sunballer 🐦‍⬛📚💙

@sunballer.bsky.social

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Birds, books, art, politics. I’m a librarian. Want book recs? I mainly read horror, some sci-fi, and a smattering of non-fiction. Ex-Expat, wishing I’d never come back to the US, but here and fighting back as best I can. 栃木県に心が残された。

A digital drawing of my blue cochin hen, Yogurt. She is entirely grey and very fluffy with a small pink comb. The drawing is done in a cartoon style on a plain white background.
A digital drawing of a red morph eastern screech owl. It is very stylized, with large yellow eyes. The owl is mostly brown. "hoo" is written next to the owl's right in yellow. The drawing uses a lot of "paint" brushes to give it texture.
An adult female red-morph Eastern Screech Owl is perched on a thin branch in against a tree. She is holding on with one foot. She is wet all over and looks all ruffled up. She is looking towards the camera. This owl lives in my backyard and is currently caring for her 6 fledglings. All of them looked so sad in the rain today.
A fledgling Eastern Screech Owl is peering down between some leaves at the viewer. One foot is visible with two talons gripping either side of a branch. The owl is looking directly into the camera. It is very young and still covered in downy white fuzzy feathers, but the reddish colored feathers around its eyes are starting to come in. Barely visibly seated next to it is one of its siblings from the same brood. This particular owl's mother is a red-morph and its father is grey. Eggs were laid at the end of February in a box in my yard that was monitored with a camera.
A picture of my drawing tablet on my desk. I was working on a sketch of an eastern screech owl peering out of a hole. The drawing is all in a red-brown color, except for the eyes which are pale green. The owl is looking towards the viewer. Its front toes are visible gripping the edge of the hole.
A photo of a page from Fred Shaffer III’s “Gulls of North America.” It reads: “Last but not least, thank you to my wife, Pam, and sons, Ben and Josh, for their patience and good humor. They endured countless stops over the years where I lingered far too long over a flock of gulls while hoping for a rarity or puzzling over a confusing bird. They put up with trips to the landfill, with only my vague assurances that the spectacular gulls we would see would far outweigh the noxious odors and unsightly rubbish. On Ben's first trip to a landfill, he was aghast that his father would go to a place like that and "know everybody there" (we ran into other birders. Ben also provided the captions on photos depicting gull topography. Pam encouraged my two trips to Alaska to see Ross's Gulls and Red-Legged Kittiwakes. Witnessing the annual fall migration of Ross's Gulls over the Arctic Ocean and seeing Red-Legged Kittiwakes at their Bering Sea home are memories that I'll always treasure (and hope to repeat).”
A black and white video of an eastern screech owl inside of her ow box. The camera is positioned on the top of the box looking down, so we see her from above. She hops in the box holding a small snake before making a tremolo call. 4 eggs are visible below her.
A quick digital drawing of the new starter Pokemon, Brownt. It is a small yellow green bird with a green beak that extends upwards into two leaves for the eyebrows. The pokemon looks like a puff ball with grey legs. Done in Krita. The outline is dark green. “Sb” is written small underneath the pokemon.
A digital drawing of two Blue Jays. One is standing on top of a brick mail box with a small pile of peanuts at its feet. There is one peanut in its mouth. To the right of the standing Blue Jay there is another one flying down from above. Its legs are outstretched, but much of the bird is a blue and grey blur. The eye has been drawn with a twinkle in it. Above the standing bird there is a speech bubble that reads "Am I in danger...?" Done in Krita.
A Blue Jay is standing on top of a brick mail box that has a pile of peanuts placed on it. The bird has one long peanut in its mouth and is holding it just at the tip of its beak longwise. The bright blue colors of the Blue Jay stand out against the dull background that is made up of yellowed and out of focus grass. The mail box is primarily a washed out pink color.
An American Crow is perched on top of a brick mail box that is covered in a layer of ice and sleet with peanuts on top. The crow is facing the viewer though slightly askance. It is looking at the peanuts with a "serious" looking expression.
A digital drawing of a Cedar Waxwing in a cartoony style over a flat, pale pink background. The bird has its back to the viewer but is looking over its shoulder. It has a pale brown upper half, while the lower half is grey. The bit of visible belly is pale yellow. The tips of its tail feathers are bright yellow. Attached to the edge of the secondary feathers are small red little points that the Waxwing gets its name from. The bill is dark grey and the bird has a black mask going across its face. The feet are dark grey. A small "Sb" has been written underneath the bird to the right of the tail feathers. Done in Krita.
