Ian Rose
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ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Ian Rose
@ianrosewrites.bsky.social
1.8K followers 950 following 760 posts
Science & nature writer living on Kalapuya lands (Corvallis, OR). Vulturnalist. Recent bylines in Scientific American, Sierra, Smithsonian and more.

Undiagnosed, but everyone's pretty sure.

Go Birds.

https://ianrosewrites.com/bibliography
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ianrosewrites.bsky.social
I will never get used to how empty the Oregon coast can be on such a beautiful day, off season or not, and I will never take it for granted. To have such an accessible beach to ourselves is such a gift.
#oregon #pnw
A tidal plain with smooth wet sand, sun and clouds above reflected on the surface. The edge of the water barely creeps into the picture, as does the cliffs of the coast. There is no one here but us.
November 16, 2025 at 12:40 AM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Don't ask ChatGPT. Ask this perfect Amanita mushroom. The answer may be quieter, but I'd argue it's more likely to be correct.
A perfectly round capped Amanita mushroom, its orange cap light at the edge and almost red in the center, pocked with white chunks and with a white stem, growing out of brown fallen leaves next to a chain link fence.
November 14, 2025 at 7:07 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
I grow garlic. My neighbors grow squash. I'd like to diversify my own harvest, but for now, trade is just as good. Better, because it also comes with the community value of good barter.

#gardening #food
A pale orange-white butternut squash on a countertop.
November 10, 2025 at 10:07 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Today I got my favorite annual November gift, the first shoots of my garlic popping out of the ground to remind me: No matter how long or deep the winter, things are still growing underground, and spring will come again.
#garlic #Oregon #gardening
A green shoot of garlic with a lighter green sheath, poking out of brown woody soil.
November 9, 2025 at 1:25 AM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Extremely polite of the weather to be perfect for a day outside on Eagles bye week Sunday.

You don't get many days like this in western Oregon in November. Tomorrow I will be pleasantly sore.
A view of the north side of Corvallis, Oregon from the top of the hill at Chip Ross Natural Area. In the foreground, a maple tree is half bare and half covered in orange and yellow leaves. The background is a hilly landscape of green, yellow, orange and red against a blue sky with a few clouds.
November 2, 2025 at 10:20 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
This is the creepiest spam text I think I've ever gotten. Usually they're just vague. This one is oddly, threateningly specific.
A text message: "Your self-painted painting in your room is very beautiful"
October 23, 2025 at 4:51 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Let's plant some garlic. The 2026 growing season starts today.
A used yogurt container filled to the brim with purple streaked hardneck garlic cloves.
October 14, 2025 at 3:19 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Such a diversity of fungi in such a short walk. Beazell Memorial Forest is one of my favorite places in Oregon this time of year.
#oregon #fungi #nature
Light yellow mushrooms coming out of a base of rotting wood and leaves. Rows of turkey tail like shelf mushrooms emerging from a decaying log. A large white mushroom with a brown circle in the center of its cap and a ring on its stem, surrounded by green leaves on the forest floor. Small shiny white mushrooms growing out of a pine cone on a leafy forest floor.
October 11, 2025 at 10:38 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Met a friend on the trail.
#oregon #pnw
A salamander crawling toward the camera, mostly brown with orange underneath and black eyes, on a dirt and rocky path.
October 11, 2025 at 10:06 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
I try never to take them for granted, but as the days get cooler, I appreciate my local turkey vultures all the more. They're an everyday bird here for six or seven months of the year, but they'll leave us soon, and I'll miss them.

#birds #vultures
A turkey vulture flying over a pine tree against a light blue sky. The bird's underside is turned to the camera, and their light primaries and red head are visible.
October 6, 2025 at 7:10 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Remember, this October. It's not all about candy and decorations. He is the reason for the season.
A bumper sticker showing mothman with the words 'Live Laugh Lurk'
October 1, 2025 at 3:43 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
The most important thing about AI isn't its technical capabilities or limitations. The most important thing is the investor story and the ensuing mania that has teed up an economical catastrophe that will harm hundreds of millions or even billions of people. AI isn't going to wake up, become superintelligent and turn you into paperclips – but rich people with AI investor psychosis are almost certainly going to make you much, much poorer.
September 30, 2025 at 2:13 AM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Some days, you're the mantis. Some days, you're the grasshopper.

