This selfie was taken BY THE OCTOPUS, who also took a 90-second mostly-dark video of the inside of its den (with a muffled soundtrack of Alison Young and I laughing hysterically). The octopus grabbed my camera with three tentacles, and grabbed rocks with the others. After a determined tug-of-war that snapped the nylon wrist strap, it carried the camera deep into its den and started pressing buttons with its tentacles. Alison braved beak and tentacles to rescue the camera (the octo was still holding it) - is there anything she won't do for Citizen Science? Thank you Alison!

The alternate photo is the last one I took before the battle - you can see the first tentacle snaking towards the shiny camera...

In my continuing series of "Not Quite Audubon Cover Quality" bird images, I offer this study of a male Vermillion Flycatcher that just did not want to be photographed. For one of the more photogenic (read: photobombing) birds, he certainly had issues.

Say Hello to 'Bubba.' This magnificent, adult, male Mohave ground squirrel (MGS; Xerospermophilus mohavensis) was captured and released near Coso Junction, California, on June 6, 2019. It was a bit late in the year to capture an adult MGS, especially one so obviously well fed, above ground. That is because this species not only hibernates through the winter months, but it estivates through the hottest months of the summer; they hibernate or estivate for ~7 months of the year. Sadly, because of the pandemic, I could not return to my field site in 2020 and it does not look very promising either for 2021.

First known wild observations and discovery of natural fluorescent in an old world mammal or any mammal outside of North and Central America, images of the Springhare taken in August 2019. Incredible to see it’s orange and pink glow firsthand, especially when it wasn’t expected! Accidental discovery whilst out photographing scorpions under UV light

Shot using a Nikon D850 Handheld with a Nitecore Chameleon C6 ( 365nm ) torch.

For anyone interested in February 2020 a Scientific journal was released by a American research group ( no relation to me ) about this UV trait and science behind it from research in museum & zoo specimens in the US.

There are a few more images, but you might be able to imagine photographing a rather skittish nocturnal creature on foot with a UV torch in one hand and a large DSLR in the other during a unexpected encounter whilst also trying to expose a camera correctly for UV light isn’t the easiest thing to do the split second.

Experts - What is going on here? This male American Kestrel sure did seem to have the hots for this female Merlin. He kept trying to get close to her and even brought her a few treats (insects?) from the grass beneath the fence. She accepted the treats but didn't seem thrilled with the attention. However, when he flew off, she followed him...

American Alligator
Alligator mississippiensis

Alexander Springs Recreation Area
Ocala National Forest
Lake County Florida
Olympus OM-D E-M5
14-42mm II Lens
PT-EP08 Underwater Housing,
PPO-EP01 Lens Port
& 14-42mm Zoom Gear

Phil's 1stPix on 500px

This marmot reportedly showed up at a high school campus in Albuquerque in fall 2018 and I first learned about it in May 2019 when I photo'd it. It was denning under a shipping container next to the track and football field and reportedly feeding on the field when few people were around. Obviously a displaced individual since there are no marmot populations at this elevation (5700 ft) in New Mexico or within about 60 miles of here. The animal disappeared before we could try to live-trap it. Thanks to Deb Hill and Jennifer Frey for alerting me about this animal.

Incidentally, the shaded geographic range as depicted on the iNat species map is inaccurate for New Mexico. The species is not known to occur south of the mountains near Santa Fe.

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This black thrasher was among normally-colored thrashers at a residence. The previous day, a thrasher got into the flue pipe of a wood stove at a residence in this area, where it remained trapped in the sooty pipe for at least several hours. We managed to coax it out through the wood stove and it flew out through the open back door and disappeared. @raystuart detected this "melanistic" individual the next morning and I got some shots of it. Seemed in good shape despite its sooty condition.

I wonder how many reported cases of melanism in wildlife might be attributed to similar circumstances?