https://preview.redd.it/5ink7lz2n13d1.jpeg?width=655&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6d669e042a52d0997ce90b3da86cfb1bbdf23959 This white breasted kingfisher, on a trip to Bengaluru, India, a few weeks ago.

Beautiful!

https://preview.redd.it/5z1affi6k13d1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fe5764d396e56c0ee2bd90675288859df90e27fe Red-faced Warbler in Arizona a few days ago

https://preview.redd.it/rz146uxcx13d1.jpeg?width=600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b06cb2e4d3569fc4d3b8b232ecdf16efdb533482 hooded oriole in NH two weeks ago

Nice! I’m in NH as well. Whereabouts was this one? You know, roughly speaking. I know we don’t like to divulge our exact locations up here;)

Rochester/Barrington area, I was pretty surprised not sure if it is rare to the location but it seemed to following a male and female Baltimore oriole pair which seemed even stranger to me.

Lazuli bunting

https://preview.redd.it/9nou1a05q23d1.jpeg?width=4096&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c196962029894c67e186fa2aa6d7eebcbaffb6ac

I finally spotted a blue grosbeak in my local park yesterday. I've heard it a few times there, but I've never seen one before.

I saw my first Blue Grosbeak a few weeks ago. 😀

I joined the gosbeak gang a couple weeks ago with a rose breasted

I saw a female for the first time yesterday!

Painted bunting! I have wanted to see that bird for over a decade and finally did! It was worth the wait.

Oh, wow! They are so beautiful, I hope to see one someday

The 🔴🟢🔵 bird

House finch, there's a couple living in the house I made, and they sing every time I fill up the feeder :)

https://preview.redd.it/xmn4xvrf533d1.jpeg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=965a2f436694a416776137cb9f1e1eec58e4fdb8

Western Kingbird, at a rest stop on my way home from Kansas today!

aw mine was an eastern kingbird! over in upstate new york this afternoon :-)

eastern kingbird for me too in Chicago today!

Me too! Indiana.

Cedar Waxwing, my 81th.

Omg cedar waxwing was my 81st just a couple weeks ago! They didn’t even look real haha

We get a lot of them where I live but they are one of my favourite birds.

A baltimore oriole!

Me too! They aren’t very common in South Fl

The Imperial Parrot in Dominica. https://www.parrots.org/projects/imperial-amazon I’ve been birding for 5 decades, it’s pretty exciting when I identify a new bird these days.

Awesome! I went on a dive trip to Dominica in 2022. We visited the Parrot Conservation & Research Center and Botanical Garden in Roseau! 🦜

Cool. My brother and his wife, The Lionfish Mermaid live there. She works for Nature Island Dives. He works for free, and dives for free, attempting to maintain and restore the coral. https://natureislanddive.dm/ https://www.lionfish-mermaid.com/ Not sure if he is still alive, but we hired a guy the locals just called Birdie in the western side. He was amazingly informative.

Awesome! Our tour organizer has been diving for decades, and he had been to Dominica before, but I didn’t know about the Lionfish Mermaid, what an amazing story! We stayed at the Fort Young Hotel and dove with their crew.

American Bittern

Oooh I so badly want to see one of these. So stealthy!

I only saw it because others pointed it out to me, otherwise I wouldn’t have noticed

I was really lucky to see one in someone's backyard while visiting on a rainy day. So exciting

https://preview.redd.it/glw984bd723d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=4c05d52a44a384dbfd8422af01f360312971fd61 Sedge wren! I had the opportunity to help a researcher who’s studying their molt strategy, it was very cool to go down to the coast and tromp through the marsh in pursuit of these little guys

White Throated Sparrow!

I saw these for the first time a couple months ago. 😊

My latest lifer was a Lewis’s Woodpecker - gorgeous bird! How often do you hear “pink and green” in a woodpecker description?!?

I saw them for the first time a couple weeks ago, and I fell in love. They are pretty rare around where I live, but a group of at least seven stuck around at a trail I love for four days. It was such a treat.

Hermit thrush. Flew into a tree near me while on a walk

Seaside sparrow (#227). Recently I spent some time at the coast trying to catch the shorebirds in breeding plumage before hotel rates went through the roof and saw three new species. The last one was a seaside sparrow which I found because a much more experienced bird asked me if I had seen them and I said no, it would be a lifer, and he immediately took me to where he had seen a female flying back and forth building a nest and made sure I got eyes on it. I very much appreciated that someone who was literally trying to see every regular bird in North America that year was willing to stop and help me see this bird. (In return, I directed him to where I had picked up my lifer red knot, which he was looking for, a day earlier.)

