Masha Levene
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mashalevene.bsky.social
Masha Levene
@mashalevene.bsky.social
250 followers 480 following 150 posts
Nature and science enthusiast, here to learn and discover
She/her
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mashalevene.bsky.social
I’ve picked up my copy from the local library and that review is spot on. It’s an incredible read and beautifully written.
Just finished about the platypus which I haven’t seen yet 😢 and onto the echidna which I’ve been lucky to spot a few 🤗😍
Book cover with Platypus Matters title across in large white letters. Authored by Jack Ashby. The Extraordinary Story of Australian Mammals is the tag line. Background image is shades of green with an adorable platypus coming towards the camera, mouth agape. We can see both above and below the water. Library bar code has been added.
July 12, 2025 at 10:50 AM
mashalevene.bsky.social
All wrapped up with this Springs’ bird banding.
Made this little Wilson’s Warbler for our amazing Bander in Charge who stepped up last minute to keep the station running for the month.
🪶🐤 #crafts #felting
Hand made needle felted Wilson’s Warbler perched on a mossy branch in the garden. The bird is small, yellow with greenish wings and back. Black cap on its head. Yellow legs made from wire and black beads for beak and eyes. Closer view of the felted warbler. Perched on a smaller branch with only tufts of moss. Red rhododendrons in the background. The bird is face us, angled slightly left. It is small, yellow with greenish wings and back. Black cap on its head. Yellow legs made from wire and black beads for beak and eyes. Same bird in the same branch but this time it is wearing a stethoscope. Made from wire and beads. It is red. This bird is a gift to our Bander in Charge Max who just graduated medical school and is off to be a family doctor. A real Wilson (top left) and the felted Wilson (bottom right) side by side.
June 1, 2024 at 3:46 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Help Ethan kickstart his new book! I have and love Moistly Harmless, this one sounds just as amazing 😄
Moistly Harmless book by Ethan Kocak Perfect for anyone who loves newts and salamanders and/or nature
May 4, 2024 at 3:22 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
It’s been raining all week in Vancouver so hunting invertes has been put on hold for now.

Here’s some I’ve crafted up this year though!

#crafts #invertefest 🐙🦀
Handmade Nudibranch (Goniobranchus splendidus) posing on some shells. Body is white with red dots and a yellow frill. Needle felted rhinophores. Two handmade nudibranchs posing among shells. Made with a pompom maker, needle felted rhinophores. Goniobranchus annulatus on the left, Goniobranchus splendidus on the right. Junk crab made for a school crafts project. Large white knob eyes, shoe polish tin body, Allan key legs, bottle opener and staple remover claws. Held together by punctures in the tin and with elastics. Top down view of the junk crab. Junk crab made for a school crafts project. Large white knob eyes, shoe polish tin body, Allan key legs, bottle opener and staple remover claws. Held together by punctures in the tin and with elastics.
April 27, 2024 at 4:09 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
There were so many around Ubud!! But I didn’t see any on the east coast. Not many bugs around at all, found they were in the rice paddies and around Ubud haha
In these you can see the cocoon suspended in the pupa 🤯
Cyans moth pupa with cocoon suspended inside. Pupa is a crisscross of hairs woven straight off the caterpillar’s back Another angle of the pupa viewed from the side. Fastened onto a green leaf the cocoon is clearly levitating inside the mesh of tiny hairs.
April 26, 2024 at 3:07 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Helping my sister plan her first Bali trip and I am thinking of all my Ubud invertes that am missing. They were spectacular 🥰

#invertefest
Very colourful Lychee Bug on a large green leaf. Colours melt from green (left side) to yellow (center) to red (right side) large black spots. Rusty coloured Rusty Centipede. At least an inch thick and almost a foot long! Cyana Moth cocoon. The craziest I’ve ever seen. Made with the hairs woven from the caterpillars back, the caterpillar itself is suspended inside by a teeny hammock within a cocoon. Beautiful snails on an elk fern. Shells spiral greens and brown.
April 26, 2024 at 1:53 AM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Last month I got to visit Ecuador and some amazing bug friends 😍😍

ps if anyone is interested in visiting Ecuador. I have a good friend who is hosting volunteers on his eco-cacao farm (lots of birds, bugs, frogs and reptiles)

