#Bullfinch Female

[wildlifegermany]

[wild-at-mind]

It's actually really adorable that my birdtrack app switches up whether the little icon depicting the bird species is male or female.

[mathmodder]

Get Wild Mod by MathModder (In Progress)

What you need to know:

This mod introduces wild animals into your game map that spawn naturally in beetle spawners. It includes birds, small mammals, amphibians, more insects and reptiles in nature zones. Birds can fly and land in random locations and ground animals can be seen walking around the map.

You can choose ONE from various versions that best suit your world. Select the version that spawns specific animals suitable for your World's location.

Here's a list of potential versions that will be included in the mod:

All Wildlife (City World)*

All Wildlife (Medieval / Country town)**

American Wildlife (City World)*

American Wildlife (Medieval / Country town)**

European Wildlife (City World)*

European Wildlife (Medieval / Country town)**

African Wildlife (City World)*

African Wildlife (Medieval / Country town)**

Eastern Wildlife (City World)*

Eastern Wildlife (Medieval / Country town)**

*Versions for cities will have additional specific effects that help create a more beautiful environment for your city, such as planes in the sky, fireworks, sunshine rays during the day, and sky lanterns for the All Wildlife and Eastern Wildlife version. **Versions for Medieval/Country towns will feature additional specific effects to enhance the beauty of your world, including hot air balloons in the sky, sunshine rays during the day, and more.

These additional effects mentioned above will appear rarely and randomly in your world.

Can I place individual animals in specific locations, such as on rocks or tables?

In a future update after launch, this function will be added, for now they will only spawn where there is a beetle spawner. Ground animals on the ground and birds in the air.

Is the mod heavy to run?

Within the game I am optimizing it so that a small number of animals spawn at the same time and only spawn at a maximum distance of 500 meters from the player's camera.

How many files will there be?

Because there are many animals and specific animations for each one, the files will be heavy, will be a maximum of 2 to 3 files. In tests in my game with 150 other mods from other creators, I didn't see any loss of performance due to the optimization I'm doing within the game.

It is worth mentioning that some files will need to be placed in the Overrides folder and others in the Packages folder, they will all be specified at launch.

Is this mod compatible with other effect mods?

Yes, it will be compatible.

Bugs:

Depending on the location, there may be some bugs such as birds landing in the air or animals walking a little above the ground, this is due to calculation problems on certain game surfaces and physics, whether hills or mountains, but over time I will update and see What can I do to reduce this. In this case I depend on the engine the game has and whether it is possible to correct certain errors.

Release date:

Between January and February 2024 (It is in the testing phase)

Here is the list of animals that will be included in the mod:

American Eagle Bird

Anteater

Artic Tern

Aphids

Bat

Beaver

Bees

Black Bird

Black Egret

Black Fox

Black Goose

Black Rat

Blue Bird

Blue Frog

Blue Green Parrot Bird

Blue Jay

Blue Lizard

Blue Parakeet

Blue Macaw

Booby Bird

Brown Bird

Brown Bunny

Brown Egret

Brown Hen

Brown Monkey

Brown Owl Bird

Brown Pelican Bird

Brown Squirrel

Bullfinch Bird

Bullfrog

Butterflies (many colors)

Buzzard Bird

Canary

Capercaillie Female Bird

Capercaillie Male Bird

Canadian Goose

Cardinal

Carcara Bird

Charadriidae

Chimp

Chimpmunk

Chukar partridge

Condor Bird

Cormorant

Coyote

Crow

Cicada

Cockroach

Dart Frog

Dove Bird

Dragonfly

Egret

European Goldfinch

Falcon

Female Peacock Bird

Flamingo Bird

Fox

Fireflies

Golden Monkey

Golden Pheasant

Goldfinch

Gray Frog

Gray Lizard

Gray Parrot Bird

Gray Partridge

Green Bird

Green Frog

Green Lizard

Green Parakeet

Green Parrot Bird

Harlequin Duck

Hawk

Heron Bird

Hoopoe Bird

Horn Owl Bird

Humming Bird

Humming Bird Loop

Jack Rabbit

Kinkajou

Komodo Dragon

Ladybug

Lilac-breasted Roller

Little Red Parrot

Little Yellow Bird

Little Yellow Parrot

Magpie

Mallard Bird

Marmot

Marten

Male Peacock Bird

Mole

Multicolor Bird

Nude Rat

Orange Bird

Orange Fox

Orange Frog

Owl

Pangolin

Pheasant

Pink Cockatoo

Piper Bird

Possum

Pigeon

Quero-Quero Bird

Raccoon

Raven

Red-Eyed

Red Fox

Red Frog

Red Head White Cardeal

Red Lizard

Red Panda

Red Macaw

Red-crowned Crane

Rooster

Scissor White Bird

Sea Parrot Bird

Seagull

Silver Pigeon

Skunk

Snake

Sparrow

Spiny Lizard

Stork

Striped Lizard

Swallow Bird

Toco Toucan

Tortoise

Vulture Bird

White Bunny

White Cockatoo Bird

White Diving Bird

White Fox

White Goose

White Hen

White Monkey

White Owl

White Pelican Bird

White Piper Bird

White Rat

White Squirrel

White Swan

Wild Rabbit

Woodpecker

Yellow Lizard

Yellow Parakeet

Yellow Pelican Bird

Yellow Toucan

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If you have any questions, leave them in the comments and I will add them to this post!

[michaelnordeman]

Eurasian bullfinch/domherre (male and female). Värmland, Sweden (April 30, 2022).

[herpsandbirds]

Red-headed Bullfinches (Pyrrhula erythrocephala), L - female and R - male, family Fringillidae, order Passeriformes, India

photograph by Jainy Maria Jainy Maria (@jainymariak)

[birdstudies]

April 23, 2024 - Taiwan bullfinch (Pyrrhula owstoni) Previously considered a subspecies of the Grey-headed Bullfinch, these finches are found in mountain and foothill forests in Taiwan. Foraging low in vegetation and on the ground in pairs and family groups, they feed on seeds, buds, and catkins, as well as nectar and some insects. Females build loose cup-shaped nests from twigs and fine rootlets in trees and incubate clutches of three eggs alone.

