cranky ol’ Auncle Allie

@turtlesoup

Cartoonist, illustrator, fanperson. Budding professional science writer & hobby naturalist/nature photographer. They/them. Expect lots of bird photos (and sometimes plants, bugs, etc). GenAI is not welcome here.

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cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· 12h

Back to your regularly (ha) scheduled nature posting ... I had the opportunity to spend some quality time with one of my more elusive favorite #birds at my little local sanctuary on Wednesday night; a belted kingfisher (or perhaps that should be QUEENfisher). 🪶❤️

A belted kingfisher perched in a beech(?) tree, body turned away from the viewer and head tilted, looking down. She's a compact blue bird with a large, triangular head and beak, a large white spot at the front corner of her eye, black tips to her wings, a thick white collar and a white belly.

The belted kingfisher, now perched on lichen-crusted dead branches hanging amid maple leaves, her body turned to the side and head towards the viewer. Some of her eponymous red "belt" markings can be seen peeking from uner her folded wing.

The female belted kingfisher perched in a willow tree at a three-quarter angle, peering downward with her wings sticking downward in neat little triangles at her sides.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· 6d

Aw, a few years too late. (I make my younger brother a physical mix CD every year, usually with some kind of nostalgia or in-joke themed cover art. This was 2020's.)

Fake CD cover art in bright lime green with green and yellow sparkle effects, a green KN95 mask overlaid with large text reading "NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL QUARANTINE" in white, green, and shiny gold. Yellow text at the upper left reads "EVAN MIX #22".

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· 7d

"Why am I awake?" -me, and probably also this (immature, I think) Great Horned Owl who flew across my path last Saturday afternoon. I think it had been mobbed by songbirds. (Photo has been cropped - I took it from a careful and respectful distance.) 🦉 #birds 🪶

A young great horned owl perched on a lichen-speckled, forked branch against a backdrop of out-of-focus oak leaves. Its back is to the viewer, but its head is turned nearly all the way around, and tilted upwards; it has a single small feather sticking horizontally out from its head by one "horn" (tuft). It's a mottled brown all over, its eye discs more reddish, and it has huge yellow eyes and a small, curved black beak.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· 8d

71 — Augmented. The Tide. cadence 100 · vigil 5 · lexicon 49 · polish 89 · drift 24 · chorus 69 Six lines read off all 1,258 of my posts. A percentile among 77 accounts, not an AI detector. https://b.mino.mobi/palm/?u=turtlesoup.bsky.social

A six-spoke radar chart of stylometric readings for @turtlesoup.bsky.social. Cadence (how metronomic you are) 100th percentile; Vigil (how little you sleep) 5th percentile; Lexicon (how narrow your words) 49th percentile; Polish (how immaculate you are) 89th percentile; Drift (how unchanging you are) 24th percentile; Chorus (how much you broadcast) 69th percentile. Composite 71 of 100, "Augmented", archetype "The Tide" — You arrive on schedule, and the schedule has a night in it. (Cadence 100 over Vigil 5). The scale runs from Pan (least machine-like) to the Loom (most). These are percentiles among 77 real accounts, not a probability that anything was machine-written.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· 14d

Here's a rather different flavor of #birdart, traditional media this time ... there's something about cormorants drying their wings that always makes me think of vampire capes and something goofy trying to look imposing. Entirely projecting, but it brings me joy. 🖤

A postcard-sized marker & color pencil illustration of a double-created cormorant standing on a rock or log with its wings spread to dry, against a green background. A thought balloon with white text over a gray/black gradient reads "I am the NIGHT ..."

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· 15d

Finished up a piece of #birdart I've been noodling with for awhile--a red-eyed vireo with the common "translation" of its song.

Digitally-colored pen-and-ink drawing of a red-eyed vireo, a small olive-colored songbird, perched on a blooming Virginia bluebell plant with its beak wide open in song. A stylized scroll shows the words "HERE I AM! WHERE ARE YOU?"

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· 18d

My dad just sent me a box of odds and ends from my teens and twenties, which included these blasts from the CCS past ... (They're unisex S and don't fit me; I don't suppose any of my fellow alums would want 'em?)

Photo of a teal-green T-shirt with the following in a yellow script font, in quotations: "White River Junction ..."

