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grays.art
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@grays.art
4.8K followers 2.8K following 3K posts
Chicago nature photographer:
“the native beauty that lives despite us.”
Hope U ♥️ spiders, bugs, birds & flowers!

📸 Daily original photo(s)
📸 Live critters
📸 In-the-field, manual, hand-held
📸 No tripod, studio, stacking, nor AI
📸 Canon, Olympus & Apple eq
Posts Replies Media Videos
grays.art
Morning, Susan ☕️

Hope you’re feeling well today.🤗

We’d a cold front blow in yesterday🌬️

In the 30-40 knot wind, took some video, and photos of kiteboarders on the beach.🪁

This morning it was in the forties, which for me is still balmy, but has more or less immobilized some of the locals. 😸
November 11, 2025 at 1:38 PM
grays.art
Remembrance Red poppy

#remembrance #veterans #veteransday #remembranceday #poppy #flowers
The image shows a close-up view of a single red poppy flower. The flower is positioned centrally, with its petals fanning outwards. The petals display a delicate texture with visible veins running from the base to the edges. The flower's stem is green and covered with fine, short hairs. The background is dark, which highlights the vibrant color and details of the poppy.
November 11, 2025 at 12:43 PM
grays.art
Tuesday’s #BirdOfTheDay is #BirdsOnTheGround (not in water) with an Alternative of Great/Blue/Coal/Long-tailed Tit.

I’ve a blue jay for you, from Cambridge, Massachusetts 6-19-21

Common beauty
is the best kind,
a glass of fresh water
for the mind.

#birds #photography #EastCoastKin #birding #blue
The image shows a blue jay standing on a concrete surface. The bird is facing to the left, with its body parallel to the edge of the surface. The blue jay has a distinctive blue plumage with black and white markings on its wings and tail. Its head features a crest, and there is a prominent black line running from the beak, through the eye, and around the back of the head, forming a necklace-like pattern. The bird's beak is pointed and dark, and its legs and feet are also dark in color. The background consists of a blurred concrete structure.
November 11, 2025 at 10:30 AM
grays.art
Upstairs / downstairs

White-footed leafcutter bee
(Megachile albitarsis) /
Orange-spotted Flower Moth
(Syngamia florella)

Naples, Florida
11-4-25

#AnimalArtTuesday #eastcoastkin #TwosDay #native #florida #insects #macro #photography #flowers #art #macroPhotography #bloomscrolling #bugSky #nature
A bee is positioned on top of a yellow flower, engaging with the central part of the bloom. The bee's body is oriented with its head facing downward into the flower, and its legs are visible gripping the flower's surface. Below the bee, a small moth with a long, slender, orange and black body, yellow-spotted wings, and extended legs is situated on the underside of the flower's petals, looking at us from brown eyes, upside down. The flower has a prominent central disc surrounded by a series of elongated petals that extend outward. The background is blurred, emphasizing the focus on the bee and the flower.
November 11, 2025 at 5:20 AM
grays.art
Fly: How do spiders avoid getting stuck to their own webs? Spider: It’s a simple trick I can teach you. Fly: Cool! Fly: …
November 10, 2025 at 9:30 PM
grays.art
Female regal jumping spider
(Phidippus regius)

nesting on a trail marker
at Crew Flint Pen Strand hiking trail
Lee County, Florida

#MacroMonday #BlueSkyMonday #MinimalMonday #ColorADay #PinkMon #EastCoastKin #bugSky #arachnids #spiders #jumpingspiders #macro #photography #macrophotography #art 🕷️
Curious and friendly, handled safe as houses, large, fuzzy spider, just under an inch (22 mm) long, with a gray body, patterned with white spots and stripes. She has very large, forward-facing eyes that provide excellent vision, and her small, leg-like mouthparts (chelicerae) are covered in dense, soft, white hairs, like much the rest of her. Her fangs appear irridescent purple, green and blue.
November 10, 2025 at 5:00 AM
grays.art
Morning, Susan ☕️

Happy to see you, thanks for the #bluebrew 😋

Today is my birthday, for which my gf is visiting, we’re headed out for more caffeination shortly, to the Black Sheep.

Found a wild passion flower yesterday exploring nearby, hope you’ve a wonderful day.