Most things today really suck. But I was blessed to watch as this beauty caught and ate their dinner. What a wildlife experience.

#PrayingMantis #AlsoPreyingMantis #insects #Oregon
A brown praying mantis hanging upside down and eating a grasshopper about half its size.
September 18, 2025 at 3:56 AM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
The best time was 30 years ago. The second best time is today. Drop the Chop, don't be racist, and Go Birds.
The "kombucha girl" meme with the text "Banning the tush push" (bad) and "Banning the chop chant" (good)
September 14, 2025 at 5:42 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
If you're going to spam bait me, you'll have to do better than this. You texted me!
A spam text reading "Excuse me, may I ask your name?" with a thinking emoji.
September 10, 2025 at 6:21 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
A lot of things got us to where we are today. Racism, sexism, xenophobia in all its types. But greed, and the specifically reckless greed of the big tech companies, is a huge part. As someone who already hated Facebook, my jaw still dropped a few times reading this.
#books
The cover page of "Careless People: A Cautionary Tale of Power, Greed and Lost Idealism" by Sarah Wynn-Williams.
August 27, 2025 at 5:09 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
On the bright side, while my planet bakes, my country slides into ever deeper authoritarianism and my state remains under threat of burning down, Infinite Berry Month continues.

4 more pounds today, for about 17 total so far. The freezer is filling up. It is my favorite thing about August by far.
Four large yogurt containers filled with big plump blackberries.
August 27, 2025 at 1:11 AM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
As an internet old, I'm happy to report that the daylight length here at 44°34' North today, August 24, 2025, is leet.
A day/night calculator from the app Wunderground, showing 13:37 of daylight.
August 24, 2025 at 10:18 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
I'm so happy this came out as well as it did. This stunner of a mantis came and posed right next to me today, even letting me get up and get my better camera. What a treat.

#Oregon #wildlife #insects #PrayingMantis
A brownish-yellow insect with long dark antennae, curved claws and a transparent hood-like segment on their back. A drop of water hangs from their mouth. Photo by Ian Rose. Free to use, but only with permission (which I'll pretty much always give) and not for spammy nature photo social accounts.
August 21, 2025 at 3:34 AM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Now that new blackberries are coming in fast, I need to finally process the last of the 2024 pick. And now that my house isn't 90 degrees, why not have a stove on all day? Blackberry syrup incoming.
A pot of deep red bubbling blackberry syrup in a metal pot.
August 15, 2025 at 9:00 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
I'm not self sufficient and don't want to be. I want to be dependent on my community, and in small part, provide for that community too.

I do like growing my own supply of specific crops though. Blackberries. On my way with garlic. And now poppy flower seeds. No need to buy any of those next year.
A white yogurt container with the bottom surface almost covered in a thick layer of round black poppy seeds, along with five long brown seed pods, about as long as the container is wide.
August 12, 2025 at 10:58 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Blackberry season has officially begun on the farm. For the next month, this is my primary function: picking, eating, canning and freezing berries.

I adore them, invasiveness and all.

#blackberries #FreeFood #Oregonn
A white repurposed yogurt container full of about a pound of dark purple blackberries.
August 8, 2025 at 2:06 AM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
Sunday through Wednesday is going to be hot, dry, and windy in western Oregon, and that means increased fire danger.

Please be wary of anything that could cause a spark. Your campfire can wait until conditions are less dangerous.

#Oregon #PNW
A four-day forecast for Corvallis, Oregon covering July 13-16, showing high temps of 97, 90, 97 and 94 and high north winds.
July 10, 2025 at 3:50 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
I'm in this photo and I don't like it.
July 1, 2025 at 5:42 PM
ianrosewrites.bsky.social
10 seconds of peace, courtesy of Beazell Memorial Forest, Oregon.
June 11, 2025 at 3:23 PM