Declan Troy
@troydeclan.bsky.social
Alaska based biologist and photographer.
Most of the time one wonders why the Crested Duck gets its name but the wee crest is visible on the rear duck of this pair. Carcass Island, Falkland Islands 🪶
January 16, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Most of the time one wonders why the Crested Duck gets its name but the wee crest is visible on the rear duck of this pair. Carcass Island, Falkland Islands 🪶
Small wings, big feet. The Falklands Steamer-Duck can get everywhere it wants to without taking to the air so they are flightless (only one of four species of Steamer-Duck can fly). Carcass Island, Falkland Islands 🪶
January 15, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Small wings, big feet. The Falklands Steamer-Duck can get everywhere it wants to without taking to the air so they are flightless (only one of four species of Steamer-Duck can fly). Carcass Island, Falkland Islands 🪶
Reposted by Declan Troy
Camera-wearing grizzlies are showing scientists how they survive in the Arctic.
"So far, we're seeing a really wide range of things," Ellery Vincent said.
https://akpub.io/4aZYZDo
"So far, we're seeing a really wide range of things," Ellery Vincent said.
https://akpub.io/4aZYZDo
Camera-wearing grizzlies are showing scientists how they survive in the Arctic
The northernmost subpopulation of grizzlies is made up of only a few hundred bears spread out over a large, food-scarce expanse.
akpub.io
January 14, 2026 at 7:05 PM
Camera-wearing grizzlies are showing scientists how they survive in the Arctic.
"So far, we're seeing a really wide range of things," Ellery Vincent said.
https://akpub.io/4aZYZDo
"So far, we're seeing a really wide range of things," Ellery Vincent said.
https://akpub.io/4aZYZDo
Whiter than a snow goose, every feather on a male Kelp Goose is white. Unlike snow geese, Kelp Geese are sexual dimorphic and the females look completely different. Carcass Island Falkland Islands. 🪶
January 14, 2026 at 4:58 PM
Whiter than a snow goose, every feather on a male Kelp Goose is white. Unlike snow geese, Kelp Geese are sexual dimorphic and the females look completely different. Carcass Island Falkland Islands. 🪶
Reposted by Declan Troy
The 5-day forecast for sea ice in the Bering Sea shows ice making it to St. Paul Island earlier than any date in the prior 27 years. It will then quickly retreat with a southerly flow. @alaskawx.bsky.social
January 13, 2026 at 5:47 AM
The 5-day forecast for sea ice in the Bering Sea shows ice making it to St. Paul Island earlier than any date in the prior 27 years. It will then quickly retreat with a southerly flow. @alaskawx.bsky.social
Meet the Striated Caracara aka Johnny Rook. An opportunistic and clever (problem solving skills similar to parrots) raptor of the Falkland Islands. Be careful around them with your stuff, they are apt to borrow anything they can carry. Carcass Island, Falkland Islands 🪶
January 13, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Meet the Striated Caracara aka Johnny Rook. An opportunistic and clever (problem solving skills similar to parrots) raptor of the Falkland Islands. Be careful around them with your stuff, they are apt to borrow anything they can carry. Carcass Island, Falkland Islands 🪶
Who Made You the Boss? An Imperial Cormorant presiding over a colony of Western Rockhopper Penguins. Saunders Island, Falkland Islands.
January 12, 2026 at 3:50 PM
Who Made You the Boss? An Imperial Cormorant presiding over a colony of Western Rockhopper Penguins. Saunders Island, Falkland Islands.
Reposted by Declan Troy
During this winter's Anchorage Christmas Bird Count, participants counted 13,225 individual birds representing 41 species, says outdoors writer Bill Sherwonit. www.adn.com/outdoors-adv...
Christmas Bird Count collects valuable data for conservation efforts
The first CBC in Anchorage was in 1941. The Anchorage Audubon Society has organized the count in recent decades.
www.adn.com
January 11, 2026 at 9:44 PM
During this winter's Anchorage Christmas Bird Count, participants counted 13,225 individual birds representing 41 species, says outdoors writer Bill Sherwonit. www.adn.com/outdoors-adv...
Several Alaska caribou herds are now in decline alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-...
