vulture-cultist

[vulture-cultist]

semi-annual life update!

I know I don't have many followers, but I do like to speak from time to time :^)

I finally found permanent employment earlier this year for the first time ever at a regional museum (museums and history being what I studied). I bounce between the education and collection departments. it's not my wildest dream of working with a natural history collection or anything, but it's realistic and unionized, so I've had to settle. my coworkers are lovely, at least.

I also recently finished all of my hunting license stuff and will be an apprentice falconer once all the paperwork comes in! I have a lot of family who are falconers, so I'm in a lucky position in that regard. it can be difficult to start the hobby if you don't have connections. hopefully someday I can post falconer content for yall.

over the past year I've also been doing hema, or historical european martial arts. we primarily train in longsword, but my side hustle is smallsword. I saw zoro as a little kid and it changed me forever I guess.

anyways. if you're reading this I hope you're doing well! I know it's a scary world right now for a lot of people. always feel free to reach out and chat (or tell me something good happening in your life rn?)

love and light etc etc

-graves

[vulture-cultist]

Friday evening means dance off for this couple of Qianlong shouhu during the Early Jurassic in China 💃🏼🪩🕺🏽🦕🦖

[vulture-cultist]

On Easter Sunday 1987, the last known wild California Condor was captured, to be kept in a zoo as part of a captive breeding program in an attempt to save its species from extinction. As part of the process of bringing the wild birds into the zoo, the California Condors were deloused... which most likely caused the extinction of the California Condor Louse, a louse specific to the California Condor that lived upon it in a symbiosis that we will now never fully understand.

In the meanwhile, the captive breeding program has successfully reintroduced the California Condor to the wild, and as of 2023, there are 344 wild condors, plus 217 in zoos. But the California Condor Louse is most likely gone forever. Its loss has increased our awareness of the possibility of conservation-induced extinction, and that, in our quest to save one species, we must be careful not to wind up sacrificing another.

Completed: November 1, 2024

[vulture-cultist]

(college stuff) everyone give it up for the humble arapaima

[vulture-cultist]

Red and yellow barbet 'doing the splits' (Trachyphonus erythrocephalus)

Photo by Hermann Brehm

[vulture-cultist]

Birds

Two more portraits for the fantastic Rey <3 Thank you so much again for letting me paint these for you!

[vulture-cultist]

NEW !!! SNAKE DISCOVERED

ITS CALLED THE LIMESTONE EYELASH PIT VIPER. THAT iS SO CUTE. ITS SO PRETTY

[vulture-cultist]

The European Union’s greenhouse gas emissions fell 8.3% in 2023 as a surge in renewable energy installations helped displace coal.

This means the bloc’s emissions have declined 37% since 1990, while its economy has grown 68% over the same period.

The divergence indicates “the continued decoupling of emissions and economic growth,” the European Commission said in an update, adding that the region is on track to reach its target of reducing emissions by at least 55% by 2030.

According to an analysis by the European Environment Agency, based only on existing climate measures and planned actions, the EU will reduce its emissions by 49% by 2030.

Electricity and heating lead the way

Emissions from electricity production and heating under the region’s emissions trading system (ETS) dropped 24% in 2023, compared to the previous year, per the Commission.

Set up in 2005, the ETS is widely viewed as a key driver of the bloc’s decarbonisation. In 2023, it generated revenues of €43.6 billion in 2023 for climate action investments.

However, some sectors are still moving in the wrong direction. For instance, aviation emissions grew 9.5% last year as the sector continued to rebound in the wake of the pandemic.

More to be done

“The EU is leading the way in the clean transition, with another year of strong greenhouse gas emission reductions in 2023,” said Wopke Hoekstra, commissioner for climate action.

“As we head off soon to COP29, we once again demonstrate to our international partners that it is possible to take climate action and invest in growing our economy at the same time,” Hoekstra added. “Sadly, the report also shows that our work must continue, at home and abroad, as we are seeing the harm that climate change is causing our citizens.”

In a separate statement, Leena Ylä-Mononen, executive director of the European Environment Agency, said climate change impacts were “accelerating”, meaning the bloc needed to become more resilient to extreme weather while also slashing emissions.

In the second quarter of 2024, renewables accounted for 52% of all electricity generated in the EU, a 6 percentage point increase in a year. Nuclear generation was up slightly and comprised 24% of the mix, meaning clean sources made up 76% of the region’s total electrical output.

-via The Progress Playbook, November 1, 2024

[vulture-cultist]

The irony of doing deforestation in a land that already has nearly no forests, only to place some giant bird-killing things there in the name of “green energy.” Don’t let me even get started about how much harmful manufacturing processes need to take place to make wind turbines.

[vulture-cultist]

Drawtober day 23

Heron in blue

[vulture-cultist]

Grackle embroidery; I decided to try using some of my stash of old sewing thread that is too brittle for the machine; it worked great! by 9-year-cicada

[vulture-cultist]

Endangered Species Sightings from This Year

This is thought to be the first time in over 20 years that a blue whale was spotted off the Coast of Massachusetts.

I highly recommend watching the video and listening to the reaction of the people on the whale watching boat--the cheers and emotion in some of their voices, especially the woman saying "I'm trying not to" when someone jokingly tells her not to cry.

This is the first time ever that a mother clouded leopard with two cubs has been spotted on a game cam!

"After being considered regionally extinct for over a century, giant anteaters have been spotted roaming once again in Brazil's Rio Grande do Sul state. Scientists have concluded these returned natives ventured over from Argentina's Ibera Park, where conservationists have released around 110 rescued and captive-bred anteaters since 2007."

Over 100 years and the anteaters are finally coming home!

[vulture-cultist]

His Undulations

[vulture-cultist]

Trick or treat: 🐉

Have an extremely green treat...

Green Broadbill (Calyptomena viridis), family Calyptomenidae, order Passeriformes, Malaysia

photograph by Tan Tc

[vulture-cultist]

After nearly 20 years of trying to increase the red-headed vulture population, this endangered baby vulture was born in March at the Nakhon Ratchasima Zoo in northeast Thailand. The endangered bird is the first red-headed - also known as Asian king vulture - to be bred in the continent and only the second in the world. X

[vulture-cultist]

After years of observing these caddisfly larvae, French naturalist and artist, Hubert Duprat, wondered if the caddis flies would use any materials to build their cocoon. He introduced flakes of gold, pearls and opals to the caddis flies and they did in fact use them for their cocoons. They use their own silk as the glue to hold their pupal constructions together.

[vulture-cultist]

Parasitoid chalcidoid wasp, Astichus longevittatus, Eulophidae

Photographed in France by coleomaniac