Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dee

@mochamustelid.bsky.social

93 followers 58 following 150 posts

Okay maybe I should put something else here. Hi! I duno what to put here. Uh, there will be wildlife stuff, craft stuff, photos, ramblings?, my cat, yard plants, bugs that sit still enough for me to photograph them, maybe screaming into the void.

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 10h

Still up to some fibre art shenanigans. I was hoping to get this and another piece done way earlier, but they may end up being solstice presents for some family members.
#embroidery

1 3

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 11h

#Birdtober day 9 is juvenile! Here's a couple of not quite baby birds.

Juvenile eared grebe doing a BIIIIG wing stretch (with such tiny wings). As chicks, grebes of all species spend all of their time on their parents' backs awaiting food deliveries. When they become too large to be passengers, they become little floaties, still waiting for food deliveries.
Benton Lake NWR

A group of mostly juvenile harlequin ducks. During the fall, young of the year and possibly their mothers can be seen in the rapids preparing to migrate to the coasts around lateish October.

Yellowstone National Park

A juvenile osprey caught in a rainstorm.
I was also caught in this rainstorm.
Yellowstone National Park

Cape griffon vultures, the middle one is the youngest of the group.
ABQ Biopark Zoo

Reposted by Dee

DWMM Photography @dwmmphotography.bsky.social · 1d

Barrow's goldeneyes in the gold foil at Le Hardy Rapids in Yellowstone National Park.

A trio of ducks swimming in gold colored water

1 5

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 1d

#Birdtober day 8 is Nocturnal migrant! A lot of smaller birds that would be prey for other critters tend to migrate under the cover of darkness!
#photography #birds

Snow geese silhouettes at sunset.
Bosque del Apache NWR

American robin with a hawthorn berry
Tualatin River NWR

A HUGE group of shorebirds. Mostly western sandpipers, dunlins, least sandpipers and a sneaky semipalmated plover.
Newport, OR

A yellow-rumped warbler amongst the flowering trees
Steigerwald Lake NWR

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 2d

#birdtober day 7 is Alternate Plumage (non breeding plumage). Ducks were an easy choice (it's just a matter of digging through all the photos), but managed a few extra birds!
#photography #birds

A wood duck drake in non-breeding plumage
Albuquerque, NM

A pied-billed grebe in non-breeding plumage
Bozeman, MT

A Kōlea (pacific-golden plover) in non breeding plumage. They do creep into their breeding plumage before heading up to Alaska.
Honolulu Airport (funny story, the airport was the first place I saw them and I didn't think I'd see them again. Turns out they are ALL OVER the place)

Ruddy duck drake in...sorta not all the way there breeding plumage. The body feathers are a little more rich brown.
Bosque del Apache NWR
Also bonus Ross' goose.

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 3d

#birdtober day 6 is coniferous forests! There's a lot of those around me!

Mountain chickadee
Yellowstone National Park

Williamson's sapsucker
Bandelier National Monument

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 4d

I love magpie jays!!! I'm also familiar with the whole, draw a bird, oops drew it too big and now the tail gets chopped off.

1 1

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 4d

#birdtober Day 5 is Spotted! Here's a couple of fancy polka-doted birds, some even have spotted in their name!
#photography #birds

A male northern flicker perches on a branch
Bozeman, MT

A male Palawan peacock-pheasant, mostly brown and black feathers with iridescent turquoise feathers that make spots on the wings and tail.
Oregon Zoo

A spotted sandpiper in breeding plumage, showing off the spots on the breast. Non-breeding birds have a clean chest.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

A spotted towhee. The spots are white feathers on the wings.
Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 4d

such good birbs

DWMM Photography @dwmmphotography.bsky.social · 4d

It is Scavenger Sunday, and the raven contemplates.

photograph of a raven perched in a tree, head tilted

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 5d

#birdtober day 4 is extravagant tails! I think these bird tails are pretty neat.
#photography #bird

A small family group of scissor-tailed flycatchers.
Southeastern NM Rest area

A northern pintail drake in breeding plumage. Maybe not as long as a long-tailed duck, but still pretty fancy.
Bosque del Apache NWR

A red-billed blue magpie. A very aptly named bird with a very long tail. Most magpies have pretty long tailed when compared to other corvids.
Woodland Park Zoo

An adult red-tailed hawk with its signature red-tail. A lot of red-tails I see are juveniles that still have barred brown tails. The adults have the brick red tails.
Southern Idaho

1 5

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 6d

This is too cute!!!!! I absolutely love hornbills!

Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium @ptdefiancezoo.bsky.social · 6d

Hornbill Ruby’s got the bases covered! ⚾ She’s fetching baseballs and rooting for our Seattle Mariners to bring home the win. Wear your Mariners gear and score $5 off general admission at the Zoo’s ticket window (offer valid through the Mariners’ postseason run)! 💙 #SeaUsRise #GoMariners

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 6d

#birdtober day 3..yeah day 3! I'm already losing track this is great. The 3rd prompt is pollinators! I had a time trying to find something other than 4 hummingbirds!
#birds #photography #pollinators

White-winged doves are important pollinators for the saguaro cactus! And I happened to spot one on top of said cactus, sadly no flowers at the time.
Saguaro National Park, AZ

A Green honeycreeper from the San Diego Zoo

Black-chinned hummingbird humming around some cactus flowers.
Bosque del Apache NWR

An ʻIʻiwi going after some yellow flowers (I think it's Māmane, I'm awful at plant ID)

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 7d

#birdtober day 2 is upon us! Sparrows for today! There's a decent variety of sparrows in my neck of the woods/places I've visited.
#birds #photography #sparrow

A fox sparrow against some autum foliage and bright green moss. They're one of the larger sparrows I've spotted.
Seattle, WA

A green-tailed towhee on the ground.
Santa Fe, NM

Dark-eyed junco, Oregon morph, plumage, type? There's so many different kinds of dark-eyed juncos. The Oregon variety is my favorite (totally not bias)
Portland, OR

THIS bird had me lost for SO LONG when I started birding. I saw a very similar looking bird on the coast of California and could not figure out what the heck it was for the longest time!
Eventually I figured out it was a juvenile white-crowned sparrow. Does not look like the adults at all. Most sparrows are somewhat similar to their adult counterparts, but these guys have brown caps for a while!

