Rebecca Lexa, Naturalist

Master Naturalist, Nature Educator & Writer, Author of "The Everyday Naturalist: How to Identify Animals, Plants and Fungi Wherever You Go" (Ten Speed Press, Summer 2025); PNW Nature Tour Guide, All-Around Nature Nerd. AuDHD. Reblogs, OC, Weekly Deep Dives Into Natural History Topics - Asks Open! http://www.rebeccalexa.com - http://ko-fi.com/rebeccathenaturalist 

[seabeck]

Teeny trio

[typhlonectes]

A rare piece of Texas prairie has been saved from future development

The preserve is one step closer to its 30,000-acre goal. 

A protected piece of the Katy Prairie is now off-limits to future development as conservationists continue expanding one of the Houston area's most important natural landscapes. The Coastal Prairie Conservancy announced this week that it has permanently protected another 60 acres in northwest Harris County, moving the nonprofit closer to its long-term goal of conserving 30,000 acres on the historic Katy Prairie. The preserve encompasses about 20,000 acres across western Harris and Waller counties just west of Houston. Located in the Upper Cypress Creek watershed, the newly-protected tract includes native prairie, seasonal wetlands and working agricultural land. According to the conservancy, preserving the property will help support wildlife habitat, provide natural flood storage and maintain the area’s natural landscape as development continues to spread across northwest Harris County...

Read more: https://www.chron.com/wildlife/article/katy-prairie-expands-22368876.php

[lifeafterpsychiatry]

Dealing With Executive Dysfunction - A Masterpost

The “getting it done in an unconventional way” method.

The “it’s not cheating to do it the easy way” method.

The “fuck what you’re supposed to do” method.

The “get stuff done while you wait” method.

The “you don’t have to do everything at once” method.

The “it doesn’t have to be permanent to be helpful” method.

The “break the task into smaller steps” method.

The “treat yourself like a pet” method.

The “it doesn’t have to be all or nothing” method.

The “put on a persona” method.

The “act like you’re filming a tutorial” method.

The “you don’t have to do it perfectly” method.

The “wait for a trigger” method.

The “do it for your future self” method.

The “might as well” method.

The “when self discipline doesn’t cut it” method.

The “taking care of yourself to take care of your pet” method.

The “make it easy” method.

The “junebugging” method.

The “just show up” method.

The “accept when you need help” method.

The “make it into a game” method.

The “everything worth doing is worth doing poorly” method.

The “trick yourself” method.

The “break it into even smaller steps” method.

The “let go of should” method.

The “your body is an animal you have to take care of” method.

The “fork theory” method.

The “effectivity over aesthetics” method.

[kurai-hono-blog]

This is the sacred texts, this is the holy grail.

[cricketcat9]

This a GOOD STUFF, people. Read and try, it may work for you 🤞

[dandelionsresilience]

Reblogging again to shout out these important tags!

[auticat17]

[Image description: Tumblr tags that read: #this is a wonderful list of ideas #unfortunately every link is broken bc op changed urls #happily if you copy the link and replace ‘compassionatereminders’ with ‘lifeafterpsychiatry’ they seem to still be there #the irony of the extra steps tho lol #reference End ID.]

[auticat17]

Updated links!

The “getting it done in an unconventional way” method.

The “it’s not cheating to do it the easy way” method.

The “fuck what you’re supposed to do” method.

The “get stuff done while you wait” method.

The “you don’t have to do everything at once” method.

The “it doesn’t have to be permanent to be helpful” method.

The “break the task into smaller steps” method.

The “treat yourself like a pet” method.

The “it doesn’t have to be all or nothing” method.

The “put on a persona” method.

The “act like you’re filming a tutorial” method.

The “you don’t have to do it perfectly” method.

The “wait for a trigger” method.

The “do it for your future self” method.

The “might as well” method.

The “when self discipline doesn’t cut it” method.

The “taking care of yourself to take care of your pet” method.

The “make it easy” method.

The “junebugging” method.

The “just show up” method.

The “accept when you need help” method.

The “make it into a game” method.

The “everything worth doing is worth doing poorly” method.

The “trick yourself” method.

The “break it into even smaller steps” method.

The “let go of should” method.

The “your body is an animal you have to take care of” method.

The “fork theory” method.

The “effectivity over aesthetics” method.

[flyingiseasy-landingnotsomuch]

A painted sky resting on an endless ocean.

Bandon Beach, Oregon / 2026

[deadmotelsusa]

I resisted making a Dead Motels USA Facebook since starting this Tumblr in 2018.

