Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1h

Yup! First time I saw a video of a roadrunner, I was struck by how much they seemed like big wrens. The flashy tail dances, the drama… plus those green-heron like dancing crests? Magnificent!

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 2h

Long tail, full of piss and vinegar…
Checks out.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 2h

I brought home a pocketful of leaves from my walk after work. Mr. Curious checked out the maple leaves for taste, texture and ease of knocking off the table.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 5h

Every cat has their “nope” and he has them. But he loves this! Weirdo. He also loves to play hockey under the bathroom door. Swoops in a toy, awaits return. Swoops it back.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 5h

Funny thing, this cat will bop you for less, but he likes this game. But if I interrupt him mid-meow, especially if I meow even louder than him? Fury.
He’s very odd but kinda fun. My cat doesn’t like the game but she’ll swish her tail at me too. Then if I try this, she just swishes it away.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 5h

This was July, when it was still open for walking or cycling beneath the bridge. It closed in September, with a sign saying it would reopen on October 31st.

A train bridge under construction with scaffolding, fencing and loads of equipment. A paved path passes between fences with pylons.

The signs hung up on the construction fencing around the bridge work.
Saveable text reads:
“GO Maintenance
Construction Notice
Etobicoke Creek Railway Bridge
Replacement
January 13, 2025- July 30, 2026
* Please note dates may change due to inclement weather (text unreadable).
Project Overview
Metrolinxis doing major rehabilitation of the Etobicoke Creek Railway Bridge. The … being replaced, and the bridge supports are being… Work will start on the Bridge supports in January and continue through the summer: Starting in September, the steel spans will be replaced over 7 Major Track Closures of the Lakeshore West …between September and December 2025.
* METROLINX
Information as of. January 2025”

Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 5h

Do you ever play this game with your cat, and if so, what do you call it?

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 10h

They’ve been working on the bridge and station for quite a while, but here’s the specific information for the bridge. I think the path will open again on October 31st. It was closed last time I biked that way, where it goes under the bridge.

assets.metrolinx.com/image/upload...

assets.metrolinx.com

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 12h

I missed this but it’s magnificent www.instagram.com/reel/DPJtt1J...

Login • Instagram

Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.

www.instagram.com

Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 12h

💚💚💚💚💚

Constance Lee Menefee @conniemenefee.bsky.social · 16h

(Another favorite) bullfrog of the day!
Friday, 10 Oct 2025

Bullfrog face emerging from duckweed laden water into dappled light

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 12h

It’s the mouth of the Don River. A huge project that will be a model for cities for years to come…

www.waterfrontoronto.ca/our-projects...

Don Mouth Naturalization and Port Lands Flood Protection | Waterfront Toronto

www.waterfrontoronto.ca

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1d

Leather bird! 🥰

Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1d

It cracks me up that the sweetest, most curious little birds are also relentlessly fierce when in hand. So angry!

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1d

But there’s hope:

bsky.app/profile/tomk...

Tom Kimmerer, PhD @tomkimmerer.bsky.social · Nov 18

The chestnuts that will reenter our Appalachian forests are not hybrids, but are pure American chestnuts with a gene from wheat inserted. Because they are GMOs, they will have to undergo a rigorous screening process before they return to the wild.

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Reposted by Laurel

Janet Hill @saskajanet.bsky.social · 1d

“Release the river!"

a group of trees are standing in a foggy area

Alt: Ents of Middle Earth are standing in the rushing waters of a released river near the White Tower.

media.tenor.com

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1d

Imported horse chestnuts, loads around. Ohio & other buckeyes, too. Black walnut aplenty. White walnut (butternut) present in the nearby Etobicoke Valley, though a few I visit don’t look well at all this year 💔.
But the lifeblood of the region, the American chestnut? Long gone here, rare elsewhere.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1d

It lit a little fire in my heart, that’s for sure. I love this city’s waterways and ravines, its incredible biodiversity. So to learn about this pulse of life thrumming away underneath the concrete and clay… 🤩

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1d

It’s been incredible to witness. We CAN reverse the mistakes of the past. Wetlands are necessary and waterways need to flow freely… in this city full of buried rivers and paved wetlands, this story stands out.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1d

The part about pollen from extirpated Chestnut trees, though… 😭😭😭.
I ate locally grown pawpaw this week. I saved seeds and gave them to folks who planted them. I don’t know if I’ll ever meet a chestnut tree but it won’t be for lack of trying.

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1d

My friend sent this to me on a day so busy I still can’t believe I’m still standing. But reading it made me want to stand up and cheer. The astonishing biodiversity of the region needs a champion while our climate system reacts to new extremes. Building resilience, planting native is the future

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1d

“Scientists soon knew they were witnessing something both unexpected and profound: seeds and plant scraps, trapped underground for more than a century, had roared back to life.
The peat bogs and wetlands had been buried under nearly 25ft of dirt and gravel more than a century ago…”

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 1d

Incredible 🩵 “Toronto’s multibillion-dollar effort to re-naturalize a major river and the surrounding lands, was advertised as one of the “largest waterfront revitalization projects” in the world. … the discoveries have underscored the resilience of ecosystems in the face of human-led destruction.”

Lisa Noble @nobleknits2.bsky.social · 1d

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

@laurelfynes.bsky.social

Creatures buried in soil for over a century burst back to life in Toronto waterfront

A project to restore coastal wetland leads to astonishing discoveries of a host of life: seeds and plant scraps, as well as water fleas, worms, larvae and plankton

www.theguardian.com

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 2d

Oh wow… I can see how that could happen but how on earth would you figure out what they meant?
I mean, I know I read out “prologue” with three syllables when I was in grade school, so I get how those g’s can trip you up. But our most famous street? 🤷

Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 2d

Yes, I’ve only ever heard “Young” (I live here too) so I’m trying to figure out how someone would mispronounce it.
And I’m the opposite, I definitely have a record scratch moment when I hear someone say Eglinton as it’s spelled… I lived here at least 20 years before I realized there’s no 2nd g!

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Laurel @laurelfynes.bsky.social · 2d

Wait, how do people mispronounce it?! Intrigued. Do they rhyme it with wrong?
I’ve lived in TO for over 30 years and I’ve only noticed Eglinton (pronounced properly without the extra g we all naturally add in the middle) as the “not from here” identifier.
First time I realized there’s only one g… 🤯

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