Rob Porter 🎢🐦

@songbirder
443 Followers
397 Following
175 Posts

Naturalist, Programmer, Podcaster, Twitch Affiliate.

Host/Creator of Songbirding, a birding-by-ear audio nature documentary released as a podcast, found on any of the common podcast networks. I also do birding livestreams on Twitch from time to time.

Posts likely to be a mix of birds, retro games, nature, and programming.

He/they

LocationHamilton, Ontario, Canada
Twitchhttps://twitch.tv/songbirder
Songbirding Podcasthttps://songbirding.com/
Imagine … taking a train from Brantford to Goderich … or from Glencoe to Strathroy … or from Palmerston to Elora … or, well, to just about anywhere (CN passenger rail system 1958)
#transit #trains #urbanism #maps #mapstodon #transport #ontario

Songbirding has been listed in Apple Podcasts' "New & Noteworthy" section today for Canada! This is huge for an indie podcast, really hoping all the new listeners enjoy the birds.

Come listen to the only podcast I know of that is just outdoors listening to birds sing and talking a little bit about the species being heard.

#songbirding #birdsong #songbirds #podcast #birds #NatureRecording #podcasts #Canada #Ontario

Ash trees alas. These two ash trees make up most of the tree canopy over my back yard, and as you can see they are not doing well. The dead branches and sparse canopy are both symptoms of emerald ash borers, not to mention the woodpeckers regularly visiting the trunk. I had an arborist confirm that they need to come out, which will completely change the light in the yard, but also give me the chance to introduce different plants.

#Trees #Plants #EAB #Gardening

I put a chunk of vivid green andalusite in the coals from a typical campfire. Left it there overnight. Emerged almost jet black: a very dark, dense green in strong sunlight. This is its color from now on, apparently baked through. Any #geology or #mineralogy #nerds want to tell me what my campfire can do overnight that the pressure and heat of mama Earth over millions of years didn't?
An uncommon pink katydid I found in the garden today. Not sure exactly what species it is as it’s young and its wings are not fully developed yet. From a Scientific American article: β€œRight now it's widely accepted that pink, yellow and orange katydids occur as a result of erythrism – a genetic mutation controlled by recessive genes that causes an absence of a normal pigment, such as green, and/or an excessive production of another pigment, such as red or pink.” #gardening #insects #genetics
Glad to see Merlin ID Bird app getting some love πŸ€“
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/merlin-bird-id-app-cornell-lab-of-ornithology/
What's that bird? Merlin Bird ID app works magic

The free app, first hatched by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, today can help birders identify more than 6,000 species on six continents by look or song.

CBS News
(so far the survey says they prefer the taste of Coca-cola over Pepsi )
Parked out in Haldimand County doing Eastern Screech Owl surveys #birding #birds #owling #OBBA

Low quality screenshots but here's a quick look at the images we got when we went observing at the UofG observatory last week!

#Astrodon #Astronomy

American Goldfinch (female), perched on a dandelion stem.. a very light-weight bird!

#AmericanGoldfinch #birds #BirdPhotography #birding #finches #nature #phenology #Ontario #Canada #BirdsOfMastodon