Austin Hess
@austinhnaturalist.bsky.social
31 year naturalist
Colorado born & raised, now living in the Ozarks
Polynesian ❤️
Progressive as hell
Nature
Wildlife
Travel
Animals
Photography
Archaeology
Paleontology
Paleoanthropology
Indigenous Culture & Rights
LGBTQ+ ally
Colorado born & raised, now living in the Ozarks
Polynesian ❤️
Progressive as hell
Nature
Wildlife
Travel
Animals
Photography
Archaeology
Paleontology
Paleoanthropology
Indigenous Culture & Rights
LGBTQ+ ally
Pinned
Here are my interests/hobbies, always looking to connect with similar peeps! 😊
🐺 #Wildlife
⛰️ #Nature
🦉 #Birding
🐍 #Herping
🐛 #Bugs
🌍 #Travel
🤠 #Archaeology
🧕 #Anthropology
🦖 #Paleontology
🌌 #Astronomy
🏰 #History
🦍 #HumanOrigins
📷 #WildlifePhotography
💚 #Conservation
✊ #IndigenousRights
#PromoSky
🐺 #Wildlife
⛰️ #Nature
🦉 #Birding
🐍 #Herping
🐛 #Bugs
🌍 #Travel
🤠 #Archaeology
🧕 #Anthropology
🦖 #Paleontology
🌌 #Astronomy
🏰 #History
🦍 #HumanOrigins
📷 #WildlifePhotography
💚 #Conservation
✊ #IndigenousRights
#PromoSky
I definitely plan on going on a Fiji and Samoa birding tour one day, and the Orange Fruit Dove is certainly one of the crown jewels of that kind of trip!
#Birding
#Birding
The Orange Fruit Dove decorates the treetops with its flame-like plumage. This species lives in forests on the islands of Fiji, where it munches on fruits and berries. Only males display bold orange plumage; females are green.
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, iNaturalist
Photo: Charles J. Sharp, CC BY-SA 4.0, iNaturalist
November 11, 2025 at 3:04 AM
I definitely plan on going on a Fiji and Samoa birding tour one day, and the Orange Fruit Dove is certainly one of the crown jewels of that kind of trip!
#Birding
#Birding
Outstanding as usual by Cornell Lab of Ornithology
The largest terrestrial animal in Papua, and crucial for the health of the rainforest.
Whenever I want to observe what some dinosaurs must've been like in the flesh, I look deeply into birds like these 💚
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFVy...
The largest terrestrial animal in Papua, and crucial for the health of the rainforest.
Whenever I want to observe what some dinosaurs must've been like in the flesh, I look deeply into birds like these 💚
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFVy...
In Search of the Northern Cassowary
YouTube video by Cornell Lab of Ornithology
www.youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 3:02 AM
Outstanding as usual by Cornell Lab of Ornithology
The largest terrestrial animal in Papua, and crucial for the health of the rainforest.
Whenever I want to observe what some dinosaurs must've been like in the flesh, I look deeply into birds like these 💚
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFVy...
The largest terrestrial animal in Papua, and crucial for the health of the rainforest.
Whenever I want to observe what some dinosaurs must've been like in the flesh, I look deeply into birds like these 💚
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFVy...
Definitely love that eBird is doing this now!
November 9, 2025 at 12:25 AM
Definitely love that eBird is doing this now!
A Golden-collared Manakin I photographed in the Darién lowlands of Panama
Other than a female Red-capped Manakin and heard only Lance-tailed Manakin, this was the only Manakin species of the trip.
Panama is a country I plan on returning to multiple times! 😍
#Birding #Neotropical #Naturalist
Other than a female Red-capped Manakin and heard only Lance-tailed Manakin, this was the only Manakin species of the trip.
Panama is a country I plan on returning to multiple times! 😍
#Birding #Neotropical #Naturalist
November 9, 2025 at 12:17 AM
A Golden-collared Manakin I photographed in the Darién lowlands of Panama
Other than a female Red-capped Manakin and heard only Lance-tailed Manakin, this was the only Manakin species of the trip.
Panama is a country I plan on returning to multiple times! 😍
#Birding #Neotropical #Naturalist
Other than a female Red-capped Manakin and heard only Lance-tailed Manakin, this was the only Manakin species of the trip.
