I spotted a western bluebird on Valentine’s Day morning.
Seems appropriate.
(Spotted in a tree at a city park. As I was trying to aim my camera, it flew down and landed on top of a birdhouse nearby, making it easier to see.)
Update: This was the last photo I posted to Instagram before I stopped using the site altogether. Even at the time I cross-posted it to Pixelfed and Flickr.
The Washington Post points out that 82% of covid-19 cases identified so far are mild, basically a bad cold. Virologists are trying to determine: How many more mild cases haven’t been counted? And what factors cause some cases to be mild and others lethal?
There are several coronaviruses that already circulate globally and just cause colds. And there are several that cause more dangerous diseases like SARS and MERS. Covid-19 is new enough that we’re still trying to figure out where it is on the scale between a cold and SARS.
The Los Angeles Times brought up the H1N1 flu, which at first appeared much more deadly than other strains because it was the severe cases that were being counted. Once researchers could go back and find the mild cases, it turned out to be about the same as the typical seasonal flu. A decade since jumping to humans, H1N1 has essentially become just another seasonal flu.
Covid-19 is somewhere in between a cold and SARS, but as mentioned above, we’re still trying to figure out where.
In any case, it’s worth remembering: mild or severe, coronaviruses spread the same way as colds and the flu. Update 2023: Well, we thought it did at the time. Now we know it’s mostly shared, close airspaces. But washing your hands is still a good idea.
Wash your hands. (As Science-Based Medicine points out, a recent study suggests that hand-washing in airports is “probably the single most effective method for preventing pandemics.”)
Cough and sneeze into your elbow instead of your palm.
And if you get sick, stay home if you can.
Not just the design…but they’re off-brand POGs.
Spotted at Target last week.
(If pogs are coming back, Disney needs to do some Star Wars ones just so they can have PORG POGS)
When did they install the Guardian of Forever at this park?
I regret to report that as of last summer, there is just NO PHO KING WAY.
“Everyone lies!” “They’re all corrupt!” Even if that’s true, you still have to look at scale.
There’s a difference between drizzle, rain that you can use an umbrella for, and a hurricane.
Don’t make excuses for a hurricane because it might be raining somewhere else.
I went hiking at the marsh preserve this weekend and was astonished at just how many different types of birds I saw. Five species of ducks alone (it is winter, after all) — not just the more common mallards, but shovelers, teals, wigeons, and one I hadn’t heard of before called redheads (for obvious reasons). The usual coots, egrets and Canada geese. Red-winged blackbirds, sparrows, a heron that was standing so still I started to wonder if it was a statue, and a very patient hawk that sat in a tree completely ignoring me and my camera until I was finished and it flew off to another tree.
I also heard frogs all over the place, but couldn’t actually see any of them. I asked about them at the visitor center and apparently the pacific tree frog can be very small, about the size of a quarter, but they can still be very loud when singing in a chorus. Next time I’m there, if the frogs are still in season, I need to at least record the audio.
