Scrambling up Christmas Gully in the low cloud yesterday to Mt Strachan I realized I was being watched by a sooty grouse. Two in fact! The cloud was blowing up the gully, changing every few minutes from misty to clear. Mt Seymour Provincial Park, BC #birds #birdphotography #naturephotography 🌿

A red-breasted sapsucker sucking sap. (Well, technically poking holes in the bark and then licking the sap.) The little tufts of yellowish flowers are a good match for the lichen on the trees. Today at Mt Seymour, West Vancouver. #birds #birdphotography #woodpecker #naturephotography 🌿

A second pass at the yellow rose I posted a few days ago. #flowerphotography #bloomscrolling #flowers #roses #bloomonpurpose

A wasp nest on the ground right beside the Sugar Mountain hiking trail. Sasamat Lake, BC. I didn't feel brave enough to try to get some macro shots of the wasps for ID. #naturephotography #wasp 🌿

A male hairy woodpecker hard at work on the Sugar Mountain trail at Sasamat Lake, British Columbia. #birds #birdphotography #woodpecker #naturephotography 🌿

The remains of a snack -- from a squirrel or chipmunk perhaps? All the maple seeds are gone and only the propellers remain. Sugar Mountain, Sasamat Lake, BC. #naturephotography 🌿 #forest #woodland

Flash photography after sunset with the New Westminster Photography Club last night. Rose Garden, Queens Park, New Westminster. #flower #flowerphotography #naturephotography 🌿

I led a nature walk today at Burnaby Lake, British Columbia. We heard Pacific treefrogs but didn't see any. Then after the walk I saw this tiny guy (~2cm) perched on top of a black-eyed Susan in the rain. #herps 🐸 🌿 #frog #treefrog

I have spent a lot of time in conferences so I was drawn to the conversation areas of the Hotel Bonaventure convention center while staying in Montréal . There was no conference in progress so the areas were unoccupied. #photography #art #liminalspace

One last Northern leopard frog at the Parc Écologique des Sources, Montréal near a spring. Note the blue splotches on the back, behind the left eye. Possibly an old skin wound that has disrupted the layers of chromatophore cells that combine to produce the skin coloration? #herps 🐸 🌿 #frog

A red fox (Vulpes vulpes) at the Mount Royal cemetery, Montréal this past Monday. Not a young coyote as I at first thought! #mammals 🌿 #naturephotography #fox

An American toad in a different puddle at the Parc Écologique des Sources in Montréal. Maybe there's a "one amphibian per puddle" rule? Apparently American toads are common in Eastern Canada, but it was new to me. #herps 🐸 🌿 #toad

Last week I went hunting for amphibians at the Parc Écologique des Sources in Montréal -- a tiny preserve among the tech companies in Technoparc, next to the airport. In a puddle in a dirt road I found a Northern leopard frog (lithobates pipiens). They're common, but new to me. #herps 🐸 🌿 #frog

I thought I had seen a new (to me) frog near Wolfville, Nova Scotia. Maybe a Mink Frog. But now I am pretty sure these are Green Frogs in brown disguise--the same species that is invasive in BC. Note the dorso-lateral ridge, stripes (not spots) on the rear legs, green upper lip. #herps 🐸 🌿

Salt marsh grass on the Bay of Fundy, Wolfville, Nova Scotia. The expanse of marsh grass reminded me of waves on the ocean, although it was close to the famous low tide. Canon R5+RF100-500 @ 100mm. #Landscape #LandscapePhotography #wetlands #TelephotoLandscape

Signs in the Montréal metro. I guess you’re allowed one English word per sign. #french #linguistics

There are three bookshops in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia 😜

Successful conservation efforts in Mississippi to rescue endangered dusky gopher frogs. 🐸 #herps 🌿 Gift NYT article. www.nytimes.com/2025/08/20/c...

A Pacific treefrog froglet -- approx 10mm in size and still with its tail. In the same pond we also saw Northwestern salamander tadpoles and one Northern red-legged frog froglet. Near Hollyburn Lodge, Cypress Mountain, West Vancouver BC. #herps 🐸 #treefrog 🌿

2:40pm (daylight) on a hot day we saw a bat clambering over a log beside a stream. Maybe it had gone to get water? It climbed awkwardly up a tree using the hooks on the thumbs of its wings to ~3m high and hung upside down. Chilliwack Lake Provincial Park, BC. #mammals 🌿 #naturephotography #bats 🦇

The wild blueberries were abundant and ripe today. Cypress Mountain, BC. #blueberries #berries 🌿

Two more pikas on an old avalanche debris slope. Near Lindeman Lake, Chillwack Lake Provincial Park, British Columbia. #mammals 🌿 #bcnature #naturephotography

A pika on an old avalanche debris slope. Near Lindeman Lake, Chillwack Lake Provincial Park, British Columbia. #mammals 🌿 #bcnature #naturephotography

A pair of American kestrels on a tree on the cliff above Kokomo Beach, Curaçao. #birds #birdphotography 🌿 🪶

Brown-throated parakeet (“Prikichi” in Papamiento) feasting on cactus buds. Curaçao, 2024. #parakeets #birds #birdphotography 🦜

