Yesterday afternoon, after the rain stopped, I made a quick trip to the Oculus—the long-abandoned space-age modernist pavilion near the foot of the Humber Trail. And within a minute’s walk along the trail in either direction, I found more spider diversity than I ever find in my usual sites! Continue reading Field journal: Spiders of the Oculus
Author: nevillepark
Know Your Little Red Mites: A Guide
To the casual observer, many mites are just mysterious little red dots. Gardeners and farmers will be familiar with the spider mite family, Tetranychidae. These mites are plant-eaters, and many are major agricultural pests worldwide.
But there are so many other kinds of mites—more than you know. More than I know! More than even acarologists (mite scientists) know. They have described about 50,000 species, but they think there are probably at least a million in total.1 If you take a closer look at the little red dots running around, you can find many different kinds, occupying many different ecological niches, all unique and delightful to watch. Continue reading Know Your Little Red Mites: A Guide
Some Mastodon server recommendations
Note: This post is very old. I don’t recommend many of these servers any more, and many new ones have sprung up, too many to keep track of. Instead, read my new post on how to choose a Mastodon/Fediverse server.
(Expanding on this viral post and this thread.)
So an obnoxious billionaire just bought Twitter, and a lot of people are signing up (or reviving their accounts) on the “flagship” servers, mastodon.social or mastodon.online. But you have more options! Continue reading Some Mastodon server recommendations
Field journal: First spiders of spring in Trinity-Bellwoods
This winter I have tried to get into the habit of getting a coffee and a pastry at the White Squirrel and going for walks around Trinity-Bellwoods, just to get out of the house. There haven’t been bugs, but there are sometimes Fancy Birds: finches (house or purple, I’m not sure), woodpeckers, and once a Cooper’s hawk. Today it was quite nice and to my surprise there were flies and midges in the air, red velvet mites crawling in the soil, and the first spiders out and about! Continue reading Field journal: First spiders of spring in Trinity-Bellwoods
City Hall Watcher #160
This issue is not just a nice round number, it also marks City Hall Watcher’s three-year anniversary, so it’s free for everyone! For this one, I talked to folks about how winter and the pandemic are pushing Toronto’s shelter system to its limits (and, yes, crunched some numbers). I also have a preview of the upcoming City Council agenda, including SafeTO, golf, moths, an Integrity Commissioner investigation, and the first 16 inclusionary zoning…zones.
The ’Berg Is Back
So the 2022 tax-supported budget launched last week, and I wrote about it for City Hall Watcher. The post is subscribers-only, but I made some stuff for it I’ve gotta share here. Continue reading The ’Berg Is Back
The Week at Toronto City Hall #8
At City Council’s last meeting of the year, we’ve got the water, waste, and parking budgets; proposed new taxes; updates on cycling infrastructure and the Ontario Line; one (1) mean tweet; and more.
The Week at Toronto City Hall #7
What’s coming up next week at Toronto City Hall? Drug decriminalization, a vacant home tax, Bloor-Yonge Station expansion, the Parliament Slip, and more.
The Week at Toronto City Hall #6
On the table at Toronto City Hall next week: Uber regulations, mini-robots, venomous snakes, a new tree emblem, the future of the ActiveTO bike lanes, 311 service levels, and more. Also, Jim Karygiannis’s campaign finance compliance audit is in. Let’s dive in!
The Week at Toronto City Hall #5
Note: forgot to post this when it came out >_<
Community Council week at City Hall brings lots of new developments, plus local traffic by-laws and falling walnuts. Also, the Planning & Housing Committee discusses laneway suites, the Yellowbelt, and the end of parking minimums (maybe).