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Damon Tighe

@damontighe.bsky.social
1.3K followers 229 following 245 posts

Community Scientist with a focus on fungi and a huge iNaturalist addict. Formerly a researcher on the human genome project, single cell sequencing, but now spend most work hours supporting educators in bringing more hands-on biotech into their classrooms

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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Last summer I encountered a very rare Sunflower (Helianthus winteri) and grabbed a few seeds in the hopes of growing it out and providing seeds since no nursery carries it. The time has come to share seeds preferably in California. Fill out this form for seeds forms.gle/NoY1xaJBHSs1... #sunflower
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
Fly Death #Fungus has returned to my compost on the same week as last year. How is this fungus 1) doing this seasonal timing 2) creating a resting state be it a spore or other that can survive a full year 3) and where is that resting phase taking up shop bc I’ve removed compost 2x #flydeathfungus
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 21/07/2026
From Sunday’s hike in Huckelberry Preserve (Oakland, CA): Entomophthora aka Fly Death Fungus. It’s hot and dry so I wasn’t really expecting to see much fungal action but in a humid ravine with a spring there was an elderberry with 30+ infected! #Entomophthora #fungus #FlyDeathFungus #oakland
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
Found an Ophiocordyceps on a beetle yesterday in Oakland’s Huckleberry Preserve! I’ve rarely seen Cordyceps in California let alone in Oakland #cordyceps #ophiocordyceps #oakland #mushroom
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
The Phoenix Desert Botanical Garden is incredible during the day: a great diversity of desert adapted plants from across the world. At night they light it up and it’s almost a psychedelic experience with the way they have things lit, but be on guard for plant spines #phoenix #cactus #DBG
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
Found a cute little wind scorpion after work in Phoenix this week. Was going to go for a walk at under a 100F but at midnight it was still triple digits so just went for it and it was worth it. UV fluorescence on left #phoenix #Solifuge
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
Passiflora edulis Oolong tea - a great use for passion fruit leaves. Wash, allow them to wilt for 1 day, roll the leaves to damage them, let them sit in the sun for 2 hrs and then pan roast to dry. Great sleep inducer due to GABA receptor antagonists. #tea #passiflora #homemade
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 02/07/2026
Really excited that this rare native California sunflower is taking off on my sidewalk strip. Will be sharing seeds once they mature in a few months. Helianthus winteri can grow for multiple years and bloom all year round … we will see! #sunflower #CaliforniaNativePlants
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 22/06/2026
Dichelostemma ida-maia (Firecracker flower) One of my favorite flowers of Northern California. I thought I had missed it this year, but randomly saw it on the side of the road while coming back from Mendocino last week. #flower #CaliforniaNative #mendocino
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 20/06/2026
#Moth lighting is an incredible way to see night time #insect #diversity. My setup: 1) shower curtain liner with fishing string run through grommet holes so that it's easy to hang 2) USB powered mobile DJ light with a wavelength close to 395 nm. 3) USB battery bank of ~10,000 mAH
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Mountain Gooseberry ( Ribes montigenum ) at the top of Mt San Jacinto. Stunning plant that gets to bask in this phenomenal views. #ribes #flowers #SanJacinto
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Led a walk @ Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens Sunday on pollination. The cool Weather drove home how Important FLY POLLINATION is as by far they were the ones out in force, even the maligned mosquitos (males) were pollinating. Hover fly in pic 1&2, larval stage eating aphids #pollinators #flies
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
Found some thrips today that appear to be sporting #Laboulbeniales. Complete serendipity that i happen to be teaching a pollinator class and photographed one that wa acting weird. Just popped 7 of them in EtOH in their own PCR tubes. @dhaelewa.bsky.social any interest in these?
