nemo

Green anole

Carpenter bee in flight

Five lined skink

Green Tree Frog

Photos from the Houston Arboretum, was fun to spot a green tree frog

Halloween Skimmer male who's seen some action

Blue Dasher male with eye lens detail

Halloween Skimmer male close-up with eye lens detail

Pair of Black Saddlebags in tandem

I've been busy, haven't been able to get into the wild much lately but I did got to a local pond for a few minutes. Got a snap of a pair of Black Saddlebags in tandem. Got some eye lens detail on some Halloween Skimmer males and a Blue Dasher.

Green Heron

Barn Swallows landing on a stick

Yellow-crowned night heron on a stick

Yellow-crowned night heron close-up

Birds from this morning:
Green Heron, Barn Swallows, YCNH

A yellow-green butterfly

I spotted a nice butterfly garden near the office at work so I went to check it out. I found a lot of butterflies. The highlight was this Lyside Sulphur. Amazing color like a day-glo butterfly.

Muted

Text describing images from alt text is used by AI companies to train models, saying “nope” to that fact is willful ignorance. And those companies promote using alt text with bots. It’s still potentially beneficial to the visually impaired, but you should be aware that the reality is more nuanced.

FWIW, re #1, use your judgment. Using alt text is adding image classifications, exactly what content scrapers want most, so you are doing their work for free and they use it which is why they use bots proclaiming how liberating/virtuous alt text is. Think about whether it’s adding real value.

Plato's Cave allegory, illustrated. the shadows on the cave wall are captioned "increasingly insane and extreme positions", the prisoners labeled "internet users", the figures holding the shadow's shapes labeled "algorithms", the fire labeled "random internet users expressing their idiosyncratic beliefs". the space above the cave is labeled "literally just outside" and the philosopher freed from the chains of the physical world labeled "guy who logs off"

from "Classical Studies memes for Hellenistic teens" on FB

A photo of a delightfully tolerant toad

Found a Gulf Coast Toad out there this evening, always a pleasure to see

Red-shouldered hawk taking off

Red-shouldered hawk taking off

A Scissor-tailed Flycatcher, a white-headed bird with a body that fades to a peach, brown wings, and a really, really long tail

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher

A pair of young Eastern Bluebirds on a stick

Juvenile Eastern Bluebirds

A pair of Great Horned Owlets, one offering a menacing looking stare.

Great Horned Owlets seen at Hornsby Bend recently.

A nice detailed photo of a brown and yellow striped dragonfly with a mostly red eye that fades to blue on the underside and a largely yellow abdomen with thin dark brown stripes.

Found a Halloween Pennant this morning, we're getting a lot more Odonate diversity emerging now.

Reakirt's Blue laying eggs

Reakirt's Blue laying eggs

Orange and brown striped butterfly flying past a leaf

Gulf Fritillary in flight

I made a silent puppet film about Godzilla vs. Paul Bunyan.

(thank you to @iamchubbybunny.bsky.social for Japanese translations and @okaywolf.ink for clanky piano!!)

Trump is stripping protections from marine protected areas – why that’s a problem for fishing’s future, and for whales, corals and other ocean life America’s marine protected areas help fish populations thrive. Trump’s plan to open them to industrial fishing may ultimately harm the fishing industry itself.

Last week, President Trump removed key protections from a marine protected area that's home to coral reefs, whales, sea turtles, and countless fish. My op-ed for @us.theconversation.com explains why that's bad and we should not do that.

theconversation.com/trump-is-str... 🧪🦑🌎🐟

Grey Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, slinking along the shrubbery of Life Sciences A at Arizona State University

Grey Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, pausing in the shrubbery of Life Sciences A, looking toward photographer with AN ADORABLE FOX FACE at Arizona State University

Grey Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, pausing in the succulents of Life Sciences C, with AN ADORABLE FOX FACE at Arizona State University

Grey Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus, looking camera front with AN ADORABLE FOX FACE at Arizona State University #NoBoopingTeensyFoxSnoot

THIS MORNING I WAS BLESSED BY THE CAMPUS FOXES!!
#DoNotFeed #NoTouching #VaccinateYourPets

Burrowing owl standing next to a sugar beet field.

Good morning! 🪶

Thanks! I had been getting out every weekend for a long stretch last year, this year's been hard with my house in remodeling, but I was delighted to get out in the wild again. Loved seeing the RWBBs dogfighting, there were tons of wildflowers out, lovely way to spend a few hours.

Photo of an assassin bug with red-brown and black wings over a wide black and yellow striped abdomen.

There were a lot of wildflowers around, with a bunch of Antelope-horn Milkweed. I found milkweed bugs (lovely to see), but also found this beast, Apiomerus spissipes, an assassin bug that specializes on bees. When I first spotted them they were trying to snag a honeybee.

Red-winged Blackbirds dogfighting

Male Northern Cardinal

RWBB battle, Northern Cardinal

Sonoran bumblebee

American Lady butterfly

Northern Mockingbird

Red-winged Blackbird showing off

Photos from birding out in Georgetown, TX today

#nature #birding #birds #lepidoptera

A “BirdCast” map of the USA reads: Night of April 13, 2025 129 million birds predicted Generated 13 Apr 2025 at 06:00 UTC (13 Apr at 02:00 ET) Bird migration forecast The map colors show the highest intensity in the southern US, spreading northward and gradually fading in intensity in that direction.

Gif of radar map. A 24-hour national mosaic animation of radar imagery featuring large numbers of birds taking flight. Circular blue and green features represent bird migration; precipitation appears as irregular bands. (Base reflectivity radar imagery from October 16th-17th, 2017, 12pm-12pm EST.)

Tonight while the USA sleeps, 129 million birds will fly overhead as part of spring migration.

Many will be tiny, colorful visitors arriving from South and Central America, such as warblers.

Migration modeling is fascinating. Yup, that’s BIRDS on the weather radar. 🌿 🪶

Learn more: birdcast.info

Photo of a toad in a lawn

I found a Gulf Coast Toad this evening.

Moon Jelly graphite painting

Moon Jelly graphite painting

Photo credit of pink orchid flowers in a greenhouse

If you ever thought “man it’d be cool to have an orchid in a greenhouse,” you are correct.

Photo of a large brown delta shaped moth with light tan striping

Found a white-lined sphinx moth this morning. Lovely moths, always a delight to find.