):

Enjoy the Schwarzy.

Amsel ♂️ (blackbird) in Stuttgart-West.

Blackish Cinclodes (Cinclodes antarcticus)

© Paulo Krieser

IT’S A BITTERN APPRECIATION POST

Sources & Species in order below!

Fun with Bittern by Richard Pittam   - Eurasian Bittern (Botaurus stellaris)

Face to face with a juvenile Least Bittern by ChristinaAnne.M   - Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis)

American Bittern by Flora to Fauna    - American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)

Cinnamon bittern by Shafaet Alam Abir   - Cinnamon Bittern (Ixobrychus cinnamomeus)

Heads or Tails? by Peter Brannon   - Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis)

American Bittern juvenile by Michael W Potter    - American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)

American bittern a bit threatened by white egret by Pamela Viale   - American Bittern (Botaurus lentiginosus)

Could you please share the recipe for the soup you made with the bug noodles? That looks amazing and I want it in my tummy.

Sure!

The ingredients always include onions, garlic, and carrots. Usually potatoes too. It depends on what I have in the fridge, but it can also include celery, parsnip, grated turnip, cabbage, green beans, mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli, or zucchini.

I suppose corn would also be soup compatible, or perhaps bell pepper, though I can't recall ever putting those things in this kind of soup. All vegetables are friends when you boil them up together so it's probably hard to go wrong here.

I can't really give specific amounts because it will depend on the size of your pot, and I don't measure soup ingredients.

I chop up my vegetables and garlic and put them in a big pot with a little olive oil, and cook them on medium heat until the onions have gone clear and things are starting to look a tiny bit brownish on the edges. Or maybe not quite that long if there's a lot of stuff in the pot and it's taking a while and I'm feeling impatient.

Then I add water, or perhaps meat or vegetable stock, just until they're covered, leaving some room for the tomatoes. Sometimes when I boil parsnips and carrots together in the same pot (which is very good and better than having either vegetable individually) I save the water to use for soup because it's so dang flavourful and sweet.

At this point the salt and pepper also go in, and some Herbes de Provence, or something similar. I'm currently out of the blended H de P so for this soup I think I added thyme, basil, parsley, and dried chives. Might have put some ground coriander seed too?

The little noodles also go in now, or sometimes I do barley, or sometimes neither. I got these bug shaped noodles at the Bulk Barn, but that's only in Canada so I have no idea where people in other countries should look for bug noodles.

Then I bring it to a boil, and after it has boiled I turn it down and add a can of diced tomatoes and let it simmer for a while. If it has noodles or barley or something like that then it simmers until they're cooked.

Very shortly before it's done simmering I add some frozen peas, because they really don't need boiling, just to be heated up. If they boil then the colour and texture won't be as nice.

Then I eat soup for 2 or 3 days and it's nice! I like to have it with some buttered bread or rolls.

Usually I end up with so much vegetable stuff in the pot that there isn't much room for liquid, but that's ok, I like it when there's lots of soup in my soup.

I wish you a very good soup!

I bet Jar Jar is fucking hung like a whale. God he can raw me anyday.

I spent like two? Three? Entire weeks with this sitting in my askbox and I just. I got nothing. What could I possibly answer? I tried all the “nope” gifs in this god forsaken website, I tried to draw what my face looks like every time I read this, I tried to find fanart of jar jar with his wang out and the universe was kind enough to me so that I couldn’t find any. I got nothing. Nada. Abso-fucking-lutely nothing. What am I gonna say? What in god’s name am I gonna say to that?!

You see, I wanna fuck general grievous. I do. I want him use all his four arms to simultaneously pull both my arms back and touch my tits as he fucks me with his mecha-schlong. I do. I wanna fuck darth Maul, pre-legs cut off or post metal legs+metal dick enhancement. I wanna lick those horns. Okay? I wanna fuck darth vader. Boy, oh, boy, I do. I wanna hear that hard breathing and wrap my legs over that dramatic cape while he force-chokes me and we do the do. Am I a weird robot-fucker? You bet your ass I am! Am I a tad too much on the horny side? Probably. Did I extrapolate my right to be horny on main? Fucking sue me. But this. THIS.

