Meet the bird studiers!

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Who are these ornithologists, anyway? Let's find out.

The biggest ornithology conference in history, NAOC 2016, just happened over the past week in Washington, DC. Who goes to a conference like this? What do they do? What are they interested in? I set out to answer those questions—through pictures—on behalf of American Ornithology (@AmOrnith). And the biosketch series began!

First, I warned the ornithologists:

They seemed intrigued...

So off I went to NAOC, with some whiteboards and dry-erase markers in tow.
Here are some of the people I met:

The #biosketch series started piquing interest.

And we kept right on biosketching.

Several intrepid participants stepped up and drew auto-biosketches:

Everyone else had colorful descriptions and ideas for what to draw.

As a bonus, anyone who did a #biosketch was entitled to an #8bitwarblers sticker.

Scientists weren't the only ones at the ornithology conference.
I also ran into a lot of people involved in spreading the word about birds:

And our final biosketch celebrity was Kenn Kaufman, who has done so much for ornithology and conservation by connecting people with birds.

A big thanks to everyone who collaborated with me on an @AmOrnith #biosketch at #NAOC2016!

Top heavy

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I just kayaked out to Stratton Island for a one-night reunion tour, to relive my field work from this past May. Back then, the Least Tern adults had barely started to arrive for the season. Now there are already fledglings fluttering around. (These two chicks aren't quite at that stage yet...)