Paul Ganssle @pganssle@qoto.org

For two days in a row these vultures were hanging around in the same trees behind my house for hours at a time.

That’s not ominous at all…

#birding #birds

Not a bird, but when I was chasing down the Pileated Woodpecker, I came across this very sleepy squirrel and had to take a photo.

This was right around noon, so I’m guessing he had a big lunch…

I also found this male and female Eastern Bluebird pair hanging around by a nest near the river.

I have no idea if it’s accurate, but in my head they are a breeding pair guarding or establishing a nesting location (though maybe they tried it out in college and it didn’t work out, so now they’re “just friends”).

#birding #birds

I also got my first picture of a Pileated Woodpecker just the other day — then I saw two more directly in my back yard this morning!

They are surprisingly big…

#birding #birds #photography

The robins are also out in full force, running around everyone’s yards, pecking away.

#birding #birds #photography

The goldfinches in my area seem to be right behind them. Here’s a picture of a goldfinch 11 days ago, and another goldfinch yesterday: he’s molting!

#birding #photography #birds

Looks like the birds got the message that it’s spring! It seems these red-winged blackbirds are back and in full breeding plumage.

#birding

Whenever I drain the bath lately, my son has been saying, “I wish I could go down the drain.” I was confused as to why he would want this, but then I realized, he’s mimicking Daniel Tiger — apparently he saw this, but missed that Daniel was afraid of going down the drain.😅

Lessons learned from the “eating Tide Pods” meme: people love it when you blur the lines between soap and food.

We legitimately could not tell whether this is something edible. The front side of the label says “Yummmers”, but the container doesn’t have a tamper-evident seal, and there are no nutrition facts anywhere…

“So you are saying I need to eat… more calories than I burn?”
“Yes, if you want to make gains, you’ll need enough energy and protein to build muscle.”

TFW your main experience with “getting in shape” is weight loss and you finally reach the point where you are supposed to increase calories to gain muscle:

You can get something of a sense for how it looks by looking at the 45° and 135° photos side-by-side, then letting your eyes unfocus until the details line up like a stereogram (e.g. magic eye puzzles).

Here are two pictures I’ve stitched together to make that easier:

#light #polarization #photography

Around mid-morning, though, it seems that a lot more sunlight in the sky is scattered off the atmosphere, which causes it to become polarized, which gives the sky a very strange appearance.

Here’s the sky at 11 AM in CT with no filter, 45° filter and 135° filter:

#light #polarization #photography

I’ve made this a few times now and this time around my wife finally reminded me to take a picture of it when it was done 😅

#food #curry #japanese

Also, earlier this month I finally got a picture of a red-breasted nuthatch!

I’ve been hoping to get a photo of one of these ever since I thought I saw one during PyTexas 2020: https://qoto.org/@pganssle/105091007608910051

#birding #birds

Got my first ever Cedar Waxwings in the back yard the other day! Just as I was thinking that all the interesting birds were gone for the winter, a small flock of these guys came in.

Very cool-looking birds.

#birds #birding

BTW, some relevant context for those outside of Hyderabad who are going to watch this talk, this is what Google Image Search says Hyderabadi haleem looks like:

The video from my PyConf Hyderabad 2020 keynote, “The Stable Interface Paradox” is now available!

https://youtu.be/aRqulQUgiIA

I had a lot of fun with this, I think it’s the first time I’ve actually felt compelled to take a selfie to commemorate a talk:

10 minutes into assembling a toy for the boy, almost done with step 4! …of 33… 😅

Was playing with my son on Saturday when he said the words every weird hacker dad wants to hear: “Papa, let’s make robots out of garbage!”