Rene Bartos

Photo of a blank sketch pad page with rosemary sprigs from my garden arranged in a shape of the symbol for peace with small leaflets (from a ground cover plant from my yard) in each corner.

Gardening, making random nature art, and cooking comfort food are all things that bring me peace. Rosemary, it turns out, can be used for all three.💙
#nature #herbgarden #natureart

Spotted at LBJ Wildflower Center at the spring NPSOT symposium this weekend. Yellow jessamine, Gelsemium sempervirens and White-lined Sphinx, Hyles lineata (hummingbird moth) Many butterflies and bees too. Lots of pollinators at Wildflower Center! #pollinators #moths #nativeplants #wildflowers

Image created by myself using Canva featuring book cover, Wild Women For Good: Stories of Conservation in Texas by Jennifer L. Bristol with 5 stars and my comments next to the book cover: celebrating courageous women, stories of conservation, how to get things done in challenging times

Last week, my son and I were fortunate to attend an event at @bookpeople.com in Austin featuring the amazing Jennifer L. Bristol sharing her new book published by
@tamupress.bsky.social
Wild women for conservation getting things done! Highly recommend ❤️
#womeninconservation #conservationstories

Picture of a slide from a presentation entitled "Fostering Intergenerational Birding and Writing" with photos of books covers by author Jane Yolen and Heidi EY Stemple, including Owl Moon and Heidi's latest release, Snowy Owl Rescue, Raptor Recovery

Catching up on cross posting from Instagram- Loved presenting about owls recently and sharing the joy of family reading, writing, and birding. Thanks to Jane Yolen, Heidi EY Stemple @heidieys.bsky.social and all the family writers and birders for sharing their stories. 🙏
#kidlit #birding #owlbooks

Happy Valentine's Day collage using framed photos of a variety of wildflowers. Flower colors-light pink, darker pink, lavender, purple-blue

Happy Valentine's Day! ❤️
Sharing a photo collage with some of my favorite wildflowers.

Great Egret standing still in a park pond, with surrounding tall grasses.

Spotted this Great Egret on a quick walk in a nearby park. Fish catcher extraordinaire! #HaikuSaturday #naturepoetry #birding

Collage using Canva template: my happy cat doodle/sketch, photos of my rescue cat upside down in a sherpa fish-shaped cat bed, a Northern Cardinal perched in a tree, a birdhouse, a Northern Mockingbird in a bush, a Live Oak Tree in a local park in Austin Tx, and a few feathers.

Adding from my Instagram acct. Great idea from an amazing @writersloftma.bsky.social class with editor Karen Boss, who mentioned authors creating a storyboard or folder with content/images to share with their illustrator. I was inspired to create a story spark collage using a Canva template. #kidlit

graphic about webinar entitled The Importance of Hooks in Nonfiction with photos of Stephanie Gibeault and Anna Luketic

If you write nonfiction for kids, join me and Sourcebooks editor Anna Luketic for an online webinar with @thewritingbarn.bsky.social on Thursday, Feb. 12 at noon CT. We'll discuss the power of hooks to grab readers and editors.🪝
#kidlit #cankidlit
More info here:
thewritingbarn.com/class/webina...

Thanks! I am not sure if it is any specific poetic form. I don't have formal poetry training, just started writing haikus on Saturdays to celebrate nature. I guess I could have made a concrete poem with clock face or hands. This is just what popped into my mind looking at the photo.

Reposting for #NationlInspireaYourHeartwithArtDay
Valentine's Day idea to help wildlife. Owl box + ❤️ from wood shavings.
Check with your local Audubon Chapter or other organizations supporting birds 🐦 and wildlife for opportunities+resources to make bird boxes, bee boxes, or even bat boxes!

I can't believe this book will be here very soon! I hope you'll check out HAPPY SONGKRAN DAY!: A Thai New Year Celebration. You'll meet spunky Tida and her big sister Lek as they celebrate this special holiday. From Viking Children's Books. #newbook #songkran #thai #kidlit #picturebook

Photo of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks and Egyptian Geese hanging out on land near a pond.

Photo of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks resting and Double-crested Comorant holding wings out to dry on land near a pond, with an Egyptian Goose swimming in the pond.

So cute! Love it. I have a few from here in Austin too! I posted a reel on Instagram with more.

Photo of trees and cacti in foreground at twilight with gorgeous blue-purple-pink toned sky (the blue hour) in the background just after sunset at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phx Az taken in December 2025.

Not a haiku today for #haikusaturday, but perhaps share any you come up with? Desert Botanical Garden in Phx and memories of my son's amazing high school marching band performance "The Blue Hour" embedded the magic of the blue hour forever in my heart. 💙 #poetry #naturepoetry #arizonasunset

Yes! Amazing place during the day as well. I have so many pix but can only post 4 on Bluesky. I was visiting family in Az (lived there previously).

Photo of Great Egret in flight travelling away from the camera over calm water (Brushy Creek). Taken at Brushy Creek Lake Park Dec 27 2025 during Christmas Bird Count.

Eastern Bluebird perched on top of a tree branch at the top of a tree. Taken at Brushy Creek Lake Park Dec 27 2025 during Christmas Bird Count.

Treetop flock of Cedar Waxwings. Taken at Brushy Creek Lake Park Dec 27 2025 during Christmas Bird Count.

Great Blue Heron standing on a small area of land surrounded by water (Brushy Creek)with grasses, brush, and deciduous trees (some bare branches, some still with leaves), along the banks of the creek on both sides and a fallen branch/log visible in the creek beyond the heron.Taken at Brushy Creek Lake Park Dec 27 2025 during Christmas Bird Count.

