Hawk

Brittle star swimming! Love this movement.

WOW first time I've captured a tern with a double catch! Not perfectly in focus, but pretty damn good! 🪶

one thing I love about older scientific literature. in his 1947 paper 'Scale adaptation and utilization in Aesiocopa patulana' William Beebe fucked with a caterpillar in the wrong way and it died and he expressed genuine and poetic contrition about it in the paper itself

Red tailed hawk on Navy No Trespassing sign . San Diego

Become ungovernable. Red-tailed hawk. San Diego. 🪶

This is a juvenile sharp shinned hawk! Note the length of the tail compared to the body, the thickness of the tail bars(in a RSHA the white bands would be much thinner and the black bands much darker), the lack of white barring on the secondaries and outerwing coverts, and the head and beak shape

Have you stopped to appreciate a cockroach lately? Cockroaches get a lot of unjustified hate for simply existing. Species like this yellow glass cockroach (Chorisoneura sp.) from Ecuador can be charming if you take the time to view them in a positive light. I think it's beautiful!

Two white-tailed deer in a poplar copse along the Bow River pathway

Mets some friends on my hike

Sand grains as big as her head ❤️

Slender mopy wasp, with a green head, thin antennae, tan thorax with a purple stripe across the sides, tiny wing stubs, and a dark iridescent abdomen terminated by a black feathery oviposito - both abdomen and feather pointed straight up as she roams oak bark

Released Ms Uropelma formosum back to the wild after the photoshoot the other day. When booty feather goes straight up, she's on the hunt. Farewell, silly creature 🖤

this twitchy creature traveling across a wooden handrail in Singapore is Myrmeplata wanlessi. if you are a human unfamiliar with this species, or a bird or lizard this display is aimed at, you might be surprised to learn that this animal is a jumping spider, not an ant.

Fun surprise - this Downy Woodpecker has been visiting the Chickadee box lately, and last night at 7 decided to spend the night. He got up at 7 in the morning. It's been chilly, so he must have enjoyed the shelter. Downies have never nested in my boxes, so I am sure this is just temporary. #birds

Pelican checking out Woy Woy Fisherman's Wharf sign over seafood restaurant.

"Just a minute guys, I'll check. Woy Woy Fisherman's Wharf. Yep all good". Pelican checking out the seafood restaurant in Woy Woy, New South Wales, Australia. #birds #wildlife #australia

Vermilion Flycatcher in Portal, Arizona.

#bird #birds #vermilionflycatcher #arizona #usbirds #wildlife #nature #photographt

Close-up lateral view of the metallic wasp, Chrysis angolensis, showcasing bright iridescent blue-green hues, transparent wings reflecting subtle reddish tones, and detailed textures on its head and thorax. The specimen is pinned and contrasted clearly against a vivid purple background.

A side view of a metallic wasp, Chrysis angolensis, displaying vivid iridescent blue and green colors on its body, with transparent brown wings and a long, slender, amber-colored ovipositor. The specimen is pinned against a soft, light-blue background.

#Chrysididae are a reason to become an entomologist. This Chrysis sp. has been in my collection for years. Distinctive surface pitting and iridescence set them apart. They're called cuckoo wasps for laying eggs in other species' nests. #macrophotography #entomology #invertebrate 🌿

Ormyrus bellbowl, a newly named species of parasitic wasp

Ormyrus myrae, a newly described species of parasitic wasp

#NewSpecies alert! We just published a paper in Zootaxa describing two gorgeous species of #Ormyrus parasitoid wasps associated with herb #gall #wasps! Ormyrus bellbowl is named after the Bell Bowl #Prairie in opposition to its abhorrent partial destruction in 2023. #PreserveOurPrairies

My son is afraid a hummingbird might rip through his body at 9000mph. Can any professionals on here tell him he is stupid and full of shit

if i was a snapping turtle i would never let people put things in my mouth for an instagram reel . i would show a little more tact than most

A hummingbird with a green body and black head with pink iridescence perched on a barbed wire fence

an Anna's Hummingbird that was nice enough to pose for me

#addBirder #wildlife #photography #birds

A close-up photo of a brown weevil on the tip of a blade of grass

another #weevilwednesday, Genus Cimberis

#weevil #bugsky #inverts #insects #photography

A close-up macro photo of a black weevil with a blue shine standing on a green plant

i heard something about a #weevilwednesday??
have a very shiny deporaus glastinus

#bugsky #weevil #insects #inverts #photography

A spiky/tufted weevil with a long nose sitting on a white surface. This weevil is in the genus Chaetectetorus

This gorgeous, if rather spiky looking, #weevil wishes you all very a happy #weevilwednesday

#wildoz #ausinverts #insects #bugsky

A Grackle with lots of bronze and purple on the neck area sits at the feeder. A male Redwinged Blackbird approaches in the distance.

The same Grackle at the feeder still. It is just landing, one foot is up in the air. The camera created a little funny distortion in the foot, making it look like it is gooey and pulling.

A more regular looking Grackle for my area, with lots of blue and green around the neck area.

A female Redwinged Blackbird.

The other day I talked about different color variations of Grackles, and today, one of the more rare ones showed up here. If you look at the throat, you see bronze and purple tones where the other kind I usually see have greens & blues, like in the 3rd photo. The last photo is a female RWBB. #birds

Brachycybe rosea (and a photobombing linopode)

#entomology #myriapods

Chonky black trapdoor spider in the entrance of her burrow, the silk lid of which I'm holding open with a knife blade

The burrow and lid with my thumb for scale

I'll never have children but early last year I found a tiny Ummidia trapdoor spider in her burrow in a recently burned forest, and I have been coming back to deliver her snacks since then. She's an adult now, and so large. Burrow is nearly the width of my thumb. 🖤

Tiny nugget-y wasp with a black head and thorax and bright yellow abdomen, running along a bit of dried grass, tapping her antennae on the surface as she goes

Ms Ooencyrtus, going places
I will get people to love wasps, one ridiculous little nugget at a time 🖤
(Encyrtids are the best ambassadors)

Slim shiny darkly iridescent encyrtid wasp, one of the weird ones which run around with their booty in the air (including a feathery ovipositor). She has magnificent thick feathery and brightly iridescent antennae which she's waving as she runs. Her reflection is sharp in the clear acrylic.

Normalize having Lifer Wasps: Tetracnemus Edition

Look at this gorgeous weirdo. 🥹 I met her first back in 2022; another appeared today as I was sitting in what used to be a rice field (200 years ago), poking under clumps of grass for creatures.
Encyrtids are fantastic.

Holotype photo of Monodontomerus rhinokopia, a blue iridescent wasp with a long ovipositor

Holotype photo of Monodontomerus verdigris, a green iridescent wasp with a somewhat long ovipositor

#NewSpecies!
Proud to announce the publication of my first two species descriptions! Working on this first author paper has been one of the most rewarding things I've ever done in my life, I feel beyond belief fortunate to be able to study these beautiful animals.

#wasps #taxonomy

Multiple mushrooms growing out of decayed wood, with red caps, gills, and stipes. The background is black.

It's #FungusFriday and our Observation of the Day is this group of Ruby Bonnet mushrooms (Cruentomycena viscidocruenta), seen in Australia by liznoble!

More details at: www.inaturalist.org/observations...