#seeds in the birdbox

[birbmonster]

Could you draw a Riff or a Mammott?

The iconic one

Monke 👍

[greaseball-and-dinah]

The big diesel nodded eagerly, pointing to a few feet away where a flock of tiny, brown birds were pecking at a pile of seed scattered on the ground. “They’re called song sparrows. Cute, ain’t they?” He smiled, a genuine, happy smile, unlike the cruel ones that could be seen whenever he and his gang were terrorising Rusty. “Saw a couple of ‘em flyin’ about a few weeks ago, I’d never seen one before. Dinah told me what they were, so I chucked some food out to see if they’d show up again. And now I got a whole flock of ‘em!”

“Well, kinda. They’re still wild, they just come by to eat. But Dinah got me some birdboxes to see if we get some babies.” He gestured to several bright blue birdboxes above him on the wall. “Some of ‘em have tried to come near me, but I don’t let ‘em. I’m too big for ‘em, it’s dangerous.” He visibly flinched, remembering a particularly upsetting outcome of one of those attempts.

“I just wanna sit here and feed my birds.”

The steam engine stared at Greaseball with an immediate look of confusion. Earlier in the hour, he was sent over to the diesel’s place to usher him over to Control’s office. For some unthinkable reason, Rusty didn’t know why he was ordered by the big “boss man” to do so. Though given the two days that passed since Rusty won the championships, maybe Control planned to assign a sort of consequence against Greaseball. Right after all he instigated throughout those ever-so hunky-dory, traumatic races. 

But for now, that was a story to be referred back to again later. “Wha-?...Birds?...You have birds?”, the steamer asked.

[iestynnicely]

#tbt to the nice twitcher woman telling me, 'No, that's a turtle dove. Note the longer tail. It's not what you just said...' I'd said it was a wood pigeon, nicely silent and not making that der-derrrr-der, der-derrr-der, der-derrrr-der noise over and over for bloody hours. I also helpfully gave twitcher woman (she wasn't happy) my bird feed recipe: 1 part nuts, 1 part pumpkin seeds, 98 parts crushed Temezepam. 'That'll give the tweety fuckers Dawn Chorus!' #birdbox #birds #bird #rspb #hithe #dove #doves #birdwatching #birdfeeder #birdfeeders #birdwatchersofinstagram #twitcher #birdfeed #twitcherwrites #tbt #tbt❤️ https://www.instagram.com/p/BtAp7QjgjX7/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=3u1gl7dxgjzd

[themoreuplay]

My garden pond

 I have been retired now for six years and before that I never really thought about encouraging wildlife in the garden. Life was just too busy. We’ve had a pond in the garden since we moved in and I always thought I was doing my bit. However, when I took up photography and bird watching, I began to take more interest. As you can see above I added a few plants and reeds to give the wildlife cover. Sure enough, the wildlife increased and they began to breed .

Newts, frogs, water snails, damselflies and dragonflies.

(Click on images individually to get a better image)

Flowering reeds are are great for bees and hoverflies.

As a very amateur photographer, bird feeders are very important to me ; they provide easy access to birdlife. With bird feeders you have to experiment and persevere with both the food and feeders in oerder to attract a range of birds. In my garden in Essex, sunflower seeds are great, as are fat balls and peanuts. One seed that simply doesn’t work where I live are Niger seeds but try them.

  Fat balls and long tailed tit

Greenfinch and goldfinch mixed feed

House sparrow mixed seed

Long tailed tit and blue tit on fat balls.

Robin normally a ground feeder but has adapted

Click on images for names of birds and seed.

Along with the feeders I have added a few birdboxes, bird baths and two wooden posts to encourage woodpeckers.

Old logs make great places to perch.

When placing your feeders it’s important to have some cover for the more timid birds; I placed mine on my apple tree and some in the open as above. From the tree, birds can drop down easily and in the open some feel safer by seeing that there are no predators around.

