Keep Looking

Keep. 22. I like plants and birds. My other blog is keep-quinacridones.tumblr.com where I reblog more things.

[dysfunctionalphotography]

Bluespotted Fantail Ray, Coral Bay WA

[hidemoriyazaki]

A female Meadow Bunting (Emberiza cioides) puffed up round on a snowy morning. One of the most familiar birds throughout the year in Karuizawa. This winter, I've often encountered flocks of Rustic buntings, but compared to the Rustic buntings, which rarely let us get close, the Meadow Buntings are a bit more approachable and often perch in conspicuous and low spots, which I find rather interesting.

雪の朝に丸くなったホオジロのメス 軽井沢では一年を通じて最も身近な鳥の一つ。 今冬はカシラダカの群れとよく一緒に出会うが、なかなか近寄らせてくれないカシラダカに比べて、人との距離感が少し近く、低く目立つ位置にとまることも多い気がして、おもしろい。

Nagano Pref. 長野県 2026-02-08

[dysfunctionalphotography]

Indo-Pacific Christmas Tree Worm, Coral Bay WA

[michaelnordeman]

A Flower crab spider aka Goldenrod crab spider/Misumena vatia/blomkrabbspindel has caught a Common carpet/Epirrhoe alternata/grå mårfältmätare. Värmland, Sweden (16 July 2020).

[michaelnordeman]

Eurasian magpie/Pica pica/skata. Värmland, Sweden (13 July 2025).

[hideki-koga]

アオバト（White-bellied green-pigeon）

[drhoz]

#3832 - Azolla rubra - Red Azolla

AKA returetu, roturotu, kārearea and kārerarera, and Pacific azolla.

A floating aquatic fern native to Australia and New Zealand, and possibly as far afield as Japan. It rapidly multiplies to form mats on still or slow-moving water, and gets redder as it ages.

Azolla enjoys an obligate symbiosis with the cyanobacterium Anabaena azollae, which fixes atmospheric oxygen for the plant and can no longer survive away from the fern.

During the Eocene, when the Arctic Ocean was mostly freshwater for roughly 800,000 years, Azolla grew in such gigantic quantities that it sucked enough carbon dioxide out of the air to cause global cooling.

Duntroon, Aotearoa New Zealand.

[cleverreports]

We report: something has gotten in the air - smoke, sand, humidity, the whole lot - and it has captured the sun some hours before dusk. A veil is drawn across the sky. There is a bit of a chill there, or at least, what counts as one these days, a little shiver in the half-light.

[drhoz]

#1981 - Veronica speciosa

photo by @purrdence​ at Rotorua.

AKA Hebe speciosa, New Zealand hebe, showy hebe, showy-speedwell, and the Māori names titirangi and napuka. 

Like most Hebes, it is native to New Zealand but it can be found in other mild parts of the world where it is grown as an ornamental. Apparently naturalised on cliffs in Ireland, but given it is found coastal cliffs and headlands, low windswept scrub and flaxland in NZ that isn’t surprising.

DNA research has shown that populations south of West Auckland (Muriwai) stem from deliberate past Maori plantings, but these southerly populations lack sufficient genetic variability to sexually maintain themselves.

[centipede-appreciation-blog]

I think this is one of the most beautiful centipedes I've ever seen :0

Tail close-up

[cleverreports]

We report: it got very windy during the afternoon, sudden gusts that had us looking up every few minutes. The sound of the rush of air in the dry brush is sharp, and loud, arresting in the way things out of our control can be. We still hear it as we are trying to fall asleep.

[herpsandbirds]

Whitehead’s Broadbill (Calyptomena whiteheadi), family Calyptomenidae, order Passeriformes, endemic to Borneo

photograph by Therese Ong

[ruthbancroftgarden]

Mammillaria longimamma

This species of Mammillaria stands out for its extra-long finger-like tubercles (for which it was named), as well as its large showy yellow flowers. It was formerly placed in the small genus Dolichothele, but this genus is now included in Mammillaria. From the state of Hidalgo in east-central Mexico.

-Brian

[murphysletsdraw]

Here's some more of my paintings and their respective reference photos! murphysletsdraw on inprnt if you want to buy prints!! It's my bday month so if you buy some prints I could maybe buy myself a lil gift hehe

[cleverreports]

We report: it is early evening, and the sun’s journey through the atmosphere is getting longer and longer. The heat has made us feel sleepy, and we are finding it difficult to care about anything but the movements of the clouds. We are here for hours, in this specific moment.

[dysfunctionalphotography]

Reef Manta Ray, Coral Bay WA

[wenbochenphoto]

Burmannia bicolor, a little mycoheterotrophic herb native to Central America and northern South America. It can photosynthesise but relies heavily on symbiotic fungi in the soil to obtain the nutrients it needs.