Lyn Heideman
@heidelyn.bsky.social
1.2K followers 1.4K following 2.5K posts
I'm only here for the birds. And, as it turns out, what's good for birds is good for people, too.
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heidelyn.bsky.social
Trump is a coward who wraps himself in the trappings of a strongman. We're majestic, fearless eagles. We've got this. #birds
Trump recoiling, scared of a bald eagle. Source: Time Magazine
heidelyn.bsky.social
...using their 9 1/2-ft wings to explore the area and finding safe ledges to roost on at night, safe from ground predators. Milagra, released last year, has also been seen in the area with her flock. Photos & video from the event: peregrinefund.org/help-condors. #birds #condors
California Condor #1254 saw a flock of wild Condors flying around the enclosure and raced out to join them on Sep. 27. The other 4 Condors waited until the thunderstorms passed and flew out on Sep. 29. (Video courtesy of The Peregrine Fund)
heidelyn.bsky.social
Update on the California Condor release at Vermilion Cliffs, AZ: 4 of the 5 stayed put on Sep. 27, likely sensing looming thunderstorms. The 4 took off on Sep. 29 and have been observed by @theperegrinefund.bsky.social ground team, who report the birds are becoming more experienced at...
heidelyn.bsky.social
The science is fascinating...what it can do for your yard is transformative...you'll be helping to address the collapse of insect populations...and pretty much all you need to do is let the leaves fall. Here are some tips: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/r... (gift). 🌎 #gardens #gardening
Why Leaving the Leaves Is Better for Your Yard
www.nytimes.com
heidelyn.bsky.social
By doing nothing you can do good: leave the leaves!

Let those autumn leaves fall where they may, providing habitat for bugs, offering havens and food (those bugs) for wildlife, and nourishing plants and soil as they decompose.
heidelyn.bsky.social
Royal #Albatross spend the vast majority of their lives at sea, keeping aloft on ocean wind currents and updrafts. A chick on New Zealand's Taiaroa Head put on an impressive display for a first flight, instinctively knowing how to hover in place--without a single wingbeat--as the wind streams past.
heidelyn.bsky.social
New California Condor nest cam from @cornellbirdcams.bsky.social: The nest is on a cliff face in the Bitter Creek National Wildlife Refuge in SoCal. The parents are 20+ year-old #condors #328 (male) and #216 (female). The chick (#1379) is 156 days old, weighs >20 lb, and likely fledges in late Oct.
heidelyn.bsky.social
I'll admit to having a cuteness overload reaction to this little bird. Great photo--and I love the way you catch wildlife (and an errant budgie) in scene.
heidelyn.bsky.social
The article noted that the money amounts to $100,000 for each of Greenland's polar bears. So, yeah, likely part of Trump's campaign to (try to) annex Greenland.
heidelyn.bsky.social
This at a time when US's iconic wildlife is endangered or threatened: polar and grizzly bears, gray wolves, more than one-third of bird species, the list goes on.

This also at a time when Trump is slashing humanitarian aid USAID): wapo.st/4ofBnOl (gift).
Trump’s new foreign aid plan eyes $50 million for Greenland’s polar bears
Documents reviewed by The Post show the administration may spend millions to protect vulnerable wildlife, proposals that stunned critics of its moves to gut foreign assistance.
wapo.st
heidelyn.bsky.social
America First? When it's America's wildlife, it's America Last.

Trump is considering spending $50 million in foreign aid to protect polar bears in Greenland and $25 million for snow leopards in Nepal. Parallel US initiatives slash wildlife programs as incompatible with the America First agenda.
heidelyn.bsky.social
I thought they were emphasizing that critical research like this is not being adequately funded, and the researchers are forced to do work in substandard conditions (random rentals). The specificity of AIRBNB made it real. Maybe I overthought it?
heidelyn.bsky.social
To help slow climate change, researchers are trying to redirect the microbes' appetite to the hundreds of millions of tons of methane emitted each year from oil and gas sites, livestock, and wetlands. Similar work is being done on CO2. But it's complicated: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/06/c... (gift). 🌎
The Very Hungry Microbes That Could, Just Maybe, Cool the Planet
www.nytimes.com
heidelyn.bsky.social
Researchers have discovered methane-eating microbes, or methanotrophs, that feast on the potent greenhouse gas. Globally, all of the methanotrophs on the planet are consuming many times the amount of methane that humans are releasing into the atmosphere.

You know where this is going...
heidelyn.bsky.social
...opening more land to coal mining to spark a turnaround for coal.

In contrast, wind and solar energy and battery storage, which Trump actively opposes, are less expensive, more reliable, and far better for the climate: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/o... (gift).

Do we go back or forward? 🌎
Opinion | Trump’s Coal Plan Is Doomed
www.nytimes.com
heidelyn.bsky.social
Coal plants are the dirtiest source of energy. Their technology is from 1882. They're unreliable and inefficient on the modern grid and expensive to run. Nonetheless, Trump is forcing coal plants to stay open, offering $625 million to upgrade plants, cutting pollution limits, and...
heidelyn.bsky.social
And the sounds of the Amazon: severe droughts threaten to disrupt the thunderous symphonies of macaws. Listen: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/03/c... (gift).

Are the Earth and its wildlife screaming for our help? 🌎 #birds
Listen to the Sounds of Climate Change
www.nytimes.com
heidelyn.bsky.social
The sound of climate change isn't silent. Hear the Arctic’s "underwater jungle": as ice shrinks and new predators (including humans) are introduced, the sounds in Arctic waters get louder and stormier. A melting glacier: as glaciers melt, ancient air bubbles create sounds like wailing synthesizers.
heidelyn.bsky.social
Ember (an energy think tank) report: ember-energy.org/latest-insig....

International Energy Agency report: www.iea.org/reports/rene....

Trump trying--and obviously failing--to turn the rest of the world against renewables in UN speech: www.cfr.org/expert-brief.... 🌎
heidelyn.bsky.social
International Energy Agency report: lowered its forecast for US renewable energy growth over the next 5 years by almost 50%.

Much more data summarized here: www.nytimes.com/2025/10/07/c... (gift).

Trump is destroying our public lands, waters, and wildlife for oil/gas/coal--and for what? 🌎
Early Signs of a ‘Turning Point’ as Renewables Edge Out Coal
www.nytimes.com
heidelyn.bsky.social
As the US moves away from addressing climate change, renewables are making big gains in the rest of the world. 2 new reports tell strikingly different stories. Ember report: in the first 6 months of the year, renewables (solar, wind, etc.) generated more electricity than coal for the first time. 🌎
heidelyn.bsky.social
Eggs are being laid and adorable fluffy white chicks hatching now in the Southern Hemisphere. Follow @skh4birdies.bsky.social for a Peregrine nest on a skyscraper Melbourne and another in a water tower in NSW; a nest of gorgeous White-bellied Sea Eagles in Sydney; and more. #raptors
heidelyn.bsky.social
Video by @skh4birdies.bsky.social: www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TCV.... Jackie typically lays eggs in January--followed by amazing displays of fortitude in protecting the eggs during BBV's raging winter storms. #birds #raptors #eagles
FOBBVCAM Eagles🦅Jackie & Shadow Visit 3 Favorite Perches🌲 for Date Night 🌟2025 Oct 4
YouTube video by SK Hideaways
www.youtube.com
heidelyn.bsky.social
Big Bear Valley (BBV) Bald Eagles: After Sunny and Gizmo dispersed, Jackie and Shadow took a 3-month break and are now back in BBV. They've surveyed the damage to the nest, but nestorations are put off for another day as they enjoy each other's company.