Jer Thorp
@jerthorp.bsky.social
Artist, writer, educator, birder & nudibranch enthusiast. Author of Living in Data (MCDxFSG).
Pinned
Jer Thorp
@jerthorp.bsky.social
· Jan 6
For the last two years I've been teaching an online course about birding and data visualization.
It's a course about noticing. About learning to be critical about data. About incubating and encouraging environmental care.
www.jerthorp.me/learning
It's a course about noticing. About learning to be critical about data. About incubating and encouraging environmental care.
www.jerthorp.me/learning
The East River is like glass today.
February 10, 2026 at 2:49 PM
The East River is like glass today.
When I released this book 5 years ago, I joked with my publisher that maybe people would figure out how to use data in less selfish and destructive ways, and the book would become irrelevant.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9781250...
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9781250...
February 10, 2026 at 2:48 PM
When I released this book 5 years ago, I joked with my publisher that maybe people would figure out how to use data in less selfish and destructive ways, and the book would become irrelevant.
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9781250...
AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
www.mcnallyjackson.com/book/9781250...
Reposted by Jer Thorp
The 12yo has declared Porcelain Crab Awareness Day!
I’m especially fond of the red and white polka dotted ones. Are they crabs if they have crab in their name? Nope. These are decapod crustaceans evolving ever crab-wards!
I’m especially fond of the red and white polka dotted ones. Are they crabs if they have crab in their name? Nope. These are decapod crustaceans evolving ever crab-wards!
Porcelain crab - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
February 10, 2026 at 1:44 PM
The 12yo has declared Porcelain Crab Awareness Day!
I’m especially fond of the red and white polka dotted ones. Are they crabs if they have crab in their name? Nope. These are decapod crustaceans evolving ever crab-wards!
I’m especially fond of the red and white polka dotted ones. Are they crabs if they have crab in their name? Nope. These are decapod crustaceans evolving ever crab-wards!
*whispers*
sugar cane is a grass
sugar cane is a grass
February 10, 2026 at 2:00 PM
*whispers*
sugar cane is a grass
sugar cane is a grass
It was a good day for ducks in NYC.
Hooded merganser was a patch bird for me!
🪶
Hooded merganser was a patch bird for me!
🪶
February 10, 2026 at 1:37 AM
It was a good day for ducks in NYC.
Hooded merganser was a patch bird for me!
🪶
Hooded merganser was a patch bird for me!
🪶
The whole shebang is about coming and deceiving people.
Impersonation is the whole gambit.
Impersonation is the whole gambit.
I have yet to see any evidence that there is a market for AI-generated books outside of people being tricked into thinking they are not AI-generated books. AKA, it is a project of scamming and deceiving people, and really should be treated as fraud
February 9, 2026 at 12:16 AM
The whole shebang is about coming and deceiving people.
Impersonation is the whole gambit.
Impersonation is the whole gambit.
LOOK AT THIS BIRD!
Yellow-browed Melidectes.
Photo by Markus Lilje.
Yellow-browed Melidectes.
Photo by Markus Lilje.
February 8, 2026 at 8:20 PM
LOOK AT THIS BIRD!
Yellow-browed Melidectes.
Photo by Markus Lilje.
Yellow-browed Melidectes.
Photo by Markus Lilje.
If the idea that barbets are related to woodpeckers never really made sense to you... meet the pied barbet!
It looks the long-lost cousin of a downy woodpecker!
It looks the long-lost cousin of a downy woodpecker!
February 8, 2026 at 8:19 PM
If the idea that barbets are related to woodpeckers never really made sense to you... meet the pied barbet!
It looks the long-lost cousin of a downy woodpecker!
It looks the long-lost cousin of a downy woodpecker!
As we head into The Week of Love (TM), a reminder that I made you a free tool to make little feathered messages for your ❤️s:
feathertype.binstobins.com
feathertype.binstobins.com
February 8, 2026 at 8:14 PM
As we head into The Week of Love (TM), a reminder that I made you a free tool to make little feathered messages for your ❤️s:
feathertype.binstobins.com
feathertype.binstobins.com
Reposted by Jer Thorp
This bird appears to be covered in oil but is not. This healthy lovely creature was photographed on an overcast afternoon on the Gulf of Mexico #birds
February 7, 2026 at 11:45 PM
This bird appears to be covered in oil but is not. This healthy lovely creature was photographed on an overcast afternoon on the Gulf of Mexico #birds
Reposted by Jer Thorp
Attention visual journalists: I’m always open to pitches for @sciam.bsky.social’s Graphic Science column. The column tells concise stories on topics in science via graphics (dataviz, illustrated diagrams, comic-style explainers, etc). It appears in both print & online. DM me for a pitch guide.
February 7, 2026 at 2:59 PM
Attention visual journalists: I’m always open to pitches for @sciam.bsky.social’s Graphic Science column. The column tells concise stories on topics in science via graphics (dataviz, illustrated diagrams, comic-style explainers, etc). It appears in both print & online. DM me for a pitch guide.
Gord Downie would have been 62 today.
He was my idol for a full two decades of my life and I sure could have picked worse.
Listen to a song or sit down with some poetry or read Secret Path again.
He was my idol for a full two decades of my life and I sure could have picked worse.
Listen to a song or sit down with some poetry or read Secret Path again.
February 6, 2026 at 7:43 PM
Gord Downie would have been 62 today.
He was my idol for a full two decades of my life and I sure could have picked worse.
Listen to a song or sit down with some poetry or read Secret Path again.
