This photograph by Nicolas Reusens perfectly frames a male emerald tanager (the informal name above for the Chlorochrysa phoenicotis) won gold in the portrait category for the Bird Photograph of the Year (B-PoTY, previously) taken in its native habitat in a nature reserve in the tropical jungles of Ecuador. Selected from over twenty-thousand submissions, the overall winner among all the superlatives went to Jack Zhi for a dramatic act shot captured in southern California of a peregrine falcon defending her nest from a brown pelican. More at the links above including the annual contest’s conservation initiative.
Monday, 11 September 2023
glistening green (10. 996)
Saturday, 9 September 2023
7x7 (10. 991)
trochilinae: a look at the evolution of evolution of hummingbirds—see previously
uranometria: a comparative study of constellations across cultures—via Web Curios

lightning 4-2: a record-setting speedrun of Super Mario Bros
zero width non-joiner: let AI generate a custom emoji—note the cursed thumbs up/down icons—via Waxy
extended-stay: Plato’s Cave (previously) will be raising its rent—via JWZ
halcyon days: a slow-motion look at the kingfisher’s dive
synchronoptica
one year ago: Stone Temple Pilots plus the proclamation of King Charles III
two years ago: more on DC statehood, the Battle of Teutoberg Forest (9 AD), rewilding begins at home plus assorted links to revisit
three years ago: the establishment of Washington, DC (1791), the disputed Hans Island, a lighthouse transformed plus AI supervillains
four years ago: more on the moons of Jupiter
five years ago: Trump threatens to remove US troops from Germany plus an expansive pattern library
Tuesday, 11 July 2023
7x7 (10. 874)
fit for a king: a selection of ersatz castles for sale in the US
caliology: corvids using anti-bird spikes for nesting material
100ยบ in the shade: mapping tree shadows
free agent: labour force of the outsourced talk about the effects of the AI revolution—via Waxy
ravensbourne: finding the lost rivers of London—see previously
involuntary memory: the aetiology of earworms
cheese royal: Burger King in Thailand introduces a menu item composed of twenty slices of American cheese
Friday, 16 June 2023
free-range (10. 811)
Via the always excellent Web Curios, we are referred to a genuinely clever idea, too bad it only ships from Australia, in basically an open frame hamster ball for fowl friends in this product called the Chicken Orb as we’ve been thinking about maybe adding one or more to the family—and we can’t really fence in the entire backyard and there are foxes on the prowl (but no dingos), though couldn’t say whether this would also afford protection. The dog seems rather tame with the ducks and geese in the pond and could foresee this sort of enclosure working on at least that level too. What do you think? Should we give it a try?
Wednesday, 7 June 2023
6x6 (10. 792)
extremadura: BBC Reel has more on the disappearance of the Tartessos civilisation—freighted with myth and legend—at the edge of the known world

crowbox: an experimental platform for the autonomous education of corvids—see previously
l’agence tous risques: the title them for the A-Team on French television had jaunty little lyrics—see also—via Super Punch
know before you go: the Human Rights Campaign joining others in declaring a state of emergency and issuing travel warnings for LGBTQ+ people in the US
pogostemon cablin: ancient vial of Roman perfume identified as patchouli oil
Sunday, 28 May 2023
moonbird (10. 773)
Our gratitude to Fancy Notions for the re-introduction to the life and portfolio of animator John Hubley (with credit to his contributing creative partners and family members), who left Disney after Fantasia and the 1941 Animators’ Strike, dissatisfied with the direction the company was going, joined up with UPA, was investigated by the House Un-American Activities Committee and essentially blacklisted before starting an independent studio, Storyboard, through his Academy Awarding winning cartoon from 1959, that illustrated a secretly recorded discussion between his two sons (his wife Faith taping the imaginary adventure shared by Mark and Hampy). More to discover at the link above.
Saturday, 8 April 2023
the egg war of the farallon islands (10. 660)
Regaling us with the strange tales of real and artificial scarcity and runaway inflation for the city of San Francisco flush with money owing to the Gold Rush (see previously) which seems like an apt allegory for modern San Francisco with the boom and bust of the native tech sector and the real estate market, Lit Hub contributor Lizzy Stark—via Strange Company—surveys the shortage of women and perishables through the price of eggs in California territory, the untenable fickleness of domesticated hens and turning to a seabird sanctuary for scavenging that dedicimated the local wild populations of auks, gulls and of pinnipeds from a rocky, treacherous outcropping in the bay. The cost of a dozen eggs in American markets today exacerbated by the tumultuous economy has nothing from back during the frontier days.
Sunday, 2 April 2023
7x7 (10. 651)
spyvibe radio: The Man Called Flintstone and other cartoon-espionage crossovers

