Nostr notes by Felicity Shoulders

My new field guide to North American dragonflies is at least ...

2026-08-12T00:31:09Z

My new field guide to North American dragonflies is at least twice as long as I envisioned and I feel mad with power!

My favorite bird-subtype reference guide, which I use when ...

2026-07-29T00:34:28Z

In reply to nevent1q…yzx4
_________________________

My favorite bird-subtype reference guide, which I use when assuring myself of an iNat identification or looking for info on behavior and nesting, is the Peterson Ref. Guide to Woodpeckers of North America by Stephen Shunk.

CON:
-Out of print. (Sorry!)

PRO:
-The deep knowledge!
-Doesn't shy away from confusing info, so best reference on sapsucker hybridization I've seen, e.g.
-good selection of beautiful photos of adults and juveniles for most taxa I've read thus far

#FavFieldGuide #birding

RE: https://pie.gd/@faerye/116999993408579225 Fellow ...

2026-07-29T00:28:44Z

RE: https://pie.gd/@faerye/116999993408579225

Fellow fedizen-naturalists, let's crowdsource some book recommendations!

I suggest we use the tag #FavFieldGuide but I very much want to hear your recs for at-home reference guides too!

For general birding purposes, I like Sibley Birds West! PROS:
-More portable than the full North America
-Usually includes juvenile plumages
-Illustrated of course with lovely drawings (which are often more clear for identification than photos.)

#birding

quoting
note16ra…dsgu

Choosing field or reference guides for animals can be very frustrating. There often aren't many reviews, and while it seems like it should be easy to choose a volume one relies upon and simply look up another in that series, one finds either:
A. There isn't a comprehensive series of this particular reference guide, and nothing for the taxon desired;
B. There are overlapping guides from the same publisher by different authors and one can't figure out which would be better. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Choosing field or reference guides for animals can be very ...

2026-07-28T22:36:59Z

Choosing field or reference guides for animals can be very frustrating. There often aren't many reviews, and while it seems like it should be easy to choose a volume one relies upon and simply look up another in that series, one finds either:
A. There isn't a comprehensive series of this particular reference guide, and nothing for the taxon desired;
B. There are overlapping guides from the same publisher by different authors and one can't figure out which would be better. 🤷🏻‍♀️

I feel like by photographing this water strider on the lazy creek ...

2026-07-26T18:07:06Z

I feel like by photographing this water strider on the lazy creek the other day, l accidentally made it into a constellation or perhaps banished it to the Phantom Zone.

CN: close-up of bug

#NaturePhotography

The smallest dinosaur I saw today. #BirdPhotography #birding ...

2026-07-14T05:34:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…d8qh
_________________________

The smallest dinosaur I saw today.

#BirdPhotography #birding #Oregon #hummingbird

Admiring rufous hummingbirds in the backyard like “you are by ...

2026-07-14T04:01:43Z

Admiring rufous hummingbirds in the backyard like “you are by FAR the smallest dinosaur I have seen today!”

#birding

I get to go birding AND when I come back I get my little cat ...

2026-07-08T23:29:38Z

I get to go birding AND when I come back I get my little cat stomping around demanding that I pet her and dote on her and let her sleep in my lap? I don’t think this is the strict punishment for poor attendance that my kitty thinks it is! 😍

#CatsOfMastodon

(Photos of Alma being the boss and making lovey faces are from a few days ago, for illustration purposes. I am not currently allowed to move to get good angles!)

I know that we can be angry at more than one thing; but as a ...

2026-06-22T05:55:14Z

I know that we can be angry at more than one thing; but as a citizen of a western state, I am starting to resent the many national news stories about the desecration of a reflecting pool, or the lawn at the Ellipse.

I understand the symbolism, but those parks are fixable. Selling our nat’l forests for timber, boosting exploratory mining, and letting cattle grazers run Interior is large-scale environmental damage: not easy to reverse. I wish those stories seemed as hot to big legacy media.

RE: https://universeodon.com/@digyoursoul/116664826352228964 Oh, ...

2026-06-09T17:57:33Z

RE: https://universeodon.com/@digyoursoul/116664826352228964

Oh, this is wonderful! Regulatory action is basically impossible against illegal fishing, since the boats are usually from another country anyway: and the knock-on ecological benefits of these little artificial seamounts are incredible!

