Singing in the rain 🎵

Peacock Spider (genus Maratus), a group of tiny Australian jumping spiders famous for their vibrant colours and elaborate courtship dances to attract its mate. They are very tiny in size only between 2-5 millimetres ( the size of a pea)

Painter Mary Cassatt (born #OTD 1844) was the only American to fully integrate into the Paris Impressionists' inner circle. While celebrated for her paintings, her true unsung legacy lies in her role as a radical intellectual & a powerhouse of the internat'l art market. #art #artsky #Impressionism

I am tired of all the attention being given to a certain late night show host who never made me laugh. The loss of late night will mean muting male voices that dominate the airwaves. That is a good thing.

#OTD in 1863, Galician poet & novelist Rosalía de Castro published "Cantares Gallegos." It marked the spectacular rebirth of Galician literature. She is considered one of the most important figures of 19th-century Spanish #literature & modern lyricism. 17 May is #Galician Literature Day. #litsky

Dottie Kamenshek, the legendary Rockford Peaches first sacker, died #OTD in 2010. The greatest player ever to play in the All-American Girls Pro Baseball League. ⚾ 7x All-Star Team ⚾ 2x batting champ ⚾ Nat'l Women's Baseball HOF ⚾ Inspired Dottie Hinson in "A League of Their Own" I ❤️ #baseball ⚾️

Because “I’m not a scientist” is a shield, and “I’m basically a gynecologist” is a weapon.

An attack on Black America is an attack on all of America. Remember: if they come for us, they’ll come for you next. www.nytimes.com/2026/05/16/u...

At that this time of year other people notice birders & want to talk to us. If we told them that we stare at trees to find 2-inch warblers who only occasionally warble and that we can't often see against yellow-green foliage they might think we're a bit off. Studies say not! Saw my first . . .

Nashville Warblers are flitting through our NYC park! Listen to their delightful: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Nashvi...

Our birding community is a bit worried about this poorly chosen nest site but visitors to the park seem not to notice the beautiful mourning dove in the middle of the large bush. It could be a tapestry!

Sparrow nests in my neighborhood in adjoining buildings and in scaffolding.

Can someone identify this beautiful brown and orange butterfly, an early visitor to my Upper Manhattan park?

@nytimes.com features convicted rapist Kobe Bryant in their "Athletic" section for his mindful. You call this journalism? www.nytimes.com/athletic/724... This is an outrage to his victim and to all other female survivors.

It’s #Friday folks! Have the best #weekend you can…hang on a second…it’s Friday?…what in tarnation…where have I been all week? Oh bother! Anyhow… You know the drill: Be #kind Be #gentle Be #true Be like #bees And remember time spent on here is time lost forever out there… Go easy folks.

#OTD in 1964, “Jerrie” Mock landed her 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴 plane in Ohio and became the first woman to fly solo around the world. Departing on March 19, she completed her 23,103-mile (37,180-km) journey in 29 days, 11 hours, 59 minutes. #aviation #AviationHistory #AvGeek

Margaret Atwood 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘥'𝘴 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦 was first published in Canada #OTD in 1985 (US, Feb 1986). The book has stayed in print for >40 years, been translated into >40 languages & was adapted into a 1990 film, a 2000 opera, a 2017 television series & and other media. #litsky #booksky #filmsky

Wrote a piece about Martha and the Vandellas, civil rights, and their place in the history of Black women R&B groups. I also created a YouTube playlist (in the comments) with some of their hits

Rare and beautiful 'extinct' bird rediscovered after 100 years of no sightings: www.earth.com/news/rare-bi...

American Kestrel deep dive. Toronto, Canada, April 17th 2026. Photo by Jose Raposo

B.B. King with Lucille #bluesmusic Vicksburg, Mississippi, 2007. Photo by ©Kevin Westenberg

Red winged blackbird sporting his intense mating season colours 🪶

The Sultan #caterday

Remarkably, this morning I saw an Eastern Towhee (male) clearly for about 30 seconds! It just popped up out of a bush. Usually you only see them through brambles. Yellow-rumped warbler (female), too!

It's National Librarian Day tomorrow and I want to recognize the fantastic research librarians @nypl.bsky.social. I don't know what I would do without you at the Theater, Film and Tape Archive! Also, my local Inwood Library in Washington Heights. What a terrific staff!

Peacock Butterfly (Aglais io): This colourful butterfly species is native to temperate Asia and Europe, it has a wingspan of 55mm (2.16in) and hibernates in trees or buildings during winter, it can use its eye-spots as an anti-predator deterrent. Beautiful photo taken by Ellena Bailey in the UK.

What a great idea. I cannot tell you how many times I wanted to take the leash off dogs in my neighborhood and put them on the necks of their owners so they could sit on the pavement in 20 degrees. I wish I could draw that picture, the dogs on cushy chairs & the idiots whining for their coffee.

