A hoverfly picks her way through the filaments of a tradescantia fluminensis blossom. The insect is in profile, with one enormous eye glowing red. The Santa Ana winds were really blowing yesterday and the flower was thrashing around, but she never appeared buffeted by the gusts and she never lost her grip.

a hoverfly on a tradescantia fluminensis blossom, Los Angeles

May I ask, what's the relationship between these insects? Is the larger one under attack, or are the smaller ones her offspring?

Weevils mating. They are yellow and dark brown

Happy #weevilwednesday

I can’t walk along the forest path until my broken humerus heals, but there’s enough wildlife along the driveway. 🌱

I can see this bird's vehement nature

Yellow-billed magpie photographed from the front while stepping around on a log, head turned to the side, showing a yellow bill and yellow line under the eye.

A yellow-billed magpie caught mid-step for the #SteppingOut theme of #BirdOfTheDay picked by @alan678.bsky.social

#birds #EastCoastKin #birding #birdphotography #naturephotography

Close-up side profile of a Yellow-crowned Night-Heron head against a soft green background. The large orange-red eye is sharply focused, surrounded by slate-blue facial feathers. Buffy-gold crown plumes sweep back from the forehead. The heavy dark bill shows texture and wear. Fine white filoplumes extend from the nape. Warm light catches the crown and lore area. Sandy Creek Park, Durham, NC. July 22, 2025.

A face built for the night shift. Yellow-crowned Night-Herons have rod-dense retinas tuned for low light, a bill heavy enough to crack crab carapaces, and the patience to stand motionless until something moves. #YCNH #BirdOfTheDay #SideView

a closeup of a lavender sprig just starting to open. The delicate almost pink petals are starting to emerge, still guarded by thick, grass-green, bristly sepals

a lavender sprig

Today's #BirdOfTheDay is #StandingInWater

Green-tailed Towhee shows us you don't have to be a water bird to appreciate a good guzzler!

(guzzler = human made water collectors to provide supplemental water for wildlife)

#birds #becurious 🪶

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #StandingInWater, any bird standing in water, the Alt Them is #Green
Here is a #GreatEgret at #HighPark #Toronto
#UrbanNature #EastCoastKin

Great shot. Photo setup/settings?

Cinnamon brown butterfly with large eyes on green. Oval leaves, against a green and yellow background.

Happy Fly-day. We made it!

Monk Skipper butterfly profile
(Choranthus capucinus)

flutterin by the lanai yesterday afternoon
in Bonita Springs, Florida (spotted by Leo 🐱)

#flyDay #eastCoastKin #macro #photography #macroPhotography #bugSky #insects #skippers #Lepidoptera #butterflies #florida #art

I'm curious about your technique. I've been told that shooting in black and white (fujifilm x-pro2) can improve focus peaking, but my results with that haven't been that great. Thoughts?

A group of tiny mushrooms next to a hemlock cone.

#FungiFriday #FungiFriends #mushrooms #forest #MacroPhotography #nature

Upwards and onwards.
#birds #birding #birdphotography #birdwatching #nature #naturephotography #nikon #photography #heron #greatblueheron #bluesky #water #urbanwildlife #birdphotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography

A baby robin (North American) opening very, very wide for food. Its siblings are tucked down in their nest still; two little heads are snuggled together at the right with their eyes closed and beaks pointed up along the edge of the nest. There is another baby (4 total) but it was being pretty aggressively sat on at this particular moment. The most active chick is flexing its wings and stretching its neck and mouth as long and wide as it can. It mistook me checking in on them for mom or dad returning with snacks. It seemed was hugely disappointed with me once it realised.

"Foooooooooooood!"

Heard more birds than usual chattering away this morning. Hoping with the weather starting to warm we end up with some temporary tenants again. Miss these little buddies!

#BirdOfTheDay #ShoutItOut #Birds #Robin #UrbanWildlife #EastCoastKin #Photography

I'd be interested in your technique for getting insects in flight

Boy. That's a great shot. How did you get it?

That's quite a shot

Are you able to keep squirrels off your feeders, and if so, how?

Could you describe your photo setup?
The lizards are just starting to come out in LA, and are skittish. How wary was this one?

I like how the shot shows the heron's long and sensitive wing tip

That's a good shot, and surprising with the leaf falling behind your subject

Remarkable

A 3x photo of a carpet beetle approaching the camera emphasizes its sky-blue compound eyes and wrinkled, chocolate-colored forehead

a portrait of a varied carpet beetle

a closeup of an apple blossom that emphasizes its linen-white filaments and dull gold anthers

apple blossom detail

a closeup of a green bottle fly on a blue-and-purple ceanothus blossom. Strangely, the wind that day seemed to jostle the flower's yellow anthers, but not the main blossom or the fly

a green bottle fly as pollinator

a closeup of a hot-orange-red pomegranate blossom, with golden anthers

a pomegranate blossom

a routinely-green caterpillar, reportedly a tobacco budworm, is exposed with a puff of wind that turns up an orange blossom of a California poppy. A hole in the plant reveals previous damage probably caused by the same caterpillar

a caterpillar exposed

Pointers to online insect identifiers appreciated

a closeup of bright yellow buttercup blossoms in various stages of opening. Some are rolled as tight as furled umbrellas

buttercup blossoms unfurling

Virginal white petals fling white filaments, including filaments topped with golden, hear-shaped anthers, toward the sky.

Tradescantia fluminensis blossoms

The English name, Wandering Jew, is too ugly. Maybe this plant is in fact invasive as the name slyly implies. So what? Is it mere coincidence that valentine hearts so closely match the anthers of flowers as opposed to our own messy anatomies?