[soshadysoquiet]

If TUA had bird wings indulge me:

What birds do you think TUA crew would be if they had wings of the species that best matched the combo of their personality, powers, physiology and birth country? (Just dealing with the OG 7 here)

I'm thinking:

Luther - A strong bird obvs / powerful, more known for strength than agility, maybe a Condor / Vulture - both are fairly social birds which I feel is where Luther should have been able to thrive / truly wants to be. (Also why then he would have been messed up further as a kid if the birdy-bit of him wanted to bond and was limited in this). Both species can be monogamous which fits with him and Sloane. *Then I remembered he's from Sweden and looked up Swedish birds and the biggest is the White-Tailed Sea Eagle.. Potentially could he be an Albatross?

Diego - Gotta be a bird of prey, right? I think he'd suit an ornery bird species, ideally one that's agile - I found there's a species called a Laughing Falcon and as he's always teasing and testing his siblings that sounded fun. They're typically very solitary though (fits the lone wolf vibe he rocks in S1 but are they enough of a mummy's bird for him?) The Caracara sounds like an interesting option too though and is agile and more social though less high-flying. Or should he be a water bird - the Neotropic Cormorant?

Allison - I wondered about birds that could mimic other sounds to suit her abilities in a way - like a Mockingbird, or are capable of some form of manipulation / cunning / 'acting' in a way like a Raven, Magpie or a Cuckoo (apparently American birds aren't allowed to act btw? Also never knew that there is an extinct Carolina Parakeet). But I'd also like a flashy-plumaged bird for her in a way to signify that aspect of her interests.

Klaus - Again we need a mischievous bird / and the obvious choice would be one associated with death. I do quite like a Crow for Klaus, because they're cawing often sounds like cackling laughter and humour is very much a go-to defence for him, they're also (I believe) typically smaller than say Ravens and I feel he has a less powerful build and more a nimble one. However Magpie would work well too and I worry that a 'death bird' is too obvious a choice; he could be a more flashy bird to show off his personality - the Baltimore Oriole, Indigo Bunting, or Blue Jay could be fun for him (Plus I feel Reggie would look down on frivolous birds)

Five - I feel this is a good opportunity to use an Owl species - known for their silent hunting style which works for someone who can appear and disappear at will along with his potential for being an assassin. Also they're methodical and pair / family-orientated rather than colony birds typically. The barn owl is the one that screams which lets be honest kinda fits. But they're not the most intelligent species and most Corvids would fit him well too. (Could also poke fun at him by making him a tiny aggressive bird like a Robin, or a Seagull - also with the screaming).

Ben - Loons live in Korea which I didn't know before today - and they can have a very unsettling cry if you don't know it's a bird (a sound that's often used in horror films) so that could work. Albatross is also here, and the migratory nature of them makes them feel other-worldly to me. Heron; because they lurk. Or potentially a Crane -they have elaborate courtship dances, which links nicely to the romantic /artistic side of Ben's personality.

Viktor - I kinda wanna say a Goose because you don't fuck with Geese. But then maybe a more musical bird - the Eurasian Blackcap is meant to have a beautiful song. A Bullfinch could be quite fun for Viktor because the male has bright bold colours and the female is more subdued in colouring; which could signify his confidence and happiness increasing following his transition. (Transgender peeps feel free to advise on whether this would be appropriate or not I do not mean to harm anyone)

Any other bird offerings please to say!

[kavohh707]

Most of the times I take pictures of birds on my walks, in the park, at the lake or in a nature reserve, but there is also so much joy in just watching the birds that visit my bird feeder. And sometimes I manage to take a picture from my sofa (mostly through my more or less clean windows which is the reason for the rather poor picture quality). Here are some of my regular visitors - blue tits, great tits (in this case a juvenile one), greenfinches, bullfinches (here a male, but the female is never far away) and of course robins, who only rarely visit the feeder but love the meal worms offered on a plate beside the little bird bath.

[joyerisjoy]

Thinking about her again.

Since she’s based off the Eurasian bullfinch, I imagine her natural hair color is a beige-gray color since that’s what the females’ feathers are. (It’s the males that have bright orange feathers.)

[bonefall]

Clanmew Expansion: Finches

Lads it's about to be Clanmew time again, I'm gonna blitz through a bunch of asks but first, here are some I made a few days ago for the upcoming Clanmew 102 which evolved into expansive notes.

FINCHES All 8 species of finch seen in the White Hart Wood and at Sanctuary Lake, and how Clan cats feel about them.

First things first! Finches have a 'generic' term, a word that describes the entire category;

Finch (Generic) = Afigu

A small bird with a large beak and colorful plumage, usually seen in groups.

One of the few birds that has a generic name in Clanmew. This is because finches are extremely social and will often flock with completely difference species of finch. A contraction of "Afaf" (Fluttering) and "Pigu" (Songbird).

When used as a name, it's usually invoking a social, friendly image. The name that Palebird chose for her fading kitten (which was quite the social taboo) was Afigumew, "Flocking Finch Kitten"

Bullfinch (Pyrrhula pyrrhula) = Miuu

[ID: Northern Bullfinches, a male on the left, a female on the right.]

Males have a bright salmon-pink belly, and a humble tweeting call. Their beaks are small and powerful, though ThunderClan sometimes comes in conflict with them as they like to eat the buds off of fruit trees.

Most often used as a name by ThunderClan cats, usually referencing jolliness and a love of food.

Chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs) = Qiliao

[ID: Two chaffinches. A female is on the left, a male is on the right.]

The common finch, males sporting a slate gray hood and red belly. Named for the sudden stop at the end of its song, this finch is a more active hunter than the others in its grouping.

When used as a name, it's used in the high hopes of the kit becoming a beautiful, social, and active hunter. Finchstar of ThunderClan's name in Clanmew was Qiliaoshai.

Goldfinch (Carduelis carduelis) = Wibuch

[ID: A goldfinch perched on a creeping thistle.]

Has a distinctive 'chime' in its call, a bright red face, and a distinguished yellow marking on its side. A specialist eater that can pluck seeds out of spiky plants such as thistles. Seen as resourceful and brave by Clan cats.