It is Jackie Robinson Day, which reminds me of Chadwick Boseman's terrific portrayal of the iconic second baseman in the movie "42" (2013). The equally wonderful actor Nicole Beharie played his wife and appears in the clip below. www.youtube.com/shorts/AF4qK...

Saw my first Palm Warblers of the season this morning. Then I saw a Black & White. I think of the latter as an elegant NYer decked out in our signature colors.

#ResistanceRoots Lucy Craft Laney was born on this day in 1854 in Macon, Ga. Known as the “Mother of the Children of the People,” she was an educator and social reformer who served as an influential mentor and created some of the first educational opportunities for African Americans in Georgia. /1

🔭 American astronomer Annie Jump Cannon died #OTD in 1941. Co-credited with the creation of the Harvard Classification Scheme that organizes/classifies stars by their temperature & spectral type. She classified >300,000 stars & her system is still used today. #WomenInSTEM #astronomy #AstroSky

Hillary Clinton was right about everything. Kamala Harris was right about everything. Both would’ve been incredible Presidents and I remain proud AF to have cast my vote for them.

Posting my interview with Peter Bratt for "Dolores" (2018), his documentary about Huerta. She joined us afterward & asked about my ethnicity. After hearing my mixed European roots & Catholic upbringing, she said Catholicism fostered her sense of justice. It's true for me, too. bit.ly/4vliRsc

A steady stream of these backyard visitors lately. The only monarchs we need right now. #photo #photography #butterfly #monarch

April 9th 2026 Pansy

#theBeeAt3 Basic bee facts every day at 3pm. # 303 # 302 contd. Bumblebee food demand peaks during March to June. Shortage of food during these critical months can result in dire consequences for colony survival/queen production and risks local population extinction. #bees #nature #environment

On this day in 1939 contralto Marian Anderson sang before 75,000 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington an event organized by President Franklin Roosevelt after being denied permission to sing to an integrated audience in Constitution Hall in Philadelphia by the DAR...

Remembering the legendary #WWII spy Pippa Latour who outwitted the Nazis with a silk hair tie.😮 Six weeks before D-Day, she parachuted into Nazi-occupied Normandy (age 23). Codename Genevieve, she bicycled across France selling soap while secretly transmitting 135 coded messages to London. (1/2)

Irene Morgan (b. #OTD in 1917) was a seminal figure in the early #CivilRights movement. She refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in 1944. Her case, 𝘔𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯 𝘷. 𝘝𝘪𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘢 (1946), led the US Supreme Court to strike down segregation on interstate travel, paving the way for the Freedom Rides.

Tiny hunter. Fierce presence. Absolute magic. Female Kestrel just before dusk at the Ashokan Reservoir in Olivebridge, NY 🪶 #birdsofprey #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography #bird

Aerospace engineer & "human computer" Mary Winston Jackson became NASA's first Black female engineer in 1958. Her life & work, along with those of Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan, inspired the book and film Hidden Figures. She was born #OTD in 1921. www.nasa.gov/people/mary-...#OTD #WomenInSTEM

On a rather cold spring day in NYC, for me it was all about finches. I saw a lovely male Purple Finch, then a Goldfinch, and when I arrived home a pair of House Finches that have come to like the alleyway outside my kitchen windows.

Actress/producer Mary Pickford (b. #OTD in 1892) began her film career in 1909 & became Hollywood's first millionaire by 1916. One of the most popular actresses of the silent film era, she had complete creative control of her films & was one of the most recognizable women in the world. #filmsky 1/2

Journalist Marjory Stoneman Douglas was born #OTD in 1890. Her 1947 book 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘌𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘨𝘭𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘴: 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘳𝘢𝘴𝘴 transformed public perception of Florida's Everglades from "worthless swamp" to priceless ecosystem. Recipient, Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1993. #ecosky #conservation #WomenInSTEM #histodons

There are 435 members in the House. They don't matter unless Vance says Trump is not fit for office & the cabinet agrees. That won't happen. Vance would become president. If you think Trump is bad, the VP is an idiot. Thinks women were born to have babies & that Jesus found that airman we lost.

Billie Holiday was born #OTD in 1915. 𝘓𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘋𝘢𝘺 was one of the most influential #jazz singers of the 20th century. Her unmistakable voice--smoky, intimate, emotionally raw + her unique ability to manipulate phrasing & tempo forever changed the way jazz & pop vocals are performed. #JazzSky #musicsky

We are asking young women and men in the military to commit war crimes, and it isn't the first time. Remember WW II. Will Trump jail them (or worse) if they refuse to follow orders? www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2sn... @pbsnews.org is the lone outlet asking these questions.

Fun Fact: the first woman to leave earth orbit is on board too....

#OTD in 1896, the first modern Olympic Games began in Athens, Greece. Women weren't entitled to compete at the 1896 Games--their inclusion would have been "𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗿𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹, 𝘂𝗻𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴, 𝘂𝗻𝗮𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰 & 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁." Stamata Revithi, a Greek woman, ran the 40km marathon anyway. πας κορίτσι