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mochamustelid.bsky.social
Dee
@mochamustelid.bsky.social
97 followers 60 following 180 posts
Okay maybe I should put something else here.
Hi!
I duno what to put here.
Uh, there will be wildlife stuff, craft stuff, photos, ramblings?, my cat, yard plants, bugs that sit still enough for me to photograph them, maybe screaming into the void.
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mochamustelid.bsky.social
Current mess that I'm working on....along with 4 other things.
This was a crossstitch kit I bought AGES ago at, possibly fabric depot (which is sadly dead). It's on 18 count fabric too, and I'm used to working on 14.
A pile of supplies thread, a WIP cross stitch, and the paper pattern of a leopard with some squares colored in to signify that I've stitched those.
November 1, 2025 at 9:20 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober day 31, the last day! Is black and white!
Big thanks to @kaylafiskbirds.bsky.social for putting together the prompt list! It was a lot of fun to dig through all the pictures!
Andean Condors. The male has a caruncle on his face, and the female is in front (she's kinda turned away so you can't see her face or her red eyes) San Diego Zoo Black-capped chickadee Tualatin River NWR Ae'o, Hawiian stilts Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge Lark bunting Eastern Montana
October 31, 2025 at 9:58 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober day 30 is Long Thin Wings!
Another headteacher kinda, since I didn't want to duplicate too many birds! Some may be broader than others.
Peregrine falcon, very pointy wings Yaquina Head Outstanding Natural Area Northern Harrier Steigerwald Lake NWR White-tailed kite Moss Landing, CA Elegant Tern (I think!) San Diego, CA
October 31, 2025 at 1:17 AM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober day 29 is unique foraging technique.
American dippers are aquatic songbirds, so they're hanging out in high flowing streams with lots of exposed rocks. They'll snatch up aquatic insects form the rocks, it's a lot of fun to watch these busy little birds.
American dipper with a snack in some fast flowing water Yellowstone National Park American dipper standing on top of a rock with prey in beak Yellowstone National Park American dipper dunking its head in the surf looking for bugs Yellowstone National Park American dipper foraging for insects by dunking its head into the fast flowing water Yellowstone National Park
October 29, 2025 at 8:12 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober day 28 is Icterid, the blackbird family. For being called the blackbird family there are way more than just blackbirds.
Great-tailed grackle Phoenix, AZ Western Meadowlark Antelope Island State Park Utah Bullock's oriole Great Falls, MT Crested oropendola San Diego Safari Park
October 28, 2025 at 7:12 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober Day 27 is colony nester! There are advantages and disadvantages to nesting in a group. Could have more eyes for predators, but predators can also see your giant grouping.
Snowy egrets These guys also make some GOOFY noises during nesting season. I need to go back and get sound next time I'm in the San Diego area. San Diego Safari Park Common murres Yaquina Head Natural Outstanding Area Dalmatian pelicans Phoenix Zoo Taveta golden weavers Woodland Park Zoo
October 27, 2025 at 11:30 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober day 26 is cryptic plumage!
I swear there are bird pictures here. Honest.
American bittern. They're a little more hidden with the grasses are brown. Ridgefield NWR Brown creeper. You can usually hear them before you see them against the tree bark Ridgefield NWR Tawny frogmouth and similar species look like tree branches. Denver Zoo Female Edwards's pheasant. The females tend to have plumage that helps them blend in while the males have the feathers to show off. Woodland Park Zoo
October 26, 2025 at 9:22 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#BIrdtober day 25 is another free bird space!
So here are some more ravens! Grizzly & Wolf Discovery center has year round ravens that are a joy to watch. You can see some really interesting behaviors from play, to interactions with other birds & the bears and wolves.
#Photography #birds #raven
A common raven flying against a white sky A common raven rolling in the snow. They get plenty of snacks in the form of 'food meant for bears' and are pretty safe from predators (unless they wander into the wolf exhibit, sometimes the wolves catch the ravens). So you get neat behaviors like snow rolling. Common ravens interactions with one another. A lot of the birds in the winter are teenagers, so they get to work out social dynamics with each other. Usually involves yelling at each other. A large group of common ravens in the bear exhibit.
October 25, 2025 at 4:17 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober day 24 is xygodactyl!