Finchlight of ThunderClan was named "Wibuchshayu," Goldfinch-Radiance, referencing Firestar's opposition of Thistle Law. She is called "Wi-sha" for short!

Greenfinch (Chloris chloris) = Sheeshoo

[ID: Two greenfinches on a mossy branch, a male on the left, a female on the right.]

Has a laugh-like call and is a uniquely colored, yellow-green bird. Seen year-round, males are a lot noisier than females. They tolerate conifers much better than most British birds, meaning they're often seen close to ShadowClan.

Regarded with suspicion by other Clans for their strange sounds and behaviors, it's used mostly by ShadowClan for bizarre and erratic cats. Finchflight of ShadowClan was named "Sheeshoofba," "Green Finch Will Liftoff Powerfully."

Brambling (Fringilla montifringilla) = Nree

[ID: A brambling perched on a twig.]

A winter-exclusive bird that likes to eat beech nuts. Large, beautiful, and delicious. In the Forest Territories they liked RiverClan's beech patch, in the Lake territories they are only seen in ThunderClan.

Older kittens and young apprentices anointed in winter often meet bramblings as the first bird they'll stalk, as the beech patch is just north of ThunderClan camp and a very safe place to explore as soon as they understand that yew berries are deadly. Use as a name invokes winter, soft memories, and a welcome meal.

Lesser Redpoll (Acanthis cabaret) = Chrri

Mostly seen in winter. Varied, always has a red spot on the top of the head, but sometimes also has a pinkish belly, or is nearly completely brown. The call is short, harsh, and almost rattle-like.

Can be translated into English as 'finch,' 'poll,' or 'redpoll' at translator's discretion. There is a greater redpoll, but it is very rare in this region! When used as a name, it may reference uniqueness. No two lesser redpolls look the same.

Siskin (Spinus spinus) = Iweewi

[ID: A siskin perched on an alder twig, eating seeds out of the cones.]

A bright yellow bird with a rapid call. Considered a survivor for being able to survive year-round in any type of woodland, including conifers, but pretty small to be taken for food except in emergencies. Has a particular love of alder trees and can be seen around them a lot.

Linnet (Linaria cannabina) = Nanarree

[ID: Two linnets. On the left is a female, on the right is a male in breeding plumage.]

Sometimes considered a finch by Clan cats, though it wouldn't be hard to argue to them that it's a hybrid between a sparrow and a redpoll. The kitties have not figured out taxonomy! They love to eat flax and other seed-bearing plants, and thus are seen often in ShadowClan, RiverClan, and at WindClan's watery borders.

In either case, a linnet is strongly considered a 'pigu' and killing one is considered very dishonorable, especially in WindClan. Their songs are sonorous, and hearing them is a beloved experience.

[dansnaturepictures]

02/03/2024-Testwood Lakes

Pictures taken here today in this set are of; eyecatching Cormorants, a prepossessing female Marsh Harrier which I got an extraordinary view of flying over and putting up the waterfowl a special moment with a bird I love, magical scarlet elf cup mushrooms which I enjoyed seeing, beautiful views on a great time here, one of three Roe Deers I got excellent views of, mercury, Lapwing a key bird seen and heard with their pleasant "pee-wit" calls today and some smashing jelly ear or wood ear fungi it was sensational to see loads of on a tree near the scarlet elf cups I enjoyed seeing them my first ever. Other highlights here today were Shoveler, Gadwall, Greylag Goose, Oystercatcher, Great Crested Grebes, two Mute Swans fighting with another nearby which I could hear from the hide from the other side of the water the splashes and flaps strongly audible, amazing views of a wonderful Cetti's Warbler hearing their distinctive call well too, Ring-necked Parakeets, Stock Dove, male Bullfinch, Goldcrest, Blue Tit, Long-tailed Tit and gorgeous daffodils and primroses.

[tigwex]

Couple of days late because it made me suffer the consequences but!

15.12.2022

Went birdwatching to a local loch in subzero temperatures! It snowed the other day and has been cold this month, so I brought some food for the usual waterfowl that hangs out there - got 2 bags of porridge oats, a pack of oatcakes and sliced up a few old apples to give them :) The mallards were VERY hungry and followed me around a bit about it, the winter must not be treating them very well, considering half of the lake was frozen over completely and the rest of it was probably too deep for them to forage on the bottom of, not to mention people don’t really come out there much during winter I also spoke to a sweet old lady for half an hour about birds and when we parted ways she said she hopes she gets to see me again and learn more about birds if I go birdwatching there again :) Birds seen and identified in the trip: - MANY robins - rock doves - crows - magpies - herring gull - black-headed gull - pied wagtail - moorhen - eurasian coot - greylag goose - white fronted goose - feral domestic goose - hybrids of the three above - mute swans - many blackbirds digging around in the leaves - many mallards   - tufted ducks (rare for the area! they’re not common this far north, and the first time I’ve seen one!) -  bullfinches, both male and female - some kind of pipit, it flew away before i could get a good look - cormorants     - iceland gull (RARE!! and really pretty) -  common gull (despite the name, they're rare here, it’s the first time i’ve seen one) - blue tit - great tit - coal tit - a really noisy cute pheasant

[a-chuffed-floating-panda]

A love in the eye of the hurricane ch8 (unedited)

(Originally posted 19 June 2022. slightly better edited chapter)

“Tell me.” She insisted. “What’s wrong?” They were a bit away from the others and Jaya was chasing Oolong around, so they had privacy. 

Five bullfinch chicks, round and fluffy, sat chirping in her palms.

“Nothing is wrong in the sense that you’re asking,” Gawa answered, holding her finger out so that a female bullfinch could land. “I was a bit upset at first because I couldn’t do the katas right, but when you came….you just reminded me of someone.” 

“I did?”

“Mhm,” she nodded, her hair swishing with the gentle movement. “I had someone very similar to you. We would practise bojutsu together and they’d come and heal my hands whenever I trained alone.” There was a distant look in her eyes. “They’d tell me to take care of myself, take care of my hands and always make sure that my body is strong and healthy.”

