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‘BirdNote’ Answers All Your Questions About Our Avian Friends
The new book from Ellen Blackstone and Emily Poole follows the NPR segment of the same name
This article originally appeared in the March 2018 issue of Seattle magazine.
This article appears in print in the March 2018 issue. Click here to subscribe.
Have you ever wondered what that little red dot on a seagull’s bill is for? Or why geese fly in a V formation? Answers to such questions—and more illuminating insights into avian species, such as the bird who grows its own snowshoes in winter, and the one who calls “Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you all?”—are neatly compiled in BirdNote (Sasquatch, March 20, $22.95), a collection of vignettes about birds gathered from the popular, two-minute NPR segment of the same name (on KPLU-FM: 8:58 a.m., Monday–Friday; 9:30 a.m., Saturday–Sunday).
Alongside Eugene, Oregon, artist Emily Poole’s enchanting illustrations, Seattle bird expert and longtime BirdNote series editor Ellen Blackstone worked with a team of writers on the compilation, touching on interesting bird behavior, biology, songs and more. It’s a trove of trivia for anyone who’s ever wondered, “Why is that bird doing that?”
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Rearview Mirror: Spinasse at Home, a New Spa Experience, and Seattle Mag’s Reader’s Choice Awards
Things I did, saw, ate, learned, or read in the past week (or so).
YOUR VOTE MATTERS Everyone has a favorite restaurant, coffee shop, or local boutique. Call me old-school, but I will die on the hill that Caffe Vita has the best coffee in town. Disagree with me? Now’s your moment to speak up. Each year, we survey Seattle magazine readers, asking them to weigh in on everything…
Studio Sessions: Ling Chun
The Seattle-based artist brings playful color to ceramics and neon while exploring memory, transformation, and life between cultures.
For Ling Chun, creating begins with something sensed before it can be named. Working with clay, glass, light, and sometimes synthetic hair, the Hong Kong-born artist gives physical form to things that words cannot always hold. “For me, the magnitude of making goes far beyond the object that is eventually produced,” Chun says. “The object…
The Magic of PAX Is Stronger Than Ever
PAX West draws more than 100,000 people to Seattle each year. Co-founder Jerry Holkins reflects on what the gaming convention set out to change, how its community has grown and why gathering face to face still matters.
Access to game news as it was happening was difficult back in the day. Even with the advent of the internet, communication between game publishers and journalists was still a very elite affair. I used to fake credentials—via fax machine!—to attend the Electronic Entertainment Expo, mostly just known as E3. It was simultaneously as loud…
Your Guide to Bumbershoot 2026
Navigate Seattle’s wildest end-of-summer weekend with 20 picks spanning Death Cab for Cutie, Blood Orange, wrestling, skateboarding and—obviously—movies made in 48 hours.
Four years after Bumbershoot returned with its quirkiness revivified, Seattleites broadly acknowledge the two-day multimedia extravaganza as a welcome finale to the summer festival season. Fests like Bumbershoot are designed around a choose-your-own-adventure model, but if you’re the kind of person who looked at this year’s sprawling lineup—featuring multiple bands, artists, and exhibits happening at…