BobTarte
@bobtarte.bsky.social
Author of books Enslaved by Ducks, Fowl Weather, Kitty Cornered, and Feather Brained. I mostly post photos of birds and insects found in my corner of West Michigan.
Incredible capture, Sue!
September 6, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Incredible capture, Sue!
Fabulous sketches, Robert. I'm so impressed you can do this while watching the bird.
I was in Dublin for a few days earlier in the week, and the timing was perfect for a juvenile Stilt Sandpiper that was found at Broadlough. A beautiful species and my first time to see a juvenile in Ireland, having seen 3 adults previously.
September 5, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Fabulous sketches, Robert. I'm so impressed you can do this while watching the bird.
Incredible photograph, Mark.
Yellow-bellied Flycatcher, Northwoods, Central Park, NYC markscheflen.com #birdphotography #naturephotography #wildlifeplanet #nycbirdalliance #birdsSeenIn2025 #wildlifephotography #conservationphotography #birds #ecobiodiversity #yellowbelliedflycatcher #birdcpp #bird
September 5, 2025 at 3:26 PM
Incredible photograph, Mark.
Sweet shot!
September 5, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Sweet shot!
I discovered two female Black-and-Yellow Garden Spiders in a flower bed where none had been all summer. Then I found the first male Black-and-Yellow Garden Spider I'd ever seen. He is much smaller than the females, with a body length of just over 1/4" compared to around an inch for the females.
September 1, 2025 at 2:09 PM
I discovered two female Black-and-Yellow Garden Spiders in a flower bed where none had been all summer. Then I found the first male Black-and-Yellow Garden Spider I'd ever seen. He is much smaller than the females, with a body length of just over 1/4" compared to around an inch for the females.
Dog-Day Cicada, which conveniently landed on my porch step and remained in place for photos.
September 1, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Dog-Day Cicada, which conveniently landed on my porch step and remained in place for photos.
Tiny Cuckoo Wasp on Black-eyed Susan petal looks like it's covered in jewels.
September 1, 2025 at 1:56 PM
Tiny Cuckoo Wasp on Black-eyed Susan petal looks like it's covered in jewels.
I can nearly never not take a shot of a Scorpionfly. Small and harmless. The male's abdomen curls up to resemble a scorpion tail.
July 13, 2025 at 1:56 PM
I can nearly never not take a shot of a Scorpionfly. Small and harmless. The male's abdomen curls up to resemble a scorpion tail.
@apstrange.bsky.social Here's a grackle we raised and released several years ago, which my wife named Jabba, due to his voracious appetite. He showed up one morning begging for food standing on one leg. Next time I saw him, he was fine. No idea what was going on. Maybe it was a 'feed me' trick.
July 13, 2025 at 11:49 AM
@apstrange.bsky.social Here's a grackle we raised and released several years ago, which my wife named Jabba, due to his voracious appetite. He showed up one morning begging for food standing on one leg. Next time I saw him, he was fine. No idea what was going on. Maybe it was a 'feed me' trick.
Gorgeous little ichneumon wasp looks like a piece of fine jewelry. West Michigan.
#insects #wasps #photography #wildlife #nature
#insects #wasps #photography #wildlife #nature
July 13, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Gorgeous little ichneumon wasp looks like a piece of fine jewelry. West Michigan.
#insects #wasps #photography #wildlife #nature
#insects #wasps #photography #wildlife #nature
Here's my nominee for the most beautiful North American grasshopper. This is the 'Graceful Grasshopper,' aka one of the 'spur-throated' grasshoppers. The side of my barn makes a splendid backdrop. #insects #grasshopper #nature #wildlife #photography
July 13, 2025 at 11:35 AM
Here's my nominee for the most beautiful North American grasshopper. This is the 'Graceful Grasshopper,' aka one of the 'spur-throated' grasshoppers. The side of my barn makes a splendid backdrop. #insects #grasshopper #nature #wildlife #photography
To all my Bluesky friends who might have wondered where I've been... The recent death of my wife, Linda, hit me very hard last month, and while I was in that low state, Covid hit me, too. I am finally starting to crawl out from under things now. Thank you.
July 13, 2025 at 11:32 AM
To all my Bluesky friends who might have wondered where I've been... The recent death of my wife, Linda, hit me very hard last month, and while I was in that low state, Covid hit me, too. I am finally starting to crawl out from under things now. Thank you.
Fun early-morning find: 4"-long Goldenrod Hooded Owlet (or Asteroid Moth) caterpillar blending into plant stems behind my barn. The beast was nowhere to be seen 30 minutes later. West Michigan.
#nature #insects #caterpillars #photography #macro #wildlife
#nature #insects #caterpillars #photography #macro #wildlife
July 13, 2025 at 11:29 AM
Fun early-morning find: 4"-long Goldenrod Hooded Owlet (or Asteroid Moth) caterpillar blending into plant stems behind my barn. The beast was nowhere to be seen 30 minutes later. West Michigan.
#nature #insects #caterpillars #photography #macro #wildlife
#nature #insects #caterpillars #photography #macro #wildlife
@minisanctuary.bsky.social Thank you for all your good work. My wife and I used to help raise and release orphaned songbirds. We did it for over a decade.
