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Karen

@kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy

44 followers 16 following 281 posts

Former Stockpile Stewardess. Classically trained. Loner. Rebel. Off-topic for all. 🌉 bridged from ⁂ mastodon.social/@kpdooty, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact

Posts Replies Media

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20h

@jik I got one of these to simplify what I have to carry when I go out. License always with keys. www.rei.com/product/199847/chums-su…

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23h

Tall Brother had missed the White-faced Ibis plus 4 "slash" last weekend. In a Hail Mary attempt, he went to the park downstream from the Usual Patch and miraculously found the five visiting ibises in the vast field of lilies! Kyle had also missed them over the weekend -- must have driven him […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 20/10/2026

I ran into the older Tall Brother at Ticksville today. He had just seen Grasshopper Sparrow and Lincoln Sparrow and heard a Pine Siskin, all of which I dipped. I found out that he is waiting for his clearance to come in for his first job out of college at a super-duper secret government agency […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/10/2026

Yup. ZZ Top is now in the process of getting every eBirder who had 4 Glossy Ibis on their checklist to move the entry to Glossy/White-faced Ibis ("slash") (A slash entry does not count towards the total). He included a lengthy explanation. He is also asking everyone who used the word "juvenile" […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 18/10/2026

Update: the five ibises were foraging by the boardwalk until around 1800, when they took off eastward. By sunset they appeared to have made it to a creek in the neighboring county. Throughout the day eBirders -- some of whom should have known better -- were calling the other 4 Glossy Ibis (also […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/10/2026

Kyle was adamant that it is difficult to distinguish juvenile Glossy Ibis from juvenile White-faced Ibis. This would be the time of the year when we *could* get White-faced. Birder BS emailed ZZ Top his photos (probably his wife's, as his expensive camera died while taking photos of Nelson's […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 17/10/2026

Boatmobile found 5 dark ibises late yesterday. By the time I got there they had retreated deep into the wetlands and out of view. This morning I looked at the map and decided to be at the Usual Patch by daybreak. Turned out I didn't have to worry about them […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

I'm pretty sure this one is a White-faced Ibis. They are hard to ID even on a good day! All ibises are vagrant in our region. White and Glossy flyovers are not unheard of, but White-faced may be a first! This one has red eyes and a small red patch near the base of the bill. Huntley Meadows Park, Hybla Valley, VA

This one is definitely a White-faced Ibis, and not a juvenile. The red under the wing and red legs are apparent, as is the red eye. It is a vagrant bird! Is this the same bird as the other? That I'm not sure. Huntley Meadows Park, Hybla Valley, VA

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/10/2026

All the Indigo Buntings we saw yesterday were merely uncommon, but today they are rare, requiring eBird comments. As usual, I got a blurry photo when one popped up long enough for me to question my bird ID skill. They fledged in August and it's been a while […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A blurry photo of an immature Indigo Bunting. Frying Pan Farm Park, Herndon, VA

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/10/2026

@ianlivingston.bsky.social do you have scikit-image? If I understand correctly what you are looking for, this might be worth trying (link to original paper) www.math.ucla.edu/~lvese/PAPERS/IEE…

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 16/10/2026

It's actually funny how this worked out: I was staking out for the Nelson's Sparrow when I overheard this guy telling an old guy with a gigantic camera that he saw a Connecticut Warbler. I got the location and went there, past the wetlands into the woods, and looked for a long time. All I could […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2026

I can't believe how much of that AI-generated ad about the woman whose husband left her for a woman half her age because she *looked* old then she got some Korean skincare stuff I just watched on YouTube...I think this is a different version from the one I skipped last time

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2026

I've now seen juvenile White Ibises in three different locations in our Region this year; for two of these locations I am the only one to have seen them. I wish I were this lucky with Connecticut Warblers #birding

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 15/10/2026

We had some movement last night. This morning at the meadow the only warbler was Yellow-rumped and maybe a Palm. The Connecticut Warbler ("Con Warbler", as another dipper calls it) that has been there every day up to yesterday was nowhere to be found. Birds […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

An immature White Ibis. It flew right in front of a bunch of school kids, pooping in mid-air, then stopped in a tree across the water from me. I barely snapped a photo and, while I was confirming what I just saw with Merlin, it flew away. Huntley Meadows Park, Hybla Valley, VA

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

Birder Ed called it "collective insanity". It's addictive and a bit like gambling, except it's time, not $$$ being spent. How many times have I told myself, "just until 9 am" and next thing I knew it was 11 am? But we have proof today that, in spite of favorable winds last night, the Nelson's […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

