Good morning! 🪶

A burrowing owlet at the stage where they pick up random things off the ground to see if they're edible. This potential food came with an ant, which the owlet had a hard time shaking off! 🪶

Not the nicest lake. I certainly can't swim in it, but the birds are good, and it's a fine place to escape the heat of the city for a few days.

Sing it! Yellow-headed Blackbird sharing the “song” of his people #birds

He makes the bubbles (Ruddy Duck, the Best Duck) #birds

Blanket flowers (Gaillardia) & golden northern bumblebees (2025)

This little Bombus sitkensis was half asleep on Woolly lamb's ear. Such a cozy place to sip a bit of nectar between naps. #mcloughlingardens #bees

Say hello to my little friend at the cottage today! #mcloughlincottage

Thimbleberry dreamer. #mcloughlingardens #bees

Lots of sleepy bees in the garden this morning, including this sweet boy. #mcloughlingardens #bees

Foraging among the flowers completely upside down (A bumble bee on Penstemon/Beardtongue) #NativePlants 🌿 #BloomScrolling #invertebrates 🐝

Acorn woodpeckers here in San Diego’s Cuyamaca mountains. They’re delightful birds and a common sight and sound here while hiking or having a picnic. The third shot is an active acorn granary in a ponderosa pine. The entire group defends it and maintains it. 🌿🪶

🌖 🌖🌿🌿🕊️🕊️🍷🍷~

Barn swallows taking a break at Telford Lake boardwalk. #Alberta #wildlife #birding #birds 🪶🇨🇦

For International Archives Day / #iaw2026, I'm checking out urban planner Noulan Cauchon's 1927 scheme for "Hexagonopolis" @library-archives.canada.ca. A "honeycomb" street pattern would, he argued, speed up traffic flow while preventing accidents. #cdnhist #archives #urbanhistory #envhist

There's only one species of bumble bee (Bombus flavifrons) I see foraging in the beach pea (Lathyrus japonicus). You can see the bite marks on the petals from the bees as they negotiate opening the lovely blossoms. #mcloughlingardens

It takes some work to stay this beautiful Black-necked stilt strikes an interesting pose while doing some routine feather maintenance #birds 🌿

Home Jeeves #birds #loons #photography

"Cultivating and conserving diversity is no luxury in our times: it is a survival imperative." -Vandana Shiva

Voting is open for the people's choice awards in the Puget Sound Bird Fest Photography Contest, and I'd love if you took a look (the loon photo isn't in there, I just wanted something shiny on the post) Adult: pollunit.com/polls/PSBF_C... Youth: pollunit.com/polls/PSBF_C...

I'm sure the hairs on these foxglove blossom have some sort of function. Perhaps to entice bumble bee boys to follow the psychadelic nectar guides?

I'm pretty sure they were created by Jim Henson. 🪶 #MuppetsOrBirds

I may have taken too many photos of Black-necked Stilts today. Those LEGS tho #birds

🚨HOLY *&^$!🚨 @andybugguy.bsky.social LOOK WHO I FOUND! Abbot Cr. Rd. today! I got ONE photo! Shocked it's one GOOD photo! I had no idea who they were, just, "I have NEVER seen that skipper before!" Everyone who isn't Andy - this is an Arctic Skipper (Carterocephalus mandan) 1/2 #inverts

Your moment of zen, courtesy of three sentient pedal boats

Happy Saturday! Bombus vosnesenskii!

And the sparrow looked at the moth and saw a faint reflection of itself. During this moment of confusion, the moth flew away into the night. #mcloughlingardens

‪Today’s Alt #BirdOfTheDay theme is #FemaleBeauty — the beauty of female birds. Male Evening Grosbeaks get a lot of attention, but LOOK at this gorgeous Ms.! #birds #becurious

For Friday's #BlueSkyArtShow theme of #busy — first creature that comes to mind? Bee! This guy is getting busy around a Bee Balm flower covered with early morning dew. Have a great Friday and weekend.

From yesterday: A floating 𝘉𝘰𝘮𝘣𝘶𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘪 headed for a pea blossom! I never get good photos of bees, but I managed to get enough shots of this one for a proper ID. (Thanks, @loriweidenhammer.ca for the iNat confirmation!) www.inaturalist.org/observations... #nativebees #bees #bombus

Sweet snake snoozing on a bed of moss and rose petals. #mgloughlingardens

Bombus mixtus cuteness. #mcloughlingardens #bees

her floof is everything to me

This beautiful list of titles for Pride Month from @clmporg.bsky.social…including one of our new nonfiction titles, BACKYARD ALCHEMY by J.D. Ho! 🎉🎉🎉📚🌈 @nematode.bsky.social

Giddyup! While I was photographing this bullsnake, a grasshopper started climbing on it. Eventually, the grasshopper jumped off the snake's head and hopped away. laurel-gale.pixels.com/featured/gid... #wildlife #invertebrate #nature🐡📷 🐍

This Bombus flavifrons worker has earned her rest. Look at how tattered her wings have become. I feel you, girl. #mcloughlingardens #bees

Even Harper 'Did Not Put Extinction on the Table' @thetyee.ca thetyee.ca/News/2026/05... by @sarahcox.bsky.social Please submit comments on Major Projects proposal by June 7 www.canada.ca/en/one-canad.... Some projects can be approved even if they drive species extinct & proceed without assessment

After days of heavy rain, it was nice to get out to the local wetlands last night. Here's a few shots of Barn Swallows that were the main attraction. #wildlife #birds

Stay with the trouble. Play with the trouble. Meander and wander, following your curiosity and intuition. Use what you have around you to create. Be in the place you are, Keep it simple. Ask your body what she needs. Make time for resting and healing.

I’m really excited about this paper, which links #seaweed species’ nitrate uptake & photosynthesis rates w/ functional #traits, providing a predictive framework for understanding roles in nutrient cycling & productivity. 🌊🦑🧪📏🌐 @jngriffy.bsky.social @intertidaleco.bsky.social @mle425.bsky.social

Now that I am recovering from a flu that caused me to lose my sense of hearing and smell, I am super grateful to be able to hear the bees and smell the roses! #bees

Love those Sitka bumble bees with the classic fluffy pink butt! #mcloughlingardens #bees

A beautiful Bombus flavifrons taking a breather on a perfectly sized snowberry leaf. #mcloughlingardens #bees

low-down, no-account nectar robber barons >:(

I am on a creative retreat by on the Island for the month of June. So grateful for this time to connect with the coastal bees and begin new projects.

Just two girls: honey bee, Apis mellifera and Valley carpenter bee, Xylocopa sonorina

Female bicolored striped sweat bee (Agapostemon virescens) on fresh-sprouted Winged loosestrife (Lythrum alatum) yesterday morning in Bonita Springs 5-28-26 #ColorADay #GreenSat #eck #native #bees #flowers #macro #photography #macroPhotography #insects #bugSky #nature #bugs #threeWordGenre #art

“You do not have to be good... You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves Meanwhile the world goes on." ― Mary Oliver #ForestFriday #scape #naturephotography #naturephoto #Nature #Rockymountains #CA

I used diffused fill flash for this shot, because the bees were starting to move around and the flash helps freeze motion. This guy has one antenna bent backward because he's cleaning it with his foreleg; gotta keep those receptors pristine if you want to find a female. 🐝📷