As you can see above trees give great cover.

Many birds are ground feeders though I personally do not put food down on the ground; Instead I let ground feeders, like wood pigeons, eat up the spillage from above. If you put food on the ground you will get rodents . One or two are fine but you don’t really want a plague of rats which will upset the neighbours!

The habitat around the borders is very important for wildlife,too. Untended grassy areas, brambles and nettles give cover, shelter, and provide insects to feed upon. My garden provides no real nesting oppotunities as we have a very old cat ,who will ,through instinct try to attack fledglings that hit the ground. If I wanted to encourge nesting I would plant some thick bushes and taller trees.

I have introduced a squirrel box in the garden because they can damage the bird feeders. I got mine from “watchmy garden”and it works really well.

Watchmygarden squirrel boxes.

I don’t have many flowers but those I have attract plenty of insects and pollinators and are in action all day long. Lavender is a particular favorite as is Buddlea.The apple tree blossoms in spring and provides apples for the parakeets in summer through to early winter.Two years ago I planted rowan trees and hawthorn as they provide blackbirds with plenty of food and there is also a chance of attracting a waxwing .On one side of the garden I have no solid fence , only a living fence to let wildlife travel between gardens.I learnt about this in Costa Rica where wildlife and thriving ecosysytems are actively encouraged.

Since lockdown, the garden has become very important to me and I have discovered new animals. A fox comes every evening; also I saw my first hedgehog in twenty years!

One thing I have noticed which has become fairly common is the cutting down of trees in our neighborhood.When  the neighbour next door cut down an enormous leylandi, I lost a goldcrest and firecrest which often visited the garden – such a shame. So please don’t cut down trees and educate those who wish to do so.

Finally the new visitors to my garden, a hedgehog, a fox and a bat :

Happy days ; I will undoubtedly have missed lots of ideas so please feel free to comment.

A wildlife garden so busy during lockdown My garden pond  I have been retired now for six years and before that I never really thought about encouraging wildlife in the garden.

[beckypatterson1]

Top BEST 150 audio books (5-star audio book list) to read during covid19 home stay

After reading/listening to more than 1,000 books, here is my (growing!) list of 5-star favorites. 

I am very stingy with my ratings/stars.

If I really (really!) enjoy something, it gets 4-stars (or 4.5 stars).

  5-stars are reserved for books I love so much I think everyone should read them ;) 

I am not linking to Amazon (or other) to avoid making any money off this post--it is a public service. I get most of my books from the library (libby app or hoopla) but also buy from Chirp and audible. 

  If you need an "escape" right now from all the goings on, this post is your best friend.

Happy Reading! 

  NEED MORE RECOMMENDATIONS? 

I have hundreds and hundreds of 4-star books. Read my reviews/see my ratings on Goodreads. Currently, I average about a book every other day and I try not to read too many "popular" or "main stream" books (e.g. Reese book club) because I LOVE finding the overlooked gem and giving it love. I usually include summaries with my reviews to help you decide if you're in or out! 

  HAPPY HERBIVORE'S 5-STAR AUDIO BOOKLIST

  TOP FAVES EVERRRR

HARRY POTTER

The Sun is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon (also a movie)

Me Before You by JoJo Moyes (also a movie)

The Hate You Give (also a movie)

Comoran Strike Series by Robert Galbraith (a.k.a. JK Rowling) (also a TV series) 

