20 Comments

Always wondered about the history of the Grackles, a bird I’d never encountered before moving to Austin. - As always thanks for the education.

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Thanks, Alan!

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Feb 25Liked by Christopher Brown

Good luck with the lawsuit! Exciting news to see SOS and PODER working together!

Also thanks for link to the ungolfing the golf couses NYT article! Good stuff!

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Thanks, Lee!

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Mar 7Liked by Christopher Brown

Hey Christopher, this poem-of-the-day poem made me think of you. I think it's pretty fabulous. I mean, the title alone sounds like something from one of your posts. https://poets.org/poem/after-bob-across-street-fires-his-gun-tree-scare-raccoon-while-my-son-and-i-walk-rachel-shows?mc_cid=d9efd14398&mc_eid=4b93dc7c7d

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What an amazing poem, Jesse. Thank you!

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Mar 8Liked by Christopher Brown

Glad you like it, Chris. Thanks for all the great items you have directed to my attention. Your grackle post, filled with valuable knowledge as usual, inspired me to repost a series of my past Grackles-rule-Austin paintings for #ThrowBackThursday.

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Your grackle paintings absolutely rule! So do all those amazing B&W photos of you from 80s shows I have been seeing in the feed. And now I find myself threading connections between young punks, grackle struts, and springtime in Tenochtitlan.

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Mar 8Liked by Christopher Brown

Thanks a lot, Chris! Those connections are strong, absolutely!

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Mar 3Liked by Christopher Brown

Here in the U.K. sparrows have become rarer and we adore seeing them when they visit our garden. Strange to hear how unpopular over there! But what clever things they are finding that old building, I guess their ingenuity has made them so successful.

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I love grackles. Also, one of the best birding areas in this suburban enclave is a former golf course turned into a preserve. May they all suffer the same fate...

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Feb 26Liked by Christopher Brown

"pre-war..." This has become a curious phrase, hasn't it? The United States has engaged in at least eight "boots on the ground" wars in my lifetime, in addition to "military diplomacy actions" when we pulverized people we dislike with airstrikes, missiles, and naval gunnery bombardments. Perpetual war. Kipling's "savage wars of peace" leap-frogging forward from Pax Britannica to Pax Americana. Now, as a counter measure, Russia proposes to station nuclear weapons in orbit. Karma. So it goes.

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Great point! I will keep that in mind when the thought to use that phrase occurs again. Thanks!

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Feb 25Liked by Christopher Brown

Such a great way to start the week!

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Thank you!

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Feb 25·edited Feb 25Liked by Christopher Brown

really lovely to check in on your notes...these photos are gems

- Thanks Christopher!

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Thank you!

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Grackles act so punk. I loved that observation!

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Thank you, Jill!

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When I took Spanish class in Antigua, Guatemala, I was perpetually distracted by a great-tailed grackle doing his flamboyant courtship dance in front of a nearby birdbath. Or if I turned the other way, I could watch Volcán de Fuego puff lava and fire.

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