May 31, 2025 at 1:56 PM
@minisanctuary.bsky.social Thank you for all your good work. My wife and I used to help raise and release orphaned songbirds. We did it for over a decade.
They are constantly in motion. Nice shot!
How I got this shot, I’ll never know. Tiny Blue-gray Gnatcatchers are wickedly fast and flitty!
#birds #wildlife #nature #photography #NewJersey
#birds #wildlife #nature #photography #NewJersey
May 31, 2025 at 1:52 PM
They are constantly in motion. Nice shot!
Reposted by BobTarte
Male Red-winged Blackbird with his feathers glowing in the morning sunlight ♥️
Stony Brook, Norfolk, Massachusetts
#birds #blackbirds #RedWingedBlackbird #birdphotography #nature #MassAudubon #NikonP950
Stony Brook, Norfolk, Massachusetts
#birds #blackbirds #RedWingedBlackbird #birdphotography #nature #MassAudubon #NikonP950
May 22, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Male Red-winged Blackbird with his feathers glowing in the morning sunlight ♥️
Stony Brook, Norfolk, Massachusetts
#birds #blackbirds #RedWingedBlackbird #birdphotography #nature #MassAudubon #NikonP950
Stony Brook, Norfolk, Massachusetts
#birds #blackbirds #RedWingedBlackbird #birdphotography #nature #MassAudubon #NikonP950
Reposted by BobTarte
The Warblers: Bay-breasted 🪶
🤎🖤🤍
#warbler #warblers #thewarblersarecallingandimustgo #baybreasted #baybreastedwarbler #birdphotography
🤎🖤🤍
#warbler #warblers #thewarblersarecallingandimustgo #baybreasted #baybreastedwarbler #birdphotography
May 20, 2025 at 3:36 PM
The Warblers: Bay-breasted 🪶
🤎🖤🤍
#warbler #warblers #thewarblersarecallingandimustgo #baybreasted #baybreastedwarbler #birdphotography
🤎🖤🤍
#warbler #warblers #thewarblersarecallingandimustgo #baybreasted #baybreastedwarbler #birdphotography
My wonderful and much beloved wife, Linda, passed away last Wednesday after a long struggle with a rare neurological disease that is similar in many ways to ALS. She was the kindest, bravest, and most inspirational person I ever met. I miss her terribly, but I am grateful her suffering has ended.
May 19, 2025 at 6:29 PM
My wonderful and much beloved wife, Linda, passed away last Wednesday after a long struggle with a rare neurological disease that is similar in many ways to ALS. She was the kindest, bravest, and most inspirational person I ever met. I miss her terribly, but I am grateful her suffering has ended.
What a find!
At last, a night with more than a handful of species, including four Poplar Hawks, their wings subtly patterned in shades of brown and soft lilac-gray...
#teammoth
#mothsmatter
#teammoth
#mothsmatter
May 12, 2025 at 10:41 PM
What a find!
Oh my gosh. I absolutely never get to see these. I think this is the most beautiful warbler of them all.
He's just impossibly orange.
I didn't manipulate the color at all in these photos (I just sharpened the image and cropped it), Blackburnian Warblers simply are this orange!
#birds
I didn't manipulate the color at all in these photos (I just sharpened the image and cropped it), Blackburnian Warblers simply are this orange!
#birds
May 12, 2025 at 10:40 PM
Oh my gosh. I absolutely never get to see these. I think this is the most beautiful warbler of them all.
What an amazing critter! Wow.
OF ALL THE PHOTOS TO GET MOTION BLUR! 😭
Cleaned it up best I could - because this is a Genus Pamphilius Sawfly bitches!
(Zero Oregon sightings on BugGuide & iNat - "whopping" 66 US sightings on iNat)
LOOK AT THIS TRANSFORMER! Right up there with Conura Chalcids!
#inverts #becurious
Cleaned it up best I could - because this is a Genus Pamphilius Sawfly bitches!
(Zero Oregon sightings on BugGuide & iNat - "whopping" 66 US sightings on iNat)
LOOK AT THIS TRANSFORMER! Right up there with Conura Chalcids!
#inverts #becurious
May 11, 2025 at 7:04 PM
What an amazing critter! Wow.
Captivatingly cute!
Early days yet for this gosling (Canada Goose)...
Forest Lawn, Buffalo NY
Photographed May 9, 2025
Canon R5, RF 100-500
www.instagram.com/wildlife.exposures/
#photography #wildlifephotography #canon #photographersunited #birds #birdphotography #geese #canadagoose #gosling
Forest Lawn, Buffalo NY
Photographed May 9, 2025
Canon R5, RF 100-500
www.instagram.com/wildlife.exposures/
#photography #wildlifephotography #canon #photographersunited #birds #birdphotography #geese #canadagoose #gosling
May 11, 2025 at 12:22 PM
Captivatingly cute!
@amateurmonastic.bsky.social How is Sunny doing? I have an African grey parrot and two doves, and they brighten up my life. (Two wonderful, cats, too but they occupy a separate social circle.)
May 9, 2025 at 11:58 AM
@amateurmonastic.bsky.social How is Sunny doing? I have an African grey parrot and two doves, and they brighten up my life. (Two wonderful, cats, too but they occupy a separate social circle.)