Finally got up into the mountains near the Tajikistan border and saw a few more birds. It’s still mainly Myna birds, turtle doves and tree sparrows. 📸 Possibly a Spotted flycatcher 📸 I’m calling this a common raven based on the wedge tail 📸 Blue whistling thrush - they really are black in shade

The birding hasn’t been spectacular, but the food and hospitality have been amazing. This is an old friend of my dad’s who he hasn’t seen in 30 years. He had us all to lunch in his family yurt.

Here are a couple for @crawlieswithcri.bsky.social. I’ve been trying to pay attention to some of the bug life, but we’re traveling at a pace that isn’t conducive to the small things in this world. These two pollinators were working hard on the shores of Lake Issyk-Kul in Kyrgyzstan.

We traveled up to Lake Issyk-Kul, Kyrgyzstan today, but there wasn’t much flying. I did manage to find a White wagtail, which is a fairly common bird over here but definitely new for me.

I’m at the airport in Almaty, Kazakhstan for three hours staring up into the mountains wishing so hard I could be out there birding. Giant woodcocks and every other conceivable oddity and treasure is flying around those foothills waiting to cross over.

I haven’t had much time to go birding while here in China, but I’m able to connect just enough to send you this Eurasian magpie that I was able to photograph at a cemetery in Urumqi the other day. First Lifer in Asia for me.

I’m headed off to China and Central Asia tomorrow to care for my dad during an epic journey back to his birth village and beyond. For security reasons, I’ll be posting mainly to @tea_and_silk_roads on Instagram during the trip. Feel free to follow along there if you like.

Happy Caturday from the Tobster! A rare moment of letting his guard down.

One of the things I’m looking forward to going to the Chinese village where my dad was born is because my grandmother lived there 16 years before he was born, and many of the foods that became part of our family’s culture come from that time period.

For my birding homies, and especially you listers, if you haven't seen this doc yet, yer missing out. Absolutely brilliant filmmaking. - youtu.be/zl-wAqplQAo?...

And one of my favorite topics, chasing summer. I’ll miss not being on one of my favorite Oregon rivers this fall, but I’m chasing summer in the deserts of Central Asia this September. traveloregon.com/things-to-do...

I throughly enjoyed writing a couple of travel pieces published on Travel Oregon today. First up, Tea in Beautiful Placed in print! traveloregon.com/things-to-do...

When Toby finds a good sunspot, he likes to bake all sides evenly.

Had a fantastic conversation in Newport today.

I’ve worked around a lot of wildlife biologists who are skilled at handling animals during research projects. But Beth Ward, of Northwest Bat Hub, is pure cinema to watch.

While out working on a bat research project last night, we had a fun encounter with a White-headed woodpecker in Central Oregon. You know you’re around good people when a bunch of bat scientists and wildlife biologists go ga ga over a bird when they’re about to see bats up close.

There are better, more personal ways to chase an afterlife than trying to broker a peace deal after the fact, (250,000 people already dead) but Trump is so narcissistic he’ll drag the whole world through hell to try to get himself to heaven.

I stopped by my favorite lunchtime birding spot today, and it was gone.

I’m lucky to have the same best friend I’ve had since 6th grade. The same guy who wrote about me for an essay that year: “Tim loves bikes, birds.” Not much has changed. We did a road trip together earlier this summer to have tea in some amazing parts of Oregon. youtu.be/iTAcGE_5UKI?...

Happy #WorldLizardDay! I don’t see enough lizards in this life. May that be my only regret.

Cold-brewed Kyushu Sencha tea is what gets me through the day. It has some kind or polyphenol that keeps me from losing brain cells when I’m in the comment section on social media. Drinking it out of a wine glass is just me being fancy.

When life gives you cherry tomatoes, and in August, it gives you a lot, make Cherry tomato tart.

I was today-years-old when I learned that Kestrels were called Windf*ckers in Medieval times, and therefore that will be the name I whisper henceforth whenever I see one of these majestic, mini, murder birds.