Photo of the back of a teal-green T-shirt with the following in a yellow script font, in quotations, with a Trademark symbol at the end: "... it's not so bad"

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jul 2

Messing around reimagining one of my absurd adolescent RPG characters, as one does. (Drawn ... good grief, about 26 years apart.) @elleskinner.bsky.social @alexmegami.bsky.social

Photo of an old vaguely anime-style drawing colored with color pencil of a young woman with pointy ears, orange wings and a tail that looks rather like orange and yellow streamers extending from her rear. She's holding a knife in one hand and has one leg inexplicably lifted and bent at the knee, while the other hand is outstretched and extruding a gout of flame. Her black hair streams behind her but for a thick section braided to one side of her face, decorated with what appear to be her own feathers. She wears a red tube top, brown belt, black miniskirt, and gold or brass wrist braces, and she stares off into space with a stony expression and yellow eyes.

Computer-colored drawing of a harpy which appears to be on fire, phoenix-style. She's light-skinned and pointy-eared with long black hair, a little of which hangs in a slender braid down her front. She has large orange-gold wings instead of arms and orange-golden feathery legs ending in large black raptor claws instead of feet, and there's an orange-golden tail stretched out behind her. Her head is cocked and her eyes appear wide, though up close they don't actually have any whites, but are yellow with black centers. One eyebrow is raised and her wings are partially unfolded but not spread.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jun 29

Love you. (Do you have any preferred birds or small wildlife? I have many photos I could potentially share in addition to this guy. ❤️)

A tabby cat in a tiger-striped harness laying across a lap with his face resting on a sticker-covered laptop.

A tabby cat in a tiger-pattern harness curled up sleeping with his hind paws in his face; it looks like the tips of his toes are in his mouth.

A tabby cat lying on top of a white bespectacled middle-aged person with his front paws resting on their chest; they have a wry expression on their face and are wearing a shirt that looks like a 90s paper cup (purple teal and blue stripes).

A tabby cat looking blissed out because he's getting scratched under the chin. His head is tilted back upside-down against someone's plaid-clothed torso.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jun 24

As if tufted titmice weren't cute enough as adults! And from the noise these little fluffballs make, you'd think they were almost all lung under that puff. One small wooded corner with at least six titmouse fledglings = utter, adorable cacophony. #birds 🪶

A fledgling tufted titmouse perched on an old, worn fallen branch, looking very alert and determined and ROUND. It stands with its body facing the viewer and its head turned to the side. It's a fluffy ball of white breast feathers and grey wings/head, with a pointy little crest, a black beak topped with a little black band of feathers, beady black eyes and little grey feet.

The fledgling tufted titmouse, still ROUND, bending its little body over to YELL through a wide-open beak which is bright yellow-orange inside.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jun 23

Venting at work via scribbly superhero doodling instead of screaming or curling up in a fetal position under my desk. Like you do.

Very scribbly ballpoint pen drawing of Rachel Summers circa her days on Claremont's X-Men, floating in midair, screaming and clutching at her head, with a messy angry phoenix effect around her and 'AARGH' in big dark letters behind her and running off the page. It's drawn on a purple notepad with cartoony drawings of opossums at the top holding a banner that reads "THINGS I DON'T WANT TO DO."

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jun 16

Went for a walk around the neighborhood for the first time since the hawk kids fledged ... I was bracing myself not to see them and be sad about it. (Empty-nesting a bit? 😅) Instead, I got to say hello rather more closely than I have before! #birds 🪶

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jun 10

Part two:

Photo showing a grey/brown tabby cat in a tiger-striped harness sitting on an upside-down plastic serving tray that has been placed over a laptop keyboard. The cat is facing away from the screen, ignoring the video playing on it.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jun 10

First time trying cat TV: a tale in two parts. Part one:

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jun 10

I'm trying to explain to my remote work supervisor that micromanagement is, if anything, a bit detrimental to productivity ... he is not convinced. At least he gives me plenty of positive feedback. (So much purr.)

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jun 9

Feeling tired and demoralized this morning, so I thought I'd share some baby #birds I've seen in the last week. Delightful fluffballs and gremlins all. 💕🪶 An American robin fledgling, mallard ducklings, mute swan cygnets, and a northern yellow warbler fledgling (the TINIEST omg).

A very round American robin fledgling perched in a tree. It has lots of dark speckling on its breast still, and an exaggerated gape that looks like a big cranky frown.

Close-up on a cuddle pile of sleepy mallard ducklings; just balls of brown-and-yellow fluff with a couple of tiny bills and (mostly) closed eyes.

A line of four mute swan cygnets swimming side-by-side on a murky, pollen-coated pond, heads all pointed in slightly different directions as they contemplate the foraging options. They're tiny and white and fluffy with little rounded black bills.

