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Rebekkah Leigh LaBlue

@rllablue

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poet / avian ecologist
know-nothing birding the gutter

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Busy weekend, but a highlight was welcoming our olympians home for a playoff game. 🥇🏒

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𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐍𝐨. 𝟐𝟒 | 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐖𝐈

I left my dog at home and walked into The Laurel Tavern as if stepping into another realm. Inside, a permanent red dusk had settled over everything. Faces, bottles, plates — all of it bathed in the same glow, the kind that doesn’t just color a room but changes it. The place looked, improbably, like the House of Circe.

I ordered the walleye and let the bar work. A gladiator match flickered overhead. Beside me, an older woman rolled silverware with the steady patience of someone condemned to the task. The Laurel Tavern is a neighborhood joint, and tonight it was full of people briefly shedding their daytime outlines. In that way, it’s a modern Aeaea: a place where the lighting casts everyone into a different version of themselves, where time loosens, and where the night quietly rewrites whoever lingers too long.

The meal carried its own small epic. It opened with a double disappointment: a request for Diet Coke that again yielded Pepsi, and the news that the clam chowder was gone. Undeterred, I pressed on and was rewarded with hashbrowns O’Brien, expertly cooked, studded with onions and peppers, and finished with melted Swiss cheese. Then came the fish, crackling and crisp, the batter shattering cleanly under my fork. But the spelled demanded a toll: salt, and lots of it. By the end of the plate, I was calling out, somewhat theatrically, for water.

When I paid, I found myself undecided. The red light had done its work. The place had almost held me. Still, I returned home to Chance, the Argos to my Odysseus. I found him waiting by the door, performing the oldest miracle in the book: recognition.

𝐀𝐭𝐞: Fried walleye ($18.50)
𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤: Diet Pepsi
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: An otherwise ordinary tavern, steeped in red.

𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭: 🔱🔱🔱½ (Three and a half tridents out of five). Worth its salt, if just.

#FishFryFriday #WisconsinEats #TheCodyssey

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4th of July weekend. Nightmares 🥎🐴 fireworks, water ski show, and French flag Jell-O shots 😅

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Congrats on our first win, Serve-ivors!! 🏐🙌🏼

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My heart is exploding outwards connecting with parts of this world and selves I didn’t know were possible. This latest research trip - and fledgling migration - for an essay about flight came from childhood dreams of flying, years of practice and training, a restless curiosity, and even more than that: an immense foundation of inspiration and support. None of my pursuits or faith in running off cliffs with a wing would be possible if it weren’t for my family who loves me even if they fear for my influence on myself, my friends and role models who don’t know their outsized impact on me, especially related to birds (I’ll tag some of you), and my writing and adventuring buddies and idols who through fears and humility strike a deal to persevere in new and profound terrain of rock ice water and air on and off the page, and all the emotional challenges inherent to such landscapes. Plus everlasting gratitude to the folks at @uncwcrw, @bardcoffee, @bespoke.nc, and my dream team @mainewriters207. Y’all are my high-tide rocks that keep me afloat. Featured are some muses: storks perched and gusted, my thru-trekking-travel-climbing partner, Bilbo/Grizzly/Downeast/Dad, the n-dimensional manifold of alpine air, the Eiger massif, an alpine ibex modeling in front of the Matterhorn, and my spring signature in the sky scratching Grindelwald peaks. Also: thanks to @gingliders hike-and-fly wing, @advanceparagliders reversible harness and cockpit. I can’t wait to revise these essays and share with yall! Much love - onwards and upwards.

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Here's to a summer of new friends, places, and birds! After spending so much time out of Montana these past couple of years, it was so wonderful to return this summer and spend it working in the Bitterroot Valley. I also got to visit BANFF in Canada for the first time, and it was freaking gorgeous. Can't wait for all my international travels this fall!
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#montana #canada #glacier #banff #banding #birds #bros #outdoors #traveler #traveltheworld #travelgram #hiking #experience #explore #mountains #landscape #woodpecker #thesecretwasfriendship #newfriends #getoutdoors #conservation #parks #paddleboarding #alpine #mountaneering #Wildlife #secrets

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people of june 🌾

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More likely than not you have seen or come across videos of birds being held in the hand. And you may have wondered if these people holding birds are real life Disney princesses, but they’re actually something better ✨trained wildlife biologists✨

The photographers grip is something we see especially in social media. It’s a grip specifically used to get an overall assessment of the plumage and photograph the bird while safely holding the birds’ legs.

