iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

i use ai identification tools like merlin and inaturalist extensively in my naturalist practice, but i feel pretty strongly about there being a proper way to use them to get the best results. read more: ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/how-to-use...

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dave @gloomfather.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

yeah man "woke 1" sucked ass. I "woke 1" morning from uneasy dreams to find myself transformed into a giant insect

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Jacob Kramer-Duffield @jaykaydee.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

These are some very cool folks on a great retreat, where you will also get to see amazing birds. Do it if you can!

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

Join me in Colombia for @jerthorp.bsky.social's Living in Data Retreats!! 5 days in the jungle with a group of curious people, exploring and making collaborative art. It'll be incredible!!! Week 1 is Jer + @birdturntable.bsky.social Week 2 is Jer + me www.jerthorp.me/lid-retreat-...

jerthorp.me

Living in Data Rainforest Retreat: 2026

Spend five days in the lush and bird-filled jungle of Santa Marta, Colombia with Jer Thorp and a small group of curious bird + data + art enthusiasts. We'll wander the forest with local guides, learn ...

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Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

2. There's still time to join me in Colombia for my Living in Data Retreats. 5 days in the jungle with a group of curious people, exploring and making collaborative art. Week 1 is co-facilitated with @birdturntable.bsky.social Week 2 is with @ryanfm.bsky.social www.jerthorp.me/lid-retreat-...

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Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

This is such a cool story from @ryanfm.bsky.social about stumbling upon (paddling upon?) one of North America's rarest birds. It's a good reminder that there's more to birding than just going to the hotspots. ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/these-plov...

ryanmandelbirder.substack.com

these plovers could be my most significant bird find yet

bois blanc island delivers once again

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

last month i found two undocumented breeding pairs of piping plovers in michigan, increasing the known population of the great lakes piping plover by 2%! my latest newsletter post is about that plus the species' precarious future. ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/these-plov...

ryanmandelbirder.substack.com

these plovers could be my most significant bird find yet

bois blanc island delivers once again

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Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Birds, data, art... and quantum computing? Here's @ryanfm.bsky.social, co-facilitator of the second cohort of my Living in Data retreats in September, talking about quantum computing. At last year's retreat they gave a lecture on quantum... then went and found two roosting baby spectacled owls!

youtube.com

A decade of quantum on the cloud

YouTube video by IBM Research

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Eric R. Eaton @bugeric.bsky.social · 04/07/2026

A wonderful interview I had with @ryanfm.bsky.social has borne fruit in this article in the new issue of Audubon magazine. He is a wonderful human being, who has a Substack called “Wild NYC.” #bugsky #bugwatching #article #Audubon

Cover of Audubon magazine, summer 2026 issue, featuring a photo of an Osprey flying off with a fish in its talons.

A page in the summer, 2026 issue of Audubon magazine, with an article titled “Bugwatching is the New Birding,” with a sidebar on how to “Build a Bug Hotel.”

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Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

- There will be tiny monkeys - We'll have an amazing local guide with us the whole time - Week 1 is co-facilitated with @birdturntable.bsky.social - Week 2 is co-facilitated with @ryanfm.bsky.social - I'm super happy to answer questions!

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

hello are you interested in reading a blog about current events? if yes then consider reading my post about... why people go birdwatching at landfills ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/why-would-...

ryanmandelbirder.substack.com

why would someone go birdwatching at a landfill?

a visit to ushuaia's infamous dump

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 07/05/2026

knowing that the first cruise ship hantavirus victims were nature people, i would not be surprised if what actually happened was that they encountered a rodent they'd never seen before and picked it up. they may have even been actively seeking out some specific rodent species!