A digital drawing of a male Mallard in a cartoony style. It is facing forward and standing on a rock that hasn't been shaded. The duck has a green head, a rusty colored breast and is primarily grey in the body in wings with a small bit of blue, white and rust in the wings. Done in Krita.
A cartoony drawing of a Mourning Dove. It is a pale brown bird with pink feet. It has a few darker gray/brown spots on its wing. The eye is drawn in an extra large oval shape. It is dark gray but surrounded by a thin light blue ring. The beak is drawn as a long oval and is dark grey as well. Done in Krita.
A shot or two Cedar Waxwings perched on a thin branch with broad, oval shaped leaves. One leaf is in between the two birds, who are facing one another but blocked by the leaf. The sun is shining right on them and their eyes are closed. The birds are mostly pale brown with a yellow underbelly. They have crest and black masks across their eyes. The tips of their tail feathers are bright yellow.
A Ruby-Crowned Kingle is perched on a small branch in a tree against an overcast, but bright, sky. The bird is olive-yellow-green colored with a darker colored back in comparison to its belly, breast and throat. It has off-white wing bars and bright yellow edging on each primary. The bird is facing the right and its whole body is in the shot.
An acrylic painting of a Green Heron on a small white canvas. The brush strokes are fairly large in the chest, and smaller on the head. The bird is facing the right and has a reddish brown chest, a beige/grey belly, dark grey wings, a bright yellow eye, and a blue/green crest. The beak is like and grey with a bit of yellow at the base of it.
A Pied-Billed Grebe is swimming in a pond. It is a small water bird with a short, pointed bill. The bird is various shades of brown, with darker upper parts and a lighter colored breast, throat and cheeks. The bird is facing the right. The water around it is an olive green shade in the light.
A red-tailed hawk perched in a tree being dive-bombed by Blue Jays.
A four panel comic I drew of two double crested cormorants. They are sitting side by side on a curved branch overlooking a green pond. The first panel features one bird saying “I kind of want to draw a comic, but idk what to draw.” The other bird is gular fluttering. The second panel is a close up of the gular fluttering bird’s face saying “huh, isn’t anything fine?” The third panel shows both birds with their mouths closed and the first bird to speak says “oh… really?” while looking towards each other. The final panel shows both birds gular fluttering and saying nothing with their mouths open again.
A close-up shot of a male mallard’s head. He is in profile view facing the right. His head is bright green, but the way the light catches on his cheek makes a bit of blue iridescence visible. His bill is bright yellow. There is a small white line on his neck separating where the green color ends and the browns of his back and belly begin. The background is totally blurred, but the roots of a tree going into a pond are somewhat visible.
A male Wood Duck is swimming in a pond. The water appears green to pale yellow in the sunlight. The duck has a white and orange bill, red eyes, an elaborate green crest with white markings, a purple neck and chest and a beige side. His wings appear black in this photo with only a sliver of blue visible on the top of them.
A Blue Jay is perched on a branch with a nut in its mouth. It’s facing towards the right, and since the photo was taken from underneath the bird, very little of its blue color is visible.
A Cape Vulture is standing on a broken piece of wood. The bird is almost entirely white, but its primaries are black. Its tail feathers are also black. The bird has no feathers on its neck or head, save for some long whisky white feathers on the back of its head. It’s skin is pale grey. It’s beak ends in a sharp downward point. Its eyes are yellow-orange. In this picture, its wings are slightly outstretched. The photo was taken just before the bird took flight.
A photo of a Brown Thrasher being held by me in bander’s grip. The bird has a brown-rufous back and wings, a cream colored belly with brown stripes or dots down it and a bright yellow eye. The bright yellow eye tells us that this is an after-hatch-year bird. In the back ground a table with bird banding tools are visible.
A stylized acrylic painting of a White-Eyed Vireo against a bright blue background. The bird has a yellow to grey head, a white throat, a yellow belly and an olive to grey colored back. It has white-ish wing bars and the primaries have yellow-green edges. The bird’s beak is grey and its eyes are white with a tint of blue. The tail is dark grey with bright yellow-green. The legs are dark grey. The painting has a black outline and the eye is larger than it would be on an actual bird. A bookshelf is barely visible behind the painting.
