Simon Corston-Oliver
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simonhco.bsky.social
Simon Corston-Oliver
@simonhco.bsky.social
Linguist / computational linguist. Keen hiker and nature photographer in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. I mostly photograph amphibians, fungus and birds, or whatever comes across my path.
One very soggy Malaysian Night Heron. We had torrential rain the entire time we were in Taipei (Oct 2025).

Daan Forest Park, Taipei, Taiwan.

#birds #naturephotography 🌿 #birdphotography
November 18, 2025 at 5:53 PM
Me (from New Zealand) in Taiwan: ooh a pūkeko (𝑃𝑜𝑟𝑝ℎ𝑦𝑟𝑖𝑜 𝑚𝑒𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑡𝑢𝑠, Australasian swamphen)! But actually I'm pretty sure it's a Common Gallinule.

Daan Forest Park, Taipei, Taiwan. Completely unphased by the torrential rain that week.

#birds #naturephotography
November 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Starting to work thru the photos from my recent Taiwan trip.

One very spiky caterpillar on the hiking trail at Dakeng Scenic Area near Taichung, Taiwan.

#macrophotography #naturephotography 🌿
November 18, 2025 at 2:12 AM
Another view of the ensatina that crawled under my camera bag a few days ago. It was ~10cm (4") long.

Clearly the lesson from that day is to wait for the #herps to come to you.

Handheld focus stack of 40 images.

Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, BC.

#salamander 🌿 #naturephotography
November 16, 2025 at 1:03 AM
A slug eating a mushroom. If you zoom in around the head you can see some tiny bugs hitching a ride on the slug.

Belcarra, British Columbia.

#FungiFriends #fungifriday #fungi 🍄 🌿
November 15, 2025 at 1:57 AM
A little mushroom pushing up thru the twigs on the forest floor.

Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, British Columbia.

#FungiFriends #fungifriday #fungi 🍄 🌿
November 15, 2025 at 1:19 AM
I picked up my camera bag after taking some photos of mushrooms and discovered that an ensatina (a kind of lungless salamander) had crawled under the bag!

It's the opposite of "the one that got away".

Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, BC.

#herps #salamander 🌿 #naturephotography
November 14, 2025 at 2:33 AM
So many vibrant mushrooms at Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, BC.

Canon R5+RF100. 1/4, f5.6, ISO400. Stack of 57 images.

#mushroom #fungifriends #mushrooms 🍄 🌿
November 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
One thing I am learning as I look more closely at mushrooms is that things can be messy and there can be a lot of bugs on and around them.

This mushroom was bursting out of a dirt bank. There's a mosquito hiding under the cap.

Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, BC.

#fungifriends 🍄 🌿 #fungi
November 11, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, British Columbia. I didn’t see any rough-skinned newts but I did see an ensatina (kind of lungless salamander). Stay tuned

#herps #newt 🦎
November 11, 2025 at 12:43 AM
Walking through a neighborhood in Tainan, Taiwan I came upon a troupe of actors putting the finishing touches on their costumes. They were good sports about me taking their photo.

#taiwan #streetphotography #street #travelphotography
November 6, 2025 at 2:42 AM
A dung beetle struggling to move what I believe (given what I had seen on the trail) is macaque monkey poop.

Tashan trail at Alishan National Forest, Taiwan.

#beetle #taiwan 🪲🌿
October 29, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Someone is in for a big surprise if that fan starts up. Dekang Scenic Area, Taichung,Taiwan.

#herps
October 27, 2025 at 7:58 AM
There are things that may be commonplace is some parts of the world but seem remarkable to me, like orchids growing on a hiking trail. Dakeng, Taiwan. #bloomscrolling
October 26, 2025 at 8:25 AM
1km into a hike in Dakeng, Taichung, Taiwan when suddenly a stand selling bags of chili peppers appears.
October 26, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Poster art exhibit on the theme of indigenous women at the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, Taipei, Taiwan.

#linguistics
October 23, 2025 at 8:38 AM
Is it just me or do these Chinese characters look like Hangul? Taipei, Taiwan.

@zevhandel.bsky.social ?

#linguistics
October 23, 2025 at 6:31 AM
Three male wood ducks looking mighty fine on World Migratory Bird Day at Burnaby Lake, BC.

#birds #birdphotography #naturephotography 🌿
October 14, 2025 at 11:31 PM
Common puffballs (I think).

Belcarra, BC.

#fungifriends #naturephotography #fungi 🌿 🍄
October 14, 2025 at 11:12 PM
Fungus bursting out of the detritus on the forest floor.

I am not sure of ID -- can any experts help?

Belcarra, BC.

#fungifriends #naturephotography #fungi 🌿
October 14, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Finally working thru some pics from April 2024.

Cretan frogs, Mili Gorge, Crete, Greece.

Classified as endangered, esp. due to competition with invasive American bullfrogs. I was lucky to see them.

Note the color variations and the vocal sacs. It was breeding season.

#herps 🐸 🌿 #frog #crete
October 9, 2025 at 11:32 PM
Me in the forest: what is this odd looking tiny fungus?
Me at home: oh it's a tree root with a bit of rotten wood on the end.

🌿 #fungus
October 8, 2025 at 12:03 AM
Bleeding bonnet fungus growing from holes in a rotting log. Malcolm Knapp Research Forest, Maple Ridge, British Columbia.

If you zoom in you can see various little critters in, on and under the caps.

#fungi #fungifriends #mycology #naturephotography #macrophotography 🌿
October 7, 2025 at 11:44 PM
Labyrinth Street in Heraklion, Crete, Greece. You are being watched.
October 5, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Cretan ebony (Ebenus cretica), a legume native to Crete, Greece.

#bloomscrolling #bloomsky #flower #flowerphotography 🌿
October 5, 2025 at 1:48 AM