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 27/04/2026

hello bluesky do you want to know how to find birds? if so then you should read my post about how to find birds ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/how-to-fin...

ryanmandelbirder.substack.com

how to find birds: a subjective guide

based solely on experience

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American Birding Association @aba.org · 26/03/2026

New podcast episode! This month's panel is an exceptional one to end a month with. Host Nate Swick is joined by Stephanie Beilke, Andres Jimenez, and Ryan Mandelbaum for a fun and birdy conversation. Listen here: www.aba.org/this-month-i...

aba.org

This Month in Birding - March 2026 - American Birding Association

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

new post: an interview with aaron soh, who has a passion not for finding things himself, but helping other people figure out what they’re looking at. he's uncovered several species photographed for the first time since their scientific description. ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/documentin...

ryanmandelbirder.substack.com

documenting the world's rarest butterflies from an office chair

a q+a with prolific inaturalist user and butterfly expert aaron soh

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 25/02/2026

eurasian goshawks are so much less serious than american goshawks. like... chasing a snipe around the marsh?? get real

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

everything about bad bunny's halftime show was perfect except for the set which gave me flashbacks of failing to see yellow-breasted crake in identical-looking habitat on my last visit to puerto rico

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pixelatedboat aka “mr bluesky” @pixelatedboat.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

I’d love to be able to enjoy the Muppets as much as everyone else does but whenever I watch them I just feel sick imagining what the man inside the Kermit the Frog costume must look like

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

i defiantly used this slide at a presentation given last night to a zoom call full of retired people, meant to explain why red crossbills are my favorite bird. i don't care if you've never encountered the most esoteric character from the homestar runner webtoon universe. this is millennial culture

a powerpoint slide titled "introducing: the red crossbill" with two images: on the left a wide character with a simply-drawn white head, two tiny beady eyes, a strong underbite, and a yellow bowler cap wearing a blue shirt that says "homsar" in the bauhaus font. on the right is a red crossbill, a small brick-red finch with beak-tips that cross over one another.

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Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Daily reminder that you can make personalized messages with feathers and bird names over at feathertype.binstobins.com. You download hi-res images and video, and even order prints!

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

scrolling though the iphone ringtones and realized that one of them is in 7/8 time which isn't that weird i guess but i like to think the composer was having a little fun with it

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

it's here, the moment you've all been waiting for: the microsnail blog! dive into a journey of discovery, drama, loss, and hope as you learn about... the tiny fen snails of lake huron ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/that-time-...

ryanmandelbirder.substack.com

that time we rediscovered endangered snails for fun

you're welcome, michigan

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

i am unreasonably mad about the "goth heron." if you didn't see, a heron in louisiana went quasi-viral because it was all black. it was pretty clear that that the bird was covered in something, with yellow knees peeking through its black legs and greasy-looking clumped neck feathers.

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Chris Hayes @chrislhayes.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

I think my least favorite quality in a person, one that is so often praised as an asset or virtue, is: "doesn't take no for an answer." We're living through an extended nightmare of what that looks like when brought to its logical conclusion.

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BillBowBaggins @billbowbaggins.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

I had so much fun talking to @ryanfm.bsky.social about their book and birds and much more on my latest podcast episode. Give it a listen and don't forget to buy a copy of Wild NYC! Pod 🎧 billbowbaggins.substack.com/p/ten-birdin... Book 📕 bookshop.org/p/books/wild...

billbowbaggins.substack.com

Ten Birding Questions, with Ryan Mandelbaum

The Birding with BillBow Podcast, Episode 7

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Marie Cerda @primalux.thedeadbird.club · 25/11/2025

One of my favorite things about working on Alcatraz was watching the resident raven pair "teach" their kids to fly. It always included a session on barrel rolls. It was even more special bc the mgmt plan incl oiling their eggs to make them unviable & the ravens knew & would always lay another clutch

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

sitting at lunch in midtown manhattan and just watched a raven do a barrel roll, presumably for no reason

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Robert Francis @birdhistory.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Some personal news: I’m writing a book! I’ve signed with Holt to write a full-length history of birds and people in America. Birds have always been central to our economy, divisions, culture, and identity. If you want to understand America, you‘ve got to understand its birds.