I'm super sad I don't have more feet pictures for this! BUT trust me, these birds have interesting feet (this is such an odd post)
#Photography #birds
Great gray owl. Yellowstone National Park Lorikeet ABQ Biopark Zoo Greater Roadrunner Bosque del Apache NWR Ladder-backed Woodpecker New Mexico
October 24, 2025 at 3:57 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober Day 23 is Gulls & Terns! Gulls are some of the most abundant bird on the coast, which makes them good photo subjects. Especially in flight. WAY easier than the tiny birds.
....if you are looking for an easy ID, uh, maybe not gulls. They can be more tricky.
Heermann's gull San Diego, CA Western Gull San Diego CA Crap I forgot what tern this was. I think it's a royal tern. Also forgot where I took this. I'M GREAT AT CATEGORIES Common Tern Bozeman, MT
October 23, 2025 at 7:36 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober day 22 is curved beak! There's a lot of different bird beak shapes out there. Here are a few with a curve.
#Photography #birds
Long-billed curlew. These birds use their curved beak to poke through the dirt and sand for snacks Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge Golden eagle. Sharp pointy beak used for picking out pieces of flesh from their dinner Grizzly and Wolf Discovery Center Hyacinth macaw. Possibly one of the largest parrot beaks. Use for secure food. Also they open up shelled nuts REALLY quickly. ABQ Biopark Zoo Curve-billed Thrasher. They use their beaks to toss up leaf litter while looking for bugs. (I forgot where I took this. But it was most likely New Mexico somewhere)
October 23, 2025 at 12:22 AM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober Day 21 is 'Female plumage' A lot of lady birds get overlooked because they're not as flashy as the males (most of the time, there are exceptions!). But they are still just as pretty!
#photography #birds
Female andean cock of the rock. Males are bright orange. Woodland Park Zoo Female red-winged blackbird. Males are all black with red wingpatches Bozeman, MT Female common eider, the males are mostly white with black feathers Woodland Park Zoo Female Phainopepla, the males are a silky dark blue/black. Both still have the red eyes. Bosque del Apache NWR
October 21, 2025 at 10:50 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
So.
This is our roof. I guess it's their home now too???? At least they won't make more holes vs the northern flickers that have investigated.
The yard does have a lot of giant grasshoppers in a pesticide free area. IDK about the neighbors tho.
A photo of a photo of a pair of American kestrels nestled in a roof that's missing its shingles.
October 21, 2025 at 12:04 AM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober day 20 is 'Birds that make non-vocal sounds'
Here's a few noisy birds, but they can make noises using something that's not vocal chords.
Anna's hummingbird. During breeding season males make big showy flight displays. The wind rushing through their feathers make a sharp 'BEEP' noise. Seattle, WA Nighthawks make booming sounds when they fly at high speeds. Very unnerving if you duno what that noise is at 5am when you are trying to do bird surveys, or so I've heard. Bosque del Apache NWR Wilson's snipes make 'winnowing' noises when they fly around. Three Forks, MT Downy woodpeckers. Woodpeckers are pretty obvious, especially if you have a northern flicker and a metal roof/chimney flew. Bozeman, MT
October 20, 2025 at 7:21 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober Day 19 Is Smallest of their Family. I had to brain storm and ask for help with this one!!!!
Here we have the smallest heron, crane, penguin and stork (storks and cranes are already pretty big so kinda hard to picture).
#photography #birds
Least bittern, the smallest species of heron. Bosque del Apache NWR Demoiselle crane Idaho Falls Zoo Little blue penguin ABQ Biopark Zoo Abdim's stork San Diego Safari Park
October 20, 2025 at 1:59 AM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
Broccoli cheddar chicken soup was made and consumed... Maybe consumed too much. Gonna splode now.
A top down view of broccoli cheddar chicken soup in a serving bowl and soup spoon.
October 19, 2025 at 1:54 AM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober Day 18 is Crest/Plume! Birds sure have some fancy plumage! Here are some ~fancy~ birds.
#Photography #birds
Brandt's cormorant starting to show off their breeding floofs La Jolla, CA Grey crowned crane Pueblo Zoo Ruby-crowned kinglet Bandelier National Monument Secretary bird. Denver Zoo
October 18, 2025 at 7:06 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober Day 17 is Specialized Diet. You can tell a lot about bird diets by looking at their beaks/bills.