#bloomscrolling #wildflowers
Fringed passion flower on the vine, light green, dark purple into white fringes, on light plum petals curling into white points.
November 9, 2025 at 12:56 PM
grays.art
Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #StandingOnThings except the Floor, and the Alternative is #Gulls

I've gone with an Anhinga on a fence, though he looks fairly certain to me.

Olympus 180mm

#birds #photography #EastCoastKin #birdphotography #florida #waterbirds #naturephotography #birding
Close up of anhinga fills the 9x16 frame, from beach in the upper right hand corner, to taloned flippers at the bottom, giving no U.S. side eye of course.
November 9, 2025 at 12:48 PM
grays.art
Scarlet Skimmer in natural light
(Crocothemis servilia)

with fly parts on grass blade.

Non-native, Asian dragonfly
at Crew Flint Pen Strand trail
Lee County, Florida

7th & final #dragonflyweek photo

#stunDay #eastcoastkin #nature #insects #macro #photography #macrophotography #art #dragonfly
Backlit multicolored dragon fly with tail-end in upper left corner, eyes facing lower right corner, wings caped about legs resting on long grass blade bisecting the photo, the black head and remains of a fly littering the grass blade.
November 9, 2025 at 5:53 AM
grays.art
Portrait of a female Band-winged Dragonlet (Erythrodiplax umbrata)

on evening walk down sandy river path, a blue heron glides down, around the bend, to find a dinner spot.

#ColorADay #GreenSat #BlueSkyArtShow #evening #NightmareNov #red #eastcoastkin #florida #native #insects #macro #photography
Close up eyes to eyes, red top half, light olive green with black false pupil spots on the bottom hemisphere, of the spherical head, mouth and eyes of the dragon fly, clutching the top of a dry twig in its talons, background of its wings’ veinations.
November 8, 2025 at 5:01 AM
grays.art
Auto-incorrect typo in the locale.
Should not be “Delors,” instead:

Delnor-Wiggins Pass
A map showing where I made the photo, at the northern part of Delnor-Wiggins Pass State Recreation Area, at the pass, with Barefoot Beach across the pass.
November 7, 2025 at 3:10 PM
grays.art
FlyDay

I promote FlyDay each Friday when able, liking your #flyday tagged posts both from my account, and the FlyDay official account, @fly-day.bsky.social, to which i commonly, chronologically repost all your relevant FlyDay-tagged posts, to help you develop, and nourish your FlyDay audiences.
November 7, 2025 at 3:04 PM
grays.art
Today's #BirdOfTheDay is all about #Fighting — for which present a couple of territorial Snowy egrets, which also qualify for #FlyDay

Delors Wiggins Pass 3-9-21
Bonita Springs, Florida
Canon 100mm

#birds #photography #EastCoastKin #birding #florida #delnorwiggins #egrets
Two egrets in shallow water dispute fishing rights, one attacking from beyond the top of the frame, while below, one with wings outstretched, running/flying/fleeing crosses the frame from right to left, noon shadows beneath them.
November 7, 2025 at 9:51 AM
grays.art
Happy Fly-day. We made it!

Male Eastern amberwing
(Perithemis tenera)

on red mangrove leaf
a dragonfly under an inch (~2cm)
10-8-25 in Bonita Springs, FL

#FlyDay #eastCoastKin #bugSky #macro #photography #macroPhotography #florida #native #insects #bugs #dragonflies #nature #art #dragonflyweek 🐉🪰
Small, red-and-yellow-eyed, yellow and orange dragonfly perched on the end of the upper branch of a pink twig with two branches terminating in the remains of dried flowers.
November 7, 2025 at 5:30 AM
grays.art
Thank goodness tomorrow’s Flyday!

Post original photos & art of live, self-propelled, flying creatures. 1 or more submissions welcome tagged:

#FlyDay #EastCoastKin

Welcome no matter location, nor skill level.

#photography #painting #Art #ArtChallenges #ArtPrompts

Questions/comments? @grays.art
November 6, 2025 at 9:44 PM
grays.art
Going for that suave, uncrested, aerodynamic look a moment later
Northern cardinal has smoothed itself out, and eliminated his crest
November 6, 2025 at 8:04 AM
grays.art
Good morning. Today’s #BirdOfTheDay alternative theme is #fluffy , birds with feathers fluffed up.