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Penstemons aka the Beard Tongues are such an amazing group of plants and I don’t know why they aren’t used more in landscaping. Most are drought tolerant, pollinators love them, and they come in stunning colors. A few from ABQ’s Sandia Mountains yesterday #penstemon #flowers #bees #NewMexico
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
It’s been a while since I’ve bumped into one of my favorite #plants of western North America: The Monument Plant ( #Frasera speciosa), called such bc it’s huge, these were taller than me. This plant flowers once and then dies (monocarpic) after growing a big green rosette for years. #NewMexico
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Bumped into the Striped Coral Root Orchid (Corallorhiza striata) in ABQ’s Sandia Mountains yesterday. This Mycoheterotroph (gets nutrients exclusively through a fungus) and pairs up with Thelephoraceae fungi like Tomentella. #orchids #mycoheterotroph #Corallorhiza #NewMexico
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
Lucked out and bumped into the Zephyr Eyed Silk Moth ( Automeris zephyria ) while I’m ABQ’s Sandia Mountains. The larva is venomous, but luckily for my nose not the adult #moths #lepidoptera #facemoth #NewMexico
Large moth with orange and black eye spots sitting on a person’s nose
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Next weekend I’ll be giving a talk and a walk at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg, CA on Pollinators that need PR help: Diptera (flies) and the native California plants that rely on them www.gardenbythesea.org/events #pollinators #Mendocino #events
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
The deck is finally done for next week’s talk. A dive into species I encountered in QLD and WA with some species calls backed by DNA sequencing.
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Reposted by Damon Tighe
Dr. Hilary Rose Dawson @hilaryrosed.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Interested in Australian #fungi? @damontighe.bsky.social will talk next week about Fungi of Western Australia and Queensland, covering logistics, time of year, and what animals not to pet. PDT: Tues 9 Jun 7PM AEST: Weds 10 Jun noon Free registration: forms.gle/vEgTCPcVqpSt... #WildOz #mycology
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
Was cleaning out a failed oyster mushroom cultivation jar and I have to admit this contaminate is beautiful. Might have to pop some in my next sequencing plate to see who it is
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Excited to announce I’ll be back at @fungifestival.bsky.social this September. It's an event that brings in all the threads of the fungal world into one incredible weekend of talks, live music, art, forays, and much more. #mushrooms #fungi #ATFF
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Morchella snyderi was up it great numbers around 6800 this past weekend on the east side of Mt Shasta. This is one of the black “natural morels” and one of the better tasting morels of Western North America #morels #morchella #mushrooms #fungifriendsn
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 31/05/2026
Oak tree hopper (Platycotis vittata) from last weekend’s camp out at Mt Shasta. #insects #macro #biodiversity
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
What allows the ancient Bristlecone pines to eek out an existence in the high and dry White Mountains of California? Mycorrhizal fungi, none of which have been vouchered to my knowledge but last week I found a Rhizopogon with one which will get sequenced and into a Fungarium as part of CA FUNDIS
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 04/05/2026
Dendronotus venustus - one of the hardest to see Nudibranchs in the PNW unless it crawls onto something with contrast. Seen this morning in Newport, Oregon. #Nudibranchs #oregon #tidepools
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Cascade head, Oregon. Looking for a rare flower but well distracted by the view #oregon #cascadehead #hiking #PNW
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
What an odd mushroom year in the SF East Bay. Due to the HOT dry weather for a month followed by decent rain in April, many saprophytic fungi that usually fruit in fall are fruiting. Agaricus xanthodermus “Yellow Skinned Agaricus” from my yard today #mushroom #fungifriends #fungi #Agaricus
Cluster of white mushrooms with yellow staining at their edges and brown gills
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
Chlorociboria aeruginascens seen earlier today at Lake Chabot on some well rotten California Bay Laurel. It’s a mushroom I don’t see much of because it often fruits in the warmer weather, outside our normal mushroom season. #mushroom #Chlorociboria #oakland #citynaturechallenge
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Calochortus monophyllus x albus. A natural hybrid that is seen in California’s Sierra Nevada. I observed the beetle Eschatocrepis constrictus in both parental plants (images 2 & 3) and thanks to different pollen colors could see C. albus pollen on the beetle in C. monophyllus. #flower #calochortus
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 15/04/2026
Had the pleasure of meeting Nemacladus richardsiae today in Riverside County,CA. Incredibly good reminder of how much good stuff is not at our scale. #nemacladus #flower #rare
