Welcome to Hyperfixation Hell

Blue-banded Pitta (Erythropitta arquata), family Pittidae, order Passeriformes, endemic to Borneo

true north aid (an organization aimed at providing support to remote/northern indigenous people in canada)

canadian red cross wildfire fund

ontario spca and humane society (links to their donate page specifically aimed at supporting pets and animals in areas impacted by the fires)

House Wrens. Ready to fledge.

a rare case of two Charaxes jasius on a single leaf, owing more to their lack of awareness than any sort of social tolerance, although a fight would surely break out if they realized one of the siblings is a whole instar ahead of the other. you'll have to excuse the poor lighting as this photo was taken on a beautiful autumn night at the pitch black hour of - let me check - ah yes, five pm

"A Scottish field once home to mono-crop barley has become a pollinator’s paradise after intervention from a local trust saw bumblebee numbers increase 100-fold.

Entitled Rewilding Denmarkfield, and run by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust, the project has also seen a sharp increase in the number of species passing through the rolling meadows after they were reclaimed by dozens of wildflower species.

The area north of Perth is about 90 acres in size, and surveys of bumblebees before the project began rarely recorded more than 50. But by 2023, just two years of letting “nature take the lead” that number has topped 4,000, with the number of different bee species doubling.

“This superb variety of plants attracts thousands of pollinators. Many of these plants, such as spear thistle and smooth hawk’s beard, are sometimes branded as ‘weeds’. But they are all native species that are benefiting native wildlife in different ways,” Ecologist Ellie Corsie, who has been managing the project since it began in 2021, said.

“Due to intensive arable farming, with decades of plowing, herbicide, and pesticide use, biodiversity was incredibly low when we started. Wildlife had largely been sanitized from the fields. Rewilding the site has had a remarkable benefit.”

Similar increases have been recorded in the populations of butterflies, with a tripling in the number of these insects seen on average during a ramble through the field.

The numbers of both insects are now so high that Rewilding Denmarkfield offers bee and butterfly safaris to visitors.

Local residents told the Scotsman that on spring and summer days, the field is awash with color, and hums with the sounds of bees and birds. Even as multiple housing developments expand around the Denmarkfield area, the field is a haven for wildlife."

are we drawing the connection between worker safety and consumer safety & public health yet?

More on the health point:

"US Department of Labor proposes more than $1M fine following worker fatality at New Jersey vegetable processing facility"

HOW TO BECOME FAT

Longtime Nautilus contributor and the "Indiana Jones of marine biology," Peter Ward has spent decades studying the ancient cephalopod that gave our magazine its name. On an expedition to Australia's Great Barrier Reef, Ward and his colleagues sampled two nautiluses long regarded as separate species. Despite striking differences in their shells and anatomy, DNA analysis revealed no genetic difference between them. The discovery became the starting point for Ward's exploration of epigenetics—the study of how environmental influences can alter the way genes are expressed without changing the underlying DNA sequence. In this essay, Ward argues that epigenetics may help explain why some organisms that appear to be distinct species are actually one and the same—and why Earth may contain fewer species than scientists have traditionally believed.

Siamese Red-Necked Keelback (Rhabdophis siamensis), family Colubridae, Cambodia

Mildly to moderately venomous.

Venom is excreted into the saliva, and enters the prey through the bite wound. Keelbacks do not have fangs.

This species is also poisonous! They sequester toxins from the toads they prey on.