Mildly interesting
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GOOD NEWS: America’s National Bird Thriving in the Buckeye State
Ohio can celebrate a milestone this Independence Day with 964 confirmed active bald eagle nests. 
️ More than 1,800 reports from citizen scientists statewide helped complete the 2025 bald eagle nest census. Our staff followed up on these reports and confirmed nest locations in 87 of Ohio’s 88 counties.️ Active nests were counted as those with an incubating eagle, eggs, or eaglets present. Given the high volume of nests, this nest census represents the most complete picture possible of Ohio’s breeding bald eagle population.
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ORNAMENTAL HERMITS were hired by wealthy landowners in the 18th century in Britain and Ireland to live on their landscaped estates.
Ornamental hermits were part living garden ornament, part conversation piece. They were meant to evoke a sense of ancient wisdom, solitude, and rustic wildness, aligning with the era’s fascination with nature, ruins, and the sublime. Sometimes the contracts were bizarrely specific: the hermit might be paid to grow out his hair and beard, wear rags or druid-like robes, never wash, avoid speaking to visitors, and remain on the estate for years, providing an atmosphere of poetic decay.
Some estates advertised for hermits in newspapers. One famous example is Charles Hamilton’s estate at Painshill Park in Surrey. He built a hermitage and offered a seven-year post to any man willing to live as a recluse under strict conditions. Legend says the first hired hermit was discovered at a local pub after only a few weeks and was promptly dismissed.
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More surprises that I would have guessed.
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