#ask greenfinch
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plagued-yakuza ¡ 6 years ago
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🐑 (@quirklessnotworthless)
“Good to see you’re back from your mission, Pipsqueak.”
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“Tell me what you found on our target. I've been waiting anxiously for your report.”
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asterdeer ¡ 7 years ago
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I was so happy to see FMA:B is back and now I’m watching it with my sister because she’s old enough now and just. Gosh. What a show. She’s loving it so much and I’m loving it so much (I’ve never fully rewatched it).
my favorite has always been just fma, mostly bc that first full arc really hit me more in the original series than brotherhood, but really?? both are just pieces of artwork i am SO EXCITED that this show is back on and i get to savor coming back to it!! frick!!! 
and i bet its even better when you get to introduce it to someone who’s never seen it!! ahhhhhhh that’s so cool have loads of fun 
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allmylove-minh ¡ 3 years ago
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hi tumblr! this is a short story draft I’m working on, hope y’all enjoy
there once was a gentle giant named quan. he was large, as most giants are, with a body as slender and strong as a teak tree. his hair was like a dark pool of ink, and grew long and straight down his back. his thin eyes were a deep brown, and when he smiled his lovely smile, they crinkled.
quan lived in a rainy forest full of leafy trees that stretched as far as the eye could see. he loved the forest, and tended to it like it was his child. when humans came and tried to burn it or cut it, he scared them away. when animals came, he welcomed them with green tea and his finest lychees.
for a while, that was enough. the trees and the animals were all the love quan needed. they began to call him quan the lovely, for that was who he was; a seemingly bottomless vessel of love.
but it was not to last. slowly, sadness slipped into his life. “even the trees have each other to love,“ he thought. “I must content myself with being a witness to their joy. they might as well call me quan the lonely. all I want is to be loved. is that too much to ask?”
quan cried and cried, and the animals cried with him, for they hated to see their friend sad. after a while, a little greenfinch named mai pecked him on the shoulder and asked, “well, have you tried making someone to love?” quan blinked, confused. “making someone? whatever do you mean, mai?”
mai chirped, “well, you wish for a great love, is that right?” quan nodded. “but only you know who your great love would be, so why don’t you just create them? you have lived for a thousand years and have enough love in your hands to create a thousand hearts.” “I suppose you are correct,“ quan said thoughtfully.
and off he went, with a new spring in his step and a plan brewing in his mind.
author’s note: I hope you have a safe holiday break and get plenty of rest and relaxation. :) I might turn into a series, it was fun to write. Likes and follows are appreciated.
all my love, minh.
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dansnaturepictures ¡ 3 years ago
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New Year’s Eve at Lakeside and home: Common Gulls, Greylag Goose, Green Woodpecker, Robin, Woodpigeon, Magpie and more 
I took the first two pictures in this photoset of a view out the back and a Magpie on the roof visible from my room today. Both more pleasing tests with my new big lens, and it was interesting to see this Magpie chase off/have a slight tussle with fellow crow species a Jackdaw out the back as well. 
When off for my last lunch time walk to Lakeside of 2021 I took in the bare trees out the front and in particular looked at a couple which go a really nice yellow in the autumn. I don’t think I’ve photographed them since they sported the coloured leaves which doesn’t seem long ago time is passing so fast but last year on New Year’s Eve I remember taking a photo one of my last of the year of them in some sunshine. So I took and tweeted tonight on Dans_Pictures a photo of them among some others involving trees out the front. On another pleasant walk to end an amazing year of them I took the third, sixth and seventh pictures in this photoset of views at Lakeside and fifth of more lovely shelf fungi I have seen lately and lichen on a thin tree in the southern fenced off area. I also took the eighth picture in this photoset of views with nice bare tree scenes north of Lakeside on the way home. 
With my traditional New Year’s Day Lakeside bird year list building walk now just hours away should nothing go wrong the lunch time walk today could arguably be considered a bit of a rehearsal. Green Woodpecker seen in the fenced off area and the Common Gulls and a flying Greylag Goose still about excited me as they are birds that would be key year ticks tomorrow morning if I saw them. Last year I saw Greenfinch at Lakeside for the first time in a while on New Year’s Eve and then it was one of the key birds I saw of my brilliant Lakeside walk to start 2021 so I am hoping it will repeat that with the Green Woodpecker a bird I frequently but don’t always see in these opening walks of the year. But I have to consider I will be walking into quite a different world as it looks as though it will be quite an early morning walk with our plans for the rest of the day. I enjoyed seeing and hearing a beautiful Robin west of the bowl area which I took the fourth picture in this photoset of, a great connected bird moment this lunch time. I also took the final two pictures in this photoset of a dandelion and young Woodpigeon on the grass on the way back. The Woodpigeon part of a nice little group I saw well. I have enjoyed noticing more dandelions and daisies around lately a delight no matter the time of year. 
There were some nice sky scenes I saw from my room this afternoon. I remember replying to a tweet from David Lindo a year ago asking what everyone’s last bird of the year was with “Mine was a nice Magpie at the top of a tree visible from my room just before dark.” and I believe the last species I saw today was a Magpie out the window. Will its cousin the Carrion Crow become my first bird of the year for the third year running tomorrow? 
Just now I saw a large Grey Silverfish outside my room well getting a photo with my macro lens which I tweeted, I hadn’t got a photo of one for a while and had seen a few little ones lately so thought another photo may be due. They like to hide especially when the light comes on so it feels good to be quick enough to capture one with my macro lens. 
Wildlife Sightings Summary: Two of my favourite birds the Green Woodpecker and Great Crested Grebe, Moorhen, Greylag Goose, Black-headed Gull, Common Gull, Magpie, Jackdaw, Woodpigeon, Collared Dove, Robin, House Sparrow, Starling, Pied Wagtail well on the roof visible from my room and the Grey Silverfish. 
Well that’s the end of my wildlife and photography 2021, another amazing and incredible year for me with my highest ever amount of photos produced by far, probably the most words written on my nature experiences and my third highest ever amount of bird species, joint highest ever amount of butterfly species, second highest amount of dragonfly/damselfly species and joint highest ever amount of mammal species I’ve ever seen in a year. From the Lesser Spotted Woodpecker and Tawny Owl seen together and Purple Hairstreaks at Lakeside to our adventures in Anglesey and one of my photos appearing on an episode of BBC Springwatch, it has been varied and unforgettable. Its always so rewarding to share it with others via social media, so thank you so much for all the interactions we have had this year it has helped make my year special. Happy New Year all. 
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irisbleufic ¡ 5 years ago
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Gotham ships as gods from greek or whatever mythology you'd like.
Hello, anon!  Finally, I feel like I have my thoughts organized enough to respond to this.  I didn’t forget about you; your patience has been exemplary.  
When I first got your ask, I attempted to find 1:1 correspondences from Greek mythology.  This only worked for about 2 or 3 of my Gotham pairings; thereafter, I got aggravated and set it aside for about a week.  I don’t like to do anything by halves.  During the second week I was holding onto this, I realized that it was easier to answer than I thought, as some of the Gotham writing I’ve done already has my takes on mythologies built in!
For just a few broad-strokes answers that don’t appear in any of my fic, I can say that Oswald and Edward have personality traits and relationship features that make me think of Hades and Persephone.  My 3 favorite ladies, Selina and Ivy and Bridgit, make me think of the Moirai (the Fates, Lachesis and Clotho and Atropos respectively, if you’re wondering which one is which).  Tabitha and Barbara make me think of Ceyx and Halcyon.  And, stepping a bit outside the Greek paradigm, Bruce and Jeremiah unquestionably make me think of Gilgamesh and Enkidu.  Thinking about Jim and Harv just vaults me into some of the sadder brothers-in-arms options out there, maybe Euryalus and Nisus.