How do you want me to face my family and all the three (3) friends I have irl? How do you want me to walk into an elevator with a bunch of strangers and when an old lady says “the weather has been a little hot lately, isn’t it weird?” just to do small talk like every fucking old people I don’t know do, how do you expect me not to answer her with “y’know what’s weirder, someone at this very moment is thinking about Jar Jar Binks going balls-deep in them and I cannot talk about this to anyone and the knowledge of this? it’s eating me alive. ALIVE, ma’am, and I don’t mean this as some sick vore reference. Someone’s dreaming of those popped-up eyes, of that weird high-pitched voice screaming MEESA COMING while they’re filled up by Jar Jar Bink’s thick seed, and I’m just standing here while this very notion rots me to the core, taking all life away from me. It’s a nightmare. My entire life, a nightmare, because of an anon message from a horny jar jar fucker on tumblr. This is my floor now, ma’am, have a good day”

I leave the elevator. I probably have an appointment, but I can’t remember where, or what for. I sit down on the floor by the elevator doors. I sob for a full minute. I take the elevator back downstairs, I walk home, I collapse in bed and rub one out thinking of darth vader. I feel better.

Five minutes later, I think about this ask again, and my whole world collapses again. It’s only Tuesday. I sigh heavily and sit down to write this reply.-

Edit: a lot of this is exaggeration. Some of it is true. You get to pick what exactly.

Is there a bird out there that looks remotely SciFi 🤔 there's gotta be one fella out there with some pattern on them...

So I think you probably want a very futuristic spacey bird, but I'd also like to add some fellas that could easily wander on and about on some alien world and totally fit in Let’s do a list thingy! Four sci-fi birds, whether it’s because they look alien, like a spacecraft or just generally fit the vibe!

1. The Black heron

The black heron, is a member of the Ardeidae occurring in Africa, well known for its peculiar feeding habit, which professionally is referred to as “canopy feeding”. When it does that it uses its wings like an umbrella, creating shade and in turn attracting fish and other prey items. More importantly, its metallic plumage makes it look like a funky UFO.

2. The Andean cock-of-the-rock

First of all here’s what some journalist has to say on these birds (ʰᶦⁿᵗ: ᵗʰᵉʸ’ʳᵉ ʳᶦᵍʰᵗ)

Now, there’s so much to say about cocks-of-the-rock; why they’re called that, why they sound so weird, whatever is going on with their head? Let’s only focus only the latter for this one. First of all, Andean cocks-of-the-rock are sexually dimorphic and while females still look weird,  it’s much less extreme on them than it is with males. The thing on their head is a crest, much like that of a tufted titmouse or Eurasian hoopoe, just that it’s shaped like a disk. Overall they’re just fantastic aliens.

3. Any Hornbill

The “horn” on the huge beak of a hornbill, called a casque (not to be confused with the cacique) is there to add strength and/or counterweight to the bills (which is needed, or at the very least helpful when chiselling in bark or hard soil), sometimes also acting as sound chambers to augment vocalisations. Also, considering that casques are usually larger on males than they are on females, and that they can take several years to reach full size, they may be a sign of sexual maturity or status. This - in addition to the many colours a hornbill can have and the wattle makes earth look quite ✨extra-terrestrial✨ (ʸᵉˢ ᴵ ᵏⁿᵒʷ ᵗʰᵃᵗ ᶦˢ ᶜᵒⁿᵗʳᵃᵈᶦᶜᵗᵒʳʸ).

4. The Metallic starling

The metallic starling is an Australasian bird that from a far may seem like just another black bird, however given the right angle and light they show a stunning array of purple and green iridescence. Another very notable feature are their brilliant black eyes. Definitively very spacey, 10/10 birds, would take over a planet if they’d were to try.

Also you asked for patterns! I didn’t include them but perhaps, golden pheasants, sunbitterns or wilson's bird-of-paradise could be of interest to you!

Photo credits: ATLAS1GP, ryanacandee, Bernard DUPONT, Leon Molenaar, TOONMAN_blchin, Jim Boud, cuatrok77, Art G.

Sources: Audubon Society - Watch a Black Heron Fool Fish by Turning Into an Umbrella, Wikipedia The Free Encyclopaedia - Andean cock-of-the-rock, Birdwatching: Your source of becoming a better birder - Julie Craves explains the purpose of hornbills’ huge bills, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance Animals & Plants - Metallic Starling

Kentish plover (Charadrius alexandrinus), Fabio Montes

Boat-tailed grackle, female … West Palm Beach, Florida … 7/17/21

We just caught our second ever real life image of a black hole and this one is in our own galactic neighborhood and the internet isn't memeing it into oblivion or even talking about it. Tragic, truly. Sad, even.

They're in love y'know. Not that you care

Full Video: Riekko mukana hiihtoreissulla, Tolkuton Willow ptarmigan included in ski trip