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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️

@skwinnicki.bsky.social

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · Feb 12

Hi new followers, I’m SK!

Do you know that trope where a character is eaten alive by a dark secret and is forced to publicly confess it? That’s how I feel about every cool fact I learn, and until I can get back to teaching again they’re all coming out here, so buckle up!

Thread of fave posts:

Picture of SK, a pale person with blond hair in a messy braid—a poorly constructed braid not an intentionally messy one, hidden below a ballcap and sunglasses reflecting the Allegheny Plateau forest around me. I'm dressed in a tie-dyed tshirt that says Konza Crew 2017, from my Master's work on grassland sparrows; the shirt includes outlines of a Grasshopper Sparrow, Dickcissel, and Eastern Meadowlark that I drew. I am holding a towhee, a large species of sparrow, in my hand before the bird was released back into the forest. It is hard to tell in the photo but the bird is possibly a bilateral gynandromorph, with black male-type plumage on one side of the body, and brown female-type plumage on the other side of the body.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 13h

I walk by hundreds of people every day as I commute to work. I feel like they’re all fine, just off to their work, and I’m the only one losing it. I have to force myself to remember that to them, I’m also just walking by to work as if I’m fine.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 13h

I feel so alone lately, like everyone’s going about their daily business just fine and I’m the only one freaking out about the state of this country.

This makes me feel less alone, that all these everyday folks are also in the thick of it with me.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 13h

A surprisingly hopeful perspective from a reporter who asked random folks on the east coast how they were doing, learned we’re all having a really bad time, and chose to highlight the shared humanity in that.

Seyward Darby @seywarddarby.bsky.social · 10d

"We’re traveling nearly 2,000 miles on I-95 from Miami to Maine, and pausing at virtually every rest stop. Our project is simple and vast at once: to ask fellow travelers where they’re headed, and where they think America is going too."

New from @atavist.com.

magazine.atavist.com/2025/america...

I’ve Gone to Look for America - The Atavist Magazine

Conversations and revelations about an ailing nation along Interstate 95.

magazine.atavist.com

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 14h

These are the kind of photos that make me wish I were a poet, saying that there's red in the sky just doesn't capture how awe-inspiring it was, but I'm not poetic enough to put it into words!

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 16h

That could be why I don’t hear mine, not a morning person whatsoever haha

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 16h

One year ago tonight was one of the most magical moments of my life ❤️

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · Oct 12

Tired of photos of the mid-latitude aurora on October 10-11? If so, avoid this thread because I finally got a full night's sleep and got my photos onto my computer so I'm sharing them along with my recollections (as an amateur photographer who's never shot space sky before)

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pink and yellow diffuse aurora under the milky way and above some silhouetted grass

pinkish red aurora forming a distinct line above the bright moon, itself above a dark treeline

dark trees with green behind them showing through and red above

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 19h

They're typically a really noisy hawk! Although this one isn't, I wonder if it's because there's so much noise pollution in this urban area it's not worth vocalizing too much.

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Reposted by SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️

David Shiffman, Ph.D. 🦈 @whysharksmatter.bsky.social · 1d

Friends, some advice if you plan on spending time outside in an animal costume, sharing for no particular reason:

-You will sweat a lot more than you think. Have water/snacks

-You cannot move well (the Left Shark guy is a trained experienced professional dancer). Don’t run or you’ll trip and fall.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 20h

It depends on the species and region, but most hawks nest in the spring. I'd expect these ones (and the other residents, like Cooper's) to nest from March-July around here. Our owls nest earlier (Dec-Feb for Great Horned, Feb-Apr for Barred) and eagles start in January.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 21h

Until it's nesting season, then they pummel people!

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 21h

My neighbor Red-shouldered Hawk is so chill. They obviously know me by this point, and aren't fussed at all when I loop around the path over and over, walking right below them.

#birds

Four photos of a relatively squat hawk. It has a brown head, a black-and-white striped tail, a dark brown and white speckled wings, and a white belly with a rusty red color on the chest that becomes red bars farther down on the belly. This is a close-up shot of the bird's head, showing off its warm brown eyes and tiny yellow beak with a black tip.

A full body shot of the hawk, seen from below, you can see a bit of blood on its toes from its last meal.

Same hawk now seen from behind, showing off the dark brown almost black color on its back, along with white and rusty spots that look like dappled sunlight coming through the trees. Also its striped tail.