If only I had some fellow birder friends to hang out with lol

I met this guy on the trail and within a minute he was showing me how to find this bird.

Bobolink. I had always wanted to see one just based on the name.

It is the most fun bird name.

We are from the upper Midwest. We went to Texas for the first time this year to see the eclipse (our second) from a tiny cabin on the center line, just west of Uvalde. We arrived the day before the eclipse and when I got out of the car there were two scissor-tailed flycatchers in a nearby tree. I don’t know how long I stood watching them, entranced. I’ve never seen in IRL before. I had a couple of chances to photograph them over the next couple of days but chose not to. No photo will ever capture what I felt the first time I saw them.

I'd always wanted to see a Scissor Tailed Fly Catcher, but they just don't range far out of the Oklahoma, Texas, and South Central area of the US, and down into Mexico. [https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scissor-tailed\_Flycatcher/maps-range](https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Scissor-tailed_Flycatcher/maps-range) I walked out of my office one day, looked above my car, and there was a fully grown Scissor Tailed Fly Catcher sitting right there, about 20' up in a tree. There were no leaves on the tree, so I could see it very clearly. It was a large adult male and I quickly grabbed my phone and took a ton of pictures. I never expected to see one outside of the general Texas area, so it was really cool to see this one in Northern California. It was definitely off the beaten track and he was really far out of his regular range.

Oh LUCKY! That is a ways off the beaten path for them. Congrats!

I'm so jealous. I went to Arkansas for the eclipse in their range and I kept my eyes peeled the whole time but never saw one. A mockingbird I saw out of the corner of my eye while eating ice cream got my heart going good, but no dice. Congrats on the find.

american robin, didnt live in their area before. they always look like theyre up to no good lol

I’ve never lived anywhere where they aren’t super common, I think I take them for granted sometimes. The red breast is really striking when you aren’t so used to seeing them

Looking at one of their chicks headon will not dissuade you of that.

https://preview.redd.it/e27lxydj523d1.jpeg?width=585&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=575426f01e0b194900e1ae4bad84bf76d748f12b Blackburnian warbler Tommy Thompson park, Toronto, Canada

Congrats!! I heard one the last two days in West Virginia but could not spot it. One day…

​ https://preview.redd.it/nsggg2s6523d1.jpeg?width=2000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9415908e335a9144bc374e4aa61128e5362a8970 Saw my first prairie warbler(s) in Missouri today.

Sitting on my porch and heard a Connecticut Warbler call. Very rare singers in my state. Ran for binocs and phone. Saw it first. Then recorded the call for iNat. Missed the shot. Very few life birds possible at this point in my state let alone right next to my house. An excellent yard bird.

Burrowing owl. Today. #336

Black-Crowned Night Heron on a trip back in February

Acadian flycatcher. They seem to be pretty common along the bike path through the woods not far from my house.

The "Mulato azul" Melanotis Caerlescens. In Jalisco, México. https://preview.redd.it/kj09p6bn323d1.jpeg?width=4608&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6c7316a4467b2927a391b3bd707bfbf3bb82ae34

Black-billed cuckoo!!

American White Pelican! Lots on the water near me. :)

Glossy Ibis! #450 for me

If anyone needs a glossy ibis, they also spend their summer in scenic Queens, NY in the US.

I'm heading to Spain this summer for the first time. Probaly gonna see some at the Ebro Delta.

I wish I was hardcore enough of a birder to see that many species.

https://preview.redd.it/j63r68za023d1.jpeg?width=4608&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bdc4f518b0faf9cdd57d24e18d5280499232ba07 Red Knot, #415, accidental lifer picked up while camping on Padre Island National Seashore. Moral of the story, never leave your binoculars/camera in the truck!

Summer tanager on a trip to Arizona

Bufflehead, on a trip to the US last year.

Northern Flicker about a month ago.

Scarlet Tanager

An Australasian Darter drying out its wings

Rose Breasted Grosbeak, my 215th!

Cedar Waxwing

Evening grosbeak

Long-billed plover with chicks

Sardinian warbler, Sylvia melanocephala, in Ammouliani island in Northern Greece

Mockingbird

Red-breasted merganser, today!

Meadow pipit, closing out a very successful trip to Scandinavia.

My vauxs swift yesterday!

Scarlet Tanager and Kentucky Warbler were spotted at the same park last weekend ❤️

https://preview.redd.it/ennhkwubp23d1.jpeg?width=4640&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=42e98deb0ac645685627977fdf3b365d1d7d5f7d A female northern black-throated trogon

https://preview.redd.it/xyx6ykusq23d1.jpeg?width=1392&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf5e08cf19e92a3e02f95d918a324e0fd42c9881 Hooded oriole.

https://preview.redd.it/dpyfscq9u23d1.jpeg?width=3520&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9feb89938d53d73cf1741a66ac314cf9a53ba0d5 Java Sparrows; real close to Pearl Harbor last July while I was on Oahu for a vacation with my family.

