Joyce Feral Oates 🏳️⚧️
@marthaharbison.northsky.social
That person at the party who won't shut up about birds. They/them. NYC.
https://femalebirdday.wordpress.com/
https://www.feministbirdclub.org
https://femalebirdday.wordpress.com/
https://www.feministbirdclub.org
Pinned
Digging around in the couch cushions looking for some patience to deal with people today and it is not looking good for you finches.
The thrill of a canceled meeting
September 16, 2026 at 5:04 PM
The thrill of a canceled meeting
I had my first appt with a new doctor yesterday and it turns out we somehow know each other but neither of us can figure out how. Now I'm paranoid that past me was an awkward freak and also how the fuck did I manage to randomly meet one of the only trans-competent gynecologists in New York City?
September 15, 2026 at 11:47 AM
I had my first appt with a new doctor yesterday and it turns out we somehow know each other but neither of us can figure out how. Now I'm paranoid that past me was an awkward freak and also how the fuck did I manage to randomly meet one of the only trans-competent gynecologists in New York City?
Another day, another doctor waiting room.
September 14, 2026 at 6:30 PM
Another day, another doctor waiting room.
I need to finish up a line edit of a feature story. Let us see if I can make my brain coöperate.
September 14, 2026 at 2:08 PM
I need to finish up a line edit of a feature story. Let us see if I can make my brain coöperate.
We are *so* back! Went to a resurrected Saint Vitus; Immolation absolutely crushed it; I got pummeled by the pit and had the breath knocked out of me with a comically loud OOOF. Anyway, proof that death metal will heal all that ails you, because I feel fucking GREAT.
September 13, 2026 at 2:17 PM
We are *so* back! Went to a resurrected Saint Vitus; Immolation absolutely crushed it; I got pummeled by the pit and had the breath knocked out of me with a comically loud OOOF. Anyway, proof that death metal will heal all that ails you, because I feel fucking GREAT.
this is great but the cat needs to be shoving R off the countertop to show it who is boss.
September 11, 2026 at 1:57 PM
this is great but the cat needs to be shoving R off the countertop to show it who is boss.
Filling out an application requesting access to a museum collection and stymied by the "affiliation" field. My options are to use my day job (very recognizable) or the project with the groan-worthy pun in the title.
September 11, 2026 at 11:52 AM
Filling out an application requesting access to a museum collection and stymied by the "affiliation" field. My options are to use my day job (very recognizable) or the project with the groan-worthy pun in the title.
And they've been like this all along. I met some of the dumbest, least curious or interesting people in my life in SV/Bay Area in the 90s.
I am sympathetic to Silicon Valley guys ascribing human-level consciousness to AI because if I had to talk to people from Silicon Valley all day I’d probably have a real low bar for sentience too
September 8, 2026 at 2:59 PM
And they've been like this all along. I met some of the dumbest, least curious or interesting people in my life in SV/Bay Area in the 90s.
man, birds do such surprising shit sometimes.
Hooded Warbler showing off her white tail spots, which she uses in a flush-pursuit strategy to capture prey. Ron Mumme found that experimentally darkening the spots reduced foraging ability (Figure from Mumme 2023 Proc B).
September 7, 2026 at 1:22 PM
man, birds do such surprising shit sometimes.
I've become That Person that terrorizes random birders at the hotspot with too much bird information. Sorry, random couple from upstate New York. I'm thrilled we found you your lifer Clapper Rail but I am sorry that I also explained too much about peep identification and how to sex American Avocet.
September 6, 2026 at 11:41 PM
I've become That Person that terrorizes random birders at the hotspot with too much bird information. Sorry, random couple from upstate New York. I'm thrilled we found you your lifer Clapper Rail but I am sorry that I also explained too much about peep identification and how to sex American Avocet.
Love to see my medical care provider, including transgender healthcare, being giant pieces of shit at a time when switching doctors is absolutely beyond me. Also love that when I search for transgender medicine in the same system as my oncologist, the highest hit is the fucking psychiatry portal.
September 4, 2026 at 8:01 PM
Love to see my medical care provider, including transgender healthcare, being giant pieces of shit at a time when switching doctors is absolutely beyond me. Also love that when I search for transgender medicine in the same system as my oncologist, the highest hit is the fucking psychiatry portal.
The only computer worth keeping is my Zojirushi rice cooker. The rest: Into the pit!
An easy way to migrate away from 1Password is to delete every account and throw all your computers in a deep hole in the earth. 🌈⭐️
September 3, 2026 at 7:00 PM
The only computer worth keeping is my Zojirushi rice cooker. The rest: Into the pit!
the discourse is, as always, terrible. I recommend that you spend some time with a stream restoration project instead. Much better for the cortisol levels/soul.
There's a sizeable stream restoration project that Im doing a little hydrology for. They're finishing up the large wood installations today, and we've been getting a bunch of storms. I just want to go play in the water and abandon my teaching responsibilities!
