It's a Science-Art Tweetstorm!

Do you like science?  Do you like art?  How about when science and art combine?  Heck yeah, you do!  After all, you're reading this blog aren't you?

This week on Twitter, Glendon Mellow of Symbiartic is inviting artists to share their science and nature-related or influenced art.  If you'd like to participate, here are the instructions from Glendon:

Post your art on Twitter using the #SciArt hashtag.
Aim to post a minimum of 3 of your works per day, so 21 for the week.
Feel free to post more, a lot more than 3.
Post anything sciart-related: sketches, finished pieces, cartoons, fine art, bioart, paleoart, medical illustration, nature painting, you name it.
Works do not have to be new. Get out that back catalogue. If there's one thing I've learned about Twitter, it's that your old artwork is always new to someone.
Post the same piece more than once. If you've got an image or 2 you really want to promote, the audience at 2pm Tuesday is not the same as the audience at 2am Friday.
By all means , promote your blog and online store. A tweet consisting of "(name of art), (link to website) #SciArt" + the image itself looks perfect to me.
Try to retweet at least 5 other #sciart tweets by other people per day.We are not policing this effort, so more or less is fine. Whatever you are comfortable with.

The goal of this is to share the variety and importance of art as it relates to science. By posting a huge flurry of tweets all in one week, we hope to reach an even broader audience. We hope you'll be a part of it!

Sounds like fun!  I'll be posting @Babbletrish and hope to see lots of participants.

Update: Nature took notice!

Veggie, Fruit-Fruit / Veggie-Veggie, Fruit-Fruit / Veggie, Fruit-Fruit / CHA-CHA-CHA!!!

It's spring! It's spring! It finally came! My gosh, it's actually nice out! The snow is gone and the air is full of bird song and frog song and pollen and mosquitoes and the little blackflies. Always the blackfly no matter where you go.

This week and next week will be nothing but gardening posts to celebrate (and also I will be very busy these two weeks). I've got a doozie to begin with.

Last week, my family and I started in on a grand science experiment: we built a raised vegetable garden. It's out by the side of the house and has not yet been eaten by ungulates knock on wood. Here's the tale of it's construction.

We'd been intrigued by the idea of making a raised bed for a while now and decided to start with a very simple one. We just picked out our five favorite plants and were a little overwhelmed by the options. We got a bunch of different tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, basil and mint, seeds of nasturtiums, beets, and spinach, onions to deter squirrels and marigolds to repel bugs. Ideally these plants won't know what pesticides even are.

With our "software" acquired, it was time for the hardware. The garden is basically a box full of dirt. We mixed the peat moss in with the garden soil to retain more water. Now for the fun / emotionally satisfying part: placing the plants in their new homes. They got a nice big soaking to settle the dirt. Hopefully, I'll remember to do weekly updates on it. Any advice or suggestions? Sound off in the comments please. Remember, I'm more used to plants who can essentially care for themselves.

-----

In other news, the Mtv Movie Awards were this weekend and... It'd be easy to say "this generation of young people has failed." But really, Mtv needs to change the "you can vote online as often as you like" policy. My one vote for my favorite movies isn't going to mean squat against fifty Sucklings with lots of free time.

-----

Sketch of the Day!



And just to get it out of our heads...

Podcast-Palooza!

NOTE: I had to bash this entry out quickly because I was headed to a skiing trip over this past long weekend and was pretty sure I'd feel like crap warmed over after I got back home. But I also thought that I would somehow still be able to update this post before it went live. That... didn't happen. Sorry for the slapdashy nature.

There has been a lot of talk about podcasts in the Art Evolved community lately. So today I will (finally) share a few of my favorites. Some folks like to listen to music to help them not go insane while drawing and painting, others like to listen to people talk about interesting stuff. I switch back and forth depending on the situation, but for the most part podcasts are the thing for me. I can easily divide them in three categories.

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

IFC News Podcast - It is with a heavy heart that I have to say that this show has just gone extinct. Fortunately, it may return in a different format and in the meantime, what an opportunity to do an archive binge! They have excellent episodes that focus on one particular filmmaker (ie, Pixar, Danny Boyle, Christopher Nolan, ect.), or one, often overlooked aspect of movies (trailers and marketing, defending "splatter movies" and their right to exist,and the digital enhancement of Megan Fox's face in "Jonah Hex" [really]).

