A photo showing the Merlin Bird of the Day next to the back of my camera showing the same bird, the Purple-chested Hummingbird.
A photo showing the bird, metallic green with a purple spot on his chest. He is sitting on a wire with greenery in the background.
Got my Merlin Bird of the Day again today, the Purple-chested Hummingbird. đȘ¶
Sendero Fruttitour,
Pedro Vincente Maldonado, Ecuador
NEW: Astronaut Reid Wiseman shares a video of âEarthsetâ that was taken with his iPhone
âThis is uncropped, uncut with 8x zoom which is quite comparable to the view of the human eyeâŠâ Wiseman said.
This has to be the greatest iPhone video of all time.
A photo showing the bird of the day on my phone and on the back of my camera.
Got Merlinâs Bird of the Day, Three-striped Warbler, early this morning!
Sachatamia Lodge, Mindo đȘ¶
A brown insect with an enlarged, helmet-like pronotum edged in bright red and clear wings with the bottom edge bright red and a blue patch near the head. The insect is standing on a leaf.
Super snazzy treehopper found in a shrubby patch along a roadside near a small stream. Check out the red racing stripes!
(Metcalfiella erecta)
Intag Refugio, Ecuador
A common redpoll in flight against a mottled v brown and orange background. The redpoll is mostly striped brown on white with a bright red cap. Itâs tiny beak is yellow! The background colour is out of focus branches lit by the sun.
We had another big âspringâ snowstorm yesterday and I think some of the birds who arrived early are questioning their judgement.
But not the redpolls, theyâve been here for weeks and donât care at all!
This common redpoll female was zipping down to the ground to forage!
#Birds #photography đȘ¶
Haha! He's amazing.
A very chonky pale green caterpillar with aqua blue eye spots and an orange tail that curls downward. It is standing on a leaf on the mossy ground with a waterfall in the background.
When your snake mimic outfit ends up looking like a cartoon instead.
This funky friend is a Sphinx Moth caterpillar found by @scibugs.bsky.social today.
(Xylophanes crotonis) Intag Refugio, Ecuador
macro photo of the head, most of the antennae and front legs of a male ceanothus silk moth. he is facing the camera and surrounded by the warm purple petals of a few Cineraria flowers.
BOOP!
Mr. Ceanothus Moth (Hyalophora euryalus euryalus) feeling chill this morning...due to the chill (almost freezing last nite) & maybe rethinking his life choices and hatch schedule.
Can't decide which is more *ded* the antennae or that snoot tho!
#inverts #becurious
Got bored tonight, so I downloaded 3 hours worth of Earthcam replay / archive footage from their Skydeck camera atop of the Willis Tower (Sears Tower) in Chicago and made a time lapse of the fog rolling in off Lake Michigan. Good illustration of how our atmosphere behaves like any other fluid. #ilwx
Theyâre not female. You can read about the behavior in this paper. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Interesting!
Thanks Matt! I feel like we were lucky to catch the behavior. We were definitely excited given we went back twice to get more photos and video!
The whole mini ecosystem is interesting too. The original mushrooms were withering today so theyâd moved to new ones and rove beetles had moved in to prey on the fly larvae. They only do the lek behavior later in the day too. Such an ephemeral thing to catch.
Thanks! At first it seemed like they were just simply shoving other males off their preferred mushroom, but @scibugs.bsky.social caught the head to head combat on video so I figured it would be fun to get some still shots. Interesting little guys.
Yes, I was replying to @glengrambo.bsky.social that it seems we got it right - this is territorial lek behavior and eye width influences success! So neat to see it and figure it out on our own! onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
We looked up the genus tonight and we got it right - this is territorial behavior lek behavior and head width influences success! Pretty neat so see it and figure out. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...
Hmm.. I guess itâs possible!
No, the photos arenât with a phone, but this video is and itâs pretty epic. The phone is a Samsung, not sure what model. bsky.app/profile/scib...
Yep, they come in a few different colors too. We found one last night that has blue legs.
An aqua colored weevils with a pink head and legs. It is sitting on a leaf.
A close up view if the weevil's front feet showing multiple segments and claws at the end.
A view of the weevil from behind showing two little pink nubs on the back of the elytra that look a bit like eye spots.
Here's a little tour of the Magic Sparkle Weevil* with a view of the feet and backside. Looks a bit like a katydid from behind.
*Broad-nosed Weevil
Intag Refugio, Ecuador
A bright green frog with tiny red polka dots. It is clinging to a branch.
We went out on a night hike last night and @scibugs.bsky.social spotted this adorable Red-spotted Glass Frog. These frogs are found in the Andes Mountains from Colombia south into Ecuador.
Intag Refugio, Ecuador
A light aqua blue bird with a ruddy orange cap and black on the inner parts of the wing and tail feathers. It is clinging to a moss covered wire with dense vegetation in the background.
For all ye bird fans, here is a snazzy Scrub Tanager. These birds are found in the Colombian and Ecuadorian Andes and typically prefer drier habitats, but have moving into more humid areas following human disturbance. đȘ¶
Intag Refugio, Ecuador
Stalk-eyed flies are a different family so whatever is going on here evolved separately. It's super interesting.
lol, until a challenger leaves the mushroom.
I haven't, but I don't study flies. @scibugs.bsky.social also hasn't and she lives in Ecuador. It's been interesting observing them. They seem to come out around noon and today we noticed they moved to a different log. They'll also defend their mushroom against all other small flies.
cc: @bertonemyia.bsky.social @bioinfocus.bsky.social
A small fly with bright red elongated eyes, tan on the underparts and legs with brown and black stripes on the thorax. It is standing on a mushroom.
Champion of the fruit fly lek. đ
Zygothrica sp.
Intag Refugio, Ecuador
A pair of flies smashing their heads together with front legs clasped. The have black on the abdomen, brown on the thorax, and bright red eyes, They are fighting on the top of a mushroom.
The fight continues with the challengers evenly balanced. A pair of flies smashing their heads together with front legs clasped. The have black on the abdomen, brown on the thorax, and bright red eyes, They are fighting on the top of a mushroom.
The fight continues with the fly on the right seeming to gain an upper hand and pushing the fly on the left backwards. The fly on the right is putting all his might into the battle, back legs in the air. A pair of flies smashing their heads together with front legs clasped. The have black on the abdomen, brown on the thorax, and bright red eyes, They are fighting on the top of a mushroom.
The fly on the right emerges victorious with the fly on the left exiting toward the back of the scene. A pair of flies smashing their heads together with front legs clasped. The have black on the abdomen, brown on the thorax, and bright red eyes, They are fighting on the top of a mushroom.
We noticed these fruit flies are behaving like tiny big horn sheep of fly world so we went back today to see if I could get some photos of the action. Here you have it, a play in 4 acts! Make me wonder if they evolved the elongated eyes for this purpose.
Zygothrica sp.
Intag Refugio, Ecuador
These friends are flat-backed millipedes and they feed on decaying vegetation. We found a bunch of them yesterday.
Intag Refugio, Ecuador
A pair of large black millipedes sitting in my hand.
May I interest anyone in a couple of millipedes?
Intag Refugio, Ecuador
