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kevinhamel.bsky.social
Kevin is not doing any more work
@kevinhamel.bsky.social
1.3K followers 1.5K following 3.5K posts
Winemaker, gardener, eater. Read the Alt text.
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kevinhamel.bsky.social
Great to have your input! I am a seaweed neophyte, but fascinated by their link in the marine health picture. I’ve been doing a casual survey of the local kelp/seaweed populations for the last couple years

From the stretch of Sonoma coast just south of Jenner - Shell Beach. Here are a few others
An assortment of seaweeds on a Sonoma coast beach - ranging in color from pink to deep red to yellow, and green. They sit on a background of grey sand and rock A dark red/brown boa-type seaweed with its hold-fast still attached to the top of a mussel shell A loooong kelp plant, with the stem coiled in a big circle from the thin hold-fast end to the float/leaf end. The stem gets gradually thicker toward the float. There are just a few long yellow green leaves attached to the float Rocky coastal scene with blue-green sea and brown kelp floating in a cove. The sea is calm and the sky is cloudless
November 29, 2025 at 12:12 AM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Rose weed in the wild!
Shell beach, Sonoma coast. A colony of seaweeds in the intertidal zone at low tide with ‘Roseweed’ dark pink at the top of the frame. The Roseweed is anchored to a dark rock which is flanked by sand
November 28, 2025 at 8:28 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
post a movie from where you are from
Still photo from Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds”. In the center is a blonde woman in a light green dress. Two children are at her side. They are fleeing as a big flock of flying crows surrounds them. In the background stands an old schoolhouse with a cupola.
November 25, 2025 at 3:07 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Some years ago pineapple guava plants had a moment of popularity in my neighborhood. There’s only a couple of spoonfuls of edible flesh - soft, delicately tropical flavor - so mostly the fruit falls on the ground and rots. Not as widely appreciated as the free lemons and oranges, but still a treat
Kitchen counter photo of a light brown cutting board with pineapple guava fruits. Two have been sliced open to reveal pale yellow flesh with a dark brown oak-leaf pattern in the center. One is still whole - football-shaped, 2” long, with dark green skin. In the center is a spoon with just-scooped guava flesh ready to eat
November 23, 2025 at 7:56 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
The boys and girls are handsome couples! Along the Russian River, the mallards have learned that when cruising down the river you don’t AVOID the humans. You pull over and say hi. They might have a snack for you.
Photo of a male/female pair of mallard ducks against a speckled tan and white background of gravel in shallow water. The male stands in the foreground; his green head and brown breast lit by brilliant sun. The female floats a couple feet in the background; her speckled brown feathers blending well with the gravel background.
November 23, 2025 at 3:50 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Hmmm… must have been something in that compost
#fungifriends
#mushrooms
🍄‍🟫🍄‍🟫🍄‍🟫
Garden scene: Rich brown soil littered with dry brown leave and a good crop of white mushrooms.
November 17, 2025 at 7:44 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
#thicktrunktuesday
Taylor Mountain Preserve
Open hilly woodland scene. A large valley oak dominates the frame with its massive grey/ black/green trunk. The foreground is covered in leaves and dry grasses. In the background are green foliage, white clouds and a few patches of blue sky.
November 17, 2025 at 6:49 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
I forgot that there is a winter art fest today. Apparently they and the fence have joint art project
🌱 🌿
#gardening
Garden photo. A small blueberry bush grows in front of a light brown fence. The fence is decorated with periwinkle shells, abalone shells, and barrel hoops to resemble bubbles rising in a glass of Champagne. The tiny pinkish white blueberry flowers pick up the color of the periwinkle shells, and look like a part of the ‘sculpture’.
November 15, 2025 at 11:19 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Hey, blueberries! It is mid November. Double you tea eff?
🌱 🌿
#gardening
#blueberries
Garden photo of blueberries, which, despite the fact that it is mid Nov, are blooming. Little pinkish white blossoms dot the background of green foliage and red stems.
November 15, 2025 at 9:48 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Post a bird to support @sbworkersunited.org and warn your followers not to buy Starbucks for the duration of ever
Two grey and white seagulls squabble over a huge fish which has washed up dead on a sandy beach. The gulls wings are outstretched, totally agro. One gull has lost a foot to fishing line strangulation. The fish, a Hoodwinker sunfish/Mola tecta is half covered in sand and white underneath. Three mottled brown/white gulls wait patiently in the background, probably thinking “Guys, it looks like a pretty good sized fish…”
November 14, 2025 at 5:57 AM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Charlie says you look like a million bucks!
A black and white terrier, named Charlie, stands in profile and is looking at the camera, mouth open - an invitation to though the ball
November 13, 2025 at 9:51 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
“… gotta find just the right acorn.”