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Nnedi Okorafor, PhD @nnedi.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Earlier today, I was notified that someone was at my door. This is who it was:

A male Anna’s hummingbird at the door. So nosy! 🤣

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 20/11/2025

send this post to your friends who love cocks open.substack.com/pub/ryanmand...

open.substack.com

potatoes have descended on new york city

peent

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Jer Thorp @jerthorp.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

If you’re thinking to yourself “How can I get more 🐦 on my 🎄 this year” I have some good news. You can use this little tool to design a feathery ❄️ from 🐦 data and make a one of a kind ornament. ofafeather.binstobins.com

Christmas ornament with colorful feathere

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

also sprach zara-thrush-tra

a spherical hermit thursh - a brown bird with a white front and speckled belly, looking directly at the camera on a distant branch, backlit

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

somehow stumbled into the fact that suntory (the japanese whisky company) runs an online encyclopedia about the birds of japan www.suntory.co.jp/eco/birds/en...

suntory.co.jp

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

for me the vomit-like smell of ginkgo fruit is the nostalgic smell of fall, much in the way that rotting garbage and piss is the somewhat less nostalgic smell of summer

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 28/10/2025

i was so lucky that i got to chase this common cuckoo - only the second ever in the lower 48 - in ny state last week. having never seen a eurasian or african cuckoo species before, i couldn't believe how big and conspicuous it was—cuckoos are mostly shy and hard-to-see in the western hemisphere.

a gray hawk like bird with thin stripes on its tail and back and white flecking on its face but with a thin slightly downcurved beak flying to the left with wings spread against a field with wooden posts.

the same bird perched on the string connecting wooden fenceposts in a weedy field, wings held back to balance, looking right.

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

it is objectively true that there are no good billionaires. but it's also true that if *i* ended up with a billion dollars, i would be a very good billionaire

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 18/10/2025

up at 4:00am stewing because one time twelve years ago an entire room full of midwesterners laughed at me, a new yorker, for pronouncing drawer "drawa"

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Jen Cross @jencross.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

Here is an ant-mimicking spider from the Amazon rainforest. I was heading down a trail back to our boat and saw it and got a few shots. It's one of 3 observations of the species on @inaturalist.bsky.social (Myrmecium deladanta) Cuyabeno Reserve, Ecuador 2022 #Arachtober

A dark brown spider that looks exactly like an ant, but it has eight legs. It is viewed from above and is standing on a leaf.

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

very big little guy behavior in orlando last week watching this purple gallinule pulling a lily pad over and folding it over to get better footing and feed on the flower underneath

youtube.com

purple gallinule, orlando wetlands

YouTube video by Ryan Mandelbaum

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Hannah Miller @hannahem.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

I'm 100% with Ryan on this (and not just because I was on the same trip)!! Anthropomorphizing can of course go too far, but I've seen over and over again in my outreach work that a little bit can really help people connect to nature more!

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 14/10/2025

maybe a little different from my usual newsletter posts. but also, we should talk to animals more. ryanmandelbirder.substack.com/p/we-should-...

ryanmandelbirder.substack.com

we should talk to animals more

an essay on what i really mean when i call them "little guys"

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

had a work trip to orlando so i went a few days early to see what all the fuss was about. i had an amazing time and figured i'd share the full trip report here! ebird.org/tripreport/4...

ebird.org

Florida! - eBird Trip Report

04 Oct, 2025 – 09 Oct, 2025. Created by Ryan Mandelbaum

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 12/10/2025

something i loved about florida was realizing it's as if someone tried to recreate the tropics using north american flora and fauna. i loved seeing epiphyte-covered red maples in tropical hammocks, or pileated woodpeckers flying between grassland palms like crimson-crested woodpeckers on the llanos

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

i knew that the birdwatching was good in florida but i wasn't ready for just how many and how present the birds would be - birds that i expected to be in pristine habitat would just be in parking lots, street trees, roadside ditches, and vacant lots 🦉

a yellow throated warbler, a small black and gray and white bird with a yellow throat, in a live oak. i photographed this bird in a parking lot.

a snail kite, a slate gray raptor with an orange beak and orange feet, sitting in a young baldcypress. this bird was in a city park.

a florida scrub jay - a blue jay sized and shaped bird but without the crest, atop a tree. this bird was in a reserve behind a library.

a roseate spoonbill - a bright pink wading bird with a long flat spoon shaped beak, across a water feature in a mowed lawn. this bird was in a suburban housing development.

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ryan @ryanfm.bsky.social · 09/10/2025

it is actually bonkers that florida is called the sunshine state, i have never been to a rainier place in my life

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