“Where are they now?”

“I don’t know,” her eyes didn’t have the usual brightness they had, it felt wrong to see her without it. “I don’t see them anymore.” 

Without really thinking, Jamyang shoved the five bullfinch chicks into her palms.

Gawa had a similar mark to what Amanthi had inside her palm.

She didn’t pay attention to that though and took some pride in Gawa’s startled laugh.

Tashi sat close to Palden as they watched the children play with the bullfinches. 

“Have you experienced it before?” Palden looked at her. “Yeah,” She hadn’t felt this seen by someone in a while. “I have.”

“How do you deal with it?” Palden smiled sadly. 

“My methods are unconventional in your situation, they know that I like them.”  

Tashi couldn’t ever fathom telling Choda her feelings. “Did-did you?” Because if she did-, “I didn’t confess my feelings, no. Someone found out and told them,” she raked her hand through the grass. “I’ve been keeping my distance ever since.”

“They didn’t return your feelings?”

“No,” there’s a sadness in Palden’s voice that she’s so familiar with, “they didn’t.” 

Tashi moved closer so that she could rest her head on her shoulder and put her hand over hers “I’m sorry,” she gave her hand a squeeze, the least she could do was give her comfort back, “that must be painful.” She felt her lean her head against hers and she intertwined their fingers; they were bigger and more callused than Choda.

“It is painful,” she confirmed, “but I’m getting better, I don’t have many of those strong feelings around them anymore.” Getting over her feelings and moving on was a thought that seemed so far-fetched to her. Tashi knew that it was the right thing, the most logical thing to do, but…she didn’t want to.

She knew that she was being selfish and only making her suffering worse, but she didn’t want to.

It’s painful to suffer from your feelings alone, she thought and closed her eyes. But it must be unbearable for the other person to know of your feelings and still not return them, for a moment she allowed herself to relax and melt into the comforting warmth that Palden had given her.

“Soo…” Jaya started, “do we wake them up?” “It’s the polite thing to do, isn’t it?” Jamyang shifted on her feet, “it’s dinner soon.” 

“Yeah,” Jaya looked conflicted, “but Tashi hasn’t been sleeping well, has she?” It would fluctuate, sometimes she’d sleep well and other times she or Jaya and Tashi would get a short nap in between their classes. “The nuns could come looking for us.” There was that too-

“Palden can carry her,” Gawa said matter of factly, interrupting her train of thought. 

“I know that she’s strong enough to do so.” Jamyang wasn’t surprised by that information, she saw some of the extreme strength training they would do last night- well, technically it was early morning, but the specifics didn’t matter. Jaya on the other hand, going by her slacked jaw, was quite surprised by that information.

“She could carry her back to the temple, let her sleep ‘till she wakes up and maybe, uh, maybe some dinner could be saved. Problem solved? The nuns know where we are and we all get dinner.” Jamyang quenched the urge to pinch her cheek, deciding to stare at her- which wasn’t better because Gawa stared right back at her- and looking over at Jaya when she answered.

“Yeah? Yeah,” she nodded, “let’s do that.” She approached the two first with Gawa and her following and crouched beside them.

“So-so do I just,” Jaya made a vague shoving gesture. “Is a shove okay or-or- how do I do this exactly?”

“You’ve never woken someone up before?” Gawa voiced her disbelief, making Jaya falter a bit. “Well, I have,” she huffed at her, “it’s just- just that I’ve seen Jamyang wake up a couple of kids our age from the other temples and they react rather…intensely.” Okay, that was fair, Jamyang wouldn’t fault her for that.

“Oh,” she leaned against her, “that’s because she’s difficult to sense. You’re very easy to sense.” 

“So a shove is okay?”

“Yeah, a shove is okay.” Jaya tried to hype herself up with the confirmation.

“You know,” Gawa turned to her, “many of them aspire to have a presence like you.”

“They do?” She knew of it, but she’d never heard any of them say it before, it was only said in between sentences or heavily insinuated. 

“Mhm,” she nodded, “in a different world, your skill would be very useful and I think that you would be sought after too.” Jamyang found it weird that her non-presence- some had also said spirit-like presence- was referred to as a ‘skill’ and that there was a possibility that she would be sought after for having said skill.

Would she have been a spy or assassin then? Personally, she thinks that she would fit the role of a spy more.

Jaya tried to muffle a squeak when her hand was grabbed.

“Mrgh.” Palden’s bleary blue eyes blinked at them. “What iz it?” Jaya stuttered, looking back and forth between her hand and her nervously. “Uhm,” Palden glanced down at her own hand,

“Oh, sorry,” her words were slurred from sleep, but she let go of her hand.

“No it’s okay,” this was one of the few times she’d seen Jaya this jittery, “we were just wondering if you could carry Tashi back to the temple? Just so that she can sleep more, y’know.”

Palden blinked at her, sleep riddled her face and Jamyang could relate; every single time she’d fallen asleep in the forest while reading, she ended up just like Palden was now. 

It was something about the area that made her and others feel so rested after waking up.

“Okay.” Jaya looked surprised at how easy it was, probably expecting to do more. 

“Okay?” She repeated, sounding unsure.

Palden nodded, still looking very sleepy. “Okay.”

Jaya stared with wide eyes as Palden picked Tashi up with ease and shifted her onto her back.

“Okay?” Jamyang struggled to hold her laugh back when Jaya squeaked.

“Okay!”

Tsering didn’t startle when Hayma, without a word, hugged her in the middle of the hallway.

“What is it?” She returned the hug, wrapping her arms around her shoulders.

“Nothing,” Hayma’s arms gave her midsection a short squeeze, “I just wanted a hug from you.” She laughed, resting her head against her shoulder, “you're worse than Gyalwo.”

“But you love me though.”

“I love Gyalwo too,” Tsering was so grateful to have gotten to know someone like Gyalwo and she’s someone she holds very dear. 

…” I’m not going back if that’s why you’re here Gyalwo.” 

“And I’m not here to force you to.” She didn’t expect that answer, Gyalwo smiled and folded her arms. “I’m here for two things,” she held two fingers up, “and two things only.”

