Mitten Cryptid
@mittencryptid.bsky.social
Lurking around the woods and wilds of Southeast Michigan with a camera, waders, and an onion bag. Conservation through knowledge and connection. They/them. "Environmentalism without class struggle is just gardening."
It's an unfortunate reality that wild spaces in SE MI are scattered and fragmented, but that also makes them all the more vital.
June 20, 2025 at 12:56 PM
It's an unfortunate reality that wild spaces in SE MI are scattered and fragmented, but that also makes them all the more vital.
The Belle Isle conservatory has been a tropical respite from the cold of winter for countless Detroiters through the years.
The building recently reopened after structural work (it opened initially in 1904!) and is as lovely as always - the layout is the same as it's been all my life.
The building recently reopened after structural work (it opened initially in 1904!) and is as lovely as always - the layout is the same as it's been all my life.
March 9, 2025 at 11:49 AM
The Belle Isle conservatory has been a tropical respite from the cold of winter for countless Detroiters through the years.
The building recently reopened after structural work (it opened initially in 1904!) and is as lovely as always - the layout is the same as it's been all my life.
The building recently reopened after structural work (it opened initially in 1904!) and is as lovely as always - the layout is the same as it's been all my life.
There are some great trees at West Lake Preserve in Chelsea, 10/10. Stars, that is. There are definitely more than ten trees.
Honorable mentions: a cocoon that couldn't and a very small nest.
Honorable mentions: a cocoon that couldn't and a very small nest.
March 6, 2025 at 1:04 AM
There are some great trees at West Lake Preserve in Chelsea, 10/10. Stars, that is. There are definitely more than ten trees.
Honorable mentions: a cocoon that couldn't and a very small nest.
Honorable mentions: a cocoon that couldn't and a very small nest.
Winter is nearly through, and spring ephemerals will be emerging in no time. Beloved among them are the ramps (Allium tricoccum). While tasty, they're also part of an ecosystem, so it's important to forage with care and respect only where they're abundant. For the rest of us, shallots are lovely!
February 27, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Winter is nearly through, and spring ephemerals will be emerging in no time. Beloved among them are the ramps (Allium tricoccum). While tasty, they're also part of an ecosystem, so it's important to forage with care and respect only where they're abundant. For the rest of us, shallots are lovely!
Southeast Michigan folks who are currently facing food insecurity, especially with the possible pause in access to SNAP - please sound off and reach out, I have access to many resources. There's no need for anyone to go without - in general, but especially while the dust settles.
January 28, 2025 at 7:55 PM
Southeast Michigan folks who are currently facing food insecurity, especially with the possible pause in access to SNAP - please sound off and reach out, I have access to many resources. There's no need for anyone to go without - in general, but especially while the dust settles.
I draw them to remind me they're coming back soon
January 26, 2025 at 4:49 AM
I draw them to remind me they're coming back soon
Explore and learn, as much as you're able. Grow, connect, feel.
Curiosity can be a powerful source of resilience.
Curiosity can be a powerful source of resilience.
January 25, 2025 at 11:20 PM
Explore and learn, as much as you're able. Grow, connect, feel.
Curiosity can be a powerful source of resilience.
Curiosity can be a powerful source of resilience.
I heard y'all like mushrooms? Last year I found massive dryad's saddles (Cerioporus squamosus) all over the place, shame they're not nicer to eat. The second one, I'm not sure. Probably one of the oysters (Pleurotus sp). It had that anise smell but I don't forage them unless in a pinch, too buggy.
January 24, 2025 at 6:43 PM
I heard y'all like mushrooms? Last year I found massive dryad's saddles (Cerioporus squamosus) all over the place, shame they're not nicer to eat. The second one, I'm not sure. Probably one of the oysters (Pleurotus sp). It had that anise smell but I don't forage them unless in a pinch, too buggy.
The scale of our lives compared to whole species, while hard to grasp, can be a source of deep hope and resilience.
Survival is easier in community.
Familiar flora and fauna, and their descendants to follow, will outlast the scaffolding of power and wealth we've built atop the natural world.
Survival is easier in community.
Familiar flora and fauna, and their descendants to follow, will outlast the scaffolding of power and wealth we've built atop the natural world.
January 23, 2025 at 3:32 PM
The scale of our lives compared to whole species, while hard to grasp, can be a source of deep hope and resilience.
Survival is easier in community.
Familiar flora and fauna, and their descendants to follow, will outlast the scaffolding of power and wealth we've built atop the natural world.
Survival is easier in community.
Familiar flora and fauna, and their descendants to follow, will outlast the scaffolding of power and wealth we've built atop the natural world.
(2/2) Common people have long been compared to bugs, but bugs were here first and they'll be here long after this administration.
Kings come and go, but they are powerless to destroy or fundamentally change nature as a process.
I invite you to join me in being a bug.
The land laughs last.
Kings come and go, but they are powerless to destroy or fundamentally change nature as a process.
I invite you to join me in being a bug.
The land laughs last.
January 21, 2025 at 1:25 PM
(2/2) Common people have long been compared to bugs, but bugs were here first and they'll be here long after this administration.
Kings come and go, but they are powerless to destroy or fundamentally change nature as a process.
I invite you to join me in being a bug.
The land laughs last.
Kings come and go, but they are powerless to destroy or fundamentally change nature as a process.
I invite you to join me in being a bug.
The land laughs last.
