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catstaffer.bsky.social
Cat Staffer
@catstaffer.bsky.social
90 followers 350 following 41 posts
Neurodivergent blue dot in a red state. Rescuer of feral kittens from my re-wilding suburban yard. Introvert. She/They
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catstaffer.bsky.social
Cat Staffer @catstaffer.bsky.social · Nov 19
Been radio-silent on all social media for a few years, but might consider rejoining the human race here. Let’s see. 🤞
catstaffer.bsky.social
Been a funny couple of days with birds. Yesterday was a huge group of Black Vultures & today I go out to feed the squirrels & then didn’t because the Red Shouldered Hawk is right across the road on the neighbors mailbox.
Red shouldered hawk sits on top of a reddish brick mailbox in front of a neighbor’s house, there is a shrub that retains its leaves throughout winter obscuring the porch. The sun is brightest on his back left side. The hawk has turned its head backward, possibly to look at me as I’ve been standing and pointing my phone at it for several minutes while recording video. A few members of a much larger group of Black Vultures that were across this neighbor’s lawn and roof. One member of this smaller grouping is seen here dismantling a squirrel on the driveway. Several ended up in my trees and circling on the warm air vents in the sky over the neighborhood.
December 9, 2025 at 5:54 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
I’ve got quite a backlog of photos of the yard. I’ll start with these fungi spreading around the base of our dying oak as it transitions to wildlife snag. I believe this to be Omphalotus olearius (or the jack-o'-lantern mushroom). It is native to my region.
Vivid orange top of the fruiting body of fungus growing around a dying oak tree. It is mottled with darker orange blotches near the ruffled edges while the center approaches a yellow-orange shade. Small portions of slightly paler gills are visible in places. A southern dew berry vine grows around and over portions of these mushrooms. Brown oak leaves are also scattered throughout the field of vision. Vivid orange top of the fruiting body of fungus growing around a dying oak tree. It is mottled with darker orange blotches near the ruffled edges while the center approaches a yellow-orange shade. In the center are some of the gills that have also turned burnt orange at the edge. Asian jasmine & brown oak leaves are also scattered throughout the field of vision. Vivid orange top of the fruiting body of fungus growing around a dying oak tree. It almost resembles the shape of a peach. It is mottled with darker orange blotches near the edges while the center approaches a yellow-orange shade. Asian jasmine & brown oak leaves are also scattered throughout the field of vision.
December 8, 2025 at 3:46 AM
catstaffer.bsky.social
It’s finally chilly here & most things have stopped flowering. Good time to look through pics to remind me of summer.
The first shows a bumble bee on native Late Boneset, and the second is the cast off outside of a cicada still attached to an Elephant Ear.
Bumble bee is centered amongst the clusters of tiny white blooms of Late Boneset. The empty shell of a cicada remains, clinging to the thick middle rib on the underside of an elephant ear leaf.
October 26, 2025 at 3:36 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Not my usual backyard bird, but an escapee suburban chicken from next door. She’s a bit feisty, so despite my neighbor running out to buy a large net, we decided to let her hang out until roosting time. Wish us luck. 🐔
White chicken with red comb & wattles. She is standing in a patch of Asian jasmine. An empty paper plate to the right held a small piece of cantaloupe which she ate while I waited to hear from the neighbors earlier today.
July 24, 2025 at 9:33 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
A few of my under-performing canna from last year are finally blooming. This one is Pfitzer's Primrose Yellow Dwarf.
Our hummingbirds still prefer the full height Miss Oklahoma & struggle to get inside the blooms of Alaska. If only I could consult them while making my selection! #bloomscrolling
Focus of the shot is one of two bright yellow canna blooms on a long green stem & a few tips of leaves visible on the bottom. Background is out of focus backyard with plants in pots, trees, and re-wilding plant life all around.
July 17, 2025 at 6:35 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Summer solstice did not go as hoped for, so posting a pic from a week or so ago of an adult bluebird feeding a juvenile from our supply of mealworms. Focusing on the positive.
An adult bluebird feeds a juvenile while both are on a thick portion of grapevine. There is a sea of various green plants surrounding them.
June 21, 2025 at 7:53 AM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Happened to see this Rose-breasted Grosbeak on our safflower feeder this morning. Grabbed this shot several feet from the window as most first time visitors tend to fly off before I can get closer. And he did, briefly, before returning to the side of the feeder away from the window.
A male Rose-breasted Grosbeak stands on the base of a bird feeder. His head, back & wings are primarily black. A bright red patch of feathers is surrounded by mostly white underside. His beak is pinkish. The feeder has a mesh cylinder 1/5 filled with safflower seeds. The base and top of the feeder are green. In the background is freshly shredded wood mulch with a length of green hose lying on top. Further back is the asphalt street and curb before the neighbors’ yard. In the foreground is a small, ornamental tree mostly in shade & out of focus. An aluminum portion of the window is also partially obstructing the view.
April 25, 2025 at 8:35 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
First Southern blue flag (Iris virginica L.) bloomed yesterday. Best hand-me-down plants I’ve ever gotten from MIL!
Rhizomes & vines are almost the only things that our surface rooted trees don’t strangle in their relentless quest for more water.
#Bloomscrolling #NativePlants
Close up of violet blue iris petals with yellow & white near the base. In the background are a few other iris stems & leaves as well as the leaves of wild violets.
April 11, 2025 at 7:51 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Some Canadian natural beauty: photos and some video as well of a “spirit bear” in British Colombia. A single recessive gene in black bears is what produces this rare coloring. 🇨🇦🍁
www.cbc.ca/player/play/...
#TheMoment B.C.'s elusive spirit bear emerged for a close-up photo shoot
Wildlife photographer Paul Nicklen recounts the moment he came within a metre of a rare spirit bear or kermode and captured intimate portraits of the iconic animal.
www.cbc.ca
March 28, 2025 at 7:56 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
These are so ubiquitous in the yard I usually forget to capture a pic. Here are a few blooms of Rubus trivialis (Dewberry) today. #BloomScrolling
Four open white blooms along a vine of wild growing Dewberries alongside some logs that have grown mushrooms.
March 24, 2025 at 12:27 AM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Smallest cat has now taken over the top platform on our newest cat tree this Caturday.
Close-up of a black cat’s face resting over the side of a gray fleece cushion on the top of a tall cat tree. Cat has partially open green eyes. In the far background and above the top of the platform is a reddish brick fireplace surround.
March 16, 2025 at 12:44 AM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Too delightful not to share. 🇨🇦