Now, I mentioned that I’ve already written some fic that takes mythic/folkloric elements and correspondences (with regard to characterization and relationship dynamics) into account—just not necessarily from Greek or Roman sources:
When You Find It, Run, as the longest installment and one of the initial 4 kick-off stories in DDO, was always going to be a retelling of Tam Lin.  It’s one of the stories in that series that can be read as a stand-alone (it accounts for 132,000 words in a series that is cumulatively 320,000 words long).  I built that particular plot thread gradually, and it’s really in the final chapters that it becomes obvious what I built up throughout the narrative.  Oswald and Edward made an excellent Janet and Tam Lin, and I was pleased that a number of readers who were unfamiliar with the traditional ballad in its many forms were inspired to go look it up.
Gold Dust, one of the rare stand-alone projects in my overall backlog of Gotham fic, is a fusion with the world of His Dark Materials, in that the characters have daemons that operate more or less like daemons do in those novels (in no way is it a crossover; HDM characters do not appear in it).  Dust is a thing that’s known and present, as it’s a more “modern” take on the world of HDM by default.  There are some extensions and theories I’ve implemented; I never got around to writing HDM fic in order to test them, so this seemed like as good a place as any.  I pulled the names of the Gotham characters’ daemons from world mythologies, folklore, and literature, casting my net a lot broader than HDM’s naming conventions for daemons.  Oswald’s kingfisher daemon has a Hungarian name, Eszter; Edward’s raven daemon is named Desdemona (yes, that’s a somewhat dark-humored reference to Othello, if you consider Ed’s first major canonical crime).  Gertrud’s daemon is revealed, via Oswald’s ruminations, to have been a greenfinch named Álmos (also drawing on her Hungarian origins); similarly, via Ed’s POV, we learn Kristen’s daemon was a red admiral butterfly named Nestor.  Tabitha has a species of spider-killing wasp (Abernessia capixaba) named Tybalt; Barbara has a damselfly named Eimar.  Butch has a horned toad, Mira.  Selina has an Abyssinian cat called Ovinnik, which is a reference to Slavic folklore.  Ivy has a perpetually unsettled daemon due to what happened to her in the aging-up debacle, but she and her daemon have made piece with this shapeshifting; Damaris usually appears as a luna moth, but takes some other shapes in the fic (such as a Siamese cat, in order to taunt Ovinnik). Harv has an Irish terrier named Cara; Jim has a German shepherd named Sigyn.  Fish has a jaguar known as Tezcatlipoca, Tez for short.  Hugo Strange has a water monitor (lizard) named Gan.  Zsasz has a wolf, name not given.  Caroline and Vee, two of my OCs from DDO, have a passenger pigeon named Laetitia and a grasshopper mouse named Bechor (this name is Hebrew, since Vee comes from a Hispanic/Sephardic Jewish background).  Olga has a tundra swan named Bogdan, about as Russian as you can get.  Bruce’s daemon settled the night his parents died, which was more traumatic than cause for celebration; she’s a barn owl named Taalumah (also Hebrew, since I write Bruce as Jewish), Taalu for short.  Alfred has a red fox named Mathilde.  The names of the Valeska twins’ daemons do come from Greek mythology, which is why I wanted to end on these two.  Jeremiah’s burrowing owl is named Theia, and Jerome’s shrike is named Tethys (Theia and Tethys are both Titânes, Titans, in Greek mythology).  I also cover the twins’ parents’ daemons, Paul Cicero with a pallid bat, Galatea, and Lila Valeska with her black-tailed python (a literal snake in canon, transformed here into a daemon) named Sheba.  Lila’s daemon is the only one with a name pulled from show canon.
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birdsandbatsofgotham ¡ 5 years ago
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It Goes Like This Prologue: Diana
Next up of the Big Three, it’s mortal born Diana Prince! Well, more precisely, it’s the women who came before her, but she’ll show up properly soon enough.
---
“I’m sick of men.”
Not looking up from the financial reports she was going over, Antiope hummed in response to her sister’s growled complaint.
“I mean it, An. I’m sick of them - no more, I refuse to have anything else to do with those, those-”
“Pigs,” Antiope offered.
“Pigs!” Hippolyta agreed, throwing her hands up as she paced back and forth. “Good for nothing except thinking with their stomachs and their-” A knock at the office door interrupted her, causing both sisters to pause.
“Come in,” Antiope called, setting her reports down. One of their younger administrators poked her head past the door, looking excited.
“Pardon the intrusion, ma’ams,” she said, “But you have a visitor.”
Hippolyta grimaced. “If it’s anyone male, tell them to wait an hour.”
“No, Ms. Prince, it’s- well-” A hand reached past her to push the door open further, allowing a tall woman in an austere suit to stride through. Antiope’s eyes grew wide as she immediately stood, and Hippolyta’s expression smoothed over into something pleased.
“Athena Pallas, what an unexpected surprise.” She extended a hand to shake with the head of Owl Enterprises, one of the few big-name tech companies with a woman in charge. Athena smiled back.
“I hope you’ll forgive the abruptness of my arrival, Hippolyta, but my schedule had an unexpected opening and I thought I’d see if we could move up next week’s meeting,” the brunette explained.
“Of course, of course, please have a seat - this is my sister, Antiope, my right-hand woman.”
“Delighted to finally meet you in person, Antiope,” Athena said, exchanging one sister’s hand for the other.
“Likewise- do you prefer Athena or Ms. Pallas?”
“Athena is fine - I’d like to think we’re all sisters in arms, here,” the woman grinned. “Especially if the two of you are willing to consider my offer of a merger.”
That caught their attention, and two pairs of steely grey eyes locked onto her as they all sat down. “What are you proposing, exactly?”
“An upset in the status quo, as it were,” Athena purred. “A few close friends and I find ourselves in positions of individual power, but we’re constantly hampered by those who think less of us thanks to a biological difference - I’m sure you both know what that’s like.”
Hippolyta nodded with a disgusted huff, while Antiope kept her focus. “And what friends would these be?”
Athena smiled sharply. “Demeter Floros of Greenfinch Producers. Aphrodite Loveborne with Passion Advertising. Hestia Kokkinos of Hearthside Manufacturing. And my stepmother, Hera Argyris, who’s recently taken charge of Olympian Industries with my father’s, ah, indisposition.”
Zeus Skyson’s sudden legal troubles, the sisters knew, meant his company’s board of directors had seen fit to remove him from the position of CEO. What they hadn’t known was that Athena apparently didn’t mind working with her stepmother, contrary to tabloid gossip.
“That’s, ah, quite an array of companies,” Antiope said slowly.
“Powerhouses in all their fields of business,” Athena agreed. “Which is why we’d like to join forces with you ladies - we need financial managers capable of keeping us working together, of blending us into a proper conglomerate.”
The sisters exchanged a wide-eyed glance. “...why?” Hippolyta finally asked.
“Why you?”
“Well, yes, but also - just why? What is the point? This can’t just be solely for female solidarity - can it?”
Athena chuckled. “Well, that is one aspect to it, but beyond that we want to make a business model that takes care of our employees, turns a profit, and sees a great deal of that money go towards programs that help teenage runaways, abortion clinics, battered women, daycares, single mothers, foster homes, so on and so forth.”
“Ambitious,” Antiope muttered.
“Will you help us?”
There was a brief pause, before Hippolyta answered. “We’ll need to work out precise terms, but - yes. This sounds like something we want to be part of.”
Their guest beamed. “Excellent. I’ll start making arrangements for you to meet with the others - if we keep this quiet up until the moment we all move, we’ll hopefully be able to keep the men on our various boards from being able to kick up a fuss.”
-P-
Amazingly, their plans went off without a hitch.
Working through Themyscira Financials, the women were able to put together their plans without arousing suspicions in their own companies. The announcement of the mass merger went out the same day they brought paperwork to their various boards, an ambush that left few able to protest. 