Today a bunch of birders showed up at sunrise to wait for the Nelson's Sparrow to pop up. We saw a group of photographers raising their cameras across from us, so we went there. One Sora was getting at another! "That Nelson's is probably dancing now," joked Birder Ed. Alas it happened: while we […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

Alas! I've always wondered how Twoset Violin would end youtu.be/z42ybkbKU0w?is=rN9wFGvUFl3…

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 13/10/2026

On my way down I had to cross a stream. The bridge was completely under water from yesterday's rain. I walked along the water's edge but had to balance myself at one point and may have grabbed a poison ivy vine. It's been more than 12 hours. I did wash my hands with copious hand sanitizer within […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

I also went to the Usual Patch where people were well-seeing the Nelson's Sparrow until maybe 15, 20 minutes prior? I was there for hours and it only popped up twice, the first time only I and a guy who's already seen it for many days and hours saw the flash of orange, and the second time was […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 12/10/2026

I hiked down to the bottom of the fort to see the Great Cormorant. Along the way I found out my shoes were waterproof and slipped on a wet leaf. The cormorant roost was empty. I ran into Birder BS and Boatmobile, who thankfully had a CAC and gave us a ride […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A very far away photo of a Great Cormorant on an old pier. It has dark head & neck, but a white belly, a field mark visible even from a distance. Pohick Bay Regional Park, Lorton, VA

The Great Cormorant spreads its wings. It has a hefty head & bill. Pohick Bay Regional Park, Lorton, VA

Reposted by Karen

Don Moynihan @donmoyn.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

The Omar story today and the Talarcio story yesterday are the same story of rat-fucking your opponents before an election. Except now the government does it, out in the open.

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Reposted by Karen

Nicholas Grossman @nicholasgrossman.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

Uh oh, did someone’s website and personal account experience a big drop in activity after Ukraine hit a Russian data center?

Elon Musk: “Zelensky has gone too far”

https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2109033017184338141

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 11/10/2026

It rained all day. Couldn't have chosen a better day to wake up feeling sick enough to go to Urgent Care (lol that + 💸 was all it took to feel better). Birder Ed, however, did don his rain gear and found the Nelson's Sparrow, twice. For a rare sparrow, I really would not have minded the rain! […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2026

Update: they got the Great Cormorant! The Plant Guy commented that it was not looking so great, "at the bottom of the [Double-crested Cormorant] colony and covered in 💩"! #birding

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2026

Looks like the big movement that was supposed to happen last night didn't, as if the birds know there is bad weather at the Gulf Coast! This so totally means every bird here today will still be here tomorrow. Birder Ed planned to don heavy rain gear to look for the Nelson's Sparrow in the rain […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2026

When the Tall Brothers refound the Great Cormorant across from the boat ramp at the fort, and then Kyle and ZZ Too also did at the same spot, the Plant Guy and Jeff the Mod decided to trek down. JP went with them. She's a real trooper, one of those of us who waded that flooded trail a few years […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2026

Another day of #birding and another day of dipping. We were at a club bird walk out west when we got alerts that a Nelson's Sparrow was found at the Usual Patch. Across the pond, at the Hike and Bike, the Connecticut Warbler was continuing. The Plant Guy, JP, and I drove across the county to […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 10/10/2026

@jendefer yes, juvenile double-crested cormorants are lighter in color

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

I saw that ZZ Top had gone back the next day and found two Great Black-backed Gulls. It took a few days, but after seeing the Plant Guy's photos, he decided that all of us, he included, were wrong about the Lesser. We all lose a county year bird and learned again that gulls are hard #birding

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 09/10/2026

I've been thinking about the Ceausescus a lot in the last two years. I used to know a guy who was a young Romanian soldier at that time. He said sometimes you don't know you are living in a historical moment until you look back. Also please cheeseburger do your thing.

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

I wish the little guy(s) a safe journey to wherever they are going (apparently nobody knows). I'll see them next year! #birding

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

Just this month: Connecticut Warblers: 5, me: 0 #birding

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 08/10/2026

LOL somehow I've managed to dip on the Connecticut Warbler twice today #birding

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

LOL it looks like Izzy submitted eBird checklist, and ZZ Top saw the list and went out to the parking lot late in the day (we were at Area Lake then) to see for himself. The plover was gone, but gull was still there, and he also came to the conclusion (for the same reasons) that it was the (for […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Reposted by Karen

Jacob T. Levy @jacobtlevy.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I'm not naive enough to actually believe this will happen, but Democrats could be preparing, right now, lists of impeachment charges against (at a bare minimum) Hegseth, Kennedy, Mullin, Patel, Blanche, & Trump, as well as Bondi, Bovino, & Noem (still worth doing!) that rely purely on public facts,

