Erin Freeman
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beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Erin Freeman
@beachrelaxin.bsky.social
2.6K followers 250 following 2.2K posts
Hobbyist nature picture-taker in the mid-Atlantic, USA trying desperately to keep my tiny spot in the online world positive.
All images I post are mine unless otherwise stated.
If they bring you a smile, a laugh, or some bit of joy, then I've succeeded.
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beachrelaxin.bsky.social
She's beautiful no matter the conditions.

Northern Flicker

#BirdOfTheDay #stripes #birds #birding #nature #photography
A rich, creamy, reddish-brown bird with a light gray cap and nape, a bright red patch on her nape, and a black barred back clings to the side of a tree trunk with her back to the camera and her head turned to the side. A small icicle dangles from the trunk to her left, and she is puffed up a bit against the cold, nicely displaying the barred stripes along her back and wings and just a hint of the yellow shafts of her wing feathers. Northern Flickers dig in the ground for insects, and a bit of dirt clinging to her sharp, black beak testifies that she's been doing that recently.
December 2, 2025 at 2:12 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
On the lookout for intruders who might want to steal the last of his pokeberries.

Eastern Bluebird

#BlueSkyMonday #ArtAdventCalendar #birds #birding #nature #photography #NativePlants
A sunlit, bright blue bird with a rusty red chest and white belly perches on top of a brown, dying stalk of vegetation with his belly towards the camera and his head turned to the right against a blurred background of browns and greens. Below him and to the left of the stalk, a small group of dark purple berries droop on a pink stalk that he has pushed down with his foot. The sunlight glints off his black eye and makes his feathers shimmer a bit.
December 1, 2025 at 10:05 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Happy Hour at the local watering hole

Snowy Egrets, Great Egret

#BirdOfTheDay #reflections #birds #BirdPhotography #nature #photography
A group of five large white birds with long, black beaks, long black legs, and yellow-orange patches connecting their eyes and their beaks stand in shallow water in various poses on a gray day. One much larger white bird with a long, orange beak, but otherwise looking much the same, stands among the crowd on the left with its head raised above the rest. Their reflections mirror their poses on the calm water below.
December 1, 2025 at 2:14 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
"You're not thinking of taking this from me, are you?"

Gray Catbird, determined to keep that raspberry

#BirdOfTheDay #BerriesAndBeaks #birds #birding #nature #photography
November 30, 2025 at 2:46 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Snoozin' in a sunny patch and takin' a break from the farm life.

#BlueSkyArtShow #warmth #photography #caturday #CatsOfBluesky
Near the end of a very large fallen log that is starting to resemble a rock more than a tree and against a background filled with green vegetation, a large black cat with white paws and whiskers reclines with his head down on his front paw and his eyes closed, just soaking up the sunlight shining down on the scene.
November 29, 2025 at 2:16 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Even as the sun rises, the star of the show is ready for the spotlight.

Great Blue Heron

#BirdOfTheDay #MorningLight #birds #birding #nature #photography
A large gray-blue bird with a long, s-curved neck, a dark gray cap on its head, a yellow eye, and a long, dagger-like beak stands in a gently rippling stream in profile facing right. Taken very early in the morning, the rising sun has brilliantly highlighted the bird while leaving the rest of the photo dark and indistinguishable. Its reflection shines just as brightly on the surface of the water while the water also reflects rippling waves along the lower half of the bird.
November 28, 2025 at 1:09 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
If you're living life #OnTheEdge, the ocean is a pretty good place to do it.

Hudsonian Whimbrel

#BirdOfTheDay #WaderWednesday #birds #nature #photography
A sunlit, mottled brown bird with a thickly-striped dark brown and white head and long gray legs ending in thick toes digs in the sand with its long, curved beak in profile facing right along the edge of an ocean. A thin, foamy line of bubbles runs along the edge behind it as the water recedes.
November 26, 2025 at 12:33 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
For once I knew she was there before she knew I was, and even then, I'm not sure she saw me well enough to puzzle out what was standing there. Their eyesight is not as good as ours during daylight.

White-tailed Deer

#deer #mammals #nature #photography
The upper half of a grayish-brown deer emerges from a field full of tall, brown vegetation. She is looking directly toward the camera with her large ears filled with long, white hairs standing at attention, her gentle eyes ringed in white hair looking uncertain, and her black nose with a white strip of hair at the base glistening wetly in the morning sunlight.
November 25, 2025 at 10:14 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
A White-breasted Nuthatch in what I suspect is their normal, upright position;
a Carolina Chickadee showing off its leg strength;
a Downy Woodpecker showing it can hang with the Chickadees;
and a Northern Parula defying gravity. All just #HangingAround. 🪶