The /Filmcast - By far, my favorite movie podcast (and there are a lot of those out there). The hosts are fun and the show is Boston-based, so the show gets considerable Locality Points.
This is the kind of show that will actually invite infamous critic Armond "It's Popular So It Sucks" White on to defend himself. And, oh my, it covers two episodes and it's something to listen to...

SCIENCE

Science... Sort Of! - I've tried out a lot of science podcasts, but I think I was spoiled in listening to this one first. No other one has been as much fun to listen to. Also, the Brachiolope Gallery needs MOER BRACHIOLOPES! You can help by sending them more!

SciFi Saturday Night - Whereas "Science... Sort Of!" is a mostly factual podcast that talks abotu pop culture a little bit, this is sort of the opposite. The crew is very friendly and a joy to meet with every Boston Comicon. Yes, this podcast gets Locality Points as well.

INDIVIDUAL EPISODES

Billy West is a name (or, perhaps more accurately, a voice) familiar to every animation fan, and The Nerdist has a fantastic interview with him. Hear the voice of Stimpy get downright philosophical!

Maurice LaMarche is another beloved voice actor and he does a fantastic interview at Battleship Pretension. He talks a bit more about voice acting and animation.

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the Meet David Orr episode of Meet the Skeptics. He mostly talks about subjects that will be familiar to anyone who has followed "Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs", but it's still a fun listen.

----

Art of the Day!

Oh, hey, a unicorn!

Scientist does something cool, internet blows it way the f*** out of proportion. As usual.

First off, Astrology is a load of bologna. Let's just make that clear. Yeah, people born around the same time of year *maybe* have similar personality traits, and it's useful for extreme shortcuts in literary symbolism, but that's about as much credence I give this stuff. Also, if the PG-13 rated title didn't warn you enough, this post will have vitriol in it. Hide the kiddies until Wednesday, when I will either talk about Batman or Pokemon.

So last Thursday, your Facebook page probably exploded in an orgy of "OMG why am I a Gemini now?" or "What the hell is an Ophiuchus?" This is all thanks to the mainstream media catching wind of Parke Kunkle, board member of the Minnesota Planetarium Society. Earth's relation to the sun has changed slightly since the Babylonians created the first western zodiac, but according to Kunkle, the zodiac dates were never updated to reflect this. Since zodiac constellations are so helpful to astronomers in determining the position of the sun, he came up with a more accurate timeline for them. It includes thirteen constellations, simply because astronomers have counted Ophiuchus as a zodiac constellation for years, and anyway the Babylonians had entirely different zodiac signs. (You would think that the astrologers would have caught this earlier, but never mind that now.)

Got all that? Good. Because here is an example of how this has all been reported (and the comments, holy sh*t). Note that OK! hasn't changed it's horoscope page. How rebellious of them.

So basically, an astronomer did something cool to help his fellow astronomers, and unless you study space yourself, this really doesn't affect you at all. But the internet, in a fine demonstration of why I love and hate it, misunderstood what actually happened and lost it's sh*t over it. I find the ways people have been reacting to this story *fascinating*. It's a little more fun than Tricera-Fail because the subject matter is, as has already been stated, baloney. That said, I never knew, until this week, how many people I know took astrology this seriously. It's... unsettling.

No, your birthdate has not changed. Ophiuchus isn't something scientists just made up, it's just usually left out of the zodiac constellations probably because there's twelve months and so it's just easier to have twelve signs (trust me, I'm just learning about this constellation myself). The night sky has not changed either, and frankly it doesn't care what we humans think about it. And finally (this is the one that astonishes me), just because your new astrological sign doesn't match up to your old astronomical sign, doesn't mean that your personality has changed in any way.

Unless...

Unless you read up on your "new" sign and what it represents. And you vehemently disagreed with it. And yet, somewhere deep down inside, the personality traits of your astronomical sign... stuck.

