It’s easy to forget about me, a piece of bark come to life, perhaps a glimpse of white tuft tucked under. From Sierra Nelson's "From the Brown Creeper: Upward Spiral to the Canopy of Things" natureofourtimes.poetsforscience.org/from-the-bro... 📷 Nikon Z8+Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3600, f6.3, 1/400s) 🪶

An American robin taking a break from foraging to eye an avid birder 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1400, f8, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A savannah sparrow hanging out along Wildlife Drive at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3600, f7.1, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Dive into the week like this Northern mockingbird 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1250, f9, 1/4000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

An extremely out-of-range eared grebe that has been hanging around Hains Point the past several days. This species is rare in the East but abundant in the West. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3200, f7.1, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Troglodytes hiemalis, better known at the winter wren, is a chatty, albeit well camouflaged, visitor to the Mid-Atlantic from late fall through early spring. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 5000, f6.3, 1/500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A red-shouldered hawk perched atop a neighbor's house at sunrise. A murder of crows chased the hawk off after a short while. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1000, f9, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

The Eastern towhee is one of our larger and chattier sparrows in the Mid-Atlantic. This species is often hard to spot in the undergrowth, but this one briefly emerged for an obligatory glamor shot. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3600, f8, 1/500s) #birds #birdphotography

If you want to find small songbirds, listen for the Carolina chickadees' chatter. This was one of several exuberant individuals bopping and borbing around with a mixed flock of nuthatches, kinglets, and others. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 560, f6.3, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Little boaster, vagrant king, Neither north nor south is yours, You've no kingdom that endures! Wandering every fall and spring, With your ruby crown so slender, Are you only a Pretender, Landless king? From "The Ruby-Crowned Kinglet" by Henry van Dyke Jr. 🪶

One of several brown-headed nuthatches that took turns placing their seeds in the choicest knot and pounding it with their respective beaks. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1100, f8, 1/1250s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Saturday's bonus photo: A short-eared owl just before dawn at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge. This is my first lifer of 2026 and photo-lifer #222. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 8000, f6.3, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

One of the largest sparrows in the Mid-Atlantic, fox sparrows stand out both in terms of size and color in the winter months. This is one of several individuals hanging out at the Patuxent Research Refuge on a cold, overcast January day. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3200, f8, 1/500s) 🪶

A hairy woodpecker exploring the trees lakeside at Wheaton Regional Park 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1100, f8, 1/1000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Start your year right with a song sparrow 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1000, f6.3, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A hermit thrush taking in the last gasps of 2025 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2800, f6.3, 1/400s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Good morning! 🪶

The backyard Carolina wren were none too pleased I spent last weekend with some of their Bewick's brethren. Had to give the local boys some time in the limelight. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 5600, f8, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

The loudest woodpecker in the woods trying to blend in 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1800, f6.3, 1/500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

The only bird whose clever, bark-like patterning fools my camera's autofocus: the brown creeper 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1400, f8, 1/2000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

This festive and frenetic ruby-crowned kinglet hopes you're having a great winter holiday. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 400, f7.1, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A sharp-shinned hawk that swooped in and stole the limelight from the sparrows, juncos, and woodpeckers 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2000 f8, 1/2500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

This golden-crowned kinglet was more than happy to add a pop of color to the drab wintry foliage 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 5600, f6.3, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

An Eastern bluebird soaking up the golden hour light 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2000, f7.1, 1/1600s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A bonus photo for your Sunday: A leucistic chipping sparrow inspecting the tracks at Wheaton Regional Park. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2200, f8, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

This winter wren is here to wish you a happy winter solstice. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3200, f8, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

As we get close to the end of the year I thought I'd repost some of my favorites. These aren't in any particular order, but how could I not start with my absolute favorite of the Kingbird riding on the osprey while carrying a fish? #photography #birds

A yellow-bellied sapsucker that paused to snack on several hackberries just before sunset at Wheaton Regional Park 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2000, f7.1, 1/1600s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A house finch puffed up and posing in the snow 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1600, f10, 1/320s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A dark-eyed junco kicking up snow on a chilly #Maryland day. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

🦆 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2500, f8, 1/500s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

An extremely chill and photogenic American coot content to pose while paddling around the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2000, f8, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A red-shouldered hawk doing some aura farming at sunrise 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2500, f8, 1/2000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A damp Northern harrier shortly after swooping down on a mallard just after dusk at the Fairmount Wildlife Management Area in Southeast Maryland. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 16000, f6.3, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

One of the most beautiful backyard bullies 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 220, f8, 1/800s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

The squeakiest boys in the pines: the brown-headed nuthatch. This fellow was one of about two dozen bringing down the house in the trees at Janes Island State Park this past weekend. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3600, f8, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

One of two extremely well camouflaged sedge wren haunting the dry reeds and grasses at Rumbly Point this past weekend. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 3200, f6.3, 1/400s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

An American bittern skulking around a muddy ditch just after sunrise on an overcast, gray day at Rumbly Point in Somerset County, #Maryland 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

One of several boat-tailed grackles poking around the shallows just before sunset at Rumbly Point. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 4500, f6.3, 1/320s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

Borb 🪶

An American robin taking advantage of recent rain and a shallow hole to bathe. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 4500, f6.3, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A red-shouldered hawk tucking in a talon on a frigid, gray, windy day 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2800, f7.1, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A lady red-winged blackbird showing off her brilliantly patterned back, wings, and tail feathers while posing for an over-the-shoulder glamor shot. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 2000, f7.1, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A golden-crowned kinglet posing with some late-season greenery 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 800, f7.1, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A swamp sparrow basking in the morning light 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1400, f8, 1/4000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A ring-billed gull in flight near North Point State Park 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 720, f8, 1/2000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

If you only have a bird at the center of your life for one day a year, you're doing it wrong. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1400, f8, 1/1000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

One of our winter regulars in the Mid-Atlantic: the dark-eyed junco. Its clicky calls are a herald of cold weather. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 1000, f8, 1/640s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A backyard cedar waxwing. A small group posed in the pre-dawn light right outside my upstairs window. This individual was showing off its arrowhead-shape tongue. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 5600, f6.3, 1/400s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography

A song sparrow taking in its surroundings on a crisp November morning at North Point State Park. The fields at the park abounded with juncos and several sparrow species — and are worth a visit. 📷 #Nikon #Z8 + Nikkor 180-600mm (ISO 800, f8, 1/2000s) 🪶 #birds #birdphotography