basking in the sun of hubris

You've found my secret biology and ecology shitpost center, congrats. Paarthurnax the savanna monitor reigns over this jumbled internet corner. Expect aquarium, reptile, and general animal, science, and solarpunk stuff.Be aware I post insects and snakes. I am also an artist. Contact me if you want animal art. Swim in peace Omicron, 8/1/2015-5/3/2017. The founder of the blog. Lazuli the plakat inherited the throne 8/11/17 but was lost suddenly on 10/5/17.

[silverbridge-harbor]

A juvenile bug isn't called a larva until it reaches the surface. While it's still underground it's called a margma

[robinboardman]

An albino turtle hatchling sits among other Arrau turtles Tapauá, Brazil Photograph: Edmar Barros

[crowboy-bebop]

unauthorized fucking thing!!!!!!

(warning: loud chirping throughout)

source: hellgate osprey cam

[curlicuecal]

[zincbart]

where it once rang

happy birthday @ragsy

[wolvesintheflowers-deactivated2]

I laughed to hard at this fucking thing.

[nattousan]

[herpsandbirds]

Rose-bellied Bunting (Passerina rositae), family Cardinalidae, order Passeriformes, endemic to a small area of southern Mexico

photograph via: Birdquest

[nattousan]

Finally finished with this 8'x8' mural for the "Stars of Hope" charity event i participated in!!

We raised funds for a local children's hospital in order to give child cancer patients hope for the future.

Hope for the future was the central theme of this work, as it is something that children of Palestine are in desperate need of.

Cinnyris osea, the Palestine Sunbird, is Palestine's national bird and a symbol of pride and freedom. It's perched on a flowering olive branch against a bright and sunny background, representing a free and thriving future that the people of Gaza can have one day.

They are suffering terribly right now but you can help realize the future portrayed here by speaking out about it and donating e-sims to provide a lifeline to not only families but medical professionals, aid workers and journalists. Any bit helps.

https://connecting-humanity.org/

[folksonomy]

The Palestine Sunbird

[monamoni]

Giant Otter

[h00pqueen]

Me, who has only seen sea otters and river otters: what the hell kind of a thing is that??

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[feminist-space]

[baddywronglegs]

The people who insist AI is smarter than a human are doing their fucking damnedest to manifest that

[herpsandbirds]

Talamanca Hummingbird (Eugenes fulgens), males, family Trochilidae, order Apodiformes, western Panama

photographs by Ignacio Yúfera

[icecreamwithjackdaniels]

Ferdinand von Wright (Finnish, 1822–1906), "Smews"

[creepy-crawly-critters]

The look of inner conflict: trying to decide whether to leave her post guarding the nest or not for a piece of mango

(I couldn't bribe her in the end, she takes her job seriously)

[nattousan]

ok so, I approached my local library with a proposal to donate a mural as a way to A: build portfolio/gain practical experience and B: give back to a beloved public institution. The director was very enthusiastic about it and i've been working on it since the beginning of March. Come with me as I endeavor to paint what is in all honesty an excessive amount of birds

I wanted the birds to look like they were actually in the space so first thing after doing the draft was to do a lighting study

after that I covered the walls in letters in lieu of a projector/vr headset bc i have neither of those :) Then i take a picture of the section of wall and superimpose the lineart over top of it so I can pencil in the lines

et voila

and that was a whole week on it's own so next comes the paintin' >:)

[nattousan]

and now, the birds

Birds 1 and 2/14: Red Winged Blackbird, Male and female, Agelaius phoeniceus

[nattousan]

Bird 3/14, American Robin, Turdus migratorius

[nattousan]

hoo boy, ok *out of breath*

GIVE IT UP FOR BIRD NUMBUH 5, THE CANADIAN GOOSE, Branta canadensis!!!!

this guy took me about 4 days to completely finish, all of those freakingk coverts were a bear to render

[nattousan]

speaking of obnoxious coverts:

bird 5/14, Bluejay, Cyanocitta cristata

the friggin stripes almost got me chat, i may not make it

[nattousan]

Madam....

[nattousan]

birds 6 and 7: American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis, male and female

pleasantly simple to paint! next is the flickerrrrr

[nattousan]

*melts into goo*

BIRD NUMBER 8, (yellow shafted) NORTHERN FLICKERRRRR, Colaptes auratus

genuinely made me start questioning my sanity around day 3, it's half the size the of the goose, WHY did it take me 4 days to finish??

nothing but pain and suffering, i'm sure hope the next bird will be much easier and with FAR less barring :)

[nattousan]

in other news, I am losing my mind hairline

[nattousan]

SHE'S DONE!!