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Self directed sisyphean task of removing star thistle pays off yearly when the native #Streptanthus glandulosus gets to put on huge floral displays in the seasonally cleared serpentine slope. 250+ plants in bloom this year. There is always a smile behind the boulders in life #plants #oakland
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 08/04/2026
Another beauty from the weekend: Santa Clara Thorn Mint (Acanthomintha lanceolata). California Rare Plant Rank of 4.2 due to its limited distribution in serpentine scree of the central coast range from east of SF Bay to SE corner of Monterey County #wildflowers #rareplants #california
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 07/04/2026
Nemacladus montanus, it’s tiny but well worth the lean in to see. Spotted yesterday in the Hamilton Range, California #wildflowers #nemacladus
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 05/04/2026
Finally spotted the San Francisco lacewing (Nothochrysa californica)!in the yard. What wonderful eyes and colors. #lacewing #insects
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
Chaenotheca furfuracea- Sulphur StubbleLichen Spotted this beauty yesterday in the Oakland Hills on some exposed roots overhanging a trail. It's distributed all over the northern hemisphere and usually like humid pockets #lichens #macro #oakland
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
Occasionally liverworts can fool me into thinking they are slime molds. Targionia hypophylla from the magical hills of Oakalnd, California. #liverworts #macro
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
Having a hard time counting your earthworm setae? You know the little bristles on each segment. Put a UV light on them and they are super easy to see. Setae arrangement can be helpful for IDing worms. Seen last night in Oakland. #UVF #worms #glow
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 28/03/2026
Seeds of Calandrinia menziesii (red maids) a wonderful California native are surprisingly textured if you can just get close enough #seeds #plants #califoriaNativePlant
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Ran into a Leucistic opossum in the yard tonight, full of many surprises! Lots of blue fluorescence on the belly and rump + the most growling I’ve ever heard from a opossum #UVfluorescence #opossum #UVF
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Dermacentor similis / western dog ticks fluoresce strongly under 365 nm light. Unfortunately found on my back but before it bit in. Got it drunk on Matsutake Vodka for the photo shoot bc it kept crawling off the stage. #ticks #UVF #fluorescent
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
The hot weather in Northern California tricked a Pisolithus to fruit. I rarely see these up in Spring as they usually like the dry heat of August/September to get going in the SF Bay. Also saw Caloboletus marshii yesterday which is also for this time of year #mushrooms #heatwave
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
combat aphids on garden plant by crushing them and wipe the mush back onto the plant. Aphids release a scent trail that parasitic wasps can pick up on and they’ll come make mummies of the rest of the aphids. Worked well on my penstemon. Wasp with mummy photo from a few years ago #aphids #gardentip
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 18/03/2026
Sadly encountered a dead Great Horned Owl today that likely died from a vehicle collision as it was not to far from a busy road. Under 365 nm UV light the fluorescence on the underside of the bird was incredible #birds #UVfluorescence #UVF #owl
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
That uncomfortable moment where I hope the common name “Bloodworm” Has nothing to do with it extracting my blood. Seen yesterday on a zero tide. #polychaete #bloodworm #tidepooling
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Opalescent Nudibranch (Hermissenda opalescens). Spotted at the busy Pillar Point Tidepools yesterday on a 0 tide. Chomping on hydroids and small sea anemones they manage to take the stinging cells from the prey and move them to their fleshy cerata on their back. #nudibranchs #underwater #seaslug
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Mosses are great up close. This sporophyte would open and close as I breathed on it. Sadly I could not get a good video of it. #oakland #moss #bryophytes
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 15/03/2026
Slime molds still going strong in the Oakland hills. Really happy to see this Cribraria yesterday #slimemolds #oakland #macro #nature
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 13/03/2026
couple wonderful native plants from an after work investigation of a chaparral pocket visible from satellite images that tucked into the #Oakland hills between a neighborhood and a strip mall. 1) beaked hazelnut 2) California mustard 3) Crassula connata 4) Fritillaria affinis under UV #nativeplants
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Damon Tighe @damontighe.bsky.social · 09/03/2026
Bay Area - its prime Slime Mold season with the combination of warming weather and water saturated logs just starting to dry out. Find yourself a good deep ravine and look closely at those well rotten logs and you’ll find magic in the margins #slimemolds #sfBay
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