Bill Rockenbeck
@bill-rockenbeck.bsky.social
I mostly putter around my yard and poke stuff. Sometimes I make pots. Sometimes I make food. Sometimes I make video games.
Oh, no, I think my MP-E 65 is giving up the ghost after over a decade of faithful service! What’s the current preferred macro solution? As a Sony employee, I think I get a small discount, so maybe it’s time to switch allegiances?
August 31, 2025 at 8:25 PM
Oh, no, I think my MP-E 65 is giving up the ghost after over a decade of faithful service! What’s the current preferred macro solution? As a Sony employee, I think I get a small discount, so maybe it’s time to switch allegiances?
Spring gardening can be hard for a bug guy. Dug up this poor mining (I presume?) bee before it was really ready
April 5, 2025 at 11:56 PM
Spring gardening can be hard for a bug guy. Dug up this poor mining (I presume?) bee before it was really ready
Three aligator lizards on the Lizard Rocks!
March 29, 2025 at 10:27 PM
Three aligator lizards on the Lizard Rocks!
I found this black-headed jumping spider (Trite planiceps) in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, and wondered whether the beefy, long front legs were for a similar purpose
March 29, 2025 at 12:48 AM
I found this black-headed jumping spider (Trite planiceps) in New Zealand a couple of weeks ago, and wondered whether the beefy, long front legs were for a similar purpose
Frisky frogs gettin’ it on
March 23, 2025 at 2:53 AM
Frisky frogs gettin’ it on
This cute little golden-crowned kinglet was pecking in the snowy yard today and didn’t seem at all concerned about me following it around with my phone camera
February 5, 2025 at 8:15 AM
This cute little golden-crowned kinglet was pecking in the snowy yard today and didn’t seem at all concerned about me following it around with my phone camera
I have both golden-crowned kinglets and sharp-shinned hawks in my yard
February 3, 2025 at 12:02 AM
I have both golden-crowned kinglets and sharp-shinned hawks in my yard
I took this picture in my pond nine years ago. The wind was blowing is such a way as to cause floating detritus to gather together, trapping hundreds of springtails in a miniscule raft.
February 1, 2025 at 6:43 AM
I took this picture in my pond nine years ago. The wind was blowing is such a way as to cause floating detritus to gather together, trapping hundreds of springtails in a miniscule raft.
If you see this, quote post with flowers from your gallery #ihavenoideawhethertheseastersarenativebutthebeessurelikeem
January 29, 2025 at 4:00 AM
If you see this, quote post with flowers from your gallery #ihavenoideawhethertheseastersarenativebutthebeessurelikeem
This blue dasher from my pond last summer was beat up and a little rough around the edges, but still in the game. #BlueMonday
January 20, 2025 at 6:20 PM
This blue dasher from my pond last summer was beat up and a little rough around the edges, but still in the game. #BlueMonday
I swear I didn’t put mascara on this little jumping spider after I found it patrolling my pottery studio
January 18, 2025 at 11:55 PM
I swear I didn’t put mascara on this little jumping spider after I found it patrolling my pottery studio
Hair ice in my yard! It’s just frozen water like regular ice, but the fungus Exidiopsis effusa helps it to form these flaxen filaments as it extrudes from the rotten branch.
January 18, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Hair ice in my yard! It’s just frozen water like regular ice, but the fungus Exidiopsis effusa helps it to form these flaxen filaments as it extrudes from the rotten branch.
An old picture of a springtail from my yard. I was attempting to duplicate a technique described by @alexwild.bsky.social (can’t seem to find his writeup about that…)
January 17, 2025 at 9:34 PM
An old picture of a springtail from my yard. I was attempting to duplicate a technique described by @alexwild.bsky.social (can’t seem to find his writeup about that…)
There haven’t been a lot of bugs up and about, lately, but here’s a favorite picture from my yard a couple of years ago. These cuckoo wasps buzz around all day in search of bugs to parasitize, and rarely stop for pictures. But as soon as the sun goes behind the house, they curl up and go to sleep!
January 17, 2025 at 1:39 AM
There haven’t been a lot of bugs up and about, lately, but here’s a favorite picture from my yard a couple of years ago. These cuckoo wasps buzz around all day in search of bugs to parasitize, and rarely stop for pictures. But as soon as the sun goes behind the house, they curl up and go to sleep!
Most Anna’s Hummingbirds migrate during the winter, but some stay year-round in the Seattle area, mostly eating from backyard feeders.
January 12, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Most Anna’s Hummingbirds migrate during the winter, but some stay year-round in the Seattle area, mostly eating from backyard feeders.
Some heron will be very happy to find my pond
January 5, 2025 at 8:49 PM
Some heron will be very happy to find my pond
I haven’t felt up to taking photos much lately. Here’s an old zombie mole digging its way out of the dirt in my yard. Maybe he can be an inspiration.
November 17, 2024 at 8:41 PM
I haven’t felt up to taking photos much lately. Here’s an old zombie mole digging its way out of the dirt in my yard. Maybe he can be an inspiration.