iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 14h

I recently had these jewels officially accepted as Tennessee state records 2 & 3 of the ceraunus blue. The previous record was from 2016, but this more Southern species made a push north this year, with several sightings in Missouri. I was delighted to find two individuals two days apart! #BugSky

A gray butterfly the size of a fingernail with rows of white-edged black markings and some spots on its hindwing that are outlined in orange and have blue iridescence.

The same species of butterfly, but with a few more spots on the front row of its hindwing, and more orange outlining the iridescent spots.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Last week I visited Oregon and learned that golden hairstreaks exist! I'm very fond of their little black tap shoes. #InverteFest

A small butterfly with bright orange wings edged in purple/gray sits facing left on a green leaf

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I recently got to watch a black swallowtail dry its wings after emerging from its chrysalis, and it was both moving and educational! (Did you know butterflies show up into the world with forked tongues?) Come with me on this journey: overtonpark.org/2026/08/03/n... #butterflies #insects #BugSky

overtonpark.org

NatureZen: Metamorphosis | Overton Park Conservancy

Watching swallowtails transform from caterpillars into butterflies.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 27/06/2026

It's been a rainy couple of months in Memphis and I've been endlessly fascinated by the variety of #fungi in the forest where I work. The Stereum heart may be my fave, but if anyone wants to help me ID the others, my @inaturalist.bsky.social handle is mmcmasters! 🍄 #fungifriends

A collage of 16 mushrooms in different shapes, sizes, and colors

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Best things about last weekend: 1. Finding a bunch of Diana fritillaries. 2. Noticing that if a piece of grass was available, they would take a load off and perch there while sipping nectar. #butterflies #PollinatorWeek #BugSky

A very large rusty-orange butterfly with black markings sits on a piece of grass and sips nectar from bright orange butterfly milkweed flowers.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

When your sibling eats the entire snake Mom brought for a snack. 🪶

Two nestling red-shouldered hawks in a tree. One is leaning against the tree trunk screeching, while the other is standing with wings spread and a maniacal look on its face.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

This sumac cellophane-cuckoo bee was having a hard time getting the pollen off its tongue today. Maybe the bee equivalent of having food stuck in your teeth? #bees #BugSky

A bee with hazel eyes, black antennae, and red legs sits on a mountainmint flower with its red tongue protruding. It has bits of pollen stuck to the end.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 31/05/2026

News you can use: if you catch a swamp milkweed leaf beetle while he's tucking his wings under his elytra, you can see his swimming trunks. #BugSky

A rear view of an orange and black beetle with his elytra (wing-protecting structures) slightly parted to show his wrinkly red wings underneath.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

A few months ago our local red-shouldered hawks were causing so much drama I wrote a soap opera about them. Now they've all had babies, so it's time for The Bold and the Buteo: Episode 2. Cue dramatic theme music! overtonpark.org/blog/naturez... 🪶

overtonpark.org

NatureZen: The Bold and the Buteo, Episode 2 | Overton Park Conservancy

What happens when two red-shouldered hawk pairs nest in the Old Forest?

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Even if she weren't perched right on it, you could tell this leafcutter bee has been getting into the butterfly milkweed. #bees #BugSky

A black and gray striped bee (Megachile sp.) with big blue eyes perches upside-down on some bright orange butterfly weed. The end of her abdomen is caked in dark orange pollen.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

I met this glorious canyon wren in the Hill Country of Texas last week and now I'm SO MAD Memphis doesn't have any canyons 🪶 #BirdOfTheDay #RockSolid

A warm brown wren with a white throat fans out its spotted wings and rust-and-black-striped tail as it makes its way up a rock face

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

I love #bees and I love blue-eyed grass, and it's always a treat to see them together. #BugSky

A sweat bee (Lasioglossum sp.?) with a shiny black body emerges from the center of a pale purple flower with six petals and a yellow center.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

"Please don't put on Bluesky that I got mad." #birds

A Brewer's blackbird puffs himself up like a balloon to announce his territory

The same blackbird, deflated, now cocks his head and looks quite angry

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 19/04/2026

A delightful thing I've noticed is that #butterflies of the Callophyrus genus often flock together. In California recently, I saw lotus hairstreaks alongside brown elfins, and previously in Tennessee, I've seen juniper hairstreaks with Henry's elfins. Such cheerful pals. #Inverts #BugSky

