Sarah Swanson
LightNews LightNews
banner
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Sarah Swanson
@sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
960 followers 150 following 550 posts
Author of Best Little Book of Birds: the Oregon Coast and Best Little Book of Birds: Cascades and Columbia Gorge🦉
she/her
#birding #embroidery #oregon
Posts Replies Media Videos
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Let’s go birding!
A meme with blond lady in sunglasses talking to an iced latte. She says “you better fix my entire life.” the words “clay-colored sparrow” are superimposed on the latte.
November 15, 2025 at 8:08 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
My two favorite fungi from a rainy forest walk: fluted bird’s nest fungus and honey mushrooms. November in Oregon is wonderful!
Tiny cup-shaped fungi surrounded by green moss. Three yellow mushrooms with a frill on their stems, amidst moss, ferns and dead leaves.
November 14, 2025 at 4:31 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
It’s true, I swear! Not just hoarding the peanut butter cups.
A handwritten sign on the front gate of a yard reads “Our dog hates Halloween. Sorry!” A poorly drawn frowning jack-o’-lantern completes the sign.
November 1, 2025 at 3:21 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
That was great! I always learn something about writing when I listen to Jeff being interviewed.
Jeff VanderMeer, dressed in blue, speaks into a mic in front of a large Powell’s City of Book sign in orange, black and white.
October 25, 2025 at 3:28 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
@powells.bsky.social is fully stocked with my books, including the out-of-print Must-see Birds of the PNW! I’m excited to be here for @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social’s book event.
An assortment of books on a wooden shelf by Sarah Swanson. There are six copies of one that is green with orange letters reading: Cascade Range.
October 25, 2025 at 2:01 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
I love finding my friends’ books at independent bookstores! I hit the jackpot at Paulina Springs Books in Sisters, OR today.
@jeffvandermeer.bsky.social
@rheisman.bsky.social
@kingfisherjourney.bsky.social
@timberpress.bsky.social
Congrats to my friend Tom Myers on his newly released “Birds of the Pacific Northwest For Kids”! A blue book with a Steller’s Jay on the front sits on a shelf next to a pink book with a trillium on it. Jeff VanderMeer’s “Absolution” is out in paperback with some wonderful cover art! A black book with a trippy alligator and other distorted shapes. I strongly recommend my good friend Rebecca’s book, “Flight Paths”, about the fascinating history of the study of bird migration! The cover features a flock of birds against the sky. Marina Richie’s book “Halcyon Journey” is a wonderful read. The cover features a Belted Kingfisher, the subject of the book.
October 20, 2025 at 1:23 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Barking for our rights! #NoKings
A smallish brown dog growls at encroaching authoritarianism. Behind her, a sign in bold black letters on a blue background reads “RISE UP! SPEAK UP!”
October 18, 2025 at 6:45 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Remember when I was using all those blue and green threads? There were many great guesses about what bird I was working on, but no one guessed magpie! I was inspired by a Neko Case song that mentions one.
#embroidery #birds
Embroidery of a magpie in shades of blue and green with black and white accents. It is perched on a juniper branch with tiny blue berries. Embroidered words read: Don’t let this fading summer pass you by.
October 17, 2025 at 6:15 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
It’s maybe my favorite part. (1 of 8 boxes)
It’s not hoarding if there are cute boxes.
Many colors of embroidery thread, wound onto bobbins and organized by color in a plastic box with sections.
September 28, 2025 at 6:09 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
It might be that the part of embroidery that I enjoy the most is picking the colors. Any guesses on which bird I’m working on?
#birds #embroidery
Embroidery threads in greens and teals and blues, wrapped on bobbins and piled in an overlapping manner.
September 14, 2025 at 9:32 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Ironically, this fading summer is indeed passing me by as I procrastinate on this embroidery project.
#birds #embroidery #nekocase
Embroidered text on white fabric in a hoop reads “Don’t let this fading summer pass you by” A somewhat obscured outline of a bird is to the left of the writing.
September 10, 2025 at 6:04 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Strong contender for best bird butt of the year!
Zoomed in photo of downy soft butt of barnacle gosling.
June 26, 2025 at 9:32 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
I recently finished Annihilation by @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social (loved it!) and I am unable to picture the Crawler as anything but a large, lime jello mold with a guy in it. See alt text for support from the text for my jello mold theory.
“It was a series of layers in the shape of an archway. It was a great sluglike monster ringed by satellites of even odder creatures. It was a glistening star.”
May 14, 2025 at 3:47 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Salamander for Jeff
May 7, 2025 at 12:43 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Seen in Tillamook County: wood edition. (Details in alt text)
A wooden spiral staircase casts shadows on a white wall. Made from symmetrical slabs of grayed wood, a little free library looks rustic and welcoming. A piece of art made from burl wood is symmetrical with a jagged top and some holes that suggest the face of a horned lizard. A long-snooted dog (Emma?) peeks through curtains and over a wooden gate. Below is a rough wooden floor.
