Happy Equinox!

I hope you are enjoying the equality of night and day. It's also the first day of Rosh Hashanah - we had sweet apples but no honey. It's sort of the same thing - when people ate apples back then, they probably weren't as sweet. Small consolation, I know. I'm curious to know how many of you woke up from the earthquake or received an earthquake alert on your phone? It looks like it was on Ashby! So close. Today we had a good workday. The high was 88°. Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter. We went for a few walks today and had some leftovers for dinner. It's too hot to cook.

Here are some common toads: Family Buonidae - American Toad (Anaxyrus americanus), Fowler's Toad (Anaxyrus fowleri), Oak Toad (Anaxyrus quercicus), Southern Toad (Anaxyrus terrestris). Family Pelobatidae - Eastern Spadefood Toad (Scaphiopus holbrookii). Family Micohylidae Eastern Narrowmouth Toad (Gastrophryne carolinensis). Western Toads include: Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas) and Arroyo Toad (Anaxyrus californicus) which is related to the Western Toad.

I grew up with the Western Toad. I think the baby toadlets in the forest of Maine were American Toads. There are many others than this short list above. What kind of toad have you come across?

Here is a fun article on language in the era of ChatGPT that got posted on slack at work.

Remember to have fun and to play.

Sending oodles of love,

Tawnia

Bird List - 34 species today

Mallard
Eurasian Collared-Dove
Mourning Dove
Anna's Hummingbird
Turkey Vulture
Acorn Woodpecker
Downy Woodpecker
Nuttall's Woodpecker
Northern Flicker
Black Phoebe
Steller's Jay
California Scrub-Jay
American Crow
Chestnut-backed Chickadee
Oak Titmouse
Bushtit
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper
Bewick's Wren
European Starling
Northern Mockingbird
Hermit Thrush
American Robin
Cedar Waxwing
House Sparrow
House Finch
Pine Siskin
Lesser Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
White-crowned Sparrow
Golden-crowned Sparrow
California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Red-winged Blackbird