“One, are you well? I haven’t seen you in two months.”

“I am.” She still wasn’t used to getting kissed every day, Hayma teased her by kissing and hugging her more. 

“Happy too?” Emotions bubbled in her chest, she hadn’t been this happy in a long while. Her answer came out choked. “Yeah.” It looked like she wanted to hug her, but held back. 

“And two, I’m inciting a rebellion for you.” The guard she’d been holding up till now, shattered.

“…You’re what..?”

She pulled back to look at Hayma, only to find her pouting. “But,” she cupped her jaw, smiling when Hayma leaned into it, “I don’t love her like I love you.” She strengthened her words with a short kiss, and just to be annoying like Hayma, she ended the kiss with a bite to her lower lip.

The number of times Hayma had done that to her was too many to count, a rebuttal of sorts was to be accounted for. 

She laughed at the pair of furrowed brows in return for what she did. But annoyance or not, Hayma pressed a kiss to her cheekbone regardless.

“I guess I have a few of those coming.” Tsering chuckled along with her. “You do.” Just as Hayma was about to lean in to kiss her again, she stopped when their noses touched and she shifted to look behind her. Curious as to what caught her attention- and what got in between their moment, Hayma’s kisses were to die for -, she turned to look over her shoulder.

Well, she had wondered where they went off to, she got a brief summary from Pema who said they were going down into the canyon to look at birds' nests.

“What are you doing?” She wouldn’t lie, she did get a little suspicious when she saw Tashi being carried on Palden’s back. 

“She’s sleeping,” Hayma whispered against her cheek, it eased her a little.

“Um…” there were leaves in Jaya’s hair- she really should help her get into the habit of braiding it or putting it up -, Oolong sat perched with pride on top of her head and it was difficult not to think that she’d done something when she looked so nervous. “We wanted to do two things by doing one thing.”

“Yeah.” Jamyang’s hair was still neatly braided, only some loose strands showing her that she’d been running around.

“Mhm.” Hm, Gawa’s braids were pretty, she looked a lot better than she did this morning, and was that Matcha sitting on her shoulder? She didn’t see Matcha often outside of the forest.

“Mmh.” Palden looked like she’d just woken up. There were a dozen bullfinches sitting around on her shoulders and Tashi’s. Including Assam, the one she was most familiar with, who sat on Palden’s head.

“And what were the things you wanted to do?”

Jaya held up her fingers, “One, get back to the temple before dinner,” she raised another finger, “and two, let Tashi sleep more since she hadn’t been sleeping well lately.” She’d heard about that from a concerned Pema.

There was an unknown- to her at least- female bullfinch sitting on Jamyang’s shoulders. “Can we save some food for her in case she doesn’t wake up for dinner?”

“I-I’m sure something can be figured out, we can talk to Chomden about it.”

Tsering did get her kiss. 

After getting the confirmation from them that Tashi had been moved to her room and was still sleeping, Hayma had pushed her up against the wall when they left and given her one of those kisses that just took her breath away.

Hayma liked to kiss and she liked getting kissed, the balance was good.

“I think that makes up for earlier.” She smirked, smug at getting her breathless. Tsering probably should’ve said that smugness wasn’t a good look on someone, but every look looked good on Hayma so she didn’t stand a chance there.

“It does, yeah….” It was so tempting, she wanted to kiss her more, but there was a chance that people could see them so she didn’t.

When Hayma gently moved her hand through her hair, she asked. “Will you braid my hair later?” A kiss was pressed to her forehead, and she could feel her smiling. “Of course.”

“At the usual spot?” 

“At the usual spot.”

Tsering, distracted by Hayma and her kisses, of course, forgot to mention the surprise guests to the others that arrived earlier when they were down in the canyon.

Jamyang got a platypus-bear hug -startling those she was with- when they turned the corner to the dining hall.  

“Ugoff!” The bullfinch that sat on her shoulder, chirped in annoyance and flew over to Gawa's shoulder.

She got Platypus-bear hugged- the force hitting her chest mainly -straight to the floor by a familiar mass of a grinning brunette that did notmention in her last letter that she was going to come and visit her.

Sister Zopa approached them not that soon after smiling welcomingly, but she could see a mild exasperation in her brow. 

“Jamyang!” The embrace was strong, she couldn’t move her arms, it was upsetting that she couldn’t hug her back.

“Yara,” Sister Zopa started, with weariness in her tone, “let Jamyang get up.”

Yara whined about how much she didn’t want to let her go, and how much she wanted to hug her forever and ever-

“So selfish,” throw-away words, those were throw-away words, “I want to hug you too, you know.” Yara gasped at the accusation and quickly let her go.

“I’m not-,” when she focused on her throw-away words, Jamyang took that as her opportunity to hug her.

“In my personal opinion,” she said, feeling Yara return her hug, “a hug is best when both parties get to participate.”

Yara had, after greeting Jaya with a big hug and saying how ‘pretty’ Oolong had gotten, fawned over Gawa and Palden when she saw their eyes.

“Blue eyes?!” Jamyang was sure that everyone in the tower they were in heard her. “I’ve never seen an airbender with blue eyes before.” Grey was the norm and the second was brown; her, Yara, Tashi, Sister Gyalwo and a minority of others that she didn’t know the names of were examples of that. She’d seen some airbenders with different colours- like the rare ocean blue from monks at the Northern temple -, but not as many as those before she got to participate in the festival.

Amanthi had hazel green.

Fuji had green.

Zoho had blue.

Palden had blue, ice blue to be specific.

Gawa had this weird grey-blue mix.

Danan had violet.

Bankei had fire nation amber.

Monk Fang, yes she got to meet him, had brown.

Abbess Bennu had dark brown, so dark she thought they were black at first.

Ji bong’s were actually black.

“There are others with different colours too.” She said and Yara- with a really silly expression- gasped at her side. 

“No way!” 

“Yes, way.” Palden and Gawa were looking at her with funny faces.

“It’s true,” Jaya chimed in with a nod, “I met someone with honey eyes.”

“No way!”

“Yes, way!”

