Are you a grad student working on the conservation or management of #herps in this region? Then be sure to check out the Orianne Society's grant program. Multiple awards and increased funding this year. Due date in November. #reptiles #amphibians www.oriannesociety.org/science-init...

Cooper's Hawk lounging in my birdbath. #birds

Time to relax!

Grant money for graduate research on #reptile or #amphibian conservation or management in the Southeast. Several awards of $2500 each. Please share widely.

High water on the Ogeechee River. #wetlands

I got this nice poster in 2008. Only took 17 years to get it framed.

Went back to the kite hootenanny in Tattnall County and found about 120 Swallow-tailed Kites. My friend Steve Vives got a nice shot of one of the #birds. They are feasting on dragonflies and something they are snatching directly off the weeds (junebugs?).

Found a nice congregation of Swallow-tailed Kites today in Tattnall Co.,GA. At least 80 Swallow-tails and a few Mississippi. #birds

Big Diamondback that @thesnakedude.bsky.social and I relocated to a nice sandhill from near a house with 3 kids. A solid 4-footer.

Found this nice youngster on the family farm. Making progress on habitat restoration. #gophertortoise

Fascinating reading about the botanists that saved the world largest seed collection during the siege of Leningrad.

Interested in conservation of reptiles and amphibians? Check out the great work by @oriannesociety.bsky.social. #herps www.oriannesociety.org/science-init...

My native cycad (Zamia integrifolia) was hit hard by the snow and cold temps this winter. It’s finally putting up new leaves. #nativeplants

*** Academic BFD alert *** We just published a new global bird phylogeny. It synthesizes the work of thousands of researchers before us, and it will grow and improve over time. @snacktavish.bsky.social @birdsoftheworld.bsky.social www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/...

We recently published a paper in the Journal for Nature Conservation. Working alongside partners from the National Genomics Center, Central Florida Zoo, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Illinois Natural History Survey, and Texas A&M Natural Resources Institute, we examined the effectiveness...

Leafcutter bees (Megachile) love my redbud tree. These bees are excellent pollinators. #insects

The big compound leaves of Aralia spinosa and its well-armed stem. The thorns give it its common name, Devil's Walking Stick. I usually find in on banks or slopes above wet areas. #nativeplants

Found this youngster on the sandhill today. About 6 inches carapace length.

Fledglings everywhere. This one is a House Finch. #birds

Thirty years ago Chinese Tallow was scarce around Statesboro. It’s ubiquitous now.

A Swainson’s Warbler was belting out his song today in this thicket along a slow stream. Candler County, GA.

More spring #wildflowers. This is Lupinus diffusus.

Old rural churches are usually on sandhills around here. They are good places to see sandhill #wildflowers: Pinewoods Milkweed (Asclepias humistrata) and Sundial Lupine (Lupinus perennis). The ubiquitous child graves are a reminder that hard times are not that far in the past.

Poor cellphone pic, but this is 1 of 2 Bald Eagles that recently fledged from a nest on the family farm. I came across them in the woods near the nest (they stick around for awhile), but they started soaring before I could get the phone out. #birds

A tiny Ring-necked Snake (Diadophis punctatus) in my yard today. Small snake, but big odor.

It's that time of year when you can encounter Swallow-tailed Kites almost anywhere in the county (Bulloch Co., GA). #birds

Two species of Baptisia showing off in my yard after a mini prescribed burn. On the left with yellow flowers is B. lanceolata (gopherweed) and to the right is B. perfoliata (catbells). #wildflowers #nativeplants

Took a walk at A.H. Stephens State Park today. It's a small park, but it has some nice trails. In contrast to the park's peaceful forests, its namesake was vice-president of the Confederate States and author of the infamous "cornerstone" speech in Savannah in 1861.

Happy #WorldFrogDay. Here's my son with a cuddly Australian Green Treefrog in Queensland, Australia. #frogs

It’s #pollen season in south Georgia.

Prescribed burn in my native flower bed.

An old Post Oak and Longleaf. Getting ready for a burn in the coming week. Candler Co., Georgia.

Truth.

Checking out the Oak House Distillery in beautiful Athens, GA.

There really does seem to be no upper limit to the admin/faculty ratio at my university.

As the President usurps Congress's constitutional powers, I wonder what Georgia Representative Buddy Carter is up to?

Truth. smbc-comics.com/comic/proof-3

Found this bashful Chicken Turtle out for a walk tonight. #turtles #herps

A photo I took in Uganda, not far from the troubled border with DRC. A reminder that USAID funds protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat (and environmental education) in countries that have few resources for this sort of thing. This in turn attracts tourist dollars.

This is one of the best interviews I've listened to in a long time. A sober view of large language models and AI. www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/otm...

Circle of life. White-tailed Deer bones on the sandhill.

Still clearing Hurricane Helene damage from roads. Some trees, though damaged, didn’t fall until weeks after the storm.

Nice pine stand ready for a fire next week. Candler County, GA.

Prepped and ready for some prescribed burning once things dry out. #prescribedburn

Good reading if you manage a forest (or just love forests).

An Anhinga showed up in my colleague’s pool yesterday and promptly died. Here’s a look at the business end and the cool totipalmate feet (all 4 toes joined by webbing). #birds

Spreading seed heads from existing native flower beds to new beds. Slowly eliminating lawn. Golden Aster (Chrysopsis) and Silk-Grass (Pityopsis).

The best thing about the holidays: new books start to pile up. Looking forward to starting this one.

My son's rundown of all the great work they have done this year at The Orianne Society. He is their Director of Science. #reptiles #amphibians #conservation www.oriannesociety.org/science-of-s...

I'm on a roll. This is the second new eagle nest I've found in as many days. Lots of activity at this nest by both adults. Eagles are bouncing back nicely from losing nests to Hurricane Helene. #baldeagle #birds #ornithology