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 

[herpsandbirds]

Tiger Beetle (Jansenia rugosiceps), family Cicindelidae, Vithura, Kerala, India

photograph by Santosh Roy

[pronouncingitwang]

at some point in your life you will be boiling fruit, water, sugar, and lemon juice in a pot to make a syrup or jam. the instructions will tell you to simmer for a certain amt of time. your timer will go off and you will look at the pot and go, "hm, this doesn't look thick enough. maybe i'll let it go for another 10 minutes." this is the devil speaking. it's only so liquid right now because it is at boiling point. it will thicken when it cools down. learn from the follies of my youth and do not let this happen to you

[yokowan]

at some point in your life you will be making a sauce or a stew in which you need to add cornstarch to thicken it. and you will prepare a slurry of starch in cold water and think "this looks like way too little starch to thicken this amount of liquid." this is the devil speaking. cornstarch instantly polymerizes at 95°C and if you add too much it will turn into an impossibly thick goop.

[le-jardin-inculte]

at some point in your life you will be making some sort of cream based dessert that requires gelatin to thicken it. and you will soak some gelatin sheets in water and think "this is too few gelatin sheets for this amount of cream." this is the devil speaking. it will thicken in the fridge and if you add too much you will end up with milk jelly

[shithowdy]

at some point in your life you will be baking cookies. you will take the sheet out after twelve minutes as the recipe instructs and the cookies will still be glistening and soft. "these don't seem cooked enough," you will think to yourself, "i should place them back into the oven until their edges are nice and golden." this is the devil talking. this is how you get dry, overdone cookies. the cookies will continue to bake on the warm sheet for several more minutes and then harden up after sitting on a rack for a while. trust the process. trust the process.

[whitachi]

at some point in your life you will be adding a small pasta to a soup and you will think "that is not enough small pasta." this is the devil talking. the pasta will absorb the stock and expand. this is how you end up with a soup that is a solid mass of soggy ditalini.

[araceil]

At some point in your life you will be adding garlic to a dish and you will think "that is not enough garlic." These are angels speaking. They are correct. Add more garlic.

[liesmyth]

the new euro banknote designs with the birds are sooo pretty... I hope the birdies win

[liesmyth]

I would like to get paid in birds...

[machiavelli]

imagine paying with the MARTIN PESCATORE banknote

[v8ftw-again]

[snailspotter]

Snail spotted!

Diagnosis: Nerita versicolor Common name: Four-toothed Nerite

[telekitnetic-art]

🍃🔥🌊

The starter 'mons for the first pokemon generation.... but in formline! :>

You can find them on my ko-fi!!

Gen 1 Starters - Formline Sticker - TeleKitnetic's Ko-fi Shop

Formline stickers inspired by the starter partners you pick from in the first Pokemon generation! Each sticker is 2.5" in diameter and made

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Hey, I have a book signing this Sunday, August 9, at 3pm at SymbiOp Garden Shop in Portland! We'll have plenty of copies of The Everyday Naturalist: How to Identify Animals, Plants, and Fungi Wherever You Go available, and it's a great chance to meet me and chat in person. Plus there'll be a pop-up craft market the same day, and this is just a fabulous garden shop overall. So you have lots of reasons to come say hi!

[idlelizard]

Pointy Pitcher

[atrusovaartist]

Acrylic on canvas 40*50 cm „Summer Sketch No. 9“

[rosieandthemoon]

Claudio Bravo, 1965

[spindlewit]

quick wave studies.

[requiem-on-water]

Sulfur combusts on contact with air to create stunning blue lava-like rivers of light in the Kawah Ijen crater on the island of Java | Ph: Olivier Grunewald

[rebeccathenaturalist]

The wildfire smoke has been so bad at Mt. St. Helens the past two days you can't even see the mountain.

[targetedknowledge]

[frankiesbullshit]

someone tell OP i did it, i spent about 3 hours on it

[synapsid-taxonomy]

We gotta start posting more non-mammalian synapsids on this site. I'll start. Edaphosaurus be upon ye

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Here, have a Sauroctonus parringtoni, a great example of a Gorgonopsid!

[gremlininho]

looking. at you

[katmaibearfan]

335 Jolly & her three Smollies 💖

[phantomrose96]

Hey kids, you need to start worrying a little less about getting “#mogged” and a little more about getting “#smogged”. This is an Air Quality Index public service announcement.