GETTING TO KNOW YOU NOVEMBER 2020 by GLITTERWOLF

[ManvsMini]

1 hour ago, Kuroneko said:

I just want snow, we hardly ever get any around here and it would be awesome to actually build a snowman, it's been over a decade since I tried.

 

 

I'll trade locations with you. I just shoveled 3-4 inches of the stuff off the driveway, sidewalks and porch a few hours ago, and it's already been replaced by another half inch. First snow of the season. It was fun watching Molly romp through it though, she sure loves it.

[Evilhalfling]

I like Snow. 

its one of my favorite parts of living in Colorado. 

It falls frequently, then warms up and melts sometimes lingering a few snow banks or shaded areas. 

sometimes I shovel the walk and snowtires are only necessary in the mts. 

 

When I was growing up (in a different state) the snow was perfect for building snowmen only once every few years.  

Here it is perfect 3-6 times each winter.  

 

I build a lot,  last Tuesday for instance: 

Edited December 1, 2020 by Evilhalfling

[NecroMancer]

21 hours ago, Glitterwolf said:

Question November 30th.

If you could replace the actual Snow with something else.

What would fall out of the Sky instead 

 

I very much like a cool rainy day. 

 

But if you're looking for a more fun answer I think I would go with those beef jerky steak nuggets.  All the flavors. 

[Glitterwolf]

Thx again all!

 

[haldir]

6 hours ago, Dilvish the Deliverer said:

I wonder if you might be one of the few.  I was in Glasgow six or seven years ago and it snowed half an inch.  I sat at the hotel bar and watched cars, and trucks and busses slide sideways down the hill below the hotel.  It didn't look like they were prepared for it.

 

Sounds like Boise when it first snows. It's a highlight on the evening news. 

[TGP]

On 11/27/2020 at 2:22 AM, Glitterwolf said:

Weekend Challenge November 27th / 29th.

Most

of us have a favorite Fantasy/Scifi/Steampunk race.

Tell us which one, why this appeals to you, show the best pics of your creations, write a background story for your race/army/favorite character.

Fantasy ....toss up between Mongrelmen and Hordlings. They were two iterations of the same concept, GM could give them whatever physical appearance and features he wanted. 
 

SciFi ....Vulcans

 

Steampunk ....Too uninformed about steampunk to even know a list of SP races. I gotta go with the clanky, stompy, mechanicals, huffing steam and soldiering along. The unsung heroes of the genre. 
 

I have no handy stories. 

 

 

 

On 11/30/2020 at 3:29 AM, Glitterwolf said:

Question November 30th.

If you could replace the actual Snow with something else.

What would fall out of the Sky instead then?

 

@TaleSpinner bacon was a worthy idea. But if I gotta go all Potterverse-ian and wave my wand to change, sorry, Transfigure the snow to something else...

 

...I’m going with Banknotes. 

 

[Thoramel]

11 hours ago, Kuroneko said:

 

Yay! I love sharing "common" species info :)

 

Our Buzzards are actually a generalist species of hawk that are commonly called "tourist eagles"  They, along with most of our bird of prey, have really bounced back from the damage done to the species last century by DDT. Sadly, we don't have the top 3 birds in this pic...

 

 

Our Coots are usually black, but we also have Moorhens. They're very common and usually extremely tolerant of people. Moorhens also have adorable, ghibli-esqe chicks 

 

 

Finally, we have Red-breasted Mergansers, which are an oceanic duck. Absolutely gorgeous wee things, but really wary of people. I really miss seeing them since moving inland.

 

 

 

I love hearing your raptors are coming back from the brink. About 20 years ago my wife and I used to volunteer to watch Bald Eagle nests in the state to see if they were successfully reproducing. Back then there were fewer than 50 successfully mating pairs in the entire state. As of this spring that number was above 700 breeding pairs. And that doesn't even begin to count the 1 and 2 year old juveniles who aren't nesting yet. It's an odd day when I'm out on the Great Lakes now when I don't see at least one Bald Eagle. I see a Harrier on your Raptor chart above. Does that mean you get Northern Harriers (AKA Marsh Hawks)? Those are one of my favorite birds. Nothing like getting buzzed by one from just a few inches above your head while standing around in a swamp somewhere. 