BWAAAAAAAAAAAHHHM!!!
For the record, I... remain... myself... Dr. Mung-Mung... I mean, a Pisces. Woot. I rather like these proposed new signs suggested by Geek Mom, if only because I get to trade in my fishies for a dragon (wut up, Ness).

Other reassuring things for people affected by the mainstream media misunderstanding and losing their sh*t over a mildly interesting science story. In fact, please copy and paste this into your status if you know someone, or have yourself been affected by the mainstream media misunderstanding and losing their sh*t over a mildly interesting science story. The mainstream media misunderstanding and losing their sh*t over a mildly interesting science story affects the lives of many. There is still no known cure for mainstream media misunderstanding and losing their sh*t over a mildly interesting science story, except for the media getting off their collective fat asses and doing some damn fact-checking. 93% of people won't repost this... Why? Because they probably think reposting this will cause autism or something, which it won't, as determined by science.

1) Pluto is a Trans-Neptunian Object and there are a LOT of them. So rather than have a "My Very Excellent Mother..." mimetic that goes on for twenty minutes, it was time to reevaluate how to define the word "planet". If you're not talking to an astronomer, you can call Pluto whatever you want. Call it a gerbil for all the cold unfeeling objects in space care.

2) Paleontologist Jack Horner started kicking around the idea that maybe the dinosaur we call Torosaurus was really a very old and cranky Triceratops. I have never seen the mainstream press blow a science story so out of proportion as I did when this one got out. Almost no Very few other paleontologists take this theory seriously, and most are just like, "well, that's... interesting, but let's see if we can find more evidence of that first". Point is, Triceratops isn't going anywhere.

I need a hot drink.

Addendum: Oh, I love you, The Onion.

Further Addendum-ing: I love you too, Clever Girl.
----

Sketch of the Day!

I think you could make an excellent argument that the rise in scientific misunderstanding directly correlates to the lack of a good current "Star Trek" TV series...



Further, further Addendum-ing: I love you too, VG Cats!

Feederwatch Season Begins!

Once again, it is time to set up our bird feeders and fill them with delicious treats for our favorite winged theropods. It's time to switch our weather alerts to Celsius. It's time to participate in the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Project Feederwatch.

Data on the migratory and feeding patterns of backyard birds is very valuable, and Feederwatch is probably the easiest of Cornell's citizen science projects to participate in. It couldn't be simpler:

1) Choose two consecutive days per week. Weekends are fine.

2) Keep an eye on your backyard during these days. It doesn't matter if it's all day or a few minutes.

3) Keep a log of (a) the weather and (b) how many birds of each species you see at a time.

This last part is often confusing for some people. If you look out the window on Saturday and see twenty House Sparrows (as an aside, it's okay to estimate if the birds arrive in big flocks), write that down. If you look out on Sunday and see fifty sparrows, scratch out your "twenty" count and write that down. This is because of part 4:

4) At the end of your second day, go to the Cornell Data Entry website and record the LARGEST number for each species you have seen over your two days.

And that's basically it. Really, all the information you need is at the Cornell website.

There are a few readers last year who were curious as to what birdseed I use. As you can see in the picture above, I use a blend. If you're making your own blend, start with sunflower seeds. Note that Black-Oil Sunflower seeds are easiest for birds to consume. I remember years ago being able to purchase bulk bags of Striped Sunflower seeds, but it seems as though those seeds are being relegated to being human food. You can experiment with Striped if you can find some that haven't been roasted, flavored, salted, or what-have-you.

Add some unsalted, unflavored, un-messed-around-with peanuts. You can experiment with other nuts (especially tree nuts), and small dried fruits like raisins and "craisins" are usually a big hit too, especially in winter. Avoid trail mixes as these often contain chocolate (as bad for birds as it is for dogs, poor things), yogurt, and other weird foods. The very patient among us can start collecting fruit seeds, like I have with the pumpkins (argh but not with the record number of Gala apples I consumed this autumn.)

