Daniel 🐅🏔 (@danielthedaring@mastodon.online)

75d

Going to review some of my favorite photos from 2024 as we move into this new year. It's a really nice way to remember some of these cool little moments.

We'll start with my friend the Prairie Lizard sunning on one of the many large logs in the Log Pile. Going to miss these friends

#lizards #reptiles

A lizard rests, sunning on the edge of a large dry log. The lizard has sharp, angular scales, and is mostly gray-brown on the top with metallic blue along its sides and bottom

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

75d

An absolutely gorgeous fresh male Luna Moth at the legendary Allen Acres in March 2024

#insects #moths #lepidoptera

A huge, bright green moth hangs on a white cloth, lit by the flash of the camera. The moth's large wings are spread wide, revealing most of its hindwings which extend down into a tail-like structure, twisting at their ends. The wings are edged in purple and white, and each have an eye-like spot near its center. It has a fuzzy yellow body that can be seen in a triangle near the top, and matching fuzzy yellow antennae.

ALT

1 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

75d

Insect closeup

Edited 75d ago

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

75d

A female Red-winged Blackbird hanging on a reed in Ohio, May 2024

You can see a hint of the red on her wings here in the bright sunlight

#birds #birding #photography

A streaky brown and white bird hangs on a large marsh reed in the bright sunshine, the reed bending under its weight. A hint of red can be seen on its shoulder feathers in the bright sunlight. It looks right at home grasping the stem of the reed as it looks toward the camera

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

74d

A Carolina Satyr butterfly clinging to the hairy Anglepod vine on the edge of the woods. April 2024

#insects #butterflies

A small brown butterfly rests on the stem of a twisting vine, backlit by the sun and stark against the dark forest behind it.

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

74d

This is a fun one because it was me attempting to take insect photos with the Nikon P900, which is mostly built for taking advantage of its amazing zoom to look at birds. So I was actually about 30 yards away for this shot, and it was cool that I was able to get some good focus and details and even a little bokeh on the background

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

74d

One of the many amazing Trumpeter Swans from the trip to Ohio in May, its head and neck feathers stained red by the iron-rich tannins in the marshy water from constant foraging

#birds #birding #photography

The long, arcing neck of a Trumpeter Swan extends up the height of the photo until it meets the swan's jet black eye and long bill. The glistening, usually-white feathers of the bird's neck and head a are stained rusty red from the iron and tannins in the water where it is foraging

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

74d

A really fun one from Ohio in May, a Blanding's Turtle. Love its little smile.

An extremely endangered species due to habitat loss and not reaching sexual maturity until 14-20 years of age. But if they do reach maturity, they incredibly show no physical signs of aging and are capable of reproducing through eight+ decades of life.

#reptiles #turtles

A large, dark turtle rests on a log floating in a pond. It has a large squarish head, and its neck and chin are bright yellow. It appears to have a faint smile

ALT

1 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

73d

Green Heron at Magee Marsh in May

Don't usually get to see these skulky friends from below!

#birds #birding

A Green Heron is (unusually) perched in a large branch of a tree, surrounded by fresh bright green growth and leaves. The heron is greenish-blue-gray on its back, with reddish cheeks and throat, a dark cap, and a bright yellow-orange eye. It's long, sharp bill extends outward to the right its bright orange legs extend in a strong angle away from its body to hold it in place

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

60d

I am very much not done posting my best photos of 2024 so

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

60d

A male Palm Warbler sneaking a peak from the new growth

#birds #birding

A small bird skulks among the new growth on a shrubby tree. It is a warbler, with a sharp, small black bill. Its breast is vibrant yellow flecked in black, with stripes of the same yellow on its face and a rusty cap. Hints of the same rusty color can be seen on its wings

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

56d

Male Chestnut-sided Warbler at Magee Marsh in May

#birds #birding #warblers

A small, vibrant bird looks at the camera while perched on a small twig. The bird has a bright yellow cap, black streaks going down between its eyes and mouth, black and yellow on its back, a clean white breast, and thick chestnut stripes along its sides

ALT

1 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

55d

Male Prothonotary Warbler singing his heart out just a few feet off the boardwalk at Magee Marsh

#birds #birding

A small, vibrantly yellow bird sings loudly from its bird on a dead snag of a tree. Its pointed bill is open wide during its song, its deep yellow breast puffing out. It has grayish wings and white under its tail

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

54d

Chipping Sparrow at Oak Openings Preserve in Ohio

#birds #birding

A small bird stands on short, pink legs in short, rough grass that extends out into a field behind it. It is mostly light gray on its underside, with light streaking on its break and whitish throat patches. Its wings are patterned with brown, black and cream. It has a black stripe of feathers running through its eye to the back of its head, a white stripe above that, and is topped by a rusty crown, spiking slightly at attention away from its small, pointed black beak

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

54d

Lupine lit up by the bright afternoon sun in Ohio

#NativePlants #photography

Dozens of tall lupine plants fill the frame; the plants have long, tall stalks full of many small purple flowers. The purple of the flowers offsets sharply with the bright green of the star-shaped leaves

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

54d

Tree Swallow on a rare break from zipping around everywhere

#birds #birding

A small, sleek bird rests on a thin, horizontal branch. It has a clean white throat and belly, and the metallic blue-green on its cap can just barely be seen. Its dark, slender wings are at rest at its sides

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

53d

I was the weirdo at Magee Marsh in early May taking pictures of things that WEREN'T birds and really annoying every person that asked me what I was looking at

I really love a good look at a Damselfly. This is an Eastern Forktail, Ischnura verticalis

#insects #odonata #photography

A tiny damselfly resting on a bright green, deeply veined leaf. The damselfly is long and thing, with its wings folded back along its abdomen. Its body is mostly black with neon green stripes, and its long black abdomen is tipped in sky blue

ALT

1 0 1 View Post & Replies See Original

52d

A little bitty tree frog on a buttonbush leaf one morning

#frogs #herps #photography #iphonePhotography

A small green tree frog that still has the remnants of a tail clings to a bright green, fresh leaf, lit up by the morning sun

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

52d

Speaking of frogs… do you see?

#frogs #herps #photography #iphonePhotography

A full frame shot of the leaves and branches of a cypress tree. Following one of the branches away from the camera, there is a small green tree frog resting

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

52d

More herps?

A painted turtle enjoying the sunshine early last year

#turtles #herps #photography

A turtle rests on a log floating in a pond. The turtles head is mostly dark green, streaked by many light yellow-green stripes. One of the stripes expands near the turtle’s “ear” to make a red patch

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

52d

A carpenter ant herding aphids on a willow leaf

The more-than-human world is really cool, y'all. Look closely!

#ants #insects #aphids #photography

A large black ant rests at the base of a slender leaf at the end of a willow branch. On the leaf are green aphids of different sizes, presumably being "ranched" and tended to by the ant for their honeydew production when necessary

ALT

Edited 52d ago

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

51d

Yellow-billed Cuckoo skulking in the batture along the Mississippi River

#birds #birding #photography

A sleek, slender bird skulks in the branches of a willow tree in deep woods. It has a clean white throat and belly, with a grayish brown topside. The underside of its very long tail is black with circles of white. It has a sharp, curved yellow bill

ALT

1 0 0 View Post & Replies See Original

51d

The batture is a unique ecosystem in this area. Thick woods of water-loving tree species line the river side of the levee in areas where the ground is exposed during lower flow times. Huge cottonwoods, sycamores and willows, tied together with vines of all sorts.

On this day in late April it was teeming with birds. Orioles were singing from every direction, and there would be a flash and suddenly something like the cuckoo above would appear just a few feet away.

Magical

#nature #photography