#GoodNews #OceanConservation

quoting
note1yss…k4p0

To block illegal bottom trawlers, Cambodia is building concrete towers.

It’s very clever: three-tonne underwater concrete towers disable trawl nets while creating shelter and nursery space for fish. An NGO has now deployed 1,250 of these ‘Fishery Productivity Structures’ across its southern coast, protecting more than 200 km² of habitat. Early monitoring found fish abundance six times higher at protected sites than control areas.

https://oceanographicmagazine.com/news/concrete-towers-on-the-seabed-scupper-cambodias-illegal-trawling/

This is Doc. Whenever Doc tries to achieve his dreams (being in ...

2026-05-31T20:11:05Z

This is Doc. Whenever Doc tries to achieve his dreams (being in his person’s lap) he gets distracted by irrelevancies (reflections of sunlight off her watch-face). So they stay forever apart, gazing lovingly across an impassable 2-foot gap of sunshine. Don’t be like Doc! Keep your eyes on your goals!

#CatsOfMastodon

Oh, the existential horror of the sound a young indoor cat makes ...

2026-05-13T21:24:26Z

Oh, the existential horror of the sound a young indoor cat makes when it sees a strange outdoor cat for the first time. No cat should be out there! Even my people should not be out there! The glass door is for ENTERTAINMENT PURPOSES ONLY!

TFW you walk back into the house and each cat is sitting up very ...

2026-04-28T21:34:06Z

TFW you walk back into the house and each cat is sitting up very straight in its own location, doing a little blep, and they look at you impassively as if to say “this does not concern you, human: move along!”

#CatsOfMastodon

(Did not capture Alma’s blep, and Doc had abandoned the posture, but Alma maintained posture and expression:)

I've been visiting a hairy woodpecker nest hole in a forested ...

2026-04-28T05:12:30Z

I've been visiting a hairy woodpecker nest hole in a forested park over the last week and a half, and today a little woodpecker stuck eir head out! My vantage is too far away to be sure how many hatchling voices are begging when the parents come with grubs and insects, but I've spied at least the one!

#BirdPhotography #wildForWoodpeckers #oregon #birding

Sometimes #Caturday comes early when your cats are Best Friends ...

2026-04-11T03:29:07Z

Sometimes #Caturday comes early when your cats are Best Friends 💖

#CatsOfMastodon

Oh, it was a WHIPPERSNAPPER red-tailed hawk! (Immature, by the ...

2026-04-03T23:17:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…dggs
_________________________

Oh, it was a WHIPPERSNAPPER red-tailed hawk! (Immature, by the plumage.) You tell 'em, Mx. Raven! You can't be expected to put up with delinquents in the park where you're going to raise a family!

#birdPhotography #birding #oregon #willametteValley

I think the ravens are nesting here again this year: adult flying ...

2026-04-03T20:05:09Z

I think the ravens are nesting here again this year: adult flying over croaking, then chasing off a (presumably red-tailed) hawk!

#birding
#oregon
#willametteValley

Here they are! A minute before I saw them, I had actually ...

2026-03-13T22:47:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…s8j7
_________________________

Here they are!

A minute before I saw them, I had actually thought, "so much romance here today, but only one brown creeper, all alone!"

#birding #oregon #birdPhotography

Two brown creepers sitting in a tree! C R ee P I N G! #birding ...

2026-03-13T21:15:53Z

Two brown creepers sitting in a tree! C R ee P I N G!

#birding #oregon

Fellow mammals, being diurnal was a mistake! Let us all return to ...

2026-03-10T00:44:03Z

Fellow mammals, being diurnal was a mistake! Let us all return to our great crepuscular heritage.

Where did Doc Cochran go, and how did a hermit crab get into our ...

2026-02-27T01:23:33Z

Where did Doc Cochran go, and how did a hermit crab get into our house?!

#CatsOfMastodon

Nostr event nevent1qqsv82csfaj4je5z5ys53xhfa36aa2qnux7vkuthd2dmyplt06z55uszyzt5w55qpdya9uvlnec827vthclmhjgky7gwy7e9r0w7ausmzahcwrf42r0

2026-02-22T03:40:22Z

Medically mandated soulstealing artefact runesword

Stalwart Doc Cochran suffered through a very little ...