#invertfest
Black Tailless whip scorpion found in Mindo, Ecuador during a night walk. Perched on the back of my hand. Small pinchers, long red tinted spider like legs. Very adorable. Small black scorpion clinging to the side of a white bag. Found among the cacao plantation in Las Delicious, Ecuador during a night walk. Large black bullet ant on a green leaf found in the Ecuadorian Amazon Adorable brown weevil (help me identify it!) nestled into the tip of a leaf. Jungle floor in the background. Amazon, Ecuador.
April 25, 2024 at 2:52 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
In commemorating Superb Owl Sunday here are two stunning Spotted Wood Owl parents I was lucky enough to spot in Singapore last year. I was told they had babies nearby. 🪶🦉
Two large owls are sat on different branches, some distance away. Green foliage background. Large branches frame the shot, around the owls.
February 11, 2024 at 8:47 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
From my dive with Threshers who instantly became my favourite shark 😍
And a little souvenir to remember them by
Sleek blue-grey shark with a long tail and a face that looks like he can’t believe what you said about his mum. Huge black eyes, gaped mouth, shocked expression. Small carved wooden Thresher shark resting on a wooden table top with the ocean and beach in the background. Malapascua, Philippines.
October 13, 2023 at 10:08 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Can I please join? I have offerings of baby megalopa for you
Teeny Megalopa of a Dungeness crab resting in a plastic white spoon. Legs are spread, pinchers visible, large black eyes and the hint of a tail that is otherwise tucked under. Taken while volunteering for the Hakai Dungeness Crab Monitoring program
September 9, 2023 at 4:01 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Woodpecker Wednesday is something I can get on board with. These are some that I managed to find last year 😍
Lacy Woodpecker in the Singapore mangroves. Tropical greenery, yellow-green bird with bright red cap Banded Woodpecker in Kuala Lumper Botanical Gardens. Speckled underbelly, red wings and head, orange throated. Banded woodpecker climbing up the truck. Crimson wings and cap, orange throat. Speckled underbelly and patch on the back. Black tail feathers Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker in Kyoto Botanical Gardens. Tiny bird with black and white striping along back on a tree trunk
September 6, 2023 at 7:20 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Found some beautifully tiny bryozoan eating nudibranchs (with eggs!) for #invertefest
Close up of some sandy dark red kelp with a golden lace bryozoan and a small globular nudibranch. Kelp blade held in hand (only a finger is visible in left corner) lace bryozoan with a jelly like blob that is a Nudibranch. White worm-like small clumps are the nudi egg sacks. Zoomed out brown-green kelp held in hand to show how tiny these Nudibranchs and eggs are Lace bryozoan covers most of the kelp and has a scale like pattern.
August 29, 2023 at 2:36 AM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Checking the crab traps 😍😍
Look at all these babies!! 🦐 🦀

Part of the False Creek Friends + Hakai Institute light trap monitoring program 🦑 🐙
Baby shore crab instar. Absolutely tiny almost translucent crab on a white plastic spoon. Tiny tiny very translucent little shrimpy or prawn on a white plastic spoon. Baby hermit crab without a shell. Legs are translucent. Little claws are visible. On a white plastic spoon. Baby Dungeness crab megalopa. Looks like a cross between a tadpole and a crab. Has a little tail, that’s just visible, rest is tucked under its body. Fairly translucent.
August 19, 2023 at 8:47 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
How cute!!
This is a little Harbour Seal pup I found alone on a beach.
I was alerted to its presence by the sound of its little snores 😂 Little one was having a snooze in the sun waiting for mum to return from her fishing trip.
Probably the best thing I’ve found on a beach 🥰🥰
August 19, 2023 at 8:19 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Some days end with a perfect evening walk accompanied by a beaver who just happened to be heading in your direction
It is late evening, sky is beginning to darkle. City lights are on in the skyscrapers on the far side of the lake, they cast a reflection. There is an object in the lake barely sticking out of the water. This is the top side of a beaver who is swimming alongside the walking path (not pictured).
August 19, 2023 at 4:12 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Bringing you the latest in urchin hat high fashion.
So far the idea is that they’re covering to save their spines (and anus) from wear and tear and/or sun damage.
But I think they just want to look suave 💁‍♀️
Purple spiny sea urchin out of water at low tide on a rock. It is wearing a dazzling headpiece made of ribbonlike thin strands of sea grass that bend to create the appearance of bows. Several purple sea urchins in shallow water, on the rocks. This hipster urchin is all about sustainability donning an upcycled red cap made from the latest beach litter. A rectangular piece of red plastic. Single purple urchin nestled into the rocky beach at low tide. Being all alone doesn’t dampen its style. The urchin is attired in a magnificent collection of shell fragments, small pebbles and sea grass. Cluster of purple sea urchins. Three fashion icons share the pool. One has fashioned a hat from half a mussel shell, simple but elegant. The other two like a bit of rock style. One has decided just a few does the trick. But the second has gone all out to absolutely cover itself in pebbles and shell fragments.
August 13, 2023 at 4:27 AM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Best find on the hike 🤩
So colourful
#herp 🐸
Tiny pacific tree frog on a large skunk cabbage leaf among tall grasses. Frog has black bands along the eyes joining at the nose. Closer look at tiny tree frog on cabbage leaf. Dark blotches run down the length of its back I three lines. Legs tucked under. Frog top down view. Limbs are out so we can see the teeny fingers and toes. Lots of black blotches across its mossy green colour
August 11, 2023 at 2:56 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Met the cutest harbour seal pup on the beach this weekend.
Only spotted him because of its *snoring* how adorable is that?!?
Can’t get over how blissful it seems in the first photo.

