Just One More Nasty Glance

Much like people, Crested Auklets get a kick out of rubbing the crap out of each other. Obviously, the good-looking ones get the most action.

As I mentioned before, I have a massive backlog of Alaska photos to show ya'll still. I'm pretty sure people are into that. Not many people get to go out to the Aleutian Islands, and those that do know how bloody hard it can be to photograph anything out there, so hopefully this makes everyone happy. All of today's bird photos are from Buldir Island.

In meta news, I made a page dedicated to myself. Yup, I've got that much time on my hands. It's in the bar above the posts. Check out "The Life And Times of SeagullSteve" to learn more about your favorite nerd, and how I single-handedly defeated the Nazis in WWII.

A Parakeet Auklet peers out of its crevice. This is one of the few decent shots I managed. I'll get you next time auklet, next time...

This is the legendary Coast Guard LORAN station on Attu Island, which was decommisioned earlier this year. Pictured are the majority of the residents of Buldir Island in 2010, who are nerds.

Horned Puffins doing their thing.

Christmas. It's a busy time of year. So much to do. So much....consuming! It makes me gag a little. But it's nice at the same time (the season, not the consuming). I've never really had a bad Christmas, so I can't complain too much. Ever since I was.....3, I think.....my mom and dad have been the only family I've ever spent it with. Our family tradition is putting everyone's presents under the coffee table. Talk about festive. Then we lurk around the house for a few hours, have dinner, then I take off for a friend's house. My mother watches Korean television until about 1 in the morning and my dad drinks a bunch of vodka and passes out on the couch. I guarantee you this is what will happen this year.

Well that was kind of a weird aside, wasn't it? I'm looking forward to taking off to Mexico next month for some heavy birding. I still only have vague ideas of what I will see, but I'm dangerously optimistic. Things may get Weird, but those are the conditions I thrive in. Oh yeah I'll be at the Salton Sea next week as well. I have finally answered the Clarion Call of the Bean Goose.

Speaking of holidays, many of us are driven to the bottle this time of year. Preferably, this is to celebrate being reunited with old friends and family....but for all to many it is simply to cope with said family. Worse, you are spending Christmas with nobody at all, and are entering a state of catatonic depression. If any of these scenarios are applicable to you, you might be interested in this quick read on sustainable drinking. Thanks to Jherime for the link. Happy boozing!

This would make a great quiz photo, but I probably don't have enough readers to really make it interesting. Just keeping it real, you know. That's a Glaucous-winged Gull chasing off a Slaty-backed Gull...different bird than the one I've posted pictures of earlier.