#BirdOfTheDay #birding #nature #photography
A small gray bird with a white face and underparts and a black cap and nape has wrapped himself around the right side of a thick tree branch to hang upside down, head to the left, and explore the underside of it. A small puffball of a gray bird with a black cap, white cheeks, a black collar, white underparts, and a long, thin, gray tail hangs upside down, in profile with its head to the left, beneath a small clump of dried crab apples it is clinging to, as if it is doing pull ups. In its beak is a small, white seed it has extracted. A small woodpecker with a black and white barred back, white underparts, and a small red patch on the back of his noggin hangs upside down, in profile with his head to the right, from the lower of two decaying black walnut globes against a pale blue sky. His powerful tail feathers brace him against the walnut as he looks to drive his short black beak into the flesh of the walnut casing. A small, blue-gray bird with a white eyering, bright yellow chin, blue-gray collar, bright yellow chest with rusty-red highlights, and a white belly hangs on the right side of a very thin, vertical tree twig looking directly into the camera against a pale blue and white sky. If you were to rotate the photo ninety degrees, it would look like he was standing upright and leaning to the right just a bit. It's a bad, washed out photo, but I kept it just because the ability of birds to cling to tiny things and still maintain their posture absolutely amazes me. If I tried something like that, I'd be a splat on the ground.
November 25, 2025 at 1:13 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
This morning's sunrise before the storms hit this afternoon.

#sunrise #clouds #trees #landscape #nature #photography
A deep pink and orange cloud-filled grayish-blue sky hovers overs a silhouetted tree line filled with the skeletal limbs of bare trees.
November 25, 2025 at 12:30 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Just a cutie enjoying the last of the evening light.

Eastern Gray Squirrel

#mammals #squirrels #nature #photography
A gray squirrel with a brown face, ears, and patchy highlights on its body and white underparts crouches at the end of a roughly-barked, thick, fallen log against a warm, brown background in golden-hour sunlight. It is in profile facing right with its head turned just slightly to the camera, and its floofy tail curls up along its lower back before curling back over itself and down toward the ground.
November 24, 2025 at 11:46 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
No #YellowEyes here, but plenty of #warblers for #BirdOfTheDay.

Prairie Warbler
Black-and-white Warbler
Northern Parula
Magnolia Warbler

#birds #birding #nature #photography
A bright yellow bird with a black line through its eye, a dark cheek, and black streaking along its sides crouches over a thin branch with newly opening leaves angled down and looking to the left against a blurred tan tree trunk and light blue sky. A sunlit black and white striped bird leans over the edge of a thin, old, broken tree limb, wrapping its head around the end and peering down at something at the ground against a green-blue background. A small, gray-blue bird with white underparts, a white eyering around his black eye, a bright yellow throat, and a bright yellow chest with rusty-red highlights clings to a piece of green vertical vegetation with its belly toward the camera and facing right. He is surrounded by lots of green shoots of newly growing vegetation. A small, sunlit borb of a bird perches on a thin twig to the right of a thin tree branch surrounded by small green leaves and tiny white flowers and looks directly into the camera. He has a light gray head and shoulders, black cheeks, small white patches above his black eyes, a bright yellow throat, and bright yellow underparts with a black collar and black stripes running down either side of his chest and belly.
November 24, 2025 at 2:04 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
"You know what you're planning is never going to work, right?"

Coopers Hawks

#BirdOfTheDay #Mr&Mrs #birds #nature #photography
Two hawks stand on a bare, sunlit branch among a tangle of smaller, off-branching twigs. The male on the left, and a bit higher than the female on the right, has a dark gray head and back, red eyes, and a rusty-red barred chest and pantaloons. He is studying the ground very intently and looks like he is about to attempt something. The female is larger and younger and is in juvenile colors of a mottled brown head and back, brown-spotted white underparts, and yellow eyes. She is slightly puffed up from a recent shake and is looking up toward the male. Her head is slightly tucked, and she looks like she has a disbelieving look on her face.
November 23, 2025 at 3:06 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
This handsome fella stands out from the crowd with a striking leucistic noggin.

American Goldfinch

#SundayYellow #birds #nature #photography
A small, sunlit, olive-yellow bird with a brighter yellow throat and black wings with a white wing bar perches on a thin branch in profile facing right against a bright blue sky. The top of his head has an irregular white patch of feathers that would normally be yellow or black during breeding season, and one of his pink feet is casually dangling below him. Same bird, same pose, except now his head is turned more toward the camera showing more of the large white patch on his head.
November 23, 2025 at 2:41 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
She and the sun have formed their own mutual admiration society.

Ruby-throated Hummingbird

#BirdOfTheDay #BirdOnAWire #BlueSkyArtShow #small #birds #BirdPhotography #nature #photography #NaturePhotography
A tiny green bird with a very long, thin, black beak, black cheeks, and white underparts sits on top of a scalloped, rusty wire fence in profile facing left against a creamy brown background. Her head is lifted toward the sun which glints off her black eye, and she is slightly puffed up as if she has just shaken herself out. Some of her green feathers shimmer in the light.
November 22, 2025 at 2:28 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Calmed by time.