Another close-up shot of the hawk's face, you can see the intricate rust colors on its shoulders.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 21h

ahhh I'm so happy you got good looks!

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 21h

Did manage to see every Chipping Sparrow in the county though, I think, so there's that

And some fun migrants (Yellow-bellied Sapsucker, Blue-headed Vireo, Chestnut-sided Warbler)

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 21h

No *you* derailed your whole day

because you saw a Clay-colored Sparrow while walking your dog and knew you couldn't report a bird that rare with no evidence beyond your word

so you spent 3 hours searching, trying to get a photo (with no luck)

and now have to work super late on a Friday night

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

Not that I’ve seen so far

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

Our church commissioned a hymn for its 150th anniversary and the writer was inspired by their trans friend who was constantly confronted by people questioning her faith, and it shows 🥹

Screenshot of a notes app, reading: "God never stops creating" by Pax Ressler
Verse 1: I never thought that my life could change, way down in the depths of despair, but God found a way to make me anew and surround me with Her loving care. I know that I'm loved, not despite who I am, but because God created me so. God still speaks, and with my life as proof: God never stops creating, never stops! Creating in you, creating in me!

A second notes screenshot, reading: Verse 2: God teaches us to love everyone, whether stranger or foe, so why wouldn't we choose to love ourselves too, and everyone else that we know? We know that we're loved, not despite who we are, but because God created us so. God still speaks, and with our lives as proof: God never stops creating, God never stops creating. Never stops! God never stops creating, creating, creating!

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

Evening update: owl model is definitely not scaring the squirrels

Pixelated cell phone photo of the white beanie baby owl now on a log near a tray of peanuts. An Eastern gray squirrel sits on the log near the tray, looking at the owl.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

There was definitely a part of me that wanted to, but also (in my experience as a student and a teacher) the best way to learn these things is by getting unexpected results and having to think them through yourself, so I wouldn't want to take that away!

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

Every year I was like "this is the time, I'll finally shake it up with some warm colors" but then I remember that's just not me

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

Of course I use my real name on here, so if anyone needs to know who I am and where I'm at it's all there in my linked website. Something I've valued for awhile (advocating as my full self) but lately feels a little like it was a bad plan. Too late now though huh

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

I haven't done it, so if you've tried to DM me I'm sorry, I don't have access.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

Just last week when I posted about how I hated Ohio's new verification laws (requiring I upload my ID to Bluesky and other sites) people acted like the risk wasn't a big deal.

404 Media @404media.co · 2d

BREAKING: A catastrophic breach has impacted Discord user data including selfies and identity documents uploaded as part of the app’s verification process, email addresses, phone numbers, approximately where the user lives, and much more.

🔗 www.404media.co/the-discord-...

The Discord Hack is Every Users’ Worst Nightmare

A hack impacting Discord’s age verification process shows in stark terms the risk of tech companies collecting users’ ID documents. Now the hackers are posting peoples’ IDs and other sensitive informa...

www.404media.co

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

I think that would've been my junior year, so 11 years ago.

To think, we had a lot of snow just 11 years ago, more than I've seen here in years, amazing how climate changes adjusts your expectations that quickly.

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

I still tried to do it, but a sudden increase in snow obviously changed the foraging strategies as well, since birds suddenly had fewer resources on the landscape. And it made it very hard to reveal a plastic owl (probably also not perceived as a real owl) when we could barely get to the feeders.

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SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

When I was an Intro Animal Behavior student I designed a study where I filled bird feeders and recorded species' interactions at the feeders. Then I intended to reveal a predator model (plastic fake owl) and see how that changed the prey species' interactions. But instead we got 1.5 ft of snow.

SK Winnicki, PhD 🏳️‍⚧️ @skwinnicki.bsky.social · 1d

When I saw a beanie baby owl in a shrub in the urban park behind my house I wondered if someone was trolling me, but then I saw the "Please don't touch, doing science" note an noticed the owl was above a tray of peanuts, with a predator-model-free (owl-less) tray nearby haha

Fluffy white beanie baby owl with large eyes and tiny colorful wings, tucked in the crook of a small sapling so it is over a tray of peanuts.

Half a sheet of notebook paper taped to a tree trunk. In very small, almost unreadable handwriting it says "Please don't touch doing sciences" in blue ink. Definitely could be written larger on the sheet; I had to use binoculars to read it from the path.

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