made to order: a huge font specimen of a wide range of borders—see previously
a1: a centenary of road numbering for the Ministry of Transportation
rather fetching: canine portraits at London’s Wallace Collection
sparkie williams: a very talkative budgie and other loquacious birds
rabbit hole: new Kiefer Sutherland secret agent film channels vintage intelligence dramas
Wednesday, 14 December 2022
6x6 (10. 384)
strife wins out: ๆฆ (ikusa, tatakau meaning war) is voted kanji of 2022—previously, see also—via Language Log
dunston checks in: Poseidon’s Underworld reviews the 1996 comedic film starring Jason Alexander, Paul Reubens, Rupert Everett and Faye Dunawayhearth and home: more animated Yule Log loops—see previously—via Waxy
twitterpated: a survey of possible dinosaur vocalisations
mission highlights: arresting imagery from Artemis I—see also
diwhy and regretsy: a collection of jargon and slang terms from the crafting community
Monday, 5 December 2022
8x8 (10. 362)
under attended: when only two individuals show up to a new author’s reading, much of the establishment commiserates and share words of encouragement—via Super Punch
giving face: Poseidon’s Underworld takes a moment to reflect after a month’s sabbatical

monochrome: an AI tool to colourise black-and-white images—see previously
government attic: Things Magazine reminds of us this great aggregator of FOIA logs—see previously
the christmassy chord: a deconstruction of iconic holiday standards
the tartarian empire: an introduction to a bizarre architectural conspiracy theory—via ibฤซdem
rsvp: journalist was one of six attendees who showed up for an expensive Metaverse party hosted by the European Union
Tuesday, 29 November 2022
up, up to the sky (10. 345)
Sharing the anniversary with many other sundry events of pith and circumstance, our faithful chronicler reports that on this day in 1975, the single from Silver Convention hit number one on on the Billboard Hot 100, holding the spot for three weeks before being unseated by CW McCall’s Convoy. Despite the paucity of lyrics (six words, which is an accomplishment in itself) owing to the fact that the German disco group didn’t speak so much English, it’s acknowledged to be the first avian themed song to reach the top of the charts, only followed by Prince’s When Dove Cry in 1984.
Friday, 28 October 2022
ฮฌฯฯฮตฯฮฑ (10. 253)
On the south shore looking back over Souda Bay, there is an ancient settlement that enjoyed strategic importance from Minoan through Hellenistic times and to the modern day given the nearby Greek and NATO military bases, called Aptera—without feathers—owing to the legend that Hera, Queen of the Gods, convinced the Muses and the Sirens to a song contest, with the former sister-act handily beating the latter, the Sirens being so upset by losing that they rent their feathers a wings, dusting the ฮฮตฯ ฮบฮฌ ฮฯฮท (White Mountains) with them and plunged into the sea.
The archaeological remains of site mostly date to the Roman occupation and include a cistern and baths and an impressive amphitheater. Visiting on Oxi Day (ฮฯฮญฯฮตฮนฮฟฯ ฯฮฟฯ ฮฯฮน, the Anniversary of the ‘No’)—marking the date that Greece refused the ultimatum issued by Benito Mussolini and resistance to fascism during World War II, entry was free as well as the bit of history and the more contemporary couching. On same high plateau of Paliokastri, there was also the Kule (Castle) of Subashi with a view of the Ottoman Izzedin Fortress below. In the area we also toured the monastery of St George (ฮฮฟฮฝฮฑฯฯฮฎฯฮน ฮฮณฮนฮฟฯ ฮฮตฯฯฮณฮนฮฟฯ) outside of ฮฮฌฮผฮฟฯ ฯ (Vamos) with tranquil small church and old olive presses that highlight pre-industrial extraction with millstones and frails, the round bags used for squeezing the pulp. We got to sample some of their bread and olives afterwards.Sunday, 16 October 2022
7x7 (10. 229)
symphony of the birds: CBS Radio director Jim Fassett’s 1960 experimental arrangement

benevolent dictator: a profile of President Kevin Baugh and his micronation of Molossia—via the New Shelton wet/dry
kunstradfahren: a graceful bicycle ballet by a skilled practitioner of this 130 year old sport
barcalounger: ten homes whose decor is tied together with classic Eames chairs—see previously
unreliable narrator: microbrews and hipster beer names
peer-reviewed: birdsong helps alleviate human anxiety and paranoia
Saturday, 10 September 2022
8x8 (10. 124)
the girl from ipanema: the Yahoo! GeoCities (previously) Midi project has gathered a collection of over one-hundred and fifty thousand chiptunes, via Web Curios
summer island: a graphic horror novella that’s a collaboration between a story authored by a human and illustrations courtesy a machine
bill-of-sale: receipts and letterhead of the Old East End

