#barren trees

[nathanielmatychuk]

The person you think of first when you look at the Undead Fortress of Ruin is the person you are in love with.

[mylifein2220x1080]

♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧ december moon ♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧

[rastronomicals]

5:51 PM EDT May 18, 2023:

God Is an Astronaut - "Barren Trees" From the album Ghost Tapes # 10 (February 12, 2021)

Last song scrobbled from iTunes at Last.fm

File under:    Irish Post-rock with electronic flourishes

[colonelc45]

Photography by me

[bird-of-paradise4019]

Cold nights with a friend, watching the moon.

[oneearedcat]

[tanuki-kimono]

Amazing fuyu kodachi (barren tree in winter) modern kimono with beautiful crepuscular colors. OP paired it with a hakama and a pretty black haori with Western building woven in urushi (lacquered threads)

[wikipediapictures]

Pine Barrens tree frog

[completeoveranalysis]

[1]

Tiny CHILDREN

TINY TSUBASA FAMILY CHILDREN

TINY TRAUMA FREE BABIES

BABY FAI SMILING GENTLY AND GENUINELY

HOLDING LAVA LAMP’S HAND

LOOKING UP AT TINY KUROGANE

AND THEY’RE ALL WEARING WORLD APPROPRIATE CLOTHING

I am slain this is the end of me I’m lying down goodbye

What does the splash text say, there's no way they could make it sad.

If there could have been a day like this

Even now, I still think about it sometimes

WOW OK I TAKE IT BACK THANK YOU FOR THE SADNESS CLAMP

[night-for-night]

near batsto lake, pine barrens, nj - vivitar wide & slim with 400 iso film - developed at eliz digital & scanned with minolta dimage dual iii

[mylifein2220x1080]

♡₊˚ 🦢・₊✧ cotton candy sky ✧₊・🦢 ˚₊♡

[safehaven3d]

guys do you think the birds cry when forestfires happen? do they notice and get sad?

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Hi, I was the anon that had brought up the high seas adventure!! I'm glad you took interest in it, and hearing your ramblings to add onto it just made me imagine so many fun things! (Poor Eddie, haha. With your description, I just imagine a dog trying to stand up in a moving car.) Ohh, now I imagine a case where the ship wrecks and their stranded for a few days until another rescue ship comes! Perhaps on an island?? I hope some of them know how to hunt!

the very first thing that came to mind was Eddie sobbing while pointing one of Howdy's guns at a crab. Sally just comes up & stabs it through the shell before taking it back to the fire for eating. Eddie collapses to his knees, wracked with guilt-

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

The State Bird Initiative: New Jersey (#3) - Results

Another week, another poll! And this one...this one had the results in super fast. So, we're gonna get right into it, as well as the personal choices by the SBI. But OK, which species does Tumblr think should be the State Bird of New Jersey?

Which of the following should be the state bird of New Jersey, the Garden State?

Look...I'd be lying if I said I didn't vote for that one, too.

SBI Elected State Bird of New Jersey: Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla)

The American Goldfinch (Spinus tristis) has been replaced by popular vote by the Laughing Gull (Leucophaeus atricilla) in the latest polls! And there's a part of me that wonders if this is for the meme...and there's a part of me that thinks this actually makes sense.

Read the original post here if you want my rationale, but...yeah, I stand by this being a good choice. NJ is a coastal state with a long coastline and a strong beach culture, to the point where "the Shore" is a recognized area in the state with an international reputation. And yes, while other shorebirds could be associated with the state, the Laughing Gull is essentially the only one whose breeding population heavily depends on its Jersey population. Plus, it's a recognizable and iconic bird with a known presence, and could easily be associated with the state it's been selected for. I can dig it. Just sayin'. And yeah, this is the bird chosen as a personal choice by the SBI as well. If you'd like to see the other personal choices from the SBI, stick around after the jump! And if this is all you were waiting for, then no worries! Check out Georgia's entry and give it a vote while you can!