Hearing the murmur of the dining hall not that far ahead, Yara asked them. “You wouldn’t happen to know a boy named Shaohao would you? He said he knows you.” She blinked at her wording and the possible implications it held.

Unsure on how to respond, Jamyang looked over at Jaya and Gawa for support; Sister Zopa and Palden looked extremely interested in their conversation for some reason.

“Yeah…?” Gawa rolled her eyes at Jaya’s lame response and gave her answer instead.

“We know him, yeah, we played together when we visited Torokawa.”

“Oooohh, okay, I guess that makes sense.” Yara’s mouth twitched upwards. “He helped me with something earlier, he asked about you three.” 

When the words registered, Jaya looked over at her with wide eyes. “Wait, he's here?” 

“Yeah? You didn’t see the dragon sleeping on the plazas?” All of them stopped, Jaya even tugged on Palden’s sleeve to ask her. “Did you see a dragon outside?”

“…There was a dragon outside?” Jamyang pouted when Yara started laughing at her.

“I saw something that you didn’t see? That’s a first, are you okay?” Yara only laughed harder when she punched her shoulder in embarrassment.

Jamyang was stopped by Choda and her group of friends when she walked past their table.

“Jamyang, come here for a second.” Choda waved her over and Jamyang sighed heavily before stopping at their table, putting her plate of soup dumplings on the table when they got too warm for her hands.

“What?” She wasn’t annoyed per se, she’d just been looking forward to tasting them; Dache, a friend she’d made from the Jonang Choeling temple, had been excited for her and Jaya to taste them because he’d helped the nuns make them.

“Abbess Bennu said you figured out why Tashi’s being distant.” It was weird to see the outgoing Choda nervous, maybe she’d been reflecting over Sister Pema’s words; for someone who was incredibly careful all the time, she could be ruthless when she scolded someone.

“Yeah?” She could tell where this was going and promptly braced herself for the possibility of upset teenagers.

“How, how did you figure it out?”

“It all felt similar to a book that I read,” she said and continued, “I observed for a couple of days when I noticed that something was off and got my questions answered when Tashi confirmed that what I thought was true.”

“Similar to what book exactly?” Chesa asked with curious eyes, swirling her cup of water before taking a sip. 

“The boy in the neighbourhood, when Xiyun fell in love with someone he thought that he couldn’t have, and distanced himself when Shanyuan found out about his feelings and told them to everyone.” Chesa was a fan of the book, it was her that introduced it to her.

Jamyang had picked up on one thing when Choda would talk about love, she never specified any gender. From how she understood it, she just wanted someone to love.

“She, she-,” Chesa stuttered and pointed to herself and the others, “one of us?”

Choda’s brow pinched and her expression morphed into something that she couldn’t tell what meant. “Who of us does she like?” There it was, she picked up her plate of food and took one step back.

“I’m not telling you.” Choda looked frustrated and Jamyang wasn’t about to risk Tashi’s trust in her, seeing it as luck that she didn’t get upset when she found out that she told Jaya and Gawa.

“Figure it out on your own,” she said in the best Elder Sonam voice she could manage, “observation and problem solving is a master qualification, isn’t it?” Tashi had- allegedly, she overheard this from the nuns praising her- been qualified to get her arrows after she’d helped to solve a big conflict between two monks at the Southern temple, Elder Phuntsok wrote himself as the witness.

Before she left, she looked at Choda, really looked at her and smiled. That got an eyebrow twitch and a thoughtful frown from Amala, and she bowed herself out to the group and left.

Jamyang hoped that this wouldn’t backfire on her. 

She noticed that Shaohao observed them closely when they ate, nodding every now and then when Norbu and Dolkar talked.

“What?” He flushed and ducked his head when he got caught.

“I’ve never met a pair of twins before.” 

“Never?”

“Never.” He tilted his head at her. “I’ve never seen someone that’s so similar to each other and yet so different.” The fire nation in him wondered if the way they braided their hair was a weird metaphor for their different personalities; Jamyang’s braid was neat, only with a few rouge strands while Yara’s was loose with many rouge strands.

Nyima and Aden laughed when Takumi recounted an embarrassing story that Michiko told him to tell.

“Well, it’s an honour to be the first pair of twins you’ve met.”

She returned her plate back to the kitchen, promising Jaya, Yara and Aden that yes, she would play airball with them later, even if she really wanted to finish the Chronicles of the sea dragon; she only had three chapters left, Feng and Xu, the dragon he’d saved, were planning to overthrow the mad king. 

She’d been left in suspense ever since she had to go to class that morning. She just couldn’t say no to Yara, she had better puppy eyes than Jaya.

Stopping abruptly on her way back, Jamyang stared in disbelief when she saw Amanthi juggle two pebbles in her hand in the same way she’d seen earthbenders do.

They hovered over her palm, circling with the movements of her fingers. She held a finger up to her mouth when she saw her looking. With a twitch of her fingers, they shot off aimed at the back of Monk Feng and Sister Dohna’s heads.

“Ow!”

She’s a tattooed airbender, the arrow was right there on her forehead, only a blind person wouldn’t be able to see it. She’d never heard of such abilities before. The only one she knew of was the Avatar.

How was it that an airbender could earthbend?

She knew that it wasn’t airbending, the pebbles wouldn’t have moved so smoothly if it was, it would’ve had a more stuttery and rugged movement. 

“How,” she approached her, wide-eyed and lost for words, “how did you do that?” Amanthi answered by holding her palm up, the one that had that weird tattoo she caught a glimpse of last week.

She could read katakana and hiragana well, she struggled a bit with kanji, but she could get by.

The kanji for ‘earth’ was tattooed with bold lines in the middle of her palm.

She frowned. “What does that mean?” Amanthi patted her head and responded with a low voice, to not disturb Sister Jetsun who was resting on her shoulder, “it means that I can use a small amount of my earth chakra to throw pebbles around.”

“So you can earthbend?”

“Pebbles, yes. Not anything else,” she chuckled to herself, “I broke almost all of my fingers trying to see if I could do more.” Jamyang winced at how painful that must’ve been.

“But how do you do that?”

Amanthi hummed before answering her. “Some people can use both chi and chakra, I am one of those that can do both.” 

