tinylongwing

[tinylongwing]

Our landlady on Rota has a pet cow.

Her name is Money and she loves visitors

[tinylongwing]

Don't try this at home (you might lose a hand)

5/20

[tinylongwing]

Philippine Collared-Dove (Streptopelia dusumieri). Declining in their home range (Philippines), but quite common in villages of the Northern Mariana Islands where they were introduced sometime in the 1700s. Now considered naturalized, they're charming & sort of goofy with their hoarse cooing from the power lines and coconut palms.

[tinylongwing]

Another teaser made of only in-progress images. Five species down, a lot more to go! I really can't wait until you all can see the final set of illustrations.

Philippine Collared-Dove

[tinylongwing]

One week on Rota, dry season 2025.

[tinylongwing]

Yep! The Latin name (Rusa marianna) is a huge misnomer since they aren't from here at all. They're super common out here - I keep forgetting to get a new recording of their barking, since I had one but lost it when I got a new phone. Super vocal little dudes.

One week on Rota, dry season 2025.

[tinylongwing]

One week on Rota, dry season 2025.

[tinylongwing]

It has been super windy and cool in the southern CNMI the past week. Wind up at Banzai Cliff was strong enough it kept trying to knock me over. Enjoy these awesome waves breaking on the rocks (but maybe mute, the wind is loud!)

[tinylongwing]

I went on an adventure after work today and met some cool birds, but they ran away before I could get pictures :/ One was tiny, a couple of inches long, and mostly black but with a vibrant red under-tail. The other was a flock of lil guys about a hand length tall who looked like miniature kiwis. They could fly but preferred to run I think. Some type of quail perhaps? (SE qld)

Cool! So Australia does have several quail species, as well as buttonquails (not "true" quails taxonomically, but quails regardless in terms of shape and size and behavior). That said, the most likely quail in any part of Australia by far is the Brown Quail:

Your small black and red bird is trickier but I suspect you saw Mistletoebirds. Australia has quite a few small birds with red near the tail but this is the only one that has red undertail coverts and is mostly black that I can find - note that I'm writing this from sitting in an airport away from my books, so it's possible I'm overlooking something. But tiny, mostly black, with red undertail (and a red throat as well in the adult males) plus common in SE QLD seems to tick all the boxes I can think of.

[tinylongwing]

More of my artwork from Nature by NorthStar Games. This is the Flight module's Faraway Place, a tropical island paradise for birds to migrate to that can't be reached by predators or competitors. Based on a photo I took at a real world location that's very close to my heart - does anyone recognize specifically which island this is?

[tinylongwing]

I've just wrapped up a short trip to Rota in the Northern Mariana Islands as prep for a longer research project that starts this spring. What an absolutely magical island.

[tinylongwing]

Fieldwork here on Rota is well underway, with about half of our mist-netting lanes and trails marked and prepped for next month's bird banding. But along the way, we find all kinds of incredible landscapes and hidden treasures.

Top left: A WWII Japanese artillery gun sunk into a manmade cave in a limestone wall. The old gun is being overtaken by the jungle and has ferns and moss growing all over the barrel.

Top right: An old wrecked boat inside the lagoon on Rota's northwestern shore, with brilliant blue sky above and turquoise water below.

Bottom left: Guam Coenogyne, a rare endangered orchid found only on Rota and Guam. This white flower with a red center emerges from a swirl of large bulbs with leaves that cling to the bark of a mossy tree.

Bottom right: An unbroken green glass bottle that originally held soy sauce, from sometime in the 1920s-40s when Rota was a Japanese colony.

[tinylongwing]

There will be a 24-hour economic blackout in the USA on Friday, February 28th.

No purchases, no spending.

We are resisting a fascist regime, and need to spread the message.

Nationwide Economic Blackout on February 28: List of Stores Being Targeted - Newsweek

[tinylongwing]

Here's my final full chart for this winter's cast of unusual characters.

I document the individual intergrade (and otherwise unusual) Northern Flickers that turn up in my yard. This winter had some returnees plus a bunch of new faces!

Intergrades are a mix between subspecies, as opposed to hybrids, which would be a mix of different species. More info on intergrade flickers here!

[tinylongwing]

I'm too tired to do anything very creative so I decided today I'd just work on understanding the shading on the planes of the face, using the model I am contractually obliged to keep using until I get all 20 done.

6/20

[tinylongwing]

Here's my final full chart for this winter's cast of unusual characters.

I document the individual intergrade (and otherwise unusual) Northern Flickers that turn up in my yard. This winter had some returnees plus a bunch of new faces!

Intergrades are a mix between subspecies, as opposed to hybrids, which would be a mix of different species. More info on intergrade flickers here!

[tinylongwing]

I'm too tired to do anything very creative so I decided today I'd just work on understanding the shading on the planes of the face, using the model I am contractually obliged to keep using until I get all 20 done.

6/20