The US Fish & Wildlife Service has a feather atlas to help people ID North American birds.

It’s not perfect as they may only have feathers from one or two individuals, and like people birds of the same species aren’t all identical. But it’s still a good resource. Plus it has an Identify My Feather feature that’s fun and interesting to use.

Moonlight Rabbits looks adorable. I’ve never played Steam games before (just don’t get my computer out much), but this one is tempting me to start

Your hard work paid off, these look really nice! I have a U shaped garden and used stone pavers to make the path in the middle, but the grass is still growing in between. Maybe I’ll plan to switch to mulch.

Sounds like your clocks aren’t set to cat time. Better check if they’re on the right time zone or if they need new batteries.

Uh oh. Were you 1 minute late with dinner again?

I like the visual interest those red leaf plants add

Look at that sweet innocent face! I just want to boop his widdle pink nose

That’s really smart! And probably less stressful for you and her. My cat used to play fetch on the stairs when he was younger. Now at 17 he just watches it roll down the steps, then stares at me until I go get it.

I didn’t mind the projectile part, probably because they never got me. It is pretty acidic and eventually stains an area no matter how much you clean.

When dry the feathers feel smooth, but not really oily. If you’ve ever pet a duck it’s pretty similar.

I did have an African penguin almost knock me into the pool once. It was nesting season and he tried to take my radio’s antenna. While it was clipped on my belt and I was crouched down scrubbing the edge of the pool. Luckily I regained my balance and he found a real stick to take instead.

Yeah they definitely look worse for the wear during the molt. Also, having taken care of penguins before, they have waaay more feathers than you think they would.

Not owl-specific, but interestingly penguins go through what’s called a “catastrophic molt” where they replace all their feathers in a short period of time (a few weeks to a month).

This is because they need their feathers to insulate them in the water. Typical bird molting, which lets most birds replace feathers without losing their ability to fly, would be like swimming with a leaky wetsuit for the penguins. This would force the penguins to burn too many calories just to stay warm. Instead they eat extra food leading up to the molt, then mostly stay on land and live off their fat reserves until the molt is finished.

If you made it this far, thanks for reading my bird nerd tangent lol

That smile made me smile

“Who dares disturb my slumber?”

It’s like an i spy book

And more penguin species live outside the Antarctic region than in it

I find the school’s claim to be a lazy cop-out. My child’s school is K-12, and I recently had to go through a whole paperwork process to give my 3rd grader permission to check out middle school level books.

Poor, long-suffering baby! Obviously needs more balls to lose and an automatic ball retriever

From the original court filing: “Defendant would show that any injuries or illnesses alleged to have been sustained by Plaintiff, Mary Doe [the 9 year old girl], were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s own fault and negligence, were proximately caused by Plaintiff’s use of the compromised lavatory, which she knew or should have known contained a visible and illuminated recording device.”

American Airlines is passing the blame to their “outside legal counsel.”

Parentheses and emphasis are mine.

That’s an amazing idea. Have you looked for any local organizations or after-school programs you could connect with? Or even a local school’s tech program. I bet they’d love to have you in as a guest to do a project with the kids. My kid’s school has local experts come in to do week- or month-long projects with a class. Doesn’t solve your job dilemma but if you’re finding fulfillment outside of work it may not matter.

English word: curmudgeon or cattywampus

French word: hippopotame