Far From the Free by Robin Benway 

An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green 

Kindred by Octavia Butler 

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover 

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Reid 

You Will Not Have My Hate

A Woman is No Man by Etaf Rum 

anything by Diane Chamberlain 

Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone 

Historical Fiction 

Lady Hardcastle series by TE Kinsey 

Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline 

Erotic Stories for Punjabi Windows by Balli Jaswal 

Before We Were Yours by Lusa Wingate 

The House Girl by Tara Conklin 

The Help 

The Alice Network 

Pulp by Robin Talley 

Verity by Colleen Hoover 

The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis-Graves 

The Alice Netword by Kate Quinn 

The Nightingale 

Psychological Thriller

An Anonymous Girl

These Hidden Things

White Lies by Lucy Dawson 

The Daughter by Lucy Dawson 

Jane Doe by Victoria Stone

The Other Woman by Sandie Jones 

Then she was Gone by Lisa Jewell

The Safest Lies by Megan Miranda 

Behind Closed Doors by BA Paris 

The Couple Next Door by Shari Lapena 

Jane Doe by Victoria Stone Helen

The Waiting Room by Emily Bleeker 

The First Time She Drowned 

You & Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes (also on Netflix)

What She Knew by Gilly Macmillian 

The Handmaid’s Tale (also a show)

The Memory Watcher by Minka Kent

It’s Always the Husband by Michele Campbell 

One of Us is Lying (YA) by Karen McManus

Lies She Told by Cate Holahan 

Black Eye-d Susans 

I Let You Go by Clare McIntosh 

The Secret Child by Kerry Fisher 

The Lies We Told by Camilla Way

What She Left Behind by Ellen Marie Wiseman

The Waiting Room by Emily Bleeker 

All is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker 

I Let You Go by Mackintosh, Clare 

The Silent Patient 

Police / Investigation

Mean Streak by Sandra Brown 

The Stranger by Harlan Coben 

All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda 

All is Not Forgotten by Wendy Walker 

My Sister’s Grave by Robert Dugoni 

Love Story 

Who Do You Love by Jennifer Weiner 

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

All Your Perfects by Colleen Hoover 

Hearburn by Nora Ephron 

Leave me by Gayle Forman 

The Hatin Game by Sally Thorne 

The Rosie Project by Simsion Graeme

To All the Boys I've Loved Before/Lara Jean Series (YA) by Jenny Han 

Who Asked You? By Terry McMilan

Meet Me at the Museum

Young Adult-contemporary

Four, Three, Two, One by Courtney Stevens

Janie Johnson series (5 books)

Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver (also a movie) 

Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon 

Tell Me Three Things by Julie Buxbaum 

If I Stay & Where She Went by Gayle Foreman  

When by Victoria Laurie 

Greyhound by Piper Stephen 

The Line Between (#1) and A Single Light by Tosca Lee

Pretties (series) by Scott Westerfield 

Wayward Children (series) 

  General Fiction

If You Find Me by Emily Murdoch

What Alice Forgot (the only Liane Moriarty I liked)

Little Mercies by Heather Gudenkauf 

Everything I never Told You by Celeste Ng 

Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult 

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo 

If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo

All The Bright Places by Jenifer Niven 

What She Left Behind BY Wiseman, Ellen Mari

  Sci-Fi (lightly not heavy) or Dystopian

The Dispatcher

BirdBox (also a movie)

Landline by Rainbow Rowell 

When She Woke 

The Unremarkable Heart (short stories) Karen Slaughter 

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld (great social commentary)

Flowers for Algernon 

The One by John Marrs

  Non-Fiction

Chain of Title by David Dayen 

A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold 

The Brain Defense by Kevin Davis 

Educated by Tara Westover

Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls 

Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human by Richard Wrangham 

The New Jim Crow 

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks 

The Coddling of the American Mind 

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates

Becoming by Michelle Obama 

Resilience: Hard-Won Wisdom for Living a Better Life

The Coddling of the American Mind: How Good Intentions and Bad Ideas Are Setting Up a Generation for Failure

  Non-White/POC Books That Opened My Eyes (LBGT too)