Several Alaska caribou herds are now in decline
State officials announced this week that both the Porcupine and Central Arctic caribou herds have faltered. The data mirrors a broader trend for Arctic herds.
alaskapublic.org
January 11, 2026 at 5:06 PM
Several Alaska caribou herds are now in decline alaskapublic.org/news/alaska-...
And then there were three. I've seen all the rockhopper penguins so I got an armchair twitch this fall when 2 species became three in the last checklist update. This is the newly named Western Rockhopper Penguin from New Island, Falkland Islands 🪶
January 11, 2026 at 3:57 PM
And then there were three. I've seen all the rockhopper penguins so I got an armchair twitch this fall when 2 species became three in the last checklist update. This is the newly named Western Rockhopper Penguin from New Island, Falkland Islands 🪶
Reposted by Declan Troy
Today marks 247 years since the death of Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). His work underpins modern biology, from placing humans within the animal kingdom to establishing binomial nomenclature still used today (e.g. Homo sapiens). At the Linnean Society, we reflect on his enduring legacy.
January 10, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Today marks 247 years since the death of Carl Linnaeus (1707–1778). His work underpins modern biology, from placing humans within the animal kingdom to establishing binomial nomenclature still used today (e.g. Homo sapiens). At the Linnean Society, we reflect on his enduring legacy.
Many places around the world have a counterpart to the familiar American Robin (or Blackbird in Eurasia). In the Falkland Islands the bird is the Austral Thrush. This one watching visitors to Saunders Island. 🪶
January 10, 2026 at 3:55 PM
Many places around the world have a counterpart to the familiar American Robin (or Blackbird in Eurasia). In the Falkland Islands the bird is the Austral Thrush. This one watching visitors to Saunders Island. 🪶
Reposted by Declan Troy
In moose news, ...
As more moose move into Anchorage, Fish and Game urges people to be cautious
Fish and Game says the deep snow is driving moose into Anchorage and people should use caution around them
www.alaskasnewssource.com
January 9, 2026 at 4:14 AM
In moose news, ...
Back at my desk and resuming looking through the images from my excursion to the south last fall. We resume with the spectacular Red-legged Cormorant. They occur primarily along the Pacific coast of South America but I was delighted to find a pocket of them in #Argentina at Puerto Deseado 🪶
January 9, 2026 at 11:15 PM
Back at my desk and resuming looking through the images from my excursion to the south last fall. We resume with the spectacular Red-legged Cormorant. They occur primarily along the Pacific coast of South America but I was delighted to find a pocket of them in #Argentina at Puerto Deseado 🪶
Snowy Sheathbill, a Southern Ocean relative of shorebirds . They struck my curiosity when I took ornithology and became one of my most wanted species when I first visited the south. Not to elusive, I found some my first day but I still look forward to seeing them when I return. Falkland Islands 🪶
December 15, 2025 at 6:15 PM
Snowy Sheathbill, a Southern Ocean relative of shorebirds . They struck my curiosity when I took ornithology and became one of my most wanted species when I first visited the south. Not to elusive, I found some my first day but I still look forward to seeing them when I return. Falkland Islands 🪶
Reposted by Declan Troy
The Snowy Owl has been declared Regionally Extinct in Sweden. For the first time in 20 years, the country has officially lost a bird species. - www.birdlife.org/news/2025/12...
#BirdingScotland #UKBirding
Attributed to a combination of climate change and disruption to the lemming cycle. A tragedy.
#BirdingScotland #UKBirding
Attributed to a combination of climate change and disruption to the lemming cycle. A tragedy.
Sweden has lost the Snowy Owl
The Snowy Owl has been declared Regionally Extinct in Sweden. For the first time in 20 years, the country has officially lost a bird species.
www.birdlife.org
December 13, 2025 at 10:32 AM
The Snowy Owl has been declared Regionally Extinct in Sweden. For the first time in 20 years, the country has officially lost a bird species. - www.birdlife.org/news/2025/12...
#BirdingScotland #UKBirding
Attributed to a combination of climate change and disruption to the lemming cycle. A tragedy.
#BirdingScotland #UKBirding
Attributed to a combination of climate change and disruption to the lemming cycle. A tragedy.
