Patricia Tavormina
LightNews LightNews
banner
pltavormina.bsky.social
Patricia Tavormina
@pltavormina.bsky.social
200 followers 47 following 100 posts
Scientist and teacher. Nature lover. Writer.
Posts Replies Media Videos
Pinned
pltavormina.bsky.social
Patricia Tavormina @pltavormina.bsky.social · Dec 3
There's a presidential election in 2028. I'm hiking every day until then.
pltavormina.bsky.social
Pied Bill Grebes are listed as endangered, or threatened in different areas. Their numbers are dropping for unknown reasons. They're stocky and rarely fly.

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #birds #birdoftheday #simple
A black and white water bird called a pied billed grebe, reflected in still grey water.
August 24, 2026 at 2:30 AM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#hike 644 / 1463

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #deer #muledeer
adult mule deer doe picking her way down a rocky brown hillside in the evening.
August 16, 2026 at 1:48 AM
pltavormina.bsky.social
What strange faces they have.
A medium sized butterfly called a lorquin's admiral. It's orange and black with bright white splotches in a line down the center of its wings. This specimen is perched on a sprig of coyote brush with its wings up and together.
August 12, 2026 at 3:45 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#hike 640 / 1463

9 miles

Towhees, a type of sparrow, usually stay in the brush. This one hung out on the rocky hillside next to the trail for a nice long time.

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #birds #birdoftheday
A grey and reddish towhee, which is a large sparrow with a strong beak, perched on a rocky hillside of the same color, and looking at the camera.
August 11, 2026 at 3:49 AM
pltavormina.bsky.social
Dark eyed juncos--a type of sparrow--are #wild, too, despite them finding our feeders and crumbs. Over 200,000,000 juncos live in the United States.

#BirdOfTheDay #EyeOfTheWild #noplanetB #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wilderness #earth #birds #photography
A small gray-breasted, black-headed bird with a pink beak in near-profile, standing amidst dry leaves and looking with one eye at the camera.
July 24, 2026 at 6:14 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#Hike 619 / 1463

8.6 miles

🦌 🦌 🦌 🦌 🦌

Mama mule deer and fawn... way over there.

🦌 🦌 🦌 🦌 🦌

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #deer #muledeer #bambi
A grassy and dry hillside and a pair of mule deer in the center. One is a fawn, crouching under the doe and nursing.
July 20, 2026 at 5:02 AM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#hike 607 / 1463

3.9 miles

Apis mellifera, the western honeybee, the most common honeybee worldwide & model organism. This one's nectaring on buckwheat.

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #insects #bugs #bee #honeybee
A honeybee sitting atop a cluster of pink flowers. The bee's proboscis is deep in the flowers, and its six legs are perched around the floral cluster. It seems to be an older bee, as the wings are a slightly damaged around the edges.
July 8, 2026 at 1:07 AM
pltavormina.bsky.social
Cardinals were once kept as pets. In 1918 the Migratory Bird Treaty Act made it illegal to own one.

Cherokee myth views cardinals as protective.

#BirdOfTheDay #Redbeaks #noplanetB #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #birds #photography
A bright red cardinal perched on a branch, staring at the camera, with a bright green background
June 21, 2026 at 3:13 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
Among #Raptors, the Cooper's hawk has the most varied collection of calls. (This kiddo wants to go back to bed.)

#BirdOfTheDay

#noplanetB #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #birds #photography #hawks
Brown and white hawk perched on one foot in a tree
June 20, 2026 at 1:15 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#hike 588 / 1463

8.9 miles

Far as I know, I've never seen a California cicada before. (Pretty sure I've heard them, though.) Maybe a Cactus Dodger ... but who knows?

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #insects #bugs
A large blunt insect, likely a Cactus Dodger (a type of cicada), perched vertically on a slim branch. The insect is greenish brown with transparent wings that have lace-like veins.
June 18, 2026 at 4:44 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
Hike 584 / 1463 9.3mi

All the quail have broods right now. They teach their kids to run, run, run. (Brave Sir Quail runs away.)

Fun fact: Quail raise clutches in groups. One pair watches multiple groups of hatchlings, giving other parents a break.

#hiking #birds #quail #noplanetB #nature #Earth
Half a dozen quail running as fast as they can away from the camera. A dusty trail with some greenery to either side.
June 14, 2026 at 1:11 AM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#hike 559 / 1463

Checked on the red-tailed #hawk nest (posted Feb 26) today. Thrilled to see a juvenile exploring branches around the nest. Good job, hawks!

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #birds #birding #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth
A juvenile red tailed hawk (see yellow eyes, non-red tail) next to a large red-tailed hawk nest against a blue sky.
May 19, 2026 at 1:31 AM
pltavormina.bsky.social
What a goofy face. Look, mom!