Speaking of fruit, overripe fruit can go over well with wild animals. But, and I cannot emphasize this enough, DO NOT BE CHEAP AND TOSS STALE BREAD OUT THERE BREAD IS BASICALLY THE WORST THING YOU COULD FEED A BIRD!!!!! Read this Tetrapod Zoology post for more - much more; more than you could ever possibly want to know - about this. Aside from fruit, there are also... let's call them more exotic options. (For the record, this is a line I will not cross.)

So I usually get one big bag of sunflower seeds and a little bag of mixed seeds (this covers the "little stuff"), a jar of shelled peanuts, and a big box of raisins. And I can usually get all of this for a decent price at Ocean State Job Lot. (I have a future post in me arguing against expensive bird seed -- but keep in mind that the primary consumers of my seeds are house sparrows. Your mileage may vary.) I mix everything together in --this is very important-- a big plastic tub with a lid that closes very tightly. I even go further and keep my tub well off the ground and weigh the lid down. You want the critters to stay in the yard, not venture into the basement.

And speaking of critters...



Tolerance of mammals at your bird feeder is another "mileage may vary" issue. Some people are totally cool with the occasional squirrel. I am too -- as long as they are scarfing up whatever has fallen out of the feeder and aren't raiding the feeder itself.

To that end, I can't recommend a squirrel-proof feeder highly enough. The one I use is a hopper feeder that has a counterweight design; there's a little door above the opening that snaps shut if something that weighs a lot more than a bird sits on the perch. (It's not this model, but it looks very similar.) It has the added advantage of making sure huge crowds of house sparrows can't empty the feeder in one sitting (which, unfortunately, they absolutely will).

There are other designs, including the spectacular Yankee Flipper (here's a video of this thing in action, with a perfect soundtrack, and I get the sense that Droll Yankee invented it just for the LOLs.) If you don't have access to these feeders, a "baffle" works pretty well, and you could always try greasing your feeder pole. Best thing to do, really, is resign yourself to the fact that, if a squirrel could smell birdseed on Mars, he'd find some way to get at it.

I set my feeder in an area that's relatively hidden from the street, not too close to the hedges where the sparrows hang out and where predators could lurk, and in kind of an open spot among the lilacs (not to close to the trees that squirrels could jump from them to the feeder, but close enough for the birds to feel they could dive in them for safety if the neighbors' cat comes to investigate.) And, of course, it's in full view of my biggest window, without being anywhere near the window. Having birds flying around near a big window is just inevitably going to end in tragedy. On a similar note, keep your cats and dogs inside during the mid-morning and afternoon, as those tend to be the peak feeding times.



While we are on the subject of Carnivore Confusion, I tolerate hawks. The very few I have seen always go after the house sparrows. If you do not enjoy the sight of a Sharpie PWNING a sparrow in your own backyard, then what kind of birdwatcher ARE you?

I'll write more about bird feeding once I actually get my feeder up, as there are a lot of issues yet to cover. For those of you starting your counts early, good luck! Here's to a great season!

In Which I dismantle some Old Computers before tossing them.

Wrapping up the Great Basement Cleanout, I ran into a few things that are poignantly obsolete. Things like VHS tape rewinders (tape decks tended to wear out and be the first part of a VCR to break, so this little machine would save them some stress), VCR head cleaners (special VHS tapes that cleaned the tape decks), cassingles (pretty much exactly what it sounds like; one of the amusing album covers below is a cassingle), dot-matrix printer paper (which came in big, long reams that you had to tear apart; I wish I had a picture to explain this better), and these guys:



These are backup disks for our very first computer that ever had a hard drive. I have no idea what's on any of them, so we couldn't really toss them. I'd gone through a lot of trouble taking our old computers apart and squirreling their hard disks away. (Yes, computerS. They retired to the basement and appeared to have multiplied) :



Wait for it...
Wait for it.....
Dude, I dissected a Dell.
(Really, nobody? Huh. Oh well, I didn't think it was funny ever.)
These are the "guts" (all except the hard drive, which would have fit into that empty space occupied by wires and stuff) of a Dell PC from the late 1990's. This was the youngest computer I had to dismantle. I saved the oldest for last:



Wa-hahaha... oh wow. (I apologize for the fuzzy photos, but I was taking them in a hurry while juggling my trusty screwdriver and pliers.)
This is our old Apple IIGS (Apple 2: Graphics and Sound), the very first computer my family ever owned. You can read more information about this baby at Wikipedia.
I want to point out the objects in the lower-left, because I'm sure some younger people are looking at them and thinking, "what?" Those are floppy disk drives. The smaller one near the middle was for 3.5 Floppies, the same kinds of floppy disks I showed earlier. They were called 3.5s because they were the then-remarkably tiny size of... three and a half inches. For the record, this kind of disk just went extinct very recently (I think I read that a major manufacturer just shut down production of them last week.) They were the dominant storage medium of the late '80s-well into the 1990's. Unfortunately, their capacity wasn't very large. Generally speaking, if you had a document that was more than 500 K, you were pretty screwed.
The larger disk drive is more hilarious/heartwarming to me. This was for a 5.25 inch floppy disk. These disks were actually floppy in that the namesake floppy disk was protected by thin sheets of just-barely-less-floppy plastic. Their capacity usually ranged just over 100 K, but they could be double-sided. Even so, you often had to stick in a veritable conga line of these disks just to get one program running. A modern desktop may take a while to boot up, but it's cake and ice cream compared to this.
So what does it look like inside?



Fascinating. The green piece (which I've saved and kinda want to frame because it's pwetty) fits over the front part of the drive. This was as far as I could dismantle this drive (I couldn't even crack the 3.5 drive.)
Inside the CPU...



There's a lot more empty space in here than there is in modern computers! I'm assuming that large object on the left is a fan or something. I have a great love for the "TRON" landscapes inside old computers.

----

Sketch Crazy Found Art of the Day! Here, have some funny cassette tape cover art:



Not sure who the band on the right is, but thanks to this cover, I think I like them even if it turns out they are responsible for all the songs I've ever hated.

My Second-Ever Visit to HMNH

Before I get started here, I need to say that every time I hear "Squeakquel," it makes me want to hurt people.
This was originally posted at LaGremlinland on 5/9/06, and it is the very last post "rescued" from my old websites.

By far, the museums at Harvard University are the most underrated tourist attractions in the Boston area. They are just lovely. This article came about when I had to make a quick trip to Harvard Square and I decided, for the heck of it, to visit the Harvard Museum of Natural History.
Of all the Harvard museums, this one might be the most famous. There are hundreds and hundreds of things to see in here. For now, we are going to tour the Natural History Museum itself. (It’s unclear as to whether the Peabody Museum is part of the HMNH or not. I consider it one of the art museums. Next trip.) First, here is a photograph that I was probably not supposed to be taking of one of the famous Glass Flowers:

These pieces are unbelievable. This is a painstakingly accurate scientific model of an Iris made out of glass. They had a small display of how the artisans created these models and it must have taken a $#!^-load of time to do and an amount of patience that is totally alien to me.
I start with the Glass Flowers because they encapsulate something downright poignant about this museum: It is OLD. Some of the exhibits date back almost a hundred years or more. Several of the *models* on display are a hundred years old. Most of the animal displays use taxidermy, and it’s sad to see that some of the mounts are falling apart (check the stitches on their Rhino). And, inevitably, you see things like this:

Yeah. Several exhibits have, inadvertently, become requiems for creatures that are now severely endangered or extinct. Needless to say, you have to keep the historical context of these exhibits in mind when you go. Just when I was starting to get bummed out, I saw this:



Throw up your talons if you [heart] Maniraptors. Meet specimen “MCZ 4371”, a Deinonychus antirrhopus. And if I’m not mistaken, this is one of the ’raptors who was described by Professor John Ostrom in the late 60’s, and who inspired him to say, “Woah… this here’s one KICK-ASS animal.” Before he wrote his report on 4371, people didn’t realize just how KICK-ASS Maniraptors were. It’s very likely because the only ’raptors found thus far back then were small animals and fossils whose hind talons were badly preserved. Imagine the only ’raptor you know about is cute lil’ Archaeopteryx lithographica… and then you find this. It’s also fairly obvious, when you stand next to this animal, that this is the “Jurassic Park” raptor. It’s still unclear whether Deinonycus was a larger “robust” subspecies of Velociraptor (which were generally much smaller and slimmer) or if these were two separate genre of animals. Like most of the exhibits, unfortunately there isn’t much information to confirm or deny the “famous” status of a specimen. That’s too bad. Don’t they understand that dinosaurs have fans too?
Now that we have reminded ourselves of just how totally sweet Maniraptors are, let us turn around, try to photograph around the other visitors and their reflections, and…

