Barbara B. Harrell
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bbharrell.bsky.social
Barbara B. Harrell
@bbharrell.bsky.social
Organic gardener, nature lover, habitat restorer, night protector, cook, piano player, family historian, retired Ob-Gyn MD, proud mom and grandma, and a lot of other stuff
Pinned
Here's a little series from our back slope habitat restoration, begun Aug 2017 (71 native plant species):

1) Jun 2018 blackberries cleared; deer candy anchor plants caged; 6' deer fence
2) Apr 2019 8' fence + rabbit mesh; gate; huckleberry shades
3) Jun 2022 fence & shades gone
4) Oct 2024
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
Steller’s Jay enjoys a morning shower

#birds #corvid #jay #stellersjay #birding
November 14, 2025 at 8:33 PM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
This may be Trump's perfect social media post. A true work of art. He confirms:

✅He personally directs criminal investigations.
✅He is targeting opponents.
✅Epstein "records" exist and he knows the contents.

Bonus points for connecting it to investigation of his fondness for Putin.👀
November 14, 2025 at 4:25 PM
Our loaded flowering crabapple (malus 'Adirondack') today. Planted as a small sapling in 2019, and selected because #birds like its fruit. (Not all crabapples are palatable to birds. These need to be sweetened by a hard freeze.) Robins cleaned them off in Jan '24, but nobody ate them in '25. 🌱
November 14, 2025 at 8:51 PM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
Did you know corals time their spawning perfectly with a particular moon phase?

They wait for a few days after a full moon, in the dark of the night before spawning.

Light pollution can have huge consequences for our coral reefs, and with coastal artificial light increasing, it’s a serious issue
The Great Barrier Reef is spawning. 🪸 ✨

A phenomenon Sir David Attenborough once described as “one of the greatest of all natural spectacles,” the annual event is a dazzling display presenting hope for bigger, stronger coral reefs. 💙

Here's what spawning looks like👇
November 13, 2025 at 5:16 PM
I did not know this. How smart of them!
#lightpollution #LAN #shoreline #ocean
Did you know corals time their spawning perfectly with a particular moon phase?

They wait for a few days after a full moon, in the dark of the night before spawning.

Light pollution can have huge consequences for our coral reefs, and with coastal artificial light increasing, it’s a serious issue
The Great Barrier Reef is spawning. 🪸 ✨

A phenomenon Sir David Attenborough once described as “one of the greatest of all natural spectacles,” the annual event is a dazzling display presenting hope for bigger, stronger coral reefs. 💙

Here's what spawning looks like👇
November 14, 2025 at 5:01 PM
Dreary if badly needed November rain has set in here in the #PacificNorthwest. It has its charms, but does kinda squelch hiking and gardening (for me, anyhow). Here's a reminder that summer is just around the corner😊 🌱 #wildlife #habitat #gardening
November 14, 2025 at 3:32 PM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
November 6, 2025 at 11:17 PM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
Elon Musk’s new pay package would feed all forty million Americans on SNAP for the next ten years. He wouldn’t notice the difference but the country would.
November 8, 2025 at 12:15 AM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
A man collapsed in the Oval Office yesterday. The internet got the story wrong.

My experience struggling to correct the record — including on Bluesky! — and the warning signs as AI, aggregation, and social media increasingly drive our news consumption.
A man collapsed in the Oval Office. The internet got the story wrong.
A case study in how bad information can spread — and how hard it is to correct it.
dandiamond.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:27 PM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
Here's another bit of conventional wisdom Zohran completely blew away: His speech was at well above a 10th-grade level. It was complex, erudite, punctuated by deep and fluent references. You don't have to condescend to voters with baby talk! Part of re-establishing norms is speaking like an adult.
November 5, 2025 at 5:14 AM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
This is what they did at one of my mother's dementia facilities, so that residents are less likely to get lost.
New sign outside the Oval Office..
November 5, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
Bat and Moon — Yamada Hōgyoku, c. 1830
October 22, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Here she is in evening light just now. 🌱 #PNW #Bellingham #fallcolor
October 30, 2025 at 1:12 AM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
October 28, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Time for Seiryu maple (Acer palmatum dissectum 'Seiryu') to shine. Just getting going, now that the neighboring dogwood has lost most of its leaves. We're in a lull between storms, and flocks of bushtits have been visiting Seiryu daily, feeding on something. Not sure what. 🌱 #Japanesemaples #PNW
October 27, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I was wrong. That wasn't peak color yet. Maybe this is 🌱
October 22, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
Graduate seminar did a deep dive on Thomas Paine’s Common Sense yesterday. At the line, “in America the law is king,” they (14 students from 6 countries) burst out laughing. I've been doing this for 35 years and this is the first time that was a laugh line.
October 22, 2025 at 10:21 AM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
October 22, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Bellingham has been trying to encourage folks to plant Garry oak, even providing young saplings, but reportedly without much success. One tip: when young, it needs more summer water than you might think. 🌱 #nativeplants #habitatrestoration
See
realgardensgrownatives.com?p=1897
October 19, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Garry oak (Quercus garryana) aka Oregon white oak, prime #native #habitat, used to be common in #westernWA, but the usual culprits nearly eliminated it. Some remain in San Juan Islands, eg Turtleback Mountain Preserve on Orcas, where oak seedlings are protected from deer to assist #restoration.
October 18, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Another small series from our main back slope #restoration, from 9-17-23, 11-9-24, 2-15-25, and yesterday 10-17-25. The big hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla) straddles the line between our property and a City of Bellingham greenspace that includes a branch of Whatcom Creek below. 🌱 #nativeplants
October 18, 2025 at 2:14 PM
Back from two days on gorgeous Orcas Island with its spectacular views from Mt Constitution summit, our inn on Eastsound, various trails on protected Turtleback mountain, but there's no place like home. That's Satomi dogwood (Cornus kousa 'Satomi') at peak color on our #PacificRim side. 🌱
October 17, 2025 at 5:58 PM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
Since I'm in the Pacific time zone, I'm posting a video for #FlyDay a bit early. Here are some Snow Geese flying, in a somewhat organized manner, to join others for a break in Richmond, BC, Canada, along the Pacific Flyway on their migration journey south. #birds #photography #EastCoastKin
October 17, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Reposted by Barbara B. Harrell
October 10, 2025 at 8:40 PM
Memo to Future Historians: This Is Fascism, and Millions of Us See It newrepublic.com/post/201625/... via @newrepublic.com
Memo to Future Historians: This Is Fascism, and Millions of Us See It
From Chicago to Portland, James Comey to Letitia James, and so much else—this is no longer America.
newrepublic.com
October 11, 2025 at 1:49 PM