Happy #Caturday to all who celebrate these little gremlins. Despite making him comfortable and secure on my chest for our morning snuggle, Toby insists on digging has claws into my chest for a little added security.

Shit’s getting real! Got my 10-year Chinese visa, my Uzbekistan visa and my “Birds of Central Asia” all in the same week. #BirdingTheSilkRoad

Anyone else tired of executive orders?

“The age of men is over.” - Gothmog

Went looking for a Cape May warbler, because I’m generally an optimistic guy, but I found an Indigo bunting and some seabirds instead. It still cracks me up that something that is a rare jewel for me is a common birds for much of the rest of the country.

The world is yours Oystercatcher 📍Cape May, New Jersey - July 23, 2025

Hey, @whysharksmatter.bsky.social, about two hours after you finished your last presentation at the ACI conference in Atlantic City, I washed an angler catch this shark, which she carefully released shortly after. The first live shark I’ve seen in several years. Thanks for what you do!

Coming up on 24-hours of being awake while trying to get home to Oregon. These Midwestern thunderstorms are haunting my waking dreams while I visit imaginary beans.

I have long-wanted to see Eastcoast Oystercatchers. I was so delighted by them.

Went to Cape May on a free afternoon during this conference in Atlantic City and found a cool lifer. Indigo buntings are pretty little singers.

Politicians don’t spend enough time in rural America. I’ve ridden along with ranchers, biologists, townies, off-gridders, small-town doctors, bar tenders, grocery store clerks and Sheriff’s deputies, and the one thing they all had in common was an NPR pre-set on their radio.

I was rather shaken to find out I hadn’t taken my daughter to see the puffins on the haystack rock at Cannon Beach in all the years we’ve lived here. Her favorite bird!?!?! Sadly, we couldn’t see them on the rock, but we did see about 14 in flight, including this one with fishy snacks for pufflets.

Norman Maclean once wrote: “The world is full of bastards, the number increasing rapidly the further one gets from Missoula, Montana.” That’s one of the reasons I had to get back there to make a Tea in Beautiful Places at the top of Mt. Sentinel with my Missoula friends. youtu.be/jpEjsfHkRJk?...

Mid-July, also known as the time to burn the Christmas tree. I had three years worth of Xmas trees to chop up and a handy, little Gränsfors Bruk hand axe to make short work of it.

Mountain king snake, porcupine and baby skunks were my heroes today. Rescued animals that get a second chance as animal ambassadors are amazing.

I mean, this cat literally thinks he’s the darkness. One firecracker later and he’s under our bed upstairs for a week.

If you know me, you know I’m a bit obsessed with tea. How strangely fortuitous that some of the best tea made in North America is actually grown a few miles from my house!

When I say I’m a hot mess, this is what I mean.

Never look directly into the eyes of a Bushtit, especially when it’s about to devour its prey. Their eyes are a wormhole, a portal to another dimension.

From a few weeks and a thousand mile ago. The light on the hills behind Willow Creek Hot Springs are lit up by a moon rising behind me. I’m in the shadow of a hill in front of the spring. This is one of my favorite places in Oregon.

I love her for many reasons. Her summer gardens bring me more joy than she will ever know.

Probably the best fishery I've ever participated in. Launching off the beach, watching the Puffins at Haystack rock and hauling up seamonsters from the rocky intertidal is so much fun. visittheoregoncoast.com/travel-guide...

I'm traveling back to my father's birth village near Ürümqi in NW China in September. He's been re-tracing some of our family's journey from Ukraine to China through Central Asia and wants to do some of the Silk Road portion. How do other birders prepare for crazy, once-in-a-lifetime trips?

I need more Nighthawks in my life. In the same way I need more lightning bugs in my life. My infrequent sojourns in the desert or the Midwest are not enough to sustain me.

A Yellow-headed blackbird contemplating whether there is truth in the statement: You are the company you keep.

Ibis drama

Finally managed to find a Cassin’s finch all the way out the south side of Steens Mountain Loop road at the Riddle Ranch. What a spectacular area!