Bird number 9: Red-tailed hawk, Buteo jamaicensis

my chains are broken i am FREE. although i did have a great deal of fun with this, the barring on the wings itself took me like four days and i am READY to move on

this was a week and a half of continuous work so please excuse me for getting a little emotional in the bg 🙏

[nattousan]

*does a little jig*

BIRD NUMBER 10!!! The Male Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos

the male and female ones are gonna be posted separately bc they're taking a lot longer lol but yea! super happy i was able to capture the iridescent green of the head, i found metallic green and blue paint at a craft store that really made his head POP. it looks better in person i promise

ALSO!! As this is the 10th one, BIG announcement. The end is in sight!!!!! I plan to finish within the next 3 weeks and there will be a small dedication ceremony/ unveiling happening at the library to commemorate its completion on the 16th of May. If you live in the Western New York region and want to check it out for yourself shoot me a dm!

Also thank you everyone for your kind words and support throughout this whole process, it's been a genuine treat thinking there are potentially thousands of you out there cheering me on while I paint this 🥹

[nattousan]

aaaand another one bites the duck,

we're movin right along with bird numero 11!! The lady Mallard!! Anas platyrhyncos

the 16th is looming in the distance so i'm trying to get thru these as quickly as i can so i can have as much time for the GBH as possible. i still need to do the names next to all of them so i've got about a week and a half to finish everything which is GREAT because i have adhd and nothing gets my ass in gear like a fuckin deadline, let me tell you

[nattousan]

power couple that they are, here's bird number 12 and 13,

the Northern Cardinals, Cardinalis cardinalis

and NOW that they are complete, ITS GO TIME, in the next five days (library's closed for mother's day 😭😭) i need to have the GBH fully rendered, the names of the birds vectored, weeded, masked, applied to the wall, and then painted, plus additional cattails throughout. I may be able to get away with just getting the GBH done in time for the unveiling and then just have the names and cattails added later, but i'm gonna really try to get it all done in time. BUT, i have a plan. Part of why i take so long on these is because i really am just figuring it out as I do it lmao. there have been many a time where i am sitting on top of the ladder googling "how to paint birds" but I think if i take the time tomorro to do all that figuring out how to approach it beforehand, this will go a lot faster. I may also recruit some of my artist friends to help with the placing of the names... hrmm we'll see.

Anyways, shout out to the librarian who tracked down exactly the thing i needed so i could figure out where to place the highlights in my birds eyes, ur the real mvp

[nattousan]

thanks for the reminder, kid

[nattousan]

at long last, we've reached the end...

Bird number 14 out of 14,

The Great blue heron, Ardea herodius

thank you to everyone who reached out or got excited about this project, it genuinely gave me the fuel i needed to keep going. In total, the 480+ total hrs it took me to cover this wall pales in comparison to how long its expected to spend on there, hopefully imparting a sense of beauty and love for the natural world to the next generation and here's hoping i'm only getting started with these.

i'll see y'all soon :')

[herpsandbirds]

Bullock’s Oriole (Icterus bullockii), male, family Icteridae, order Passeriformes, AZ, USA

photograph by Mick Thompson

[neurotypical-karen]

Magic sword inscribed with the runes “EVERY PIECE OF TRASH YOU LEAVE IN A PUBLIC PLACE WILL BE WEIGHED ALONGSIDE YOUR SOUL ON THE SCALES OF PARADISE”

[neurotypical-karen]

I need people to know that I made this post because I’m the live-in groundskeeper at a park and during a busy weekend I had to haul SEVEN FULL GARBAGE BAGS people had left behind. Then I clock out and go to my apartment with its fenced-in back yard and find that someone has thrown a heavy as fuck trash bag full of garbage & meat juices onto my lawn. Truly I think that leaves a stain on their soul.

[herpsandbirds]

Solomon Island Leaf Frog aka Guenther’s Triangle Frog (Cornufer guentheri), family Ceratobatrachidae, endemic to the Solomon Islands

Formerly known as Ceratobatrachus guentheri.

photograph by Reptiles4all

[theweirdwideweb]

[marlinspirkhall]

Scoot, scoot, scoot, scoot, scoot scoot scoot scoot

edit: this post is a severely different experience with the sound on

[Video shows a snake crawling across the sofa cushions while music plays in the background: "you said: ain't nothing gonna break my stride, nobody gonna slow me down, oh no, I got to keep on moving, ain't nothing gonna break my stride- [end video]