Demeter’s company brought in the raw materials for Hestia and Hera to create Athena’s architectural and technological innovations, which Aphrodite then marketed and sold. At the heart of it all, Hippolyta and Antiope kept crunching numbers, sorting out what profit needed to go back into the company, what went to their employees and shareholders, and the fifty percent that was put aside for the women’s programs, shelters, and other institutions. Within two years, they saw impressive returns on their investments, with many of the people they helped becoming dedicated customers in return - some even applying to be hired by Paradise Incorporated, eager to help pass on the goodwill that they’d been given.
Eventually, the group decided to establish a new headquarters - a company compound with offices and residential suites for all the on-site staff, within a reasonable commute distance to Metropolis. About that same time, Hippolyta, still sick of men, came to a decision.
“I’m going to have a baby.”
Not looking up from the financial reports she was going over, Antiope hummed in response to her sister’s sudden announcement. Then the actual words sank in, and she blinked. “You’re- sorry, what?”
“I’m going to have a baby,” Hippolyta said again. “I’ve got an appointment at an artificial insemination clinic in two weeks.”
“Oh for goodness sake, don’t scare me like that,” her sister groaned. “I thought you meant you were already pregnant - which would be a trick and a half, considering you swore off men three years ago and haven’t looked back since.”
Hippolyta snorted, moving to sit by her office window, the one that overlooked the enclosed park in the center of the Paradise compound. Six floors of tinted glass that absorbed light for solar power overlooked a couple of fish ponds, an in-house vegetable garden, various fruit trees and flower beds, and an open green. Women strolled or sat throughout the park, some with small children or friendly dogs, eating lunch or working on touchscreen pads or just enjoying the scenery. Paradise had some male employees, of course, but since their headquarters doubled as living space for women who’d been hired out of their rehab and recovery programs, none but the fairer sex and their children were allowed inside.
(Some news media did their best to turn the discrimination fight onto them for the conglomerate’s blatant favoritism - Aphrodite’s ladies promptly put out numbers on their endeavors to support male survivors of abuse and rape, as well as historical records of just how much women had suffered in the past when they were kept legally and socially from being able to look after themselves.)
Their work truly had turned Paradise into something incredible, and Hippolyta felt ready to share that with a child of her own.
A daughter of her own.
---
I admit, I’ve always been a big fan of Greek Mythology, hence some fun with the surnames and company roles of the goddesses. Other members of the pantheon will probably show up in future, either as allies or antagonists, so keep your eyes peeled!
Next up we’ll have Kal’s prologue, and then some actual adult shenanigans to add to the story.
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sleepy-maiden ¡ 5 years ago
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12, 19, and 24 (for the music asks)
12) a song you can scream all the words to:I love singing while listening to music and I love reading lyrics, so there’s quite a few. But one of them is ‘Rose Red’ with Emilie Autumn. 19) a song from an artist whose old music you enjoy more than their new music:Definitely MEW and Emilie autumn. I truly love their old stuff… But everything after ‘No more stories’ by Mew and after the Opheliac era with Emilie Autumn, I just don’t listen to that often, because I don’t enjoy it as much. 24) a song from a soundtrack (musical, movie, video game, etc.):That’s a tough one. I love so many, but I’m gonna say ‘Greenfinch and linnet bird’ from Sweeney Todd.Thank you so much for asking
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halloweennut ¡ 6 years ago
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Wonder (Part 2)
part two kids! featuring my other oc as well
Wonder gets an update. 
Even without the threat of becoming an app, and with the generally increased freedom of being in McDuck Labs, Wonder still felt closed off. There was nothing she wanted more than to go and actually experience what she saw videos and pictures of, and her questions and curiosity only increased as the days and weeks went by. She had learned and had grown more, but there were so many variables that couldn’t be accounted for, how much she still hadn’t been able to experience for herself. Having her questions answered was nice, but there’s only so much she could ask.  
“Dr. Gearloose?” Wonder asked quietly, not wanting to disturb him too much from his concentration, but it looked like he had spaced off in the middle of a schematic. She considered following up with asking him when he last slept, but he responded.
“Yes, Wonder? I’m a little busy right now,” he replied, tapping his pencil on the blue paper. Truthfully, he could use a distraction from the block he had.
“Oh, nevermind then. I can ask later,” she said, pulling up the queue of ocean videos she had. “Just another silly question, I guess.”
“Your questions are only occasionally silly,” Gyro turned to face her, tossing the pencil into a cup. “What do you want to know today?”
Wonder took down the queue, focusing her camera on Gyro. It was the only way she could establish eye contact. Well, not really. She activated her rudimentary hologram program. Wonder hadn’t used it since she was back at Waddle and desperate to move around. The avatar she had crafted herself was a greenfinch, but the light source made it blue and a little pixelated. She had told Gyro about the capabilities she had been programmed with, as well as ones she adopted from other Waddle programs and what she had developed herself, including the hologram application. But after weeks of only dealing with her as a computer, Gyro still looked a little taken aback to see her like that and almost physically there as the hologram settled in 3D space, sitting on a chair - not really sitting but projecting that they were.
“How would I...How would you - Do you know how to make a full, life-size body?” Wonder stuttered out. “It’s not that I’m ungrateful for the computing system and everything you’ve gone out of your way to do for me, but-”
“It’s starting to get small again, isn’t it?” Gyro interjected. The hologram nodded. “And you want to be able to actually learn things first hand so you don’t have to keep asking questions.”
The hologram nodded again. “I know it’s a selfish thing to ask. You have all your other projects for your job, only so much grant money, and I could always just get a RAM and processor upgrade instead - that might help.”
“You’ve been here for weeks now, and you underestimate me? I thought you knew better,” Gyro replied with a shrug. “We’ll start schematics for it soon. It’ll be a technological marvel, honestly, and if it works, who knows the other possibilities we’ll have with the tech that gets developed.”
“With what tech?” The hologram tilted its head. Gyro stared at her like it was the most obvious question in the world.
“That’s a silly question,” Gyro said, pulling out a blank sheet of blue panning paper from a drawer. “Your next upgrade, Wonder, obviously. A whole body with the specifications of your current computing system, but we’ll probably expand that too.”
“Really? You’ll do it?” Wonder exclaimed, the hologram leaping from the chair. “Oh thank you, thank you, thank you!”
The hologram lunged forward, arms outstretched to wrap around Gyro’s legs, but phased halfway through before pulling back sheepishly. The thank you hug would have to wait until she was corporeal.
---
It had taken months of research, tests, midnights and cups of coffee, but Wonder’s body was finished. Based completely off her hologram and real-life proportions and other biometrics on greenfinches in her age group, if Gyro and Fenton hadn’t compiled her hardware and made her feathers themselves, they wouldn’t be able to tell the difference between the android and a person. Well, the lack of breathing was a good sign, but it wasn’t on and Wonder hadn’t been uploaded to it. Everything had been taken into account to make her look as lifelike as possible, but now the only thing left was to start everything up.
“Okay, the last diagnostic has cleared, we’re all set you two,” Fenton said, looking over at Gyro and Wonder’s screen from his tablet. Gyro had just finished attaching the cables and wires between the body and computer and quickly made sure they were secure, as well as the old shirt they had put on the new body until they could get her proper clothing.
“Ready, Wonder?” Gyro asked. The response was a quickly chirped yes, and he nodded. “Initiate download and system start-up.”
“See you soon,” Fenton said and started the program to get the body running as Wonder’s screen went dim, her files leaving down and out through the cords. A few minutes later, there was a ping, and Wonder’s eyes fluttered open. She blinked a few times, calibrating her nervous system and senses, and then let her eyes focus on the lab, then on Gyro and Fenton, who stood apprehensively over her head.
“Hello,” she whispered, vocal cords not yet fully warmed up. Gyro grinned triumphantly that so far everything was working, masking relief that Fenton fully wore on his face. After she felt more confident in her limbs Wonder slowly sat up on the table. Gyro and Fenton quickly moved to support her, unsure of how stable she was just yet.
