Melissa Fitzpatrick
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melissafitz.bsky.social
Melissa Fitzpatrick
@melissafitz.bsky.social
760 followers 820 following 260 posts
Words in Five South, Flash Fiction Online, Atlas + Alice, Lunch Ticket, Flash Fiction Magazine, Roi Faineant, and elsewhere.
Website: https://melissa-fitzpatrick.com/
Substack: https://melissafitz.substack.com
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melissafitz.bsky.social
It’s been a tough few weeks with my mom back and forth between hospital and nursing facility. But gosh, do I ever love jacaranda season.
A street in Los Angeles lined with purple blooming jacaranda trees. A street lined with brilliant purple jacarandas, with the Hollywood Hills in the distance. A jacaranda tree blooming behind a partially graffitied fence. A jacaranda blooming on the sude of the road. Skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles in the distance.
May 27, 2025 at 2:16 AM
melissafitz.bsky.social
So much of bird photography is getting shots that could have been good except for that leaf/branch/wire/whatever.

Oh well. Spotting a Townsend’s warbler always makes my day!
A black and yellow bird perched on a branch. Would have been a decent shot if not fir the leaf obscuring its face.
March 29, 2025 at 4:26 PM
melissafitz.bsky.social
I wrote (and drew) a bit about grieving all that’s been lost in the L.A. wildfires. The full piece is up on my substack melissafitz.substack.com/p/all-this-l...
Image: Palm trees silhouetted against fiery sky. Text: It has bern a horrific couple of weeks in Los Angeles, with devastating fires in Altadena and Pacific Palisades. Image: Hand holding a cell phone with news of the fires. Text: The news coverage of the Palisades fire has often focused on the wealth of the community, and the celebrities who live there.
January 18, 2025 at 9:46 PM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Having fun learning to use Procreate
Dec 26. The past few weeks have left me feeling depleted, so I was happy to escape for a morning of birding at San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. (Toyon branch illustration). The toyon were bursting with plump berries, a winter feast for Cedar waxwings and white-crowned sparrows. (Vermilion flycatcher illustration) We don’t get too many red birds here, so spotting a Vermilion flycatcher is always a treat. This is the fourth winter I’ve seen one at this location. It felt like running into a dear old friend.
December 28, 2024 at 5:36 AM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Christmas morning double rainbow at the Children’s Pool, La Jolla, California, 2019. View of small beach, enclosed by a jetty, and the ocean beyond. There’s a lifeguard station above the beach. A bright rainbow appears to end in the ocean, and a fainter rainbow is also visible. A pelican is soaring across the rainbows.
November 12, 2024 at 3:08 PM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Had a much-needed morning of birding yesterday. This northern harrier gave me a glance back as it flew by.
Northern harrier in flight
November 10, 2024 at 1:45 PM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Gonna go look for some birds to photograph, then take this guy to agility class
Cattle dog x border collie mix, eagerly looking at camera, waiting for his turn at agility class.
November 9, 2024 at 2:54 PM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Dog lying on back looking off to the side with tongue out.
November 11, 2023 at 4:17 AM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Finding a surprise* during fall migration is the best. Even better is when it poses in such a pretty spot!

* In this case, a Virginia’s warbler
A Virginia’s warbler, a small grey bird with a white eye-ring and muted yellow patch on chest. It’s surrounded by bright yellow wild sunflowers.
September 30, 2023 at 10:52 PM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Drop something blue from your gallery. 💙
California scrub jay with bright blue feathers on head and shoulders, black beak and mask, bright white throat. The bird is perched in a toyon bush full of red berries.
September 28, 2023 at 5:33 PM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Goldfinch with wild sunflowers
September 13, 2023 at 4:13 AM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Roseate spoonbill swishing its bill in the water. It’s just flipped up a small invertebrate, thats in the air by the spoonbill’s eye.
September 9, 2023 at 3:21 AM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Two ravens perched on a fence. They are both looking at the camera. One raven is crowing. The other is leaning in as if telling the first raven a secret.
September 8, 2023 at 4:02 AM
melissafitz.bsky.social
I mostly take pictures of birds, but once in a blue moon I’ll point my camera elsewhere.
Photo of full moon with some details seen. A moon atlas tells me dark areas have such names as “Sea of Tranquility” and “Ocean of Storms.” Some light-colored specks are craters. The scattering of light specks make the moon look as if it is sparkling.
August 31, 2023 at 4:45 AM
melissafitz.bsky.social
Hello! Thank you to @karaoakleaf.bsky.social for the invite. I’m looking forward to connecting here (and hopefully clicking that depressing “X” less and less)
August 16, 2023 at 2:37 PM