u/Healthy_Cod4764

This probably goes without saying. But I have been seeing more and more people accuse jewish people of the genocide happening in gaza/associating jews with israel. I just saw a simple video of different types of sewing stitches, and one happened to look like the star of david. A bunch of people in the comments were saying things like "that stitch was promised 3000 years ago" or "that stitch gives a lot of money and gold". And then in the replies when people call out the insensitivity of the jokes, people reapond with "Netanyahu approved" or "IDF soldier spotted". It makes me sick. And it also makes me afraid that me or my family might be in danger. My mother hesitates to travel now because of her jewish last name (and she is grateful that my last name is not jewish). It makes me feel like jews are being pushed onto an island where we are left to fend for ourselves, and are being accused of crimes we didn't commit. I know history is full of jews being accused, but I (l suppose naively) thought we moved past that.

I may be thinking too much about it, but it just makes me sad that the world is like this. The fact that on my way home from work I see a billboard saying "hate is for the birds! (Referring to a sports team) Strike out jewish hate" really hammers it even further.

Because of the Canadian wildfires, the air quality in my area (Chicago, IL) has plummeted. I planned on going out birding today, but I stepped outside and could literally smell the smoke (I live hundreds of miles away from the fires). That got me thinking, the birds all have to live outside in this, and they are much more fragile than me. Will they be ok? I know they have survived poor air quality in the past, but this feels really extreme.

I'm also a little extra worried because there are newly-fledged Cooper's hawks across the alley from me, and I'm worried the smoke is going to harm their new little bodies.

I have wanted to find a watersnake for a long time now. Every time I have looked, I have tried looking around midday when its hottest, I look at logs and rocks in the water, I look in the water itself, I look in the vegetation around the water, but nothing. Does anyone have any tips?

I'm located in Illinois

It annoys me how unoriginal so many US states are with their state birds. Like why do seven states have the Northern Cardinal as their state bird? And why does South Dakota choose to have an introduced species, the Ring-necked Pheasant, as their state bird? Especially considering the amount of unique bird diversity each state has, it makes me sad how lazy they can be. Also, there are a lot of declining bird species all over the US, so making them state birds can increase their popularity and (hopefully) help them recover (like what happened with the bald eagle). So to make myself feel better, here are the ones changed:

Delaware- current: blue hen chicken; change to: red knot (delaware is a crucial migratory stop for shorebirds such as the red knot)

Florida- current: northern mockingbird; change to: florida scrub jay (the florida scrub jay is endemic to florida)

Illinois- current: northern cardinal; change to: bobolink (as per the point u/Vin-Metal made, the bobolink would fit well for IL bc they represent the prairies illinois is known for -> I initially said piping plover due to the fact that illinois is one of the great lake states that they breed in)

Kansas- current: western meadowlark; change to: greater prairie chicken (kansas is mostly grassland, which is the habitat of the greater prairie chicken)

Kentucky- current: northern cardinal; change to: kentucky warbler (kentucky warblers breed here, also it has kentucky in the name)

Michigan- current: american robin; change to: kirtland's warbler (michigan is one of 2 states in the US that kirtland's warblers breed)

Montana- current: western meadowlark; change to: greater sage-grouse (montana has good habitat for sage-grouses, which are currently in decline)

Nebraska- current: western meadowlark; change to: sandhill crane (during migration, roughly 80% of the world's sandhill crane population goes through nebraska)

New jersey- current: eastern (american) goldfinch; change to: american oystercatcher (they breed there)

North carolina- current: northern cardinal; change to: carolina chickadee (shockingly no state has carolina chickadee as their state bird, and north carolina and carolina chickadee both have carolina in the name)

North dakota- current: western meadowlark; change to: sharp-tailed grouse (north dakota is an important state for sharp tailed grouse breeding populations)

Ohio- current: northern cardinal; change to: red-winged blackbird (no state has the red-winged blackbird as their state bird, and they are incredibly common in the state)

Oregon- current: western meadowlark; change to: tufted puffin (puffins breed there)

Rhode island- current: rhode island red chicken; change to: osprey (they are a really great conservation success in rhode island)

South dakota- current: ring-necked pheasant; change to: burrowing owl (they are vulnerable in the state and prominent in the badlands, also it would make south dakota the only state with an owl as their state bird)

Tennessee- current: northern mockingbird; change to: nashville warbler (tennessee is where the nashville warbler was discovered, so its part of the state's history)

Texas- current: northern mockingbird; change to: whooping crane (texas is the overwintering habitat for the aransas-wood buffalo whooping crane population)

Virginia- current: northern cardinal; change to: blue jay (they are prominent and iconic)

Washington- current: willow (american) goldfinch; change to: steller's jay (the blue jay of the west)

West virginia- current: northern cardinal; change to: ruby-throated hummingbird (they are prominent in the state and also the only hummingbird that breeds there)

Wyoming- current: western meadowlark; change to: golden eagle (they are present in the state and also really cool)

I want to preface: I do NOT mean to start anything with this, I am strictly going off my own opinion. I know state birds may have cultural significance in their respective states, I'm just saying I think we need to diversify a bit. Also, I am not the most knowledgeable on every state. Therefore, if someone has a better recommendation, feel free to bring it up. Like I said, this is my opinion, and everyone is subject to their own opinion too.

A few months ago (like maybe mid march or so), I went to my local park and pulled out a whole patch of garlic mustard from around the base of a small oak tree. I pulled out every single little sprout that I could find, and since the soil was moist and loose after a fresh rain, it was pretty easy. I didn't think it would actually get rid of all of it, but I went back to check today and there was nothing. Not a single little bit of garlic mustard. I'm so proud of myself, and I also plan to plant Bloodroot and Virginia Bluebells in its place