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sunballer.bsky.social
sunballer 🐦‍⬛📚💙
@sunballer.bsky.social
220 followers 190 following 320 posts
Birds, books, art, politics.

I’m a librarian. Want book recs? I mainly read horror, some sci-fi, and a smattering of non-fiction.

Ex-Expat, wishing I’d never come back to the US, but here and fighting back as best I can. 栃木県に心が残された。
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sunballer.bsky.social
WIP

#GreenHeron #birds #wip
An acrylic painting of a Green Heron on a small white canvas. The brush strokes are fairly large in the chest, and smaller on the head. The bird is facing the right and has a reddish brown chest, a beige/grey belly, dark grey wings, a bright yellow eye, and a blue/green crest. The beak is like and grey with a bit of yellow at the base of it.
November 18, 2025 at 11:08 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
Such a cute little fella 🥹

#birds #piedbilledgrebe
A Pied-Billed Grebe is swimming in a pond. It is a small water bird with a short, pointed bill. The bird is various shades of brown, with darker upper parts and a lighter colored breast, throat and cheeks. The bird is facing the right. The water around it is an olive green shade in the light.
November 15, 2025 at 1:43 AM
sunballer.bsky.social
The jays were not pleased about our backyard visitor.

#RedTailedHawk #BlueJay #birds
November 7, 2025 at 10:13 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
Idk

#birds #doublecrestedcormorant
A four panel comic I drew of two double crested cormorants. They are sitting side by side on a curved branch overlooking a green pond. The first panel features one bird saying “I kind of want to draw a comic, but idk what to draw.” The other bird is gular fluttering. The second panel is a close up of the gular fluttering bird’s face saying “huh, isn’t anything fine?” The third panel shows both birds with their mouths closed and the first bird to speak says “oh… really?” while looking towards each other. The final panel shows both birds gular fluttering and saying nothing with their mouths open again.
November 7, 2025 at 6:43 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
Oh, happy Mallard Monday 🦆

#mallardmonday #birding
A close-up shot of a male mallard’s head. He is in profile view facing the right. His head is bright green, but the way the light catches on his cheek makes a bit of blue iridescence visible. His bill is bright yellow. There is a small white line on his neck separating where the green color ends and the browns of his back and belly begin. The background is totally blurred, but the roots of a tree going into a pond are somewhat visible.
October 27, 2025 at 4:37 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
I was pretty shocked to see a wood duck in the middle of our busy park 🪶

#WoodDuck
A male Wood Duck is swimming in a pond. The water appears green to pale yellow in the sunlight. The duck has a white and orange bill, red eyes, an elaborate green crest with white markings, a purple neck and chest and a beige side. His wings appear black in this photo with only a sliver of blue visible on the top of them.
October 26, 2025 at 3:30 AM
sunballer.bsky.social
I spent my lunch break trying to read under a tree that this blue jay was hammering open nuts in

#birds #BlueJay
A Blue Jay is perched on a branch with a nut in its mouth. It’s facing towards the right, and since the photo was taken from underneath the bird, very little of its blue color is visible.
October 17, 2025 at 1:56 AM
sunballer.bsky.social
I went to the zoo today. The Cape Vultures are ridiculously pretty 🪶

#CapeVulture
A Cape Vulture is standing on a broken piece of wood. The bird is almost entirely white, but its primaries are black. Its tail feathers are also black. The bird has no feathers on its neck or head, save for some long whisky white feathers on the back of its head. It’s skin is pale grey. It’s beak ends in a sharp downward point. Its eyes are yellow-orange. In this picture, its wings are slightly outstretched. The photo was taken just before the bird took flight.
October 17, 2025 at 1:29 AM
sunballer.bsky.social
Brown Thrashers are such cool birds. They were “tsk”ing all around us as we took measurements of this one.

All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s BBL.

#birds #BrownThrasher #birdbanding
A photo of a Brown Thrasher being held by me in bander’s grip. The bird has a brown-rufous back and wings, a cream colored belly with brown stripes or dots down it and a bright yellow eye. The bright yellow eye tells us that this is an after-hatch-year bird. In the back ground a table with bird banding tools are visible.
September 29, 2025 at 12:32 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
I can’t decide if I should say this is done or if I should add in anything in the background/fix the wing shape a bit more
#wip #birds
A stylized acrylic painting of a White-Eyed Vireo against a bright blue background. The bird has a yellow to grey head, a white throat, a yellow belly and an olive to grey colored back. It has white-ish wing bars and the primaries have yellow-green edges. The bird’s beak is grey and its eyes are white with a tint of blue. The tail is dark grey with bright yellow-green. The legs are dark grey. The painting has a black outline and the eye is larger than it would be on an actual bird. A bookshelf is barely visible behind the painting.
September 26, 2025 at 1:18 AM
sunballer.bsky.social
Anyway, here’s a wrench checking out the birdbath cam from the other day

#birds #CarolinaWren
September 23, 2025 at 6:52 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
Kites have the goofiest faces

#mississippikite #birds
A Mississippi Kite is perched in a tree. The kite is looking down towards the camera resulting in it looking somewhat perplexed. The bird is mostly grey with darker grey wings and red eyes. A Mississippi Kite is perched in a tree. The kite is looking straight forward, but the photo was taken from almost underneath the bird. The bird is mostly grey with darker grey wings and red eyes. A Mississippi Kite is perched in a tree. The kite is looking down towards the camera resulting in it looking somewhat perplexed. The bird is mostly grey with darker grey wings and red eyes. In this photo one of the birds legs is also visible. It is bright orange.
September 18, 2025 at 7:18 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
I’ve never seen a Muscovy this color before. My daughter desperately wanted to say hello to it

#birds
A Muscovy Duck is standing in some grass next to a pond at a neighborhood park. The duck is light grey. A second Muscovy is in the background off to its left. That one is black with a white throat and face.
September 18, 2025 at 7:12 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
The world is a lot, so here, have a hummingbird!

