who says there is
no magic in the world
the first frost glistens like
delicate spray paint
shining in the morning sun
leaves crunch beneath
my feet like crackers
bird song still
heralds a new day
not everyone gets
to go south
for the winter
I stop along the trail
and take it all in
the quiet whispers of life
the elegant beauty
of the season
the joy of truly being alive
all I had to do was let go
of that incessant need
to keep moving forward
and just be in the moment
"people show their true colours in life threatening situations" no, they show you what they act like when they're mortally terrified, an emotion notorious for literally turning your entire brain off to the point where people who go into those situations as a profession need to be literally trained on how to not have that happen
i highly recommend developing an intense interest in some natural phenomenon or creature such as bugs or stars or mushrooms. you will be delighted every time you go outside
What is the difference between a cathedral and a physics lab? Are they not both saying: Hello?
Paolo Giordano, “The Solitude of Prime Numbers” / Antonio Tonelli / Laura Giplin, “A Toast to the Alchemists” / Dennis Overbye, “Music of the Heavens Turns Out to Sound a Lot Like a B Flat” / Carina Nebula / Marie Howe, “Singularity” / Alan Bean, “Is Anyone Out There?” / Bill Bryson, “A Short History of Nearly Everything” / Garrett Lee, “Canyon” / Whit Bronaugh, “The Trees That Miss The Mammoths”
female raptors (eagles, hawks, falcons, etc) are larger than male raptors in pretty much all species. this happens even in groups not closely related to each other (ex: hawks and falcons), so its beneficial enough in their niche that its evolved independently a few times, though its unsure exactly what that benefit is atm (bc unlike males being larger in a lot of mammals, female raptors dont make a habit of fighting each other or using size to attract mates as far as we know). ex: heres a male and female Cooper's Hawk
somewhat mentioned above but falcons are more closely related to parrots than they are to hawks
Gray Catbirds and American Robins have been witnessed raising young in the same nest at the same time. In one instance (reported by Mulvihill and Murray), they were recorded caring for the young of both species in the nest, and when the Catbird young fledged, the adult Catbirds continued to provide food for the not-yet-fledged Robins. heres a pic of the nest from the report
the worlds oldest known bird as of 2024 is a wild Laysan Albatross named Wisdom who's 72-73 years old (at minimum, we dont actually know her birth date, just that she was at least 5 years old when she was banded in the 50s) and still raising chicks. here's her with one of her chicks
also Albatrosses have wingspans of up to 3.5m/11.5ft and have been recorded flying 49,700 miles without touching land (they do land in the water to eat tho)
this is from personal experience but if you walk around in a north american grassland for long enough, you Will get jumpscared by a Mourning Dove bc they make their nests on the ground in the grass and like to hang out on the ground in the grass and they also like to wait until youre right overtop of them to freak out and fly away from you
Bald Eagles don't get their fully white heads and tails until theyre about 5 years old
A lot of birds have been observed incorporating cigarette butts into their nests, and a study in Mexico on House Finches found that this actually results in drastic decreases in parasites affecting young compared to nests without them
Cedar Waxwings (and Waxwings in general) just look so smooth. they look like someone airbrushed them. look at this shit
in Jacanas, females lay eggs in multiple males' nests, and then the males raise the young by themself. Also they carry their babies under their wings like this
Horned Guan. Theyre endangered and live in a small area of central america. both the males and females have the little horn fez, the males just have taller ones
we live in
the paradox
of seasons
closer to
the sun but
cold winds
blow across
an empty field
portents gather
like fallen leaves
as the quiet
white slumber
approaches
we wait in
silence
to complete
the cycle
i vote that next year instead of reading Dracula we do a Jeeves & Wooster Book Club. those two never got the rabid tumblr shipping fandom they deserved (disqualified for the sheer technicality of being published a century too soon). we must correct this injustice
hey man maybe if you think about the fact that dogs dream, and that non-human animals play, and that octopuses decorate their dens, and that there are non-human animals that have cultures, and that ants teach each other, and that fossils exist, and that there are so many forms of language and communication, and that fellow apes look so much like us, and that we are not alone you'll see the beauty and joy