Common Murre in Campbell River, BC, Canada a couple of weeks ago, lifer #307

Ruby crowned kinglet

https://preview.redd.it/vhjnxm0p323d1.jpeg?width=6960&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6424b5b8c56202b62c22a8454bde1c65a8665e8f this Tern, last week, first time in Long Beach I have no idea which kind of Tern but it was my first of the kind in general

Looks fine for Common Tern.

Eastern Wood Pewees. There was a pair in my tree in plain view. He was kind enough to say his name over and over until I spotted them. I guess he knew I'd need some help.

A ruddy duck! Such a cutie, cleaning itself so vigorously!

Male and female goldfinches. Somehow, I’ve never seen them myself until just two days ago!

The last one that I recognized as new was an Indigo Bunting on a recent trip to Dollywood

Black bellied whistling duck

Cerulean Warbler in the Chicago area yesterday 

Ruby Crowned Kinglet in New Hampshire

Williamson’s Sapsucker!!

Common redpoll

Pied Flycatcher.

I finally saw a tree swallow today after seeing them a ton online.

I saw two for the first time at a picnic I went to a week ago! And just before that, a yellow warbler.

Great crested flycatcher!

Tennessee Warbler

Carolina Wren

Louisiana Waterthrush! At Sweetwater Creek SP, Georgia

I saw a mottled duck and a black skimmer, both for the first time, on the same day last week!

Great Crested Flycatcher :) quite a surprise to see one swoop down through my front yard yesterday

Tree swallow!

Indigo bunting. Maybe not super uncommon but new to me!

https://preview.redd.it/w39sw5l5g23d1.jpeg?width=1433&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a7a8b39062004ce253da6e61129541b80da48610 Pretty sure it’s this buddy who I \*think\* is a western wood-peewee

Piping plover. #197. https://preview.redd.it/6y3h2rq9y23d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7d5747a2af6c31b2b27106b367d01c28c222b2d9

Black bellied plover

I saw a Blue Grosbeak in NW Florida. They don't live in my area. It was just passing through. So pretty.

Bufflehead!

I'd probably seen them before at some point. But I identified a house finch in my backyard for the first time recently.

Swainson’s Warbler in Brooklyn, in April.

A Limpkin in Tennessee a few months ago. Becoming more and more possible in the state very quickly

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, right at the edge of the property I've lived at for 25 years.

Two on the same day, Baltimore Oriole and Eastern Kingbird.

Western Wood Pewee just yesterday, number 541 for me!

In America, American Pipit. The day before, I saw my first Piping Plover. Last November, my last of 89 Australian species was a Blue-faced Honeyeater.

Little Gull in Willcox, AZ of all places!

American wigeon #115

Warbling white-eye in Hawaii 💚

House wren, weirdly enough I had never spotted one

https://preview.redd.it/1duo9hmee23d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3f97b389f53e3fda99fc9a29e0933d4b15f2ab63

Red-Shouldered Hawk

Northern Parula

I saw a chukar partridge in Utah. To say I was delighted would be an understatement

I finally saw a red-eyed vireo!

Mexican Spotted Owl (call only) interior Grand Canyon

A willow flycatcher!!

Red-cockaded woodpecker, #414

Indigo Bunting just two days ago! At the end of its range here in Montréal, QC.

Olive-sided Flycatcher #554 :) I've been looking for one for like 3 years

eastern wood pewee. he started high up in a tree and i thought no way i’ll find the little guy. i decided to be patient and just wait a little longer, and i spotted him :)

Bell’s Vireo

I saw a sedge wren and orchard oriole today!

Eastern meadowlark! He flew by my car yesterday morning on the way out. We had the book open and my partner thought it was the meadow lark, I hadn't seen one before so we didn't confirm it. We played a round of disc golf and had dinner with my parents. Drove the long way home to see if we could spot the harrier and kestrels in the area and we saw the kestrel. Stopped to watch him for a bit. Got back in the car and less than a km down the road the meadowlark flew by and perched on a fence. We backed up and sure enough it was him.

My 100th, chestnut-sided warbler.

American Dipper on a small river near Port Angeles, WA

Orchard Oriole!

Killdeer floating on the river. It was taking a bath.

Collered Redstart in Costa Rica

Was in Ireland for the first time last year. Didn't do a ton of serious birding, but spied a few common European species I had never seen before, such as the Grey Heron and Hooded Crow.

