iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Busy wee bug hunters (kinglets doing kinglet things).

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Looking back over Woodbine Beach up close, plus familiar landmarks further along the shore like the Leuty Lighthouse (impossible to see here, zoomed out).

A wide shot of sandy beach and treetops along the shore over Lake Ontario, looking eastwards.

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Less breezy, gentle rain (barely falling). Great day for a walk, as it wasn’t busy.

Nice! The little flash of rusty tail was my clue. Harder in fall when they do t sing, barely call. At least the kinglets are noisy 😄

Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 2h

The big, wide open of Lake Ontario in the beaches. No sign of the distant shore like we see at the far western edge of the city, where the lake starts to curve southwards. Feels bigger, out here. But still familiar.

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Out at the beach, I turned west to walk along the shore beneath the dunes.

A grey day over the lake, the vast sand beach at Woodbine marked by scattered rocks and trees at the water’s edge.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 2h

Thrushes surprised me as I walked through the leafy tunnel. Hermit thrushes, I think.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 2h

Then down through Kew Gardens on my way to the beach. I love this little green glade where songbirds gather in summer, now full of kinglets and late fall warblers.

A dirt path through mixed deciduous trees leading to a green lawn at the far end. The trees are tightly packed, behind a wooden rail fence. The trees are mostly green with some fall yellows scattered around.

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Oh no 😥 That’s gross. Imagine thinking someone’s horrible behaviour gives you a blank slate to be racist 😵‍💫

I’d heard them before, at the far side of a farm field when I could barely seem them. It was March and the snow and ice meant getting to them would be tricky, but even hearing that bugling brought me to tears. Such cool creatures.

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That was me, too. Pulled over right fast, goggle eyed, on the shoulder of a dirt road surrounded by fields of rolled hay. I saw them next to a huge bale and even from afar, saw their size and gasped.

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Cool sights! Reminds me of the time I was driving back from the Collingwood area when I saw cranes for the first time ever. They’re so much bigger than herons (our big guys), which I hadn’t fully understood until that moment.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 21h

I’m east again. Yesterday, Ajax. Today, Kew Gardens. Finishing my tattoo quartet of seasons of Toronto’s migratory birds with winter.

A large metal banner in Kew Gardens Park curves behind a large curved bench. The banner is decorated with a floral pattern and bold letter text: “Kew Gardens A Place of Innocent Amusement Joseph Williams.” Behind the bench are many green trees and one small orange maple.

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Like, I mean I saw waves on my way to Ajax today. But they were well below and beyond the tracks. You know, scenic. Not terrifying.

View of Lake Ontario as seen from the train heading east just past Guildwood Station. Whitecaps roll in towards a pedestrian bridge with an arch, several people crossing it. Another person stands on a sandbar jutting out where the waves break.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 22h

I’m on my way home on the Go Train, Lakeshore West line. There’s a few places along the east line around Pickering where you get fantastic views of the lake just beyond the tracks. But this? This is wild… 😵‍💫

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Reposted by Laurel

Tyler King @tyleraking.com · 22h

What I hear every time there’s a new “rogue ai” announcement is “once more we’ve unleashed malware into the wild to see what would happen. We’re not sorry and we’ll do it again.”

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Reposted by Laurel

Deb @deblavoy.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

That’s quite an exchange.

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I hope you’re right, but I suspect these were planted. Toronto is the very edge of the Carolinian range, and any I’ve ever seen have been planted (like the pair I visited last week to enjoy the harvest). Sending seeds out tomorrow!

So, I had an idea exciting morning… No fruit (trees likely too far apart) but no doubt who I met in the park along Mimico Creek. Do you know this once-plentiful enigma? (See alt text to confirm)

Pawpaw leaves up close, large green pointed ovals fanning out with largest leaves at the end of a branch. It’s growing g in open canopy forest, green all around.

The pawpaw tree seen from another angle with trees and tall grasses growing around it.

Another pawpaw in another area of the park, similarly situated amongst well-spaced mature trees and meadow flowers.

