A swallowtail butterfly, photographed using the classic technique of desperately following it with the camera…

A #swallowtail #butterfly, photographed using the classic technique of desperately following it with the camera and clicking the shutter when I hope it’s pointing vaguely in the right direction to at least catch it in frame and it probably won’t be in focus anyway but with luck it’ll at least be identifiable and…hey, not bad!

(Otherwise I’ve basically given up trying to actually aim at butterflies when they’re flying.)

#photo

A butterfly with yellow wings outstretched, black along its body and wing edges and stripes , seen backlit against the sky and leafy tree branches.

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Western Tiger Swallowtail

Common Swallowtails

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Sign at a local bar/club/lounge on a partly cloudy day.

Sign at a local bar/club/lounge on a partly cloudy day.

#signs #photo

Vertical neon sign attached to the side of a building, labeled GEORGIA'S, with clouds in the background. Black and white.

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This is the same place that proclaimed “We missed some of you!” when they reopened after the winter pandemic surge shutdown.

I think they’ve mostly been doing “patio” dining in the parking lot, but inside gathering spots have been slowly reopening over the last month or so as case rates plummet in California and vaccination rates climb.

Configurable sign out in the parking lot: Georgias Lounge Reopening Thursday Feb-4. We missed some of you!

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I saw several monarch butterflies at the botanic gardens up in the hills yesterday

I saw several monarch butterflies at the botanic gardens up in the hills yesterday, but no more than about three at a time. Numbers have dropped drastically over the last few years.

#photo #butterfly #MonarchButterfly #nature

Monarch

Monarch

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On iNaturalist (crop of first photo only)

Cooper’s Hawk (in tree, full)

Probably a Cooper’s Hawk, spotted on a walk this afternoon. It flew up to a telephone pole, alighted there for a few seconds, and as I was trying to line up a shot with the camera, it took off again, then flew a few houses down the street to perch in this tree.

I also posted a closer crop on my *ahem* @AddHawk account

#hawk #birds #nature #photo

A medium-sized brown bird with black stripes on the tail, mottled white/gray on the wings and head, yellow eyes and a sharp, hooked beak, perched on a tree branch and backlit with sky and green leaves behind it.

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Archived AddHawk
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On Flickr

This bluebird was perched near this tree, possibly even on the same post…

This #bluebird was perched near this tree, possibly even on the same post, but the moment I snapped the shutter, it flew up to a nearby roof. So I tried to get a decent angle on it, and was about to walk away when it flew back to the tree, landing on this post, grooming itself for a few moments, and then stopping to look around.

#birds #nature #photo

A small bird with a blue head and wings, orange breast, white belly and black beak and legs, perched on a post, facing left. The background is blurred rough bark.

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Who knew a hawk could be a birb?

Who knew a hawk could be a #birb?

Spotted in a park. Probably a Cooper’s Hawk.

I heard a lot of chirping from this tree, and saw a cluster that looks like it could be a nest near where this hawk was standing guard. It just kind of looked around the whole time even as I walked past the tree. If it was standing guard, it must have been able to tell I wasn’t a threat.

#hawk #birds #photo #nature

Who knew a hawk could be a birb?

Who knew a hawk could be a birb?

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Statue of Ramona Quimby, one of several inspired by Beverly Cleary characters in Grant Park

Statue of Ramona Quimby, one of several inspired by Beverly Cleary characters in Grant Park in Portland, Oregon. Photo from a trip in 2013.

TBH, though, Atlas Obscura got better photos than I did

#statue #BeverlyCleary #Portland #photo

Statue of Ramona Quimby, one of several inspired by Beverly Cleary characters in Grant Park ...

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First time I’ve noticed a Northern Flicker…

First time I’ve noticed one of these birds, but they’re apparently all over North America: A Northern Flicker, a type of #woodpecker.

(I was kind of annoyed that it was on the shaded side of the tree, but I can’t really blame it. The late afternoon sun was really bright.)

#birds #nature #photo

First time I've noticed one of these birds, but they're apparently all over North America: ...

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A couple of Black Phoebes spotted in the cherry grove.

A couple of Black Phoebes spotted in the cherry grove.

Some days I spot a lot of birds at these gardens, some days (like on this one) I mostly just hear them. Though I was at least able to *see* some red-tailed hawks circling way up in the sky, even though I couldn’t get any photos of them.

#birds #photo #nature

On Photog.Social
On Flickr
On Flickr
On iNaturalist
On iNaturalist

Cherry blossoms are coming in at the local botanic gardens

Cherry blossoms are coming in at the local botanic gardens. They have a grove with multiple different cherry trees in various stages of waking up for spring (some with a few flowers, some with more flowers and leaves, some still bare), and a few scattered trees elsewhere in the garden – some of which are already covered. But the tree in the fourth shot isn’t even in full bloom yet!

#nature #trees #photo #sakura #cherryblossoms #garden

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I went back through my photos and found one where you *can* see the green …

I went back through my photos and found one where you *can* see the green on the male wigeon’s head!

Here’s a male and a female, plus a coot. The coots were scattered around the entire pond, while the wigeons were mostly at one end (probably not coincidentally, the end where people were more likely to stand around tossing bread into the water. Right next to the sign saying not to feed the birds, especially not bread.)

#birds #wigeon #nature #photo #coot

Two Wigeons and a Coot.

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Unusual photos of Martian landscapes from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Nice small collection of unusual photos of Martian landscapes from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at Daily Overview. I don’t know what the blue triangle thing is.

The description doesn’t say, but I’m guessing most of them are false-color or exaggerated.

(Images originally from NASA)

https://www.getrevue.co/profile/dailyoverview/issues/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter-433906

#mars #space #photo

On Wandering.shop

Call your doctor if you experience double wigeon.

Call your doctor if you experience double wigeon.

There were SO MANY wigeons at the pond that day. A lot of the males were making this whistling sound like a squeaky toy and making a big display of flapping their wings. Duck waving, I suppose you could call it.

The males’ heads also had this green iridescence, but I couldn’t capture it.

#birds #nature #photo #wigeon #duck #swimming

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I saw a few dozen wigeons swimming in the pond as well. Some of them were swimming in male/female pairings, while some of the males were making whistling/squeaky noises and displaying their wings.

On iNaturalist
On iNaturalist