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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 4h

very big little guy behavior in orlando last week watching this purple gallinule pulling a lily pad over and folding it over to get better footing and feed on the flower underneath

purple gallinule, orlando wetlands

YouTube video by Ryan Mandelbaum

www.youtube.com

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Reposted by ryan

Hannah Miller @hannahem.bsky.social · 1d

I'm 100% with Ryan on this (and not just because I was on the same trip)!! Anthropomorphizing can of course go too far, but I've seen over and over again in my outreach work that a little bit can really help people connect to nature more!

ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 1d

maybe a little different from my usual newsletter posts. but also, we should talk to animals more.
ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/we-should-...

we should talk to animals more

an essay on what i really mean when i call them "little guys"

ryanmandelbirder.substack.com

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 22h

but also undeniably has the most bird diversity in the eastern united states

ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 1d

not any more than i am

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 1d

maybe a little different from my usual newsletter posts. but also, we should talk to animals more.
ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/we-should-...

we should talk to animals more

an essay on what i really mean when i call them "little guys"

ryanmandelbirder.substack.com

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 2d

had a work trip to orlando so i went a few days early to see what all the fuss was about. i had an amazing time and figured i'd share the full trip report here!

ebird.org/tripreport/4...

Florida! - eBird Trip Report

04 Oct, 2025 – 09 Oct, 2025. Created by Ryan Mandelbaum

ebird.org

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 2d

new blog from google

Meghan Bartels @meghanbartels.bsky.social · 3d

The recording didn’t work.

Natasha Simonova @philistella.bsky.social · 3d

In honor of spooky month, share a 4 word horror story that only someone in your profession would understand:

New library catalogue website.

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 3d

something i loved about florida was realizing it's as if someone tried to recreate the tropics using north american flora and fauna. i loved seeing epiphyte-covered red maples in tropical hammocks, or pileated woodpeckers flying between grassland palms like crimson-crested woodpeckers on the llanos

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 6d

i knew that the birdwatching was good in florida but i wasn't ready for just how many and how present the birds would be - birds that i expected to be in pristine habitat would just be in parking lots, street trees, roadside ditches, and vacant lots 🦉

a yellow throated warbler, a small black and gray and white bird with a yellow throat, in a live oak. i photographed this bird in a parking lot.

a snail kite, a slate gray raptor with an orange beak and orange feet, sitting in a young baldcypress. this bird was in a city park.

a florida scrub jay - a blue jay sized and shaped bird but without the crest, atop a tree. this bird was in a reserve behind a library.

a roseate spoonbill - a bright pink wading bird with a long flat spoon shaped beak, across a water feature in a mowed lawn. this bird was in a suburban housing development.

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 6d

it is actually bonkers that florida is called the sunshine state, i have never been to a rainier place in my life

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 9d

what it felt like to be given laughing gas for dental surgery when i was 13

a framed poster with a jumble of brown red and yellow words that sort of reads "it / fantastic life intrins / astic terrific is mag/ xcessive expressive / xpevted to neglecti/ be explorative lived/ everything / verywhere." the red words spell out "it life is hto be lived" and there is a foreboding jumble of pixelated words at the bottom

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 13d

oops i meant to respond to your post specifically. also @sabs.bsky.social what's your inat!!

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 14d

it looks like a catocala to me - big, very triangular, fuzzy, long proboscis. there's a guy bob borth on inaturalist who's really good with this genus but it might not get below genus level

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 15d

madwy in wuv :)

ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 15d

madison square park is basically the same

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 15d

i found a connecticut warbler on the way to work this morning and it we the exact opposite of what connecticut warbler experiences are supposed to be like

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 18d

www.popsugar.com/hobbies/rise...

Suddenly Birding Is the Hot-Girl Hobby of the Year

Birding — AKA watching, listening to, and sometimes tracking birds in the wild — was once an overlooked pastime. Now it's the hot-girl hobby of the year.

www.popsugar.com

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 19d

im like actually unreasonably offended that people are talking about birdwatching being a hot girl thing now and not 10 years ago when i started

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Reposted by ryan

Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 21d

At this point I'm just barely making enough $ on this cohort to cover the platform fees.

It's going to run anyway but I'd really love to have a few more people signed up.

Use the code SIXTY for 60% off at registration.

Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 22d

The autumn evening cohort for Binoculars to Binomials starts Thursday.

Which means you have a little over 48 hours to jump on board!

Get to know your local birds, learn some fun approaches to data viz, and... completely rewire your 🧠?

jerthorp.me/learning

Why birds & data?
To see the whole picture.
Data is a system, not a thing.
To truly understand data, you need to know how it gets made,
how it is changed by the processes of computation, and how
the choices we make in representing it affect the stories that
can be told.
Birding offers a way to get intimate with this entire system. To
watch as our observations become data. To see how they are
recast and reshaped by algorithms and models. To explore the
many practical and poetic ways we might tell our data's story.
Through birding, data is revealed not as static record, but as a
living process of which we (and our feathered neighbors) are
very much a part.
Autumn cohorts of Binoculars to Binomials start September 23rd.
Register now: jerthorp.me/learning

Birds of a feather
learn together.
Binoculars to Binomials is an online
course about birding and data
visualization.
Join a cohort of curious people to
build new skills and make
new things.
Autumn cohorts start September 23rd.
Register now: jerthorp.me/learning

Why birds & data?
It'll change
vour brain.
> Researchers have shown that cultivating a
birding practice strengthens memory and
improves ability to notice detail. In case that
wasn't enough, being around birds makes you
happier.
Everyday encounters with birds have been
demonstrated to significantly reduce
psychological distress, and improve overall
well-being.
Binoculars to Binomials is an
online course about birding
and data visualization.
Autumn cohorts start September 23rd.
Register now: jerthorp.me/learning

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 21d

i love that inaturalist includes common names for the birds from like... 1840

a screenshot of an inaturalist search for "red knot" where northern cardinal is described as "top-knot redbird"

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Reposted by ryan

Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 22d

The Binoculars to Binomials retreat last week was pure magic, five days of delights like this gem of a fish.

When I get a moment to process photos, be prepared to be bombarded by strange and wonderful creatures.

ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 22d

usually when i go on a tropical trip the most memorable thing i see is a bird but on @jerthorp.bsky.social's retreat last week it was the most beautiful fish i have ever seen in my whole life while swimming in a pool under a waterfall

a small cyan fish with a yellow and bronze stripe along its back, black stripes on its sides, and a black-based blue-green dorsal fin, swimming to the right against some stones

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 22d

usually when i go on a tropical trip the most memorable thing i see is a bird but on @jerthorp.bsky.social's retreat last week it was the most beautiful fish i have ever seen in my whole life while swimming in a pool under a waterfall

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 28d

i was stung by a wasp in the tropics whose spanish name translates to "cheese butt." humiliating

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Reposted by ryan

eric @ericcarlschwartz.com · Sep 14

great things happening in the world of beans rn

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · Sep 8

i am using it synonymously with "adorable"