Simon Corston-Oliver

I looked at a piece of curved bark and thought, if I was an ensatina I would hide under there so I looked under it and there was an ensatina! I feel like I am getting the hang of this.

The rough-skinned newts are migrating across the road to Woodhaven Swamp (see my earlier posts). As we were driving out of the park we saw one dead one and then this one frozen on the road so (wearing a glove) I relocated it to some nice wet moss.

A twofer day today at Belcarra, hiking in the rain.

An ensatina (lungless salamander) and a rough-skinned newt. More details in alt text.

Belcarra BC.

#herps 🌿

This is from the summer of 2024. I’m on the lookout but haven’t seen any yet this year so I’m amusing myself browsing through my old pics

It’s following me!

Yes to “fishes” means multiple species.

But “fish (plural)” means multiple individuals, not necessarily of one species eg “many fish in the ocean”.

Linguists refer to types (eg species) vs tokens (individuals).

Fishes: multiple types
Fish (pl): multiple tokens

Looking down on a Northwestern salamander that is hanging out just below the surface of the water. The salamander's rear legs are sticking straight out and its toes are splayed.

A Northwestern salamander maintaining perfect buoyancy just below the surface of the water.

Sometimes I think they look like they were drawn by a kid -- with the legs poking out and crudely rendered feet.

Mystery Lake, Mt Seymour, North Vancouver.

#herps 🌿

A neotenic Northwestern salamander swims up towards an insect on the surface of the water.

Continuing my Northwestern salamander theme: a salamander swimming up to catch some insects on the surface of the water.

Mystery Lake (1160m), Mt Seymour, North Vancouver. At higher elevations it's common to see the neotenic forms - adults that never metamorphosed.

Summer 2024.

#herps 🌿

Two blobs of salamander spawn, each one wrapped around a stick.

View from above, where it's nice and dry and I can use my real camera.

My iPhone is waterproof, right? Right? Testing it for science.

This is what Northwestern salamander spawn looks like in clear water without a layer of silt. The mass is about the size of a tennis ball. You can clearly see each egg in the bundle.

Pinecone Burke Provincial Park, BC today.

#herps 🌿

Speaking of salamander spawn, here’s a mass that I found a few years ago. It was exposed when the water in the ditch evaporated so I moved it.

This was just a few meters from the spawn I posted today.

#herps 🌿

A ball of salamander spawn wrapped around a stalk of marsh grass.

First Northwestern salamander spawn of the year in a ditch at Burnaby Lake. The earliest I have ever seen it here.

The water is very silty and settles on the spawn but you can still make out some eggs wrapped around a twig

iPhone photo. Not willing to put my macro lens on the water 😬

#herps 🌿

Vivid blue and green ripples radiate out from a salamander that has swum up from below to snatch an insect.

The amphibians are re-emerging. I haven't seen any Northwestern salamanders or any spawn yet so I decided to take a fresh look at editing some pictures from the summer of 2024.

Here, a salamander had swum up to the surface and snatched (most of) an insect, making ripples.

#herps 🌿 #salamander

A tiny Douglas fir seedling gows from a log.

Macro photo of an entire tree! A very small Douglas fir (probably, given what was all around) growing from a nursery log in a splash of sunlight.

Malcolm Knapp forest, BC

#macro #macrophotography 🌿

Why does the Austronesian map exclude the South Island of New Zealand and the Chatham Islands? 😢

Four small brown balls in varying stages of decomposition.

Small brown balls on a log.

Clusters of small brown balls on a log.

Possibly Wolf's Milk (Genus Lycogala), a kind of slime mold. Still waiting for confirmation on iNaturalist but checking with the brain trust here too. A few mm in size.

Belcarra, BC.

#fungifriends #slimemold 🌿 #macrophotography

When I am hiking with my 100-500 lens I see big things far away but today I was hiking with my macro lens and it forced me to look at the very small things on every tree that I passed.

Three bright red tips of cladonia lichen stand out against a dark green background of various mosses.

Cladonia lichen competing for space on a tree trunk at Belcarra, BC.

TIL a new word: 𝑎𝑝𝑜𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎, the red tips.

🌿 #lichen #fungifriends #macrophotography

A sandwich board on the side of the road that reads “Newt migration. Newts on road. Please slow down!” With a picture of a newt

It’s a sign!

Sadly I did not see any amphibians today. Still too early in the season.

Belcarra, BC
#herps 🌿

lol. It wasn’t clear to me if the two holes were connected. I never saw an adult feed that one so I’m guessing the chicks were taking turns at the top hole

The facade of a former pharmacy. The pharmacy's products are etched in marble. A blurred cyclist goes by.

I was looking for something in my archives and came across this shot that I had somehow never edited.

An old pharmacy in Florence, Italy. 2019.

#travelphotography #urban #street #architecture

Two northern flicker chicks push through a hole in a wooden piling. A northern flicker is putting food directly into one chick's beak. From another hole a chick peeks out.

A family of northern flickers.

From an evening in late June 2024. Every year I watch this old wooden piling to see who has taken up residence. No new tenants this morning. Still too early in the season.

#BlueSkyArtShow #wood #birds 🌿

“stereotyped orofacial–respiratory behaviour” 🤠

I was wearing boots with rubber soles so didn’t get to experience the wonders of electrical induction

A sign that says “while walking on the right of way [under some pylons] you may feel a minor electrical shock when you touch an object (e.g. fence, sign). These are caused by induction just like walking across a carpet. These shocks, while annoying, are harmless. “

A selfie-mirror on a logging road. How thoughtful

Today’s hike in Coquitlam: totally not-scary and perfectly normal electricity stuff (under some pylons) and a naturally-occurring selfie mirror.

If you're in Quintana Roo and want to head south of Tulum for some birdwatching, I highly recommend Eddy. He was quick to spot and id birds and knew where to take us to see specific things.

www.tripadvisor.ca/AttractionPr...

Me (left) and my guide Eddy (right) in the jungle birdwatching.

I'm at the end of editing my pics from my time in Quintana Roo, Mexico.

Here's me (left) and Eddy (right) my amazing guide. We saw 49 species of bird in a single morning around Chunyaxché and Sian Ka'an.

Photo kindly taken by Tyler Huestis, a fellow Canadian with a keen eye.

#birdwatching #birds

A boat-billed flycatcher high on a branch.

A boat-billed flycatcher.

Chunyaxché, QR, Mexico (south of Tulum).

#birds 🌿 #birdwatching #birdlovers

I realized I was calling it Addington Pitt Marsh instead of Pitt-Addington. A mental hiccup.

Side view of a downy woodpecker as it clings to a knot on a stem among some grass. It was working to extract seeds from the knot.

One more of the downy woodpecker that landed right beside me on the dyke at Addington Pitt Marsh, British Columbia yesterday.

#birds #birdwatching 🌿 #birdlovers

A large fallen tree that has been felled by a beaver.

Clearly the work of a beaver with grand ambitions. Addington Pitt Marsh, BC.

#mammals 🌿