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Today is cloudy and steamy.  It rained last night.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a few sparrows and house finches.

I put out water for the birds.










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Today's theme is Hetalia. Initially a webcomic, Hetalia was later adapted as a serialized manga and an anime series. The series personifies the nations of the world into immortal anthropomorphic characters and presents an allegorical (and often satirical) interpretation of political, historical, and cultural events throughout history and the present day. This riff is a personal favorite.

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Here's another post about the insect apocalypse, including a trophic cascade devastating other species especially insectivores.  This one proposes electromagnetic radiation as a causal factor, which may or may not be true, and is not being studied.  It would be nice if that were a cause, because it is a factor under human control and thus could be fixed.

The old sunshine_challenge is defunct, but other folks are reviving it this summer with the sunshine_revival. See the schedule and link below for more information. Spread the word!



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Today is cloudy and quite warm.

I fed the birds.  I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches plus a mourning dove.

I put out water for the birds.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I checked the firepit.  It has burned down mostly to ashes.  I started trimming weeds around the outside edge.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I picked half a bag of mulberries in the savanna.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I sowed Bee Lawn Mix on a bare patch beside the garden shed.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I did a bit more work around the patio.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I picked a bag of mulberries in the savanna.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I finished trimming around the firepit.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I trimmed more grass along the edge of the strip garden.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I trimmed grass along the south edge of the patio.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I trimmed brush along the edge of the strip garden.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I trimmed weeds along the edge of the south sidewalk.

EDIT 6/12/25 -- I intended to lay the base for the next bonfire.  I was only able to find one log big enough, and I need two.  There are some older ones but they are buried under too much brush to reach.  >_<  And it started drizzling anyhow, so fuck it.

I am done for the night.

This guy has Turq's level of skill at bag-wrangling.  See "Filled with Joyous Surprises" for Turq's version.

I enjoy growing dark-colored plants.  I have black flowers, bronze leaves, black fruits, all kinds of interesting things.

( Walk with me ... )

Today is sunny and warm.

I fed the birds. I've seen a mixed flock of sparrows and house finches. They've been draining the hopper feeder daily and putting a dent in the thistle feeder.

I put out water for the birds.

My partner Doug is out mowing the house yard.

EDIT 6/11/25 -- I refilled the thistle feeder.

I started trimming grass around the edge of the strip garden, now that I have the big weeds pulled out.

EDIT 6/11/25 -- I did a bit of work around the patio.

EDIT 6/11/25 -- I took some pictures around the yard.

EDIT 6/11/25 -- I picked half a bag of mulberries in the south lot.

I've seen a skunk on the patio. I've seen a catbird and a phoebe. I heard a red-bellied woodpecker but didn't see it.

EDIT 6/11/25 -- I set up firestarters for the firepit.

I picked half a bag of mulberries along the west fence.

EDIT 6/11/25 -- We lit the bonfire for the esbat tonight. It took a little while to get going but then it burned pretty well. I'll try to check on it later.

Fireflies are out and I've seen a bat.

EDIT 6/11/25 -- I checked the bonfire. It's mostly burned down. I threw most of the stray ends into the middle, but it was still too warm for me to get all the way around. I'll need to go back out later.







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‘Half the tree of life’: ecologists’ horror as nature reserves are emptied of insects
A new point in history has been reached, entomologists say, as climate-led species’ collapse moves up the food chain even in supposedly protected regions free of pesticides.

They include in Germany, where flying insects across 63 insect reserves dropped 75% in less than 30 years; the US, where beetle numbers dropped 83% in 45 years; and Puerto Rico, where insect biomass dropped up to 60-fold since the 1970s. These declines are occurring in ecosystems that are otherwise protected from direct human influence.
[---8<---]
At one research centre – falling within a 22,000-hectare (85 sq mile) stretch of intact forest in Panama – scientists comparing current bird numbers with the 1970s found 70% of species had declined, and 88% of these had lost more than half of their population.


As the insects die off, everything that eats them -- birds, amphibians, reptiles, etc. -- suffers a decline also.

The following poems from the June 3, 2025 Poetry Fishbowl are currently available. Poems may be sponsored via PayPal -- there's a permanent donation button on my Dreamwidth profile page -- or you can write to me and discuss other methods. There are still verses left in the linkback poems "Delight in Another," "A Sense of Weather Changes," "Ouroboros Insects," "The Loving Embrace of Night," "Generations of Cooks Past," "Homefree and Clear, " "One Bite at a Time," "Stars and Diamonds," "Mishpocha," "Changing Your Nature," and "Besa."

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