*All photos taken at a distance*
Tiny mottled harbour seal pup sleeping among rocks of the same colour. Eyes closed, face looks peaceful and mouth curved into a happy smile. Pup is awake and looking at the camera. Fuzzy pup is snoozing on the rocks. Flippers spread out. Landscape photo of the beach. White wispy clouds against a deep blue sky. Logs and rocks and a calm ocean. Pup is unable to be seen but is sleeping in the concentration of large rocks in the center of the photo.
August 9, 2023 at 2:56 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
I had to travel all the way to South East Asia to get me some good Caterpillars but it was worth it!!
Small yellow with green dots -False tiger moth caterpillar on green leaf. Brown caterpillar with large white spots with black spots inside made to look like eyes. False tiger moth caterpillar arching into the air holding on with only its back legs. Green stripes down the sides and lots of dots on its head Unknown green caterpillar underneath a leaf. Very chunky, little blue/green tail
August 8, 2023 at 3:22 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Came for the sea otters and the whales, left enthralled with the jellies 😍😍
🦑
August 8, 2023 at 2:28 AM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Northern Pacific Tree Frogos are adorable and way to beautiful to be up here in temperate climates. But I’m glad that they’re here 😍😍
#herps 🐸
Side profile of a Small bright green tree frog with dark lines across its eyes and some dark spots on its underbelly huddled on top of a bright green blackberry leaf. Side profile of a Bright green tree frog sitting vertically on a slightly darker green shrub leaf. Dark band across its eyes. Light brown on its lower lip. Back view of bright green tree frog sitting on a slightly darker green leaf. Frog skin looks dimples like an smoother avocado. Side profile of a bright green tree frog. This angle is looking at its left side. Frog is facing away. Dark band visible along eye. Some dark speckling under limbs and belly. Sitting in green shrubbery
July 31, 2023 at 1:24 AM
mashalevene.bsky.social
I keep going back to find them again but this was the only time I spotted these nudies (Hermissenda crassicornis)
Was amazing to see one floating along the water surface. Thought the underwater shots came out pretty good 😊
- Granville Island 🦑
Horned Nudibranch clinging to the surface of the water upside down. Translucent white body with brown ceras protruding from its back. Water is emerald green with algae covered pillars in the distance. Slightly different angle. Horned Nudibranch clinging to the surface of the water upside down. Translucent white body with brown ceras protruding from its back. Water is emerald green with algae covered pillars in the distance. Center photo is a Horned Nudibranch clinging to drift wood. White lines are clearly visible along it’s translucent white body. Ceras are thick, coloured pink with white outlines. Water is green, log is brown. Horned Nudibranch from photos one and two viewed from above. You see the clear creamy white bottom of the foot and mouth with horns protruding at either side. Ceras are just visible beneath and also through the foot. Emerald green water with lots of reflection
July 29, 2023 at 10:01 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Wrapped up my summer at the banding station. Just a sliver of the amazing birds we got to band 😍 🪶
*done with appropriate banding permits
Eastern Kingbird - a grey bird with dark grey tail with a white tip. Mouth is open wide as if in full song/scream Cedar Waxwing held in hand to see the red waxy tips on their wings and yellow tips of the tail feathers. Black mask across the eyes, soft yellow belly and a smooth light brown back. Black-headed Oriole male. Large finch beak, black head, deep orange body. Black wings with white patches. Held in hand against a grassy backdrop Indigo Bunting -male. Stunning bright blue. Held in hand against deep green foliage.
July 28, 2023 at 9:22 PM
mashalevene.bsky.social
Finding Nudibranchs at low tide is like finding gold 🤩

Doris montereyensis (Sea Lemon)
Rostanaga pulchra (Red Dorid)
Red Dorid sea slug is with cute tufts clinging to the side of a rock. Large limpet in left top corner. Tiny Red Dorid hiding among a forest of purple urchins. Sea lemon at low tide among low seaweed. Yellow Sea Lemon with a few black speckles on wet rocks at low tide
July 28, 2023 at 7:25 PM