September 3, 2026 at 1:43 PM
the discourse is, as always, terrible. I recommend that you spend some time with a stream restoration project instead. Much better for the cortisol levels/soul.
give me the owl bazooka you cowards
Don't cross me or I'll blast you with my owl bazooka
September 2, 2026 at 8:42 PM
give me the owl bazooka you cowards
I learned this lesson the hard way. It caused me immense grief and put incredible strain on my cis colleagues and our working relationship. (My colleagues staunchly supported me throughout.) I deserved better. My colleagues deserved better. The story deserved better. The birds deserved better.
I have TALES of the BBC's shittiness in this regard from trans friends, to which I have been sworn to secrecy (and also it's not my story to tell, but suffice it to say it's worse than you probably think)
Do not speak to the BBC if you are trans. Just don't do it. Tell them to go fuck themselves.
Even if you know the reporter and they are not an ass, tell them to go fuck themselves anyway because they work for the BBC and their editors will do this regardless of the journalist's intent.
Even if you know the reporter and they are not an ass, tell them to go fuck themselves anyway because they work for the BBC and their editors will do this regardless of the journalist's intent.
September 2, 2026 at 6:05 PM
I learned this lesson the hard way. It caused me immense grief and put incredible strain on my cis colleagues and our working relationship. (My colleagues staunchly supported me throughout.) I deserved better. My colleagues deserved better. The story deserved better. The birds deserved better.
Wasn't expecting to get bodied by @judedoyle.bsky.social at 7am on a Saturday but 2026 has been that kind of year.
August 29, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Wasn't expecting to get bodied by @judedoyle.bsky.social at 7am on a Saturday but 2026 has been that kind of year.
Reposted by Joyce Feral Oates 🏳️⚧️
This is just Lake Erie
"Lake America" instantly just absolutely clogged with algae. Six uniformed National Guard guys standing on a beach dumping windex into it. It smells like a turtle tank.
August 27, 2026 at 10:30 PM
This is just Lake Erie
We also talked about......uh......OK we talked a lot about poop.
Friends of the podcast Martha Harbison, Frank Izaguirre, and Ryan Mandelbum join host Nate Swick to talk about urban bird behavior, the lifespans of female birds, and a whole lot about bird poop. Seriously. More than we expected.
Listen here: www.aba.org/this-month-i...
Listen here: www.aba.org/this-month-i...
This Month in Birding - August 2026 - American Birding Association
www.aba.org
August 27, 2026 at 6:19 PM
We also talked about......uh......OK we talked a lot about poop.
You know how little kids will do something mildly wrong and scare themselves, then run to you for hugs because they need the reassurance? The Snack Falcon just did that and I can't stop laughing. (This is the cat who generally does not like a lot of contact.)
August 27, 2026 at 12:42 PM
You know how little kids will do something mildly wrong and scare themselves, then run to you for hugs because they need the reassurance? The Snack Falcon just did that and I can't stop laughing. (This is the cat who generally does not like a lot of contact.)
There is nothing more pathetic and irritating than a bunch of people, mostly men, declaring that they'd definitely intervene in regular-degular street harassment with violence. That is how you know that they've never done an uncomfortable but helpful thing in their entire fucking lives.
August 26, 2026 at 1:58 PM
There is nothing more pathetic and irritating than a bunch of people, mostly men, declaring that they'd definitely intervene in regular-degular street harassment with violence. That is how you know that they've never done an uncomfortable but helpful thing in their entire fucking lives.
I must have finally cracked some kind of code because I see various folks muttering dark things about discourse and I have seen literally none of it. My entire timeline is people talking about Dolly and her support of queer/trans people.
August 26, 2026 at 1:06 AM
I must have finally cracked some kind of code because I see various folks muttering dark things about discourse and I have seen literally none of it. My entire timeline is people talking about Dolly and her support of queer/trans people.
Reposted by Joyce Feral Oates 🏳️⚧️
There is something so frustrating about watching basically every staff sports writer completely mangle this story about transphobia in the WNBA, while so many trans journalists who would do a great job (and who have been pitching stories about this!) are struggling to get hired and make ends meet.
August 24, 2026 at 5:33 PM
There is something so frustrating about watching basically every staff sports writer completely mangle this story about transphobia in the WNBA, while so many trans journalists who would do a great job (and who have been pitching stories about this!) are struggling to get hired and make ends meet.
We're staying in a hotel with a champagne vending machine.
August 24, 2026 at 12:22 AM
We're staying in a hotel with a champagne vending machine.
I just bought a perfume that smells like ink.
August 21, 2026 at 8:58 PM
I just bought a perfume that smells like ink.
I was about to get into a "won't come back from this" fight at work, but then this showed up on my timeline and I am calm enough to stay employed for another day.
sometimes I get to have fun at work www.theverge.com/entertainmen...
August 20, 2026 at 2:07 PM
I was about to get into a "won't come back from this" fight at work, but then this showed up on my timeline and I am calm enough to stay employed for another day.