Marine lichen on the fenceposts protecting the endangered plants at Cattle Point. Some are blurry cause the 90km wind gust blew my glasses off! It was a scrabble to find them again on the granite rocks haha. #SalishSea #lichen #fungifriends

The wind just blasting off the water today at sunset, in Lekwungen traditional territory, where I live. This is looking east at Tl'ches (the squat rainbow is just to the right of the islands). A gale alert sounded on my phone just as I took the photo. The gulls were having a blast! #SalishSea

Research and reporting like this is so important. This building is in the heart of Victoria, and hosts a lot of community events - I've been to gardening society lectures and book readings there, oblivious to its history as a residential school, and its toxicity for the survivors and their families.

I *really* want to flip over for the facts, haha. Such a great idea!

The Straight of Juan de Fuca trusty ol' autumn fogbank must be back, the foghorn's going off every minute, like someone desperately playing their only tuba note.

The clouds have been pleasingly varied this week; I like the pointillage whorl in the bottom left corner. #clouds #SalishSea

Video by GFOE of a cool Periphylla like jellyfish! Whirly Twirly! #medusamonday #okeanos youtu.be/ZDIQUltukts?...

I encourage you to watch this with sound on. It would never have occurred to me to give these words a melody, but now I'm wondering what other kinds of art I have failed to imagine.

Mimulus putting on a bee-cathedral show again for the cool autumn season. Most of the bumblebees seem to have moved on for the season though🍂🐝🌾

🎃 Vous commencez à chercher votre décoration pour Halloween ? Ne passez pas à côté de ce fantôme en macramé qui hantera votre maison… avec douceur 👻✨

"This is nature’s emergency recovery mechanism. We’ve buggered almost everything up but this will still bring them back."

See what happens under extremely high pressure? What the video.

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

The buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala) has mastered a very particular kind of camouflage. When they close their wings up, they resemble a broken twig. Native to large parts of Europe, there's regional pattern variation that reflects the local tree species. This one best resembles birch twigs?

Happy autumn! #MossMonday #SalishSea #bryophytes

My emotional support crab is using a seaweed hat as a security blanket. 🦀💚😌 #crab

It's such a huge turtle! But moving pretty briskly for such a short-legged prehistoric creature. I love how the kids on their bikes are, like, 15 metres back and *not* trying to get closer. Clearly they have met snapping turtles before and respect their irascability profoundly. #snappingturtle

"The wing anatomy tells us this species was adapted for gliding; a trait associated with migratory dragonflies today and possibly a key to their success," #fossils #invertebrates #DinosaurProvincialPark

Common Snapping Turtle, removed from net, but still pretty ticked off 😬🐢

I hear we're cute posting (Pacific Chorus #frog) #herps

The cool nights have brought out a smattering of brilliant red on the Pacific Dogwood hybrids around the Saanich Peninsula! The drought has gibbled the berries though, they are tiny. #Cornus #SalishSea #autumnleaves

Tree of many faces. I found it in an old photo file, no idea where I saw it. Isn't it lovely? Whoever has it in their yard is very fortunate💚 #ThickTrunkTuesday

All the next day Toad sang songs to his seeds.

"The multitudinous bees had found their way in through cracks in the shop's older bay door." I had not heard of robber bees, nor did I know they carry out autumn Honey Heists! I thought the traditional Canadian heist was at maple syrup warehouses. Or cheese heists of course. #inverts #bees #Canuck

Monday mollusc mirth! #slugs #Inverts {alt text for the thumbnail: An orange-brown slug sits on a green stem, its head obscured by The Guardian's logo}

Tonight was my first time since lockdown that more than 50% of people in the big grocery store were masked, including the staff. Maybe because of the smoke as well as the season? It was nice not to be the only one! Sunday shopping solidarity😷

Going through the summer's photos and found this new-to-me beetle with great antennae, photo taken June 20th... Is it Podabrus pruinosus, the downy leather-winged beetle? iNaturalist says it occurs here in Southern BC (this one was on Southern Vancouver Island). #Invertebrates #SalishSea #beetles

This loonie-sized Pacific Chorus frog spent the day splooted on the cool potting soil, even though it wasn't very hot. I wonder if the wildfire smoke is hurting the frog's permeable skin? Maybe the part pressed to the soil is protected from the smoke? #herps #frogs #SalishSea

A dime sized Pacific Chorus frog has chosen my greenhouse light switch's electrical tape to perch on instead of 4 varieties of Hosta leaf and two types of fern, below the switch. Super chill, let me get within 10cm with my phone camera without any signs of concern. #frog #SalishSea #herps

App says Isodontia mexicana. It is a most beautiful wasp, whatever its name.