I completed my undergrad degree alongside Canadian Geese & am similarly unsurprised regarding their proclivity to fight off a predator.
March 5, 2025 at 11:33 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
🥚 Tried the periodic method of egg boiling. Lost track if I was in the last or 2nd to last round (thanks, ADHD).
Spouse loved them. Yolks were great. I might prefer another 2 minutes of boiling (I have texture discomforts & albumen in one spot was too loose on mine). www.nature.com/articles/s44...
Periodic cooking of eggs - Communications Engineering
Emilia Di Lorenzo and colleagues propose an approach to address the energy transport problem of cooking the albumen and yolk of a boiled egg at their optimal temperatures without separation. By altern...
www.nature.com
February 20, 2025 at 11:26 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Just remembered that this weekend is the bird counting (or at least, observing) event. This fella joined the robins in digging through the leaves in the bed next to the living room window. Then jumped up on the tree until he had enough of being spied on.🕵🏻 merlinbirds.org/species/rebwoo
Scene through a window: front yard with leaves covering the ground, interspersed with short, non-native, evergreen grass-like plants. A couple of squirrels are enjoying sunflower seeds & frolicking. In the foreground the woodpecker is facing away while holding onto the branch, so only its black & white patterned back and red feathers on head are visible.
February 16, 2025 at 5:45 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Caturday content is from cat-sitting at the in-laws for a couple days this week. Which left my spouse the sole-carer for our 8. 😆
Our cat-in-law likely would be fine on his own, but, as with the rest of us, doesn’t seem to have a deciding vote in the matter.
A black domestic shorthair cat is sitting on the floor and looking out the bottom of a tall window. The window has opened blinds and the bottom of these blinds are raised, falling just above the cat’s ears. The cat and window are at the far end of the camera’s focus as I’ve taken the photo around 25 or 30 feet away and down at cat-eye level. Most of the shot is taken up by the faux wood flooring & white moldings.
February 8, 2025 at 9:16 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Weather Channel app tells me it’s reached 85F. Extended forecast indicates another cold front is in store to keep confusing my plants.
Blueberry bushes seem to be keeping with their normal schedule & are beginning to bloom. Carpenter bees are usually who visit those so I’ll be keeping an eye out.
A single open blueberry bush bloom surrounded by several buds in waiting. Bloom is white & buds are primarily bright pink. Several of last year’s leaves remain, but have turned mostly dark red. The lighting from the direct sunlight is quite harsh. The background beyond the bush consists of adjacent fabric pots, one green & another dark brown. The fabric pot that the bush the bloom is on is a very pale gray.
February 8, 2025 at 8:41 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
These baby boys still love napping together. The only adult male has also joined me on the sofa, but is out of shot. Our 5 girls tend to disperse, preferring solitude. #catnaps #FelineFraternity
One adolescent black cat opens one eye to look at camera hovering about him and his brother while they nap. This first cat is pressed against my hip and has front legs outstretched in a way that makes it look like he is hugging his brother. The brother is a brown and black striped tabby, larger, and lays with his upper half of his body across my thigh. I’m wearing fluffy heather-blue sweatpants.
January 27, 2025 at 11:06 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Got distracted by a new reply bot that is trying to “correct” information in posts about events that have happened today (inauguration, pardons). I assume it has no access to info since the election. Mostly, it just both-sides & generally acts like a milquetoast mediator. So weird.
Reported.
January 20, 2025 at 8:21 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Fire ants in the canna (only one container, thankfully).