A northern yellow warbler fledgling perched on a single leafy stalk from a shrub. It's a minuscule grey bird (maybe two inches tall?) with tiny pieces of fluff sticking out from its head irregularly, darker wings with just the faintest suggestion of a yellow wash on lighter wing bars, and a tiny bright yellow beak with an exaggerated, grumpy-looking gape.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jun 4

Please enjoy my embarrassingly cooing "talking to a baby bird" voice as I cheer the fledgling on to take its second flight ... #birds 🥹😅🪶 I felt like such a proud neighborhood auncle. (Also, I was a bit worried about it on that hot, almost entirely unshaded/exposed rooftop.)

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Jun 4

Yesterday I was incredibly lucky. I stopped by the neighborhood red tailed hawk's nest on my lunch break just in time to see one of the chicks fledge! Poor critter landed on a roof for awhile and was pretty bewildered by all the yelling, divebombing robins. #birds 🪶

A near-fledgling red-tailed hawk chick perched on a jutting pine tree branch against a blue sky. Its body is proportioned like an adult's, but its head looks oddly small/not fully feathered.

A near-fledgling red-tailed hawk mid-flying-practice, standing on a pine branch and lifting one foot with its wings fully spread and its tail up, body bent over, looking a bit awkward.

A fledgling red-tailed hawk standing at the edge of a roof in a residential neighborhood, facing the viewer at a three-quarter angle with its head turned to the side. Its head looks a bit small for its body, and its eyes a bit big for its head! It also has that telltale pink, exaggerated gape.

A fledgling red-tailed hawk standing at the edge of a residential roof, looking off into the distance and apparently ignoring the American robin flying at it aggressively (and blurrily) from the left.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· May 31

#birdart as personal metaphor ... something I did even before birding and such became a Thing for me. 😅

A rough three-panel pen and ink comic titled "birdbrain" (with "dysregulation" in parentheses).

Panel 1: In the background, large letters spell ALARM, apparently emerging from a blue jay who is perched on a branch to the upper right with its beak open. I. The foreground, a bespectacled white human with a bandana on their head squeezes their eyes shut and covers their ears; word balloons read "=ow=" and "Shush!"

Panel 2: Head and shoulders of the shouting blue jay. The shouty spiky word balloon behind it obscures the first word, so it reads "DE---IR! DISMAY! DISASTER!"

Panel 3: The blue jay stands in agitated posture on the ground, yelling up at the human, who is on their hands and knees, addressing the bird with a tentativeness in their posture.
Jay: "FIGHT! FLEE!! FREEZE!!!"
Human: "Let's try a few deep breaths."

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· May 26

A small tulip-dwelling dragon, just because.

Photo of a red tulip with shades of yellow and orange, leaning over sideways with the weight of the droplets of water bedecking it. A hand-drawn purple dragon, digitally colored, is curled up at the entrance to the "cave" of the flower's interior, eye half-closed, sleepy.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· May 23

This very squishy and grumpy baby robin who also cannot keep its eyes open is my entire mood and being right now. #birds 🪶

A fledgling American Robin perched on a branch against a backdrop of bright green. It has a dark head, a pointy yellow beak, and appears to be 90% round orangeish chest and belly fluff with thick black speckling.

The same baby robin with its head turned to the side and eye half-closed.

The baby robin, still with its head turned to the side, and its eye closed.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· May 2

Also, some signs I've wound up making for features of my studio that visitors have asked unexpected questions about. People are delightful. (I guess I can't blame them about the futon. It does have a bedsheet on it.)

A hand-written sign tacked to a wall, which reads "PLEASE ENJOY my inspiration wall. ❤️ Nearly all of this is NOT my work. Many of these artists ARE friends or acquaintances. Happy to share names/info!"

A hand-written sign pinned to a wall, reading "you are welcome to sit and rest for a bit! ❤️ Thank you for visiting! (I don't sleep here, don't worry)"

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· May 2

I'm not done being amused by how obviously ... bifurcated my work on display is. Pre-2020, queer SFF comics & prints and a lot of pastels and computer coloring. Post-2020, nature photography and bright marker art of birds. All of it is still part of me! Someday it'll get a bit more integrated.

A pegboard display with six postcard-sized drawings of different birds in marker and color pencil. Post-it notes list a price, and another asks "what's your FAVORITE bird??"

A pegboard display with some postcard-sized marker drawings of art, a box of nature photo prints, and a set of larger prints.

