Latest posts, notes, and bird sightings
I documented a Antillean nighthawk ( Chordeiles gundlachii ) on August 13, 2026 in Toa Baja, PR. I received an email from an expert identifying this bird as an Antillean nighthawk. I first saw it on 8-10-2026, but I returned today and found it roosting in the exact same branch as I did on Monday. Today, I could observe the wind ruffling its feathers. Identification: Certain · Expert confirmed…
I documented a Bananaquit ( Coereba flaveola ) on August 13, 2026 in Toa Baja, PR. Also known as "Reinita" in Puerto Rico. Very common bird and loud. Still haven't snapped a photo as sharp as I'd like. Identification: High · Unverified Photos: 3 Photos © Antonio Santos · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 View the complete sighting in Birdex →
I documented a Greater Antillean Grackle ( Quiscalus niger ) on August 10, 2026 in Toa Baja, PR. I don't know what bird I see more of: grackles or pigeons. Identification: Certain · Unverified Photos: 1 Photos © Antonio Santos · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 View the complete sighting in Birdex →
The main feed now includes bird sightings! I'll be writing a post up soon but I started a Birdex , a place to log all of my bird sightings. If you don't want these in your feed and only want posts, please update your RSS feed. The links are on my site. If anyone wants a feed that's posts + notes only, let me know and I'll set it up.
I documented a Yellow-crowned Night Heron ( Nyctanassa violacea ) on August 13, 2026 in Toa Baja, PR. When I spotted this bird for the first time, I gasped. It just struck me as something incredibly beautiful. I couldn't believe what I had seen. Identification: High · Unverified Photos: 1 Photos © Antonio Santos · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 View the complete sighting in Birdex →
I documented a Antillean nighthawk ( Chordeiles gundlachii ) on August 10, 2026 in Toa Baja, PR. Was really excited when I first spotted this bird. Confused it with an owl and a nightjar but an expert confirmed that it is an Antillean nighthawk. Identification: Certain · Expert confirmed Photos: 2 Photos © Antonio Santos · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 View the complete sighting in Birdex →
I documented a Gray Kingbird ( Tyrannus dominicensis ) on August 10, 2026 in Toa Baja, PR. This is one of the birds I see most near my house. I love seeing them in flocks and they're the loudest of the bunch out of all the birds in my area. Identification: Certain · Unverified Photos: 2 Photos © Antonio Santos · CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 View the complete sighting in Birdex →
Working on something completely new for my site! The only thing I’ll say from now is it’ll be called the Birdex. You can probably infer from the name what it’s all about.
I’m just starting out with bird photography, and I’ve compiled a short-list of birds I want to take photos of, to have some sort of goal when I’m out there and what to look out for. It also helps if I have a few birds I’ve looked up to be able to say “oh cool, that’s a gray kingbird!” I went on my first outing today dedicated to bird photography and after a few shots I realized it was the same…
A reader pointed out that my RSS feed was publishing the post summaries instead of the full post content. This probably regressed when I added a dedicated post feed. It’s been fixed now so you should see my full post content on your RSS feeds moving forward.
I recently wrote about the most important thing I own: my glasses , and that has gotten me thinking about all the small, almost invisible, really important things in our lives that we don’t notice until they’re gone or not working properly. One example is if you’re the type of person who consistently purchases the same roll of toilet paper, you’ll immediately notice if it’s not the same one. Or…
Happy with how my blog looks. I always want to change the colors, but layout-wise, content with where I’ve landed. I’ve resisted updating the theme, but I already have a new color palette saved. In case you missed it, I added a new links section with some blogs and posts worth checking out.
When my Nikon D780 and 24-70mm f/2.8 lens broke after a fall, I thought that was a good moment to switch to mirrorless cameras. Since my two most expensive pieces of gear broke, switching wouldn’t be as hard (although I lost the opportunity to sell my used gear). Ever since then, I’d stopped enjoying photography as much. For a long time, I thought the problem was the system. I was used to Nikon’s…
My wife’s grandfather passed away last Thursday, and we’ve been going through the motions. Today was the burial. I've never lost anyone as close to me as my wife's grandfather was to her. I can’t imagine going through something like that.
The first thing I do when I wake up isn’t checking my phone or making coffee. It’s putting on my glasses. They’re always in the nightstand next to me, always in the exact same spot, because I can’t find anything else without them. Because of my astigmatism, wearing glasses is not optional. Without them, I can see things if they are big enough or if I get close enough. While driving, I can’t read…
I always rush myself to write a new post. I’m forcing myself to slow down. No one is rushing me to write, and I’ve noticed I’ve published a few things recently I wish I had worded better.
I read Issac Asimov’s I, Robot last year and was blown away by his world-building style. Through a series of short stories, Asimov explored different parts of the same setting that collectively reveal how robots change society, ethics, labor, and law. It’s almost been a year since I read I, Robot and as I read other books in the Robot universe, I remember vividly the short stories that established…
There’s nothing worse than having an idea for something and forgetting it before you get a chance to write it down, but you still remember that you had an idea. Whatever it was that I forgot, that’s what I was going to write about instead of this.
I think my next post is going to be a little controversial
I regret not taking a similar approach to Michael Harley sooner. I always thought it didn't matter if I bought my books on Apple Books, because I would always have an iPad to read them on, until I bought a Kindle and wished I could read my books on my Kindle. Somehow, I let myself fall into the same trap with my Kindle, and now I'm locked into reading my books on a Kindle (at least there's a…