#SensoryArt #scape #water #stream #LongExposure #nature #photography
Water flows over a submerged rock wall. It is calm before reaching the wall where it rushes past leaves that have been caught on the rocks before tumbling into little waves and then continuing on its way. Long exposure has given the scene a soft, dreamy feel.
November 21, 2025 at 2:37 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
He's taking 'round robin' a bit too literally.

American Robin

#BirdOfTheDay #thrushes #birds #birding #nature #wildlife #photography #NaturePhotography
A dark gray bird with a black head, white eye ring, orange beak, rusty red chest, and white tail coverts huddles with everything tucked in as much as possible in short green grass in profile facing right. He is puffed up like a balloon about to burst to try to conserve as much body heat as possible on a bitterly cold day.
November 20, 2025 at 3:52 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
This day was so cold that she took a break from sap-seeking and came to the feeders.

Yellow-bellied Sapsucker

#BirdOfTheDay #round #WoodpeckerWednesday #birds #birding #nature #wildlife #photography
A diagonal tree trunk covered in small holes against a light gray background fills most of the frame. A mottled black and white woodpecker with a pale yellow wash along its upper back and chest and a bright red cap clings to the left side of the trunk in profile facing right. It is puffed up as much as it can be to fight against the bitter cold of the day and is looking very round. The small holes in the tree trunk are evidence of where the bird has been trying to find sap.
November 19, 2025 at 1:17 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Layers upon layers. That was one busy spider.

#TextureTuesday #spiderweb #abstract #nature #photography
A spiderweb highlighted with thousands of microscopic dewdrops wanders every which way throughout the remains of an old, dried piece of wispy vegetation forming a large, loose cup. The base of the cup has two tightly woven layers of web where it's possible a spider could hide, but there is no evidence of it.
November 18, 2025 at 9:49 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Is #TitmouseTuesday still a thing? It feels like it should be a thing.

Tufted Titmouse

#birds #birding #nature #wildlife #photography #ColorADay #BlueTue
A small gray bird with a black patch at the base of its short, black beak, a creamy white face and chest, and a peachy wash along the sides of its white belly perches on a thin twig in profile facing left against a bright blue sky. The sun glinting off its wide, black eye and its raised gray crest gives it a perky look.
November 18, 2025 at 4:37 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Shorebird superpower: finding buried treasure.

Hudsonian Whimbrel

#BirdOfTheDay #mottled #birds #birding #nature #wildlife #photography
A mottled brown bird with a brown and white striped head, a long, curved beak, and gray legs stands in late afternoon sun on shiny wet sand at the edge of a gently waving ocean in profile facing right. It has its head down, beak open and just piercing the sand where it has caught a small sand crab and is starting to pull it out of the sand.
November 18, 2025 at 2:01 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Monday? I refuse.

White-tailed Deer

#mammals #deer #nature #wildlife #photography
A deer stands in a sunlit field surrounded by very tall, brown vegetation so that only her head above her nose is clearly visible. She is looking directly into the camera, and her large, fluffy ears are held upright as she listens for danger, unsure if she wants to come out of hiding.
November 17, 2025 at 2:08 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
I didn’t expect Monday to start with a judgy stare from an ounce of fluff, but here we are.

Eastern Bluebird

#BirdOfTheDay #StareDown #BlueSkyMonday #birds #birding #nature #wildlife #photography
A bright blue bird with a rusty red chest and wash along the sides of a bright white belly stands on a thin branch above and facing the camera bathed in sunlight against a bright blue sky. He is looking down towards the camera with his head cocked to his left as if to say, "Who are you, or better yet, what are you?"
November 17, 2025 at 12:16 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
Staying together through the storm.

#SundayYellow #autumn #fall #leaves #FallColors #nature #photography
A spray of sharply-pointed leaves attached to a thin twig rests on top of green grass where it has fallen after a storm. Their colors vary between greens, yellows, oranges, and browns, and they have a soft shine from the damp that still clings to them.
November 16, 2025 at 3:25 PM
beachrelaxin.bsky.social
He's, once again, showing how easily he defies gravity.

White-breasted Nuthatch

#BirdOfTheDay #ShadesOfGrey #birds #birding #nature #wildlife #photography #NaturePhotography
A small, sunlit, gray bird with a black cap and nape, a white face, neck, and underparts, a glinting black eye, a short, straight, black beak, and a peachy wash along its lower sides clings horizontally to the side of a thick, roughly-barked, brown tree trunk in profile facing left with his head turned just slightly toward the camera.
November 16, 2025 at 2:07 PM