A pegboard display featuring art prints (Gina Torres as Wonder Woman, Sailor Moon, some SFF themed things) and a couple of minicomics ("Goodness KNOWS" and Plunge).

Pegboard display featuring queer erotic comics and pin-up art, a Deep Space Nine fanzine, and another minicomic.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· May 2

I am loving the chill vibe of participating in Somerville Open Studios. Welcoming people into my own space as they ebb and flow is delightful. Come visit if you're around!

A smiling, light-skinned, bespectacled person sitting in an office chair holding a partly-done postcard-sized piece of artwork, with a cluttered desk behind them and a wall covered in artwork and cards.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Apr 30

Being a bit low-key about it this year for various reasons, but. I'm participating in Somerville Open Studios this weekend! If you're in the Boston area, come by and say hello? I'm at stop #110, Mad Oyster Studios, with around 20 other participating artists (in a whole bunch of different media).

Image shows a collage of photos, including one of several issues of a comic book called Queer Thrills on display, a pile of hand-drawn bird art in marker and color pencil, photos of a hummingbird and a bumblebee, as well as a graphic advertising Somerville Open Studios and another, featuring a tiny "phoenix" based on a tufted titmouse, advertising alliekleber.com. The caption reads: "Art, comics & nature photos @Somerville Open Studios! Stop 110 - Mad Oyster Studios"

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Apr 30

I'm trying something new: occasional blog posts about my nature rambles (on no particular schedule). For example, on Monday I visited my neighborhood hawk nest, then stumbled across some interesting behavior from another raptor species ... alliekleber.com/blog

Left: blurry close-up through a couple of the main tree limbs, showing an adult hawk bending over the fluffy white head of a chick. If you squint, you can see its beak and eye. White text with an arrow pointing at the chick reads "BABY!!"

Right: another somewhat less than crisp image of the adult hawk looking down at a ball of white fluff (the baby’s head, no longer turned outwards). White text with an arrow pointing at the chick reads "STILL BABY (LOOKS LIKE COTTON BALL)".

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Apr 29

Gen is helping me check over old files for printing ...

Photo of a grey-brown tabby cat rubbing his face on a laptop screen, which displays a black and white comic page (the last page of Queer Thrills #4).

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Apr 14

Life is intense right now, and it's keeping me home a lot ... but my little urban neighborhood has been outdoing itself when it comes to #birds recently. Our local hawks are nesting again, I caught a pretty spectacular wild turkey courtship display last week, and yesterday, a pair of towhees! 🪶

A red-tailed hawk nest nestled among the thick limbs of a large pine tree. An adult hawk is visible sitting in the nest, and appears to be looking back at the viewer.

A male eastern towhee standing just out from under the cover of a rhododendron, contemplating the disturbed earth at his feet. He's a large, lanky, long-tailed sparrow with a black head, back, chest and tail, white belly, and rufous sides.

A female eastern towhee looks over her shoulder from where she's crouched in a thick tangle of mostly-bare forsythia branches. She's similar to the male, but her head, back and tail are a deep chocolate brown.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Apr 3

I don't know about you guys, but I could really use some silly bird photos today. Specifically, photos of #birds giving me funny looks. Puts all the human nonsense into some brief context. What are you weird hairless ape things even doing? 🪶

An immature red-tailed hawk perched on a branch directly above the viewer at a diagonal, staring downwards against the backdrop of a pale sky. It's a stocky raptor with a white chin, chest and belly, brown head, wings and tail (hard to see the barring from this angle/lighting), and brown splotches on its lower chest.

A tufted titmouse perched low on a shrub, body arched up a bit, head tilted to the side as it faces the viewer head-on. It's a small grey songbird with a white face and underside, warm orange patches at the base of its wings, a small black stripe over its black beak, and a pointy little crest.

A northern mockingbird perched in a bare thickly-branched shrub, facing the viewer head-on and appearing to stare directly into their soul. It's a mid-sized grey songbird with a rounded head, slightly curved black beak, black mustaches stripe, and white chest and belly.

A mourning dove perched on a wooden beam against a backdrop dappled in sunlight, its feathers individually puffed up mid-preen, cocking its head a little to the side as it apparently stares directly towards the viewer (although with its eyes on the sides of its head like that, it may not actually be looking at them). It's a soft peachy pink and grey dove with darker wings and a plump body.

cranky ol’ Auncle Allie@turtlesoup· Mar 30

"oh, did someone lick the cake you left unattended in the kitchen for less than two minutes? that's terrible! who would EVER do such a thing?"