Bosque del Apache NWR

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 8d

It's #Birdtober 1st! And possibly the most difficult prompt, favorite bird!
Taking advantage of the 4 picture post to post 4 different birds!
I haven't done much picture posting, so birdtober for me will feature bird pictures!

A pair of California condors perched on a canyon ledge near the Navajo Bridge in Arizona. One condor has wing tags #19 and is displaying his wings wide to another condor who is sitting in front of them. The second condor has tags #P8

A female southern ground hornbill stikes a post amongst some fallen autumn leaves. The female SGHs have a violet throat pouch while the males have an all orange pouch.
Oregon Zoo

A black-billed magpie with iridescent feathers walks amongst some fallen leaves, yet the grass is still green.
Bozeman, MT

A marsh wren perches atop a cattail singing their little heart out.
Bozeman, MT

Reposted by Dee

Claire Spiller @claireaspiller.bsky.social · 8d

Birdtober 1 - Favourite Bird 🪶
Bearded vulture of course.
Those colours. That thick fluffy neck. Those demon eyes. That perfect winged eyeliner. Chef's kiss.

13 64

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 11d

Internet.
It has been a while.
I was outside looking at cool stuff with friends. Some stuff was documented with a new rental toy.
Currently sitting in Lightroom hell waiting for files to copy, and more waiting as files are converted.
Pictures to come At A Later Date (tm).

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 24d

The sea otter trio from the @oregonzoo.bsky.social , Uni Sushi, Juno, and Lincoln! I never thought I'd get a decent shot of the three of them together, but it happened a few times!

Three sea otters hauled out on a rocky beach at the Oregon zoo. The one furthest left is hanging out in a pile of ice.

Three sea otters swimming in the water at the Oregon Zoo

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 26d

An adorable little Lucy's warbler! The west can have some nifty birds too. This little warbler is found in the southwestern US, and it nests in cavities! There may have been a pair nesting near the visitor center but I think some bark on their tree fell off. But it's still nice to see them around.

A Lucy's warbler looks down at the viewer from a green leafy tree. The warbler is a pale gray with a rusty brown crown.
Seen at the Bosque del Apache NWR visitor center in late spring

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 26d

I have no idea what this raven pose is. But it's something.
There may or may not be something tasty for later hidden in that log.
Raven spotted at Bandelier National Monument.

A common raven stands on a fallen log. the raven has its chest super puffed out and its head leaning back.

2 2

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 26d

Doing some photo editing because, well, I'm behind. And I get distracted by some neat pictures.
Yellow bumble bee on a cowpen daisy.

A yellow bumble bee clings to a yellow daisy. Photo was taken during the evening so there's a slight golden hue to all the green.

2 4

Reposted by Dee

J. L. Westover @mrlovenstein.bsky.social · 27d

11 1.6K 6K

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · 28d

Lizard
Lizard
Lizard
Lizard

A western fence lizard in a shallow terracotta pot. The lizard eventually made its way out of said pot.

A western fence lizard on a rock in the sun.

Another fence lizard also on a rock. I almost didn't see it and put a trowel on it....

A lizard in some shade. Some plants were stuck in the ground and some ants were disturbed. A few lizards were hanging out in the area maybe looking for breakfast.

2 5

Reposted by Dee

DWMM Photography @dwmmphotography.bsky.social · Sep 7

On this Scavenger Sunday we tell the child no.

2 Cape griffon vultures, a young of the year and an adult. The adult is leaning forward, with their beak open in the young one's face. The child is leaning away from the adult.

1 6

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · Sep 7

Another selection of vulture pictures! I think this shows off the diversity in vulture appearance. They all have similar diets (palm nut vulture being the odd one out) but have a variety of plumages and facial features (even tho most of them are pretty bald)
#IVAD

Egyptian vulture from the San Diego Safari Park

Rüppell's griffon vulture carrying some fresh nesting material from the Phoenix Zoo

Close up of a male Andean condor. Not many vulture species have a difference between the sexes, but male Andean condors have brown eyes and a fleshy face lump. Females lack the caruncle (face lump) and have red eyes. ABQ Biopark

Dee @mochamustelid.bsky.social · Sep 7

Small collection of up close California condors. Normally you would not be able to get this close to these birds, but the Oregon Zoo is one of the few places that has these birds on exhibit. And sometimes they come down to the viewing windows to say hi and investigate stuff.
#IVAD

A very up close view of an adult California condor. Their heads are various shades of pink, yellow, orange and red.

A very up close look at a juvenile California condor. Their heads are all black and take about six years to reach maximum colors.

A California condor investigating a water bottle that has a sticker of a California condor on it.

A juvenile condor investigates a camera bag.

1 5