Participated in Audubon Christmas Bird Count for my area 12/27/25. In addition to hundreds of birds and other wildlife, there were many beautiful green and blue spaces with native trees and plants. Sharing a few of the many photos.
#christmasbirdcount #birding #nature #audubonsociety

Photo of welcome sign at the entrance of the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix Arizona. Succulent plants are growing from the sign display and some are blooming. Taken Dec 22 2025

Photo of sunset at Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix Arizona with Saguaro cactus and desert plants in the foreground and crescent moon visible in the sky. Taken Dec 22 2025

Photo just after sunset of a path surrounded by stone walls and a variety of plants and trees. The path is illuminated with paper bag/candle luminarias and string lights on the nearby trees. Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix Arizona, Dec 22 2025

Photo of deep blue, purple, and pink sky just after sunset with cacti and trees native to the Sonoran desert at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix Arizona taken Dec 22 2025

The Desert Botanical Garden's Las Noches de las Luminarias event makes the holidays magical. Garden pathways with luminarias, musical performances, gorgeous desert sunsets, the wonder of the blue hour, and time in nature with family. Priceless.
#nature
#botanicalgarden
#luminaria
#arizonasunset

A flock of birds perched in upper branches of a deciduous tree in fall that has lost most of its leaves. Details of the birds are hard to make out given the morning fog, grey sky, and distance (taken with phone cam).

Poetry birding-haiku in photo and a free form version.

I can't clearly see your crests, colors, or facial masks.
But I heard your high-pitched whistles.
I saw you swoop in to land together in the treetop.
Social birds, I know you are
Cedar Waxwings
despite morning fog.

#poetry #haikusaturday

Photograph from a path overlooking the Colorado River in fall on a foggy morning. Roy G. Guerrero Park in Austin Texas

For our Travis Audubon poetry birding event today we tackled epistolary poetry in the early morning fog. Here is my first try!
#nature #epistolarypoetry

Just realized @birdability is on Blue Sky! Reposting and tagging. Thank you to founder Virginia Rose for being a part of this workshop. I recommend checking out their website for helpful resources and more info.

Photo of a slide presentation on a screen with 4 presenters, 3 are standing and one is seated in a wheelchair in front of people seated at tables watching the presenters.

Photo of a slide presentation on a large screen. The slide text says Nature Connections for Children of All Abilities and has a photo with wildflowers. A table below the sceen has items that appear to be flyers, resources (unable to see details). Standing to the left of the screen is a woman smiling at the camera, hands clasped in front.

Last week I had the honor of presenting a workshop on Nature Connections for Children of All Abilities at Texas Children in Nature Network's 2025 Summit along with amazing community partners from Birdability, Texas A&M Agrilife Extension, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. 🌳 #natureforall

View from a dirt park path that is flat and fairly even, with trees along the side of the trail providing shade. Beyond the trees is a sloping area with a hint of a body of water to the left of this portion of the path.

As I was strolling through a nearby park, I looked at the path and was reminded of the importance of accessibility to help make nature welcoming for all, something I have been learning more about in my work connecting kids to nature. #haikusaturday #natureforall

I know right? Nature is amazing. I am working on a website and going though all my nature photos spending way too much time playing with the photo color matching tool on Canva.

Photo of Palmleaf Mistflower plant zoomed in on blossoms, purple-blue color with a fuzzy or mist-like appearance to the flowers. To me they look like little whiskers coming out of the flowers.

Photo taken at Blair Woods Nature Preserve in Austin for our Travis Audubon poetry birding event November 8, 2025 #haikusaturday #nativeplants #nature

There is a retired educator and another birding expert along with me. We just teamed up. We make a handout, and I bring some poetry books for examples. We hike, then sit, write, and share if desired (no pressure) and I share photos after the event. Great way to get folks involved.

Anyone can do it! Maybe check with an Audubon in your area or another nature organization if interested. I am a Master birder volunteer but don't have any special poetry training. Audubon folks just saw my haikus on social media and asked if I wanted to help lead. That is how the idea hatched. 🪺

Sketch of a Black-capped Chickadee with a nonet typed onto the sketch.

On our poetry birding hike today we wrote nonets. This is my first attempt at writing one! We heard Carolina Chickadees along the trail. Although I didn't capture a good photo today, I added a nonet to a rough sketch I made from a photo I took of a Black-capped Chickadee in the NE.

Spinybacked Orbweaver spider hanging from a web, which was strung between tree branches over a wooded trail in Blair Woods Nature Preserve this morning in Austin Tx

Had a great morning on our Travis Audubon poetry birding hike at Blair Woods Nature Preserve in Austin. This interesting spider was hanging above the trail. #haikusaturday #nature

For Native American communities, providing a strong start for their children includes enriching practices that embrace their heritages, languages and cultures. Join us in celebrating our indigenous communities and the professionals who support them: https://bit.ly/3UtZahb

❤️ this! "...using picture books for STEAM and PBL is about building bridges: between literacy and science, imagination and innovation, the classroom and the real world...we offer students the tools to question, create, experience, and connect."
@lindsayamoretti.bsky.social
#Educators #PBL #STEAM

Every Seed (and Book) Holds Possibility By Lynn Street

The Nov. newsletter with an article by author @lynnstreetbooks.bsky.social is ready to read! Find book news, teaching tips, inspiration, and #KidLitForGrowingMinds members who will attend NCTE! 📚 #NCTE2025 #edusky #booksky #schoollibrarians #skybrarian

tinyurl.com/zk4asf3m