2026-02-05T00:26:09Z

Stalwart Doc Cochran suffered through a very little vampire-biting from his sister this morning and reaped the benefits in face-washies and sweet kisses.

#CatsOfMastodon

The small falcon flew away while I repositioned to get a better ...

2026-01-02T23:22:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…etkr
_________________________

The small falcon flew away while I repositioned to get a better angle, but I waited and felt so lucky when it winged back over the lake a few minutes later — with prey! It really makes you realize the merlin isn’t as tiny as its cuteness might lead you to believe, when you see it clutching a songbird like a dragon with a captive princess!

#BirdPhotography #raptor #Oregon #FannoCreekWatershed

I had a scrumptious First #Birding of the Year yesterday. I ...

2026-01-02T23:17:23Z

I had a scrumptious First #Birding of the Year yesterday. I didn't let cold persistent rain (or a brief spate of something bouncier) dissuade me, as I hadn't birded in months and wanted to start the year right.

I saw a kinglet and other songbirds as soon as I arrived at the #wetlands; then another birder just ahead of me softly asked if I knew what the small raptor in the dead tree was. A merlin!

(Click through in reply to see photos with dead waxwing!)

#raptor #birdPhotography #Oregon

My cats were snuggled up especially adorably last #caturday and I ...

2025-12-14T00:10:41Z

My cats were snuggled up especially adorably last #caturday and I forgot to post them, so I made a little project of trying to capture them being cute together every day this week. I only missed Tuesday! (When I only photographed them being cute separately.) Caturday everyday! (1/2 -- hoping to get a good snuggle photo today before posting second batch!)

#CatsOfMastodon

This is perfectly fascinating to me as a person allergic to raw ...

2025-12-03T22:51:16Z

This is perfectly fascinating to me as a person allergic to raw apple peel; and as a person interested in Kyrgyz wild apple trees! (There’s a conservation effort trying to preserve the genetic diversity of the wildtype under pressure from oil industry habitat loss.)

Boosting in case anyone has Olde heirloom apple trees to help OP’s projects.
https://infosec.exchange/@fbz/115640075192258858

One year ago today we got our amazing kitties: Doc Cochran and ...

2025-11-26T22:35:45Z

One year ago today we got our amazing kitties: Doc Cochran and Alma, the Widow Garret! They have brought all the chaos we expected and even more sweetness and snuggles than we dared hope.

When we brought them home, shy Doc was very intent on hiding in safe places, while his curious sister explored and called him if she found something really important. (More often, he called her back to cuddle!)

She is still the leader, and they still love each other very much!

#CatsOfMastodon #Adoptiversary

No Roman emperor ever reclined with such majesty as Doc! ...

2025-11-26T21:24:46Z

No Roman emperor ever reclined with such majesty as Doc!

(However, he definitely is carrying weapons within the sacred line of the pomerium, and very possibly knows I won’t clip those claws while he is relaxing on his beloved bin of fabric.)

#CatsOfMastodon #ThinkingAboutAncientRome

“Yes, we’re very cute. We know.” Last-minute #caturday ...

2025-10-12T05:47:31Z

“Yes, we’re very cute. We know.”

Last-minute #caturday because Alma and Doc are cuddled up so adorably!

#CatsOfMastodon

(Click through for bird-on-fish violence) A little pied-billed ...

2025-10-04T18:54:49Z

(Click through for bird-on-fish violence)

A little pied-billed grebe gave me a front-row seat for its mighty struggle with lunch yesterday!

#BirdPhotography #MarshWitchEra #Birding #Wetlands #Oregon #FannoCreekWatershed

Accidentally called my cat “squeakheart” but I stand by it. ...

2025-10-01T21:09:53Z

Accidentally called my cat “squeakheart” but I stand by it.

#CatsOfMastodon

He wanted me to get one of his soulful side. #DownyWoodpecker ...

2025-09-20T05:03:10Z

In reply to nevent1q…hms6
_________________________

He wanted me to get one of his soulful side.

#DownyWoodpecker
#WildForWoodpeckers #birding #BirdPhotography

Any day you go birding in hopes of end-of-summer woodpeckers, ...

2025-09-19T19:39:49Z

Any day you go birding in hopes of end-of-summer woodpeckers, step out of your parked car at the spot, and hear pecking before you even have your camera out is a good day. 😍

(Male downy, absolutely darling!)

