Watching the country react to the halftime show of Super Bowl 60 was a fascinating look at our own quest cultural significance. Have a read and subscribe. open.substack.com/pub/killinge...

I look for the exceptional over the glamour of the ordinary. I’m probably not alone in that. I will look for extraordinary plumage or character and ignore the Brewer’s black bird and its glowing eye and otherworldly, green, iridescent tibia even as it sits in the sun at a truck stop.

Sat down to enjoy breakfast, and Toby decided I needed some good vibrations first. I used to think he needed cuddles from me. Now I believe he thinks that I won’t survive if he doesn’t sit on my chest and purr for 15 minutes every day.

Happy SuperbOwl Sunday to all who celebrate them!

I think the Bald eagles like this sight as much as I do. They keep the Snows on their toes.

My office this morning. We’re banding mallards.

I learned a lot during my time in Minnesota a couple of weeks ago. Here’s a little peek at what happened. - youtu.be/Lr6up4Vvfck?...

When I was a child, my dad explained to me why European homes were made of stone and American homes were built of sticks, it made me realize that not looking ahead, like several generations ahead, is a gross and evil luxury. My latest Substack - open.substack.com/pub/killinge...

February is my training ground for the Olympics of birding - Warbler Season. No stick goes unphotographed as I chase Yellow-rumped warblers through thickets that have tamed lesser birders.

Found a little buddy in the wetlands today, and he has a red cap just like me. Resist much!

This is a post about 2026.

Toby likes to sit on the garbage can so he can smell test all of the ingredients while I’m cooking.

I love baking bread, because it is born of such simple things as invisible microbes and whatever particles make up love.

Chestnut-backed chickadees don’t know this, but they’re good omens for me. I don’t see them often, but when I do, good things happen. Im not just stitious, I’m superstitious.

When my oldest got his first elk last year, I made sure he saved the shanks for me. I don’t think it gets any better than Elk shank Osso Buco. youtu.be/oRNvDOATe2g?...

A January grocery run youtu.be/5MOzAldWLUs?...

Never let Cobra Chickens flank you.

I finally joined the cult of Substack. Longform writing is the only thing I really know, and well, this is where we are as a species now. open.substack.com/pub/killinge...

I have a bandaid on my thumb and cannot type on a phone keyboard right now. It’s so problematic for me I actually feel like I’m missing a limb. How did we get this way?

Came back from a long weekend trip to do a little ice fishing on Lake of the Woods in Minnesota, and found that all the hummingbird feeders were full and the crows were happy. Seems as if my wife now shares the same affection for them that prods me to do this every day.

This is 52! -13 degrees Lake of the Woods, Minnesota I’ve only seen one Raven since I’ve been here and a field full of what I think were Snow buntings.

You know you’re in Minneapolis when…

A much-needed stroll under our backyard waterfalls with my daughter today.

Did a triple take walking back from the protest yesterday and running into a Kingfisher hanging out in downtown Salem. I’m going to take this as a good omen.

There is an art form to keeping more than one idea in your head at the same time. I admire those who do it regularly.

Noodle? Don’t noodle?

On repeat

I might’ve had one too many mocktails last night, but I’ve never had a dry January come at me so hard before.

I want to post about how angry I am today about our complete failure as a citizenry, but I’m going to post a video of Toby doing his weird sit and watching birds, because these days it’s all I can aspire to.

Happy National Bird Day!

Sometimes it’s all you can do. Oil, not drugs, will be the death of us.

We have reached a compromise of sorts. Toby has agreed to lay across my lap rather than make biscuits in my neck so I can sit here and watch the world burn down on my stupid, little device.

Yes, I have a blog. I'm sentimental like that. I only seem to update it once a year, so it's really easy to keep up with. In fact, there's an audio player at the bottom so you can listen to this instead of doing the hard work of reading it. www.killingernest.com/blog/2025-in...

Oregon Coast Sunset Late 2025

My daughter and I went for a walk on the beach this morning and saw some gulls and too many people. Nothing wrong with gulls, of course. When I saw this Black oystercatcher, I smiled and said, good bird of the day. My daughter doesn’t get it quite yet. But she saw how happy I was when we spotted it.

My middle kiddo is getting married. It feels like they’re so young still, but they’re already five years older than we were when we got married. Super stoked for these kids and their new journey together.

Chonk NoSho coming in hot.

Happy Solstice! The final episode of Tea in Beautiful Places has my colleague Beth Quillian and I foraging for wild tea in the Columbia River Gorge with Norther Emily of Wild Solitude Guiding. Check it out! youtu.be/G1pAbXz4Sm0?...

Check out those egret toes!

I know that look she’s giving him well.

My kind of Saturday night

The first scene in “The Sound of Music” is visceral memory for me. It’s the only thing that still takes me back to my childhood in the Rax Mountains of Austria, and it does so in a way that even the photos of my last visit in 2008 can’t do.

You know these clowns?

I’m always wondering what to do with my photos of birds with nesting materials. Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is perfect - #NestBuilders. A Red-footed Booby successful stole a branch from a Brown booby (below) at Kilauea Point National Wildlife Refuge. The Brown booby retained a twig.

Come explore Oregon’s famous Painted Hills with me in the newest episode of Tea in Beautuful Places. - youtu.be/qUyiXyCouSk?...

The charm convened again today.

My Spotify wrapped listening age is 29, my vinyl collection listening age is 60. My wife pointed out that this is probably because of road trips where I play their playlists and die a little inside each mile.

Toby approves of the tree. In fact, it’s his new bestie.

New episode of Tea in Beautiful Places! Magone Lake, in Oregon’s Blue Mountains, is so quiet I could hear the tea brewing. youtu.be/mDZxFrOJtMI?...

Anyone else always leaving your lens cap in someone’s boat or car on the other side of the state? Just me?