Irvin Louque

A mass of hundreds of narrow leaf sunflower blooms. They are much smaller flowers than those of domesticated sunflowers.

Blue mistflower and narrow leaf sunflower blooms

Goldenrod and blue mist flower blooms

Fall in #Louisiana. A monarch glides by the blooms of narrowleaf sunflower, blue mistflower, and goldenrod. I watch as I eat an American persimmon. #nativeplants #rewilding🌿

The Gulf Fritillary (Dione vanillae) butterflies and caterpillars have arrived on native purple passionvine (Passiflora incarnata). 🌱🌿🦋

🚨 There’s a lot of horrific news out of Washington right now—but you might have missed this: Senate Republicans just introduced a plan to sell off 120 million acres of our public lands.

Let me break down what’s in the bill and why it’s a full-scale land grab. 🧵

A note about tree planting. I've had the most success with smaller trees planted bare root. You may need to protect them from rabbits or deer, but bare root trees establish into the native soil and grow far faster than many containerized trees. Plant native trees if at all possible! 🌱

Today's #WorldWildlifeDay! To celebrate, I planted a native tree. This black cherry came up last year next to a fence where it couldn't say long term. I waited until it was dormant to transplant it in a long term space. Black cherries are great for birds, insects, and people.🥫🌿🌱

I worry that the focus on NOAA's weather predicting value is ignoring the millions of other ways NOAA researchers enrich communities and local economies.

There are no oysters without NOAA. There are no blue crabs without NOAA. NOAA trains teachers. NOAA is the lifeblood of coastal communities.

4 wooden stakes hold wire fencing around a seedling tree

I got back from a trip and found that about 70% of the buds on my newly planted American #persimmon tree were eaten by rabbits. It's now protected by stakes and hardware cloth that I had on hand. 🌱

It may not be cool or hip in some circles, but we legitimately do need a massive amount of people to run for office.

Flood the school boards, councils, county seats, state legislatures, Congress, etc.

Big changes at the top happen when the ground shifts at the bottom. And that can start now.

Avian Influenza Updates & Resources - International Crane Foundation The International Crane Foundation provides critical news and resources in the world of Cranes and Conservation. Avian Influenza Updates & Resources

Curious about the status of #birdflu? The @savingcranes.bsky.social has compiled an excellent Avian Influenza Resource Page, including links for all 50 states' agencies with info on the virus: bit.ly/avianflureso...

About our agency NOAA is an agency that enriches life through science. Our reach goes from the surface of the sun to the depths of the ocean floor as we work to keep the public informed of the changing environment aro...

“Why do I need NOAA? I’ve got a weather app.”

Is equivalent to asking

“Why do I need farms? I can go to the supermarket.”

www.noaa.gov/about-our-ag...

Photograph of a warehouse in Kinshasa where unboxed tuberculosis medications are going undistributed due to the stop work order by the Trump Administration.

Just received this photo from a friend of a warehouse in Kinshasa. These are tuberculosis medications--ALREADY PAID FOR--that aren't being distributed due to the Trump Administration's stop work order.
TB treatment is being interrupted in SO many patients around the world. What does that mean? (1/2)

USAID matters. I've often disagreed with their strategy and choices, but their work saves more lives than any philanthropy can. It's a rounding error in the federal budget, and one of the best things we do as a country. To see it destroyed overnight by one unelected man is an unmitigated horror.

I'm not affiliated with it nor am I an organizer. I'm just excited to attend and swap some seeds!

Statewide Seed Swap/Sale flyer Sat Feb 8, 2025 Southern Forest Heritage Museum 77 Longleaf Road Longleaf, LA 71448 9 am to 3 pm Special guest: John Coykendall of the LPB documentary "Deeply Rooted: John Coykendall's Journey to Save Our Seeds and Stories"

I'm really excited about the upcoming Louisiana statewide seed swap this Saturday! I'm bringing some of my seeds saved from my Lafayette vegetable garden! @lsuagcenter.bsky.social #seedswap 🌱

Celebrating the Protection of Wetlands and Cranes on World Wetlands Day - International Crane Foundation The International Crane Foundation provides critical news and resources in the world of Cranes and Conservation. Celebrating the Protection of Wetlands and Cranes on World Wetlands Day

"Wetlands serve as natural climate solutions, supporting biodiversity & local resilience. We must unite across borders to protect these shared resources supporting wildlife & human communities." ~ Dr. Adalbert Aine-omucunguzi, East Africa Regional Director 🌍 🪶 #wwd25 #worldwetlandsday

Y'all pick a lane. Then make a little progress in your lane each day.

