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va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
@va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
18 followers 16 following 450 posts
Waterloo (Canada) or Wellington (Aotearoa)

🌉 bridged from ⁂ https://mastodon.nz/@va2lam, follow @ap.brid.gy to interact
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va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
Patrick Lam :tinoflag: @va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy · 22d
A windy day, but with excellent visibility, on Angelus Peak, this past Sunday. #NelsonLakes

That was the first time I climbed it on this trip, but not the last! #aotearoa
Angelus Lake prominent in the centre of this photo on a pretty windy, partly cloudy day with lots of sunshine. Mountains abound. There is a hut which you can barely see on the shores of the lake.
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
So I'm in the gondola at Le Massif (ski resort 100km east of Québec City) and there was this guy from France who'd moved to rural Québec, on the other side of the St. Laurent from where we were.

We were talking about how many French from France there were in Montréal and he was saying, jokingly […]
Original post on mastodon.nz
mastodon.nz
December 31, 2025 at 11:07 PM
Reposted by Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
phil-stevens.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
Earlier this week I went down to our nearby bush remnant with my neighbour who's a mad keen wildlife photographer to spend some time with this ruru family. We hung out for about 45 minutes just ahead of dusk and watched as pop brought snacks about every couple of […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]
A ruru youngster with some downy fuzz still showing on its head, perched on a branch and lifting its wings in a shrug. Young ruru, about six weeks, standing on dead wood in front of a hollow tree. Staring directly at the camera. Adult male ruru perched on angled branch and looking directly at the camera. Adult female ruru perched on steeply angled branch and looking at camera.
December 18, 2025 at 7:08 AM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
Outside my window: tūī and pōhutukawa. #birdsnz
A green-blue tūī perched on a stump, in profile. Its white neck tuft is prominent. A pōhutukawa tree (green) with a huge clump of red blossoms taking up much of the frame. This picture was not taken today, but instead on a day without clouds.
December 18, 2025 at 3:39 AM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
Let's post some pictures processed in November on a rainy day in Wellington:

https://patricklam.ca/post/20251202-november-photos/

Selections from Shanghai (pandas at the zoo), New Caledonia, Aotearoa New Zealand, and the Tour du Mont Blanc.
Giant panda in Shanghai Zoo busily eating heaps of bamboo. A fare in New Caledonia where we stayed, in late evening. It is a thatched building made out of dried grasses, with a thatched roof. It is well-lit inside. A temporary light blue lake on the summit plateau of Ruapehu, underneath some rocky cliffs towards Tukino Peak. The sky is a darker blue than the lake and has a couple of clouds. An artistic-looking black and white picture of some pointy peaks in the European Alps, surrounded by clouds underneath, around, and above.
December 15, 2025 at 9:59 PM
Reposted by Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
edent.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
The best thing about the Fediverse is meeting new friends for a drink and bite to eat.

Thanks to
@nifta @Phil_Tanner @va2lam @Kay for making me and @summerbeth feel so welcome 😀

#fedifriends
Six people sat round a table enjoying each others' company.
December 12, 2025 at 1:03 AM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
As I've been writing the thread about climbing Angelus Peak 3 times in 3 days, sometimes I've been looking out the window at the blooming pōhutukawa tree. I don't know if I've ever seen quite so many tūī at once. More than a half dozen? Usually they're kind of territorial. I also think it's […]
Original post on mastodon.nz
mastodon.nz
December 11, 2025 at 3:21 AM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
A windy day, but with excellent visibility, on Angelus Peak, this past Sunday. #NelsonLakes