#birds
A hummingbird, possibly a juvenile male ruby-throated hummingbird or an adult female, is flying over a section of Turk’s Cap flowers. The flowers are bright red-orange in this lighting. The bird has a white throat, an emerald green back, and various shades of brown to green mixed in. It has a spot of white just above its eye. The wings are moving too fast for the camera to focus on and are just a blur.
September 17, 2025 at 3:20 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
Hummingbirds are migrating right now and the park I frequent is absolutely full of Turk’s Cap, making it a refueling station.

#birds #hummingbird
A hummingbird is perched on a branch. This is either a female ruby-throated hummingbird or a juvenile male I believe. The bird is looking towards the right. The background is out of focus but you can see light diffusing through green leaves.
September 9, 2025 at 2:18 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
Banded, measured, and released! A 3rd year (I believe) Red-Bellied Woodpecker. Super cute.

All banding, marking, and sampling is being conducted under a federally authorized Bird Banding Permit issued by the U.S. Geological Survey’s BBL.

#birds #RedBelliedWoodpecker #woodpecker
A photo of my hand holding a male Red-Bellied Woodpecker. The bird’s mouth is open, and the band on his leg is visible. He has a bright red crown, a cream colored belly, and black and white wings. The background is a wooded area with a gravel road further back.
September 5, 2025 at 4:33 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
I got to help band birds today!!
I saw a few new lifers as well

#birds #TraillsFlycatcher #AlderFlycatcher #WillowFlycatcher
A photo of a flycatcher in my hand after it was banded but before taking measurements. The bird is mostly gray with white and cream underneath and white/cream wing bars. There is a cream colored eye ring as well. In the background a table is visible with an identification guide open on it. Some pliers and banding supplies are sitting on top of it. A phone is next to it. This particular individual’s measurements were in between Willow Flycatcher and Alder Flycatcher, so not sure which it was!
August 30, 2025 at 1:52 AM
sunballer.bsky.social
I, uh, get The Onion in the mail and it’s too fucking real lol

#epa #theonion #politics #environtment #satire ?
A photo of a page from the most recent physical issue of The Onion. This page features an article titled “EPA To Monarch Butterflies: ‘Count Your Fucking Days’” with a picture of a monarch butterfly on some flowers.Below that it reads: “VOW MADE TO MUNT DOWN EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE SHITS” Underneath the article is a fake advertisement for a movie that reads: “ONN STUDIOS PRESENTS JEFFREY EPSTEIN: BAD PEDOPHILE COMING SOON” Half of Epsteins face is visible on the far right side of the advertisement. The other half of his face is in deep shadow. The ad is in black, white and green only.
August 27, 2025 at 1:13 AM
sunballer.bsky.social
Finished “The Faceless Thing We Adore” last night and it might be my favorite read of the year! Cults, cosmic horror, and feminine rage = 💕

#booksky #TheFacelessThingWeAdore #books #cosmichorror #horrorlit
A photo of the copy of The Faceless Thing We Adore that I had checked out from my library. It’s a bright pink book with a purple “face” on it that appears to be breaking apart into butterflies or perhaps just swirling about. The author is Hester Steel. The book is sitting on top of a purple blanket.
August 26, 2025 at 6:11 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
😪

#yellowcrownednightheron #birds #herons
A juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is resting its eyes in the evening sun. The bird is standing on some rocks that make up part of a creek bed. Its eyes are closed and it has one wing partially extended. I took this picture from the parking lot behind my work. There are two juvenile yellow-crowneds there every day lately. Sometimes I see one of the adults too.
August 26, 2025 at 5:02 AM
sunballer.bsky.social
#wip #birds
An acrylic painting of a White-Eyed Vireo that I am working on. It’s a mostly yellow bird, with green olive throughout, dark grey colored wings with white wing bars. The throat and neck area is mainly white. Its head is grey with a bright yellow mask that fades into it. The bird’s eyes are white. I’ve painted the background blue. On the edges of the photo you can see some of my messy supplies, a bag, and the floor. I haven’t painted in a while. Just was trying to have fun while doing so this time!
August 25, 2025 at 1:33 AM
sunballer.bsky.social
Western or Eastern Kingbird? I’m in the overlap zone… leaning towards Western

#birds #birdID #kingbird #WesternKingbird #EasternKingbird ?
A Kingbird is perched on a branch with a few wispy leaves. The bird has a black head and back, with what appears to be a white throat/cheek and underbelly. The sky is completely overcast in this photo.
August 22, 2025 at 7:35 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
😠
#birds #muscovy #ducklings
A yellow Muscovy duckling is standing on some brick pavers against the grass. Its parents are just out of frame. The duckling is yellow with a gray bill and orange feet. Because it is facing forward, it appears a little angry.
August 20, 2025 at 8:17 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
Big gulp for a little heron 🦞

#yellowcrownednightheron #birding #heron
An adult Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is standing in grass with a crayfish in its mouth. The crayfish appears to be holding on to the lower bill. An adult Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is standing in grass with a crayfish in its mouth. In this photo it is about to swallow it whole. The bird’s bright orange iris is clearly visible in this photo.
August 20, 2025 at 8:15 PM
sunballer.bsky.social
I came across a sleepy night heron

#YellowCrownedNightHeron #Birds #herons
A Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is roosting in a tree. Its eyes are half-closed and its neck isn’t visible at all.
August 8, 2025 at 8:26 PM