Simon Corston-Oliver
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simonhco.bsky.social
Simon Corston-Oliver
@simonhco.bsky.social
420 followers 480 following 230 posts
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.
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simonhco.bsky.social
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
A portrait shot of a Malaysian Night Heron. Its feathers are very wet and matted.
November 18, 2025 at 5:53 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
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
A common gallinule turned towards the viewer. It has fine beads of water on its feathers and crest.
November 18, 2025 at 5:30 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
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 🌿
A caterpillar. There is a blue pattern running down the centre of its back. It is covered in clumps of green spikes.
November 18, 2025 at 2:12 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
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
An ensatina on the forest floor viewed from the side. A single yellow conifer needle lies across its back at the base of the tail, giving a sense of scale.
November 16, 2025 at 1:03 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
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 🍄 🌿
A slug has its mouth and antennae under the red cap of a mushroom. There are a few tiny bugs riding on the slug. Canon R5+RF100, 1/80, f11, ISO 2000. Flash.
November 15, 2025 at 1:57 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
A little mushroom pushing up thru the twigs on the forest floor.

Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, British Columbia.

#FungiFriends #fungifriday #fungi 🍄 🌿
A chubby little mushroom. The cap is a deep yellow color. Canon R5+RF100, 1/80 sec, f25, ISO 1600. Flash.
November 15, 2025 at 1:19 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
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
An ensatina is crawling among the twigs on the forest floor. It has turned back to look at the camera. Canon R5+RF100, 1/80, f20, ISO 6400. Flash.
November 14, 2025 at 2:33 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
So many vibrant mushrooms at Woodhaven Swamp, Belcarra, BC.

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

#mushroom #fungifriends #mushrooms 🍄 🌿
An orange mushroom growing from a rotting log.
November 11, 2025 at 4:26 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
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
A mushroom that looks like it has burst from the ground at an angle. There is dirt and some small bugs on the surface and a mosquito hiding under the cap. Canon R5+RF100. Focus stack of 27 images. 1/15, f5.6, ISO 2000
November 11, 2025 at 2:03 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
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 🦎
A sign that says “SLOW. Newts crossing.” With a black silhouette of a newt Information about the newts crossing the road.
November 11, 2025 at 12:43 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
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
A troupe of actors in traditional Chinese costumes and with dramatic makeup sits outside. One actor is facing the camera and making a peace sign. Canon R5+RF100-500 @ 300mm. 1/400s, f13, ISO 1600.
November 6, 2025 at 2:42 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
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
simonhco.bsky.social
Someone is in for a big surprise if that fan starts up. Dekang Scenic Area, Taichung,Taiwan.

#herps
A gecko sits on the flat surface of a blade of a bathroom window fan.
October 27, 2025 at 7:58 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
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
Four white orchids bloom from a stem of a plant attached to a tree trunk.
October 26, 2025 at 8:25 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
1km into a hike in Dakeng, Taichung, Taiwan when suddenly a stand selling bags of chili peppers appears.
A stand advertising chili peppers for ~$5 CAD per bag. Chili peppers and eggs. The jar with the black lid was for payment on the honor system.
October 26, 2025 at 8:20 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
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
simonhco.bsky.social
Is it just me or do these Chinese characters look like Hangul? Taipei, Taiwan.

@zevhandel.bsky.social ?

#linguistics
Store front showing the name in Latin script and Chinese but the Chinese characters look like hangul
October 23, 2025 at 6:31 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
Three male wood ducks looking mighty fine on World Migratory Bird Day at Burnaby Lake, BC.

#birds #birdphotography #naturephotography 🌿
Three male wood ducks standing in a row on a log in Burnaby Lake. The center duck is facing us. The ducks on either side are facing away but turning back to groom.
October 14, 2025 at 11:31 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
Common puffballs (I think).

Belcarra, BC.

#fungifriends #naturephotography #fungi 🌿 🍄
A clump of three white puffballs. There are small black dots over the surface of the puffballs. Canon R5 + RF100, 0.5 sec, f7.1, ISO 400 Focus stack of 16 images.
October 14, 2025 at 11:12 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
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 🌿
A side view that also shows the gills. There is a small Western hemlock cone next to it. Canon R5 + RF100, 0.5sec, f4.5, ISO 400 Focus stack of 38 images A view showing the top of the cap. There is a small Western hemlock cone next to it. Canon R5 + RF100, 0.5sec, f4.5, ISO 400 Focus stack of 70 images
October 14, 2025 at 10:43 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
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
A Cretan frog, its vocal sacs fully inflated. The frog is light brown with dark brown patches. Two Cretan frogs with dark brown patches against a light green background. A brown Cretan frog mostly in the water with its head and part of its torso exposed. A Cretan frog. It is light brown with dark brown patches on the torso and dark brown stripes on the hind legs.
October 9, 2025 at 11:32 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
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
A thin tree root sticks up. At the tip of thr root there is a small piece of rotten wood that looks like the cap of a mushroom.
October 8, 2025 at 12:03 AM
simonhco.bsky.social
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 🌿
One large mushroom grows from a hole in a log. From another hole a clump of four mushrooms grow. There are small white mites on and around the mushrooms and a larger bug partly visible under one cap. Canon R5+RF100, 0.5sec, f5.6, ISO 400. Focus stack of 47 images.
October 7, 2025 at 11:44 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
Labyrinth Street in Heraklion, Crete, Greece. You are being watched.
street signs on the corner of a stone building. The signs are in Greek. One says "Tobazi Street" the other says "Labyrinth street". There are two security cameras, one facing down each street.
October 5, 2025 at 7:13 PM
simonhco.bsky.social
Cretan ebony (Ebenus cretica), a legume native to Crete, Greece.

#bloomscrolling #bloomsky #flower #flowerphotography 🌿
A bloom flower catches the light. The flower has white feathery petals.
October 5, 2025 at 1:48 AM