 

We get moorhens around these parts as well, and you're not kidding when you say their little ones are cute as heck. We also get the occasional Red Merganser up on Lake Erie. Usually just a vagrant though. The Lake is nothing like an ocean, but it's a big enough body of water to attract several birds normally considered sea birds. Our most common mergansers are the Common Merganser you pictured above, and the Hooded Merganser. Which can also be a pretty shy bird. Here's a picture that's not mine.

 

[Kuroneko]

12 hours ago, Dilvish the Deliverer said:

I wonder if you might be one of the few.  I was in Glasgow six or seven years ago and it snowed half an inch.  I sat at the hotel bar and watched cars, and trucks and busses slide sideways down the hill below the hotel.  It didn't look like they were prepared for it.

 

Yeah, we're not really geared up for snow. It happens so infrequently that it's not really worth putting the money into the proper infrastructure for it. 

 

We get "Oh noes, it's gonna snow!" warnings frequently through the winter, but they very, very rarely amount to much. We even got one today for later in the week, but I'll be astonished if we even see as much as a single snowflake. 

 

@ManvsMini and @NecroMancer, please feel free to take our miserable, dreich, depressing weather. I've definitely had enough of it!

 

1 hour ago, Thoramel said:

 

I love hearing your raptors are coming back from the brink. About 20 years ago my wife and I used to volunteer to watch Bald Eagle nests in the state to see if they were successfully reproducing. Back then there were fewer than 50 successfully mating pairs in the entire state. As of this spring that number was above 700 breeding pairs. And that doesn't even begin to count the 1 and 2 year old juveniles who aren't nesting yet. It's an odd day when I'm out on the Great Lakes now when I don't see at least one Bald Eagle. I see a Harrier on your Raptor chart above. Does that mean you get Northern Harriers (AKA Marsh Hawks)? Those are one of my favorite birds. Nothing like getting buzzed by one from just a few inches above your head while standing around in a swamp somewhere. 

 

We get moorhens around these parts as well, and you're not kidding when you say their little ones are cute as heck. We also get the occasional Red Merganser up on Lake Erie. Usually just a vagrant though. The Lake is nothing like an ocean, but it's a big enough body of water to attract several birds normally considered sea birds. Our most common mergansers are the Common Merganser you pictured above, and the Hooded Merganser. Which can also be a pretty shy bird. Here's a picture that's not mine.

 

 

Glad to hear your eagles are doing well, we had a fairly successful reintroduction of White Tailed Sea Eagles a wee while back. We now have just over 100 pairs and it's amazing to see those "flying barn doors" in the wild. The island where I grew up has a good population now and it's always a treat to see them.

 

That Merganser is adorable! There was a reserve down south that had a resident one a while back. It probably got blown over by a storm and subsequently spent most of its time displaying to a bunch of utterly uninterested Teal 

 

Regarding Harriers, where do I start? We occasionally get Marsh Harriers, but our most common one is the Hen Harrier. When I say "common" I mean that it would be common species but for one slight problem. It hunts(among other things) baby grouse. A conservation charity now habitually satellite tags all young Harriers and Eagles from their reserves and it's astonishing how many of these young birds tags suddenly stop working over Grouse Shooting estates. Totally coincidentally, I'm sure  

 

I mean, natural fatalities and occasional tag malfunctions are a thing but when a tag stops working over a moor and then suddenly starts working hundreds of miles away over the sea there may be something going on. Likewise, the tag that was found wrapped in lead in a river was a tad bit suspicious.

 

If you want a thoroughly depressing read, the RSPB Twitter site and Raptor Persecution UK are good places to start. Please note that I disagree vehemently with some of the RSPBs policies( which is why I don't work for them anymore) but they fight so hard to get those gorgeous birds fledged and it's absolutely gut wrenching when you find out that they're shot/poisoned because they had the misfortune to go into an area where wild birds are worth more dead than alive.