#BirdOfTheDay #WaterDroplets

#noplanetB #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #birds #photography #geese #goose #shorelands
A canada goose touching down in a lagoon and splashing water with its feet
May 16, 2026 at 4:59 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#BirdOfTheDay theme: #SeaBirds. A California Brown Pelican.

Earth is beautiful. Let's preserve her.

#noplanetB #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #birds #photography #pelicans #shorelands
A brown pelican standing on wet sand, with hazy blue water behind. The pelican is looking at the camera with an expression of mildly tolerant amusement. Behind and to the left, a second brown pelican is curled into itself in the sand, resting its head on its back and enjoying the day.
May 6, 2026 at 9:54 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
Western Grebes (I think), in California. #BirdOfTheDay #WhatTheFlock

Graceful! Relaxed and floaty. We should be more like this. :)

#noplanetB #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #birds #photography #grebes #wetlands
three grebes, which are black, gray, and white water birds, resting their heads against their backs.
April 22, 2026 at 3:57 AM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#birdoftheday #feederfriends

Here's Allen's Hummingbird, which eats nectar and insects. We don't keep a hummingbird feeder, but my mom used to.

#noplanetB #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #birds #photography #hummingbird #pollinators
Allen's Hummingbird is russett, white, and blackish-green. Here, a vibrantly colored male is perched on a bare twiggy branch.
April 17, 2026 at 4:01 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#hike 520 / 1463
9.1 miles

Still moving forward. Keep on keeping on.

What I like about matilija poppies is how crisp, crinkly, pure the petals. (the pom-pom, too.) What an attitude this #wildflower has!

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #flowers #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth
A pair of startlingly white flowers with fat yellow centers against a background of green.
April 15, 2026 at 5:23 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
Today's #birdoftheday theme is #manmadeperch

Here's an osprey at the wetlands, hoping for a fish.

#noplanetB #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #birds #photography #osprey #raptors
An adult osprey, dark brown and white with fierce beak and talons, perched on a lightpost against a blue sky.
April 9, 2026 at 2:41 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
Today's #hike goal was to figure out if what has *looked* (to me) like a nest ... is actually a raptor's nest.

It is! It's an active nest for a red-tailed hawk!

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #birds #birding #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth
A large nest high in a tree with a red tailed hawk 'pancaked' in the bowl of the nest.
February 27, 2026 at 3:44 AM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#BirdOfTheDay #BirdsintheirElement

Trying to get a decent meadowlark shot for over a year. Today's isn't it, but this guy is definitely in his element.

#birds #photography #noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #birding #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth
A medium sized bird with a yellow breast and a black blaze, sitting in a field of dry grass.
February 22, 2026 at 6:39 AM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#Hike #468 / 1463
5.5 miles

Here's a mule deer. There aren't as many antlered deer out--guess they dropped those by now. One deer was very round. Fawns on the way.

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #hiking #mammals
A mule deer, probably a doe I suppose, in a field of green, green grass, staring off past me and my camera.
February 21, 2026 at 4:17 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#Hike 461 / 1463

Took a new trail and what a treat--stumbled upon a 5-inch-thick fossil bed full of bivalves and spirals. This spot was my favorite but all the fossils throughout were fantastic.

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #naturelover #wild #wilderness #earth #fossils #hiking
A hiking pole for scale lying against a sizable rock full of marine fossils.
February 13, 2026 at 5:27 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
#hike 441 / 1463
9 miles, 1888 ft gain

Still looking at tracks, since the heavy rains in December. Would love a definitive ID on this type. Big dog? Cougar?

paw = 3.3 inches long

#noplanetB #wildlife #wildlifephotography #mountainlion #puma #catamount #hiking #nature #naturephotography #tracking
A paw print in cracking dry mud with a hiking pole handle for scale. The print is from a large animal and may be a mountain lion. The track of multiple prints from the same animal in drying mud with a hiking pole for scale.
January 21, 2026 at 5:06 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
Recent hike, two days back, brought a new bird--the pied billed #grebe. Evidently it's seen around here, but I hadn't before. Here it is with a #coot. The coots, I expect.

#noplanetB #hiking #nature #naturephotography #wildlife #wildlifephotography #birds #birding #naturelover #wild #wilderness
Two waterfowl, a brown 'duck' and a black 'duck,' both smallish waterfowl paddling in muddy water. One is a pied billed grebe, identified by the striped beak, and the other is the American coot.
January 9, 2026 at 10:59 PM
pltavormina.bsky.social
One advantage of rain is the wildlife tracks on the trails afterward.

Can't decide if this was a puma... leaning yes. Stride length ~3ft and prints are about right (a few inches across.)

#noplanetB #wildlife #wildlifephotography #mountainlion #puma #catamount #hiking #nature #naturephotography
A set of four paw prints in fresh mud with a hiking pole beside them for scale.
January 4, 2026 at 5:00 PM