*whimper*
No, that’s it, just *whimper*

But the Kronosaur is typical of the scale that you’re dealing with here in the Museum of Comparative Zoology, as you can hardly see in this crappy picture. This is the main collection of animal specimens from all over the world, and although the hall is HUGE, it’s… dense. There is just enough space to walk around among the specimens. That picture was taken from the top of the scary balcony section (note the fishnet). I think it’s enough to document the fact that they fit three Whales in here and still found space for a Giraffe fully four times as tall as me.
Things I Learned At the Museum Today
* - Maniraptors: The more you think about them, the more they KICK ASS!
* - Pelycosaurs (primitive mammal-like-reptiles like Dimetrodon) were strange creatures.
* - Some beetles look like exquisite jewels.
* - There is something unsettling about stuffed apes.
* - Hummingbirds are just incredible creatures.
* - The pervasive scent of mothballs and industrial strength disinfectant will stop bothering you after about an hour.
* - Mouse Lemurs, the smallest primates of all, really are hardly bigger than mice. People, this is a hand-held monkey!!!
* - I can stay in one museum for almost five hours and still have a hard time leaving.
----

Hasty Addendum: I apologize for the quality of this entry. I made a last minute decision to save it on Geocities' very last night, and it was supposed to be nicely edited and updated so it could be ready to go up "later".
The thing about this lovely holiday season is that it seems to take "later" a lot faster to turn into "now".
Hence the slapdash nature of this post. Now I'm torn between leaving it as it is and changing it so that it's less silly and more a loving tribute to my NOT first ever visit (it's actually my second) to my favorite place to go and draw all day. The latter option only exists because I assume everyone who stumbles upon a blog that they like will *immediately* go back and read through all the articles that strike their interest (I assume this, naturally, because this is what I do). And because OCD, however mild, is a hideous b*tch goddess.
So I don't know. I may change this or repost it when I actually have some free time to give it more thought. We'll see.

I do not understand this kind of Birdwatcher.

So apparently an unassuming Flycatcher that is usually associated with Central America wandered north, into Texas. That's interesting. Far more fascinating, however, is the fact that there are people traveling to Texas to see this bird.

This is one of those cases where I'd be interested to know what the animals involved in a certain situation are thinking.

These folks are traveling to Texas to fill what is called a "Life List". There are different versions of this... phenomenon, but basically it is a checklist of all the birds you have ever seen in your life. When you see a new species of bird, you get to check it off the list. There are people who travel all over North America strictly to check birds off their List. I'm not sure, but it's fair to assume that whoever dies having looked at the most bird species wins. Wins at Life Listing, I guess.

Sing it with me: "Gotta catch 'em all! Gotta catch 'em all!"

This is why, if anyone asks, I'm not a birdwatcher. I'm a freelance ornithologist. Consider the big, big difference between "looking at" and "watching" as you read the news article. And the comments. God, the comments. "Opinions are like... those things that everyone has" (I know, but I'm attempting to stay PG at worst) has always been true, but one of the bad things about the Internet is that it is w-a-y too easy to share said opinions.

Then I found this and fell right back in love with the Internet. It is so stupid, it's awesome. I will now post it, without explanation:



(Seriously [and ignoring the Screamo] I like how this doubles as a crash course in the way paleoartists had such a hard time trying to work out what these animals *were* -never mind what they looked like- throughout the years.)

So... Feederwatch Friday!

There wasn't much going on this week. My count days were almost embarrassingly dull (twenty House Sparrows. Big whoop.) I did have about twenty Robins fly through on Saturday, which was kind of odd seeing as there's a foot of snow on the ground. Either they were headed into the forest or they were here to disappoint any watching kindergartners.