This male cardinal displayed itself fluffed, and in the comment, unfluffed,

in Cleveland, Ohio 6-21-21
Canon 5D Mark IV ISO1250 f6.3 1/500

#birds #photography #EastCoastKin #ptiloerection #birding
Northern cardinal has fluffed itself into a sphere, and displays his crest
November 6, 2025 at 8:00 AM
grays.art
Male Seaside Dragonlet
(Erythrodiplax berenice)

on mangrove leaf
Cape Coral, Florida 10-10-25

Unique native dragonfly that can breed in seawater.

#eastCoastKin #bugSky #insectThursday #macro #photography #macroPhotography #native #insects #bugs #dragonflies #nature #art #dragonflyweek
Eye to eye with a dark, medium-sized dragonfly, about 1.5 inches long, with a slender body and mostly black and dark blue coloration, with dark, blackish body and clear wings veined like stained glass.
November 6, 2025 at 6:44 AM
grays.art
Female Seaside Dragonlet
(Erythrodiplax berenice)

Cape Coral, Florida

Unique native dragonfly, can breed in brackish, & even seawater.

#ColorADay #RedWed #NightmareNov #legs #eastCoastKin #bugSky #macro #photography #macroPhotography #native #insects #bugs #dragonflies #nature #art #dragonflyweek
Dynamic flicker of life, about 1 to 1.5 inches (~3cm) long, jewel of the salt marsh, a delicate mosaic of bold color. A vibrant creature, painted in striking strokes of orange, yellow, and contrasting deep, velvety black. Her main body section, the thorax, is like a canvas of narrow "tiger" stripes, an intricate pattern of black lines set against her background of brilliant, warm orange and yellow, where her four shimmering wings and six slender legs are attached, a bustling central hub of energy. Her long, segmented tail, or abdomen, is mostly orange on the upper side, while her underside is a contrasting black. Her eyes, large and essential for her aerial hunting, are a warm red-brown ontop, black-spotted green below. Her wings are a marvel of engineering, translucent and delicate, with a complex network of fine veins like stained glass.
November 5, 2025 at 6:23 AM
grays.art
Male Mallards 🦆
Lincoln Park, Chicago
Summer, 2021

#BirdOfTheDay theme today is #rock meaning any bird perched on a rock.

#birds #photography #EastCoastKin #birding #chicago #ducks
One duck leaning up out of a pond to drive its beak into the breast feathers of another, standing on a rocky edge.
November 4, 2025 at 1:35 PM
grays.art
Morning, Susan ☕️

Hope your day is a good one 🤗

From yesterday’s wander down an abandoned beachfront access road, covered in ocean morning glory vines:
Little Hairsteak butterfly on beach sunflower.
November 4, 2025 at 11:59 AM
grays.art
Male Green darner dragonfly
(Anax junius)

on palmetto 10-26-25
Barefoot beach preserve
Collier county, Florida

#AnimalArtTuesday #ColorADay #BlueTue #eastCoastKin #blue #bugSky #macro #photography #macroPhotography #native #insects #bugs #dragonflies #nature #art #wildlife #dragonflyweek
Bright green head and thorax (mid-section), and the distinct body shape, which is long and needle-like, like a darning needle. Males have a bright blue abdomen like this one, with wings about 4” wide (10cm).
November 4, 2025 at 5:00 AM
grays.art
🤗
“A symbol of wealth among pigeons” A central rock pigeon with a necklace made of a crust of bread, with other pigeons looking on enviously from rooftops.
November 3, 2025 at 1:41 PM
grays.art
Affirmative, as much as ever.

Stirring a demitasse of philosophy in today.

Discussing this with mom before she left for Pilates this morning: every morning a stranger woken into this unsleeping world, what actions will we take to increase the probability of a better tomorrow?

Leo is comfortable.
Leo the cat stretched diagonally across the 16x9 from his back paws in the upper left hand corner, to his front paws in the lower right hand corner, flame point Siberian, resting on an old, like-colored comforter.
November 3, 2025 at 1:26 PM
grays.art
Morning, Susan ☕️

Happy #BlueSkyMonday & #BlueBrew,
greetings, & thank you for the coffee!

My cup cooling in the morning air.

#EastCoastKin
The cup hecho en Mexico, a black & white, hand drawn doodle, sitting on small blue and green glass square tiles, full almost to the brim, por supuesto.
November 3, 2025 at 1:05 PM