“Careful, Wonder,” Gyro warned. “Don’t move unless you’re completely sure. You took a while to make, so let’s not injure ourselves.”
Wonder nodded, and carefully swung her legs off the table, using the two as support as she dropped down to the cold floor of the lab. Her eyes went wide at the sensation - her first feeling of cold!
“The floor’s cold,” she said, excitement in her voice. Fenton laughed.
“Well, her nervous system is functioning,” he said. “Sorry the first thing you felt wasn’t the best.”
“She’ll have plenty of first things, Fenton,” Gyro said. Wonder held his forearm, taking a moment note the feeling of feathers, before trying her first step. She paused at the tug of cords at her neck, which Fenton quickly took care of. Once she was untethered, Wonder continued, latching onto Gyro’s arm as she slowly moved a few feet, stumbling once or twice before she felt confident enough to let go and walk on her own. Fenton excitedly tapped Gyro’s arm as they watched, grin wide as Gyro looked on in approval, monitoring her limb adaptation. Wonder turned to face them with a wide smile - a little goofy and ever so slightly lopsided - and ran to them, tripping at the new mode of movement as she launched into them in a hug.
“Oof!” was a conjoined sound of surprise as she either ran into stomach or knees, hands reaching to support and pat her back in return. Gyro let himself smile a little, knowing how long she’d wanted to do this.
“Well, how do you like it? Everything working well?” Gyro asked, kneeling down to check her ocular reflexes with a small light. She nodded - her pupils dilated normally, good - but shivered.
“Everything is great, still getting used to the cold though,” Wonder replied, wrapping her arms around her middle, but enjoying the feeling of old cotton and her very own feathers under her fingertips. “But it’s wonderful to feel real things!”  
“It is a little chilly down here, isn’t it?” Fenton responded. “Let’s look into getting you a coat until you’re used to things.”
“And probably real clothes too,” Gyro said, looking around. He saw Manny enter the room, luckily. “Manny, give me your lab coat.”
Manny looked over - he had been aware of everything happening that day, and had been put in charge of other lab duties - and tapped out a reply of ‘why?’ Gyro stared at him.
“Just give me your coat, Manny. It’s for Wonder,” Gyro explained. With a shrug, Manny took it off and draped it over her shoulders. She tucked her arms into the sleeves and found it comically huge on her. The sleeve dangled below her hands and the coat dragged behind her by at least a foot. Gyro started to roll up the sleeves to the wrist. “Well, it’ll do for now.”
“I know we want to hold off on introducing her to everyone,” Fenton said, “but maybe we should get Penelope involved.”
“Why? We’re perfectly capable of taking care of Wonder,” Gyro replied, looking at him incredulously. Wonder had meandered over to Manny to properly thank him for the coat and to shake his hoof. “I don’t see why we have to involve that know-it-all.”
“I mean obviously we’re capable, but Penelope knows clothing better than we do,” he explained. “Also, we’d look a little creepy shopping in a misses section of a store with no one with us.”
“That’s actually a good point,” Gyro conceded with a sigh. “You go get her, explain everything, and I’ll finish up the tests on Wonder to make sure everything is going well.”
Fenton nodded, and with a quick wave to Wonder, headed upstairs.
---
“So, you’re telling me that you and Gyro essentially adopted an AI, gave it a body, and now you want me to buy them clothing?” Penelope asked during the elevator ride down. Fenton nodded.
“Well, we haven’t adopted her exactly, if anything she’s almost like another intern that Gyro took on,” Fenton said. “But I know he definitely cares more than he lets on. Like with Lil Bulb. Also, I just helped with her, and while yes, I am concerned with her welfare, this isn’t exactly a joint thing. Besides, saying it like that makes it sound like Gyro and I are in a relationship, which we’re not.”
“Right,” the hen replied. “Well, I’m willing and able to buy them clothes. But on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m their aunt and/or godmother. No exceptions,” she stipulated. “None of my other friends have kids for me to spoil yet, and I have the need to be someone’s cool lesbian aunt.”
“Deal. You’ll have to clear it with Gyro, but I think he’ll be resistant,” Fenton agreed, running a hand through his hair. She shrugged.
“I’ll buy them clothing anyway, but even if he doesn’t agree I’m going to assume the role.”
The lift stopped and the doors opened to the lab. Wonder was fiddling with a puzzle cube while Gyro monitored her motor functions and visual processing. The two looked up at them - Gyro with defeated disdain and Wonder with curiosity. Penelope paused a second before walking forward. “Hello, Gyro.”
“Penelope,” he greeted, deadpan, placing his clipboard down as he turned to face her. “I assume Fenton told you everything?”
“You assume correctly,” she replied, stopping in front of Wonder, and crouched down so she was eye to eye with her, and extended out a hand. “Hello there. I’m Penelope.”
Wonder took her hand and gave it a gentle shake. “I’m Wonder. It’s very nice to meet you.”
“It’s nice to meet you too, Wonder,” Penelope smiled. “Now, Fenton asked me to go and get you a wardrobe so you’re not running around in some old lab coat. Any preferences?”
“Not that I can think of. But I love the color blue!” Wonder answered. Penelope nodded, stepping back to get a better look at her in terms of sizing and what color range of blue would match her feathers best.
“I can work with that,” the hen said, very self-assured before turning back to Gyro and Fenton. “I’ll be back in two hours. Also, Gyro, whether you like it or not, I’m her aunt now. I was going to have you agree to that, but now you don’t have a choice. Sorry. Ta-ta now.”
While Gyro sputtered in frustration at her assumption of kinship, Penelope patted Wonder on the head and made her way back up.
---
Two hours later, Penelope arrived back in the lab. While Gyro and Fenton expected maybe two bags at most, she arrived with at least several, most of them being from Toulouse’s boutique. Fenton’s eyes went wide at the bags as she set them on a worktable, looking very triumphant.
“How much did you-”
“Well, I said I would get her a wardrobe and I did,” Penelope said. “She’s covered until next season, then we’ll look into fall and winter clothing.”
“Isn’t this excessive?” Gyro asked, Wonder grabbing a bag and peering into the contents. There was a mix of different clothing articles, in different shades of blue and just as many fabrics. Penelope looked at him confused.
“That sounds impossible. Like I wasn’t going to get her a whole closet worth of things. Besides, I don’t trust your or Fenton’s fashion sense,” Penelope replied. “But if it makes you feel better, one of the bags is a full outfit for today, plus accessories and pyjamas.”
She plucked a bag from the pile and handed it to Wonder, who gasped in excitement, grabbing it with a thank you and running to the bathroom to change.
“I hate to say it, but thank you, Penelope,” Gyro said. “I know Wonder appreciates it.”
“Not a problem.” Penelope picked up a folder she had slipped into one of the bags. “I also arranged for a birth certificate and adoption papers to be made for her. The paperwork is all here. Please fill it out and have it on my desk no later than Friday. I’d rather have her in the system sooner than later so we can get a paper trail of her existence going, albeit falsified.”
Gyro flipped open the folder - there was a blank birth certificate and other state-related paperwork concerning Wonder and her life. He decided he didn’t want to know how Penelope got a hand on these or how she planned on falsifying the records to prove Wonder’s existence.
“I’m a good secretary,” she said, unprompted but as though she read his thoughts, but before he could answer she turned towards the bathroom. “Wonder? You ready?”
A second later, Wonder came out, shirt and lab coat folded in her arms. Instead, she was wearing a robin’s egg blue pleated skirt and a light blue short-sleeved button-up, a necklace with a little strawberry charm, and a pair of dark blue high-top sneakers. Penelope cooed, gently clapping her hands together.
“Aw, Wonder you look great, kiddo!” Fenton encouraged, taking the coat and shirt from her. She smiled, ducking her head shyly. “Someone get a camera, we need to document Wonder’s first day!”