No more farting around.

It's time to start reading this:



(That's one of those little Audubon stuffed birds that sings, and there is a hilarious story behind him that I may tell later. For now, he's just providing scale.)

I chanced to find Gregory S. Paul's Predatory Dinosaurs of the World at my beloved local library. They have two copies, which is impressive as the book is, tragically, out of print. Tragically because this is probably the one animal anatomy book I use the most often.

My copy (used book stores are wonderful) is dog-eared, highlighted, bookmarked; in short, much loved. The illustrations are Phenominal (a small sampling can be found in this fansite), and there are loads and loads of skeletal diagrams, musculature studies, and other anatomical diagrams. If you find a copy, even if you for whatever reason never want to draw a single theropod in your life (I do not understand you), buy it.

Really, if more animators/illustrators/ect. would put away their "Jurassic Park" DVDs and thumb through this book once in a while, I'd be a much happier person. (Not coincidentally, I hit the "Koal" episode of "Teen Titans" last night. You'll know the Wall-Banger scene when you see it. Ugh.)

Anyway, you'll understand why I was excited when I found out about Dinosaurs of the Air. Naturally, I assumed that this was either an update or a follow-up to Predatory Dinosaurs. The asking price on Amazon should have deterred me, but it didn't, and I snapped it up without having any idea what I was in for...

It's a textbook.😱

Nonetheless, I'm going to read it. Because I'm stupid like that.

Edit: Well, it didn't take long for that plan to get derailed:
Yay for interlibrary loans!

Feederwatch Fridays!

After a few years of missing out on it, this season I finally joined Project Feederwatch. This is a program run by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and it's actually quite ingenious on their part: get people to pay to do research on Avian behavior and feeding habits for you.

All joking aside, it is a fun project (and, all told, it doesn't cost that much to join). The instruction kit alone is worth ordering as it is a veritable smorgasbord of unintentional hilarity. Really though, all you need to do is:

1) Pick two consecutive days on which you will count birds each week.
2) Look out the window on said chosen days.
3) Count the number of winged theropods of each species you see and write this down.
4) Head to the website and enter the highest number of each bird you saw at one given time.

This last bit is by far the most confusing, though it makes sense if you think about it. Say a female Cardinal visits your yard. Later on a male Cardinal visits. Obviously, there are two Cardinals in the neighborhood - but since you haven't seen them visiting as a couple (yet), you must state that you've only seen one Cardinal. And if you're still confused, replace "Cardinal" with "Chickadee". (For all we know, the Black-Capped Chickadee is sexually dimorphic - too bad human eyes can't see it.)



The real fun starts when you see one hundred (at a conservative estimate) House Sparrows and the data entry site's computer says you're lying. Or you have an incredibly diverse crowd of animals visiting your feeders... on a non-Count Day. All sarcasm aside, this is a fun project and I'm happy to be a part of it.

So here's what I saw this week, starting Sunday, January 4 (I am also inviting armchair ornithologist readers to join me in doing this):

Sunday, 1.4.09:
House Sparrows - at least 50
Song Sparrow - One
American Robin - One
Cardinal - The pair (male and female)
Sharp-Shinned Hawk? - One; at least a small Accipiter swooped overhead spooking the Sparrows.

Monday, 1.5.09:
House Sparrows - Flocks of about 20-25
Cardinals - The pair
Downy Woodpecker - One (male)
Also a cat and a squirrel.

Tuesday, 1.6.09 (Count Day!):
House Sparrows: 20
White-Breasted Nuthatch: One
Squirrels - 3!

Wednesday, 1.7.09 (Count Day!):
House Sparrows: One Hundred, at least.
Starlings - Two
Cardinals: The pair
Downy Woodpecker: One
Blue Jay - One
Squirrel - One

Thursday, 1.8.09:
House Sparrows - About 25.
Starlings - Three
Chickadees - Two

Friday, 1/9/09:
House Sparrows - About 25, as usual.
Starlings - About 25, as unusual (thankfully).
Chickadees - One
W. B. Nuthatch - One
Song Sparrow - One

On second thought, maybe I'll just post what happens on the most interesting days.