#WildForWoodpeckers #birding

While I had a phone call with my allergist‘s office about the ...

2025-09-11T21:09:22Z

While I had a phone call with my allergist‘s office about the continuing saga of trying to wring effective asthma meds out of my insurance company, this bundle of allergens was making lovey eyes at me and sweetly extracting pets. You are so worth it, little kitty!

#CatsOfMastodon

News outlets should stop embedding posts from social media if ...

2025-09-11T20:39:21Z

News outlets should stop embedding posts from social media if that site won’t let the embed be totally functional. (Example: article about the booing at the U.S. Open, embedded tweet with a clip of ABC’s coverage ostensibly showing the booing, which won’t play unless I click through to ‘X’.)

If the post is not useful to a reader who doesn’t leave the article then it isn’t a quote, an illustration, or an asset to the story: it’s an ad.

“Your cats seem like they snuggle a lot!” says my mom. Yeah, ...

2025-09-08T22:51:45Z

“Your cats seem like they snuggle a lot!” says my mom. Yeah, you could say that!

#CatsOfMastodon

Doc bringing the glamor this #Caturday! #CatsOfMastodon ...

2025-08-23T23:43:40Z

Doc bringing the glamor this #Caturday!

#CatsOfMastodon

I love photographing great blue herons because of their ...

2025-08-16T22:51:41Z

I love photographing great blue herons because of their fearlessness, grace, and beauty.

#BirdPhotography #ardeidae #Oregon #wetlands

I don't know that it's "ospreys really know their ...

2025-08-08T23:02:34Z

I don't know that it's "ospreys really know their angles" so much as "ospreys don't have bad angles." So glamorous and photogenic!

#BirdPhotography #birding #oregon #FannoCreekWatershed #wetlands

I must say, having to choose between trying to photograph the ...

2025-08-08T20:27:03Z

I must say, having to choose between trying to photograph the trio of purple martins in flight OR the green heron upsetting a young kingfisher by perching too close…is my favorite kind of problem. The kind of problem I’d like to become adroit at handling!

#birding #MarshWitchEra #Oregon #wetlands

I get so angry that we can’t even insist on masking in ...

2025-08-01T21:57:39Z

I get so angry that we can’t even insist on masking in hospitals.

In some areas, there’s LESS masking in medical settings than pre-COVID. Even modern hospitals with great ventilation can’t stop transmission entirely, with the current COVID viral loads; and neither COVID, flu, nor the common cold is going to improve the recovery of the people in this pre-surgery waiting room.

They have the rest of the world for denial: let us have rationality in medical settings!

#MaskUp

They heard a NOISE! #CatsOfMastodon ...

2025-07-27T19:39:25Z

They heard a NOISE!

#CatsOfMastodon

When I went birding this weekend, there were 6 great egrets at ...

2025-07-21T21:27:35Z

When I went birding this weekend, there were 6 great egrets at the marsh. They were all on breaks from fishing, so I photographed various forms of egret hijinks!

#BirdPhotography #MarshWitchEra #EgretsIveHadAFew #Oregon #FannoCreekWatershed

My co-protagonist @npub1w2y…2xvz told me yesterday to make sure ...

2025-07-03T19:57:15Z

My co-protagonist Ryan Grove (npub1w2y…2xvz) told me yesterday to make sure to look at our hydrangea, as its June glories would be fading soon. And I did look at it! I just also looked at its cast of visiting #insects. 🤓

(Apart from the honeybee, species IDs below are suggestions from iNat's Seek app, checked by my decidedly non-expert eye.)

1. Plain ol' Western honeybee;
2 & 3. A western aphideater (hoverfly);
4. An orange-legged furrow bee (native sweat bee!) & bonus katydid nymph.

#Oregon #NaturePhotography

They have come here to snuggle and eat Churu, and they’re all ...

2025-06-28T22:27:39Z

In reply to nevent1q…ntcq
_________________________

They have come here to snuggle and eat Churu, and they’re all out of Churu!

#Caturday #CatsOfMastodon

They have a very particular set of skills. (Snuggly ones.) ...

2025-06-21T20:27:43Z

In reply to nevent1q…5shx
_________________________

They have a very particular set of skills. (Snuggly ones.)