captions in ALText

#squirrels
#wildlife
#backyardcritters
A grey squirrel with a shiny grey coat and a fat, fluffy grey and white tail is searching behind a tree for an acorn. The foreground is dark brown soil with a few scattered brown leaves “… found one!” The squirrel, sitting on its haunches, now has a fat, chestnut-brown acorn in its mouth, and is holding it stogie-style In this photo the squirrel is sitting on its haunches, tail curled at its back, with the acorn in its front paws. Squirrel is peeling off the dark brown shell revealing a creamy white center! The squirrel is now sitting on a fence with the acorn in its front paws, chowing down. In this photo the squirrel is a little shaded by the fence
November 10, 2025 at 12:41 AM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Describe your cat’s personality with one photo
Photo of a grey and white cat drinking from a shallow kiddy pool, or maybe kitty pool. The pool is bright blue and covers most of the shot. The kitty’s head casts a shadow into the pool, her head surrounded by the concentric circles radiating outward as she drinks from the pool
November 9, 2025 at 5:46 AM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
It was an unpopulated day in black and white - this photo shot in color, no adjustments. The surf was REALLY big and the tide was heading out, so all the footprints on the beach were either mine or theirs.
#sonomacoast
#wildlife
#photography
🌊 🪸
Rocky beach scene with heavy misty sea and sky, rough surf. In the lower half of the photo a rock juts up from the sand, a California gull perched on top. The sand patch is dark grey and untouched. In the right foreground a shallow stream flows down to the sea. Another California gull stretches its wings high next to the stream, In the center right, wading in the stream is a Black Oystercatcher. The photo appears as if in black and white, though it was taken in color.
November 7, 2025 at 9:54 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Feels like the narcissus might be answering the bell a little early this year. But we have had some rain, so here we go!
🌱 🌿
#gardening
#flowers
#justaddwater
Close in ground level photo of a patch of brown soil littered with dry oak leaves and quite a few green spears - narcissus leaves - poking up
November 6, 2025 at 6:46 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
“You’ve got two empty halves of coconuts, and you’re bangin’ ‘em together!”

“So?”
A misty scene from the Monty Python film ‘The Holy Grail’. King Arthur leads the way as he and Patsy are pantomiming riding horses. Patsy adds galloping horses sound effects with two halves of coconut shells
November 5, 2025 at 10:16 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
“Hey! Are you lookin’ at my butt? You’re lookin’ at my butt, aren’t you?!

Share an angry bird and the curse you think it embodies
Rocky shoreline scene with a seabird (shearling?) standing on a rock, looking back over its shoulder with an annoyed expression. The bird has a complex pattern of tan and white bars on its wings
November 2, 2025 at 5:17 AM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
“Hey! Are you lookin’ at my butt? You’re lookin’ at my butt, aren’t you?”

#birds
#wildlife
#atthebeach
Foto of a seabird (shearwater?) standing on a rock at a, um… rocky beach. The bird has complicated patterns of brown and white bars and is looking back over its shoulder with an annoyed expression.
October 28, 2025 at 10:44 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
That looks like a great book!

Sea weed, and giant kelp particularly, have been declining in this part of the coast and so I’m always encouraged to see pockets that are hanging on. This is a cove a few miles north with a respectable looking kelp bed.
Rocky cliff ocean photo. At the top of the photo a dark brown rocky cliff juts out into the ocean. It helps form a cove of calm blue-green water with floating masses of brown kelp in the center. Rock poke above the water line in the foreground.
October 28, 2025 at 5:10 AM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Some seaweed examples washed up on some recent Sonoma coast beach trips.

I’m going have to get a copy of that guide
Examples of various seaweeds laid out on a grey-sand beach. They range from lasagna-shaped black strips, ripple textured greens in several shades, a pink ruffle A sea palm plant washed up on a grey sand beach. Three greenish yellow stems, joined at the base, with palm-like leaves only on the tops of the stem. There is also a chunk of purple seaweed is in the lower right A green seaweed plant washed up on a grey sand beach. The plant’s base has a small nub of roots, a long slender stem and long green leaves at top
October 28, 2025 at 4:16 AM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Mushroom riot!
#fungifriends
#mushrooms
#gardening
🍄‍🟫 🍄‍🟫 🍄‍🟫
A big clutch of mushrooms growing under a garden shrub. The mass of fungi takes up most of the frame with shades of white to tan to brown. The background is brown soil with dry leaves mixed in
October 27, 2025 at 6:58 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
#ForestFriday

Trail climbing a ridge in the Monte Rio Open Space Preserve
Photo of a trail leading through the forest. A mix of dappled light and shade, straight black and brown tree trunks, green foliage background, patches of blue sky at the top, reddish brown trail crossing the lower third of the frame
October 24, 2025 at 3:36 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
Meanwhile, just a bit farther north, at the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge, the migratory crowd is packed in!
#birds
#nature
Wide shot of a shallow pond in the SPBNWR filled with the brown, black and white specs of migratory shore birds. It is a windless day and the water is glass-smooth reflecting the blue sky. The raised roadbed of state hwy 37 cuts across upper third of the photo and the grey brown hill of Sears point rises above the traffic Photo taken from a raised spot. A group of willets and stilts wades in clear, still, shallow water; looking for food. There are submerged tufts of green grasses in the foreground. At the top of the photo the blue sky colors the surface of the pond
October 24, 2025 at 5:17 AM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
I transplanted this lavender from a pot, where it was anemic looking and leggy, to open ground.

It seems happy!

#gardening
#lavender
🌱 🌿 🪻
Close photo of two lavender blooms; one with its stem wrapped around the other. The elongated cone-shaped flowers are deep blackish purple at the center and base, rich violet at the top. Grey green foliage fills out the background
October 22, 2025 at 6:30 PM
kevinhamel.bsky.social
I voted extra hard this time
#vote
#votingrights
#voteharder
#Prop50
#NoKings
Photo of the voter instruction page for the 2025 California special election, printed in Spanish and English. At the top of the page is a peel-off ‘I Voted’ sticker, also in S & E
October 17, 2025 at 5:30 AM