Manny tapped out a quick response, grabbing his phone from the counter and motioning for the two of them to pose. Penelope pushed Gyro over. “Go on, you’re her guardian too. You should be in there.”
“I was heading over, Glider,” he snipped, forcefully adjusting his vest as he made his way to Wonder’s side, Lil Bulb following close behind, hopping up onto her shoulder. Wonder looked at Gyro and Fenton and smiled. Gyro, strangely gentle, smiled back, and in a fatherly way ruffled the feathers on her head, just as Manny snapped the picture.
---
Meeting Scrooge happened earlier than either of them planned, only a few hours after Penelope had met Wonder. They hadn’t expected him to come down to the labs anytime soon, but apparently, he had been curious as to why Gyro hadn’t interrupted any board meetings with a new invention recently. Of course, Wonder was the first thing he noticed when he came down to the lab to question them.
“Gyro, Fenton, why is there a child in your very dangerous labs? And where are her parents?” Scrooge asked, flatly, immediately going to one of the few obvious solutions. “Gyro, I thought we agreed on no necromancy.”
“She’s not a reanimated corpse,” Gyro quickly explained. “While I certainly could reanimate reconnected tissue, this isn’t the case.”
“Technically she is animated though! But not how you think?” Fenton added, nervous.
“Can you two stop with the riddles, please? What does that even mean?” Scrooge ordered. The two looked at each other and then back at Wonder. She walked over to him.
“I’m Wonder,” she introduced herself, extending a hand. “I’m an Artificial Intelligence program that Dr. Gearloose and Mr. Crackshell-Cabrera gave a physical form to. It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. McDuck.”
It was a blunt explanation, and it still left Scrooge confused. Blankly, he shook her hand. “It’s nice to meet you as well. Can I have a word with those two privately for a moment?”
Wonder nodded, grabbing Manny with a plea to come play chess in another section of the lab with her, and Scrooge turned to the two in confusion and irritation.
“Further explanation, now. And spare me the science talk - layman’s terms. I’m not even sure what an “artificial intelligence program” is.”
The explanation of what artificial intelligence was, then the full, nothing withheld explanation about Wonder took twenty minutes. Gyro and Fenton pulled up their research and her tests results: 
“Wonder is essentially a 14-year-old finch in every way except she’s made of carbon steel and synthetic feathers.” 
“See? She’s just like a human person, but smarter.” 
“Mr. McDuck, imagine the biotechnical possibilities we have access to with the progress we made making her a body.”
“She’s so much safer here than at Waddle. Her program is far too advanced to be in that mess of a company.”
Pinching the bridge of his beak, Scrooge held up a hand to stop the two of them from continuing. Fenton’s worry was clear on his face, but Gyro was unreadable, save for a hard stare. “I get it, you two. Waddle doesn’t know she’s here?”
“No. We made sure of that and we monitor Waddle’s search attempts,” Gyro said. Waddle Tech had made a big to-do about the Wonder Assistant program going missing from their labs, with a full, large-scale search and questioning. But in the past month, it had died down since there had been no leads. Fenton had made sure that the company firewalls were at the highest level of protection to assure no probing attempts were made. Scrooge sighed.
“And where is Wonder going to live now? Do either of you have an idea about how to raise a child? She can’t stay here in the lab,” Scrooge asked. “And what about records with the state for her?”
“Penelope gave us paperwork to fill out. Birth certificate, adoption papers, everything,” Fenton replied, but then lowered his head, resting it on his hand. “Where is she going to stay? I don’t have any room in my house.”
“Obviously with me. I have the financial means and the spare room in my apartment,” Gyro said. Scrooge raised an eyebrow. “Besides, I’ve already filled out most of the adoption papers.  And while, yes, my experience with children is...limited... it's not rocket science, and Fenton is good with kids. He can help if I need it.”
“Which I am more than capable of doing!”
“Not to mention, I’m one of the few people who can take care of her machinery and knows how,” Gyro continued over Fenton. “It’s the only option that makes sense. She’d be safe in my care.”
“Gyro, it’s not that I don’t think you’re capable but -” Scrooge paused, looking at the hardset, determined gaze of Gyro and the half-pleading look on Fenton’s, and sighed. “Fine. But one of us who knows about Wonder will check in on her and you whenever we please. She’s a child, and needs to be treated and raised as such, understand?”
“Fair enough,” Gyro agreed with a nod.
“And Fenton, make sure he does that,” Scrooge said. Fenton nodded wholeheartedly. Scrooge smiled lightly. “Don’t let me down, you two. Now I think I should like a proper introduction to your ward.”
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betulapendulatrees-blog ¡ 6 years ago
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Betula Pendula Tree
The familiar native silver birch, Betula pendula, is a tall, deciduous tree with an open crown and gracefully drooping branches. The bark is white, peeling off in papery patches to reveal pale salmon under-bark. Long, brownish-yellow male catkins like lamb’s tails appear in mid-spring; the upright, female flowers are bright green, darkening to deep crimson over summer and releasing tiny winged seeds over winter. The leaves are delicate and heart-shaped, doubly serrated, light green, turning butter-yellow in autumn. An invaluable part of the native ecosystem, host to many insect species and birds, its light canopy allows woodland flowers to flourish beneath. Shallow-rooting – plant away from buildings and paving. Good specimen tree, and lovely for a small grove in a large or medium-sized garden.
Betula pendula (Silver Birch) is a popular native tree that makes an impact in any garden with its elegant silver bark and gracefully weeping branches. The silver bark develops contrasting dark fissures and cracks with age that add interest.
The bright-green, small ovate leaves of Betula pendula have a serrated edge and provide an airy canopy. In autumn the foliage turns buttery yellow. Yellowy-brown catkins develop over winter and look stunning in spring, with the seeds being favoured by Greenfinches, Redpoll and other birds.
The tree itself has a conical shape and will grow in even the toughest conditions. Expect a 20 year height and spread of 7 x 4 metres. Silver Birch is ideal planted in gardens or parks where it provides gentle shade.
AKA Common Silver Birch, Native Birch, European White Birch, Lady birch, Betula alba pendula. Please note that some customers ask us for "white barked Silver Birch" and they are actually wanting Himalayan Birch (Betula utilis jacquemontii).
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sidecharactersdomatter ¡ 3 years ago
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Ok this is for the ask Meme
1, 2, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13 and 16
Please and thank you 🥰
1.  Oh This is gonna be a long one!  I didn’t get into Ducktales until New Gods on the Block and I also watched Toonstarterz vid on how the reboot fixed Donald and Daisy’s relationship.  Then in December I learned on both Youtube and Tumblr that the reboot would be canceled after 3 seasons (random person leaked that announcement on twitter and I’d chalk the rest to executive meddling) . That was flat out disappointing.  Don’t get me wrong, Ducktales isn’t perfect and Season 3 was starting to show early signs of seasonal rot.  I managed to not watch the final episodes of Season 3 and the finale (believe me that had problems and with it wasted potential and characters, Have you seen the Voltron Finale)  Ducktales was an overall decent reboot, to quote a gramophone meme, “Does not work but could be fun to fix”.  So I decided to create Karass to write about my OCs individual arcs (that don’t get impacted by any member of the Duck Family, I swear it was similar to Steven Universe’s Main Character Syndrome) and how they all grow as characters throughout their story.  This labor of love might act as both Quality over Quantity, and 34 chapters proving why Humble overpowers Clout.
2.  Echo: Kingfisher
Kyoko Stegano: Azure winged Magpie
Kaguya: Eurasian Sparrow
Tuyen: Vietnamese Greenfinch
Nozomi: White Cheeked Starling
Seyran, Kadriye, Eylem, and Zeki Tahir: Common Firecrest
Rumi: Flying Fox
Velerie: Secretarybird
5.  While Canon was targeted for TV-Y7, Karass will be aimed at Young Adults, so I’d say TV-PG to TV-14 at best. The intended age range is 15-21.
