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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins

@ajcousins.bsky.social

5.8K followers 2.1K following 12K posts

Queer romance author. Obsessive book buyer. Slow runner. Newly fascinated birder. She/her, bi. Rep'd by Handspun Literary Agency. Volunteer Child Advocate for detained immigrant kiddos. Views my own.

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · Dec 18

I released a new audiobook last year and neglected to tell anyone! 😂 Grumpy-grumpy, found-family holiday romance.

Adam Beckett did a FANTASTIC job with this one. He's an amazing performer.

Glass Tidings: www.amazon.com/Audible-Glas...

Infographic showing the audiobook cover of Glass Tidings by Amy Jo Cousins, narrated by Adam Beckett, against a background of snow-covered pine trees under a starry winter sky, with text at the top reading, "Can this grumpy shop owner show a drifter the true meaning of Christmas?"

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 2h

Now the Chicago PD helicopter just circled the bird sanctuary flying so low I couldn't hear the person standing next to me when they said something. Feels like this violates some kind of safety rule about elevation?

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 3h

And I think they scared the Philadelphia Vireo away. Nazis ruining my get-away-from-the-nazis hobby. Tf.

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 3h

ICE or the National Guard (or whoever flies helicopters with dudes in camo pants dangling their legs out the side in the open doors) keep flying over the bird sanctuary and I'm trying to have three fucking hours where I'm not thinking about them, so this is just too fucking much.

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 15h

They're so striking!

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 15h

I love those days! There were mornings the only other person I saw out there was a fisherman in the harbor. 😊 I'm ready for owls!

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 15h

Keeping my eyes peeled for Buntings!

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 15h

a man in a blue shirt and tie sitting in front of a computer monitor

Alt: Gif of two people in an office high fiving at a distant across the room

media.tenor.com

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 17h

Oh wow! What a cool photo. I "saw" one flyover Bunting last year, but didn't get a real look. Hoping for a better glimpse this year!

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 17h

I went every weekend last year! I love walking through the sanctuary when it's snowing and there's no one else ridiculous enough to be there. But I didn't know where to look or what birds I was looking for. 😂 Merlin kept hearing stuff, but I only saw a small %. Looking forward to this year!

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 17h

So many Winter Wrens! Please enjoy my absolute best photo of this adorable tiny bird. :) #birds

Blurry, unfocused photo of a teensy brown speckled bird with a short vertical tail that shoots straight up from its butt like a little ruler, clutching a dried grass stem in an equally blurry setting of dried prairie grasses

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 18h

They're so pretty! I thought it was fabulous to see them once, and now I've seen them twice, so I'm pretty chuffed. :)

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 18h

Have you read about them? They have 4 sexes. Absolutely fascinating stuff.

www.audubon.org/magazine/fas...

The Fascinating and Complicated Sex Lives of White-throated Sparrows

With their quadruple personalities, those little brown birds at your feeder are a lot more interesting than they might appear.

www.audubon.org

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 18h

Keeping my sanity [relatively] intact via birds... 😂😭😂

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 19h

That's perfect! 😍

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 20h

Tons of White-throated Sparrows too. I love it when they eat the flowers off whatever this bush/tree is. :) #birds

Photo of a White-throated Sparrow sitting on some green leaves near a stem of tiny pale flowers, its bill full of petal shreds

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 20h

I think I only hung out on the pier on Wednesday evening, so I didn't realize. :) Yay, migration!

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 20h

Definitely the same here! I'd been seeing one or two, but yesterday they were *everywhere.*

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 20h

Last year, I didn't see a single Red-breasted Nuthatch. This year, I see them every time I go to the sanctuary. I definitely understand what an irruption year means now! #birds

Photo of a Red-breasted Nuthatch sitting on a thick white rope just where the rope passes through a wooden fence post, against a dark shadowed background

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 20h

Thank you! It's been fun seeing my progress in both birding and photography, which go hand in hand for me. :)

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 21h

There were simply massive numbers of Hermit Thrushes yesterday too. I had 5 in sight at one time, I think, and they were curious, flitting and hopping close. First year birds, maybe? Lovely to see. #birds

Photo of a Hermit Thrush, a brown bird with a rufous red tail, facing away from me and looking left as it sits perched on the broken end of a thick vertical branch against a background of blurry leaves

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 21h

A Kestrel getting ruffled by some wind from a buttward direction. #birds

Photo of an American Kestrel perched on the very top of a tower of big spotlights overlooking the beach, anti-bird spikes covering every inch except the tip of the upturned metal bar where it perches

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 21h

I'd only seen a juvenile once before, so I was super excited to see an adult! Pretty amazing day at the pier. :)

Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 21h

It looks like you should be able to see the wires holding it up! 😂

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 22h

Isn't it beautiful??? I'd love to see one in breeding plumage someday, but they're just stunning in the fall too. 😍

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Amy Jo (AJ) Cousins @ajcousins.bsky.social · 22h

There was a Horned Lark hanging out with the LALO. Sometimes a bird just will *not* move away from the trash on the beach, no matter how long you wait... *sighs* #birds

Photo of a Horned Lark sitting on a pile of beach rubble next to a clear plastic water bottle

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