Simon Corston-Oliver

Thanks for confirming 🙏

A mushroom with orange spikes on its cap and rough shaggy texture on its stem. Focus stack of 40 images. Canon R5+RF100, f8, 0.4 sec, ISO 400.

New to me and the only one I saw yesterday at Buntzen Lake, BC.

My best guess at ID is Sharp-scaly Pholiota (Pholiota squarrosoides). Posted to iNaturalist.

Can any experts help?

#fungi #fungifriends 🌿

A brown lizard (unsure of ID). Its color closely matches the curled dead leaves it is sitting on.

Peekaboo, little lizard, I see you. Although I admit you are well camouflaged.

Dakeng Scenic Area, Taichung, Taiwan.

#herps #lizard 🌿 🦎

Two geckos among four planters: one with a regenerated tail (on the log in the foreground) and one on the rightmost planter.

I took five shots of these planters in ~1 min and only just realized that in one shot I got photo-bombed by two geckos!

The gecko in the foreground moved across several shots but the one on the rightmost planter was only in this shot.

Dakeng Scenic Area, Taichung, Taiwan.

#herps #gecko 🌿 🦎

A citrus locust viewed from the side. It is a vivid green, with long antennae and large rear legs with spikes.

A citrus locust (Chondracris rosea), I think.

Dakeng Scenic Area, Taichung, Taiwan.

#insect #naturephotography 🌿

A moped repair shop at night. The shop opens on to a street corner. There are mopeds in front and a lot of equipment inside and out.

A moped repair shop. Taichung, Taiwan.

#urban #travel #streetphotography

Waterfalls with some rocks at the bottom in a dreamy mist.

A log stuck in a flume.

Water curving over a rock.

Lots of rain lately so the waterfalls were roaring.

Crystal Falls at Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, BC yesterday.

#naturephotography #landscape #waterfall

The front entrance of the Dongmen Baofude temple. The entrance is bathed in red light.

Dongmen Fude temple, Taichung. Dazzling after dark.

#urban #travel

A store front after dark. A couple sits watching a TV (out of view). The store window is framed by a gas pump and a moped.

A couple resting in their store at the end of the day. Taichung, Taiwan.

#streetphotography #urban

A frog that is a mix of light and dark brown sits on a broad green leaf.

My first time hunting frogs after dark. At Taichung Metropolitan Park, Taiwan.

Not sure about ID. Taiwan has so many species of amphibians! My best guess is East Asian Ornate Chorus Frog (Microhyla fissipes).

#herps 🌿

Yes. This was October 24. There were so many right beside the boardwalk.

A mudskipper that is sitting mostly out of the water.

Another first for me, although I know they're quite common: a mudskipper.

Gaomei wetlands, Taichung, Taiwan.

🌿

It's a Eurasian Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) not a Common Gallinule according to multiple expert birders on iNaturalist.

A Malayan night heron in side profile. It is standing on the ground.

A Malayan night heron looking remarkably dry given that there was torrential rain.

Daan Forest Park, Taipei, Taiwan.

#birds #naturephotography 🌿 #birdphotography

A young black bear faces the camera. It is settling down to nap in the grass among some blackberry vines.

A young black bear to the side of the hiking trail at DeBoville Slough, Coquitlam, BC.

The slough is next to cranberry and blueberry farms so you see a lot of bear scat and sometimes bears.

The bear settled in for a nap while I took some photos (from a safe distance!).

#mammals #naturephotography

A belted kingfisher sits on a thin branch. The background is a soft blur of reds from cranberry and blueberry bushes.

A belted kingfisher at DeBoville Slough, Coquitlam, BC today.

In the background are cranberry and blueberry bushes in their autumn colours.

#birds #birdphotography 🌿

A sign at a hiking trailhead that says “Marijuana roaches are toxic to dogs. Please pick them up.” Someone has written below “my dog is pretty heavy”

The first project I worked on in Computational Linguistics was anaphora resolution

#linguistics #anaphora

A portrait shot of a Malaysian Night Heron. Its feathers are very wet and matted.