(1/2) I spend a lot of time hanging out with bugs; it goes with the territory when you're a plant nerd. Over time, I've come to see them as a source of strength and resilience against the terrifying tides of the world.
How many "great men" have considered the natural world beneath their notice?
How many "great men" have considered the natural world beneath their notice?
January 21, 2025 at 1:11 PM
(1/2) I spend a lot of time hanging out with bugs; it goes with the territory when you're a plant nerd. Over time, I've come to see them as a source of strength and resilience against the terrifying tides of the world.
How many "great men" have considered the natural world beneath their notice?
How many "great men" have considered the natural world beneath their notice?
Yesterday was mild and lovely, so I hiked out to the high point in Washtenaw county.
Some neat things I saw along the way: the WUOM radio tower, some vivid false turkey tails (Stereum ostrea), one of the evergreen wood ferns (Dryopteris, maybe sp. marginalis?), and signs of pileated woodpeckers!
Some neat things I saw along the way: the WUOM radio tower, some vivid false turkey tails (Stereum ostrea), one of the evergreen wood ferns (Dryopteris, maybe sp. marginalis?), and signs of pileated woodpeckers!
January 18, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Yesterday was mild and lovely, so I hiked out to the high point in Washtenaw county.
Some neat things I saw along the way: the WUOM radio tower, some vivid false turkey tails (Stereum ostrea), one of the evergreen wood ferns (Dryopteris, maybe sp. marginalis?), and signs of pileated woodpeckers!
Some neat things I saw along the way: the WUOM radio tower, some vivid false turkey tails (Stereum ostrea), one of the evergreen wood ferns (Dryopteris, maybe sp. marginalis?), and signs of pileated woodpeckers!
Here's a cool example of CODIT - compartmentalization of decay in trees. I think this is an oak, though I'm just a baby at tree ID yet. It is a behemoth, injured or afflicted at some point. Trees have an incredible capacity to encapsulate devastating damage and keep going. You will heal too, friend.
January 13, 2025 at 3:47 AM
Here's a cool example of CODIT - compartmentalization of decay in trees. I think this is an oak, though I'm just a baby at tree ID yet. It is a behemoth, injured or afflicted at some point. Trees have an incredible capacity to encapsulate devastating damage and keep going. You will heal too, friend.
Rooster crowing down the street, and crows roosting in the top of this Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila). I think these are invasive here, but it's a large tree that needs to come down carefully and I'd like to give something native time to get started. Lovely morning out, though unreasonably warm.
December 28, 2024 at 1:53 PM
Rooster crowing down the street, and crows roosting in the top of this Siberian Elm (Ulmus pumila). I think these are invasive here, but it's a large tree that needs to come down carefully and I'd like to give something native time to get started. Lovely morning out, though unreasonably warm.
To the Earth, the only objective reality, you have as much right to exist as every other living thing. Systems and structures of power are hastily constructed lean-tos in a clearing; here today, beyond memory tomorrow.
December 23, 2024 at 2:43 PM
To the Earth, the only objective reality, you have as much right to exist as every other living thing. Systems and structures of power are hastily constructed lean-tos in a clearing; here today, beyond memory tomorrow.
Empires rise and fall again and again under the same sun. There will be actions and reactions to come that are impossible, yet, to anticipate. Love and impermanence are an endless circle.
December 22, 2024 at 6:24 PM
Empires rise and fall again and again under the same sun. There will be actions and reactions to come that are impossible, yet, to anticipate. Love and impermanence are an endless circle.
I know a lot more about plants than critters, so I'm not certain what happened here, but the iridescent wings caught my eye. Battle to the death? Last embrace of lovers? They were all just curled in the middle of this leaf blowing around the trail at Stinchfield Woods in Dexter.
December 21, 2024 at 8:03 PM
I know a lot more about plants than critters, so I'm not certain what happened here, but the iridescent wings caught my eye. Battle to the death? Last embrace of lovers? They were all just curled in the middle of this leaf blowing around the trail at Stinchfield Woods in Dexter.
Visiting Janice Anscheutz Highland Preserve: lots of lovely massive old oaks, and I spotted a beaver dam in the creek. Coming back, a red tailed hawk started shrieking and I had a few seconds to get set up before capturing this.
December 21, 2024 at 1:11 PM
Visiting Janice Anscheutz Highland Preserve: lots of lovely massive old oaks, and I spotted a beaver dam in the creek. Coming back, a red tailed hawk started shrieking and I had a few seconds to get set up before capturing this.
I was very lucky to see C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) in the fall - my first time even attempting to track and photograph a comet. I hiked into an A2 preserve at sunset and set up shop with a tripod in a strip of trees at the edge of a field. Took a bit to find it, but wow!
December 20, 2024 at 8:52 PM
I was very lucky to see C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan–ATLAS) in the fall - my first time even attempting to track and photograph a comet. I hiked into an A2 preserve at sunset and set up shop with a tripod in a strip of trees at the edge of a field. Took a bit to find it, but wow!
Fog is my favorite, and it's becoming more common here with rapid temperature changes and wetter winters. These are some shots from around Depot Town in Ypsilanti, MI during the heavy fog last weekend.
December 20, 2024 at 5:52 PM
Fog is my favorite, and it's becoming more common here with rapid temperature changes and wetter winters. These are some shots from around Depot Town in Ypsilanti, MI during the heavy fog last weekend.