Simon Corston-Oliver
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simonhco.bsky.social
Simon Corston-Oliver
@simonhco.bsky.social
500 followers 520 following 310 posts
Linguist / computational linguist. Keen hiker and nature photographer in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I mostly photograph amphibians, fungus and birds, or whatever comes across my path.
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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · Sep 14
I led a nature walk today at Burnaby Lake, British Columbia. We heard Pacific treefrogs but didn't see any.

Then after the walk I saw this tiny guy (~2cm) perched on top of a black-eyed Susan in the rain.

#herps 🐸 🌿 #frog #treefrog
A lime green Pacific treefrog perches on the black center of a black-eyed center. The petal of the flower are a vivid yellow and glossy with rain.
simonhco.bsky.social
Looking down from an observation tower on a black spiny-tailed iguana lying on a park bench. Check out that spiny tail!

Jardín Botánico Dr. Alfredo Barrera Marin, Puerto Morelos, QR, Mexico.

#herps 🌿 🦎
A view from above of a black spiny-tailed iguana. It is stretched out on a wooden bench.
February 2, 2026 at 4:43 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
A black spiny-tailed iguana at the Jardín Botánico Dr. Alfredo Barrera Marin, Puerto Morelos, QR, Mexico. It was lying in the sun on a park bench but then when it decided to climb the tree it was surprisingly quick.

#herps 🌿 🦎
A black spiny-tailed iguana climbing up a tree. Only the top half of the iguana's body is visible, showing the spines along its back and the long digits on its front feet.
February 2, 2026 at 1:33 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
The ultimate lazy birdwatching catch.

I was sitting on the balcony of our hotel at the end of the day sipping a beer when I noticed this golden-fronted woodpecker on a palm tree.

#birds 🌿 #birdwatching
A golden-fronted woodpecker clings to the trunk of a palm tree in the golden hour.
February 2, 2026 at 1:03 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
While standing outside a convenience store in Puerto Morelos, QR, Mexico I noticed a dead bat on the side of the road.

It's a little morbid, but also fascinating to see the ants at work. Where would we be without all those little critters recycling things?

#mammals 🦇 🌿 🐜 #insects
A close-up of the ants working around the wrist and first finger. A dead bat lying on a painted yellow strip at the side of the road. There are ants swarming over the ant's body.
February 2, 2026 at 12:47 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
Enough with the monkeys. Now for birds. A pair of macaws at the Xaman Ha open-air aviary, Playa del Carmen, QR, Mexico.

#birds 🦜 🌿
A pair of macaws. Their plumage is bright red with bright blue, yellow and green on the wings. The birds are both looking at the photographer, one with its head cocked.
February 2, 2026 at 12:08 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
An agouti, a kind of large rodent. Playa del Carmen, QR, Mexico. Called 𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑒 in Spanish in Quintana Roo.

#mammals 🌿
An agouti viewed in side profile on the forest floor.
January 28, 2026 at 2:25 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
An anole in Playa del Carmen, QR, Mexico.

#herps 🦎 🌿
An anole sunbathing on a limestone rock. Possibly a copper anole. Confirming ID on iNaturalist.
January 28, 2026 at 2:17 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
A yellow-headed Amazon (Amazona oratrix), which I learned from iNaturalist is classified as endangered. AFAIK it's just the quiet and the food that keeps the birds there.

At the Xaman Ha open-air aviary, Playa del Carmen, QR, Mexico.

#birds 🦜 🌿
A yellow-headed Amazon parrot sitting on a perch. One wing feather is slightly displaced, showing vivid red, dark blue and black colors.
January 28, 2026 at 12:41 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
A wood stork walks past two agoutis (a kind of rodent) at the Xaman Ha Aviary at Playa del Carmen, QR, Mexico. All but one small area was completely open so I suppose the birds and agoutis could come and go.

#birds #mammals 🌿
A wood stork walks on a path past two agoutis. The mother agouti is nursing a youngster.
January 28, 2026 at 12:27 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
Look ma, no hands (or feet)!

Opposable digits on the hands and feet AND a tail that is strong enough to support the body weight. I was surprised at how much time the monkeys spent upside down.

Punta Laguna reserve, Yucatan, Mexico.
#mammals #monkey 🌿 🐒
A young howler monkey hangs by its tail while watching the photographer.
January 27, 2026 at 11:26 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
I was observing a troupe of howler monkeys but they were observing me right back. Punta Laguna reserve, Yucatan, Mexico.