#Caturday #CatsOfMastodon

Gotta make a motivational poster out of this red-shafted Northern ...

2025-06-17T20:48:49Z

Gotta make a motivational poster out of this red-shafted Northern Flicker eating from the squirrel-proof feeder.

BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAMS!

#CentralOregon #WildForWoodpeckers #BirdPhotography

You wanna see a weird little guy? (Brown creeper, Certhia ...

2025-06-05T03:53:38Z

You wanna see a weird little guy?

(Brown creeper, Certhia americana, foraging for arthropods among the veiled polypore fungi growing on a dying ponderosa pine.)

#birding #CentralOregon #BirdPhotography #WeirdLittleGuy

snuggling intensifies #Caturday #CatsOfMastodon ...

2025-06-01T03:37:06Z

In reply to nevent1q…v8j2
_________________________

*snuggling intensifies*

#Caturday #CatsOfMastodon

I love it when a plan comes together. #Caturday #CatsOfMastodon ...

2025-06-01T03:08:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…lgg7
_________________________

I love it when a plan comes together.

#Caturday #CatsOfMastodon

This isn’t a threat. They’re just telling you what they’re ...

2025-05-18T05:58:21Z

In reply to nevent1q…7jux
_________________________

This isn’t a threat. They’re just telling you what they’re going to do.

#Caturday #CatsOfMastodon

I'm sorry, Benjamin Franklin, but this thing just calls out ...

2025-05-17T05:05:06Z

I'm sorry, Benjamin Franklin, but this thing just calls out to be a national bird! (I mean, eagles in general are overrepresented in this category for a reason.) Look at it up there thinking majestic thoughts. Or possibly fishy thoughts. 🦅🐟

#BirdPhotography #Oregon #WillametteRiverWatershed #BaldEagle

They said that they would do it and indeed they did! #Caturday ...

2025-05-11T04:48:14Z

In reply to nevent1q…r3wu
_________________________

They said that they would do it and indeed they did!

#Caturday #CatsOfMastodon

Just to be clear, I am also very grumpy about the completely ...

2025-05-07T19:30:02Z

In reply to nevent1q…kxcd
_________________________

Just to be clear, I am also very grumpy about the completely unfeasible pipe dream of settling Mars, and all the stupid destructive attitudes that feed it! I have some “Terraform the Earth” poster designs I haven’t worked on in a while. I might need to pick that project up to express my feelings. 😜

I almost specified groups for the ‘we’, including some that I ...

2025-05-07T19:17:50Z

In reply to nevent1q…53qp
_________________________

I almost specified groups for the ‘we’, including some that I belong to, such as sci-fi writers. (Weir isn’t the first to note the situation of rented air, but many writers simply are not interested in the question of ambient ongoing psychological strain, and elide it to move on to the story they DO want to tell.)

But broadly, humans are bad at imagining the effect of hardships we haven’t undergone, so I decided to go with a general ‘we’.

I reread Timothy Egan’s 2006 book on the Dust Bowl, The Worst ...

2025-05-07T05:02:15Z

I reread Timothy Egan’s 2006 book on the Dust Bowl, The Worst Hard Time.

One thing that struck me is how much we underestimate the psychological and physiological strain of living in a sterile and inimical place. Mars? Most people couldn’t handle living in 1935 Cimarron County, Oklahoma, where the air was breathable SOME days and the blowing soil wasn’t full of peroxide.

https://www.timothyeganbooks.com/the-worst-hard-time

The snuggling will continue whether or not morale improves! ...

2025-05-04T05:22:55Z

The snuggling will continue whether or not morale improves!

#Caturday #CatsOfMastodon

This was the Widow Garret’s reaction to us trying out the ...

2025-04-26T22:18:18Z

This was the Widow Garret’s reaction to us trying out the various options on our new door bell chimes. I know, Alma, I feel like that about people coming to the door too!

#CatsOfMastodon

On the plus side, my scaredy kitty is now much more confident and ...

2025-03-19T04:48:27Z

On the plus side, my scaredy kitty is now much more confident and less startled by loud noises!

On the other hand, when he tries to bite through a laptop cord and I clap to stop him, he looks up and then confidently decides this has nothing to do with him and settles back in to gnaw.