Panama is a country I plan on returning to multiple times! 😍
#Birding #Neotropical #Naturalist
The Sogdians were the masters of the Silk Road in their heyday. In independent city-states such as Panjakent, in modern Tajikistan, they lavished palaces with fabulous murals of banquets, hunts, and battles against demons!
archaeology.org/issues/july-august-2020/features/a-silk-road-renaissance/
archaeology.org/issues/july-august-2020/features/a-silk-road-renaissance/
November 8, 2025 at 3:33 AM
Fascinating!
Oman is like *the* place to go in the Middle East if you're an explorer or naturalist
Oman is like *the* place to go in the Middle East if you're an explorer or naturalist
The Umm an-Nar people thrived in Oman’s Bat Oasis some 5,000 years ago, but evidence of their everyday lives is scarce. Recent excavations, however, are yielding an increasingly clear picture of these Bronze Age people!
archaeology.org/issues/november-december-2025/features/oasis-makers-of-arabia/
archaeology.org/issues/november-december-2025/features/oasis-makers-of-arabia/
November 8, 2025 at 3:14 AM
Fascinating!
Oman is like *the* place to go in the Middle East if you're an explorer or naturalist
Oman is like *the* place to go in the Middle East if you're an explorer or naturalist
Gigantopithecus!!!!
I'm sooo friggen' excited. Having a Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age watch party at my place with a group of naturalist friends. 🤩
I'm sooo friggen' excited. Having a Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age watch party at my place with a group of naturalist friends. 🤩
Years of work and collab with an incredible team at #BBCStudios #AppleTV @framestore.bsky.social ... involving so many camera operators, writers, producers, effects people, artists and others, #PrehistoricPlanetaIceAge is out on #AppleTV Nov 26th. A definitive vision of Ice Age wildlife worldwide.
November 7, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Gigantopithecus!!!!
I'm sooo friggen' excited. Having a Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age watch party at my place with a group of naturalist friends. 🤩
I'm sooo friggen' excited. Having a Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age watch party at my place with a group of naturalist friends. 🤩
💀💀💀
November 7, 2025 at 2:55 AM
💀💀💀
Hell yesssss 🙌
I purposely surround myself with only nature lovers. It is simply is a big fuck you if you don't like it lmao
I purposely surround myself with only nature lovers. It is simply is a big fuck you if you don't like it lmao
I fucking love nature.
Ecosystems. Unicellular organisms. Deep sea creatures perfectly adapted to the cold, dark depths. Trees that whisper through their roots. Snakes venomous enough to kill a bull. Hermaphroditic species. Orchid mantises.
Nature is cool as fuck & fuck you if you don’t like it.
Ecosystems. Unicellular organisms. Deep sea creatures perfectly adapted to the cold, dark depths. Trees that whisper through their roots. Snakes venomous enough to kill a bull. Hermaphroditic species. Orchid mantises.
Nature is cool as fuck & fuck you if you don’t like it.
November 7, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Hell yesssss 🙌
I purposely surround myself with only nature lovers. It is simply is a big fuck you if you don't like it lmao
I purposely surround myself with only nature lovers. It is simply is a big fuck you if you don't like it lmao
Well then...everything in this 5 minute long BBC clip about Mars is mind-boggling. An astonishing 2.5 mile high waterfall existed during the planet's ancient past.
#Astronomy
www.youtube.com/watch?si=t55...
#Astronomy
www.youtube.com/watch?si=t55...
The Largest Waterfall in the Solar System | The Planets | Earth Science
YouTube video by BBC Earth Science
www.youtube.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Well then...everything in this 5 minute long BBC clip about Mars is mind-boggling. An astonishing 2.5 mile high waterfall existed during the planet's ancient past.
#Astronomy
www.youtube.com/watch?si=t55...
#Astronomy
www.youtube.com/watch?si=t55...
Notable things that happened in my earliest birding years....
Rufous-necked Wood-Rail at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico
Massive Redpoll winter irruption
Swallowgate
One of Colorado's only Curlew Sandpipers (✅️)
Rufous-necked Wood-Rail at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico
Massive Redpoll winter irruption
Swallowgate
One of Colorado's only Curlew Sandpipers (✅️)
November 6, 2025 at 9:08 PM
Notable things that happened in my earliest birding years....
Rufous-necked Wood-Rail at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico
Massive Redpoll winter irruption
Swallowgate
One of Colorado's only Curlew Sandpipers (✅️)
Rufous-necked Wood-Rail at Bosque del Apache NWR in New Mexico
Massive Redpoll winter irruption
Swallowgate
One of Colorado's only Curlew Sandpipers (✅️)
Great article about the Common Cuckoo in New York! Chasing rarities FTW!