This is an educational video meant to explain and show how the songbirds are being safely held, but if you are not a wildlife biologist or trained professional DO NOT try this at home.

When handling songbirds, we have to be especially careful with their legs as they are very delicate. This grip has been published in the literature as being a safe way to hold birds by actively supporting their legs.

Notice that the pointer and middle finger are sandwiching the upper part of the leg, while the thumb is pinching the leg joint, supporting the entirety of the leg. The thumb should always be pinching this joint to properly support the leg. Notice the legs are held together.

The fingernails of the hand should be against the bird (touching the feathers), and the bird is facing towards the thumb so the hand supports the overall weight of the bird.

This grip works well for most songbirds that have sufficiently long enough legs. Birds that should NOT be held in this grip include:
🪶 Hummingbirds and Swifts
🪶 Kingfishers
🪶 Doves
🪶 Swallows
🪶 Trogons
🪶 Shorebirds, herons, most waterfowl

Other birds that seem to have exceptionally small tarsi, like pewees, or larger birds like robins should be handled in this grip with care. And it’s always a good rule to have your other hand nearby in case the bird flaps and the grip becomes unstable.

This style of photographers grip is commonly taught and used in the Western Hemisphere. It’s known to be easier to learn and when done properly does not hurt the birds or their legs at all.

While there are variations on ways to hold wild birds for photography, this is one of the safest methods.

What else would you like to learn about ethical bird banding photography?

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Thank you so much to the Flathead Lake Biological Station for hosting us recently!

Our lead banders, Rebekkah LaBlue and Holly Garrod got to show students several birds up close and explain all about how ornithologists use bird banding.

They also talked with students about how to make a career out of wildlife biology and next steps to take to be successful.

Our banders really enjoyed the opportunity to spend time at the scenic Flathead lake and chat with some University students.

Until next year!

📸 1: Rebekkah LaBlue shows a group of students an American Robin
📸 2: Rebekkah explains how we use plumage to age birds, pointing out Juvenal feathers on this robin
📸 3: Rebekkah helps a student release a Chipping Sparrow, catch the bird zooming out of the picture on the left side!

#montanawildlife #birdsofmontana #birdbanding #birdingmontana #fieldwork #birdmonitoring #motus #birdringing #birdresearch #migration #ornithology #migratorybirds #FlatheadLake #UniversityOfMontana #Students #OrnithologicalTechniques #montana #AmericanRobin #ChippingSparrow

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2 weeks ago we held our annual banding demo at Milltown State park!

We had a good variety of species for everyone to see, including one very special bird, a Common Grackle at the end!

Thanks to everyone who came by to check out the bird banding and learn a little something about the importance of monitoring our local songbirds!

And a huge thanks to Milltown State Park for hosting us and helping us make this banding demo a success!

We hope to see you out there next year! And don’t forget we our almost halfway through our summer banding program - it’s not too late to check out some of our other banding stations! Check out our website and contact our outreach manager, Holly Garrod, for more info.

#montanawildlife #birdsofmontana #birdbanding #birdingmontana #fieldwork #birdmonitoring #motus #birdringing #birdresearch #migration #ornithology #migratorybirds #songbirds #bioindicators #riparianrestoration #restoration #riparianbirds #milltownstatepark #montana

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We don’t know about you, but we’re ready for summer! And we’re kicking it off with our first day of banding for our Birds Eye View Education Program (BEVEP)!

The crew went out for a mini banding day to get everyone trained up and ready for summer.

Can you guess what our first three birds were??

Read on to find out! Our very first bird of the season was…

🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁🥁

1. The Common Yellowthroat! We don’t commonly (pun intended) catch these birds so this was a nice surprise to see this masked male.

2. Song Sparrow! This bird had a nice big cloacal protuberance so he is ready for the breeding season

3. Yellow Warbler! One of our summer staples. We can’t wait to catch many more of these bright beauties this summer

What was your first bird you banded for summer MAPS banding?? Comment below 👇

#BirdBanding #umbel #montana #birdringing #MAPSbanding #BreedingBirds #YellowWarbler #SongSparrow #CommonYellowthroat #MontanaBirds #MontanaWildlife #RockCreek #FirstOfTheYearBirds

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