One very soggy Malaysian Night Heron. We had torrential rain the entire time we were in Taipei (Oct 2025).

Daan Forest Park, Taipei, Taiwan.

#birds #naturephotography 🌿 #birdphotography

A common gallinule turned towards the viewer. It has fine beads of water on its feathers and crest.

Me (from New Zealand) in Taiwan: ooh a pūkeko (𝑃𝑜𝑟𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑟𝑖𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑢𝑠, Australasian swamphen)! But actually I'm pretty sure it's a Common Gallinule.

Daan Forest Park, Taipei, Taiwan. Completely unphased by the torrential rain that week.

#birds #naturephotography

A caterpillar. There is a blue pattern running down the centre of its back. It is covered in clumps of green spikes.

Starting to work thru the photos from my recent Taiwan trip.

One very spiky caterpillar on the hiking trail at Dakeng Scenic Area near Taichung, Taiwan.

#macrophotography #naturephotography 🌿

An ensatina on the forest floor viewed from the side. A single yellow conifer needle lies across its back at the base of the tail, giving a sense of scale.

Another view of the ensatina that crawled under my camera bag a few days ago. It was ~10cm (4") long.

Clearly the lesson from that day is to wait for the #herps to come to you.

Handheld focus stack of 40 images.

Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, BC.

#salamander 🌿 #naturephotography

A slug has its mouth and antennae under the red cap of a mushroom. There are a few tiny bugs riding on the slug. Canon R5+RF100, 1/80, f11, ISO 2000. Flash.

A slug eating a mushroom. If you zoom in around the head you can see some tiny bugs hitching a ride on the slug.

Belcarra, British Columbia.

#FungiFriends #fungifriday #fungi 🍄 🌿

A chubby little mushroom. The cap is a deep yellow color. Canon R5+RF100, 1/80 sec, f25, ISO 1600. Flash.

A little mushroom pushing up thru the twigs on the forest floor.

Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, British Columbia.

#FungiFriends #fungifriday #fungi 🍄 🌿

Yes exactly

The land is very wet. And they actually don’t even have an aquatic phase — they lay their eggs on land and hatch fully formed.

An ensatina is crawling among the twigs on the forest floor. It has turned back to look at the camera. Canon R5+RF100, 1/80, f20, ISO 6400. Flash.

I picked up my camera bag after taking some photos of mushrooms and discovered that an ensatina (a kind of lungless salamander) had crawled under the bag!

It's the opposite of "the one that got away".

Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, BC.

#herps #salamander 🌿 #naturephotography

An orange mushroom growing from a rotting log.

So many vibrant mushrooms at Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, BC.

Canon R5+RF100. 1/4, f5.6, ISO400. Stack of 57 images.

#mushroom #fungifriends #mushrooms 🍄 🌿

A mushroom that looks like it has burst from the ground at an angle. There is dirt and some small bugs on the surface and a mosquito hiding under the cap. Canon R5+RF100. Focus stack of 27 images. 1/15, f5.6, ISO 2000

One thing I am learning as I look more closely at mushrooms is that things can be messy and there can be a lot of bugs on and around them.

This mushroom was bursting out of a dirt bank. There's a mosquito hiding under the cap.

Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, BC.

#fungifriends 🍄 🌿 #fungi

A sign that says “SLOW. Newts crossing.” With a black silhouette of a newt

Information about the newts crossing the road.

Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, British Columbia. I didn’t see any rough-skinned newts but I did see an ensatina (kind of lungless salamander). Stay tuned

#herps #newt 🦎

A troupe of actors in traditional Chinese costumes and with dramatic makeup sits outside. One actor is facing the camera and making a peace sign. Canon R5+RF100-500 @ 300mm. 1/400s, f13, ISO 1600.

Walking through a neighborhood in Tainan, Taiwan I came upon a troupe of actors putting the finishing touches on their costumes. They were good sports about me taking their photo.

#taiwan #streetphotography #street #travelphotography