#Birding
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/n...
#Birding
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/n...
A Rare Visitor to Long Island Is Driving Birders Cuckoo
www.nytimes.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Great article about the Common Cuckoo in New York! Chasing rarities FTW!
#Birding
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/n...
#Birding
www.nytimes.com/2025/11/01/n...
I have been checking every single day for the first trailer for #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge and it finally happened
It exceeded my expectations, and made me flip the hell out
I've been a Cenozoic mammal fanatic since I was a little boy, and the Pleistocene Epoch is Earth's ultimate show for that 🙌
It exceeded my expectations, and made me flip the hell out
I've been a Cenozoic mammal fanatic since I was a little boy, and the Pleistocene Epoch is Earth's ultimate show for that 🙌
Yes, the #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge trailer is out today...
Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age — Season 3 Official Trailer | Apple TV
YouTube video by Apple TV
www.youtube.com
November 6, 2025 at 9:03 PM
I have been checking every single day for the first trailer for #PrehistoricPlanetIceAge and it finally happened
It exceeded my expectations, and made me flip the hell out
I've been a Cenozoic mammal fanatic since I was a little boy, and the Pleistocene Epoch is Earth's ultimate show for that 🙌
It exceeded my expectations, and made me flip the hell out
I've been a Cenozoic mammal fanatic since I was a little boy, and the Pleistocene Epoch is Earth's ultimate show for that 🙌
"OMG look...ultimate dream expedition to the Arctic"
National Geographic: "That'll be a total of $60,000! Base price, and flights not included!"
.....oh 💔
#NotEvenInThisLifetime #UnlessAHolyMiracleHappens #ICanDream
www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/...
National Geographic: "That'll be a total of $60,000! Base price, and flights not included!"
.....oh 💔
#NotEvenInThisLifetime #UnlessAHolyMiracleHappens #ICanDream
www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/...
Northwest Passage: Greenland to Alaska
Cruise the Northwest Passage on the National Geographic Resolution. Discover otherworldly icescapes. Experience Jakobshavn Glacier, Pond Inlet, & more.
www.nationalgeographic.com
October 8, 2025 at 8:51 PM
"OMG look...ultimate dream expedition to the Arctic"
National Geographic: "That'll be a total of $60,000! Base price, and flights not included!"
.....oh 💔
#NotEvenInThisLifetime #UnlessAHolyMiracleHappens #ICanDream
www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/...
National Geographic: "That'll be a total of $60,000! Base price, and flights not included!"
.....oh 💔
#NotEvenInThisLifetime #UnlessAHolyMiracleHappens #ICanDream
www.nationalgeographic.com/expeditions/...
Impressive rock art discovered in Saudi Arabia #Archaeology
Around 12,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers were on the move through the inhospitable Nefud Desert. Researchers recently encountered more than 130 life-size images of animals that they carved into the cliffs.
archaeology.org/news/2025/10/01/animal-rock-art-likely-marked-arabian-desert-water-sources/
archaeology.org/news/2025/10/01/animal-rock-art-likely-marked-arabian-desert-water-sources/
October 5, 2025 at 4:30 PM
Impressive rock art discovered in Saudi Arabia #Archaeology
NE Brazil is spectacular. Wish I had money lol
The ABA is going to Brazil!
And in northeast Brazil’s caatinga shrublands, we may hear the thunderous KREE-ark of the Indigo Macaw, one of the planet’s most striking parrots.
And in northeast Brazil’s caatinga shrublands, we may hear the thunderous KREE-ark of the Indigo Macaw, one of the planet’s most striking parrots.
October 3, 2025 at 7:32 PM
NE Brazil is spectacular. Wish I had money lol
Best episode of Human yet. The story of our species is as dramatic and spectacular as any legendary saga ever told. It was once again emotional.
Can't wait for Into The Americas episode next week!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXpp...
Can't wait for Into The Americas episode next week!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXpp...
Human: Neanderthal Encounters | Full Documentary | NOVA | PBS
YouTube video by NOVA PBS Official
www.youtube.com
October 2, 2025 at 2:21 AM
Best episode of Human yet. The story of our species is as dramatic and spectacular as any legendary saga ever told. It was once again emotional.
Can't wait for Into The Americas episode next week!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXpp...
Can't wait for Into The Americas episode next week!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXpp...