“That still doesn’t tell me anything.” She pouted and Amanthi only smiled at her, patted her head and said one thing.

“Your twin is coming.” She leaned back and put her arm around Sister Jetsun.

“What?” Her only warning was a whistled ‘whish’ sound that she was very familiar with.

“Jamyang!” Yara crashed into her, “you’re so slow!” She picked her up and ran off with her. “They’re waiting for you.”

How was she so strong? Was it that she ran around a lot? 

There was a rule that one was not supposed to enhance their running with airbending inside, Yara was currently breaking that rule. She couldn’t hear much besides the loud whooshing in her ears. “Oh yeah, Palden told me to tell you that she went and got Tashi some food.” Jamyang yelped when Yara took a sharp turn and they zoomed right by that said person she was talking about.

“Hi, Palden!” Yara greeted cheerfully as she zoomed by her.

Palden looked like she was holding back a laugh at the ‘help me’ look she tried to convey.

Jamyang had Kannon wake her up that night since Tomoe decided to spend the night in her sister’s room.

With a yawn and a long stretch, she bundled up the pandas, wrapped her blanket around them and jumped out of her window with her glider and Kannon perching on her shoulders.

She muffled her squeak when a small pebble flew right by her face, lightly grazing her upper cheek and drawing a thin line of blood. It must’ve startled Kannon too, going by that weird squeak-chirp sound she made.

She hurried to get up to the field over the temple, another pebble flew right in front of her nose, but she was prepared this time having felt it coming. 

Has she been noticed? Her heart pumped wildly in her chest as she ducked under a big spiky ball attached to a long chain that flew over her head.

Kannon curled up into a ball in the cleft of her neck, her cold nose pressing against her pulse point in a pattern. Short touch, long touch, long touch, short touch, long touch and short touch. 

Jamyang wondered what she was trying to tell her.

She created more fog, waving her arm around to thicken it, hurrying to steer out of the way of the volley of kunai and swords that flew by on her right, and wincing when a kunai and a sword grazed her arm and leg.

She was hopeful that the person that threw them wouldn’t be too upset if the weapons weren’t in the spot they predicted they would be and altered their flight path.

If her math was right then that volley of weapons would be 10 or so feet off their intended target, whatever or whoever that might’ve been.

She sped up to the fields over the temple where she knew that Palden was waiting for her.

She tripped on her face when she landed, but that didn’t matter, she turned over and laid there for a couple of seconds trying to catch her breath.

“Are you okay?” Palden’s concerned face appeared over her. Jamyang nodded, “Great,” she gulped in air, “just-just great.”

Palden sat down and touched the graze on her cheek. “Did you get caught?” She didn’t know, something similar happened yesterday too. 

“I don’t know,” she sighed, when a gentle warmth covered her area, neutralising the sting she’d felt. It felt good. 

“Something similar happened yesterday where I had to dodge a couple of weapons, but I had to dodge more now though.” Palden healed the graze on her arm and hummed.

“Did you get hit anywhere else?”

“My foot.” 

“What techniques did you use to get up here?”

“Oh, um,” she sat up, wincing when she felt her foot sting making Palden help her up, “I use Opame’s technique of creating more fog and thickening it to fly around more freely, and I use Anzan’s technique of making my presence to the size of a lemur.”

Her eyes widened. “You know how to shrink your presence?” It didn’t seem like that big of a thing.

“Yes? He had me test it on Abbot Dorji and Elder Tenzin and he said I passed when they didn’t notice me.” Palden looked impressed.

She looked at her with a calculating look, it looked like she was contemplating something. “We’re splitting this lesson into two parts.” The sting in her foot gradually went away when she kept stretching it. “Okay?”

“First is bojutsu, the katas you’ve learned and new ones.” Jamyang tried not to jump on her feet like she knew that Yara would when she said that. “Do you have a place to practise by the way?”

“I have some space in my room and I practise the footwork whenever I can.” 

“Hmm, okay.” She had this thoughtful look on her face.

“What’s the second part?” Palden’s grin was gleeful, she wasn’t sure if she should be scared or not.

“I’m gonna teach you how to use your bending to teleport.”

“Huh…?”

Her face got beaten into the ground, again. She did get a good hit on Palden though, it bruised her cheek.

She’d gotten so surprised that she started laughing and immediately apologised for it after she’d calmed down.

Palden returned the favour by bruising her cheek with such a blow that made her sway on her feet.

Jamyang knew that she wouldn’t win for a couple of years when she stumbled on her feet to block a strike, hurrying to strike back, getting a hit on Palden’s left side.

It hurt a lot and her hands were cramped, but it was really fun. 

That felt wrong to think, but she was just having fun while learning how to use her staff differently.

“Ow!” She winced back when Palden applied the healing balm she carried. 

“Sorry, bhumo-la.” She looked apologetic as she rubbed the balm into the sticky bandage so that she could place it over the bruise instead of having to wrap her face.

“It’s okay, I’m having fun.” Palden smiled but didn’t say anything, continuing to wrap her hands up.

Jamyang ended up grasping the teleporting technique quicker than Palden thought she would. Only hitting 5 trees, when she hit 10 when she’d learned it.

Jamyang had beamed when she’d said that.

“Do you want to go into the forest today?”

“I want to, but-but I don’t think I should.” She answered in between a yawn. Palden pulled her close when she swayed on her feet out of exhaustion.

“Do you want to go together or do you want me to take you back?”

“Yesh,“ she nodded, blinking blearily. “Forest.” She hugged her side. “I want to see Gawa.”

She handed her a small brown ball, “Chew on this, it’ll make you feel better in the morning.” 

Jamyang made a face, “it tastes weird.”

“I know, I don’t like the flavour either, but it makes you feel replenished in the morning.” She made sure that Jamyang had finished chewing the energy ration before she piggybacked her into the forest.

Palden ended up carrying two exhausted children and a panda back to their rooms that night.

Jamyang woke with a jolt that morning, it honestly confused her a little, having expected to sleep through the morning meditation.

