Some recent #birdart for your viewing pleasure. My creative direction is going to be shifting for awhile, probably, or at least diversifying, but making these little cards brings me LOTS of joy. (As is usually the case, these are all based on photos I took myself.)

Apparently @massaudubon.org isn't using their bsky account, so ... if you're in MA and would like to see our state take steps to protect birds of prey (and other predators, and PETS) from anti-coagulant rodenticides, please sign this: bit.ly/Petition4ConferenceCommittee

Two things that are true: 1) It's awful for trans people if the Republicans wins the midterms. 2) It's awful for trans people if Democrats become anti-trans rights, and we have 2 anti-trans parties, like the UK. Why do so many people arguing 1) seemingly have such a hard time understanding 2) ?

I need an opportunity to visit and fork over some American gold. Damn.

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch.com · 2w ago

I have received news of a perfectly named cafe located on the waterfront of Nova Scotia's capital, if you know what I mean

Well, my dad would be pleased, but things would have looked a bit different if it had asked me how I pronounce "milk" or "lilac." mydialect.us/quiz-standar...

Well, that's a relief at least.

The Boston Globe@bostonglobe.com · 3w ago

At his campaign’s watch party, Representative Seth Moulton briefly took the stage to concede the Senate Democratic primary and told supporters that he called US Senator Ed Markey “to congratulate him on his victory.” Follow more live updates: trib.al/dv1TH2f

Let's not have a primary election, the biggest moving day of the year, and a bunch of rain all on the same day ever again, okay? Especially with the bonus ongoing road work on a major street. My commute is short, but it was also ... pretty damn harrowing today. 🚴🫣

No cheating. Post the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.

Ohephen J. Epershand @ohephen.bsky.social · 4w ago

No cheating. Post the last photo of the sky from your camera roll.

Yesterday I took myself to Boston's Pleasure Bay to see the razorbill (an Arctic puffin relative) that has mysteriously been hanging out there. Very chill guy, nice to meet. Was rather amused by all the beachgoers who didn't notice what looked like a small penguin floating right on by. #birds 🪶

Derailed my own morning plans to have thoughtful discussions about different creative and scholarly traditions on the internet: the Allie Kleber story? Ah well, it's been invigorating (and much healthier than yesterday's anger).

My temper always manages to run ahead of my better intentions. I'm not taking back my earlier threads or anything; I stand by them! But I need to remember to step away from the internet when I've had my say instead of chasing the topic around and stoking the anger too high.

Back to your regularly (ha) scheduled nature posting ... I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with one of my more elusive favorite #birds at my little local sanctuary on Wednesday night; a belted kingfisher (or perhaps that should be QUEENfisher). 🪶❤️

I can't get over this. It's such a stark illustration of the huge cultural disparity between Cleves' field and Walden's. Cleves made blatantly false claims, while Walden's citations were more than impeccable. The assumptions all went the other way.

Dave Kamper@dskamper.bsky.social · 3mo ago

It's only ironic if you discount the existence of credibility. Rachel Hope Cleeves is an established scholar with a strong record. I find her first-person statement fully credible.

This is frankly astonishing to me. The author of the blog post does truly extensive analysis, and it's an interesting read start to finish, but it's quickly apparent that Cleves has so blatantly misrepresented Walden's research and citation practices that it approaches bald-faced lying.

thene@thene.bsky.social · last mo.

out it goes: my long post about Rachel Hope Cleves's claim that Tillie Walden plagiarised her book. It's long because Cleves's claim is much, much more bizarre than it looked on first reading. I'm not going to bury the lede here. Cleves's claim does not hold up. buttondown.com/thene/archiv...

Painting of a Great Horned Owl based on @turtlesoup.bsky.social 's photo! I got really immersed in color and light and lost some of the expression in the process, but I'm still really pleased with this. My favorite part: the blue shadows on the beak and feathers #art #birds #watercolor #birdart 🦉

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup.bsky.social · last mo.

