August 22, 2026
Birding in the age of AI
Notes from an experiment using ChatGPT as a "Festival Assistant" to plan and track my birding targets for the two Southeast Arizona birding festivals in August 2026.
From the archive
Blog
Stories, photography and notes. Updated very irregularly.
February 4, 2021
Winter Rarities
A winter birding hot streak around northwest Ohio brings unexpected species, life-list additions, and a welcome excuse to get back outside.
December 19, 2020
Project BirdMap: All The Nerdy Details
The technical finale to Project BirdMap: sourcing eBird data, processing a massive dataset, and turning it into a global bird-diversity map.
January 18, 2020
Building Project BirdMap
How an eBird data question about woodpeckers became Project BirdMap, from finding the dataset to building a map for planning birding trips.
January 16, 2020
Introducing Project BirdMap (Part 1: The Background)
A Hawaii trip turns a casual interest in birds into a full-fledged hobby—and sets the groundwork for the Project BirdMap series.
July 25, 2019
Morning walk in Waikiki
A reluctant appreciation of Waikiki, found through early walks, neighborhood food, and small pleasures beneath the tourist crowds.
May 28, 2019
Getting local for National Photography Month
A photography challenge leads to a closer look at a familiar Toledo intersection, finding a local landmark worth noticing anew.
February 19, 2019
Boy Meets Bear
A long-delayed photo from Louisville Zoo captures a small, joyful encounter between a boy and a bear.
December 10, 2018
Greetings from Oahu
A quiet image and a brief hello from Laniakea Beach on Oahu’s North Shore.
October 20, 2018
The Citadel
An illustrated visit to Agadir, Morocco, tracing the ancient coastal city’s history, landscape, and namesake citadel.