MatthewParis
LightNews LightNews
banner
matthewparis.bsky.social
MatthewParis
@matthewparis.bsky.social
77 followers 53 following 330 posts
I'm a fan of the 13th century chronicler known as Matthew of Paris. I also post images/videos of birds and animals that visit my birdbath and sometimes, my amateur photos of the night sky. You might know me as "Michael".
Posts Replies Media Videos
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds A Junko is almost invisible in the spray while it takes a bath in the mid-morning light. (last week)
A spray of water-droplets colored white by the Sun hides a Junko splashing in a shallow stone birdbath. Context is a garden with a wooden fence in the background.
November 16, 2025 at 11:42 PM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds Song Sparrow and Junco - sharing the bath... (from last week).
November 16, 2025 at 11:37 PM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds Late season cardinals.
Close-up and personal view of a cardinal in darker than usual colors. Context is a shallow stone bird-bath with autumn leaves in the background. Close-up and personal view of a cardinal in lighter than usual colors. Either it is a female or an immature cardinal. Context is a shallow stone bird-bath with autumn leaves all around.
November 5, 2025 at 2:41 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds In case you wanted some face-time with a starling, here you go. No idea what it's saying, but it is very interested in whatever is going on...
October 26, 2025 at 3:30 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds - An early morning bath - to start the day clean!
October 26, 2025 at 3:25 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds some starlings sitting still so you can see them...
Two (probably young) starlings sit on the edge of a shallow stone bird-bath. The background is lit by late afternoon sun coming in under the fence.
October 26, 2025 at 3:14 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds Last week - the starlings were all over the place... I think this is ten separate birds - arriving and departing...
October 26, 2025 at 2:00 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
Here's another "starling" video from earlier today...
October 6, 2025 at 1:54 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds A robin takes a bath - turn up the audio a bit to hear the splashing. The morning light really makes it a lovely scene.
October 6, 2025 at 1:46 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds Two robins - facing off - are unexpectedly interrupted.
October 6, 2025 at 1:42 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds Starlings are now passing thru on their way south.
October 6, 2025 at 1:36 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds Captured by accident by my web-cam. Beautiful symmetry! Have no idea who this is...
Shadowed outline of a bird framed against a blue sky with hints of foliage and roof-tops for context.
September 23, 2025 at 11:20 PM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds These are frames I snipped from this morning's video from the Friends Of Big Bear Valley YouTube channel.

All compliments are due to the team there that tracks the local wild-life.

Raptor - backlit by sunrise.
A raptor sitting on a stump - backlight by the morning sun. A raptor sitting on a stump - backlight by the morning sun - something to the left has captured it's attention - so it is looking to the left. Raptor departs from a high stump - wings spread - backlit by the morning sunlight. Wings fully spread - the raptor is on a dive to whatever captured it's attention. Wings are beautifully backlit by the morning sun.
September 15, 2025 at 5:03 PM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#moon #astronomy The Moon looked lovely, so I grabbed my telescope and my phone and took a picture. That bright spot in the upper left corner is "Aristarchus Crater" (Wikipedia:
"Aristarchus_(crater)").
A picture of an almost full moon showing all the familiar details. There is a slightly "too bright" spot in the upper-left part of the moon that looks as if someone had floodlights in the crater turned on... (wink wink) but it is one of the most reflective parts of the moon, being only 450 million years old - so not worn down yet. (see Wikipedia).
September 6, 2025 at 3:15 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds A Mourning Dove is in the bath - and raises each wing - I've seen them do this before - no other bird seems to do this at this bird-bath...
September 5, 2025 at 2:41 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds Another shot of the female Cardinal in the bath with some House Sparrows. The early morning light really shows the color of the feathers.
A female cardinal stands on the left-side of the stone bird-bath facing three sparrows in various postures. The morning light lights the side of each bird - and makes for a bright contrast of colors and shapes.
September 5, 2025 at 2:34 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds - The early morning light brings the birds to the bath. One of those is not a sparrow...
Four birds stand on the edge of a shallow stone bird bath, light from the left by early morning sunlight. Three are clearly sparrows, but the fourth is red - it's a female cardinal joining a sparrow party already in progress.
September 5, 2025 at 2:04 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds - Three snapshots of the same Blue Jay getting into and using the bird-bath. Yes - it looks like mange - but this is late season molt.
A Blue Jay, lit from behind by the morning light arrives at a shallow stone bird-bath. You can tell it is in "molt", because the feathers around the head look all weird and crazy (and missing) and the other feathers look really fresh, clean and new. Background is a garden and a wooden fence. A Blue Jay faces the morning sun, and is showing how soft the feathers on the belly are - as it stands in a shallow stone bird-bath. The feathers on its head look unusual - they are growing in - and stand out in the light. This is an abstract image of a Blue Jay splashing n a shallow stone bird-bath. It's speed blurs it's feathers, and especially the head - as the camera is too slow to "freeze" the motion.
September 5, 2025 at 1:59 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#astronomy #TCrB With just my cellphone a few minutes ago, here's Polaris and Kolchab with some mild cloudiness. Heavily edited to make it more clear. (I'm practicing for when T Corona Borealis goes boom - it will be about as bright at these two stars. Right now it's invisible to my cameras.)
A dark sky with some thin clouds. Two separate stars (the brightest ones in the view) are labelled with their names. The image was created/edited on my cellphone.
September 3, 2025 at 4:37 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds - This is a Gray Catbird - it rarely comes to the birdbath - haven't seen one in over a year.
August 19, 2025 at 2:33 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds Eastern Downy Woodpecker (presumably female - no red spot on the back of the head). I saw one in a tree a couple of days ago - and now it's visiting the birdbath! (First time ever getting an image of this bird. It's never come to the birdbath before!)
August 19, 2025 at 2:31 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds The Grackle is still waiting for it's feathers to grow in - either that or else many of them near my house are going through this stage at the same time. It's almost like some kind of zombie movie.
A Grackle (black bird with iridescent feathers stands in the middle of a shallow stone bird-bat set in a garden. It's feathers around it's head are all gone - so it almost looks like some kind of zombie. The rest of the feathers are fine - so it's clearly "just a phase".
August 12, 2025 at 1:13 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds A Mourning Dove sits on the edge.
A grey-colored Mourning Dove (black spots showing on the wings) stands on the edge of the shallow stone birdbath, with a garden in the background.
August 12, 2025 at 1:09 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds Robins and House Sparrows sometimes share the birdbath and sometimes they don't.
The image is a close-up view of a robin, standing in the birdbath. It's yellow beak is wide open facing (threatening) a house sparrow just trying to land on the edge of the birdbath. The sparrow is all a blur of wings and feathers.
August 12, 2025 at 1:07 AM
matthewparis.bsky.social
#birds Sparrows in the bath. I can't keep count. Can you?
August 10, 2025 at 9:18 PM