That was the first time I climbed it on this trip, but not the last! #aotearoa
Angelus Lake prominent in the centre of this photo on a pretty windy, partly cloudy day with lots of sunshine. Mountains abound. There is a hut which you can barely see on the shores of the lake.
December 10, 2025 at 1:15 AM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
... and the winner in the Alpine Nature category in the Wellington Section New Zealand Alpine Club photocomp, by me, Prancing Foal and Mare, July 2025, around Mount Olympus (Greece) between Agios Antonios and Skolio.
Two horses on rocky terrain: a white mare front, and a brown foal back. Mountain slopes behind, with a darker slope in the shade and a sunlit slope further back. We are well above treeline and there is not much vegetation visible.
December 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
number 2 in the Alpine Activity category at the Wellington Section New Zealand Alpine Club photo competition, by me: Above the Summit Plateau, Ruapehu. September, 2025.
A person walking across the snow carrying skis on his back. Some peaks of Ruapehu behind him, also covered in snow, with clearly defined shadows.
December 4, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Reposted by Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
dangillmor.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
I've been fanboy of technology for decades. All those years of following and writing about it never changed that.

But while I could always appreciate, and often celebrate, the achievements of some of the people who created things, I was never a fan of their industry. Its growth and power came […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 28, 2025 at 4:39 AM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
RE: https://xoxo.zone/@mathowie/115618473326719905

That last part about rats is particularly relevant to Predator Free 2050 and Aotearoa, though rats aren't on the hit list at the moment. I only know of Alberta that has managed to eradicate rats, and it gets help from geography.
mathowie.xoxo.zone.ap.brid.gy Matthew Haughey @mathowie.xoxo.zone.ap.brid.gy · Nov 26
Super interesting summary of recent Rapa Nui/Easter Island research:
1. Statues were carved and excavated all around the source volcano without hierarchy
2. The “walking” hypothesis of transporting statues using ropes/rocking was how they moved to final spots
3. Deforestation wasn’t done by […]
Original post on xoxo.zone
xoxo.zone
November 26, 2025 at 11:42 PM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
I was reading the Wikipedia page about bánh mi and found that there is a Thanksgiving bánh mi: bánh mì gà tây has cranberry aioli sauce, turkey, and pickled green beans... (https://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%A1nh_m%C3%AC_Vi%E1%BB%87t_Nam)
Bánh mì Việt Nam – Wikipedia tiếng Việt
vi.wikipedia.org
November 25, 2025 at 5:07 AM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
Today's #birdsnz drama: kākā comes to land on the roof outside my window (this never happens) and then immediately gets driven off by a black bird, which could be a blackbird (more common) but by behaviour more likely to be a tūī...
November 24, 2025 at 11:10 PM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
Here we go again, eh. It was nice to actually have a submission supporting a change, but that was for a government 8000 miles away. This submission opposes the NZ Fast-Track Approvals Amendment Bill. #nzpol

https://patricklam.ca/post/20251116-submission-fast-track-amendment-bill/

I did not […]
Original post on mastodon.nz
mastodon.nz
November 16, 2025 at 10:17 PM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
[fake dead bird?]

This was kind of weird at Quartz Lake in Whitehorse. I don't think it's a real dead bird? Or at least, it's tied to the birdhouse?
Looks like a birdhouse made of coroplast corrugated plastic, black with yellow and purple paint, a couple of flowers (yellow and pink), and something that may or may not actually be a bird hanging upside down off the front. More zoomed-in view of the thing that could be a dead bird, with frost on its belly and eye. It does look pretty realistic.
November 13, 2025 at 3:01 AM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
October photos post. I did not do a very good job of selecting only good pictures for the post and put 200 photos there.

https://patricklam.ca/post/20251101-october-photos/

I'll have to do better here, though we'll see how far I can get before I leave for a […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]
Ngauruhoe (who has played Mount Doom in a movie) stands behind a ridge of Ruapehu in the early morning. The sky is orange and purple, and the maunga's snowcap is also purple/pink, with darker brown below. Has the classic pointy volcano shape with a crater atop. An azure-winged magpie in the grass in Shanghai. It has a black head, is carrying a stick in its beak, and has an otherwise white body, with, well, azure wings and especially tail. Portage & Main is described as "Winnpeg's iconic intersection" on the City of Winnipeg's webpage. For many years it was notoriously unfriendly to anyone not in a car. In this picture from 2023 you can see many traffic lanes each way and a guy passing through on a bicycle. He doesn't seem to fit in. I hear it's better now. A brown mule in the Italian Alps is loaded down with a bunch of red dry bags. It's standing around in the grass tied to a post. It is accompanied by its person standing nearby.
November 7, 2025 at 2:06 AM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
Reading on the buttondown blog an interview with Jenny Zhang:

> Y'all are keeping the dream alive that it's possible to have a viable business where you just make something useful for the people who need it, without falling prey to hypergrowth or any of the other nonsense financial incentives […]
Original post on mastodon.nz
mastodon.nz
November 3, 2025 at 8:57 PM
Reposted by Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
jfmezei.mstdn.ca.ap.brid.gy
After the speech, peopkle went home which became a huge logistical challenge for the STM with that many peopkle trying to take the metro at either Bonaventure or Square Victoria. (I took train home and walked towards Lucien L'allier, bypassing the huge lineups to […]

[Original post on mstdn.ca]
November 2, 2025 at 8:38 PM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
So many hihi/stitchbird out at Zealandia yesterday! There were 6 of them at the feeder. #birdsnz
A small flashy borb with a black head (with white feathers standing out from the back of the head), yellow necklace, and then a white chest. Wings are black and yellow. The borb is perched on a branch and wearing a green band on one leg and two red bands on the other one. A different individual is facing the other way on a branch, but also black, yellow, and white. This one has yellow bands.
November 1, 2025 at 10:19 PM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
Was North of 60 for a few days recerting my Wilderness First Responder (now on my way back to Vancouver where I'll be for 8 hours). Saw this Rusty Blackbird this morning. #whitehorse #birds
A bird stares at the camera while wading in shallow water. Dark brown crowned head, then lighter brown, except for a black eyeband. Spotted grey and black below with a blue-ish tail.
October 27, 2025 at 8:36 PM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
Well, there is lots of time where one might try to observe aurora; sunrise is 9am. Current local time 753am.
Pre-dawn view from my hotel room in Whitehorse. Parking lot with a couple of cars and road visible to the right.
October 23, 2025 at 2:56 PM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
? (University of Waterloo campus)
A person in a T-Rex inflatable costume is about to enter the library.
October 20, 2025 at 8:14 PM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
hey @Daveography I was looking over some pictures and found this azure-winged magpie that I photographed in Shanghai earlier this year; picture came out surprisingly well. #birds
A small bird holding a smaller branch in its beak, sitting on the ground among the grass. Its head is fashionably black, with grey underparts and azure wings.
October 12, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Reposted by Patrick Lam :tinoflag:
erininthemorning.com
Good news for transgender people at MIT.

Unlike some prestigious universities, MIT has defied the Trump administration and refused its attempt to pressure the university into banning transgender people from bathrooms.

The latest from reporter S. Baum.

Subscribe to support our journalism.
MIT Rejects Trump’s Bid to Institute Trans Bathroom, Athletics Ban
“A government that can reward colleges and universities for speech it favors today can punish them for speech it dislikes tomorrow.”
www.erininthemorning.com
October 10, 2025 at 7:54 PM
va2lam.mastodon.nz.ap.brid.gy
I posted this last weekend but didn't get around to a Mastodon thread about it. Here we go. I definitely processed fewer pictures in September than previous months, but here are pictures from Athens, Lima, Estonia, and Canada. There will be some Aotearoa content […]

[Original post on mastodon.nz]
Turg Market near the train station in Tallinn, Estonia, with a gate festooned with colourful flowers and also macarons, which is obviously what you need from a market. Delicious Greek tomatoes and also cilantro being sold on the street in Athens. Not just red, but also somehow more tasty than tomatoes in North America (and New Zealand). A street vendor in Athens (not Grenoble) with a huge pile of what I think are walnuts, and then possibly almonds to the left. At a market in Lima, Peru, where a stall is selling mirrors. The mirror in the middle of the picture shows a reflection of a bicycle.
October 9, 2025 at 10:24 PM