Mepham's Photos

All Photos By Me

[theheartofappalachia]

Hay season

[fairy-faun]

the crew 🦌

[identifying-deer-in-posts]

Columbian black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus)

[aquiraxuno]

[rherlotshadow]

Ancient oak, new leaves

[franz-bauch-foto]

Upstairs

[muchwita]

🍃🍂

[vajrakali]

“While hiking in Olympic National Park a couple days ago I experienced something I had never heard of. It’s called a Brocken Spectre or Mountain Spectre.  It’s my shadow in the center of the Aura or “Glory”. It was probably the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced in all of my mountain days and I certainly felt very lucky. Here is a link to the short video I made that gives a better idea of the juxtaposition. https://youtu.be/CWZ03O_a0Qw” -  Nikki K

[great-and-small]

The red-winged blackbird’s song is deeply comforting and familiar it’s like walking into the marsh and hearing an old friend

[woolysocks]

[elodieunderglass]

I felt like I needed to clarify some things before we could continue any more conversations on this godforsaken website.

I’m very proud of the European Robin, I think I really captured it.

[burningmanonacid-deactivated202]

ALSO A DADDY LONG LEGS is different in the UK vs USA. I learned that by arguing with some Brits because they said there was a daddy long legs on the wall, i looked and only saw an insect, argued with them all for 45 minutes until we all looked it up and saw that we were both correct.

[sighinastorm]

British badger:  jovial fellow, eats toast and jam.  Might invite you in for a cuppa with the Mrs.  Agricultural nuisance.

American badger: pallas cat of a wolverine.  Very defensive.  Fuck immediately off. 

Bonus African badger:  Silverback gorilla of mustelids.  Should be a cryptid.  Bro, don’t even.  You are nothing to him.

[elodieunderglass]

an extremely good post addition

[princeofbadassery]

Opposum (US)

gets a bad rap

eats A LOT of ticks

“plays dead”

cute

VS

Possum (AUS)

cute but Australian

[gamebird]

@rosewind2007 Ah! Our discussion topic!

Bonus mention of @boppinrobin !

[transcyberism]

Porcupine (North America)

Looks soft, isn’t

Quills are thin and flexible like hairs

Can climb trees

Perpetual bedhead

Smelly

Porcupine (Africa)

Does not look even remotely soft

Very long, stiff quills, especially on its back half

Can rattle hollow quills in its tail as a threat

Cannot climb trees

Will ram you ass-first to stab you if it’s mad

Porcupine (South/Central America)

Prehensile tail like a monkey

Short, thick quills

Snout looks like a marshmallow

Can hang from tree branches by its tail

Makes the cutest sounds in the world

[elodieunderglass]

Awwwww what an adorable addition!

[elenorasweet]

someone please make one with Hedgehog (AFR) and Hedgehog (UK) they fascinate me

[koenji]

assorted moths and butterflies (png).

[softwaring]

moon and rainbow at sunrise by mark ham

[maruposting]

This is the standard winged nightjar and it has one singular stupidly big feather on each wing... if you even care.

[legalise-greenleaf]

Love this guy

[a-book-of-creatures]

That’s standard as in “pennant” or “banner”, not standard as in “normal”.

But it’s not a pennant-winged nightjar. THIS is a pennant-winged nightjar… if you even care.

[crevicedwelling]

can’t forget the Lyre-tailed Nightjar! there’s actually a number of these ridiculous guys, and they’re partly why caprimulgiforms are some of my favorite birds

also the Sickle-winged Nightjar, which is. come on, that’s just a weird moth

[findersfeeders]

(Whispers) talk about their mouths now

[crevicedwelling]

ok

[crevicedwelling]

and if we’re going to make this onto a full-on nightjar weirdness appreciation post, I feel like I’ve got to mention their pectinate claws:

photo from here:

Looking at a Nighthawk

I'm running again, have been since late June, doinky arthritic toe and all. It's fine. It hurts sometimes when there's a big weather front

comb-shaped claws on the middle toe have evolved multiple times among a diverse variety of birds, found in nightjars, barn owls, herons, frigatebirds, and a few other groups. and despite looking exactly like they’re used for preening out feather parasites, they might have other uses for keeping birds clean that we haven’t yet identified:

Looking Good, Part I — Pectinate Claws (Avian Edition)

Astute birdwatchers might have noticed that some bird species have comb-like serrations running along one edge of a toe claw.  This feature,

[margotdanslebois]

Maybe the world is not doomed after all...

[geopsych]

Here’s a video so you can hear the water and the thrushes. I took it for you because you couldn’t be there. <3

[geopsych]

Sharing this again for anyone who could use a few seconds of peace and light today for whatever reason.

[fuckyeahchinesegarden]

a very big tree in gongqing forest park共青森林公园 in shanghai

[ur-daily-inspiration]

[mephamnaturephotography]

[mephamnaturephotography]