Reviewing some recent images with higher ISO. On a hike to Seru Kabes, Curaçao the trail passed through a cave formed by several large rocks. I inadvertently disturbed a small colony of bats, who flew about and then resettled. Canon R5+RF100-500@300mm, 1/200s, f5.6, ISO12800 #mammals 🦇 #bats 🌿

I wasn't the only one hunting for frogs yesterday. Maybe it's because I am from New Zealand, where there are no snakes (not even pets) but I still get excited to see a "common" garter snake. #herps 🐍 🌿 #snake #naturephotography

I see you little Pacific tree frog, hiding in the foliage. In the garden outside the Nature House at Burnaby Lake, British Columbia. #herps 🐸 #treefrog 🌿

Common gartersnake curled up inside a log while basking in the sun at Burnaby Lake, British Columbia. The vivid blue eye is a sign that the snake is about to begin moulting. Fluid accumulates between the old and new skin around the eye. #herps 🐍 🌿 #snake #naturephotography

Shots from a walk around the Queen's Park neighbourhood with the New Westminster Photography Club this morning. The walk was mostly focused on the historic buildings but it was dark and raining and I got distracted by a few splashes of colour. #newwestminster #britishcolumbia #centuryhome

Yesterday was hot and unusually windy at Alaksen National Wildlife Area, British Columbia. I was mesmerized by the cat tails and other marsh plants at the mouth of the Fraser River undulating in the wind. #LandscapePhotography #NaturePhotography #wetlands #marsh #bcnature

A friend commented that they were surprised how small the frogs were when they went on an eco-tour in Costa Rica. It's hard to get a sense of scale when you see a published photo. Here's a pinch-and-zoom adventure. Try to find the 30mm tree frog. Hint in comments. #treefrog #amphibians #herps 🐸

A Pacific tree frog catching the sun on a hop vine leaf. The hops are invasive and use the invasive Himalayan blackberry as scaffolding. The white crystals on the leaf and on the frog are mineral salts secreted by the plant (guttation). Burnaby Lake, BC. #treefrog #amphibians #herps 🌿 🐸

A bullfrog peeking out of some watercress. Burnaby Lake, BC. #bullfrog #frog #amphibians #herps 🌿

One more shot of the ensatina (lungless salamander) that I posted yesterday. #salamander #amphibians #naturephotography #herps 🌿

A fantastic two page identification guide for salamanders and newts in the British Columbia lower mainland, produced by the Fraser Valley Conservancy. #herps #bcnature fraservalleyconservancy.ca/wp-content/u...

A common ensatina (ensatina eschholtzii) (a type of lungless salamander). Belcarra Regional Park, Port Moody, BC, Canada. #salamander #amphibians #bcnature #naturephotography #herps 🌿

One level down on the danger scale from “beware of the dog”?

A Douglas squirrel feasting on blue berries at Buntzen Lake, BC today. #mammals #bcnature #squirrel 🌿

A tiny mushroom growing at the side of a stream among the roots of a huge tree. Rolley Lake, BC. #fungifriends 🌿 🍄

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe" (Blade Runner) Peering into the crevices beside a stream at Rolley Lake, BC, I saw this cricket carcass being consumed by mould. Focus stack of 18 images. Canon R5+RF100, 1/60, f5.6, ISO400. #bugsky #insect #fungifriends 🌿

Last one in today's little series of pollinators on bright yellow flowers. Another skipper at Burnaby Lake, BC. #bugsky #insect #bee #macrophotography #bcnature 🌿

A bee (possibly an orange-legged furrow bee, halictus rubicundus) hard at work on a black-eyed Susan. Burnaby Lake, BC in the interpretive garden at the Nature House. #bugsky #insect #bee #macrophotography #bcnature 🌿

A European skipper, I think. Burnaby Lake, BC in the interpretive garden at the Nature House. #bugsky #insect #macrophotography #bcnature 🌿

@friel.bsky.social hi. Love the Naturalists feed. Could you please add me as a contributor. I post mostly about nature in British Columbia, especially amphibians, birds and fungus.

Pacific treefrog showing off its cute toes as it sticks to a skunk cabbage leaf. Today at Burnaby Lake, BC on the path to the observation tower near Piper Spit. #herps #treefrog #bcnature 🐸

I'm on a tear this week finding Northern red-legged frogs. Yesterday at Burns Bog, Delta, BC I saw several froglets. They were at various stages of metamorphosis, absorbing their tails and spending time on land. #herps #bcnature 🐸

I'm visiting Taiwan mid-Oct. Very excited about the biodiversity, especially 🐸. I lead a monthly nature walk in the Metro Vancouver, teaching people to find different species of frogs. I'm hoping to find something similar. Does anyone have recommendations for eco-tours/guided walks? #herps

The second Northern red-legged frog beside a stream at Belcarra, BC. COSEWIC Status: Special Concern 🐸 #herps #bcnature #naturephotography #frog

It was hot and dry at Belcarra Regional Park, BC, so the pools where I look were dried up. I decided to clamber along a small stream and saw two Northern red-legged frogs (rana aurora aurora). 🐸 #herps #bcnature #naturephotography #frog