Kirby Adams

Several fuzzy caterpillars with black, orange, and white tufts of hair are crawling on a green leaf. The background is out of focus, showing dry stems and foliage.

A brown bird with a long tail and a white throat perches on a tree branch, partially shaded, with a softly blurred green and yellow background of leaves and light. This is a boom year for Milkweed Tussock Moths in my area. You always see a few of them around this time of year, but this fall there are an ungodly number of them. I don't really care, since I like them and I have way more milkweed than I want. For the past three weeks I've been hearing the calls of someone else who really likes them - Black-billed Cuckoos. It's probably not a coincidence that the caterpillar explosion coincided with several cuckoos moving in to patrol the yard daily, something that has not happened before. Cuckoos eat all kinds of caterpillars that have wiry, irritating hairs that make them inedible to most birds. The cuckoos allow the hairs to embed in their stomach, then they simply shed their entire stomach lining with the hairs stuck to it and spit the whole thing on the ground. The boom and bust cycle of the moths attracting birds with evolutionary adaptations to eat the plentiful moths...stuff like this is pure beauty to me. Waterfalls and mountains and multicolored fall forests are all gorgeous, but this stuff, the ecology of what's going on out there right now, that's the beauty that hits me on a spiritual level that no vista can.

We're having a Milkweed Tussock Moth invasion. Coincidentally (or not!) we're having a Black-billed Cuckoo invasion. Ecology lessons in the backyard! (Full story in the cuckoo pic alt text.) #nativeplants #birds #backyardwildlife

A nice salmon filet fresh out of the as fuck is tasty AF.

I don't expect anyone to know how these things are trained or coded, but just accepting that it is just something predicting what the next word in a sentence should be is enough. It's not analyzing a knowledge bank to give you an answer, it's playing Mad LIbs.

I have a less dystopian take on AI than many, but this inability of almost everyone to grasp what LLM's are does give me serious concern. I guess because it's portrayed as a conversational entity, people are absolutely unwilling to accept that it doesn't have a single shred of knowledge.

A small gray butterfly with delicate black spots and thin dark edging on its wings feeds from the stamens of a pale yellow-white flower. Around the flower are several unopened buds, dried seed pods, and green leaves, with a small dark insect (possibly just part of the plant?) visible on a nearby stem. It looks like a tiny caped monster with glowing red eyes. The background is a soft blur of green foliage.

Elegant moment in the yard with this Summer Azure (Celastrina neglecta) alighting on blossoms of Virgin's Bower (Clematis virginiana). At the time I didn't notice the Sauron-looking bug (or moth? or part of the plants?) lurking in the background on the right. #butterflies #nativeplants #pollinators

Close-up of a green leaf with jagged edges, cupping a small pool of clear water at the base of its central stem, with sunlight highlighting the leaf’s texture and veins.

This is why they call them Cup Plants. A valuable native or near-native plant in the midwest US. Deer love 'em, but they also spread like crazy. Songbirds spread the seed readily.

A small green frog (It's a Gray Treefrog, but its color is green) rests on a large, bright green leaf, blending in with its surroundings. The leaf has jagged edges where it has been partially eaten, and the frog is positioned in dappled sunlight near the stem where Cup Plants collect water. Frogs take in water through their skin, and many have highly vascularized patches of skin on the belly and rear thighs that act as water uptake zones. This frog is drinking, and likely praying to the frog gods for rain.

Gray Treefrog "drinking" from the "cup" of a Cup Plant (Silphium perfoliatum). We're having a severe drought in Michigan, so I spray the cups every evening to make sure they act as a patch of tiny oases for insects...and apparently frogs. #nativeplants #frogs "Drinking" explained in alt text.

A close-up photo of a bumblebee collecting pollen from the spiky, orange-and-red central cone of a purple coneflower (Echinacea). The bee is dusted with yellow pollen, and its fuzzy, black-and-yellow body is clearly visible in sharp detail. The background is softly blurred, with hints of green foliage and purple flower petals.

A close-up photo of a bumblebee collecting pollen from the spiky, orange-and-red central cone of a purple coneflower (Echinacea). The bee is dusted with yellow pollen, and its fuzzy, black-and-yellow body is clearly visible in sharp detail. The background is softly blurred, with hints of green foliage and purple flower petals.

Common Eastern #Bumblebee heading out on a foraging run in my yard. Her corbiculum (pollen basket on the rear tibia) is empty, so she's either eating the groceries at the store instead of taking them home to the family, or she ust got there. Nice view of anthers in the coneflower in the first pic.

Close-up image of a large wasp perched on a cluster of small white flowers. The wasp has a black head and thorax, large black eyes, and long black antennae. Its legs and part of its abdomen are a bright reddish-orange, while the tip of the abdomen is black. The background is blurred green foliage, highlighting the insect and flowers in sharp detail.

Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) on Virginia Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum virginianum) in my yard. No plant on the property attracts the diversity of wasps that the Pycnanthemum does. Six or seven species on one small clump is not unusual. #wasps #nativeplants #backyardwildlife #insects

Glad you clarified. I thought Jeffrey Goldberg got added to another Signal chat.

I want to put a thought bubble above those Meganisoptera flying by saying, "We didn't have this kind of commotion back in the good old days of the Carboniferous."

A close-up of a striking male Harlequin Duck resting on a mossy, purple-tinged rock in a flowing river. The duck displays bold plumage with dark slate-blue, chestnut, and white markings. The water in the background is a vivid green with ripples and whitecaps.

Two Harlequin Ducks, a male and a female, rest on a moss-covered rock in the middle of a swiftly flowing, greenish-blue river. The male is colorful with bold markings, while the female is a more subdued brown. The surrounding water flows around the rock with visible turbulence and splashes.

Harlequin Ducks on McDonald Creek in #GlacierNationalPark, Montana a couple weeks ago. I finally got to see a breeding male in the wild. They never lifted their heads for a photo, because ducks are inconsiderate lile that, but I still love them. #birds #birding #ProtectPublicLands #NPS

Thank you for sharing this. My mother is 89 and I could write an almost identical one for her. Comforting to know I'm not alone...even though I have no idea who you are and I truly wish you'd had a better father.

Hot take: Community/citizen science is going to be the primary propellant of the conservation movement going forward. Burning rivers and Silent Spring birthed the whole thing half a century ago, but in the connected age, enthusiasm for participation in science will carry it.

A Spotted Sandpiper with brown upperparts and a white belly marked with dark spots walks along the edge of a shallow, rocky stream. The bird has an orange bill with a dark tip and is stepping carefully among smooth, wet stones of various sizes, with its reflection visible in the water. The background shows more rocks and rippling water.

A Spotted Sandpiper stands on a smooth, wet rock at the edge of a shallow stream, surrounded by water and rounded stones. The bird has mottled brown upperparts, a white underside with dark spots, and a slender orange bill tipped in black. Its reflection is faintly visible in the water, and ripples gently flow around the rocks in the background.

Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) at Missouri Headwaters SP, Montana. Appropriate that a sandpiper typical of rivers would be hanging at the birthplace of North America's mightiest stream. I wish we could rename them Riverpipers. #birds #birding #shorebirds #montanastateparks #missouririver

A gently winding stream flows through a grassy meadow under a cloudy sky. The ground is partially dusted with a light layer of snow, and low shrubs and sagebrush are scattered across the landscape. In the distance, a dense line of dark evergreen trees meets snow-capped mountains, adding depth to the tranquil, early summer scene at high elevation.

A small, brown-streaked sparrow (Lincoln's Sparrow) perches on a cluster of thin, leafless twigs. The bird has a pale belly with fine streaks, a buffy face with a distinct eyering, and warm brown tones on its back and wings. The background is softly blurred with earthy hues of brown and tan.

Lincoln's Sparrow along Prospect Creek at 9000' in Wyoming's Bighorn Mountains. Taken on 5 June 2025, just before a snow squall passed over. Habitat photo as well. #birds #birding #bighorns #wyoming

That's a Spotted Towhee, which is a type of sparrow. You very often see them doing that leaf-scratching behavior.

A small twig encrusted with lichens, including a tiny orange pest, resting in a man's hand.

Close-up image of a complex lichen community on tree bark, featuring numerous pale gray to white circular apothecia with dark centers, resembling tiny cups or discs. Scattered among them are small yellow granular structures. The textured bark surface and densely clustered lichen forms create a richly detailed and natural scene.

Close-up image of a colorful lichen growing on a tree branch. The lichen features bright orange, disk-shaped fruiting bodies surrounded by yellow-green, leafy lobes. The surrounding bark is covered in other gray and green lichen, creating a textured, natural background.

Close-up image of various lichens growing on tree bark. The lichens include clusters of small, bright yellow granules scattered across a rough surface, alongside grayish-white cup-shaped structures with dark centers. The bark underneath is partially visible, adding texture and contrast to the intricate lichen growth.

I don't know enough about #lichen ecology and taxonomy, but taking a close look at this little stick reveals a whole world begging for exploration. Images taken with a digital microsope at around 20X. #lichens

A bright yellow songbird, a Yellow Warbler, perches amid green leaves on a sunlit tree branch. The bird has reddish streaks on its chest and appears to be singing, with its beak open and head slightly tilted. The background is filled with soft-focus green foliage, creating a vibrant spring atmosphere.