#mammals #monkey 🌿 🐒
The face of a howler monkey that is peering through some leaves at the photographer.
January 27, 2026 at 9:40 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
An adult howler monkey resting. Punta Laguna reserve, Yucatan, Mexico.

#mammals #monkey 🌿 🐒
An adult howler monkey is hanging with its upper body and arms across a wide branch. The monkey is looking straight at the viewer.
January 27, 2026 at 1:35 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
A young howler monkey. Punta Laguna reserve, Yucatan, Mexico.

#mammals #monkey 🌿 🐒
A young howler monkey moving through the canopy on all fours.
January 27, 2026 at 1:32 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
A baby spider monkey at Punta Laguna reserve, Yuacatan, Mexico. My guide, Francisco, reckoned it was ~2 months old. It was foraging independently but sometimes hitching a ride on an adult.

#mammals #monkey 🐒 🌿
A baby spider monkey. It has very little fur and long slender limbs and digits. It is reaching up, about to move through the canopy.
January 25, 2026 at 12:54 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
Another spider monkey in Yucatan, Mexico. Hanging by its tail, scratching an itch and looking intently in the distance.

#mammals 🌿 🐒 #monkey
A spider monkey hanging by the tip of its tail. It is scratching its hind quarter and staring at something far away. Canon R5+RF100-500, 1/500, f7.1, ISO 10000
January 23, 2026 at 1:23 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
I was observing this spider monkey in the trees at Punta Laguna reserve, Yucatán, Mexico with a guide when it decided to come down to the ground right in front of us to gather some fruit. Metadata says 2.83-3.3m away.

#mammals 🌿 🐒 #monkey
A spider monkey looking right at the viewer, much of its body obscured by a tree. In its right hand (bottom right of the image) it is holding a yellow fruit that it had come down for. Canon R5 + RF100@100mm, 1/250, f9, ISO 16000
January 23, 2026 at 12:43 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
A jogger on the Burnaby Lake trail yesterday morning. We've been having frosty, foggy mornings but sunny at the same time.

#telephotolandscape
January 20, 2026 at 4:53 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
Chestnut-backed chickadee at Burnaby Lake, BC yesterday.

Canon R5+RF100-500, 1/320, f7.1, ISO 32000 (!)

#birds #birdphotography 🌿
A side profile of a chestnut-backed chickadee on a tree stump where someone has left some birdseed.
January 20, 2026 at 4:46 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
An American pygmy kingfisher in the swamp at the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico.

#birds #birdphotography 🌿
An American pygmy kingfisher sitting on a branch. Its head is turned, with one eye towards the viewer. The kingfisher has orange and white plumage on its body and a black head.
January 17, 2026 at 12:16 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
A group of mushrooms growing in the hollow of a rotting stump.

Sasamat Lake to Diez Vistas trail, British Columbia today.

#fungifriends #fungus 🌿 🍄
A clump of rather shaggy mushrooms, surrounded by dark decomposing wood.
January 16, 2026 at 1:59 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
Why did the tarantula cross the road at night?

Surely it was so we'd spot it and take a photo.

Near Puerto Morelos, QR, Mexico.

#spider 🕷️ 🌿
A tarantula on a sealed road, viewed from above.
January 15, 2026 at 1:39 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
I asked José Gill, my guide in the jungle near Puerto Morelos, QR, Mexico, "what are those green lights I see when we shine our flashlights?"

They were wolf spiders, looking back in the darkness.

#spider 🌿 🕷️
A wolf spider. Its tan coloration is a perfect match for the dead leaves on the floor of the jungle.
January 15, 2026 at 1:29 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
A ma'kech (or maquechs) beetle (Zopherus chilensis) about to go into its burrow.

Traditionally people glue jewels and a little leash to the beetles and wear them as living broaches as love charms.

Near Puerto Morelos, QR, Mexico.

More in 🧵

#beetle #insect 🌿
A glossy back ma'kech beetle heads to its burrow on the floor of the jungle.
January 15, 2026 at 1:16 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
Leafcutter ants working through the night on the jungle floor. Near Puerto Morelos, QR, Mexico.

#insect #ant 🌿
A trail of leafcutter ants. The leftmost ant is carrying a small leaf in its mandibles. The ant next to it is carrying a piece of leaf that is several times its size.
January 15, 2026 at 12:48 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
An bug in the jungle at night. Perhaps Savius jurgiosus, from my iNaturalist searching. Quintana Roo, Mexico.

#insect 🌿 #macrophotography
A green bug on a green leaf. The bug's color almost exactly matches the leaf.
January 14, 2026 at 2:09 AM