Traveller Heron has been learning a lot at #IWSG2025

If it's not enough to deprive millions of Americans of health insurance, cancel childhood vaccinations, gut health research, etc., then also make sure that no one has a safe place to walk and bike for transportation and exercise. #MakeAmericaHealthyAgain

Herons don't just drink wine; sometimes they hydrate too (in this case, following a dinner of delicious seared scallops from the Isle of Coll 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿)

Saturday is #WorldSoundWalkDay "Put your phone away, slow down, and open your ears. Notice the sounds of birds, wind, water, insects, or even the subtle space of silence. Allow yourself to be fully present. A sound walk is not about talking, but about listening." www.quietparks.org/urban-quiet-...

Another Traveller Heron 😉 bsky.app/profile/sorr...

#Heron in a tree in Kolding 🇩🇰 🪶

Rural walkability FTW. (Apparently this is possible in America too? Who knew...)

In need of Heron but no Heron nearby? Just touch/click any of these hashtags for collections of posts that will fill the gap. For how do you live 💙 #HeroneerTipOfTheDay For natural beauty 🌄 #HeronFinishingTouch For inspiration ⛑️ #HeronHeroes For creativity 🎨 #HeronArt

I'd love to see the noise pollution maps and road rage maps in addition to these...

If anyone needs some positive news, the oldest Ankylosaur was very spiky. (Well, okay, maybe it's not really news if it's something that evolved no later than 165 mya.) www.reuters.com/science/jaw-...

Traveller Heron recommends Grand Héron 🍷 1/2

"...moving at a slower pace connected my family to nature, boosted mental and physical wellbeing, and deepened ties to the community..." ^ this

Well, that's one way to entice customers to clean the loo. (Spotted in Værftet Fanø 🇩🇰)

There was no question what wine Traveller Heron would order at Den Gamle Butik. Unfortunately, the winery has stopped putting a Grand Héron on its labels! Now why ever would they do that...

"Even if you take out the algorithm as on BlueSky, [informative scientist Kate Starbird says, 'the system is still wired in such a way that some of those toxicities remain.'" www.science.org/content/arti...

People think it's about love of travel, but TBH the #1 thing that keeps me motivated to live nomadically is simply horror at the thought of (a) having to furnish an new apartment and (b) the ordeal of moving out from an apartment (versus packing one's bags and returning the keys to a holiday let).

If any Americans need tips on travelling to Europe with space in your luggage for Palaeoplushies, HMU. For that matter, if any Americans need tips on fleeing to live in Europe nomadically with a Palaeoplushie companion, HMU.

TBH I think I would be much more dedicated to travel blogging if I decided to make the theme bathroom fixtures instead of birds.

This might be last photo-heavy blog post, since going through so many photos feels like extreme drudgery to me. (But will it be my last rant about the inadequacy of transit in Ohio contrasted with northern Europe? Eh, probably not, TBH. Sorry.) carfreebirdnoticer.substack.com/p/finding-na...

Trying to get a small bird in frame and in focus is a sort of mindfulness practice and a break from the computer screen 🪶 ...but whenever I sit down at said screen to compose a photo-heavy blog post, I just think about how much I'd really rather be making a spreadsheet or doing an expense report.

Reposting "Stars Without Cars" to underscore the point that #carfree #darksky places are notably good for night sky viewing b/c you can wander in the dark to let your eyes adapt w/o worrying about being (a) hit by a car or (b) blinded by headlights 🌌 carfreebirdnoticer.substack.com/p/introducin...

In that post, I discuss the example of insect screens as precedent that people have often accepted "impurities" in the views from their windows for the sake of practical benefits. Resharing to underscore the point that insect screens also remain useful for not getting mosquitoes in your bed... 🦟

Art meets Nature. #ragworm #børsteorm #nereididae From Fanø 🇩🇰

That moment when a #Heron realises that their beakspear is their own built-in plague doctor mask.