"Why am I awake?" -me, and probably also this (immature, I think) Great Horned Owl who flew across my path last Saturday afternoon. I think it had been mobbed by songbirds. (Photo has been cropped - I took it from a careful and respectful distance.) 🦉 #birds 🪶

Aw, a few years too late. (I make my younger brother a physical mix CD every year, usually with some kind of nostalgia or in-joke themed cover art. This was 2020's.)

pixelframe.design@pixelframe.bsky.social · last mo.

NOW has been compiling the most irritating songs for decades, but now you can use the logo style to "call" anything! The NOW THAT"S WHAT I CALL MUSIC! Font & Logo Generator is live now!

It's #bandcampfriday, and Jodi Jones has officially released this folk/alt-country protest song, which I fell in love with via clip on IG some time back. It's a banger, especially the verse about natural disasters. jodijones.bandcamp.com/track/americ...

American Dream, by Jodi Jones

track by Jodi Jones

jodijones.bandcamp.com

"Why am I awake?" -me, and probably also this (immature, I think) Great Horned Owl who flew across my path last Saturday afternoon. I think it had been mobbed by songbirds. (Photo has been cropped - I took it from a careful and respectful distance.) 🦉 #birds 🪶

71 — Augmented. The Tide. cadence 100 · vigil 5 · lexicon 49 · polish 89 · drift 24 · chorus 69 Six lines read off all 1,258 of my posts. A percentile among 77 accounts, not an AI detector. https://b.mino.mobi/palm/?u=turtlesoup.bsky.social

"Do you ... plan on being homosexual in the future?" Very young guy, very awkward, not originally from the US but I don't remember details. Circa 2012 or so; the same appointment included a mildly traumatizing pap smear experience. 😬 I didn't go to a doctor for awhile after that.

Heather Hill@rollin-academic.bsky.social · 2mo ago

A question from Reddit that I'll answer here: "What's the most unhinged thing a doctor has said to you with a straight face?"

Here's a rather different flavor of #birdart, traditional media this time ... there's something about cormorants drying their wings that always makes me think of vampire capes and something goofy trying to look imposing. Entirely projecting, but it brings me joy. 🖤

Er ... three of my grandparents would have been younger than 5 years old in 1926. My paternal grandfather would have been 16, but I never met him. I know he was a quarry worker at one point?

Revan@revan.eurosky.social · 2mo ago

Enough “what would you do on the commune questions” If you got sent back 100 years and were given your grandparent’s job, what are you doing?

Finished up a piece of #birdart I've been noodling with for awhile--a red-eyed vireo with the common "translation" of its song.

Heartbreaking. I saw The Swell Season (and Josh Ritter for the first time) at an incredible outdoor show back home in Noho almost twenty years(!) back... it started raining steadily and the whole crowd just put up umbrellas and vibed. One of those concerts where you feel so connected to everything.

Stereogum@stereogum.com · 2mo ago

Glen Hansard has died in a motorcycle crash at age 56

Have just had the displeasure of being asked to edit a lengthy document that was clearly AI-generated, about, of all things, human-centric AI design principles and their relevance to a new online degree program.

My dad just sent me a box of odds and ends from my teens and twenties, which included these blasts from the CCS past ... (They're unisex S and don't fit me; I don't suppose any of my fellow alums would want 'em?)

Messing around reimagining one of my absurd adolescent RPG characters, as one does. (Drawn ... good grief, about 26 years apart.) @elleskinner.bsky.social @alexmegami.bsky.social

Welp, just saw someone on IG refer to folks who advocate for invasive plant removal as "plant fascists," so ... that's great ...

I'm having such a hard time being present here. I wish there were an easy way to filter my feed so I could more easily catch up on friends' lives instead of wading through a million reskeets. Promoting art and books and important news is important but I am burned out and have almost zero bandwidth.

As if tufted titmice weren't cute enough as adults! And from the noise these little fluffballs make, you'd think they were almost all lung under that puff. One small wooded corner with at least six titmouse fledglings = utter, adorable cacophony. #birds 🪶