The State Birds Initiative Personal Pick - New Jersey (#3)

State Game Bird of New Jersey (SBI): Brant (Branta bernicla)

Wait...WHAT THE HELL IS THAT? I never brought this bird up as a contender for State Bird? So, what is it doing here? Well, I never brought this guy up for State Bird because they don't breed in New Jersey, and honestly couldn't come up with a solid argument for it to be in that position. However, it was always a contender for State Game Bird, because New Jersey is home to the largest population of this goose, the Brant (Branta bernicla), on the eastern coast, with other concentrations being in Virginia and Rhode Island. But they'll get different birds for this category.

Now, time to talk further about what a State Game Bird is. Game birds are not a single taxonomic classification; rather, they're a sociological one. These are birds prioritized for hunting, usually for culinary purposes, if not just for sport. While they come from a few taxa, the vast majority of game birds belong to orders Galliformes (chickens, pheasants, quail, etc.) and Anseriformes (ducks and geese). The Brant represents our first member of the latter in this category! New jersey is known for its Brant hunting, and the state has major regulations during its Brant hunting season for conservation purposes. I could've put the Snow Goose (Cher caerulenscens) here as well, since New Jersey actually prioritizes hunting of this overpopulated bird...but the purpose of this is to promote birds of conservation interest that have a significant role in the state, and the Brant fits this a lot better than the Snow Goose. With that, let's move on!

State Raptor of New Jersey (SBI): Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonicus)

The Gray Ghost wins the category of State Raptor of New Jersey! This one, of course, I put in the original post and poll, and it unfortunately didn't get far at all. Not sure why, since it's the logo for the New Jersey Audubon Society, it represents a major ecosystem in the state, and it's generally a pretty cool bird. But, hey, that's the price of democracy. Either way, the Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonicus) is a charismatic raptor of conservation concern, and a generally pretty neat bird all around. Check out the original post for more details on this guy, but for now, we'll move on!

SBI's Big Fifty - New Jersey: Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta)

So, in my original post, I mentioned that the Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacuta) wasn't a great fit for State Bird due to its similarity to other sparrows, and that would be difficult for the average citizen to parse out. A sparrow is a sparrow is a sparrow, right? Well, not to birders it ain't! This is a pretty big bird for any birder's life list, mine included, making it an important focus for that community. So, in order to give the sparrow its day in court, the Saltmarsh Sparrow wins the prize for New Jersey's representative in SBI's Big Fifty, adding it to the countrywide scavenger hunt that this list represents. Sorry, Massachusetts, I know you could've had this one, too. I'll give you a neat one, I promise.

State Conservation Focus of New Jersey (SBI): Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus)

OK, so, the Conservation Focus of New Jersey is sort of disingenuous in this entry, since the bird is far less of a focus than its habitat, but I'll use it as the symbol of the habitat. The Pine Warbler (Setophaga pinus) is an accessible symbol for the average person to see when going to the ecologically significant (and always in danger) New Jersey Pine Barrens, also representing a larger community of birds with which it tends to be geographically associated. But more than that, the real symbol of the Pine Barrens isn't quite as accessible. For that reason, there really should be two focuses for the Pine Barrens, one for bird people, and one for ecologists. And if you know anything about the New Jersey Pine Barrens, I think you know what the other symbol is.

Now, to be fair, the Pine Barrens Tree Frog (Dryophytes andersonii) is, despite the name, not endemic to the New Jersey Pine Barrens. Instead, it can be found in the Carolinas and the Florida Panhandle, all in isolated areas and...well, pine barrens. But, its populations are decreasing in size, with the Georgia population already extirpated, and is a species of conservation concern. Frogs are, of course, less easy to spot than birds, especially nocturnal ones like the tree frog. So, it's not a great public symbol of the forests as a result, but is still an important inhabitant of the New Jersey Pine Barrens. So, consider this another conservation focus endorsed by SBI. And for the record, it's actually the state frog of North Carolina, so it hasn't been completely shafted!

And with that, we've reached the end of the personal choices by the SBI for ornithological state representatives! Be sure to check out the Georgia poll currently running; still a day or two for votes to be counted!

See you next time, and happy birding!

[aphrobites]

every single time i eat pomegranate seeds i think to myself “there is no WAY she only ate 6 of these” 6 handfuls perhaps. 60 seeds maybe. 180 and they rounded it up to half the year. i NEED to buy another pomegranate

[grimark]

thinking about whale falls again. nothing in particular i just wish i could be there.