Jonathan Crowe
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jonathancrowe.net
Jonathan Crowe
@jonathancrowe.net
150 followers 120 following 150 posts
Map blogger (@maproomblog.com), piano maniac, science fiction/fantasy writer and critic, snake whisperer, typewriter fiend. Kind of a strange old hermit. He/him. Shawville QC. jonathancrowe.net
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jonathancrowe.net
A blue jay foraging in the mess below the bird feeder.
A blue jay (Cyanocitta cristata) holds a sunflower seed in its beak while sitting amongst a mess of fallen seed and snow on our back deck.
November 15, 2025 at 4:19 PM
jonathancrowe.net
Last year our cactus had a single flower. This year it has ... more. Spending the summer outside seems to have agreed with it.
A Schlumbergera (Christmas or holiday) cactus in bloom, with multiple flowers and buds ready to open, in a purple pot on our kitchen table.
October 29, 2025 at 11:59 PM
jonathancrowe.net
The chickadees were swarming the feeder today.
Two black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus) at a bird feeder, one perched on the rim, the other seemingly chilling inside the tray. A black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) perched at a bird feeder.
October 20, 2025 at 8:53 PM
jonathancrowe.net
When it’s warm and wet, we get frogs—even in October. Yesterday we heard at least one spring peeper calling, and this morning we were surprised by this good-sized gray treefrog on our bedroom window.

Not the greatest picture, but the best I could manage with my phone in the pre-dawn darkness.
Ventral view of a gray treefrog (Dryophytes versicolor) resting on the opposite side of our bedroom window, surrounded by pre-dawn darkness and lit from inside. The ventral skin texture and yellow leg colouring are prominent.
October 20, 2025 at 2:50 PM
jonathancrowe.net
A few horse photos taken at the Shawville Fair on Labour Day weekend.
A Clydesdale horse pulling a light cart exits the Shawville Arena. Two Clydesdale horses pulling a cart approach the entrance to the Shawville Arena. Two Belgian horses wait their turn at the Shawville Fair’s heavy horse pull event.
September 19, 2025 at 10:35 PM
jonathancrowe.net
We had a skunk visitor this morning.
A striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) forages for grubs on our front lawn. A striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) forages for grubs on our front lawn. A striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) forages for grubs on our front lawn. A striped skunk (Mephitis mephitis) forages for grubs on our front lawn.
September 18, 2025 at 12:57 PM
jonathancrowe.net
How interesting: a tiny toad.
A very small American toad (Anaxyrus americanus), probably born this year, is held between fingers.
September 1, 2025 at 12:52 PM
jonathancrowe.net
Walter is unconvinced.
Walter, an orange tabby cat with a clipped left ear, is cradled in my wife’s lap. He seems unsure of the whole thing.
August 23, 2025 at 3:44 PM
jonathancrowe.net
Is baby.
Scourge, a black cat, rolls over onto his back in a canvas hammock doing the foursies-feetsies thing while bathed in sunlight, trying to be as cute as possible.
August 22, 2025 at 8:57 PM
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That must have taken some doing.
Screencap from an Amazon Prime Video search showing the 1988 Mel Brooks movie Spaceballs as a 1978 Golden Globe nominee.
July 2, 2025 at 1:14 PM
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I’m not sure, but I think this hummingbird might have been sticking his tongue out to catch raindrops.
A male ruby-throated hummingbird (Archilochus colubris) extends his tongue while perched on a black metal shepherd’s hook against a smooth green bokeh background.
May 26, 2025 at 1:03 AM
jonathancrowe.net
Male evening grosbeak
A male evening grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertina), a heavily built bird with a large beak and brown and yellow feathers, perches on a black metal shepherd’s hook.
May 13, 2025 at 1:33 AM
jonathancrowe.net
A lot of goldfinches around here lately.
A male American goldfinch (Spinus tristus) in the middle of his spring molt perches on a black metal shepherd’s hook. A male American goldfinch (Spinus tristus) in the middle of his spring molt perches on the rim of a bird feeder.
May 12, 2025 at 12:38 PM
jonathancrowe.net
Female evening grosbeak
A female evening grosbeak (Hesperiphona vespertina), a fairly robust grayish-brown bird with black and white wing patches and a strong beak, perches on a black metal shepherd’s hook.
May 10, 2025 at 8:01 PM
jonathancrowe.net
He’s moved from obstruction to participation.
Walter, an orange tabby cat with a clipped left ear, walks along a piano keyboard.
May 6, 2025 at 2:27 PM
jonathancrowe.net
Rose-breasted grosbeak
A male rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus), a medium-large bird with black head, wing, back and tail feathers, a bright rose coloured patch on his white breast, and a strong beak, perches atop a black metal shepherd’s hook.
May 3, 2025 at 6:18 PM
jonathancrowe.net
It’s one thing for squirrels to turn up at the bird feeder, but this is starting to get out of hand.
A groundhog (Marmota monax) forages for fallen seed in a large planter beneath a bird feeder.
May 2, 2025 at 8:05 PM
jonathancrowe.net
One of two pileated woodpeckers that have been just shredding this stump in our back yard over the past two days.
A pileated woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), a large black and white bird with a long narrow beak and a red crest, looks up from tunneling out a hole in a birch tree stump in our back yard. The hole is substantial, and there are wood chips all around the stump.
April 27, 2025 at 8:44 PM
jonathancrowe.net
Snow squirrel.
A melanistic eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), covered in snowflakes, forages in freshly fallen snow on our back deck.
April 8, 2025 at 11:51 AM
jonathancrowe.net
Two cats, one lap.
My wife Jennifer, sitting on a patterned upholstered armchair with two cats on her lap, which around here is a Rare Thing. Orange tabby Walter on the left, black cat Scourge on the right.
March 3, 2025 at 9:03 PM
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Bookshelf cat returns.
Scourge, a black cat, sits behind a shelf of science fiction paperbacks and next to a globe of the moon.
February 20, 2025 at 3:52 AM
jonathancrowe.net
Curl.
Walter, an orange tabby cat, asleep on a patterned upholstered armchair, his paws curled and tucked.
February 18, 2025 at 3:43 AM
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A menacing blep.
A tight shot on a black cat’s face as his pink tongue sticks out just a little bit.
February 13, 2025 at 7:25 PM
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This never happens.
Walter, an orange tabby cat with a clipped left ear, and Scourge, a black cat, share an armchair with leaf-patterned fabric.
February 11, 2025 at 9:05 PM
jonathancrowe.net
So I wrote a thing about Trump’s move to rename the Gulf of Mexico, and just how long the Gulf of Mexico has had that name. www.maproomblog.com/2025/01/nami...
Detail from Mercator’s 1569 world map, showing the Gulf of Mexico labelled as Golfo Mexicano.
January 22, 2025 at 3:51 PM