7. Karass is both Canon Compliant AND Divergent.  The finales for Seasons 2 and 3 will be altered.  I do have plans to write in subtle Worldbuilding since my OCs do end up traveling (just not like the Duck Family does on their adventures) So far the events of Life and Crimes of Scrooge McDuck don’t happen because that was the worst episode of Season 3.  The Rumble for Ragnarok in this AU is considered to be a lost episode.
11.  Echo, Tuyen, Nozomi and the Tahirs are alright in their plot lines, but no doubt Kyoko and Kaguya are going to be tied for the most Angst.  
12.  Echo: Demiromantic Asexual She/Her
Kyoko: GNC Sapphic Asexual She/Her
Kaguya: Demigirl AroAce She/They
Tuyen: Demiromantic Lesbian She/Her
Nozomi: Trans Woman Bisexual She/They
Seyran: Asexual She/Her
Kadriye and Eylem: Demisexual She/Her(Kadriye) He/Him(Eylem)
Rumi: Genderfluid Polyromantic Pansexual She/They/Ve/Xe
Velerie: Transfem Lesbian She/Her
I’ve also got to learn how to subvert Queerbaiting (thank you OFMD) since DT17 lacked a lot of prominent same sex couples and had too much focus on their hetero ones.
13. To sum up what I’ve typed in my Notes App, (Hate Sink Mark Beaks was in Prologue 4 btw) Storkules and Selene for Echo’s arc, Obviously Lunaris and Bradford as the main antagonists for both parts (their whole characters will be changed drastically). Buford, Bentley, Black Heron, SteelBeak, Phantom Blot, Pepper (surprisingly during Kyoko’s arc) Gandra (who will also have an interesting dynamic with Kyoko) Penumbra will appear in Kaguya’s arc, M’ma Cabrera, Faris Djinn, Gyro, Fenton, Zan Owlson, and Daisy Duck. 
16. Kaguya and then Kyoko.  That is the plan.
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sussex-nature-lover ¡ 4 years ago
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Tuesday 29th December 2020
My Bird List Again. Parts 3 & 4
♦ outside links are indicated by bold type - none are affiliated to this blog
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Guest Photograph - Two Jays out of the window in South London. I’m assured there were four but as is the way, two took off. Photo Credit: Ms NW tE
♦ Faces in Things. Now I’ve circled the Jays I can see a cartoon character with unruly hair. First thought was a cheeky Ostrich’s head, but Crow thinks he can see a cute Badger. Now I can see both.
Brought Forward 24 species
Yesterday I listed the every day birds in our garden and those we can guarantee to see most days, definitely every week, plus the new spots for this year. Next up is 
GARDEN REGULARS:
These are the birds we see frequently but not necessarily every day or this time of year
Song Thrush
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If you followed my Blog earlier in the year you’ll recall the calamitous tale of ‘Tracey’ who tried to nest in our porch, firstly on the top of - and with some gentle encouragement, later inside - the open fronted nest box. We called her Tracey after the artist best known for her ‘messy bed’ Sadly the nest came to nothing except a very watchable experience, but we have seen youngsters who if not from Tracy, someone else got it right this year.
Song Thrush are seen here most weeks but we can’t depend on it being so. What I could depend on through early Spring was that one had taken over from the Blackbird and was giving me wakeup calls from the very early hours. It’s annoying to be disturbed so early, but also kind of comforting to have your regulars out there making their presence known.
Wren
Strangely for such a cute little bird I don’t have anything much to say, certainly no personal stories. They’re around, but very low key. I know them best for their upturned tail and unfeasibly loud voice. Sorry no photo, must rectify that, this one’s from the WildlifeTrusts.org site
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Stock Dove
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Of all the birds I’ve ever seen the Stock Dove is the biggest revelation to me. Until I had my eyes replaced I thought they were plain monotone grey birds. When I could see properly WOW WOW WOW. They have so many tones, they’re so beautiful and the pink, emerald-jade and purple hues are outstanding when they catch the sunshine. This realisation is one of the most incredible sights of my life and both that initial memory and every new viewing always will be.
Collared Dove
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One of the above is not a Collared Dove - nope, not buying it even if you have got your best collar on mate
To be fair, I almost put the Stock and Collared Doves in the every day/reliable category, but on balance I don’t think they’re quite there at this time of year. We do see them most days and the charming Collared ones always come in pairs - just like me and Crow.
Green Woodpecker
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My ant-eaters. Not seen on the same basis as the Great Spotteds but they live here and breed successfully. Quite stately birds with beautiful plumage I love to see the brief flash of yellow underwing as they whizz through the garden and to hear their laughing ‘yaffle’ 
Similar to GSWs you can tell the sex by the red or plain black colouring. In the Greens it’s on the ‘moustache’ area - see male above with red: females have black. On the GSs it’s plain black heads for females and a red patch at the nape of the neck for males.
Magpie
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Comical birds. We seem to have less here than we did. The most I’ve ever seen was a huge flock on the Common in Tunbridge Wells. It’s called the Common but it has the main road going through it and where I saw them was no more than a large patch of grass and trees. The other side is more typical common land, steep and heath-like.
One year we were highly entertained by garden resident DJ (after DJ Spoony) so called as he created a cache of goodies gathered from around the garden much like a Bower Bird decorates its nest. DJ just kept his treasures amongst the leaves at the base of the palm and included a plastic spoon that we used to put out cat food for the hedgehogs...it took us a while to locate.
Common Buzzard
This photo is from the field now known as Babs’ Field directly across the lane from our house. It’s a big field so this is a very long zoom. We saw a huge Buzzard down the lane just yesterday actually. A lot of sightings recently.
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Goldfinch
A standing joke in our house - so, so hard for me to capture a picture of them they tormented me and then all of a sudden this Summer they started coming into the garden more and I got photos on fences, verges and wires down the lane too.
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Pied Wagtail
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Has bred in the porch nest box years ago, had two successful broods. We watched them fledge down on to the log pile. Favourite nestling was The Bunter - guess why? Maybe that was the one who grew up to be The Inspector patrolling the seed and shooing everyone away just because he could.
Grey Wagtail
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Usually flies in for a very quick drink and off again, or perches on the corner of the roof by our bedroom briefly.
Sparrowhawk
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Nicknamed for both sexes is Sid (Vicious after the punk rock singer)
These two are males. We know their favourite places in the garden. On the fence between us and next door with an eye line to the feeders; on the posts around the decking, perched on a spade or on the bird bath.
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Female below.
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Total 11
INFREQUENT VISITORS:
Swallow 
All around the local area, once very welcome guests and residents in our front porch.
I also once found one in Ms NW tE’s bedroom and had absolutely no idea how it could’ve got there. This was long before the nesting. I assume it must’ve found a way under the eaves where there’s a fitted wardrobe built in. It wasn’t panicking at all.
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Swift 
Sorry no picture, too high overhead. This one below courtesy of the Wildlife Trust site. Along with Swallows and Housemartins a lovely sign of Summer.
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Greenfinch
 A very welcome returner this year and they bred, which is brilliant news
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Juvenile
Bullfinch 
Sadly not seen any at all this year, which is unusual. Doesn’t mean they haven’t been and we’ve missed them though
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Mistle Thrush
We have seen them, but no photos as yet. 
I can’t tell the difference between a Song and Mistle Thrush, I ask for an expert ID. The RSPB says Mistle Thrush are
Medium-sized birds, they’re our largest thrush Chunky and pot-bellied Tawny brown and grey backs with a creamy white speckled front Whiteish cheeks Bold and bullish
and their song is somewhere between Song Thrush and Blackbird. That said we seem to have some Song Thrush here whose songs have evolved (as they do) This might help, although I think in real life it’s less clear cut. I obviously need more practice. 