Will leave that one for last then!

About to have several nights below freezing, so need to un-pot these rhizomes for storage & dividing.

Photo is from a month ago. Miss Oklahoma, I believe, is the variety.
Coral to reddish blooms and buds in the foreground. Foliage of canna still mostly green. Fuzzy focused background includes trunk of large oak tree, well-weathered wooden privacy fencing, back wall of house with reddish brick facade, and dark gray shingling on roof of neighboring house beyond the fencing. Brown leaves cover the ground.
January 4, 2025 at 8:10 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
This sweet boy wants to know why there have been tiny explosion sounds coming out of this object all day (BBC live coverage running since New Zealand). His brother is as uninterested as all of the older cats (the boys aren’t a year old yet).
A 12 pound gray and black tabby kitten sitting behind a laptop screen with only his head and shoulders visible. He is staring almost directly in the camera. The screen displays a street scene of part of a crowd about to disassemble following the New Year’s Eve fireworks show in London. The screen provides most of the lighting in the room, except for a light from the phone camera which is reflected in a window pane. It is also dark outside the window.
January 1, 2025 at 1:48 AM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Lovely article (from 2020). Will put this documentary on my list to watch. I was in grade school when Jimmy Carter lost to Reagan & therefore have little personal memory of that time. I must make an effort to read more positive takes on his actual presidency.
December 30, 2024 at 6:04 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
Caturday content contribution: one of the three cats that timeshare this particular bed. Taken this morning. She had no interest in looking my direction 😸
Black shorthair cat with green eyes looks off toward the right side of the frame. Her chin is resting on a sidewall of a faux fleece cat bed. The cat bed is set on a quilted navy fabric. There are sunlit bookshelves in the background.
December 22, 2024 at 1:17 AM
catstaffer.bsky.social
‘Tis the season for Asian lady beetles. Several in the yard this afternoon (one pictured on the Texas Sage bush). Also, a Spotted Cucumber beetle on my very non-native elephant ear. Moved several smaller tender plants indoors as it may get down to 32 for a couple hours.
Asian Lady Beetle, orange with black spots, rests in sun on silvery leaf of North American native shrub, Texas Sage. Yellow-green beetle with black spots briefly pauses near tip of green leaf of an Elephant Ear plant.
December 5, 2024 at 10:16 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
I almost slipped back to look at the bad place for live reports & discussion, but found @sarahjeong.bsky.social just in time. *whew*
December 4, 2024 at 5:27 PM
catstaffer.bsky.social
An amusing diversion given how little material was available 😸 (wouldn’t call it a “roast” though).

In a parallel universe: The cat-loving activist leading the charge against anti-feline legislation.

blueskyroast.com/roast/catsta...
Cat Staffer: The Neo-Whiskered Philosopher of Bluesky
This cat-loving introvert dabbles in socio-political musings while navigating the wild suburban jungle.
blueskyroast.com
December 4, 2024 at 2:51 PM