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

The sun was setting when we arrived at Ticksville. It was eerily quiet, save for the chips of Common Yellowthroats. Not a sparrow in sight. A pair of American Kestrels perched on top of a tall bush. Ticksville was added because Oz, who lives nearby, saw that they've mowed some paths, probably to […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Next we came down the hills and rode into Area Lake (Izzy and Jay got to stop by their house to pick up fresh battery for the camera). It was almost dinner time. Big parties were happening, families were having late-afternoon picnics. Music was blasting. We still managed to see two Cooper's Hawk […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

We wolfed down a few Costco chicken sandwiches before heading into the hills. The persistent rain had finally stopped. Izzy got her lifer of Tennessee Warbler, a showy individual! We ran into a mixed flock at the Magic Tree, including both flavors of kinglets (another sign that winter is coming) […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

Our next stop was the parking lot for the little bridge. TWO Peregrine Falcons landed on the mudflats, which explained the airborne gulls when we first arrived. An immature black-backed gull was seen pulling something out of the water. It was not an obvious ID: we picked Lesser based on the eye […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

We knew we could get sandpipers at the Usual Patch. Birder Ed was there to tell us that the rare Stilt Sandpiper was still there. Jay, a professional photographer & Izzy's husband, coming off nightshift and 2 1/2 hrs of sleep, had a great eye for field marks and was quick to take photos. We also […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 04/10/2026

We did a "Big Day" yesterday. Izzy, Jay, Oz, the Plant Guy, and me went from one end of the county to the other, starting at the Usual Patch at sunrise and finishing in Ticksville at dusk. It rained until well after lunch. No Merlin, and every ID confirmed by at least two people. We had about 10 […]

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Original post on mastodon.social

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 02/10/2026

Everyone had a Connecticut Warbler out east today! The same one ("continuing") was found having an argument ("intensely interacting", as the Guru wrote in his eBird comments) with a White-eyed Vireo (one of the sassiest birds). Not me. I didn't have the time […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

One of two Brown-headed Cowbirds on their way somewhere. Frying Pan Farm Park, Herndon, VA

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

It's probably not over yet. Just today, out east, Kyle, Boatmobile, and Birder Ed managed to find the Connecticut Warbler that the Wunderkind found and refound a few days ago. Well, I had a skulky bird with dark hood and complete eye rings preening in a low […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A Bay-breasted Warbler whose identity I was able to ascertain (black feet!) before seeing the skulky bird. Frying Pan Farm Park, Herndon, VA

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

Alas, it's game over! Warbler season basically ends when Palm Warbler shows up, and there were three on the compost pile, wagging their little tails, when I surprised them #birding

The back side of a Palm Warbler (likely Western). Frying Pan Farm Park, Herndon, VA

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 01/10/2026

😕

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 30/09/2026

@emptywheel.bsky.social I was in high-performance computing for a good part of my career. Supercomputing conferences were very much sausage fests in my days. I hope they are different now #hpc

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 29/09/2026

Today I previewed the bird walk I'll be leading next week. The hot spot is more miss than hit, except Tall Brother had an exceptional warbler day there yesterday. I don't think I made it to the spot where he found a Blue-winged Warbler (now rare, require […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

A fall Blackpoll Warbler. The orange feet set it apart from the fall Bay-breasted Warbler, which looks very similar but has black feet. Laurel Hill Equestrian Center, Lorton, VA

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 28/09/2026

I have yet to see an American Golden Plover. It's shown up at the little bridge a few times this year, but almost always during weekday afternoon commute or, like yesterday, when I was in the middle of something. I suppose I could be there for low tide tomorrow and still make it to the orchestra […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

Kyle had a Golden Plover AND a White-rumped Sandpiper. The Guru saw the sandpiper being spooked by a raptor from the parking lot but dipped on the plover. Alas, the only shorebirds today were a few yellowlegs, both Greater and Lesser, and a Spotted Sandpiper. The Guru told the Tall Brother […]

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Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 27/09/2026

Nothing likes the American Golden Plover to bring people to the little bridge. We were at the tail end of the nor'easter. It was gray and misty with gusty winds. At low tide, a Tall Brother, the Plant Guy, and Oz showed up with their scopes, followed by ZZ […] [Original post on mastodon.social]

We had a lot of gulls, mostly Ring-billed, and a few Laughing Gulls that were scrunched up in the cold wind. Hunting Creek Bridge, near Alexandria, VA

Karen @kpdooty.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy · 23/09/2026

Gravy the Cat is running out of prednistab*, so I took him in to see his primary vet. Gravy has put on some weight, has gingivitis and maybe high blood pressure, but his heart rate was normal. The vet gave him his rabies and feline distemperment shots, along with 100 days worth of pred […]

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