Until a few days ago when I started receiving messages about a fake Facebook page that was stealing my posts and reposting them as their own. They had amassed 25k followers pretending to be me.

Ngl, it felt really weird to watch in real time as someone went through all my photos and videos, took my years of research, revised all my handwritten captions with AI and got millions of views from every nostalgic boomer on the internet.

So I went ahead and reported them for impersonation (all posts have been removed, thankfully) and made a Facebook to combat that happening again in the future.

I'd appreciate it if you would follow the page I made.

https://www.facebook.com/deadmotelsusa

Love you guys. Currently deep in research with new content for you all. More to come soon!

[there-is-a-way-forward]

[bumblebeeappletree]

[Photo ID: a screenshot of the 2016 film Moana during the “You’re Welcome” song where Maui is on Moana’s boat. It has the captions of the lyrics but the “you’re welcome” has been edited over with a black box with new white text over it.

What can I say except It is still possible to save the environment, there is still hope and we must try

/END ID]

[there-is-a-way-forward]

[bumblebeeappletree]

[Photo ID: a screenshot of the 2016 film Moana during the “You’re Welcome” song where Maui is on Moana’s boat. It has the captions of the lyrics but the “you’re welcome” has been edited over with a black box with new white text over it.

What can I say except It is still possible to save the environment, there is still hope and we must try

/END ID]

[waspdaily]

Today's wasp of the day is Orasema occidentalis!

Credits: photo 1, photo 2

Many wasps that specialize in parasitizing ants are phoretic; that is, they hitch a ride on an ant without their notice so that they can infiltrate their colony. That still has it's risks of discovery though, and so wasps of the genus Orasema go an extra step sneakier. They hide in the ant's food. It's hypothesized that these wasps lay their eggs in close association with thrips in order to use them as intermediate hosts. The ants collect the thrips as prey, unknowingly bringing the stowaway wasps with them.

[waspdaily]

I like her back grooves and subtle colors :)

[mammalianmammals]

Cottontail Rabbits in combat!!! - TX, USA

photograph by Hector D. Astorga

[whalesharkcat]

they're in a two circle flow

[alphynix]

I keep forgetting I still have unposted PBS Eons work, so let's have a little bit more of that this week:

• The polydolopimorphian metatherian Wamradolops and the paucituberculatan marsupial Perulestes from "When the Amazon Flowed Backwards"

———

NixIllustration.com | Tumblr | Patreon

[brian4rmthe6]

[stamp-svc]

Preservation of Polar Regions and Glaciers, Hungary, 2009

[feather-bone]

grizzly and friends and food :) this will be the postcard for creature club in June!

[alookseeblog]

assemblyglassworks

[wenevergotusedtoegypt]

Do you think it's immoral to use chatgpt for college assignments? I think it's unfortunately unavoidable.

It is absolutely immoral, completely counterproductive to the goal of learning things, and turns out incredibly subpar work.

As for unavoidable….you understand that the vast majority of people who have ever graduated college throughout history did so without ever once using AI, right? You understand that?

[wenevergotusedtoegypt]

You understand that the point of writing papers isn’t just to have a paper with words on it, right? You understand that the entire point is to do the mental work necessary to put your learning into organized words, such that you actually learn it? And that if you outsource that to AI you are not learning?

[rebeccathenaturalist]

We started a new project in the weekly metalworking class today! We're practicing metal piercing, and I'm liking it a lot better than I thought I would. These three pieces will be sweat soldered together like a sandwich, with the copper tree in the back, the brass tree in the middle, and then the copper stag on top. I think I want to refine the stag's muzzle a bit more, since he looks rather moose-ish.

I also dropped the trillium pendant from my weekend class into the pickle longer to get the rest of the carbonization off of it. It still obviously needs a lot of filing and polishing, but you can see some of the brass peeking through on the petals.

I will admit that at the end of my very first class weeks ago, I had my doubts as to whether I was going to actually enjoy all this. I kept breaking saw blades. Sawing corners was really difficult. I wasn't good at precise lines. But by the end of the second class, when I had successfully soldered those tiny, imperfect bits of metal together, I felt like I had accomplished something.

And now here we are, a month in, and I'm already working on my second sweat-soldered statement necklace, I have four little rings waiting for next week's class on polishing and refining, and I'm looking forward to moving someplace this fall that has an actual outdoor space where I could do my own soldering at home.

I am SO glad I enrolled in these classes.

[wildjunebugs]

a walk after the storm