Traveller Heron meets fellow dinosaurs for coffee at a café in Fanø 🇩🇰

Not even if the chalk is HEX BA0C2F or A7B1B7? Oh, FFS 🙄

A restaurant with reading for herons!

The Loganair flight from Aberdeen to Esbjerg might be my new favorite route to transition from the CTA to the Schengen Area. Small, low-key airports. Short and fast-moving queue at passport control. VERY short trek through customs and to the bus stop. TWO complimentary biscuits on a one-hour flight.

One strong breeze 💨 and this #MetalHeron would glide up into the sky, and instinctively spear a fish in the river 🥢

Kate's top tips for packing light: 1. Own few things. 2. Buy anything else that you "need" once you're on the road, not before you leave. 3. Never take up bird photography.

Like most modern humans, I spend most of my time indoors and value glass windows for natural light and views of the outdoors. Glass CAN be treated to greatly reduce #bird deaths while still delivering these goods; it just seldom is. New post from me: carfreebirdnoticer.substack.com/p/on-the-aes...

Four years ago today, Traveller Heron and Traveller Ammonite packed their bags and took to the road... Here's to many more years of adventuring!

For anyone who's been wondering, yes, sometimes Traveller Heron does pick up the tab.

There's no plane reading that Traveller Heron enjoys more than books that stick it to Egrets (specifically, in this case, A Dumb Birds Field Guide to the Worst Birds Ever by @mattkracht.bsky.social)

A Heron with a row to themselves is a happy travelling Heron ✈️

TBH, as a non-driving pedestrian/cyclist who divides time between Europe and downtown Columbus, the "lawlessness" of the latter does make me feel comparatively less safe on the streets; yes, please, fine the asses off every motorist who illegally cuts off a pedestrian, parks in a bike lane, etc.

There are such more beautiful ways of life than car culture...

Prunus is back home on the wonderful semi-car-free island of Vlieland 🇳🇱 -- no doubt with quite the stories to share. (The photo is *probably* not of Prunus herself, but some other Lepelaars on Vlieland taken a couple of years back.)

I have become caught up in following the journey of Prunus de Lepelaar. Safe travels, Prunus, wherever you are headed...

Heron in flight 🐦 Heron on a flight ✈️ Heron with a flight 🥃

I just discovered #WeekWithoutDriving - a great cause. I'd feel strange about signing up as a participant myself, though, just as I'd feel strange about singing up for a #WeekWithoutYachting or #WeekWithoutBungeeJumping challenge. Driving, eh? That's something I've not even considered for years...

Heron or Crane? Vinho de Garça or Vinho de Grou? 🤔🍷🇵🇹

Traveller Heron on the road again...

I am happy to announce that I have joined Quiet Parks International as a volunteer grant writer. #SaveQuiet www.quietparks.org/team

"The broadest majority of respondents 'strongly agreed' with the statement, 'They should pick all the fruit and vegetables that used to be picked by migrants.'" www.borowitzreport.com/p/americans-...

I put my YouTube liked videos on shuffle and this classic came up. www.youtube.com/watch?v=98lO...

It's RWB day in #Columbus - the annual celebration of all things #redwingedblackbird. 🐦

Traveller Heron: "There's a bottle of wine with my name on it..."

Two things about which I am rather passionate are (1) daytime eastbound transatlantic flights - they are exceedingly rare but do exist, and I will go well out of my way to avoid a red-eye - and (2) hotels connected to airports. carfreebirdnoticer.substack.com/p/flee-ameri...

You don't need to drive to reach the four places below. In fact, you're not even allowed to drive in them. What's more, they've all been named Dark Sky Places by @darkskyintl.bsky.social. Anholt 🇩🇰 Sark 🇨🇶 Rum (/ Eigg) 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Spiekeroog 🇩🇪 More about 'em: carfreebirdnoticer.substack.com/i/166560511/...