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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 1h

A thrilling chase, told in audio. Bat hunts robin, catches it, eats it in flight.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEe5...

Bat catches songbird mid-flight

YouTube video by Scientific American

www.youtube.com

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 2h

More (including the journeys of Federer, Messi, Taylor Swift and Barbra Streisand) on the Global Penguin Society’s website. www.globalpenguinsociety.org/index.html

Global Penguin Society

The Global Penguin Society is an internationally recognized leader in the conservation of penguins and the oceans

www.globalpenguinsociety.org

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 2h

Today I learned there’s a penguin called Jane Goodall and she’s travelled 5000km since April.

A map of the east coast of South America, with several tracking lines, each representing a penguin. Jane Goodall’s line is highlighted in pale pink. There is also an inset with her facts and figures: body weight 4600g, tagged 25th April 2025, distance travelled 4769.3 km, average speed 2 kmh.

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 2h

I’m overfond of 😬

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 3h

Off the top of my head:
Venezuela
Peru
Argentina?

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 15h

To say nothing of Alicia

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Reposted by Lev Parikian

Justin LaLiberty @jlalibs.com · 16h

What an absolute treasure Diane Keaton was. Her wit never tired, nor did her style.

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 15h

Closest I’ve ever got to a love triangle

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Reposted by Lev Parikian

Isabel Rogers @isabelrogers.bsky.social · 16h

I always loved this picture.

the Annie Liebovitz Vanity Fair fashion shoot 'Hollywood 2016', with a load of A list actresses dressed in black sitting or lying draped around, looking moody, not smiling, a lot of skin on show, primped and sultry. Diane Keaton stands on the right at the back, grinning straight into the camera, also wearing black but in a long sleeved black coat, high neck and black wide brimmed hat. They were her own clothes. She looks like she was enjoying herself enormously.

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 15h

HB SH!

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 16h

I wouldn’t want to give the wrong impression. *some* insects migrate. Very many don’t.

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 16h

Looks like a buzzard

Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 17h

Unsolicited Bolshevik pic

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 17h

Unsolicited Bic pic

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 18h

Excellent description. They have an amazing, slightly smoky/musty-but-not-unpleasant smell

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 18h

Unsolicited storm petrel chick pic

It’s tiny and fluffy and grey and held in the cupped hands of a child

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 18h

No wait, found it. “Young seldom return to the vicinity of their birthplace.” birdsoftheworld.org/bow/species/...

Movements and Migration - Barn Swallow - Hirundo rustica - Birds of the World

Species accounts for all the birds of the world.

birdsoftheworld.org

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 18h

and don’t have the necessary literature to hand, but will try to remember to look it up.

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 18h

Excellent questions. Breeding swallow pairs have strong nesting site loyalty, and I’m pretty sure they favour the same wintering grounds too (which would make sense because you don’t want to be looking for new feeding areas if you know of a reliable one). Don’t know about juveniles…

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 18h

Life certainties:
- death
- taxes
- mention an animal that has the same name as a band and people post hoho replies pretending to confuse the two

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 20h

Going to go round the other way, even though it means a lengthy detour. You hear stories of people being trampled to death.

About a dozen mallards on a path in a park.

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Reposted by Lev Parikian

Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 1d

There are four house martins feeding above my head. They’re six inches long and are about to travel 6,000 miles. That’s about 63 million times their body length. The lunatics.

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 20h

Juveniles of many species make their first migration journey alone, with nobody to show them the way.

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 20h

In swallows or generally? With swallows (as with quite a few other species) juveniles will disperse shortly after fledging, while breeding adults will stick around and raise two, maybe three broods before heading south.

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Lev Parikian @levparikian.bsky.social · 20h

This map shows their distribution. The blue is where they spend our winter.