Currently reading: Blue Skies by T.C. Boyle. This "cli-fi" novels follows the misadventures of two adult siblings and their mother as they all struggle to navigate life in the era of climate change. Funny and disturbing at the same time! #books #climate https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324093022

In an effort both to entice pollinators, as well as to discourage people from driving across the back corner of our yard, we've let this patch go wild, and I just love it.

This is how it looked, around 8:00, this morning.

#Bloomscrolling #Florespondence #Wildflowers #NaturePhotography

Goals for this week:

1) Work on a story about a recent, very clever study of nature vs nurture in bird migration.

2) Write some climate-themed voter turnout letters for https://votefwd.org/.

3) Catch up on gardening, assuming our AQI improves from "Very Unhealthy."

You?

Y'all LOOK at this deep sea NUGGET. 🧪

It's like a wee axololtl of the deep! https://www.popsci.com/environment/deepest-ocean-fish-recorded/

@joelvanderwerf @Loukas I hope you both enjoy it!

@lydiaschoch I hope you like it!

@lbush I'm glad you're enjoying it!

Fall bird migration is starting! Forgive the self-promotion, but if you're looking for a book to get you hyped for migration, may I suggest mine? You would not believe the wild adventures scientists and birders have had over the last century as they've worked to unravel migration's secrets! #birds #science https://www.harpercollins.com/products/flight-paths-rebecca-heisman?variant=40517967937570

Starting to dig into research for a story I'm working on regarding... a recent study that used a particularly clever method to study bird migration.

I definitely do have a weird little niche as a science writer.

Having one of/the best ornithology libraries in the world has some benefits.

Here's a thread of first issues of some journals. #1: The Auk (1884) #ornithology

My whole family is currently recovering from our first round of COVID, but the day before shit hit the fan, we took a lovely hike along an intermittent creek in the national forest - the remaining permanent pools were full of giant caddisfly larvae and even a few young trout. It was lovely. #nature #outdoors

Still figuring out if I'm going to stay on Mastodon long-term, but I have a request: If you like reading stuff about #birds, would you please consider signing up for my email newsletter? I just send one email every two months. With social media getting more & more unpredictable, I'd really like to build up my email list. http://eepurl.com/hROikX

Incidentally I'm also on Bluesky now and liking it - a lot of my former Twitter community seems to have settled there rather than here. DM me if you need an invite code. https://bsky.app/profile/rheisman.bsky.social

Welp I think if I want to stay on Mastodon I need to move servers, the one I'm on was just down with no explanation for days and there's an annoying amount of drama associated with it now. Ecoevo.social is a possibility, as is scicomm.xyz, but are there any other science/nature/scicomm/bird focused servers I should consider?

Currently reading: Conversations with Birds by Priyanka Kumar, a wonderful collection of essays musing on the ways various birds have intersected with the author's life. It's making me want to get out for even more adventures in nature w/ my son. #birds #books #bookstodon https://milkweed.org/book/conversations-with-birds

Just saw that my story on rosy-finches from the spring issue of the American Bird Conservancy magazine is online now! It's a look at the what we know about how they're faring in the Rocky Mountains as the world begins to warm. Spoiler: the news is not all bad! #birds #ornithology https://abcbirds.org/rosy-finches/

HI so I'm about to send my every-other-month email to my email list: basically just some notes on what I've been writing about and what I've been reading, all bird-focused. It's the best non-social-media way to keep with me and my work! 🪶 eepurl.com/hROikX

I'm still not sure what social media platforms (if any) I'll end up continuing to use long-term when the dust settles, but fyi, I also have an email list you can sign up for. One email every two months with my latest bird writing! eepurl.com/hROikX

This afternoon at 4pm I'll be joining naturalist and author Kelly Brenner for a live Q&A on YouTube! Join us, it'll be fun! #birds #nature https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeUx2gNVnkQ

The monarch caterpillars in our garden haven’t been surviving over the past two years & I shared my disappointment with a friend in horticulture. It may have been due to neighbors pesticides, predators, or some other factor.

She suggested collecting caterpillars just after they hatch, and providing fresh milkweed leaves daily in a protected mesh enclosure.

This morning we awoke to this wondrous surprise!