I'm always excited to see an albatross but apparently rockhopper penguins don't share my delight. Black-browed Albatross returning to a colony in the Falkland Islands. 🪶🦑
December 14, 2025 at 4:42 PM
I'm always excited to see an albatross but apparently rockhopper penguins don't share my delight. Black-browed Albatross returning to a colony in the Falkland Islands. 🪶🦑
Most tinamous I've encountered are just invisible voices mocking me from deep in the forest, never to be seen. But Elegant Crested-Tinamous ( lifer @aba.org )are the exception, walking around in relatively open environments showing off their elegant crests. Punta Tombo #Argentina 🪶
December 13, 2025 at 5:59 PM
Most tinamous I've encountered are just invisible voices mocking me from deep in the forest, never to be seen. But Elegant Crested-Tinamous ( lifer @aba.org )are the exception, walking around in relatively open environments showing off their elegant crests. Punta Tombo #Argentina 🪶
White-headed Steamer-Duck. This flightless duck has a rather limited range midway along the coast of Argentina. A lifer for me ( @aba.org ) and my 3rd species steamer-duck. Punta Tombo #Argentina
December 12, 2025 at 4:41 PM
White-headed Steamer-Duck. This flightless duck has a rather limited range midway along the coast of Argentina. A lifer for me ( @aba.org ) and my 3rd species steamer-duck. Punta Tombo #Argentina
Reposted by Declan Troy
NOAA said 54 humpback whales have been reported stranded in Alaska so far this year and that multiple whales washing ashore in the same area is not unusual due to ocean currents.
Third humpback whale found dead in Unalaska since October
A dead humpback whale was spotted in Unalaska Bay on Dec. 4, the third reported dead whale to wash up on the island since Oct. 16.
akpub.io
December 12, 2025 at 1:30 AM
NOAA said 54 humpback whales have been reported stranded in Alaska so far this year and that multiple whales washing ashore in the same area is not unusual due to ocean currents.
Reposted by Declan Troy
BIG day for warbler genomes, with work led by @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social! Whole genomes nearly *every species* of warbler.
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Warblers borrow color-related genes from evolutionary neighbors, study finds | Penn State University
A new study has uncovered several instances of wood warblers — some of the most colorful birds in North America — passing color-related genes to other wood warbler species, including those that are no...
www.psu.edu
December 11, 2025 at 7:18 PM
BIG day for warbler genomes, with work led by @kevinfpbennett.bsky.social! Whole genomes nearly *every species* of warbler.
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
Warblers the most "Pokémon" of the bird world? Well, they're also trading their coloration genes like valuable collectors cards ...
www.psu.edu/news/eberly-...
🦉🧪
South American Sea Lion bull and his harem. There was considerable mortality among sea lions due to avian flu but at this location they appeared to be holding their own. Snowy Sheatbill patrolling the foreground. Arroyo Verde #Argentina 🦊🦑
December 11, 2025 at 5:56 PM
South American Sea Lion bull and his harem. There was considerable mortality among sea lions due to avian flu but at this location they appeared to be holding their own. Snowy Sheatbill patrolling the foreground. Arroyo Verde #Argentina 🦊🦑
Reposted by Declan Troy
Epic recovery report just received! ⚠️ A Turnstone I trapped using a homemade walk-in trap has been recaptured in the 🌍 world’s 🌎 northernmost continuously inhabited settlement. Ringed on 12 February 2024 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex 🇬🇧, it was re-trapped on 08 June 2025 in Alert, Nunavut… 🇨🇦 (🧵 1/2)
December 10, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Epic recovery report just received! ⚠️ A Turnstone I trapped using a homemade walk-in trap has been recaptured in the 🌍 world’s 🌎 northernmost continuously inhabited settlement. Ringed on 12 February 2024 in Southend-on-Sea, Essex 🇬🇧, it was re-trapped on 08 June 2025 in Alert, Nunavut… 🇨🇦 (🧵 1/2)
Reposted by Declan Troy
Let's check in and see how much Fall (Sep-Nov) has warmed in Alaska over the last 75 years. 🔥 @alaskawx.bsky.social
December 10, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Let's check in and see how much Fall (Sep-Nov) has warmed in Alaska over the last 75 years. 🔥 @alaskawx.bsky.social