Americanah 

The Hate You Give 

Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams 

I’m Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness 

So You Want to Talk about Race 

Between the World and Me 

Born a Crime 

American Panda 

I am not Your Perfect American Daughter 

Love, Hate and Other Filters 

Mustard Seed

Bury What We Cannot Take by Kristin Chen 

My Sister, the Serial Killer 

13 Hours by Deon Meyer 

Internment by Samira Ahmed 

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

So You Wanna Talk About Race by Ijeoma Oluo 

Ayesha at Last by Jalaluddin, Uzma 

The Convenience Store Girl

With the Fire on High by Acevedo, Elizabeth 

If I Was Your Girl by Russo, Meredith 

Pulp by Talley Robin

  Memoir or Biography

This Is Just My Face: Try Not to Stare 

A Beautiful, Terrible Thing by Jen Waite 

Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman

Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea 

Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist

Bossypants by Tina Fey

Unbearable Lightness by Portia de Rossi

Fish: A memoir of a Boy in a Man’s Prison 

This is Me: Chrissy Metz 

Forgotten: The Untold Story of D-Day Black Heroes 

A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson (also a movie) 

My Horizontal Life 

Rabbit: Autobiography of Ms. Pat

The Year of Living Danishly by Helen Russel

The Sociopath Next Door 

Becoming Nicole: The Transfromation of an American Family 

The Body Is Not an Apology: The Power of Radical Self-Love

The Year of Living Danishly: My Twelve Months Unearthing the Secrets of the World's Happiest Country

from Recipes Blog https://happyherbivore.com/2020/03/150-top-best-audio-books-cornavirus-covid19/

[lindyhunt]

Everything Coming to Netflix Canada in December

Dumplin’

A Southern feel good beauty pageant flick set is exactly what the winter season called for. Adapted from Julie Murphy’s best-selling book of the same title, Dumplin’ stars Jennifer Aniston as the pageant-obsessed mother of Dolly Parton–obsessed Willowdean, played by Patti Cake$’ breakout Danielle Macdonald. When Willodean stages a protest and enters her mother’s teen pageant, other plus-size contenders follow—to which Willodean respond,  “I’m not the Joan of Arc of fat girls.” Here’s hoping Dumplin’ sets Netflix on the road to redemption after the whole Insatiable disaster. 

Available December 7

Tidelands: Season 1

Think Twilight meets Revenge — but with mermaids. That’s not how Netflix is describing this Australian Original Series, but it seems to hit the mark. The description they’ve shared is fairly vague: “Tidelands follows Cal McTeer (Charlotte Best), a young woman who returns home to the small fishing village of Orphelin Bay after ten years in juvenile detention. But her hometown is shrouded in mysteries, the greatest of which is the commune of outcasts who live in a hidden pocket of the bay.” And obviously, the entire cast is gorgeous. It sounds like the perfect soapy supernatural drama to binge-watch over the holidays.

Available December 14

Birdbox

I had my hands cupped over my mouth for the duration of this 3-minute trailer. Which means that, as a noted hater of bone-chilling post-apocalyptic films, I probably won’t be watching this. But hey, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t! The Sandra Bullock-lead thriller mirrors of the sense-driven monster sentiment of John Krasinski’s ‘s A Quiet Place, but instead of having to keep silent, Bullock has to blindfold her small children. Here’s how Netflix describes Birdbox: “When a mysterious force decimates the world’s population, only one thing is certain: if you see it, you take your life.”

Available December 21

  And here’s the full list of everything else coming to Netflix in September:

Available December 1

Battle (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Conor McGregor: Notorious Crossroads: One Two Jaga (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Get Smart Hellboy Little Women Man vs Wild with Sunny Leone: Season 1 Mary and The Witch’s Flower Memories of the Alhambra (NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES: Streaming Every Saturday) Priest Resident Evil: Afterlife Rock Dog Unknown Yes Man

Available December 3

Hero Mask (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The Sound of Your Heart: Reboot Season 2 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 4

Blue Planet II: Season 1

Available December 5

American Pie American Pie 2 American Wedding Bruce Almighty Evan Almighty Wentworth: Season 6

