Big Time In The Jungle

Thick-billed Murre. Handsome.

I think I will post really big, vertical pictures today. Why not? All of them are from Buldir Island.

I somehow ended up winning a Nikon D90 SLR on Ebay yesterday, even though I only put down one bid. So that's pretty rad, considering I'm using a decrepit old D70 now...the D90 should, I think, make a noticeable difference in my photographic efforts, considering it has twice as many megapixels and a higher rate of fire (more frames per second), not to mention video.....so you, BB&B addict, have that to look forward to. 

Thick-billed Murres, Black and Red-legged Kittiwakes, not mingling.

It's all part of the master plan. BB&B will be taking the world by storm, and I will somehow be highly paid to do so. These are not mere delusions of grandeur people. This is as real as it gets. Already a steady and mysterious flow of cash is flooding my bank accounts....pretty soon it will be up to me, with my vast resources and cunning wit, to save the imperiled Spoonbill Sandpiper. After that, I will have to bring the Ivory-billed Woodpecker back. Hopefully that won't entail any Jurassic Park-style cloning, but its all within our grasp here at BB&B.

Red-legged Kittiwake with field-readable band.

But while I sit and wait for my financial reservoirs to fill and my power to accumulate, it is up to me and me alone to continue to make birdwatchers understandable to everyone, including themselves. Think of it as me holding up a really detailed picture for all you nonbirders, and for you birders I will be holding up a mirror. As far as I know, no one in the states has anything like the Human Birdwatcher Project that BB&B sponsors, and many of the masses are still floundering in their ignorance of these people. I think the situation is a little better in Britain, where people have a better sense of humor and twitchers are better understood....but I feel alone in the wilderness here. If birders themselves don't even discuss birding and half the luminaries in this field possess the social and communication skills of a dead skunk, then the situation can look very bleak indeed. But don't worry friends, the great ornithologist Felonious Jive and I will do our best to shed some light on these bizarre and awkward issues, and are determined to lead you to The Promised Land. Stay warm, and have a positive Tuesday.

Much like the Flightless Cormorant of the Galapagos, Flightless Puffins have tiny wings. It is thought that they have lost the ability to fly in order to become cuter than penguins. Anyways...yeah this is a Horned Puffin.