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Jon

@jondrobny.com

Physicist | Photographs birds | He/him | San Diego County | "Anything can happen in this world, we really know very little" | jondrobny.com

220 Posts1277 Follower233 Folgt
Jon@jondrobny.com · 2mo ago

Been a while since I posted anything! Last weekend I got very lucky and encountered a pair of canyon wrens out in the open the other day - this one was curious and brave #birds

A Canyon Wren - a small, red-brown bird with mottled brown feathers on its head and wing, big, round, dark brown eyes, a white throat and breast, and a bright red-brown striped tail, preparing to fly with its tail up and foot lifted off the white granite boulder, flecked with reddish orange and dark black, on which it is perched. The background is smooth, out-of-focus tan and beige, and the wren is backlit with diffuse light. Its long, slightly curved, dark grey beak is catching the light as the wren is faced forward and to the right.
Ben Collins@bencollins.bsky.social · 8mo ago

In America you drop your kid off at school, get your brains blown out on the ride home, then the Vice President drops everything for a week to call you a terrorist, to slander your family, to protect the circumstances that led to your death so they can do it again. It is government by Alex Jones.

leon@leyawn.bsky.social · 8mo ago

this is your mission. roll up to this daycare in full tactical gear to harass some kids and teachers. when you get spooked by your own shadow like a panicked horse and start shooting your gun, our pedophile president will call the person you shot a terrorist. good luck soldier

Jon@jondrobny.com · 10mo ago

It's been a while since I posted anything here! I biked to the river mouth a couple days ago and, as I was scouting the flooded lagoon for grebes, this curious Black-bellied Plover walked up to me along the shoulder-height bank, letting me get these shots with the ocean in the background. #birds

A Black-bellied Plover in nonbreeding plumage - a white and tan, medium-sized white plover, with an upright posture, small round head, large, round, black eyes, and a small, pointed, black bill - standing amongst sparse grass, with an out-of-focus background of distant sand, crashing waves, and bright blue sky.An action shot of a Black-bellied Plover - a white and tan, medium-sized white plover, with an upright posture, small round head, large, round, black eyes, and a small, pointed, black bill - stepping from left to right, small red bug in its open mouth, having grabbed it from a nearby blade of grass, surrounded by dry grass on the beach with the ocean and the sky in the out-of-focus background.
Kat Tenbarge@kattenbarge.bsky.social · last yr.

The people dominating our political landscape, culture, and economy are just so stupid and full of shit it's almost impossible to describe

A transcription of a conversation between OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and podcast host Theo Von on Von's podcast, in an excerpt from the Atlantic article "AI is a mass-delusion event" by Charlie Warzel: "Sam Altman: I do guess that a lot of the world gets covered in data centers over time. Theo Von: Do you really? Altman: But I don’t know, because maybe we put them in space. Like, maybe we build a big Dyson sphere around the solar system and say, “Hey, it actually makes no sense to put these on Earth.” Von: Yeah. Altman: I wish I had, like, more concrete answers for you, but, like, we’re stumbling through this."
Charlie Warzel@cwarzel.bsky.social · last yr.

Hello. I wrote a nice long essay about AI and this very strange moment where we're constantly told we're living in the dawn of a strange new future but the only thing that's actually clear is that everyone feels pretty unmoored and uncertain. I hope you'll read it

Jon@jondrobny.com · last yr.

Pied-billed Grebe babies are back at the local lake! I think these little gremlins are my favorite young birds to photograph, they are so photogenic #birds

A pied-billed Grebe chick; a tiny grebe with a downy grey body, with streaks of pale orange on its breast, and a dramatic striped black and white face, with a bright orange crown, eyerings, and bill. It is facing exactly forward, looking at the camera, bill slightly open. It is surrounded by green water, streaked with bright grey reflections of the overcast sky.
Jon@jondrobny.com · last yr.

I also briefly encountered this Spotted Sandpiper making its way around the lake yesterday - I've never seen one in breeding plumage before (they lose their spots in the winter when they're more likely to be here), so getting to see one with spots was a treat! #birds

A Spotted Sandpiper - a smallish brown and white shorebird with a medium-length, orange bill, orange legs, a dark stripe running across its eye accented by a white eyebrow, with a bright white belly, chest, and throat, punctuated by dark-brown polka dots, standing on an exposed tree root in front of dark green lakewater
Jon@jondrobny.com · last yr.

Poor lighting for photography yesterday encouraged me to try video, and I'm glad I did - I was lucky enough to capture the elusive Marsh Wren singing its unmistakable song through a gap in the reeds #birds

Jon@jondrobny.com · last yr.

I ran across the park and jogged up a hill hoping to photograph the White-tailed Kite hunting, but by the time I arrived he had already returned to where I had just been to give food to his mate mid-flight - I'm happy I was still able to get this series of shots from very, very, very far away #birds

A composite of five shots taken in quick succession, showing two White-tailed Kites. arrange left-to-right and upwards diagonally. The smaller male kite, above, has a vole in his talons. The female kite swoops upward from behind and below, and, swinging her talons upwards to meet the males, takes the vole from him before twisting away.
Jon@jondrobny.com · last yr.

This lone Snowy Plover landed near me while I was (mostly unsuccessfully) trying to photograph some bathing terns on the beach the other day. I'm glad it did, because this ended up being my favorite shot of the morning #birds

A Snowy Plover - a mostly white, tennis-ball-shaped sandpiper with little stick legs, a dark collar, and light brown back and cap with little, black round eyes and a short, stubby, kind of pointy bill - standing on sloped, soft, pale sand on a cloudy day. The surf is barely visible in the out of focus background. The Plover is positioned just left of center in the frame and is facing and looking forward-right just past the camera. Its bill is covered with sand.
Jon@jondrobny.com · last yr.

This picture didn't turn out exactly as I'd hoped, but I do really like that you can see the reflection of the sunset over the ocean in this Black Phoebe's eye #birds

A close-up portrait of a Black Phoebe - a small, black flycatcher with a little crest, a bright white belly, and wise brown eyes - lit by the orange light of the sun setting over the ocean, facing forward but looking to the left, in front of a pitch-black background that fades to orange-tan in the upper left corner. The setting sun over the ocean can just be made out in the reflection in the phoebe's round, brown eyes.
Jon@jondrobny.com · last yr.

A surprising sight at Guajome park: a beautiful White-tailed Kite has been hanging out at the top of this eucalyptus for a couple of days, despite regular mobbing by the resident crows. I've only ever seen one at a great distance before, so this was cool to see, despite the stick in the way! #birds

A photograph of a White-tailed Kite - a medium-sized, bright white falcon with a flattish face, short bill, and very large, round, bright orange eyes, perched at the very top of a Eucalyptus tree, green with long and narrow oblong leaves. The background is a bright, completely clear blue sky, and the scene is lit by harsh, late morning sun.