Most of > 500 native bee species in North Carolina nest underground.
> 80% of flowering plants rely on pollination services provided by wild bees. Furthermore, they contribute billions of dollars to our economy by pollinating crops.
🐝❤️
www.ncwildlife.gov/blog/2026/04...
Fifteen minutes before the President announced he was pausing strikes on Iran, somebody moved $500 million in oil futures. Somebody knew. Somebody told them. Or somebody is them.
New piece ↓
open.substack.com/pub/adamkinz...
A Ruby-throated hummingbird is coming in for a landing on a zinnia flower. Seen in profile heading to the left, the background is blurred green foliage. Its claws are up as it prepares to grab on, wings still blurred with movement as it slows.
A Ruby-throated hummingbird is coming in for a landing on a zinnia flower. Seen in profile heading to the left, the background is blurred green foliage. Its claws are up as it prepares to grab on, right one appears to just be touching a flower petal. Wings are out to its side, slowing it for landing.
A Ruby-throated hummingbird is landing on a zinnia flower. Seen mostly facing the camera, the background is blurred green foliage. The bird has just landed on the flower, its wings up as it steadies itself, and appears to possibly be looking at the camera.
A Ruby-throated hummingbird is perched on a zinnia flower. Seen in profile facing to the left, the background is blurred green foliage. Its wings are folded at its sides and it appears to be at rest.
Today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme from @alan678.bsky.social is #Petals&Perches any bird with flowers in capture.
A last summer favorite. Was expecting it to hover and drink as they had been doing, but it landed for a moment instead. Ruby-throated hummingbird and zinnia.
#birds #photos #somyalpha
Bald eagle standing on a mostly frozen Illinois river eating a fish. A piece of fish is hanging from its beak while its talon holds the rest of the fish. The eagle is partially reflected in the ice which fills the rest of the frame.
Closeup of a Lila crowned amazon parrot which appeared in our backyard one day. Not native to Peoria was obviously a former pet. It was successfully rehomed. Picture shows the top half of the bird, mostly facing camera, holding a piece of apple in one claw while taking a bite.
An American Robin is standing in grass, facing left in profile, with a worm hanging from its beak. Rest of the frame is green grass and a few scattered leaves.
Rob @robcrank68.bsky.social has selected #ComeEatWithMe, birds with food in their beaks, as today's #BirdOfTheDay theme.
Bald Eagle, I hope eating an invasive Asian carp
Lila-crowned Amazon which appeared in our backyard one day
American Robin
#birds #photography #sonyalpha
Start your week with a cool story from Scientific American: New evidence from fossils, genetics, and ecology hints at why birds were the only dinosaurs to survive the end-Cretaceous mass extinction. #ornithology
This!
“Cabinet members, who owe their positions to Trump and who likely recognize they will never rise to such power again in a merit-based system, will probably not question Trump's mental acuity.” -Heather Cox Richardson
I'll hit the post limitation in characters quickly if I start naming names
BREAKING: New data shows ZERO oil tankers passed through the Strait of Hormuz today, signaling what appears to be a complete shutdown of the Strait for the first time in history.
The Strait normally carries about 20% of the world’s oil supply.
It should’ve been over when….
Virginians: VOTE YES ON TUESDAY
Dang, and I was doing so well. 😢😂
Me: Writes a book documenting in detail how #SCOTUS’s approach to emergency applications shifted in the mid-2010s, and why those shifts are problematic without regard to the results.
SI: But a 6-3 Court once vacated part of a Fifth Circuit stay in a specific Texas abortion case. So checkmate, libs!
I don't think I'll ever get over Clarence Thomas ruling on cases related to Jan 6 knowing that his wife was an active participant in the attempted coup.
Or ruling on cases related to government regulations and a wealth tax knowing he took gifts from billionaires.
It's a disgrace.
Government Workers Say They’re Getting Inundated With Religion
“This has never happened before,” one government employee tells WIRED. “I have never gotten a message like this from anyone.”
www.404media.co/thomson-reut...
If you paid even one penny in federal income taxes on your income last year, then you paid more than Tesla.
Here's why.
Dudes. As a society we taught young women to walk with keys between their fingers in dark parking lots and to carry pepper spray in their purse.
So yes. I’m asking you to be responsible for the actions of other men. After all, that’s what you’ve asked of women for centuries.
It’s your turn.
An eastern bluebird is sitting on a branch in a forest with its back to the camera and its head turned to the right. Bird is in middle distance.
Closeup of an Adélie penguin, camera looking down at it, its body facing the camera slightly to the right, head turned to its left almost totally in profile, right side of head visible. Its wings are straight out and the very lower body and feet are cut off. Rest is the frame is ice, getting brighter at the top of the frame.
A dark eyed junco is sitting in a tree, mostly in shadow. Facing to the right its head turned more to the right, almost facing the camera.
A gray headed chachalaca is perched in a tree branch, facing the camera with its head turned to its right, left side of the head visible. Blurred forest fills the background. Bird is mostly erect, with its talons gripping the branch clearly visible and its tail hanging straight down behind.
The #BirdOfTheDay theme from @alan678.bsky.social is #ABCD, let’s do this, any bird beginning any part of their name with these letters. Extra points for a set using all.
Eastern Bluebird, Adélie Penguin, Dark-eyed Junco, gray-headed Chachalaca. Guess I win. 😀
#birds #photography #sonyalpha
A male Muscovy duck is standing by a lily pad covered pond, body facing the pond, which is mostly blurred in the background top two thirds of the picture. Its head is turned to the right, right side of its head visible.
A wood duck couple is standing on a path facing to their left, right side of their bodies mostly visible. Another male wood duck is standing behind them. The path is mostly shaded where the ducks are, but is sunny in the background. At the top of the frame some rocks and plants are visible marking the edge of the path
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #DucksOutOfWater, any Duck that is out of the water but NOT FLYING, from @robcrank68.bsky.social
Male Muscovy (Boquete, Panama, not at all native) and Wood Ducks (Albuquerque, NM).
#birds #photography #sonyalpha
Wow, very cool.
noticing a theme
There is so much market manipulation going on in this administration.
The FBI guy is on a paranoid bender and won’t leave his room.
The War guy quotes bible passages from Pulp Fiction.
The Health guy collects raccoon dicks.
It’s an Idiocracy on steroids.
Over just five days, the justices had decided the issue. Even as they debated the Obama plan’s possible burden on the power industry, in the entire chain of correspondence obtained by The Times, not a single justice, conservative or liberal, mentioned the dangers of a warming planet as one of the possible harms the court should consider.
Another data point in “originalism is a fraud.” So much for the law is the law we can’t think about the impact. They rail against “results oriented judging” in public but when their corporate clients make requests they know exactly what to do. www.nytimes.com/2026/04/18/u...
Loved his music, an intelligent man.
🚢 Iran said today that the Strait of Hormuz is again closed to traffic, less than 24 hours after Trump boasted: "Iran has agreed to never close the Strait of Hormuz again."
Also, the British military just reported that a cargo vessel was attacked near the strait, damaging containers on board.