Tara Moriarty Canadian COVID Forecast: Dials graphic

Well, the BC forecast has increased from moderate to very high, just as everyone heads back to the classrooms. For those of us that mask, the N95/KN95s also help with the wildfire smoke! I'm really grateful for the COVID forecasting team, whose continuing predictions help us make safer choices🙂

The most spectacular badgir? The one at Dolat Abad Garden, Yazd. Height: 33 metres. Shape: octagonal, to catch wind from all sides. Power: Moves 60 cubic metres of air per minute - like an industrial AC. Zero emissions.

I think this is Salticus variegatus? Definitely a jumping spider of curious and bold disposition, it is the sixth of its kind I have met this year here on Vancouver Island. Alas, always placed so I can't get a sharp photo haha - great eyelashes not showcased! #InverteFest #EmotionalSupportSpood

I think this is a Lorquin's Admiral? #InverteFest #SalishSea

First road newt of the autumn season! Heading from their summer pond to their winter foraging ground in the doug fir forest. I scooped them off the service road just before all the crews drove down it heading for break. I'd forgotten how leisurely their amble is! #newts #herps #Taricha #SalishSea

We’re recruiting for a multi-university (and ECCC) cross-city project on urban biodiversity, connectivity, and ecosystem services: 1) a Concordia or U Laval MSc student (PhD possible), 2) a UBC MSc student, 3) a postdoc. I’ll link to each position below. Please share broadly!

My lettuce has bolted, the structure is pleasingly fractal and the buds are elegantly reminiscent of christmas candies.

Sipping my first ovaltine of the season; I can hear rain and foghorn simultaneously from my balcony, a delectable combination. It makes me excited for autumn! No need for an evening toque quite yet but I did break out my cozy lumberjacket. It smells of the ghosts of campfires past.

On the receiving end of a skeptical regard from this little Pacific Chorus frog, as I cleared some Alocasia leaves so the underplanting gets enough light. Never fear, I left the frog their leaf-puddle since it was developing into a searing day today. #herps #frogs #SalishSea

I saw a blue sand wasp today! Bembix americana. Such pretty matte turquoise blue stripes, in place of the yellow stripes on other wasps. Naturally I had no camera, but it was still thrilling; it's been a few years since I've seen the females tending their nests at Witty's Lagoon.

Yay! After years of having their tufty caterpillars rain down on my greenhouses at work, from the big Doug Fir trees all around, I finally got to meet an adult Silver Spotted Tiger Moth (Lophocampa argentata)! Isn't she beautiful? Also she has huge eyes that look like they have eyelashes💚 #inverts

A potting soil covered pacific tree frog (brown underneath, but dusted like a cinnamon timbit with soil) in a Hebe ochracea. Usually I rinse them if they land on my potting bench but this wee hopper was quite frenzied so I just put my drippers on at the base so he could sluice at will. #frogs #herps

"But a holidaymaker who was rock-pooling on South Uist in the Outer Hebrides found four of the creatures, which attach themselves to rocks rather like anemones..." I didn't know jellyfish could attach to rocks! A nifty story all around.

Erythrina crista-galli (Cockspur Coral-Tree) blooming in my greenhouse. It's getting quite a trunk on it, finally, with a lovely braided-texture to the bark; I sowed the seed in 2009. I like how the buds are so beaky. #bloomscrolling #plantnerd

My new favorite crab! Boxer crabs have anemones permanently attached to their modified claws and when attacked hold up their little anemone-ally pom-poms to fend off their attackers! Plus they use them to hunt. I like how they resemble jumping spiders when they wave their anemones around. #inverts

South Vancouver Island friends, we are zone D (from Jordan River to Victoria to Saanich Peninsula including Sidney and Saanich Inlet). This is at present a Tsunami Watch (evaluating risk), not a Warning that it is for sure coming.

Here’s some video of the plankton bloom; youtu.be/o3pMET7sucg?...

Our newest unofficial video series—deep-sea animals that dance better than you 💃 Most sea cucumbers live a sedentary life on the bottom of the ocean, but some take a break from eating and pooping on the seafloor to go for a quick swim. They may do it as a defensive behavior or to find a mate.

Epiphyllum bloom season has arrived! This one is on a branch that stealth-infiltrated my Phlebodium fern; I love the combination. #plantnerd #bloomscrolling #plantsky #ferns #succulents