Looking up through pine trees on a sunny summer day while hiking a trail in northwest Michigan. The sun and its rays are peeking through the stand of trees.

A white mushroom with a pink cap is growing through moss in a deciduous mixed hardwood forest. It’s surrounded by fallen red and white oak leaves.

A child looks out over a calm lake in northwest Michigan. The water is as still as glass and the few clouds in the sky are reflected on the surface.

I love northwest Michigan. ❤️ #Michigan

That’s the one

That is broad leaf plantain, plucked from my backyard!

Pancake tortoises are some of the strangest and most beautiful of chelonians. I love watching these two eat! #herps 🐢

Hahah! I’ve been told sardines are really tasty but I ate anchovies on a pizza once and it was gross 🤮. I don’t have the gumption to try sardines now

🐢 ❤️

A can of sardines, preserved amphibian larvae, a Christmas card, repel insect repellent, a birthday card, safety glasses and twine on someone’s desk.

Sometimes I wonder what folks would think I do if they saw my desk? 🌎 🐢 😂

Bear corn growing through a shallow layer of dead leaves, mostly oak.

A view of an old trail bridge over a stream from a vantage point just downstream of the bridge.

An adult Southern Two-lined Salamander in a depression in the mud after lifting up a rock in a dry stream bed.

A freshly metamorphosed Eastern Red-backed Salamander walking on mud towards a dead oak leaf for cover.

Bear corn (but no bears, lol 😢) and a few salamanders while doing a survey near this bridge. #herps 🌎 🦎

😂

😂 I guess it depends on one’s definition of formal “A ceremony is a formal act or series of acts performed in a regular way” 🐢

My son told me our turtles outside were having a ceremony… #herps 🐢

All day every day they do

They’ve been here 220+ million years so let’s make sure they stick around longer.

Love them, respect them, protect them. 🐢 #herps #worldturtleday

They’re also incredible people indicators as folks who don’t like turtles are waving BIG red flag 🚩 #herps #worldturtleday 🐢

Happy World Turtle Day! Turtles are amazing:

They 1) cycle nutrients, 2) act as both prey and predator in the food web, 3) disperse seeds 4) and can even control algae in our water ways. #herps
#worldturtleday

What’s your favorite bird to see up in Quebec? There’s got to be some equally gorgeous individuals!

That’s a shame! I guess I wasn’t familiar with their range

Sure thing!

These are little bluebirds

This is the third straight year these little dinosaurs are nesting in our backyard 😃 🐦 #backyardwildlife #easternbluebird

#whitetaildeer #wildlifemanagement #deermanagement

I'm looking for input from White-tailed #Deer #Biologists about measuring #ecological impact. Any feedback related to the Twig Age method, Oak Sentinel method and 10 Tallest method would be much appreciated! Ease of volunteer help is important! 🌏 Other suggested methods welcomed! :)

How cool!

Also found some Doll’s Eyes, Dead Man’s Fingers, Wrinkled Peach and an unknown (to me) brood started erupting! 🌎 #Fungus #cicada

Spent some time this week collecting Eastern Leatherwood seeds. They will be propagated and/or become part of a woodland seed mix for restoration purposes. As always with me, I tend to find some #herps when doing things 😃 🌎

That’s rad!

A top down shot of a southern two-lined salamander (Eurycea cirrigera) in the dirt and leaf litter. Head in top left, bright yellow tail curls in a bit at the bottom right

Southern two-lined #salamander - Eurycea cirrigera
(Shot in Cincinnati 3-14-25) 🦎 #herps #amphibians #photography #macrophotography #wildlifephotography #wildlife #animals

New Mexico made childcare free. It lifted 120,000 people above the poverty line The state, which has long ranked worst in the US for child wellbeing, became the first and only in the country to offer free childcare to a majority of families

Why is this story not in an American paper

Let’s tell more stories of how responsible governance can benefit more people and give them increased opportunities, instead of the supposed inevitably of the oligarchs having everything there is

www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...

Federal court rules against attempt to withhold Endangered Species Act protections from Joshua tree A California federal court struck down an attempt from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revoke protections for the Joshua Tree under the Endangered Species Act.

"A federal court in CA struck down a USFWS attempt to withhold protections for the Joshua tree under the Endangered Species Act. The court ruled on Monday that the decision to not provide ESA protections for the Joshua tree is unlawful and sidesteps climate science." 🌏 abcnews.go.com/US/federal-c...

Always nice to check up on a county rare population (that was last surveyed almost 30 years ago) to find it still thriving 😊 🌎 #herps 🦎 Northern Dusky Salamander, multiple age classes!