She continued with her routine before Sister Tsering would come and get her. She took the bandages off when she finished the last stretch, showing small scabs on her hands and a light pinkish mark- that she distinctly remembered being blue- on her face.

She tensed when she heard her door open. “Jamyang?” Sister Tsering stood in her door frame looking in.

“Yes?”

“Do you want to come to morning meditation?” She’d never heard her phrase it that way before. “Yes,” she hurried over to her, “I want to join morning meditation.” It would be suspicious if she skipped out on too many in a row, right?

She didn’t understand why it looked like Sister Tsering wanted her to say no.

Pema was tempted to shoot a stream of air at Tashi whenever she would start dozing off in class.

She got beaten by a small paper crane that would come flying through the window every time she noticed Tashi dozing off.

It happened like clockwork. 

Each time she’d start dozing off, a paper crane would come flying through the window and hit the side of her head. Tashi would open it, write something, fold it back together and send it back out the window. Presumably to whoever was sending them.

She had her suspicions of who it could be after what Tsering had told them yesterday.

When Tashi didn’t react to a paper crane hitting her head, having fallen asleep by the looks of it, Pema decided to wait, having a feeling that something would happen. 

She ended up being right when a brown panda came flying through the window with the loudest war cry she’d heard and landed on Tashi’s desk with a loud air-enhanced ‘boom’ that woke her up.

“Up sleepy head?” She teased. 

Tashi’s smile was tense when she responded. “Yeah,” The panda licked her face, “I think so.”

The intense glare that Choda gave the panda startled her.

In between their classes, Pema caught that same panda sitting on top of Palden’s head as she hugged Tashi in an empty hallway.

“- -did you sleep well- -?”

“Three hours.” 

“I have- -energy rations- - want one?”

Tashi ended up accepting one, and was awake for the rest of the classes, not dozing off once.

At lunch, she saw Palden, Jamyang, Jaya and Gawa sit together on one of the more secluded tables in the dining hall.

They laughed about the upcoming performances if she heard right.

She noticed Choda’s intense glare, not aimed at the panda but at Palden when Tashi was leaning against her side.

Pema was confident that she had the whole picture, she would have to ask Lobsang how to proceed with this. He was so much better with situations like these.

Pema stopped Palden when they came across each other in one of the hallways at the temple.

“Palden?”

“Yes, Sister?”

“Would you like to come and talk to me for a bit? 

She needed some details about how to approach this and clearing up, lots and lots of clearing up. Lobsang had been busy handling little Jigme, so she went to the next best thing. 

Tashi wasn’t an openly affectionate person, but she’d seen the closeness between them- the long hugs, shoulder leanings, the eye contact when they talked about certain things- and she decided to be upfront with the questions.

“You and Tashi aren’t involved together are you?”

Notes:

Hello, I got a shorter chapter this time. I'm proud of myself for that. It's late I am going straight to sleep after this Palden has been through the same thing that Tashi currently is going through, so there's that. Pema caught on to what was going on and Amala is staring to catch on. Choda is just glaring daggers at anything Palden for some reason, nobody knows why. Jamyang is confused about that chakra thing and how to use it in general, she's pouty that nobody tells her anything. But someone will tell her eventually. She got her face beaten into the dirt again. She has fun learning to use her staff in a different way and has conflicted feelings about it, but she did have fun so it was okay. The surprise guests I had to cut in the earlier chapters were Shaohao, Yara and one other person. Guess who that could be. Edit: Yara by pastenofdraw on instagram Only word in this chapter I think: Bhumo-la: means girl, used to address someone younger than you

[herpsandbirds]

Red-headed Bullfinch (Pyrrhula erythrocephala), female, family Fringillidae, order Passeriformes, northern India

photograph by Gagan Gyan

[birdstudies]

March 9, 2024 - Grand Cayman Bullfinch (Melopyrrha taylori) Found only on the the island of Grand Cayman, these birds in the tanager family live in wooded habitats, including forests, shrublands, and mangroves. They eat seeds and fruit, as well as arthropods during the breeding season, often foraging in pairs. Nesting in trees or tangles of cactus or mistletoe, they build bulky spherical nests with side entrances or cup-shaped nests with open twig arches against tree trunks. Females lay clutches of three or four eggs and both parents feed the chicks. They are classified as Near Threatened by the IUCN due to suspected declines to their small population caused by invasive mammals in their small range.

[xtruss]

Snowcapped mountains serve as a backdrop to verdant landscapes at Gran Paradiso National Park in Valle d'Aosta, Italy. When does each new season start? Some measure seasonal shifts by Earth’s position relative to the sun, while others use annual temperature cycles. Photograph By Stefano Unterthiner

As leaves change color and drop to the ground this fall, consider leaving them on the ground, where they'll provide a habitat for insects and produce fertile new plant soil. Photograph By Omer Urer, Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

A sedge-lined trail through a birch forest in Acadia National Park, Maine. Photograph By Michael Melford, National Geographic Image Collection

Maple leaves with autumn colors in Acadia National Park, Maine. Photograph By Michael Melford, National Geographic Image Collection

View of Heart Lake and the Algonquin and Wright peaks in Adirondack Park, New York. Photograph By Michael Melford, National Geographic Image Collection

A cage holding a Cuban Bullfinch hangs alongside a road, so that the bird becomes accustomed to the hubbub of street life and is therefore less likely to be distracted during a singing competition.

“The pictures make it real,” says Karine Aigner of her Photojournalist Story Award-winning shots of captive songbirds in Cuba. With this assignment, Aigner says she wanted to make people think about the way we exploit wild animals for our wants and desires.

“When you look at these photos, and you see how it really is, the smallness of the cages, you get a stronger sense of the reality for these animals,” she says. Photograph By Karine Aigner

A buzzing ball of cactus bees spins over the hot sand. After a few minutes, the pair at the ball's center—a male clinging to the only female in the scrum—flew away to mate. Photograph By Karine Aigner

It’s tough to tell where Earth ends and the heavens begin in this winner of the Natural Artistry category by Japan-based photographer Junji Takasago. Taken in the World’s Largest Salt Pan, located in Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia, this Photograph shows an Ecosystem under severe pressure from lithium mining. Photograph By Junji Takasago