T. Michael Redmond

A bird with slate-grey body, white under-tail, black wing and tail edges, with a long, sharply hooked bill, yellow face, and orange feet stands on a lichen-crusted fence post against a blue sky. A fence wire runs from left to right intersecting the post just below the bird.

For today’s #BirdOfTheDay decided by Rob @robcrank68.bsky.social, the theme is #Raptor. Here’s a handsome Snail Kite in Entre Rios, Argentina.

A dagger-billed bird with dark greenish blue crest, lighter greenish blue back and rusty underside sits on a log with its orange feet. To its left is another log with moss on it and below it is a pale green duckweed covered pond. A vertical thin brown stick is immediately behind the bird’s bill.

For the #BirdOfTheDay #green theme is this Green Heron on a log in a swamp.

A Common Raven vocalizing in a tree in our neighbor’s yard in suburban Maryland. This is the second time we’ve had a Raven in our neighborhood in the past year. (Video courtesy of JBR.)

A man with an angry expression and wearing a white coat stands at the end of a pier tossing papers into the water.

Artist’s impression of current state of peer review in US health research studies.

Not before time!

Maybe not so strange! They do breed off N. America in Iceland. I have seen many there. When I was younger in Ireland we would see them in winter– presumably from Iceland. Called the Great Northern Diver in Ireland and Britain.

Looks terrific! Our go-to okra recipe is a dry-sautéed prep (just a teaspoon of oil). None of that gooey stuff, just okra flavor!

This is at a farm stand. It is our go-to place for okra (and other vegetables). Was surprised that they had any at all this late! It looks like they stripped their plants at the end of season. Through the summer their median size of okra was much smaller!

A man’s right hand is placed for scale atop a pile of rather large green okra pods.

The last of the summer okra? Gigantic pods– only good for long cooking in gumbo. I had to work hard to find the smallest ones.

Mac is the only way!

That bites on many levels😖!

A highly ornate ceiling depicting holy works of a saint executed in a trompe l'œil fashion. Large numbers of angels feature. Three windows are at the top and three windows are at the bottom of the image.

Always look up, Rome edition (but not Sistine Chapel, questo è proibito!). This is the baroque ceiling fresco of Chiesa di Sant'Ignazio di Loyola representing the life of Ignatius of Loyola, a founder of the Catholic order of the Society of Jesus. The late Francis was the first pope of this order.

I was not aware that Paddy had died! How sad! Especially for you and the whole Chironomid community. I am sorry that I missed that. Paddy was a true scholar and gentleman!

Exciting discovery! Chironomids are a fact of life in Ireland. I was even more excited to read how extensively you cited Ashe, O’Connor and Murray! Declan Murray was a professor of mine, lo these many years ago, and Paddy Ashe was a fellow graduate student, in Dublin.

A richly ornate dome ceiling.

Always look up: Basilica Santa Maria Maggiore edition. We joined a line of hundreds queuing to visit the tomb of the late Pope Francis.

Our ride from Bologna to Rome. I love me a Frecciarossa!

Paris’ most famous cephalophore!

A mural on a white wall depicting the figure of a perplexed looking man, surrounded by heads of about a dozen people. There is a depiction of a man on a motorcycle in the bottom right, one of Blind man playing an accordion at the top right, and a nun climbing a ladder in the top left. There are green plants on the left of the picture and a window in the middle of the left side.

A mural in the picturesque San Giuliano neighborhood of Rimini celebrating the films of famous director Federico Fellini. Rimini was the boyhood home of Fellini.

Baroque building reflected in a shallow rectangular pool of water, the reflection receding to a vanishing point at the top side of the image. Blue sky and clouds above the building are also reflected. Paved surfaces are to the left and right sides of the image.

Reflection of Palazzo Ducale, Modena.

“Christians” in America also constantly remind me of Matthew 23: 27.

A bookshelf of old books many in brown bindings. A wire lattice in front protects them.

In a library of the old University of Bologna, oldest university in Europe. Many seminal books on Zoology and natural history, including such as Linneaus and Cuvier.

Ravenna, 10/3: Protesting the interception of the #gazaflotilla. Beside the railway station.

A crowd of people, some carrying red flags, on a street intersection under trees. A signpost in the centre of the image.

Ravenna, 10/3: A protest against the interception of the #gazaflotilla. Part of the one-day national strike in Italy that is disrupting trains, planes, ferries, and buses all over the country.

View from a train window of crossing a bridge over a tree-lined river. The yellow sleeve of a train passenger is to the bottom left.

“Iacta alea est!” Crossing the estuary of the Rubicon, north of Rimini, historical boundary of Rome. Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his legions in January 49 BCE, setting in motion events leading to the Civil War that ended the Roman Republic.

What good taste in gin!

Byzantine mosaics line the interior of a dome. The central circle is of a man being baptized by another man. Surrounding this is a circle comprised of 12 figures. In turn, 8 windows surround this.

Did a LOT of looking up today in Ravenna!

A Byzantine mosaic featuring 5 figures. The figures in the centre is dressed in a sumptuous brown cloak with gold embroidered edges. He is wearing a bejeweled crown. He is handing a chalice to the figure to his left. The figure to his right is wearing a brown dress with gold stripes and a white cloak with decorations and a crown. The figure to her right wears a gold dress. The 2 leftmost figures wear vestments (gold on far left and white on near left), both with brown sections on their fronts. Colourful bands of mosaics are above and below the figures.

Ravenna is Mecca for folks who love mosaics. There are multiple UNESCO World Heritage Sites in the city which once was the Western capital of the later Roman Empire. This is an image of the Emperor Justinian and Empress Theodora in the Basilica San Vitale, made almost 1500 years ago.

Wish we were!

A railway timetable board listing departure times.

Our departure is delayed 25 minutes due to a problem on the high speed line. Venice doesn’t want to let us go!

Books line an alleyway to a bookshop. The alleyway has a cobblestone paved path. Part of the shop sign is to the bottom left in yellow letters on a green background.

Libreria Acqua Alta (High Water Bookshop), Venice.