nature apps and the radio
I recently got a radio alarm clock so I don't look at my phone first thing in the morning.
(although this morning I got the presenter of BBC news repeatedly asking the the green party co-leader "are trans women women?" which he prevaricated about answering, to try and get him contradict his co-leader, Carla Denyer, who'd recently spoken in support of trans women at a rally in Bristol. So maybe I need to switch to Absolute 90s or something just to save my blood pressure)
But anyway, earlier this week instead of blood-boiling political commentary I heard an interview recommending the encounter nature app. They specifically said it was designed not to have an algorithm, just gentle updates about nature in your area and a place where you can log nature encounters. I ended up installing it, and I've enjoyed reading the updates so far - it's nice to have information relevant to the changes I see outside, and some of the updates remind me to look out for things I wouldn't otherwise.
This is what it looks like when you open it up
Today, there was an update about swifts that taught me something new:
Sleeping, eating, bathing and even mating on the wing (while flying), Swifts rarely touch the ground.
non-breeding individuals may spend up to ten months in continuous flight.
I had to look this up, it seemed so incredible - Swifts stay airborne for 10 months straight. How wild!