A video of a Carolina wren pecking at the camera lens while standing on a birdbath. Various plants are visible in the background against a pale building. An iron bench with an umbrella above it is also visible behind the birdbath.
A Mississippi Kite is perched in a tree. The kite is looking down towards the camera resulting in it looking somewhat perplexed. The bird is mostly grey with darker grey wings and red eyes.
A Muscovy Duck is standing in some grass next to a pond at a neighborhood park. The duck is light grey. A second Muscovy is in the background off to its left. That one is black with a white throat and face.
A hummingbird, possibly a juvenile male ruby-throated hummingbird or an adult female, is flying over a section of Turk’s Cap flowers. The flowers are bright red-orange in this lighting. The bird has a white throat, an emerald green back, and various shades of brown to green mixed in. It has a spot of white just above its eye. The wings are moving too fast for the camera to focus on and are just a blur.
A hummingbird is perched on a branch. This is either a female ruby-throated hummingbird or a juvenile male I believe. The bird is looking towards the right. The background is out of focus but you can see light diffusing through green leaves.
A photo of my hand holding a male Red-Bellied Woodpecker. The bird’s mouth is open, and the band on his leg is visible. He has a bright red crown, a cream colored belly, and black and white wings. The background is a wooded area with a gravel road further back.
A photo of a flycatcher in my hand after it was banded but before taking measurements. The bird is mostly gray with white and cream underneath and white/cream wing bars. There is a cream colored eye ring as well. In the background a table is visible with an identification guide open on it. Some pliers and banding supplies are sitting on top of it. A phone is next to it. This particular individual’s measurements were in between Willow Flycatcher and Alder Flycatcher, so not sure which it was!
A photo of a page from the most recent physical issue of The Onion. This page features an article titled “EPA To Monarch Butterflies: ‘Count Your Fucking Days’” with a picture of a monarch butterfly on some flowers.Below that it reads: “VOW MADE TO MUNT DOWN EVERY LAST ONE OF THOSE SHITS” Underneath the article is a fake advertisement for a movie that reads: “ONN STUDIOS PRESENTS JEFFREY EPSTEIN: BAD PEDOPHILE COMING SOON” Half of Epsteins face is visible on the far right side of the advertisement. The other half of his face is in deep shadow. The ad is in black, white and green only.
A photo of the copy of The Faceless Thing We Adore that I had checked out from my library. It’s a bright pink book with a purple “face” on it that appears to be breaking apart into butterflies or perhaps just swirling about. The author is Hester Steel. The book is sitting on top of a purple blanket.
A juvenile Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is resting its eyes in the evening sun. The bird is standing on some rocks that make up part of a creek bed. Its eyes are closed and it has one wing partially extended. I took this picture from the parking lot behind my work. There are two juvenile yellow-crowneds there every day lately. Sometimes I see one of the adults too.
An acrylic painting of a White-Eyed Vireo that I am working on. It’s a mostly yellow bird, with green olive throughout, dark grey colored wings with white wing bars. The throat and neck area is mainly white. Its head is grey with a bright yellow mask that fades into it. The bird’s eyes are white. I’ve painted the background blue. On the edges of the photo you can see some of my messy supplies, a bag, and the floor. I haven’t painted in a while. Just was trying to have fun while doing so this time!
A Kingbird is perched on a branch with a few wispy leaves. The bird has a black head and back, with what appears to be a white throat/cheek and underbelly. The sky is completely overcast in this photo.
A yellow Muscovy duckling is standing on some brick pavers against the grass. Its parents are just out of frame. The duckling is yellow with a gray bill and orange feet. Because it is facing forward, it appears a little angry.
An adult Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is standing in grass with a crayfish in its mouth. The crayfish appears to be holding on to the lower bill.
A Yellow-Crowned Night Heron is roosting in a tree. Its eyes are half-closed and its neck isn’t visible at all.
A Green Heron is walking through grass along a pond’s edge while pumping its tail up and down. Towards the end of the video the bird stretches its neck up a bit and its rufous-colored plumage is clearly visible. It’s back is primarily dark green/blue in color.