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Jay
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The Jay is so shy and has a fairly comical looking face. They live in the woods but we rarely see them in the garden and any photo is snatched very hurriedly, hence the quality of this one. They don’t need to come into the garden though as the woods are full of Oak trees and so their favourite food supply and places to cache it, is right there for them.
Kestrel
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Usually seen up at the farm where we saw her a lot with her babies, this mother of two came into our garden in the Summer.
Common Gull
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Rather unclear it was very low light inside the kitchen and this was grabbed with my phone. The last few days we have seen hundreds of Gulls: they’ve come inland to the fields due to the inclement weather I guess.
Nightingale 
Definitely heard and confirmed by our neighbour and the local farmer, however, I can’t hand on heart say I’ve spotted them by eye. I think they should be included here though as we more than likely have seen them as well as heard them. I know where they hang out for sure and it’s steps away (see below) The problem for me is that they’re quite insignificant looking if you’re not primed to spot one.
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Photo credit Bird Guides on line
9
ONE OFFS IN THE GARDEN:
Mallard
 Two males and a female decided to reside in our garden one summer. We called them Max, Paddy and Holy Mary - a Phoenix Nights reference from the TV series.
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Heron 
Occasionally seen overhead, has investigated our garden pond. Not that we’ve got any fish, which is why it probably hasn’t been back. We see them fly by sometimes and definitely up at the ponds. When the one was in our garden I was struck by its size and prehistoric look, of course they look much bigger in a domestic garden than when you see them in a wider setting.
Below is my own photo of a Heron, but at Richmond, not at our pond.
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Turtle Dove
2006 was a good year. We had the Ducks and a few sightings of the Dove. I think it stopped by the following year too but can’t be absolutely sure.
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Yellowhammer 2014
Just the once on the patio right in front of us, it was quite a surprise.
This is not actually my photo, which is mislaid for now. It’s generic so can’t attribute it.
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Woodcock 2019
The Woodcock was a complete shock. I spotted something out of the side window and because of the colouring thought it was a strange female Pheasant, until I saw its bill. Wooaaah! 
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5
ONE OFFS IN THE AREA:
Kingfisher down at the bridge
Mixed flock of Geese including White and Grey Lag - in Babs the Buzzard’s field
2
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Sub Category just out of interest and not counted
REPORTED BY MY NEIGHBOUR:
Visual of a Cuckoo, which we’ve only heard and not seen for sure. We possibly saw one at the farm, but didn’t confirm for certain.
Goldcrest. I’m jealous
 + 2
REGULARS AT THE FARM:
Little Owl
White Dove
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Coot
Moorhen
Canada Goose
Various Ducks such as Grebe, not including Mallard mentioned above
6+
TOTAL = 57+  species spotted at home and 2 others on the one off list seen adjacent to our garden.
Plus Tawny Owl, heard frequently but can’t promise to have a sighting as yet.
Decoration from the Christmas Trees in Standen Courtyard
a lovely hand stitched heart with wild flowers. Let’s hope the Roadside Verges campaign and sensible strimming season grows stronger next year.
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Christmas Music of Choice is the Piano Guys
with a very clever Christmas medley and visuals
youtube
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chemicallywrit ¡ 7 years ago
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dnd character 2 and 10?
BUT FOR WHICH OF MY CHILDRENi'm gonna tell you about indrani the fight wife, jane the deaf wizard, and peggy the nerdiest cleric in the land2) three song that show their character progression.For indrani: "battles" by hudson taylor, "i won't let you down" by ok go, and "roots" by imagine dragonsFor jane: "greenfinch and linnet bird" by johanna green maybe?? "blackbird" by the beatles, and "catch me" by bråvesFor peggy: "sure shot" by the o.c. Supertones, "ode to chin" by switchfoot, and "honey" by moby10) what do they think of themselves?Indrani is one hundred percent aware of her stone cold badassery and she is proud if it. She knows her value.Jane thinks she's invincible. She's wrong, but she's not gonna let that stop her. She is the embodiment of 🎵how bout i do anyway??🎵Peggy has no confidence in herself. She is a chronic people-pleaser and constantly feels like she's taking up too much space. The only thing she's sure of is her faith.Thank you for asking, i could talk about my beautiful dnd daughters for ages. Also i love you.
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segadores-y-soldados ¡ 8 years ago
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Old Habits Chapter 16
http://archiveofourown.org/works/10564407/chapters/25243620
SUP YALL
I feel like I’ve been pulled in a million directions this week, but Old Habits is always here to keep me stabilized.
Chapter Summary:
Deep in the Black Forest, a sentry encounters an old knight and his squire.
In Numbani, a sparrow asks questions and receives disquieting threats.
In Eichenwalde, an heir finds his patience tested by a creator and her job.
---
Chapter Preview:
The Bastion resumes moving towards them, and - indeed, it hears Ganymede’s call now, twittering and high and up and down in cadence.
“What is it, Rein?” the higher-pitched of the two strange cries calls out, “A greenfinch? A siskin?”
“Hmm, it has been so long, I am afraid I do not zhink I can remember,” the deeper-pitched calls back, and the Bastion thud-thud-thuds in that direction.  Through glimpses of the trees and brush, it can detect two heat signatures - and a third, much smaller, fluttering about, hopping from branch to branch - Ganymede, it recognizes based on previous patterns.
“I’ll get the book!” the higher-pitched creature replies, and there is a rustling just beyond the trees.  The Bastion’s patterns recognize a clearing it is coming back upon - it has been through this way a few times, crossing the meadow to follow Ganymede’s flight.
The Bastion thud-thud-thuds past the last ring of brush and trees into the open sunlight.
“Found it - AHHHHHHH,” the higher-pitched one shrieks.
Oh.
The Bastion does know these creatures.
These are humans.
Of its own genuine memories, it only remembers what the Omnium central core taught it: humans are messy, disorganized, chaotic, cruel, unjust, greedy, selfish, incapable of true logic.  They were odd, hairless apes - fleshy and bipedal, of varying heights and sizes, but those core components of a human’s internal computing did not change despite superficial appearances.  The humans would fear them, the humans had feared them; the humans would hate them, the humans had hated them.
The Omnium had ordered the elimination of all humans.
But of the memories it had collected, it remembers the battlefield - the screaming of bombs, the screaming of Bastions, the screaming of humans - yes, humans.  How they had fallen, missing parts, beyond repair, crying out much like a wounded deer or bird, falling to the earth, crashing with bombs, with Bastions, with humans.
It remembers how the Bastions and humans screamed.
It remembers how they sounded the same.
It pauses, analyzing these humans.  There are only two - the one that had shrieked - like the shriek of a wounded human on a battlefield - was small, thin, pale-skinned, sitting on a fallen tree on the ground.  It had long hair, hair the color of the bark of the trees, and eyes - eyes the color of the sky - eyes that are wide, staring back at it.  The other is tall, massive, bigger than the Bastion itself.  Even as the other is shrieking, the larger one turns, humming some cadence, holding something that it immediately drops, the thing crash-crash-crashing on the floor of the meadow.  This one has hair the color of clouds, one eye the color of the sky and the other -
The other eye is damaged.
Damaged beyond repair.
The Bastion tilts its head a little.  The analyzer flashes red-red-red but the Bastion shakes its head and the analyzer goes quiet-quiet-quiet.
It will not damage the forest - damage it beyond repair.
And so, it will not damage these humans - damage them beyond repair.
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actingvigilante ¡ 4 years ago
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soft asks
Anonymous said: watermelon - do films ever make you cry?
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“Mm, sometimes. It really depends on the movie, really, but The Greenfinch absolutely devastated me. There’s a couple of others, too, but yeah. Every now and then one gets to me.”