#CatsOfMastodon

The bleak irony of thinking “oh! I’m between tasks, the cats ...

2025-03-16T23:06:22Z

The bleak irony of thinking “oh! I’m between tasks, the cats are asleep, I could do a workout!” and instantly the timer going off to let me know Past Me said I had to start making dinner right now.

“Being an adult means having to self-parent,” they said. They didn’t explain how often that would mean dragging my petulant self around by the hand while also whining that I never let myself do anything fun!

Here's an interesting little detail from my birding Friday! I ...

2025-03-10T19:37:25Z

Here's an interesting little detail from my birding Friday! I took a (misfocused) photo of a male spotted towhee about 20 feet from where I had taken a better photo in June 2023 -- the first time I took out my current camera, actually. And looking at the eye of each bird, you'll notice the same black spot in the iris! Almost certainly the same bird, living in the same territory year after year.

#birding #birdPhotography #FannoCreek #NewWorldSparrow #oregon

Any day when I have to zoom BACK from a brown creeper because it ...

2025-02-28T22:46:06Z

Any day when I have to zoom BACK from a brown creeper because it is too close to easily frame is a great day!

(It was actually the second brown creeper to come close and let me take photos! Such beneficence in such shy dinosaurs.)

#birdPhotography #birding #pdx #WillametteRiverWatershed

Alma and Doc were giving me their best “Please, Miss, we have ...

2025-02-23T05:09:28Z

Alma and Doc were giving me their best “Please, Miss, we have been very good children to-day and have deserved to be given ice cubes to chase about!” expressions yesterday, but Alma was apparently also casting a spell to detach her shadow for use as messengers.

#CatsOfMastodon

I feel like there’s something generational about the desire for ...

2025-01-30T05:11:59Z

I feel like there’s something generational about the desire for one’s relatives to have decent online security hygiene without having to answer their questions (and do their internet searches) about it. But it’s probably universal to people who are sort of techy and sort of paranoid, regardless of age.

Sometimes I worry our kitten Doc Cochran will end up bullying his ...

2025-01-23T22:35:39Z

Sometimes I worry our kitten Doc Cochran will end up bullying his sister Alma because he is already at least 2 pounds (almost a kilo) heavier than her, and much longer. Then I see her breezily take away the new favorite toy he’s been carrying around for hours, then watch him follow her around quietly waiting for her to get bored or bat it too far away, and I stop worrying.

#CatsOfMastodon #CatTaxRemitted

It is surprising how many colors there are in a black cat. Her ...

2025-01-07T21:09:15Z

It is surprising how many colors there are in a black cat. Her pelt of course is brown as well as black; but her black beans have a blush of lilac, and the sun shines white and silver on her fur, while the blush pink of her ears extends onto her little face on either side. Her little mouth is just touched with pink as if she tasted a powder puff, and of course her lovely eyes are bronze with a slight green patina.

(Yes, I am bonkers over this little cat.)

#CatsOfMastodon #blackCat

Is there a kitty tooth fairy? Asking for my big grown-up kitten ...

2025-01-04T07:14:38Z

Is there a kitty tooth fairy? Asking for my big grown-up kitten Doc, who just turned five (months)!

(First photo is Doc; second is a shed kitten baby tooth, looking a tinge bloody toward the root.)

#CatsOfMastodon

Taking our kittens to the vet for the first time with mixed ...

2024-12-24T19:14:33Z

Taking our kittens to the vet for the first time with mixed feelings.

To Alma and Doc: Sorry! I promise we get to go home afterward!

To the vet and techs: BEHOLD THE GLORY OF MY KITTENS!

Kittens’ first #Caturday! They’ve been with us almost a ...

2024-12-21T21:21:18Z

Kittens’ first #Caturday!

They’ve been with us almost a month. Doc is a little less skittish and bigger every day, but equally sweet and happy to be petted at almost any time (which sometimes complicates photography!) Alma is still scary-smart but she is also a slinky little lovebug and falls asleep on the couch between us most evenings. Just amazing kittens!

#CatsofMastodon

“What, us try to drink your tea and walk on your laptop ...

2024-12-19T01:20:50Z

“What, us try to drink your tea and walk on your laptop keyboard? But we are so sweet and snuggly!”

#CatsofMastodon

I really need Siri to stop hearing “Hey cutie” as “Hey ...