"Let us develop respect for all living things. Let us try to replace violence and intolerance with understanding and compassion. And love"
😭 And we will always love you, Dr. Jane. Thank you for changing the world in the most positive ways, and for being one of the greatest humans we have ever seen
😭 And we will always love you, Dr. Jane. Thank you for changing the world in the most positive ways, and for being one of the greatest humans we have ever seen
October 2, 2025 at 12:43 AM
"Let us develop respect for all living things. Let us try to replace violence and intolerance with understanding and compassion. And love"
😭 And we will always love you, Dr. Jane. Thank you for changing the world in the most positive ways, and for being one of the greatest humans we have ever seen
😭 And we will always love you, Dr. Jane. Thank you for changing the world in the most positive ways, and for being one of the greatest humans we have ever seen
Not all flies are the annoying little poops that get in your house and on your food, or worse, lay eggs in your skin. They're very diverse and can be surprisingly striking
Photographed a few neat species in my yard earlier this month.
#Entomology #Insects #OzarkNature
Photographed a few neat species in my yard earlier this month.
#Entomology #Insects #OzarkNature
October 1, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Not all flies are the annoying little poops that get in your house and on your food, or worse, lay eggs in your skin. They're very diverse and can be surprisingly striking
Photographed a few neat species in my yard earlier this month.
#Entomology #Insects #OzarkNature
Photographed a few neat species in my yard earlier this month.
#Entomology #Insects #OzarkNature
Reposted by Austin Hess
The deepest part of the Unnamed Caves of Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky is the "dark zone." There, archaeologists and Cherokee scholars are bringing ancient artwork to light. Fantastical figures now appear.
archaeology.org/issues/november-december-2019/features/america-southeast-cherokee-caves/
archaeology.org/issues/november-december-2019/features/america-southeast-cherokee-caves/
September 28, 2025 at 3:05 PM
The deepest part of the Unnamed Caves of Tennessee, Alabama, and Kentucky is the "dark zone." There, archaeologists and Cherokee scholars are bringing ancient artwork to light. Fantastical figures now appear.
archaeology.org/issues/november-december-2019/features/america-southeast-cherokee-caves/
archaeology.org/issues/november-december-2019/features/america-southeast-cherokee-caves/
Absolutely epic!
With the entirely clear skies, I think they continued to fly past my hood/area, it has been oddly dead quiet here with bird activity 😕
With the entirely clear skies, I think they continued to fly past my hood/area, it has been oddly dead quiet here with bird activity 😕
We’ve only crossed the “billion” threshold 1X before, in Oct. 23'. Last night, we rejoined the Billion Bird Night Club in spectacular fashion. Migration soared past 1.2 billion, marking the largest single night of bird migration ever recorded by BirdCast. Learn more: birdcast.info/news/a-new-r...
A new record night of migration for BirdCast!
Migration intensity goes off the charts, again, with a new record night of migration intensity for BirdCast!
birdcast.info
September 26, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Absolutely epic!
With the entirely clear skies, I think they continued to fly past my hood/area, it has been oddly dead quiet here with bird activity 😕
With the entirely clear skies, I think they continued to fly past my hood/area, it has been oddly dead quiet here with bird activity 😕
I'm all about Warblers...even when watching them hurts my neck 😅
Warblers are free therapy. Have a great weekend.
September 26, 2025 at 6:31 PM
I'm all about Warblers...even when watching them hurts my neck 😅
There was some seriously astonishing shark diversity during the Paleozoic Era! As usual, amazing job by PBS Eons 💚
#Paleontology
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ihY...
#Paleontology
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ihY...
The Rise and Fall of the Weirdest Sharks
YouTube video by PBS Eons
www.youtube.com
September 25, 2025 at 9:10 PM
There was some seriously astonishing shark diversity during the Paleozoic Era! As usual, amazing job by PBS Eons 💚
#Paleontology
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ihY...
#Paleontology
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ihY...
Had a solid weekend of field trips with the Missouri Birding Society fall meeting!
#Birding
ebird.org/checklist/S2...
#Birding
ebird.org/checklist/S2...
eBird Checklist - 21 Sep 2025 - Ritter Springs Park - 48 species
Submitted by Austin Hess.
ebird.org
September 22, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Had a solid weekend of field trips with the Missouri Birding Society fall meeting!
#Birding
ebird.org/checklist/S2...
#Birding
ebird.org/checklist/S2...