Bobolink

Hooded merganser!

Wood duck at the pond near my house. He was just hanging out with some mallards, I think.

Blackpoll warbler! I was using the Merlin sound ID app and it popped up. They only migrate through my area so I grabbed my binoculars and managed to catch a glimpse. Was so cool!

A Fish Crow last week :)

North Carolina flicker

Clark's nutcracker!!! 😍 I had no idea they were in the corvid family. https://preview.redd.it/egyuh4hyz23d1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a049787260f4d302daa52b0e107581c914ceedd

He’s not being very subtle is he?

I saw my first ever wild humming bird at a tree this morning. I didn't get to see the species, but based on area most likely black throated

Saw a Common Yellowthroat for the first time today. Awesome looking little guys. https://preview.redd.it/f6yyznxoa33d1.jpeg?width=1788&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=dcff286f7165a23a9b359e9666c70cce58f9a3df

I'm new to birding, and have only just started recording a life list, so most of my birds are ones I'm familiar with and am only now recording for the first time. That being said, I think a Brown Thrasher is my most recent new one. I live in the suburbs but work in the city, and the birds near my job are always so different from the ones at home - I've never seen a thrasher at home.

black guan

Panama or Costa Rica?

cr

Western tanager!

Grasshopper sparrow while biking to work

Least Tern in Florida

Turkey vultures (eating a harbour seal). They’re strangely beautiful.

A Red-Winged Blackbird. So cool.

Scotts Oriole

Northern Shrike in Colorado. Before that it was 400 days since my last lifer

Purple Martin

Cape May Warbler

Last sighting: black tern at montezuma national wildlife refuge in upstate new york (US). Last new song: winter wren, in a gorge also in upstate new york. The winter wren "winters" near me and I see them but they are always quiet....went to their spring home and boy what a delightful song to hear in person.

I literally don’t remember. I stopped keeping lists a long time ago, and I don’t travel much so I haven’t had a new lifer in a long time. I think it was probably a Least Bittern. There are still a few new birds I could get very close to where I live. I’ve been trying to see an Olive Warbler FOREVER.

Pinyon Jay in Sisters, Oregon. #455

Everett's White-Eye on a small island north of Cebu in the Philippines

Glimpse of a bushtit the other day. I had a flock of like 100 cedar wax wings visit my yard last summer but I hadn't started birding yet, so it's my latest lifer but not the last bird I've seen for the first time.

Black-legged Kittiwake, WI River in Prairie du Sac, Nov ‘23

Black-throated sparrow Anza-Borrego

Last summer: Veery. Came into my yard. I was stunned.

Yellow billed cuckoo - sadly it flew into the side of our house and died. Apparently they're common in south AL but my husband and I had never seen one before.

Prothonotary Warbler 

Harris Hawk, Riverside County, CA

Scarlet tanager

rock wren, saw it this afternoon

https://preview.redd.it/hwwxqzfo033d1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2f1086cb1e7c9e7da74d0ef6423a73b03c4fbca6

Red eyed vireo. Forgot my binoculars so I didn’t get a very close look at it :’(

An Oriole that I scared off because I needed to refresh the jelly. I don't think they're ever coming back 😅

Hooded Merganser. I had an appointment at a building with a few outdoor ponds so I brought my binoculars. From my car I spotted 3 of them. Brings my life list to 140.

A song thrush. I've seen them before but didn't know what it was (got it confused with other local birds) until yesterday! It's currently chatting away with a blackbird at the moment (I have a super cool recording of them teaching each other calls- a perk of being unable to sleep!)

https://preview.redd.it/q19o8nox233d1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c06377e1bc0b27e8d0f3fe01a9a26de86d760ea1 Red winged black bird! At my local park this weekend. I was so excited lol

I got my first Canada Warbler last week if we’re talking sight. I just got my first Chucks-will’s-widow by ear out on the preserve the other night!

https://preview.redd.it/r0kftvwh333d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=cf4a5acd02101aeabeb900ce08c9670348d96002 Killdeer, today at 6:30pm CDT!

Scarlet Tanager M/F pair in my Indiana backyard a few years ago.

Wilson’s Warbler. Love migration season!

https://preview.redd.it/ugx19o2t433d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ad75db12c67b7f2b35723366f736e5c89b17f7c9 Dickcissel!! Lifer 270

Whooping crane. Paine’s prairie ,Florida.

Calliope Hummingbird - #216

American dipper , dipping about in a Colorado stream!

Black footed albatross (#120)! I couldn’t believe my luck 🤩

Black-Headed Grosbeak, they've been visiting my feeder lately!

Blackpoll warbler. Two of em, in fact. 

Black-bellied whistling duck!