While my first bird of 2026 was a Red-bellied Woodpecker, I didn't get out and photograph any birds until later in the day when these two, Black-capped Chickadee and Tufted Titmouse teed up on Serviceberry twigs for me. #Birds, #Photography

An update: there IS an opt-out email, you should check if your site/merch is in this "feature" and use it. If it's not there now, you should likely set a reminder to check back, since it's new. bsky.app/profile/monk...

Hey so this seems like something more people should be talking about 🤔 🗳️ www.npr.org/2025/10/23/n...

I dunno Nick; why don't you ask the FBI, who used to track down and threaten teenagers with federal prison time for torrenting Metallica or copying a VHS tape?

Acton: The fact that my opponent is Hindu has absolutely nothing to do with this election. No one’s religion has anything to do with the problems of everyday Ohioans. But this is coming from somebody who has literally spent his life creating culture wars and pitting us against one another.

Acton: [Ramaswamy] literally treats Ohio like a flyover state. When you love Ohio the way I do, you don’t treat it like a flyover state. You don’t move your business from Ohio to Texas. You don’t pit Ohioans against each other with endless culture wars…

Oh.

Kash lied to congress.

Downy Woodpecker enjoying the suet. #Birds

The Orion Nebula is one of the easiest objects to observe in the northern hemisphere, appearing as the middle "star" of Orion's sword, the general shape of this nebula is visible in binoculars or small telescopes and spectacular in larger scopes. #Astro, #Photography

Another dusty patch, this one in the Constellation Cepheus known as the Dark Shark Nebula. #astrophotography

It's a little late for Halloween, but here is the Witch Head nebula, a cloud of dust illuminated by the bright star Rigel in Orion. This is a tough object to image from moderately light-polluted skies but doable on moonless nights. #Astrophotography

I'm reprocessing some old data with new tools. I imaged the Horsehead and Flame Nebulae in 2022 using my 61mm refractor with a dual narrowband filter and without. #Astro #Photography

This is the Deer Lick group of galaxies visible in Pegasus, with NGC 7331 in the foreground. This is not a "true" galaxy group as the individual galaxies are not interacting gravitationally. #Astro, #Photography

The Heart Nebula and surrounding clouds of ionized hydrogen, imaged for a total of 24.5 hours from my backyard. #Astro, #Photography

CNN: “An older couple making $85K/year will see their yearly insurance premiums jump from $7K to $25,000 — 30% of their income.” 😳#TrumpShutdown #TrumpHealthCareTax This is what Dems are drawing attention to and want fixed. Now, not later.

Fresh dew on a Smooth Aster, Symphyotrichum racemosa. #NativePlants, #Photography

This is M15, the Pegasus globular cluster. Somewhere in there is a planetary nebula and possibly a black hole at its center. #Astrophotography

This female Nashville Warbler visited this morning. #Birds, #Photography

Clouded Sulphur butterfly on the pink form of New England Aster #NativePlants, #Butterflies

Playing peek-a-boo with an immature Red-eyed Vireo #Birds, #Photography

Bumblebee loading up on pollen from New England Aster #NativePlants

A late Monarch caterpillar munching on Swamp Milkweed #NativePlants

The region between the constellations Cassiopeia and Cepheus has some wonderful emission nebulae , including the bubble nebula (bottom center) and the lobster claw nebula (left center) among others. This is about 10.5 hours of exposure from my back yard. #Astrophotography

This peekaboo Ruby-throated Hummingbird is one of two still visiting our potted Salvia and Petunias. The latest I've had them in the yard is Sept 15th. This is 14th. #Photography, #Birds

Female Common Green Darner taking a moment's rest from her hunt in my back yard. #Wildlife, #Photography

Early Sunflower, also called False Sunflower and Ox-eye Sunflower is another late-summer early-fall bloomer providing pollen to our bees. #NativePlants, #Photography

New England Aster in pink. The colors of this one have changed to a brighter pink from last year which was more violet. This is a good host plant and nectar source in the fall. The deer have pruned it a few times but that just means more blooms! #NativePlants, #Photography

Almost the third quarter moon from two mornings ago.

Dew on Orange Touch-Me-Not (Jewelweed, Impatiens capensis) #NativePlants, #Photography

This is one of the metallic sweat bees feeding on Persicaria virginiana, aka Jumpseed. #NativePlants, #Bees, #Photography

This is Peck's Skipper feeding on Ironweed. #NativePlants, #Butterflies, #Photography

This is a Denticulate Longhorn Bee, Melissodes denticulatus, a native specialist on ironweed. Those fluffy pantaloons it wears soon will be stuffed with white pollen. #NativePlants, #Bees, #Photography

This image shows clouds of ionized hydrogen in red interrupted here and there by bands of dust blocking the light. Just left of center is the bright star Sadr (γ Cygni) which forms the body of the swan in the constellation Cygnus. #Astrophotography

This is the Rosette Nebula in Monoceros, with about 8 hours total integration using a dual (Ha & Oiii) narrowband filter and processed emphasizing those emission lines.

Plants aren't just food, as demonstrated by this Spring Peeper resting on a Swamp Milkweed leaf #amphibians, #NativePlants

This Swamp Milkweed is loaded with seed pods! #NativePlants.

The Crescent Nebula in the constellation Cygnus. I made this image by collecting about 35 hours of light in the Hydrogen alpha (red) and Oxygen III (cyan) emission lines and 45 min in RGB for the stars, which are their natural color. #astrophotography

My latest Andromeda Galaxy process with 31 hours of integration and counting. #astrophotography

Milkweed isn't just for Monarchs. While I found 4 big Monarch cats on the Scarlet Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) earlier this week, this plant attracts loads of insects to consume its nectar and pollen. This visitor is a Great Golden Digger Wasp. #NativePlants, #Photography

This big beast is a male Twelve-spotted Skimmer, one of several dragonflies flying around the yard yesterday. #dragonflies, #photography

It was a bit warm yesterday and this Meadowhawk (I can't be sure of the species) was "obelisking," a behavior to reduce its body temperature or at least to keep from getting too hot. #dragonfly, #photography

Four-toothed Mason Wasp and a tiny fly on Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium) #NativePlants, #Photography

Dark morph female Eastern Tiger Swallowtail on Joe Pye Weed (Eutrochium fistulosa) #NativePlants, #Photography

This Red-spotted Purple (Limenitis arthemis) visited our meadow garden yesterday. It was particularly fond of the Joe Pye Weed but visited several other plants as well. #NativePlants, #Photography

This is Peck's Skipper, easy to identify by the pattern of light orange marks on the underside of its hind wing. It is feeding on Prairie Blazing Star, Liatris pychnostachya in our meadow garden. #NativePlants, #Photography

This Eastern Tiger Swallowtail was visiting many of the #NativePlants in our meadow garden today. This one is Asclepias incarnata, which goes by the common names Scarlet Milkweed or Swamp Milkweed. #Photography

Long-horned Bee, genus Melissodes on Ratibida pinnata in our meadow garden. If you plant #NativePlants, then you may get some pretty cool insects visiting #insects, #Photography

This is from 2020 at our nearest dark sky park. I was out there for Comet Neowise and decided to get some #MilkyWay pics too. Lots of light pollution and having only a single exposure means I had to do a lot of editing on this one. #astrophotography

Halloween Pennant #dragonflies, #photography, #nature