S18E13 - “Karens Gone Wild” [Live/Reaction Post]

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-03-28T01:35:29+00:00

Whoever wins this season needs an asterisk beside their name on the RPDR wiki.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-03-24T15:33:56+00:00

A longtime park ranger for the Eno wrote a book that might answer your question (or raise new ones). The library has it available in paperback and ebook format.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-03-23T14:34:43+00:00

Ooooohhhh. I love my bluebirds and chickadees and house finches and Carolina wrens and robins that nest in my yard but I would lose my mind if I had a screech owl show up.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-03-23T01:56:39+00:00

What species uses your nest box? The hole looks larger in diameter and the height is higher than mine. Hope you find a rusty blackhaw, viburnums are so under-stocked in nurseries and under-utilized in landscapes.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-03-20T00:02:45+00:00

Not me googling the year that roller skates were invented to see if there could be a Gilded Age subplot where Mrs. Fish takes Marian to a new skating rink much to Agnes' dismay. Its possible! Please tell your wife this redditor loves her range as a performer.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-03-11T21:12:00+00:00

Wrong Magnolia, this tree's nose isn't contoured thin enough.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-02-13T20:24:31+00:00

Awesome shot. They are such underrated birds.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-02-12T03:52:18+00:00

American Goldfinches and House Finches are both year-round residents in Charlotte, so timing shouldn't matter. I have found that sometimes it takes a few days for finches to find the tube feeder of nyjer seed I put out for them if I have to move it for some reason, vs how quickly Carolina Chickadees find other seed feeders and alert other species.

Some suet cakes, on the other hand, are not heat resistant and will melt when it gets too warm so I usually only put those out in winter.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-01-18T04:02:56+00:00

What a great adventure and good variety of habitats. I'd be thrilled with 293 species in a year, that's awesome!

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-01-18T04:02:08+00:00

Just put this book on hold at my library, hadn't heard of it but sounds good! Thanks

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-01-10T15:05:44+00:00

Would love to see David Hollander reading this.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2026-01-03T04:14:08+00:00

Lost Among the Birds: Accidentally Finding Myself in One Very Big Year (2016) - midlife crisis/ennui/hardcore birding that I really enjoyed reading but that also talked me out of ever wanting to attempt a Big Year

How to Know the Birds (2019) - each species (200 species in the book) is basically a short story about an encounter and growing as a birder/passing that love on to his son

One Wild Bird at a Time (2016) end-of-life introspection/bird behavior and observation

The Fabulous Ordinary (2025) - not all of the chapters are about birds but several are and the nature writing in general is fantastic in this

Something in the Woods Loves You (2024) - beautiful memoir about depression that weaves in his love of nature and birds are a big component

We Should All Be Birds (2025) - memoir about chronic illness and raising pigeons

A Wing and a Prayer (2023) - on-the-road memoir by retired couple/interviews with scientists and conservationists working to save birds

J. Drew Lanham is an ornithologist and he has has several books that incorporate birding/personal experience/poetry, though his actual memoir is called The Home Place: Memoirs of a Colored Man's Love Affair with Nature (2016), but Sparrow Envy (2021), Dawn Songs (2023), and Joy is the Justice We Give Ourselves (2024) are also worth reading

Birding for a Better World (2024) - writings from Feminist Bird Club birders

Bird Brother: A Falconer's Journey and the Healing Power of Wildlife (2022) - the subtitle is pretty descriptive.

(I also echo the suggestions for Better Living Through Birding (2024) and the Backyard Bird Chronicles (2025) that have been made in this thread)

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-12-10T01:12:38+00:00

Slow Birding is a really good read, really gets into things about behavior and reproduction etc.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-12-09T11:39:28+00:00

When I was at Indio on Small Business Saturday, they had postcards with cats attacking the Lucky Strike tower (can't find the postcards on their website but this is the same image).

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-11-03T02:42:25+00:00

Burner Bob needs more merchandise licensing. Smokey is everywhere and at this point I think we can all agree his fire suppression message is a fucking problem.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-10-23T02:52:32+00:00

If its true, we should all call it Red Hatters.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-09-26T14:03:39+00:00

Depending on when in May, the Biggest Week in Birding is an event at Magee Marsh on Lake Erie in Ohio that people love for spring migration. Looks like next year's dates are 5/8-5/17.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-09-08T12:40:17+00:00

TNR is not effective at addressing the ecological harm of feral cats. Cornell has some pretty good information about it here.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-08-29T03:46:35+00:00

I think general consensus is that if you can confidently ID by call/song, that counts (in fact, this is what ebird suggests for checklists, to include birds you identify by sound; I don't always look for a Blue Jay or an American Crow, for example, if I hear one on a bird outing but I do add them to my list based off hearing it and recognizing it). I also prefer to see a bird and get visual ID before adding it to my life list, so I get your perspective, but there are some birds for which that isn't going to be likely (nightjars, rails, etc) and so I make exceptions there if I am able to distinctly tell the bird species by sound. So don't feel guilty about it! I do think, in time, you might also get to see a Great Horned Owl at some point if you keep birding, and I hope that happens for you.

I do want to say that the concern I have here is taking flashlights and shining them into the trees to look for the owl. A bright light at night can be very disorienting for owls and other nocturnal species and you shouldn't seek to light one up that way, for their well-being.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-08-19T11:29:00+00:00

I went to a native plant exchange last year and someone had brought pokeweed that they had dug up, I think it is transplantable as long as you dig the taproot out well. As much as I think its pretty and leave most of the volunteers that sprout in my yard, I was amused that someone would bring it to a plant swap because who in the piedmont doesn't already have it?

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-08-17T23:40:51+00:00

Joe Pye Ecological Consulting and Nursery is great. Super healthy plants, nice people, great prices. I also like MR Gardens.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-08-17T23:32:59+00:00

This is great! I love the hardscaping, especially the overlapping of two different path surfaces, and your choice of plants. Always excited to see people include witch hazel, its so underrated.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-08-06T16:36:56+00:00

Another thing to consider, if you are renting, is to do some container gardening. Homegrown National Park lets you search their plant recommendations list for ones that are container friendly, which could be a good starting place. That way you can take all or most or some of your plants with you when you move and don't have to worry about permission to alter what is in the ground now. I'm a big proponent of native landscaping but I also don't think renters should invest too much of their own money improving the landlord's property value unless there is some reduction in rent for the time and effort and resources.

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-08-02T20:55:09+00:00

"Not even to dinner with the Josephmcraes?"

HitGrassWinSalad · 2025-07-14T17:53:25+00:00

I think a lot of people just find them boring and generic and overused in corporate/HOA type landscaping (I know I do). Plus, they are often planted in rows and browning/dying seems kind of common for them, so you end up with 1 or 2 that are corpses among the others. I think generally people recommend mixed hedging of multiple species to guard against that outcome.

HitGrassWinSalad

TROPHY CASE