By Lambert Strether of Corrente.
Patient readers, July 4 on a Tuesday throws this whole “three day weekend” concept out of whack. So I am going to pretend today is a day off — maybe, for you, it is! — and make today’s Water Cooler an open thread. Tomorrow, I will do a full Water Cooler, and you can peruse it after your lunchtime consumption of grilled meats or meat-like substances, accompanied by beverages. Talk amongst yourselves!
Bird Song of the Day
Florida Scrub-Jay, Lyonia Preserve, Volusia, Florida, United States.
“Annual Florida scrub-jay watch rallies volunteers in Central Florida” [Orlando Sentinel]. “The 360-acre Lyonia Preserve is part of a tract of land that was set aside for education in the mid-1800s. In 1990, [Stephen] Kintner was part of the Volusia County team that warded off a shopping-center development and ensured the long-term preservation of this land, which he said Deltona has adopted as its ‘Central Park.’ It’s an important part of the conservation picture for the Florida scrub-jay, a species that numbers about 60 individuals in 20 families within the preserve. Over a period of two weeks, Kintner joined fellow volunteers in contributing to a statewide Jay Watch through Audubon Florida, which rallies volunteers on about 46 sites through mid-July to take a population snapshot of the state’s only endemic bird….. ‘They have facial recognition and they will not forgive you for six months if you do something bad to them,’ Kintner said. Luckily, he’s been on their good side for quite some time.” • Neat project!
Contact information for plants: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) here. From EMM:
EMM writes: “A few trees here.”
Readers: Water Cooler is a standalone entity not covered by the annual NC fundraiser. So if you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn’t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I’m on the right track with coverage. When I get no donations for five or ten days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:
Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:
If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!
