#grackles — Public Fediverse posts

Off-season, non-SXSW Austin is its own sort of weird

AUSTIN, Tex.

It feels like I barely visited my favorite part of Texas, and that’s not just because my trip here for the Connectivity Standards Alliance’s Unify conference only spanned three days. This visit has also reminded me that SXSW, my usual experience of Austin aside from one trip here in September of 2018 for the Online News Association’s conference, is not a reliable reflection of the city.

The sidewalks this week aren’t crowded with hipsters and would-be hipsters (i.e., me) wearing the same conference badge, in the process making the number of unhoused people here a little more obvious. Bars and restaurants downtown go by their normal names instead of being rebranded as “activations” for one #brand or another. And instead of delightful spring weather, it’s ghastly hot out–not Vegas-in-August scorching, but also much more humid.

Avoiding that heat by spending so much of my time in Unify’s air-conditioned confines at the Hilton Downtown made this even more of a fake visit for me. I did at least think to stop by a dive bar off Red River Street Wednesday night to get in some local color and put some money into the non-hotel economy.

One other change I noticed compared to March: Austin’s streets seem to have picked up a lot more robotic occupants. Waymos are as ubiquitous as ever, but I also spotted several of Austin-based Avride’s refitted Hyundai Ioniq 5s, at least two Zoox toasters on wheels and one of Tesla’s two-seat, gold-colored Cybercabs–plus delivery robots rolling up and down sidewalks.

(I didn’t get a good enough look at most of the non-Waymo vehicles to see if they had humans at the controls or otherwise overseeing them. Nor did I get rides on any of them, since it was such a short walk from my hotel to the conference venue.)

But one part of Austin did take me right back to my usual marketing-spring-break nonsense: being greeted outside by the airport by the squawk of grackles.

My neighbour didn’t like that my bird camera was attracting Grackles until she had a pair nest in her tree and run all the squirrels out of her yard. She has a massive garden and the squirrels are a nuisance. She sees the benefits now. #Birds #BirdCam #Grackles #NatureRules

#HashtagGames
#SecretHabitsOfBirds

Learning the different models of cars and then remembering which ones provide the best A/C condensation for drinking from during the hot summer
#grackles

Large: https://photos.reasonably.social/Y52/i-R8DVGgP/A

#Photography #Nature #Birds #Grackles

Thirsty grackle.

Large: https://photos.reasonably.social/Y52/i-mJQ3TqM/A

#Photography #NaturePhotography #Birds #Grackles

The blue bird of grackleness
https://www.universalhub.com/2026/blue-bird-grackleness

#Boston #WestRoxbury #birds #grackles

#Grackles #birds #birdsOfFediverse #Texas #Nature #birdsofmastodon

Common Grackles (Quiscalus quiscula)

#Grackles #BirdsOfMastodon #ArtWithOpenSource #Darktable #CCBYSA #Birds #BirdPhotography #Animals #AnimalPhotography #Nature #NaturePhotography #Wildlife #WildlifePhotography #Photo #Photography

In my car at HEB (a large TX supermarket chain) waiting for curbside groceries pickup and in the row of empty, wheeled racks in front of me were several of these great-tailed #grackles - (AKA by me PLBs, Parking Lot Birds) serenading me with their unique raucous cacophony.

#MondaysAreForTheBirds #birds #photography #gracklesbegrackling

A big, noisy flock of grackles was settling into the parking lot at MacArthur Park for the night when we visited the Half Price Books
.
#photooftheday #grackles #flock

Don't be surprised if a grackle gives you a funny look. 🤨
• They have a certain kind of eyerony. 😏

I can't believe that grackle gave me the stink eye on the Little Etobicoke Creek Trail. Mississauga, Ontario.

#Birds 🪶 #Wildlife 🫎 #Nature 🌿 #Photography 📷 #Art 🖼️ #Grackles #PassItOn 🤠🤙📿

Urban #bird species' key to success: flexibility & persistence. New studies on #grackles by Corina Logan, @dieterlukas.fediscience.org.ap.brid.gy‬, Kelsey McCune & colleagues in @peercomjournal.bsky.social. #TheGrackleProject tinyurl.com/yh5ruyr8 & doi.org/10.24072/pcj... & doi.org/10.24072/pcj...

When the city comes to you, ge...

Just documenting this fence now, the laziest of bird-watching. A common grackle, grackling away. 📷🌿🪶

🌎 Great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus) #NorthAmericanBirds #CentralAmericanBirds #SouthAmericanBirds | #GreatTailedGrackle #MexicanGrackle #QuiscalusMexicanus | #Grackles #NewWorldBlackbirds #Blackbirds #PerchingBirds 📷: Photo by BarbeeAnne🦜 #birdsoftheworld #birds

A flock of common grackles flew by my house.There were dozens; perhaps a hundred of them. A few minutes later they were gone. I know grackles can be pests, especially to farmers, but I love their iridescent feathers and their terrible yellow eyes. #birds #birding #birdsofmastodon #birdphotography #grackles #nature #HoosierMast

This Grackle is blowing in the wind.

#gracklesbegrackling #grackles #birdsofinstagram #birdphotography

Glass artist Frye Glass has made a rendition of the Count, and it is absolutely marvelous!
https://www.facebook.com/FryeGlass/posts/pfbid0rtuic9U6FgTLep6QFwUt7EhCwDnuoCwBxk2n4jRjGEky8cEJfEAHm38GnuV2ajkYl #CountGrackula #Grackles #glassart #art #birds #Ostdrossel

I don't know much about birds, but I've noticed over the years that there are always a few days in summer where the #grackles show up and work all the lawns. Black birds with a bluish-black head.

A flock of anywhere from five to fifteen will show up, leap-frogging each other, harvesting some sort of bug I guess, then move on to another lawn a few seconds later.

Heard a commotion from the back yard. This seems to be the first grackle day of the year. Happy grackle day.