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Ooh, good spot! I’m lazily listening by to kinglets outside my windows because I’ve a packed day, but I hope to get an hour of just birds in there somewhere.

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Bones of Black children killed in police bombing used in Ivy League anthropology course

This Canadian knows the story only because my dad was from Philly. Every piece of new information I learn about it horrifies me… shooting at a house full of children, letting the block burn (withholding firefighter help for hours), but this part is absolutely 🤯🤬 www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021...

theguardian.com

Remains of those killed in 1985 Move bombing in Philadelphia serve as ‘case study’ in Princeton-backed course

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Reposted by Laurel

Mei 🪽 @meidotwav.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

treat your body like a data center. consume as much water, art and literature as possible. upset local municipalities with your existence.

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The proof is in the purr. She stopped purring for both bad spells… and now she’s back to her happy self.

Wow… there are birds I expect us to share, like crows and certain water birds. But warblers? And in the desert?! Birds continue to amaze me.

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My cat could not be cuter. And after her painful illness, seeing her relaxed and comfy is balm for my heart.

An adorable fluffy tortoiseshell cat seen upside down on a blue bedspread. She’s curled on her side, front feet curled up and her fluffy ruff spread out around her face as she looks out the window.

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They are the cutest. All of ‘em. Red, blue-footed, all of ‘em. Gannets, too. I’m going to have to travel, I wanna go see these goofy, gorgeous birds.

Ann LeBlanc @robotleblanc.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I saw a yellow-rumped warbler today 🥰

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Reposted by Laurel

friday is for kafkaposting

tumblr post poem by kleinergeist

I don't care if Monday's stressed
Tuesday, Wednesday, Kafkaesque
Thursday, feeling like a pest
It's Friday, I'm a bug

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Yup, but once it was on the leaf, it sped up right away.

Kalliopi @kalliopi.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Reposted by Laurel

This is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen

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Oh, absolutely. For how loud they are, they are incredibly hard to spot… hence my efforts for so long. It took me months to spot the first meadow katydid, and they’re down around head height. These guys tend to hang out in treetops, so with the camouflage they’re nigh impossible to follow.

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Yup, nothing to see here. Just some nice leaves.

And THAT is award-worthy camouflage. The other ubiquitous sound of later summer is also katydid, the grasshopper-like black-legged meadow katydids who hide in plain sight on tall grass. But these greater anglewing katydids seem magical among green leaves. Bye, beautiful!

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Isn’t it gorgeous? I love their now-ubiquitous tic-tic-tic and tssst sounds we hear from August until first real frost. I was thrilled to finally see one.

I brought it in to show the class today, and kept it in a terrarium for Open House so families could see, too. We’d had a family report seeing them last week, so it was exciting to share the wonder. Afterwards, I released it in the tree outside our classroom window. Katydids are so cool.

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Uh, you guys? 😭 💚 I finally got to see my favourite noisy nighttime singer, the glorious greater anglewing katydid I’ve been looking for for years (since I first heard one some 5-6 years ago) They’re so cool! Look at those wings!

A green insect with incredible camouflage sitting on a green maple leaf amidst golden leaf litter in a terrarium.

A leaf-like green katydid on my left forefinger and thumb, blurry garden behind it.

The incredible camouflage of the leaf-mimic anglewing katydid, a huge green cricket resting on my fingers.

Another angle of the beautiful insect on my thumb, my classroom windows in the background.

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Neat, huh? If you zoom out even a tiny bit, the phone stops adding so much light. It looks like what you see with the naked eye.

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Finally, the rain came. Gentle here, then I had to close the window and hurry home as the sky opened over the park. The roads were soon covered with fast-moving water, frothing and flowing over leaf litter and curb.

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I must’ve zoomed out, because it suddenly looked as dark on the screen as it was around me. Katydids calling, thunder rolling, flashes all around the bay from east to west.

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Yup - got wilder, too. I needed the fast wipers on the way home, and could barely see for a minute or so when I pulled over in sizzling rain.

I love this spot for the view of the skyline, and it’s pretty great in winter for mink and diving ducks. But for storm watching? Magnificent. Quite the cloud formation approaching from the south.

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