iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Sadly, probably the best picture I have of the Cape ground squirrel, Xerus inauris. This and the mountain ground squirrel, Xerus princeps, are why I went. In those pre-9/11 days, I had no trouble flying home with hundreds of samples in 95% ethanol. Namibia, 2001. #mammals #wildlifephotography

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Reposted by Matthew Herron

Will Ratcliff @wcratcliff.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Out today in @nature.com: our review on how single cells evolve into multicellular organisms. With Ozan Bozdag, @kaitong25.bsky.social, Peter Yunker, and @matthewherron.bsky.social. rdcu.be/9ZuiKow9twKa For an overview, check out the video below.

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Lilac-breasted roller, Namibia (probably Etosha National Park), 2001. I was using a borrowed SLR with a 300mm lens and shooting slide film. I came back with 20 rolls of 36, which cost me around $400 to process (I was making ~$14k a year as a grad student at the time). #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Me with meerkat, tea, and a bad haircut, summer (southern hemisphere winter) of 2001, on a farm in Namibia. I went to collect DNA from Xerus ground squirrels for my master's thesis and one of my first papers: doi.org/10.1111/j.13... Photo credit Jane Waterman or Jim Roth, probably

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I haven't been out since Blackwater, so I guess I'll post a few older photos. I took this photo of a peace lily with my 4x5 field camera in college. A contact print won a purchase award in Valencia Community College's 1994 juried competition and is in their permanent collection. #blackandwhite

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Sunset, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #landscape

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Lesser yellowlegs bathing, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I like this one for the sense of scale...the great blue heron dwarfs the yellowlegs and semipalmated sandpipers like a giant walking the earth. And they keep their distance, because yes, great blue herons will absolutely eat smaller birds if they can catch them. #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

More lesser yellowlegs drama, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Lesser yellowlegs drama, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland. Both lesser and greater yellowlegs seem to have a hard time getting along, but I've only ever seen this behavior within species, never between the two. #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

If you can tell these two birds apart, you're a better birder than me. The first is a short-billed dowitcher, the second a long-billed, at least according to eBird's image ID, which has gotten amazingly good. Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland. #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Another lifer for me at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland: red-necked phalarope. All three phalarope species have reversed the usual sexual dimorphism and mating behavior, with females competing for and defending males, who incubate and raise the chicks. #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Awesome! Unfortunately, I won't make it to Florida again until late January

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

I couldn't agree more: tons of diversity, easy to get right down to the water level (if you don't mind the alligators), and it's big enough that once you're away from the boardwalk it's usually not crowded (critical for video). MINWR is also good, but hard to get low, and cars constantly ruin audio

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Seaside sparrow, Deal Island Wildlife Management Area, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Eastern wood-pewee with a black horse fly. These enormous flies were thick in the air in the wooded parts of the wildlife drive, flying in through the open windows and bouncing off of the closed ones. Eat them all, little friend! #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Northern yellow warbler, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Eastern kingbird, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Least flycatcher, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Silver-spotted skipper on thistle flower, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #insects #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Near the beginning of the wildlife drive, Blackwater has a pollinator walk. I'm always excited to see these hummingbird clearwing moths, this time extracting nectar from a thistle. Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #insects #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

American redstart, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Labor Day weekend I went out to Blackwater again and camped on Hooper's Island. I watched this bald eagle eating what I assume was a shorebird for about 15 minutes. There will eventually be a video. Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Green heron, Wildwood Park, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Black-necked stilt, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

This is the other bird I went to Blackwater to see: ruff, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland. This species breeds in Eurasia, winters in Africa, and is an uncommon visitor to North America. #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Lesser yellowlegs drama, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Lesser yellowlegs drama, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Black tern with a small fish, Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, Maryland #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

A couple of lifers were reported at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Maryland, so I braved the Bay Bridge again and spent the weekend in Cambridge. I found both; here's the black tern. #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I love that I have Bluesky followers who know what time of year juncos catch grasshoppers

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Dark-eyed junco with prey, Craggy Gardens along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Silver-spotted skipper on a butterfly bush near Marion, North Carolina #insects #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

The second evening in Tanglewood Campground near Marion, NC, we were treated to a good half hour sitting and watching this American beaver collecting and then eating vegetation in and along a very small creek. It seemed completely unconcerned about the our presence. #mammals #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Pipevine swallowtail on a butterfly bush near Marion, North Carolina #insects #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Eastern tiger swallowtail feeding on the nectar of a butterfly bush near Marion, NC. I wanted to camp along the Blue Ridge Parkway, but state and national park campgrounds were either full or closed, so I found a private campground, Tanglewood, which I highly recommend. #insects #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Snowy egret with a small fish, Audubon's Silver Bluff Sanctuary, South Carolina #birds #wildlifephotography

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Matthew Herron @matthewherron.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Juvenile little blue heron in late afternoon sunlight, Audubon's Silver Bluff Sanctuary, South Carolina #birds #wildlifephotography

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