Spyke

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What's a trend people outside of your field / hobby are probably unaware of?

I'm a birder. Lots of birds were named after people...Scott's Oriole for example. You may think a guy named Scott discovered the bird, but nope, just a friend of the guy that did. Scott wasn't a good guy according to history (re: killing native Americans), so there's a big committee that's going to rename a ton of birds that have eponymous names. The birding community is very split on the topic and it's interesting to see the drama.

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US man arrested while filming Home Depot ICE raid sues government for $1m

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This is actually a thing called Digiscoping. Search Digiscoping adapters on Amazon and you can attach your cellphone to binoculars. I actually do this as a hobby, that is, doing wildlife photography on a cellphone, which usually requires a telephoto lens. Not to hijack the post but you can see the results on my IG page at theCronicBirder. I have some reels that show the zoom effect. I use a spotting scope instead of binoculars to get a farther reach.

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Baby Killdeer I rescued from a storm drain

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The bird makes a call that sounds like the word "dee", over and over. Just as someone who runs is a runner, a bird that's dees, is a dee-r, so it's not deer in the sense of the animal the way you may think. At least that's what I've been told. The "kill" part is a bit strange, but I'm assuming it comes from the fact that this bird will feign a broken wing to distract a predator away from their nest. All in all, I'm really not sure on the origin of the name, but that's what I've learned in my last 3 years of actively being a part of the birding community.

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My Vortex Viper HD Spotting Scope with Ollin magnetic adapter. I go birding, and take bird videos with this combo. Super easy to digiscope with (no more fidgeting with the adapter) and the magnification on the scope is pretty powerful. Shameless plug for my Instagram @thecronicbirder