Connie LaVon D🍁
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connielavon.bsky.social
Connie LaVon D🍁
@connielavon.bsky.social
Mom, granny, wife, outdoor enthusiast, maker, genetic genealogist. Too many hobbies. Retired geriatric nurse practitioner. Dual citizen. 🇺🇸🇨🇦 Living on the land of the Stó:lō and Nlaka’pamux, AKA Hope, BC 🇨🇦. ❤️🪨🧶🪡🎒⛺️🦮🦅🌿🏔️🌊 💚Mi lernas Esperanto!
Thanks, @scottdenkers.bsky.social for documenting and researching all the birds we saw in Brazil!
One of the prettiest finches we saw in the #Cerrado of #Brazil. But hang on a minute, after doing a little checking, it turns out this *red-crested finch* is currently classified as a #Tanager thanks to recent phylogenetic analyses.

#redcrestedfinch #thraupidae #brazilbirds #avesbrasil 🇧🇷 🪶 🌿
December 9, 2025 at 2:34 PM
I love where I live…..and this dreary rain makes me reminisce about sunny places this past summer! #sandpoint #olympicnationalpark #wildernessbeach #lowtide
December 8, 2025 at 7:33 PM
And anther great shot from @scottdenkers.bsky.social from our mini-vacation to #ucluelet.
Northern Flicker on the west coast of Vancouver Island in September. My goal now, for comparison, is to get a similar shot of his eastern north American yellow-shafted cousin. 🪶 🌿

#northernflicker #woodpecker #birdinginbritishcolumbia #birdphotography #birdlove
December 8, 2025 at 7:24 PM
Here’s @scottdenkers.bsky.social sharing another photo from our trip to Brazil!
Burrowing owls live in grasslands, deserts and other open habitats such as the Brazilian Cerrado, where this individual was found perched next to its burrow. They are daytime hunters, preying mainly on insects and small rodents. #owl #burrowingowl #brazilbirds #avesbrasil 🇧🇷 🪶 🌿
December 8, 2025 at 7:21 PM
Reposted by Connie LaVon D🍁
I'm marking a column in Excel with "Yes" "Maybe?? {+ optional reason}" or "No - {reason}" and Excel keeps insisting that it can predict what I'm going to do next. AI is such a disaster, and it's getting worse. "Niybe"??!!
December 5, 2025 at 4:59 AM
That’s my boy! I totally own up to instigating this and if I knew how to post a gif without botching it, it was going to be this!!!
Movie you’ve watched more than six times with a gif. Hard mode: no Stars (Wars nor Trek), LOTR, or Marvel, Disney Animated or Pixar.
December 8, 2025 at 4:25 PM
More from my growing understanding of Canadian history.
On Dec. 6, 1917 at 8:45 a.m., the Imo and Mont-Blanc (which was packed with explosives) collided in Halifax Harbour.
At 9:05 a.m., the Mont-Blanc exploded. The 2.9 kiloton blast levelled most of Halifax, killed 1,700 and injured 9,000.
This is the story.

📸 LAC

🧵 1/12
December 7, 2025 at 4:23 PM
This song always brings tears to my eyes. As an immigrant to Canada in 2005, the sentiment expressed here introduced me to the maritime culture and initiated a great fondness for Newfoundland and its people.
Just heard Tom Powers interviewing Con O'Brien of the Irish Descendants on CBC, lovely that they finished by playing "Let Me Fish off Cape St. Mary's", one of the greatest Newfoundland songs of all times. I used to live in the lighthouse at the Cape back in 1976...
www.google.com/search?sca_e...
irish descendants fish off cape st. mary's - Google Search
www.google.com
December 4, 2025 at 1:45 PM
Remembering a very cold November night in #astana #kazakhstan in 2015 during one of several work trips. The #baiterek monument and observation tower celebrates the relocation of the Capitol from Almaty to Astana. It’s based on a folktale about a magic bird and her egg.
December 4, 2025 at 1:34 PM
What a great story on the making of this famous image!
It is one of the most iconic portraits of the 20th century.
The portrait has appeared on stamps and on the British £5 banknote.
And it was taken by Canada's greatest portrait photographer at Parliament Hill.
This is the story of The Roaring Lion.

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December 3, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Counting the days until winter solstice!!!Qemqemó aka #mtogilvie
4:47 pm #moon #mountain #winter
December 3, 2025 at 5:11 AM
It’s been dreary and grey outside so how about a lovely double #columbine seen northeast of Merritt BC on a lovely July day? #wildflowers
November 28, 2025 at 1:25 PM
My son is making comics again!
November 26, 2025 at 2:03 PM
Reposted by Connie LaVon D🍁
We have some exciting news! You can watch our own Paula MacKay and Dr. Robert Long on this week's episode of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom Protecting the Wild. Get the scoop on what it was like on set: blog.zoo.org
Tune in to King 5 on Saturday, November 29 at 9:00am to watch the full episode!
Woodland Park Zoo Blog
A behind-the-scenes look at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo and its conservation, education and animal care mission.
blog.zoo.org
November 23, 2025 at 9:24 PM
Looking back to another great hike! In 2007 @scottdenkers.bsky.social and I went #backpacking on the #skylineII trail in #manningparkbc with the amazing #hozomeenmountain as our backdrop. Maybe that’s when my fascination with this peak began! Image 4 by Scott
November 24, 2025 at 2:27 PM
More amazing photos from @scottdenkers.bsky.social from our #birding trip to the #pantanal in August. These two were checking out a nesting site. Much luck to them! Such a privilege to see them in their natural habitat.
Several #macaw species were seen on our recent trip to #Brazil, but they were a bit shy. Not surprising since they've been historically hunted for their feathers & illegal pet trade. The #Pantanal, in western Brazil, is the last stronghold of the endangered #HyacinthMacaw seen here. 🪶🌿 #avesbrasil
November 24, 2025 at 2:09 PM
Reposted by Connie LaVon D🍁
Although threatened by habitat loss and illegal trapping, Brazil is still home to around 35 named parakeet species. On our recent trip to the country, my DW and I were delighted to spot several of these lovely birds, four of which are seen here (named in ALT text). #avesbrasil #brazilbirds 🇧🇷 🪶
November 20, 2025 at 8:34 PM
The future of the earth depends on this.
May we raise children who love the unloved things ...
#alphabetchallenge #weekUforUnloved #manitoulinmagic #love
November 23, 2025 at 3:14 PM
Remembering 2016 when my son @tapirsmith.bsky.social and I went #backpacking near #shymbulak in the #zailiiskyalatau mountains near #almaty #kazakhstan. #grateful
November 23, 2025 at 2:56 PM
The return of the #trumpeterswan! It’s that time of year when the trumpeter swans return to the Fraser Valley and hang out all winter in the corn fields. I was out 🦮 a few mornings ago and heard them as they flew over, honking away. Counted 70 in total. #birding #hopebc
November 20, 2025 at 2:59 PM
This person is brilliant! I love Elle!
Grammarian and Errorist are at it again! 🖊️
November 19, 2025 at 3:04 PM
Reposted by Connie LaVon D🍁
Have you ever heard of wassailing? We love visiting traditions like these because they bring people together and strengthen communities, which is more important than ever this year. Sharing songs, finding joy, and caring for each other — will you sing with us?
🎶Malpas Wassail, from the Watersons
November 18, 2025 at 5:34 PM
November 17, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Reposted by Connie LaVon D🍁
Where do we stand on the Boar’s Head Carol? Come find out during Music of Midwinter!
Windbornesingers.com/concerts
November 14, 2025 at 6:36 PM