2024-12-15T06:37:39Z

I really need Siri to stop hearing “Hey cutie” as “Hey Siri”. It’s been awkward ever since we got the kittens!

(Cuteness included for illustrative and Cat Tax purposes)

#CatsofMastodon

Birded in the pouring afternoon rain yesterday, for the first ...

2024-12-14T19:51:30Z

Birded in the pouring afternoon rain yesterday, for the first time in weeks (getting kittens has been keeping me busy!). Mostly saw the usual suspects, but as I was thinking it was dim enough I should go home, I saw a bird fly to a tree. “Probably the scrub jay I heard earlier," I thought, "but silhouetted who can say? I'll snap some photos to be sure. Wouldn't it be jolly if it were something COOL like a shrike or something?”

Please meet my very first Northern Shrike. 😳

#birding #LiferBird

Every time I try to put my phone on the charger today my kittens ...

2024-12-13T05:00:57Z

Every time I try to put my phone on the charger today my kittens do something like this so I have to pluck it back to take photos!

#CatsofMastodon

Kittens are really like, “Oh my goodness, after those three ...

2024-12-08T05:03:49Z

Kittens are really like, “Oh my goodness, after those three nearly uninterrupted hours of naps, we really need to wash!”

And then five minutes later, “All this washing is very hard work: we need a nap to recruit us from our labor.”

#CatTaxRemitted

#CatsofMastodon

I am sure #PenChalet does their giveaways to get people to talk ...

2024-11-30T00:12:37Z

I am sure #PenChalet does their giveaways to get people to talk about them on social media, but I do not mind falling into their scheme: I got a lovely free Opus 88 Koloro demonstrator in next year’s colors in my order from their sale. My order which contained (for I am very abstemious and well behaved) zero pens!

I chortle in my joy!

#FountainPens

I may need tips from expert photographers of ravens and crows, ...

2024-11-29T06:31:31Z

I may need tips from expert photographers of ravens and crows, now I have these photographic subjects at home. 😉

Meet our new kitties, the Widow Garret and Doc Cochran!

#KittenQuest #CatsofMastodon

Went to the marsh today! The waterbirds (#1, double-crested ...

2024-10-30T05:48:06Z

Went to the marsh today! The waterbirds (#1, double-crested cormorants, and #4 great blue heron) were enjoying the cloudy still day, and the shorebirds (#2 greater yellowlegs, and #3 long-billed dowitchers) were prowling the mud flats exposed by the rather low waterline. I have no idea why the water is low: it's been pouring rain this week!

#Oregon #FannoCreek #birdPhotography #birding #wetlands #beaverton

Great article in #ScientificAmerican about the many amazing ...

2024-10-16T03:44:54Z

Great article in #ScientificAmerican about the many amazing possibilities of nasal vaccines for COVID and beyond. I was disappointed we’re looking at 2027 for COVID nasal vax, though. If any of these human trials want more test subjects, they should call me 😜

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/new-nasal-vaccines-offer-stronger-protection-from-covid-flu-and-more-no-needle-needed/

Two Douglas' Squirrels 60 miles and one day apart: I spotted ...

2024-10-11T21:50:40Z

Two Douglas' Squirrels 60 miles and one day apart: I spotted this recent mama squirrel chowing down (okay, I heard her first) at Tryon Creek park Wednesday, and then found the woods on Cape Meares on the coast full of smaller Douglases the next day.

These little guys are said to prefer or require old-growth or "mature second-growth" forests (Tryon is the latter), which justifies my happiness whenever I see them. It seems like a sign of a happy conifer forest!

#Wildlife #Oregon

Not yet, trying to figure it out! Seek’s guess was a European ...

2024-10-04T22:15:45Z

In reply to nevent1q…el5h
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Not yet, trying to figure it out! Seek’s guess was a European species a bit wrong in body (broad centurion). On iNat in my area I’m seeing a lot of Sargus bipunctatus, which is also European (“adventive” here) but seems likely to match!

One of the many joys of using #iNaturalist is when you are trying ...

2024-10-04T21:59:30Z

One of the many joys of using #iNaturalist is when you are trying to drill down the taxa on something unfamiliar and you throw your taxonomic net wide enough that you see observations on other continents.

