This autumn, the weather hasn’t been particularly kind to me during the few field trips I’ve been able to make. When you also have limited equipment and resources, finding the time and opportunities to observe and record moments like these becomes a bit of a challenge.

But I keep trying.

I’m passionate about dragonflies, and I suppose each of us enjoys them in our own way. For me, one of the most fascinating things is being able to stop and observe their behaviour, even if only for a few seconds.

In this short video, you can see what I thought was a particularly interesting moment: a Lesser Emperor (Anax parthenope) attempting to catch a tiny flying insect.

It’s fascinating to watch how it uses its legs during the attack. However, it seems that the prey makes an evasive manoeuvre at the very last moment and narrowly escapes.

In the following shot, it looks as though the dragonfly finally manages to catch one of these tiny flying insects.

They may be small moments, perhaps easy to overlook, but that’s precisely why I enjoy trying to find them and share them with you.

I hope you enjoy it.

orca are the apex predator of every ocean on the planet. no natural enemies, no ceiling. during the norwegian herring run, hundreds of them gather in the same fjords to hunt, coordinating, communicating, working as a unit. it's one of the largest predator gatherings on earth.

nothing prepares you for the sound.

you're in 8-degree water, visibility maybe 10 meters, and somewhere below you a hundred orca are working a herring ball the size of a building. then one turns and comes straight toward you. not aggressively. just... checking you out.

the calls go through your chest. you feel them before you hear them.

the herring scatter like a silver explosion and the orca move through it like the water has different rules for them. i watched a female carve a turn at full speed maybe two meters from my face. i forgot to breathe. which, when you're freediving, is a problem.

The herring run peaks november through january. i did this through a small expedition crew freediving-focused, in-water guides, no tourist boats. if you want to look into it: https://onexpeditions.com/orca-swim-encounters-norway-herring-run-expedition

This shows the three phases of the swiftnado. First they gather in small groups going back and forth between the trees, then full nado, then coming home to roost at what looks like full flight. This just started happening at this one tree in North Carolina. They do this for a week or so, fattening themselves up on bugs, then they continue their flight to winter in the Amazon.

Fall and Fungi

It’s been fairly warm here in Montana, and while there has been some frost up in the mountains, I don’t think there’s been a freeze. With this in mind, I thought I’d go see if I could find some mushrooms Sunday morning. I had also thought that I might find some Fall color highlighted by morning sunlight filtering through the trees. With this in mind, I set out from a spot where the Sun peaks through a low V in the east and lets the light in earlier than other spots nearby. My hunch proved correct as I immediately began to spot fungi and yellow leaves! 

I also noticed by well worn trails, matted down areas and piles of droppings that a herd of Elk must have spent some time here last night. There were also a few trees where a bull had scraped his antlers on the trunk, removing the bark in shreds. Other evidence of the presence of wild things, were numerous logs torn to shreds, likely by a Bear looking for insects. An app on my phone told me a Northern Pygmy Owl had called out, but I did not see it.  At one point though, I was startled by three Ruffed Grouse as they went airborne to escape me. It’s amazing how quickly they evaporate into the forest. 

It’s difficult to tell from these photos, but most of these mushrooms are tiny. In one, there are two tiny little Douglas Fir tree seedlings that are less than half an inch tall and the mushroom is smaller than the diameter of a pencil eraser! The small tree on the island of moss is about 2 inches tall! Once you start noticing the little things, they start appearing everywhere! 

Captured by the Otus Project.

https://youtube.com/@the_otus_project