#Photography #Birds
A White fronted bee eater with, a BEE. These birds are very acrobatic and are able to catch flying insects. If it's one with a stinger, they'll scrape the stinger against a branch to dislodge it. San Diego Zoo Lorikeets are small parrots that have specialized tongues to feed on plant nectar. Nectar cups in free flying lorikeet exhibits have been popular in zoos (not sure if it is as popular now) Oregon Zoo (quite an old picture as OZ does not exhibit lorikeets anymore) Common mergansers have slender bills with little itty bitty 'teeth' to grasp onto wriggly fish as they hunt for them. Yellowstone National Park Palm nut vultures are the oddball out. A lot of their diet is fruit (palm nuts, dates etc.) and are rarely found at a carcass like all other vultures. Their heads are also quite feathered compared to other vultures. Zoo Boise
October 17, 2025 at 6:14 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober Day 16 is Waterfowl! It's a pretty diverse group of birds, both big and small.
#Photography #birds #waterfowl
Falcated duck San Diego Zoo Nēnē, a Hawaiian goose Haleakalā National Park Crested Screamer Phoenix Zoo Trumpeter Swan Yellowstone National Park
October 17, 2025 at 12:29 AM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
Cat. Sir. Smallest Gremlin.
I need that paper to figure out the rest of my door puzzle.
A little fluffy gremlin sits on a piece of graph paper with notes on it. A map of a Metaphor dungeon is on the laptop screen featuring a door puzzle.
October 16, 2025 at 2:53 AM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober Day 15 is Courtship display!
You guys get a single species this time! This was one of my gotta see birds when I went to Hawaii earlier this year. Hour and a half hike later, Mōlī (Laysan albatross) were spotted! And they were still displaying to each other!
#Photography #birds #Albatross
Laysan albatross in mid courtship display. One bird is observing another that is crouched down Laysan albatross courtship displays. One albatross is tiptoeing while another one is doing a wing display Laysan albatross in mid bill clacking Laysan albatross bowing to each other
October 15, 2025 at 5:07 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
Still trying to squeeze in some embroidery. This gila monster is by @a-warm-garlic-yurt.bsky.social
I wanna try a stumpwork moth next, but I have to finish this first before I turn this house into a WIP graveyard.
A pattern of a hula monster on fabric French knots are being used to fill in the gila monster.
October 14, 2025 at 8:12 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober day 14 is irruptive species. THIS was a rough one because I could only think of waxwings. But I think I managed to pick a few more species.
#Photography #birds
White-winged crossbill Bozeman, MT Grey-crowned rosy finches Yellowstone National Park Snowy owl, my only time spotting one, thanks to the Bird Alliance of Oregon doing a fiend trip out to Ocean Shores oh so long ago. Ocean Shores, WA Bohemian waxwings. They tend to blend into the cedar waxwing flocks, so it's quite the scavenger hunt. Bozeman, MT
October 14, 2025 at 5:40 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober day 13 is scavenger! One of my favorite groups of animals, those that clean up a carcass! Vultures was an obvious choice, but I had to include a few other birds as well.
#photography #birds #scavenger
California condor nibbling on a bit of carcass Oregon Zoo American crow with a mouth full of food stolen from some Amur tigers Oregon Zoo A bald eagle next to a carcass that has a bunch of black-billed magpies on it. Yes, bald eagles are prone to scavenging, especially in the winter time. Ennis, MT A marabou stork. These birds are frequent visitors to carcasses ABQ Biopark Zoo
October 13, 2025 at 11:50 PM
mochamustelid.bsky.social
#Birdtober Day 12 is FREE BIRD. Or, bird of your choice. My brain went to the song and just kinda fizzled out.
So here are some ravens! One of my favorite birds!
#photography #birds #ravens
Common raven portrait Yellowstone National Park A common raven with some, stuff, it picked out of the bear habitat at Grizzly & Wolf Discovery Center A pair of ravens doing some allopreening, my favorite bird couple behavior. Yellowstone National Park Raven couple playing 'got your beak' where one raven grabs the others' beak. Yellowstone National Park
October 12, 2025 at 6:03 PM