He was my idol for a full two decades of my life and I sure could have picked worse.
Listen to a song or sit down with some poetry or read Secret Path again.
Reposted by Jer Thorp
Seven left!
You probably woke up this morning and thought "did I miss my chance to buy dash cams for folks in Minneapolis because we live in actual hell?" And the answer is no, no you did not.
Hey remember back when Russian dash cam videos were everywhere and it was a big sign that the state had basically collapsed and people had to record everything to be safe? Yeah, well guess what that's us now. Buy dash cams for MPLS. www.amazon.com/registries/g...
February 6, 2026 at 4:29 PM
Seven left!
Reposted by Jer Thorp
The Plate-billed Mountain Toucan will be your overlord this week, sitting smugly at the equator where the groundhog has no sway. 🪶
February 2, 2026 at 2:47 PM
The Plate-billed Mountain Toucan will be your overlord this week, sitting smugly at the equator where the groundhog has no sway. 🪶
Reposted by Jer Thorp
Every American needs to watch this:
February 5, 2026 at 8:41 PM
Every American needs to watch this:
Reposted by Jer Thorp
The Librarians premiers on Independent Lens on Feb 9!
@heykellyjensen.bsky.social has advice about how to support your local libraries: bookriot.com/how-to-suppo... + bookriot.com/gifting-with...)
@heykellyjensen.bsky.social has advice about how to support your local libraries: bookriot.com/how-to-suppo... + bookriot.com/gifting-with...)
The Librarians | Book Policies Documentary | Independent Lens
The Librarians follows librarians and citizens responding to restrictions on library content across the United States.
www.pbs.org
February 6, 2026 at 1:46 PM
The Librarians premiers on Independent Lens on Feb 9!
@heykellyjensen.bsky.social has advice about how to support your local libraries: bookriot.com/how-to-suppo... + bookriot.com/gifting-with...)
@heykellyjensen.bsky.social has advice about how to support your local libraries: bookriot.com/how-to-suppo... + bookriot.com/gifting-with...)
Reposted by Jer Thorp
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
February 5, 2026 at 11:50 AM
Sir Ian McKellen performing a monologue from Shakespeare’s Sir Thomas More on the Stephen Colbert show. Never have I heard this monologue performed with such a keen sense of prescience. Nor have I ever been in this exact historical moment.TY Sir Ian, for reaching us once again.
#Pinks #ProudBlue
#Pinks #ProudBlue
We made God Kings of the world's biggest assholes and they're killing us in different ways every day.
February 4, 2026 at 5:20 PM
We made God Kings of the world's biggest assholes and they're killing us in different ways every day.
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!
You download hi-res images and video, and even order prints!
February 4, 2026 at 4:22 PM
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!
You download hi-res images and video, and even order prints!
Made a little video about my Every Bird project from 2024.
Part research project, part printmaking endeavor, the project features visualizations of 1 year of birds and birders in more than 75 places.
Part research project, part printmaking endeavor, the project features visualizations of 1 year of birds and birders in more than 75 places.
February 4, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Made a little video about my Every Bird project from 2024.
Part research project, part printmaking endeavor, the project features visualizations of 1 year of birds and birders in more than 75 places.
Part research project, part printmaking endeavor, the project features visualizations of 1 year of birds and birders in more than 75 places.
Reposted by Jer Thorp
Why is everything so strange (lauditory)
The light-sensitive tissue of birds’ eyes is not supplied with oxygen by blood vessels – instead, it powers itself with a flood of sugar, and this may have evolutionary benefits
Bird retinas work without oxygen, and now scientists know how
The light-sensitive tissue of birds’ eyes is not supplied with oxygen by blood vessels – instead, it powers itself with a flood of sugar, and this may have evolutionary benefits
www.newscientist.com
February 4, 2026 at 1:07 PM
Why is everything so strange (lauditory)
Reposted by Jer Thorp
Reminder:
You can make personalized messages for your favourite people over at feathertype.binstobins.com
❤️🐦❤️🪶
You can make personalized messages for your favourite people over at feathertype.binstobins.com
❤️🐦❤️🪶
February 3, 2026 at 4:01 PM
Reminder:
You can make personalized messages for your favourite people over at feathertype.binstobins.com
❤️🐦❤️🪶
You can make personalized messages for your favourite people over at feathertype.binstobins.com
❤️🐦❤️🪶
Have to give it to the guy...
G.W. Bush is getting better as a painter.
G.W. Bush is getting better as a painter.
Did George W. Bush paint this?
babe wake up the official portrait of the Right Honourable Stephen J. Harper just dropped
February 4, 2026 at 1:51 AM
Have to give it to the guy...
G.W. Bush is getting better as a painter.
G.W. Bush is getting better as a painter.
Did George W. Bush paint this?
babe wake up the official portrait of the Right Honourable Stephen J. Harper just dropped
February 4, 2026 at 1:48 AM
Did George W. Bush paint this?
Sometimes I feel sorry for birders in the North who get at best 9 species this time of the year.
Then I remember that one of the species is this,
Then I remember that one of the species is this,
Look out below! This great gray owl was hunting along the road near my cottage last month. When you get a good look at the wing like this, you can tell that it's a hatch year bird (less than a year old). After hatch year birds will have different coloured flight feathers as some are replaced. #birds
February 4, 2026 at 1:45 AM
Sometimes I feel sorry for birders in the North who get at best 9 species this time of the year.
Then I remember that one of the species is this,
Then I remember that one of the species is this,