falcon-handling knowledge from falconers who had long trained these birds for hunting and sports. Dang what a cool bird.

I hear there's some kinda football game coming up in which some Falcons will take on the New England Patriots, so I thought I might include some football related stats to help you figure out which team to root for on Superbowl Sunday. For the purposes of this calculation I assume the mascot of the New England Patriots is a human man of a patriotic nature. You could make a case that it's a Bald Eagle, but don't be silly, birds aren't patriotic, despite whatever meanings are attached to them.

Weight of a football: 15oz
Weight of the heaviest likely prey of a falcon: 38oz
Verdict: A falcon can easily lift a football and carry it above the heads of the football men. An average NFL football player weighs around 260lbs. It would take 109 falcons to carry an NFL player comfortably, but I bet they could do it with less if they really tried. This would be a truly terrifying spectacle.

Speed of the fastest linebacker: 18.68mph
Speed of a falcon chasing prey: 69mph
Verdict: The falcon would never be caught by a patriot, and would easily pursue him if he tried to escape. In fact the fastest football pass was 59mph, meaning the falcon could even intercept the ball mid-air.


Weight of a Falcon: ~3lbs
Force of a Falcon Strike: 145 Newtons
Force of an NFL Tackle: 7117 Newtons
Verdict: Well, a patriotic football man definitely hits hard, but we've already established there are over 100 falcons here, so I think there should be no problem

Prediction: Falcons win the SuperbOwl!

Golden Eagle

Golden Eagle
Lake Berryessa, Napa, California, USA
September 2016
Member of the Kite, Eagle, and Hawk Family
§An Aerie of Eagles§
★The National Bird of Albania, Austria, Germany, Kazakhstan, and Mexico★ (that's him on the flag). This also makes him the ★Most Common National Bird★

~true bird fact- A truly, truly impressive bird to behold, they are the top aerial predator in almost all of their one million square kilometer range, which covers pretty much the whole northern hemisphere. They can go after prey as large as grey wolves or domestic farm animals.

Quick-witted and intimidating to verbally spar with
Bears a slight smile that betrays a high level of confidence
Doesn't get easily sucked in to conflict and pettiness
A major sports fan, this makes him much more relatable

Ring-billed Gull

Ring-billed Gull aka. "Fast Food Gull" (derogatory?)
Hirtle's Beach, Nova Scotia, Canada
August 2016
Member of the Gull/Tern Family
§A Scavenging of Gulls§
★Most common gull in North America (probably) ★

~true bird fact~ Many have wondered about some birds ability to migrate long distances and come back to the same exact spots year after year for nesting. It turns (or terns) out that they have something of a sixth sense for magnetism. Ring-billed Gull chicks as young as two days old could identify a magnetic bearing that pointed in the direction for their fall migration. This was probably one of the "cuter" science experiments.

Burning hatred for man and his evils
Aside from this few motivations or interests, almost nihilistic
Unlike many gulls, he doesn't even enjoy the junk food he pilfers, doing it only because he hopes it will upset or disgust us
Ongoing alliance with rats, ants, roaches