At this point I'm just barely making enough $ on this cohort to cover the platform fees. It's going to run anyway but I'd really love to have a few more people signed up. Use the code SIXTY for 60% off at registration.

i love that inaturalist includes common names for the birds from like... 1840

The Binoculars to Binomials retreat last week was pure magic, five days of delights like this gem of a fish. When I get a moment to process photos, be prepared to be bombarded by strange and wonderful creatures.

usually when i go on a tropical trip the most memorable thing i see is a bird but on @jerthorp.bsky.social's retreat last week it was the most beautiful fish i have ever seen in my whole life while swimming in a pool under a waterfall

i was stung by a wasp in the tropics whose spanish name translates to "cheese butt." humiliating

great things happening in the world of beans rn

i will be giving an intro to quantum presentation in the colombian tropical forest tomorrow

All of the usual things one brings to the jungle.

i used to get paid a living wage for logging on every day and writing blog posts with titles like "this butterfly has a head for a butt" ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/these-butt...

stupid

bluesky was never good. but also twitter was never good. facebook was never good. no social media was ever actually good!!!!

i walked up to a guy who was fishing because i heard the bells on his rod jingle and he just kept saying “no it’s a little one it’s a little one” and was so perplexed when i was like i don't care i just want to take a picture of the fish for inaturalist (inat says it's an atlantic croaker)

There is just ONE spot left for this strange and wonderful 🐦🌿📊🎨 retreat I'm facilitating with @ryanfm.bsky.social next month. We have an absurdly interesting group of people convening in the jungle - this is your last chance to join us!

experimenting with some adult humor. "peep show." lol do you get it. because small sandpipers are called peeps 🪶

Autumn is a great time for birding while wearing very cool sweaters. And also for learning new things and meeting new people.

reviewing famed mathematician richard stanley's open positivity problems in algebraic combinatorics. problem 1: does the GLBT hold for the gorenstein* complexes. easy: NO. the L comes first to center and honor the contributions of lesbians during the AIDS crisis. it should be LGBT. problem solved

i can't believe the american ornithological society split the warbling vireo into the eastern and western "warbling-vireo." what the hell is a warbling-vireo. no they're not just a vireo who warbles, warbling is a way of life. it's who they are. a whole different kind of thing. i'm dying

This retreat will be co-led by me and the inestimable @ryanfm.bsky.social It's going to be a really unique experience, and I suspect everyone involved is going to come out of it thinking in new ways.

just got got so hard, heard a gray-cheeked thrush song while i was walking down a brooklyn street and got all confused and excited but then i heard a mockingbird and then a swainson's thrush and all of these songs were being played out of a speaker in someone's window for some reason

this is a very silly newsletter vs. my other ones: some zines that my friend chelsea and i made during the nature journaling class we taught last week for lofty pigeon books. it was such a fun event and i want to share at least part of it with you all🪶🧪 ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/a-few-natu...

this was supposed to be a photo of a raccoon i walked by on the street but it stomped toward me and i got scared and ran away

There are just three spots left for the Binoculars to Binomials retreat. There's still time to put your name on one of them. To come and notice and make with us. www.jerthorp.me/btb-retreat-...

When I first started planning this retreat I knew I wanted for it to have a similar vibe as @ryanfm.bsky.social brings to their writing and walks - brimming with curiousity and a willingness to range to all corners of taxonomy. Then I thought... why not invite them to co-curate the retreat?

little gull in the big city 🪶

job alert! looking for someone excited about quantum computing, up on the latest social tools and trends, and a capable storyteller/content strategist. 3 days a week in NYC office + occasional visits to our Yorktown lab (there's a shuttle from public transit). 🧪 ibmglobal.avature.net/en_US/career...

worldview totally shattered learning that dunlin should actually be dunlin'

it is 100 degrees in nyc so i'm over here bloggin cold thoughts on my substack. read on to learn about the antarctic bird that comes to visit the city each summer! 🧪🪶 ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/new-yorker...

good morning, i am doing a nature journaling workshop in brooklyn's prospect park this weekend! i hope you can join!! 🪶 🦉 🧪 tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/pigeon-por...

good morning, i am doing a nature journaling workshop in brooklyn's prospect park this weekend! i hope you can join!! 🪶 🦉 🧪 tickets: www.eventbrite.com/e/pigeon-por...

today i was trying to get a picture of this horace's duskywing and was following around for 10 minutes like a baby chasing a pigeon

hey

Bird sounds.

i saved a life yesterday - scared this chinese mantis to drop the eastern amberwing it had just caught. the dragonfly sat on my hand until i placed it a safe distance from the invasive predator.

Thanks ABA and @n8swick.bsky.social for this episode and the recommendation of @ryanfm.bsky.social book. I am loving this book and seeing NYC in a whole new light! (The Palisades and the breakup of Pangea! Oh my God. :))

thinking about getting really into alabama

There are four spots left for the retreat. It's going to be amazing: five days of nature immersion + collaborative authoring of data art projects. We'll be joined by @ryanfm.bsky.social who is developing walks centered around nature + connectivity. 🪶📊❤️

join me on pingquest, an epic journey to find a secret population of a rare plant on a barely-inhabited island. sort of. 🧪 ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/pingquest-...

Just 4 spots left for this retreat I'm running in September! We'll focus on noticing and making and collaboration in an extraordinary place. @ryanfm.bsky.social will lead walks designed to widen our scope of observation, we'll have local 🐦 guides and, we'll make art together with place-based 📊

it's totally normal for a plant to be green except for some reason when a pistachio does it people go nuts

There are only FOUR spots remaining for this strange and wonderful 🪶📊🎨 retreat in September. Join me in a little piece of paradise to hone your observation skills and work on place-based data art with a cadre of curious people.

in my dream last night i pitched an urban salamander conservation project to donald trump. he didn't take it seriously but in my dream i was really convinced that i could win him over

my favorite inaturalist thing is, of course, when years later an expert tells me a sedge i photographed during an inaturalisting spree is actually a cattail sedge, an endangered rarity that i happened to bumble into. AI IDs are nice but interacting with experts is always the best part for me 🧪

Great article on the rippling effects of ongoing insect declines. "People may not be motivated to save the insects for their own sake, but a world without insects is a world without birds. It’s a world where nature offers no song to the rising sun." 🪲🪳🐦 🌎 www.smithsonianmag.com/science-natu...

The vibe will be mindful, relaxed, and exploratory. We'll share amazing food (all sourced locally) and of course some amazing coffee. We'll learn from local guides & artisans, from guest facilitator @ryanfm.bsky.social, and from each other!

next up on the newsletter: a Q+A with ellen pehek, accomplished nyc parks wildlife biologist, who rediscovered a salamander species in manhattan after it hadn't been seen there for 60 years. check it out! 🧪 ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/whats-it-l...

Earlybird pricing for this retreat I'm running in September ends next week! Now is a perfect time to set yourself up for an end-of-summer treat.

are birds critters ?

Here's one more of the fledgling Warbling Vireo from this morning because major cuteness factor #birds #birding #bird #birdphotography #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography #vireo

also in the newsletter, i announced i'll be a facilitator at @jerthorp.bsky.social's binomials to binoculars retreat to santa marta colombia! sep 11-16. birding will be one of several tools we use to create a collaborative data art piece. learn more/sign up here: www.jerthorp.me/post/the-fir... 🧪

next up from the newsletter: one of my favorite new york city wildlife stories, about a salamander species in an out-of-the-way manhattan park that has twice disappeared for decades. 🧪 ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/the-major-...