#nature identification

[rebeccathenaturalist]

Okay, so The Everyday Naturalist is up on the Ten Speed Press and Penguin/Random House's websites (and various other public places), so I can FINALLY show you the cover!!! I have been saying for months that this book is going to be absolutely beautiful (in addition to informative!), and now you get a good taste of that. Ricardo Macia Lalinde is an incredibly skilled artist whose natural history studies will grace not only the cover but the interior of the book; I feel incredibly fortunate to have his work included in this project.

Here's a bit more about the book itself: "If you’ve ever consulted a field guide to identify a new bird at your feeder, you know the process isn’t as easy as it sounds. In fact, it seems like you have to know a lot about that mystery bird to even figure out where to start.

"The Everyday Naturalist fills in the gaps by explaining what traits to pay attention to when encountering a new species; how and when to use field guides, apps, and other resources; what to do if you get stuck; and more. Rather than focusing on one region or continent, these skills and tools are designed to help you classify nature anywhere you are—whether on familiar territory, traveling, or in a new home."

The book has officially gone to press with a release date of June 17, 2025. Which means in half a year we can all have physical copies in hand! I haven't yet been able to talk to the marketing folks at the publisher to find out whether I can personally take preorders for signed copies, but I'll keep you posted--in the meantime you can preorder at the bookstore of your choice, online or brick and mortar.

[deeisace]

Elanor @becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys Help please? Do you know what type of tree this is? Idk what's going on with it, but it has no leaves and just these big red idk what things at the end of each branch

[ghcstcd]

To lift the spirit, here's a video I took today of one of my favorite trees. This one is on my parent's property. His low branches remind me of tusks.

My parent's dog and my car for size reference.

[niksstuff-foryou]

read.

hi so i got this nice book from my schools library its about plants yes I know astonishing and it has information my brain cant possibly hold so yea bye 😱

[rebeccathenaturalist]

An entire genus, Larus, is known as the "large, white-headed gulls". There are twenty-five species, and all except three of them as adults during breeding season can be described as a "medium to large white gull with a proportionately large plain white head and gray wings". And all but a couple of those have bright yellow beaks, several of which have red spots for the young to peck at.

And then you have the juveniles, which are all sorts of variations on the theme of "dirty gray". Even experienced birders can be moved to tears by gull identification--not because they are so beautiful, but because they are so frustrating.

gulls are proof that a) there is a god and b) that god enjoys the pain and suffering of birders

[mewvore]

Sometimes you need to read something twice to get it. You might need to watch a movie three times to understand it. You might have to have that album on repeat for a week until the lyrics make any sense. You're allowed to engage with it and can keep engaging with it until it means something to you. People will see a painting at a museum and laugh about not getting what the big deal is but like you can come back, you can see it at another time, and maybe that next time it'll be different for you. I'm of the belief the "media literacy crisis" would solve itself if more people just sat down and did it again. Watched, read, played, listened, etc like I don't think people are getting more ignorant necessarily I just think we're not glorifying personally replaying things nearly as much as we should be.

[hikercarl]

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[gracieellenhazel]

The biggest caterpillar I've ever seen. He crossed the whole road with my supervision. Look at that color!!

Polyphemus moth caterpillar.

Found in NY:)

[ostdrossel]

The other day I talked about different color variations of Grackles, and today, one of the more rare ones showed up here. If you look at the throat, you see bronze and purple tones where the other kind I usually see here have greens and blues, like in the third photo. This is not just the light. The last photo is a female Redwinged Blackbird.

Here is some more info on the subspecies.

[lucy-the-pirate]

@onenicebugperday found this cool lookin' bug at my local library the other day. I have no clue what it is, looks kinda like a bee or a wasp but a bit lankier, it looked like it was a bit less than 2 inches long, pretty big for bug standards. I love the white fluff around its neck!

[memoriesofthepark]

Pink cup lichen 》 Cladonia peziziformis

My first cladonia lichen! So gorgeous!!

Found growing on the stones of a fire pit.

Caddo Lake State Park, Texas, 3 Aug. 2024

[rebeccathenaturalist]

I got THE best thing in the mail yesterday--my first actual paperback copy of The Everyday Naturalist! My editor at Ten Speed Press sent it overnight as soon as she got the first samples. It will still be a couple months at least before the main print run makes it to the warehouse, but we're looking good for the official June 17 release!

Look closely, and you can get an idea of the content and my writing style. There's so much more beyond this, too; the total page count is 270 pages, plus the online bibliography (we ran out of room because I managed to turn a 50,000 word project into a 70,000 word manuscript). I kept telling you all what an absolutely beautiful book this was going to be, and now I get to show you a tiny taste of that. Check out the gorgeous cover and interior artwork by Ricardo Macia Lalinde--he far exceeded my expectations! The art department at TSP did a fabulous design job overall, too, and let me give feedback every step of the way.

I keep interrupting my work today to page through the book; I can't wait to start getting it into everyone else's hands! You can preorder a signed copy directly from me here on my website.

[orion-starbelt]

Toads I think? I found them while doing lawn work. Anyone able to ID them?

Area is Southern Michigan

Enjoy the little amphibians though

[markscherz]

Found these in my garden and was curious what they are?

I'd say they're "gardenious frogos"

The first is a Pseudacris chorus frog, and the second is an Acris cricket frog. I cannot get any further with an identification without a locality, and even with a locality, some species co-occur, so it can be difficult without having the frogs in my own hands.

[cmx2000]

Every outtake of these mushrooms.

They are not AI.

Seen on a hike in Hawaii.

[atomicpirateperson]

having trouble finding the difference between the larry and rob species?

if it has a good posture and straight legs, it's a larry!

if it looks like a bunch of snakes pretending to be a larry, it's a rob!

hope this helped!