Barbara J. King

The bird perches on the side of a tree with an open cavity hole at top. The red head is visible, and white breast plus black and white feathers. Something small, tan, and round is in the bird's mouth.

Red-bellied woodpecker foraging way, way high up in our backyard canopy. So fun to have spotted this! #woodpecker #birds #birding #nature

🌿 🌊 Kelp forests are vital habitats that support marine life, buffer our coasts, and keep our oceans healthy, and Scripps Oceanography scientists are dedicated to protecting them!

🌏 This #WorldHabitatDay, thank #KelpForests for all they do for our planet.

The cover of this writer's journal features a bright orange-red octopus with 8 unfurled arms.

A white teapot sits on a counter. Its handle is made to be an orange-red octopus arm with suckers and the other arms unfurl around the pot.

To friends who send me octopus gifts- you are the best! I always weave stories of how to protect octopuses into my public writing and speaking about animals. (No octopus farming!) #octopus #cephalopod #nature

The medicine Nobel Prize goes to 3 scientists for work on peripheral immune tolerance Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi were honored for research into how the body helps the immune system avoid attacking your own tissues instead of foreign invaders.

Big congratulations to Mary E. Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi on their Nobel Prize win. Their research relates to regulatory T cells and immune responses in the body. #medicine #NobelPrize #science #womeninSTEM #womeninscience 🧪

Keeping the orb-weavers, corvids, and cephalopods around is more than adequate!

I can imagine not....! That sentence just really sings.

Back to Graham Greene again for my #sundaysentence this week: "Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose, or paint can manage to escape the madness, the melancholia, the panic fear which is inherent in the human situation."

The cover image shows a lonely rural road with an old building in the distance. The words "A Lynley novel" appear in-between the author name and title.

Barbara frowned, looking up at the ceiling, where there was nothing to see save a row of fluorescent lights, of the type that made everyone look like they'd just been released from hospital while still profoundly ill. - Elizabeth George, A Slowly Dying Cause (Lynley series) #SundaySentence #Booksky

An inscription in a book dated April 1988 to me reads: "For Barbara, wishing you all the luck in the world with baboons and pigs. Jane Goodall."

Today and everyday, we can honor Dr. Goodall's memory by following her outspoken urging of us to eat way more plants than animals, in honor of other animals' lives and of our Earth. #WorldAnimalDay #JaneGoodall #vegan #vegetarian #reducetarian

A dolphin above the surface of the ocean, mid-leap.

The Marine Life feed has hit a whopping 2k likes 😱 so my friends, POST CELEBRATORY SEA CRITTERS. Birds Feed folks, seabirds count 😉🪶 come join us in the feed if you are a lover of ocean life!
bsky.app/profile/did:...

Black Cat Adoptions Are on the Rise Thanks to a Cartoon Cat An animated film following a beloved black cat has had the unexpected benefit of increasing the stigmatized felines’ adoption rates.

I enjoyed the Oscar-winning animated film FLOW- and because of the cat character in it, adoptions of black cats are on the rise. In my forthcoming book, I write a lot about the love I've shared with black cats in my life. #cats #adoptdontshop #pets #animals #movies

Please join me in following here @panworks.bsky.social, a fabulous center for animal ethics focused on animals' wellbeing, where I am honored to be a Research Fellow. This piece by @pablopcastello.bsky.social is a don't-miss read! #animals #anthropology #multispecies #ethics

The birds, gray and speckled with black, perches on the rim of a dish of seeds. Their head is turned and we see one eye, the beak, and the fully body and tail. And pink feet!

A sweet mourning dove greets the morning in my yard. #birds #birding #nature

Yes she has-- at first chimpanzee-focused, as you know she soon became an advocate for all beings and for our Earth. How much she will be missed.

Jane Goodall's death is an immense loss for the world. She changed my field (primatology/ animal behavior) forever and for the better. I will never forget the times I met and talked with her. My sympathies to those who knew her best and loved her. #anthropology #priimatology #animals #JaneGoodall

Stunning 12,000-Year-Old Rock Art Emerges in Saudi Arabia

Donkeys and camels, life size! Rock art in Saudi Arabia from around 12,000 years go: "They are the oldest large-scale naturalistic animal art ever found in the Middle East and are among the oldest in the world." #art #rockart #anthropology #archaeology

the president of the united states wants to use the american military to kill american citizens on american soil. that's the whole story!

Scared of spiders? Some former arachnophobes now are keeping jumping spiders as pets The jumping spider pet market is booming, particularly with women. And for many, the journey to spider enthusiast began as an arachnophobe.

It's wonderful that more people see the charm of spiders, including jumping spiders---- fabulous animals. But it's not cool to celebrate sales-focused, high-volume spider-breeding of this nature: "tens of thousands of 'web puppies'" in a single shop. They're not toys. #spiders #pets #nature

Threatened kārearea falcon wins New Zealand’s 2025 bird of the year The country’s fastest bird has taken out the top prize in a scandal-free year for the annual poll

We have a winner! The fast-flying kārearea is Aotearoa/ New Zealand’s only falcon. #birds #birding #nature #birdoftheyear

In the midst of diffuse white clouds we see a patch of yellow and faint blue.

Cloud iridescence! Just now high up over our yard, yellows and blues. #today #clouds #nature

Marie's doppelganger! Senior cats are the best. We lost our 19-year-old last year. Very best to Lola for a wonderful spring birthday!

In great style!

The cover features colorful geometric shapes on a dark background and at the bottom, a furry, red-eyed, pointed-eared small creature. A blurb calls the book bizarre and brilliant, a modern Frankenstein.

Sometimes I felt as if all the care he bestowed upon me was simply to keep himself from discovering what I hid.-- #SundaySentence from the novel Monstrilio by @samanito.bsky.social #Bluesky

She looks elegant! You're so lucky to have each other.

It is 7:42am where I live and already I know this is the best thing I will see online all day.

She's beautiful!

Those magnificent whiskers...!

Lots of coughing & sniffles going on around you? Stay purr-fectly protected by wearing a mask! 😷🐈

Wearing a high-quality N95 mask protects you from respiratory viruses like flu, COVID-19 and RSV.

📲 https://www.cdph.ca.gov/Programs/CID/DCDC/Pages/Respiratory-Viruses/When-and-Why-to-Wear-a-Mask.aspx

Close-up of the head and upper body of tuxedo Marie as she rests her face against a blue cushion. Her eyes are open but unfocused.

Another in my tuxedo-at-rest series because I love so much how folks here celebrate their clever, feisty, and sometimes exhausting tuxedo cats! Marie, age 14. #Caturday #cats

Black and white cat lying on a wooden floor

#WednesdayMotivation yes I could move, but also you could just go around me?