Every serious, experienced organizer I know is Doing Their Thing. Instead of freaking out about each bit of bad news, we're in our lanes rapidly building dual power infrastructure and networks that don't rely on the goverment.

I just noticed you're in Oregon. My birding experience is in the Southeast, so my notes and ID may not apply there. 🤦‍♂️

Pretty sure this is a Song Sparrow. The gray face and buffy overall color, especially on its belly are pretty good field marks. Savannah Sparrows would have a whiter background color and not usually such thick markings especially around the throat.

I honestly believe our most powerful position in a toxic time that feeds on cynicism, apathy,& despair is to genuinely care and act for a better world.

Cynicism is our enemy. We should check it, incl. on the left. It’s not intellectually superior. It’s the virus they’re trying to infect us with. NO

Add cut turnip greens once roots are getting tender and cook another ten minutes. The finish with chopped green onions, dried basil, oregano, and sage. Nothing fancy and I try to be as intuitive as I can when cooking. (4/4)

My base turnip stew recipe. Start with a roux. Add onions then aromatic veggies (carrots, celery, and garlic in my case). Then add smoked sausage, turnip roots, and potatoes (peeled and diced). Add stock or water to cover and adjust salt to taste. (3/4)

I sowed turnips in the fall. They needed thinning at about 45 days. They're extremely easy to grow in the fall and winter. I made a turnip stew with the biggest ones then. #louisianagardening 🌱 (2/4)

Bowl of turnip stew served over rice.

I'm crouched in the garden with a baking sheet full of freshly harvested turnips. Chicken coop in background.

Freshly harvested turnips (roots and greens) and sheers nearby.

Turnips are one of my favorite things to grow, cook, and eat! I harvested around 3 pounds of turnips from our garden right before our big snowstorm and made 2 turnip stews! Turnips were historically a great survival food for my subsistence farming ancestors in the US south. 🌱🍽️ 🧵(1/4)

A poster called Snakes of the United States & Canada, featuring every species of snake found in these two countries, all arranged by relative size and taxonomy, all smiling.

A close-up of the poster, with a variety of cute snakes, from watersnakes to hog-nosed snakes.

Happy year of the snake! I would argue that the snakes of the United States are just as varied and pretty as our birds. A few years ago I made a poster to try and prove it. Drawing this took many months and a lot of research. You can get it here:
topatoco.com/collections/...

Yep! They love our native purple passionvine (Passiflora incarnata) and have no trouble finding it. That plant also grows extremely well here.

A pair of orange and white butterflies mate as one still hangs from its old chrysalis.

Agreed. My state, Louisiana, has a state butterfly as of 2022: the Gulf Fritillary! They are abundant here.

Collard plant with green leaves blushed with dark purple and pink leaf veins.

Pretty sure my collards and onions survived the snow too. I'm in South Louisiana.

Male buntings of the genus Passerina of North America. This 11x17in poster also includes all known hybrids within the genus and has hand calligraphed species names by my father Richard Lipton.

#sciart #scientificillustration #birdart #birding #birdwatching #digitalart #buntings

A garden bed covered in several inches of powdery snow. Only a few things onion leaves and a wooden stake stick up above the snow.

I never thought my garden would look like this in South Louisiana but here are my shallots, collards, and red creole onions. Hopefully the snow insulated them from our record 5°F low temperatures! 🌱❄️
📷 from Jan. 22

Geometric ice crystals formed on a Black Gum tree's small twig. Seen under magnification but they did reach out several millimeters from the surface of the twig.

Geometric ice crystals formed on a Red Maple tree's small twig. Taken with a macro lens but they did reach out several millimeters from the surface of the twig.

Geometric ice crystals formed on a Red Maple's leaves that were red but hadn't yet fallen from last fall. These crystals reach out maybe a half centimeter to maybe 1 centimeter from the leaf's surface.

Ice crystals the day after our historic Louisiana snowstorm! We reached 4°F last night so I'm guessing humidity froze on stems and leaves. These are on a black gun and red maple saplings that I planted for Arbor Day in 2023 and 2024. 🌿🌱❄️