Available December 6

Star: Season 3

Available December 7

5 Star Christmas (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Dogs of Berlin (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Dumplin’ (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Nailed It! Holiday! (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Pine Gap  (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) ReMastered: Who Killed Jam Master Jay? (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Super Monsters and the Wish Star (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The American Meme (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The Hook Up Plan (Plan Coeur) (NETFLIX ORIGINAL ) The Ranch: Part 6 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Trolls

Available December 11

Vir Das: Losing It (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 12

Back Street Girls: Gokudols (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Out of Many, One (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 13

Wanted: Season 3 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 14

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina: “A Midwinter’s Tale” (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Cuckoo: Season 4 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Fuller House: Season 4 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Inside the Real Narcos (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Inside the World’s Toughest Prisons: Season 3 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Prince of Peoria: A Christmas Moose Miracle (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) ROMA (NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM) Sunderland Til I Die (NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM) The Fix (NETFLIX ORIGINAL FILM) The Innocent Man (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The Protector (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Tidelands (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Travelers: Season 2 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Travelers: Season 3 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Voltron: Legendary Defender: Season 8 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 15

Dolphin Tale Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Available December 16

Paddington Springsteen on Broadway (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 18

Baki (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Ellen DeGeneres: Relatable (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Iron Man 3 Terrace House: Opening New Doors: Part 5 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 21

3Below: Tales of Arcadia  (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) 7 Days Out (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Back With the Ex (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Bad Seeds (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Bird Box (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Derry Girls (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Diablero (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Greenleaf: Season 3 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) LAST HOPE: Part 2 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Perfume (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Sirius the Jaeger (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Struggle: The Life and Lost Art of Szukalski (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Tales by Light: Season 3 (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) The Casketeers (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Wolf (BÖRÜ) (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 23

Room

Available December 24

Hi Score Girl (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 25

Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Infinity War

Available December 26

Alexa & Katie: Season 2  (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) You  (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 28

Instant Hotel (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) La noche de 12 años/em> (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Murder Mountain (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Selection Day (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) When Angels Sleep (NETFLIX ORIGINAL) Yummy Mummies (NETFLIX ORIGINAL)

Available December 29

Eating Animals

[birbmonster]

draw the first monster of three new classes we got recently (phosphoran phlox hairionette and lowb)

a little guy!

[birbmonster]

Could you draw a rare Kayna?

yep! Funny. It's the only kayna variant I haven't done.

Bonus: Whisp for a discord request (not on the official server, but the one I own... I will link if someone asks)

[birbmonster]

have you drawn fiddlement?? if so.. c.. could you..

holds out bowl like a starving orphan...

drops this into your orphan bowl and spins back into the void

[birbmonster]

Think you could draw TooToo?

I had a vision for this design I think it went well

Anatamony is jank af though (don't look at the arms too long)

[birbmonster]

Hello, I come from the MSM wiki! I won't give away who I am though, though I am Anonymous ;]

Can you tell me more about how Seasonals work in your AU? You described them as mythical creatures, does that imply they don't actually exist?

And if they are mythical, what about the Mythicals??

Some believe in different Seaonals, some don't. Sometimes, there's no evidence at all- but sometimes there are little holiday miracles that happen, that simply cannot be explained in any other way.

___

The Mythical class is certainly real. The species have their own communities mostly seperated from the rest of society. I'm working on a longer post that explores them in more depth.

[birbmonster]

could you may draw ffidyll?

*giggles and runs away*

real

Took a while because I wasn't motivated but yeah here's the clover creature!

[birbmonster]

*Spawns in* Blow’t?

Big mouthed slug pufferfish beast woaaaghhggh

[birbmonster]

Can you draw Rootitoot

I drew this while on a plane

[birbmonster]

looks at you

Tako why is this vaguely threatening

[birbmonster]

You said you were opening msm draw requests, so is it ok if I request a meebkin drawing? :0

Already done!