May 1, 2025 at 1:58 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Seen around Tillamook County, beachy edition. TW: porpoise gore. (Details in alt text)
Looking like someone’s missing thumbprint, a Vellela vellela, a translucent hyrozoqn with a hint of blue rests on the sand where it washed up. A few bubbles of seafoam remain. Rosie the dog, a medium sized, brown terrier mix. She stands happily in the sand with mouth open and ears relaxed. A harbor porpoise, dead by uncertain means, lies on the sand. Its blowhole is a dimple in its rubber skin. The dorsal side of the porpoise is mostly intact, but a peek of exposed flesh betrays the missing open belly, feasted upon by scavengers. Tracks left by eagles in the sand are large and taper to fine talon points. Four of them stood on the beach near the dead porpoise.
May 1, 2025 at 1:45 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Seen around Tillamook County, plants edition. (Details in alt text)
Rattlesnake plantain leaves emerge from pelt lichen upon green moss. The pelt lichen is crusty and gray like peeled paint and the orchid leaves are dark green with a paler central vein. Checker lily in grass. Dark brownish purple flowers droop like dingy lampshades. Lily of the valley carpets the forest floor, grooves and ridges and points and curves in vivid green. Sitka spruce pops off with fresh cones that are too new to be woody and fluorescent green new needle growth.
May 1, 2025 at 1:04 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Seen around Tillamook County, signs edition. (Details in alt text)
A yellow warning sign on the glass door of an antique shop reads: Maintain Social Distancing-Keep One Cow Apart-Protect against infection. A Holstein cow maintains distance between two human symbols. A small sign taped to gold-framed art reads: “Read books. Be kind. Stay weird.” The art is of a kind looking white bunny with perhaps an egg in a backpack beneath a full moon. A Spanish language sign about snowy plovers nesting on the beach and being protected. It is illustrated with a drawing of a plover on a nest in a roped off area by a local student as part of a partnership between state parks, Bird Alliance of Oregon, and local schools. A sign on a narrow residential road reads “SLOW-TH” and features a drawing of a gray and brown sloth face.
May 1, 2025 at 12:52 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Color and texture around PDX. Because birds are hard to photograph with your phone.
Tendrils of moss creep ever closer to the engraving on a grave stone reading: Aged 52 years— At Rest A long-legged bird with a big bill and head plumes is depicted in a quick sketch in white marker on the side of a red train car. Rivets run vertically on either side of the bird. Two stacked ceramic pots with a deep cobalt blue glaze. The pots are ridged in patterns that swirl around them.
April 12, 2025 at 10:12 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
If you find the Ponderosa Pine this puzzle piece fits into, you get to pet a woodpecker. Terms and conditions may apply.
An irregularly shaped, golden piece of pine bark sits on a weathered piece of wood. Dark green moss and neon green lichen have made a home there.
April 6, 2025 at 11:20 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
This feels like it might be a trap…but I really love Cheezits.
An open box of Cheezits lies on the dusty ground. Many Cheezits pour out of it and are strewn about.
April 5, 2025 at 7:15 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
My friend @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social is suffering from some lighthouse-induced psychosis and is spreading spoonbill misinformation. As a birdbook author, I need to say:
1. Baby spoonbills do not look like snowy egrets
2. They don’t *sighs* pupate
3. Spoonbill eggs do not look like seafoam
4. 🤦‍♀️
This is a roseate spoonbill. A large, pink wading bird with sturdy legs and a bill like a spoon. I have seen them use this bill to push ducks off a log. This is a real spoonbill fact!!!
April 5, 2025 at 2:08 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Celebrating 51 birthday birds, even more than I needed. Happy to find Mountain Chickadees and Pygmy Nuthatches at our last stop. Thanks for following my adventure!
A hazy ipa glows in the Central Oregon sunlight.
April 5, 2025 at 12:39 AM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
Forgot to add the last post to this thread but Smith Rock brought us wonderful dry side birds like Golden Eagle, Townsend’s Solitaire, and White-throated Swift. Up to 42 bday birds! #birds 🪶
A gorgeous view of a river snaking through craggy rocks with blue sky beyond.
April 4, 2025 at 10:32 PM
sarahlovesbirds.bsky.social
This Say’s Phoebe along the Deschutes River brought me up to 34 birthday birds, but I am older than that and must keep birding!
A small bird in a tree with sparse green leaves. The sky is bright and cloudless behind it. The bad photo does not show its peachy belly.
April 4, 2025 at 8:50 PM