Submitted a thing by the DEADLINE tonight. I’m super overcommitted, teaching a summer session class rn bc student loan deferment is up soon and my study abroad program (summer income) was cancelled for obvious reasons. Feels like a small miracle. To celebrate I treated myself.

My favorite local pandemic treats include murky IPAs, really special coffees, and bird watching by bike on the LA River.

Which brings me to a #birdtwitter question about what the shit is going on in this (forthcoming) photo. It makes me so uncomfortable but also very much intrigued.

For context, there are Black-necked stilts all over the LA River. These Black-necked stilts had little, tiny, fuzzy Black-necked stilts alllllll over the place last month. They’re so smol, so cute.

I’ve been swamped the past two weeks and haven’t had an LA River “bird bike” of late. The fuzzies are now increasingly rebellious teens, wandering around, away from their kinfolk, doing the solo exploration thing.

Back to my deadline meeting treat. Went for my bird bike and saw the growing Black-necked stilts. Brought my binoculars and camera. And I dunno why I never noticed this, but WTF. The legs. There is so much going on here. My brain can’t. ELI5? Backwards knees? Ankles? S/T else???