This Yellow Warbler I encountered yesterday looks cute and happy, and we all need more cute and happy in our lives. (Otis Lake, Michigan) #birding #birds #warblers

A black and yellow fly that looks very much like a wasp is perched on a bright green leaf. The insect has large, dark eyes, clear wings, and distinct yellow bands across its abdomen. Its body is shiny and smooth, contrasting with the fuzzy texture of the leaf beneath it.

This Falsehorn Fly (Temnostoma sp.) was in my yard, apparently plotting something evil. (Rubbing the hands together meanacingly is the universal symbol for evil, no?) In reality, it's just going to fly around and pollinate some fleabane. #Diptera #Flies #BackyardWildlife

2/2 She's an Eastern Forktail and will be a gorgeous sea-foam green and vivid light blue when she molts. For now, she's living the good life, foraging on swarms of mosquitos in an open forest meadow on my property.

A close-up image of a small red and black damselfly perched on the edge of a green blade of grass. The background is filled with lush green vegetation, softly blurred to emphasize the insect. The damselfly’s delicate, transparent wings and slender body are clearly visible.

1/2 I don't think about damselflies much in May. Partly because there aren't many around, and partly because birds consume my interest during this month of spring migration. This immature female managed to pull my eye away from the warblers - no small feat! #odonata #Damselflies #odonates

A small bird (Kirtland's Warbler) with a bright yellow belly, grayish-blue back, and black markings on its head perches on a tree branch surrounded by green leaves. The bird has color-coded leg bands, indicating it is part of a tracking program. The background is softly blurred with shades of green and brown, suggesting a natural, wooded environment.

A small bird with a bright yellow belly, grayish-blue back, and black markings on its head perches on a tree branch surrounded by green leaves. The bird has color-coded leg bands, indicating it is part of a research or tracking program. The background is softly blurred with shades of green and brown, suggesting a natural, wooded environment.

I used to live where I could see Kirtland's Warblers daily, and now I live where they're only a two hour drive away. So I kinda take them for granted. (Horrible, I know!) Still, it was unexpected and fabulous to get great looks at one in Ohio on Saturday. #MageeMarsh #BiggestWeek #BWIAB #birding

A small bee gathers pollen from the center of a light purple wildflower, surrounded by green foliage in natural sunlight.

A small black bee, dusted with yellow pollen, is nestled among the stamens of a light purple Wild Geranium (Geranium maculatum) flower, surrounded by green foliage in bright sunlight.

Cranesbill Miner (Andrena distans) on Wild Geraniium (Geranium maculatum). A lot of these Mining Bees are closely tied to, if not obligate with, particular spring ephemeral wildflowers. #Bees #NativeBees #BackyardWildlife

Should have used comic sans. The kerning is always perfect in that glorious font from the gods.

A tiny bird, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet, is perched on a slender tree branch amid budding spring foliage. The bird is facing slightly left, displaying its soft grayish-olive plumage and a small, bright red crown patch on its head. The background is filled with delicate branches and newly-emerging green leaves, suggesting early spring in a woodland setting.

A small bird, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, perches among dry twigs and leaves in a forested area. The bird is facing slightly to the left, with its distinctive bright yellow crown stripe bordered by black, grayish-white face, and olive-toned back. The undergrowth is full of brown leaves and bare branches, with a few fresh green buds beginning to sprout, suggesting early spring.

Was approached to judge a cute-off by these two birds. I declared them both adorable - no clear winner. Ruby-crowned Kinglet and Golden-crowned Kinglet, Montcalm County, Michigan, 19 April 2025. Don't usually have one of each in the same brush at the same time. #birding #birds #kinglets

A close-up image of a small gray butterfly resting on a blade of grass. The butterfly has delicate, pale gray wings with dark spots and subtle brownish edging near the tips. Its body is fuzzy, and its black-and-white striped antennae are clearly visible. The butterfly is surrounded by green grass and dried leaves.

My first Spring Azure (Celastrina ladon) of the year. Seen today in my Michigan backyard. #butterflies #lepidoptera

A Fox Sparrow perches on a lichen-covered tree branch, surrounded by budding twigs. The bird's rich reddish-brown plumage and heavily streaked breast are highlighted in the soft morning light, with a clear blue sky in the background.

Foxy Day 2025 was ten days later than its historical average, but I celebrated nonetheless. First Fox SParrow of the year on my Eaton County, Michigan property. 12 April 2025 #birds #birding #sparrows

Kirby Adams I wanted to show off some decent photos I took of a Rusty Blackbird yesterday, so I sat down to write a caption...and it became a 1256 word essay. If you want to read it, it's here. If not, skip to...

If you're not opposed to popping into Facebook (I'm trying to leave, but my birding communities are entrenched there!), here's a link to my essay on seeing these particular birds: www.facebook.com/kirby.adams.... /end

In October and into November they're coming back through Michigan. Most of them spend the winter in swamps in the southeastern US. /3