The Lesser Goldfinch Is Getting Greater

PLUS: new music from Moda Spira!

We’ve been getting lots of new subscribers every week lately, so just a quick hello (hi!) and a note that this is my “just for fun” newsletter where I write about whatever I feel like — birds, books, music, movies, shoplifting, legitimately whatever I feel like — and also update people about my books and other writing projects. If you were signing up hoping for stories about immigration in the US, that’s something I do over at These Stories.

The Lesser Goldfinch is spreading

Look, I know why you’re all here, and it’s because you want Bird News. Sure, I don’t do it every week, but I like to think that’s your favorite part of this here newsletter.

The range of the lesser goldfinch is expanding! A bird that is common in the southwest, the lesser goldfinch has been moving further and further into the Pacific Northwest… not just visiting, but establishing permanent colonies of birds.

And yes, this has something to do with both urbanization and climate change. It turns out as the weather gets warmer in the northwest, the lesser goldfinch has found it easier to migrate up along city corridors and rivers to establish new population centers. Ten years ago there were hardly any lesser goldfinches in Washington state, for instance, but now they are a commonly seen bird (we get them all the time in our backyard in the Portland, Oregon, area).

You can read alllllll about it here.

AND YES I KNOW that the only thing you are wondering is “What does the GREATER goldfinch look like?” and the answer is that, even though it sounds pretty mean to call one goldfinch “lesser” there’s not one we call “greater,” mostly because we find it goes to their heads and pretty soon the greater goldfinch is flying around bullying everyone like some sort of Blue Jay or other scrub robber bird.

Anyway, here’s what a lesser goldfinch sounds like if you’d like to hear their song:

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More GOD WITH US reviews

My first and only graphic novel, GOD WITH US, has been out for several weeks now, and reviews are still coming in. I’m told that Very Soon here we’ll get a review from Kirkus Reviews, the premiere book review site. Pretty excited to share that with you!

In the meantime, here are some reviews from the Baptist Standard and Redeemed Reader. It does appear that Redeemed Reader (which still had a very positive review!) may have missed what one nine-year-old reader called “THE BIG TWIST!” toward the end, but hey I find that kids in general read comics with more attention than adults in general!

Anyway, if you haven’t checked out God With Us, please do. And if you already have, then many thanks to you.

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Episode 400 of our podcast!

The Fascinating Podcast just hit our 400th episode. HOW?! Our hosts (me, Kathy Khang, JR. Forasteros, and Clay Morgan) got together and reminisced about the olden times and looked forward to the future. A really fun episode of us just hanging out, which is exactly how we started!

My favorite thing online this week

It’s been a while since I’ve done a music suggestion, but I know you will enjoy the latest from Moda Spira. Moda Spira is the singular musical vision of my dear friend Latifah Alattas (who has also been a core piece of The Autumn Film and Page CXVI). It’s been YEARS since Moda Spira released a new song, so this is a big deal.

Her new song “Head Up” is a beautiful and encouraging song about how to keep going in the midst of hard times. Tifah wrote it during a time wrestling with postpartum depression. But I think most of us know what it means to be in the middle of hard times, and can find comfort and courage in this song. Check it out:

Bruce!

For the uninitiated, Bruce — also known as King Bruce — is the giant rabbit who rules our backyard and also occasionally comes inside to watch TV or hang out with us.

As Spring rolls on in the Pacific Northwest, Bruce is very pleased that various plants are growing and budding and blooming so that he can eat them down to the nub.

He *really* loves pear tree leaves and branches, and most days you can find him out in the back yard standing on his hind legs and doing his best impression of a giraffe reaching for high leaves.

One little side service of having a large bunny in your backyard is that all bushes and plants have an exactly bunny-sized trim on their lower branches.

So, this week I hope you can follow Bruce’s example and do an extra stretch for that special treat you love.

Peace to you, and see you next week!

Matt