premium vector: a selection of 90s cursor effects (trails, rainbows) that can be incorporated into one’s website—via ibฤซdem
trichromacy: fascinating etymologies of words for colours—via Damn Interesting’s Curated Links
b-poty: avian photography of the year
pattern recognition: more on mondegreens and misheard lyrics
Saturday, 16 July 2022
7x7 (9. 999)
featherbase: a consortium of ornithologists join their collections and make them freely accessible on-line—via Web Curios
cut-up technique: Artbreeder (previously) creates collages with your help—via Waxy

deep scatter library: stellar cartography mapping a billion stars in the Milky Way
culmen > columna > compagna colonnella > coronnel > colonel: explore etymologies with this interactive tool from the creators of Interlinear Books and Language Hat
unsleeved: an exhibit on the art of the record cover and designer Alex Steinweiss
trainspotting: an obsessive database of European rolling stock—also via Web Curios
catagories: ⚖️, ๐ถ, ๐ฌ, ๐ญ, ๐ค, ๐ชถ, ๐, libraries and museums, networking and blogging
Sunday, 10 July 2022
8x8
can i pet your dog: a short-lived 1971 talk show, The Pet Set, hosted by Betty White
particle zoo 2.0: revved up Large Hadron Collider discovers three new exotic quark-pairings—via the New Shelton wet/dry

onomatopoeia: a collection of nonsense words invented by bird-watchers to convey calls and songs
gol gumbaz: a resplendent seventeenth century mausoleum in Bijapur is called the Taj Mahal of Southern India
denton, denton you’ve got no pretension: a photoessay of the Texas city in the 1970s
gravitational waltz: tracing the orbits of stars near super-massive black hole Sgr A* (previously)
golden girls 3033: BoJack Horseman director Mike Hollingsworth creates an animated pilot using splices of original dialogue
Saturday, 25 June 2022
8x8
morning chorus: a suspended hotel suite in Sรกpmi cladded with three-hundred fifty birdhouses
meanwhile margaret atwood says hold my beer: teach and student, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell, spar over which dystopian vision is more plausible

makeup and monobrow: a quick survey of the female eyebrow in art
border and backsplash: the mosaic tile museum of Gifu—over ten-thousands exemplars, many rescued from buildings slated for demolition
i had hoped that god would work one of his signature miracles and spare me from is also signature “horrible pain in childbirth” curse: the Virgin Mary reclaims her nativity narrative
stonk-and-go: the US Securities and Exchange Commission weighs sweeping change to curtail meme-driven trades
a doghouse for eddie: charmingly, Frank Lloyd Wright (previously) builds a home for a canine and his human companion
catagories: ⚖️, ๐ธ๐ช, ๐จ, ๐ณ️๐, ๐ฑ, ๐, ๐ชถ, architecture, libraries and museums
Monday, 6 June 2022
sort sol
Revisiting an arresting and formative moment from his childhood in western coast Denmark, as the Guardian reports, photographer Sรธren Solkรฆr is exhibiting a portfolio of mesmerizing murmurations of starlings on the wing from the Wadden Sea to northern Spain. These flocks of hundreds of thousands of birds can blot out the sun (the dark sun of the title, referring to the accompanying coffee table edition), and it remains a mystery how autonomous individuals achieve this degree of mass-coordination for these majestic manoeuvre.
Saturday, 21 May 2022
motacillidae
H snapped a very good picture of a avian pal who’s been visiting and running about on the deck lately, Bachstelze or more descriptively a pied wagtail (Motacilla alba—a mistranslation of the Latin term “little-mover” from the medieval notion that cilla meant tail). I had seen these passerine birds on the path that runs by the pond (= Bach) with their distinctive gait, swift but halting after a few paces to bounce their tail feathers, but they hadn’t before ventured to our backdoor—apparently they prefer the bare range of pavement for foraging where it can best see and pursue and the deck met these conditions too. This comical, constant tail wagging is observed in all related species but the behaviour is poorly understood—possibly a tactic to flush out prey or signal vigilance to potential predators.
Friday, 6 May 2022
all-seeing or the eyes have it
Though apparently gregarious with most of the village as well, a young peacock—we thought it was a peahen but learned it was young one and the signature plumage and dimorphism does not develop until they reach three years of age—has adopted H and I and roams our yard and roosts in various spots on the balcony and the front stoop, friendly in guest territory but possibly territorial in his own backyard. He belongs to a neighbour and is called Charlie and often appears before the French doors and jarringly at times at the kitchen window sill. Apparently this behaviour in peafowl, congregating before glazed faรงades, is to examine themselves in the glass, like a mirror.
I held up my cell phone display in front of Charlie to reflect back his image and he regarded it with interest, rather than destructive pecking at the screen and my hand. I remember the controversy a few years back over an airline passenger trying to board with their therapy peacock and at the time siding with those who condemned the act as performative and over-the-top but getting a sense of their calm demeanour and engagement, I have come around to the other side in thinking these are legitimate therapy animals, tail-feathers and all. We are looking into getting our own. The collective term for a group of peafowl is an ostentation.