I love knowing that today someone in Italy and in France, just like my co-protagonist and me in Oregon, stopped to look at a shining slender fly and wonder.

#insect #soldierFly

Here's my little falcon from this afternoon! I think it is a ...

2024-10-01T06:11:38Z

Here's my little falcon from this afternoon! I think it is a Merlin -- the Black subtype we have on the West coast. If so, it's the first verified sighting I have since I started my list!

Main points: faint mustache stripe, thin but distinct eyebrow, tail projecting only slightly beyond wingtips, distinctive shape in flight. Opinions are welcome. (especially from any falcon fiends?)

#birding #BirdPhotography #Oregon #WestCoastUSA #raptors

Great Egrets certainly are a Shape! #BirdPhotography #Oregon ...

2024-09-13T03:40:11Z

Great Egrets certainly are a Shape!

#BirdPhotography #Oregon #EgretsIveHadAFew #TualatinValley

I love when it feels like a bird is posing!

2024-09-05T23:32:32Z

In reply to nevent1q…4kwq
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I love when it feels like a bird is posing!

I hope these show up right! (Didn’t do an explicit ‘export ...

2024-09-05T21:15:27Z

In reply to nevent1q…sd3v
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I hope these show up right! (Didn’t do an explicit ‘export from RAW’ step so…could be weird.) This is one of a family of 4 or 5 common ravens I saw in a state park last June. No visual difference among members so the kids must have been grown, but they were playing tug of war and making noises like a troop of chimps so I got the impression some of them were first-years!

#Oregon #WillametteRiverWatershed #birding #BirdPhotography

I saw 3 belted kingfishers, 2 green herons, 4 great blue herons, ...

2024-08-24T19:18:14Z

I saw 3 belted kingfishers, 2 green herons, 4 great blue herons, 4 great egrets, and 1 osprey at the marsh yesterday; and yet there were plenty of fishies for this pied-billed grebe to feed their little peeper!

(Content note: small fish in distress)

#Birding #BirdPhotography #Oregon #TualatinValley

This is a test of the Cat Picture Transmission System! At the ...

2024-08-23T20:52:49Z

In reply to nevent1q…dgge
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This is a test of the Cat Picture Transmission System!

At the instigation of Travis F W (npub1x2z…6szq) I hereby test the Fediverse’s continued ability to transmit cat photos, with this picture of the late and much loved Qubit, monarch of my heart and Ryan Grove (npub1w2y…2xvz)’s.

If you can see this, cat photos are a go! (You should probably also test though, to make sure!)

Sorry to report that I have recently had problems with both ...

2024-08-23T20:44:25Z

Sorry to report that I have recently had problems with both Discord and Messages…sending totally different cat photos.

I must reiterate, cat pictures. The thing the internet is FOR! 🙀

I’m a little late on this #WorldPhotographyDay, and it’s ...

2024-08-20T05:21:12Z

I’m a little late on this #WorldPhotographyDay, and it’s still odd to think of myself as any kind of photographer. But I’m so gleeful and grateful that I can use this technology to get a better look at birds, beasties, and buzzymosts, and bring their beauty home with me!

My pinned post shows one of my favorite photos I’ve taken this year (a hummingbird of my acquaintance) but here’s another one I feel proud of/lucky for: a nesting pair of mountain chickadees from June. ❣️

#BirdPhotography

Absolutely brutal that as an adult human I have to make dinner ...

2024-08-16T00:26:51Z

Absolutely brutal that as an adult human I have to make dinner for myself and my partner. Why can't I just peep loudly until someone brings food and puts it in my beak? (Well, besides the fact that I am not a baby pied-billed grebe, and I don't like fish.)

#BirdPhotography #Oregon #birding

My family visit in Central Oregon wasn’t very birdy this time, ...

2024-08-08T17:56:09Z

My family visit in Central Oregon wasn’t very birdy this time, but a Hairy Woodpecker came to bid me goodbye regardless!

#CentralOR #woodpeckers #BirdPhotography

Happy 26th anniversary of not being destroyed by SkyNet, fellow ...

2023-08-30T00:35:51Z

Happy 26th anniversary of not being destroyed by SkyNet, fellow humans! Every day since 1997 is a gift. Even if sometimes it seems like a scratchy, outgassing sweater with the ink-tag still attached.

No fate but what we make for ourselves.

#terminator