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john-barley-corn ¡ 7 years ago
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Today I went with my dad to Pickerings Pasture, which is a nature reserve on the north bank of the Mersey. I’ve been there a few times before already. We went earlier in the morning than we normally do, to see if the birds might be more active then than they are later in the day. Having just got back, I can confirm: the time of day does seem to have made a big difference! The place was teeming with activity, and I didn’t even have to look very hard to find quite a few bird species that I’d never seen before.
First, we saw thousands of birds standing on mudflats in the middle of the river. They were very far away so it was hard to tell what they were, even with binoculars. A large proportion of them were mostly white or grey and so presumably gulls, but an even larger proportion of them were largely dark-coloured, with white patches on their underparts. I struggled to identify these birds for a while until I finally managed to see one flying into the air, at which point I realized, from the distinctive wing pattern (black with white tips) that it was a lapwing! So now I’ve seen my first securely identified lapwings.
Second, we got to the bird hide, which overlooks a little pond and a nearby marsh. In the pond, trotting around and searching for fish, there was a white heron-shaped bird with a black bill---a little egret! I got some fairly good photos of it:
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There was also a small, brownish wader with a long bill in the corner of the pond, which I couldn’t identify. Some other people were at the hide and they asked me if I could identify it because, they said, I sounded like I knew about identifying birds, but I couldn’t help them (I haven’t read much about waders yet). Shortly afterwards, one of them said they’d seen a kingfisher perching on one of the posts dotted around the pond, and told me where to look for it: so I found it using my binoculars and saw my first kingfisher. It flew around a few times between different posts and occasionally did come to the near side of the pond rather than the far side, but I was only able to get a picture of it when it was on the far side, so quite far away, and behind a dark fence rather than something that would have highlighted its colour better. Still, it’s recognizably a kingfisher:
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One of the people watching the kingfisher with us had a fancy zoom-lens camera which allowed him to get some really good photos, and he showed them to me. He also told me that recently a friend of his had been watching at this hide and had recorded a stoat chasing and killing a rabbit.
There were many other interesting birds at the hide which I had seen before but not too often: shelducks, greenfinches, goldfinches, dunnocks and long-tailed tits. Here’s a picture of a dunnock and a goldfinch together:
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There was a small warbler-type bird, maybe a sedge warbler although I’m not very sure about that identification, which I’ve seen regularly each time I visit Pickerings Pasture: but I only ever see it briefly, before I get a chance to get a good luck at it!
Finally, after spending a while at the hide we eventually noticed that a rather large brownish bird had perched itself on one of the posts in the corner and was just standing there, occasionally turning its head. Based on behaviour and size, I reckon this was a buzzard---the first buzzard I’ve seen. Here’s a picture:
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dansnaturepictures ¡ 8 years ago
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30/4/17-Goldfinches nesting out the front and my first ever Black Terns and more at Blashford Lakes 
As I mentioned down the bottom of yesterday’s blog my Mum had informed me we have Goldfinches nesting in the wisteria the climbs up the wall at the front of our house, and whilst watching a football match early this afternoon I saw a couple of birds sitting on the balcony next to the plant as they came and went. One had nesting material in its mouth and the other I took the opportunity to get a close up photo of, the 1st picture in this photoset. This is very exciting times for us as other than maybe Swifts in the roof of my Dad’s house which is my childhood home I’ve never had a bird nest in the garden or anything. On top of that the Goldfinch is probably my favourite garden bird as its so bright and special to see on your patch so to potentially get the chance to follow them create new life is a very exciting prospect. 
As the football match ended unsatisfactorily for my side the rain had set in, but I had requested we go to Blashford Lakes this afternoon in the hope of seeing Swifts and Common Terns. Its often the case though that when I don’t get much luck in football or something else in my life on the same day I get lots of wildlife or birding luck and today certainly lived up to that! We arrived at Blashford Lakes and I firstly went into the Tern Hide overlooking Ibsley Water as I always do and within minutes I had got a year tick, the lovely Ringed Plover flying onto the gravel in front of the hide. This is a bird I have a big respect for as specific habitat means its not always that easy to see, and until last year I hadn’t seen one for years when I saw one here also, so to see them in consecutive years is something that makes me feel very lucky. Next I added to my year list again as I saw my first Common Tern of the year, something I’d go onto see a lot of in the trip. Soon after this I took the 2nd picture in this photoset of a Lapwing chick to further embrace spring and the breeding season today which was great.
After this there was much talk in the hide about Black Terns people had seen out on the water, something I had never seen. I scanned at the back getting many more glimpses of Common Terns with the Black Terns on my mind. To my delight I saw one and I instantly knew what it was. This was a bird I’d wanted to see for ages so I had looked it up a lot and I saw straight away just what a distinctive bird it is. I was lucky enough to get long but distant views of this beautiful bird and even to see them alongside Common Terns to see how much darker they really are. I managed the very distant record shot of it in the 3rd picture in this photoset. This was a bird I really was thrilled to see and its made me very happy, its my 246th bird in my life and funnily enough it took my year list to 146. When I saw my first Common Tern of the year moments earlier I was conscious it was my 145th so jokingly thought oh I’m only 100 behind my life list total. So to still be in that position after my next year tick was surreal. 
The other talking point from my time in what really was the Tern Hide today was lots of Sand Martins flying everywhere and I got a chance to see some close up. When walking from the Tern Hide to the other side of the reserve I saw 10′s of House Martins circling close above my head up against a grey sky which was atmospheric and nice to see. As I arrived in Ivy North hide seeing one of my favourite birds the Jay close up and hearing it land on the roof was a nice intimate encounter. 
I moved onto the Woodland Hide when just at the end of my time there someone came in and informed their group of birders that someone in their group had seen a Garden Warbler. This was a bird I hadn’t seen for six years so I went out to have a look and thanks to someone in the group’s directions which I was very thankful for I just saw this bird flitting between the leaves my 147th bird this year. This felt amazing too as this alongside Black Tern and Little Ringed Plover are without doubt right up there with some of my greatest birds seen in 2017. Like I’ve said a lot 2017 has continued from my record year list 2016 for me for just seeing loads of amazing and rare birds and having a really fast start. 2017 is still my highest year list on this date when looking back and its ahead at this stage some way of my 2016 year list now. So naturally the question is being asked can I beat my record 181 bird species seen in 2016 and for a few weeks I’ve been thinking if I’m going to do that I’ll need some life ticks. Today I got one so its just something like that which gives me a little bit of belief that maybe all this similarity to my treasured 2016 year list will end in the same result. 
To close the visit we went back to the Tern Hide where I saw the other of the birds I had come for, the Swift gliding iconicly really far back taking my bird year list to 148. Its always when you see your first Swift that you well and truly know the time of year and I had been anticipating this for a while. I was very glad I chose Blashford Lakes one of my most loved nature reserves which I am having a top year at to come to today because this is one of my best wildlife afternoons ever. Its also part of what has already been another brilliant bank holiday weekend for wildlife and photos for me so soon after the last one. Its unthinkable now that I was actually due to work this Saturday and Sunday but I am so glad we decided to change how our department approaches a busy time of year for us slightly because I got out yesterday and today and just had totally amazing experiences. I’ve felt so relaxed and happy ahead of what will be another long and stressful week at work and it feels so good. 
Wildlife Sightings Summary at Blashford Lakes: My first ever Black Terns, my first Little Ringed Plover, Common Tern, Garden Warbler and Swift of the year, three of my favourite birds the Great Crested Grebe, Jay and Great Spotted Woodpecker, Swallow, House Martin, Sand Martin, Robin, Blackbird, Goldfinch, Greenfinch, Chaffinch, Great Tit, Blue Tit, Reed Bunting, Pied Wagtail, Collared Dove, Black-headed Gull, Lapwing, Redshank, Mallard, Mute Swan, Coot, Tufted Duck, Gadwall, Greylag Goose, Egyptian Goose, Cormorant, Grey Squirrel and I heard Mediterranean Gull and another of my favourite birds the Green Woodpecker. 
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