lol wildlife.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirec...

Go Deacs!

It is hard to imagine a world without the USGS Ecosystems Mission, the bird banding lab, the Coop Unit program, etc. but apparently that is what America voted for and what this administration plans to do: wildlife.org/usgs-cuts-wo...

Early draft of the White House 2026 budget proposal suggests entirely eliminating the Ecosystems Mission Area of the U.S. Geological Survey: www.science.org/content/arti...

Spotify suggested this beautiful music for me and now I am suggesting it for you. open.spotify.com/track/1NkJbV...

Helping Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission use decision analysis to revise, refine and optimize their freshwater fisheries long-term monitoring program today.

I actually had an excellent week at the @thejonesctr.bsky.social running an indigo snake reintroduction SDM workshop with stakeholders from USFWS, Alabama DCNR, Florida FWC, TNC, the Central Florida zoo, and more. The effort is now refocused on what they want to achieve rather than what they can do.

This is a tragedy.

25 years ago today was the first time I stopped to consider the voice of Geddy Lee and how it got so high. open.spotify.com/album/1Q6ikD...

Lottie, Steve Malkmus’ daughter, puts out her first single. It’s really good and I feel really old: open.spotify.com/track/42Bo6O...

It’s been a stressful two weeks. Needed a mental break today so my daughter and I went for a 5.2 mile hike at O’leno Sate Park. We saw some birds, trees, turtles, palmetto and caught some froglets.

I think the worst part is being vilified as untrustworthy and unethical when all I’ve done is do my job, and do it really well, frankly, for the last 15 years.

Please spread the word! UF is hiring a tenure track quantitative ecologist in the Wildlife Ecology and Conservation Department: explore.jobs.ufl.edu/en-us/job/53...

That feeling when someone publishes a study in Nature that effectively replicates a study you did and published in Mammal Research 9 years ago. www.nature.com/articles/s41....

Another installment of my annual trek to look for Snowy Owls at Jones Beach state park and failing but still having a wonderful time and seeing lots of other beautiful birds. #birding

Saw an Ash-throated flycatcher today for my 447th species of the year!

Does anyone need any citrus?

Christmas bird counting in Alachua county this morning.

I’m representing the Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation at University of Florida’s graduation ceremony tonight!

Harvested our sugar cane and prepped it for pressing. The local state park has a historic farmstead and they let us use the press. Once pressed and boiled down we should get about 4 liters of syrup.

I went birding with my daughter at Paynes Prairie this morning. We traipsed through the mud and found 54 species. She’s been my best birding buddy for 7 years and it is just dawning on me how much I’m going to miss this when she goes off to college in 2 years.

These days it is hard to remember to be thankful, but then my wife makes this pie and it gets a little easier.

Pre sunrise birding in Nebraska today before an all day decision analysis workshop at the Lied Lodge.

I am looking to build my new lab at the University of Cambridge in the Conservation Research Institute at the Cambridge Conservation Initiative. If you are a highly motivated student interested in landscape conservation and want to pursue a PhD, please take a look at: zoo.cam.ac.uk/2025-26-proj...

We had a new paper come out in Biological Conservation last month describing the modeling work we did to support the Alligator Snapping Turtle ESA listing decision. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Me in mid September: Sure I can review a bunch of NOAA Restore proposals by November 13th, that’s like 2 months from now, I’ll have plenty of time. Me on November 12th: oh shit….

Things are bad. But birds are good. So here are some birds. (Reminder: ALT text is also good! And it's good to implement it whenever posting an image here. And you can force yourself to do it. In your settings, under accessibility, you can have your images require ALT text before posting.)

Yet another detailed breakdown of what trash washes up on beaches that does not include plastic straws as one of the most commonly found pieces of trash. Weird, some very confident people on the internet assure me that straws are the biggest and/or only threat to marine life.

Saw/heard 66 species of birds at Sweet Water Wetlands this morning. None were new for the year so I’m still at 435 species since January 1st. Still completely worth the effort!

My eldest kid had this on his wishlist for his birthday so I absolutely had to get it for him:

Pups still want to play.

Moar canvassing! #YESON4

I spent three hours yesterday knocking g on doors to get out the vote in support of reproductive freedom and abortion rights in Florida. It was great and I’m going again on Tuesday.

My second “job” out of college was working for the Maui Forest Bird Recovery Project. I was there in 2001 during the end stage of the Po’ouli species. I’m still sad about its loss. www.instagram.com/p/C7TERAhOdS...

Does anybody remember covfefe? Seems like a lot of people need a reminder of covfefe.

Holy shit. How is it 2024?

The semester starts a week from tomorrow, I’d better pump the breaks on birding and start to prep my class.

#binoblast lifer harlequin duck from Jones Beach State Park this morning:

On a quest for purple sandpipers. Heading to the jetty, soaking up the sights. Who knew Long Island was beautiful?

This month marks the 50 anniversary of the endangered species act in the U.S. I am absolutely honored to have contributed a chapter to this book marking the occasion!

I’m at 381 bird species for the year. All I want for christmas is 19 more. Heading out the door with my binoculars now.

Teddy and George say: Do you even know what work life balance is? Put you laptop away and let me!

Moon halo Sunday night:

I saw my three favorites birds this weekend, including hundreds of American Oystercatchers in Cedar Key, four red knots and this littleguy at little Talbot Island State Par.

Went looking for birds this morning. I found 57 species and this herd of feral horses.

I’ll be presenting on the species status assessment framework at TWS on Thursday in a symposium marking the 50 anniversary of the endangered species act. I am so honored to be invited and looking forward to the session.

Are you heading the TWS in Louisville next week? Don’t forget to bring your “Out in the Field” pin from last years meeting, to show your pride and/or your support.

Backyard wildlife is pretty wild here in Alachua county:

New job opening at CU Boulder: Asst. Professor of Environmental Data Science. A great opportunity at a great place jobs.colorado.edu/jobs/JobDeta...