A photo of Yayoi Kusama’s All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins. This piece is a mirrored infinity room filled with Kusama’s iconic spotted pumpkins. They are yellow with black dots and lit up, while the room itself is dark. Because the walls are mirrored, the amount of pumpkins appears to be infinite. I wasn’t familiar with Yayoi Kusama until I moved to Japan in 2016. I fell in love with her work, visited her hometown of Matsumoto, and just a few days before I moved back to the US in 2019, I visited her new museum in Tokyo. It is one of my favorite memories. The exhibit at the time was her Infinity Net series.
An adult Carolina wren is delivering an insect to its young in a birdhouse. One of the baby’s mouths is visible through the opening; it’s wide open waiting for the bug. Whatever the insect is, it’s bright green. At this point, the parent had already taken the insect back from the babies several times, and it is quite mutilated by now…
A female mallard is swimming in a very green looking creek with her 5 ducklings all in front of her. Everyone is in profile view. One of the five ducklings is much paler than the others.
A mourning dove is perched on the edge of a birdbath. Its tail and back is facing the viewer but its head is turned in a profile view. The light teal around its eye is very visible in this photo. Some flecks of an almost gold like color are visible on its neck as well.
A video of the inside of a birdhouse currently occupied by 5 nestling Carolina wrens. They all have their eyes closed still and are mostly pink and grey. One of their parents delivers some sort of pink invertebrate in this video and pushes it into the mouth of one of the babies. The other babies start jump and begging immediately while that one swallows the food whole.
A short video of a Red-Bellied Woodpecker on a peanut-wreath birdfeeder. It fishes out a peanut and quickly flies off. This bird is a juvenile and it's adult feathers are coming in. I can't quite tell if it is male or female yet, but there are red feathers present on it's head.
Some very young Muscovy ducklings huddled up together! Centered are two pale brown ducklings. Both have their heads slightly inclined towards the camera. The ducklings are all very fuzzy and lacking feathers still.
A photo of a Canada Goose in profile. Only its head and some of its neck is visible in this photo. This one is a gosling that’s almost fully grown. A few of its baby feathers still remain on its face. In this photo you can see through the goose’s nostrils to the other side!
A mallard duckling is swimming in a pond. The duckling is still fuzzy without feathers and is pale brown and yellow. Its head is angled upwards because it has just taken a sip of water. It had two other siblings and its mom with it.
A screenshot from my phone with the Blink camera app open to view the inside of my birdhouse. In the photo you can see 5 small speckled eggs surrounded by nesting material that looks to be made up mainly of straw. The text above it reads “Birdhouse,” but since it is a screenshot, there are a few different menu buttons also visible on the edges of the picture.
A photo of my brown Chinese goslings! Two are pictured, but only one is actually in the frame. The gosling is laying down looking at the camera with its right eye. It’s on top of hay with a faint red glow being given off from the heat lamp. Brown Chinese goslings are pale overall, with a darker back, and a dark colored bill. As they get older they will develop a “knob” on top of their bill.
A photo of the No Kings protest today in Denton, TX. Protestors are marching around the historic courthouse against a blue sky. Cars are driving by and honking in support. Someone in a car is holding a sign out of the window that reads, “DON’T LET THE B*STARDS GRIND YOU DOWN!”
A male Northern Cardinal is perched on a branch. He is a bit fluffed out in this photo and has his head just slightly tilted. He is a very vivid shade of red and there is a slight shine in his eye.
A Green Heron is perched in a tree. The bird is facing the viewer so that both eyes are visible at the same time, giving it a comical look. The bird has a blue/green crest, yellow eyes, a yellow/green beak, and a brown neck/chest with white stripes. The wings are just barely visible in this photo.
A blurry photo taken of my domestic ducks at night. A blue Swedish duck is in front, she is mostly grey, with a white “bib.” Behind her is a white duck with an orange bill. Her mouth is opening and she is quacking. Behind her you can see one more white duck leaning down.
A digital sketch of a pekin duck in water. There is a speech balloon that reads "Quack" coming from the duck's face. The duck is white with an orange bill. Done in Krita.
A clip of a juvenile Red-Bellied Woodpecker pecking at the bark of a tree.
An Eastern Phoebe is perched on a branch. Its head is turned towards the camera, but its body is facing away.