Lotus hairstreak, an iridescent green butterfly with a brownish wash on its forewing, sits on a fluffy yellow flower

Brown elfin, a similarly shaped butterfly that is all an orange-y brown with darker brown spots

Henry's elfin, which looks like a piece of browned leaf, sits upside-down on a pink redbud flower

Juniper hairstreak, marked like the lotus hairstreak in green and brown but with jagged brown, white, and black stripes

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Reposted by Melissa McMasters

Center for Biological Diversity @biologicaldiversity.org · 07/04/2026

We teamed up with Texas Civil Rights Project today and sued U.S. Customs and Border Protection for withholding public records on plans to build border walls through the #BigBend region of Texas. More info: biodiv.us/4dzdxv4

Image is of the Rio Grand river cutting through a slot canyon in Big Bend National Park. Text overlay says, "no border wall through Big Bend."

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 01/04/2026

This absolutely has to be stopped. @natbutterflycenter.bsky.social is priceless for both wildlife and its community (and anyone who loves butterflies).

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 25/03/2026

Birds attacking mirrors, a thread. Tufted titmice are constantly attacking my car window, but this is the first one I've seen that's taken up smoking. 🪶 🪞

A tufted titmouse, seen from behind with its face visible in a car mirror, flies at its reflection with a cigarette butt in its mouth.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

My favorite spring 'staches belong to the many little mining bees in the forest. The males are often sitting on top of the brand-new wildflowers to take a rest or watch for passing ladies. #bees #bugsky

A small fuzzy bee with black eyes, jaws, and antennae and a white mustache peeks up from the stem of a plant with three new leaves

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

A great blue heron and a little blue heron, when juxtaposed, prove that sometimes bird names are just and correct. #BirdOfTheDay #MixedPairs 🪶

A large and a small heron in a pond set against tall grasses. Both have their wings raised because they have just had a skirmish.

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Reposted by Melissa McMasters

iNaturalist @inaturalist.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Today's a good day to get up close with an Orchid Mantis (Hymenopus coronatus). ➡️

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 01/03/2026

These Atlantic puffins are Up to Something. No razorbills, murres, or humans allowed in the club! #BirdOfTheDay #FourOrMore

A group of five black and white birds with comical (and conical) orange and black beaks huddle up on top of a seaweed-covered rock.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 28/02/2026

For #BirdOfTheDay, my favorite primary-colored bird has to be the painted bunting. I rarely get to see them, so that makes their rainbow of colors even more exciting when I do. 🪶

A songbird with a blue head, red chest, and red-ringed eye stretches up tall as he prepares to inspect a small flower on a tree.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BestOfTheMonth, and for me that was the experience of finally seeing an American woodcock. We get a short window this time of year to find them before they head north to breed, and in the past I've only heard a distant peent. This one, though, was a real sweetie! 🪶

A big round shorebird with a light orange chest and dappled wing feathers of all sorts, plus a huge eye and long pinkish beak, sits in a grassy field illuminated by flashlight.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 27/02/2026

There are so many red-shouldered hawks in our little forest screaming bloody murder at each other that a couple weeks ago, I said, "This is a total soap opera." So today I wrote about it. I give you: The Bold and the Buteo. 🪶 overtonpark.org/blog/naturez...

overtonpark.org

NatureZen: The Bold and the Buteo | Overton Park Conservancy

The lives and loves of Overton Park's red-shouldered hawks.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 22/02/2026

For today's #BirdOfTheDay I submit this Hudsonian whimbrel, who's hoping to find a tasty crustacean in that glob of sand. #BirdsInTheirElement 🪶

A large mottled shorebird with a long curved beak holding a glob of wet sand walks along the edge of the shore. Pacific Grove, CA December '22

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 20/02/2026

I like today's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #WingsOverWater because it's a nice excuse to transport myself back to Little Tobago with the red-billed tropicbirds. These are colors currently not present in my winter landscape!

A white bird with black wingtips, a black swoosh behind the eyes, a red bill, and a long thin tail soars over brilliant blue water

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

For #BirdOfTheDay, here's a crested guan that sat for a #Portrait between its two favorite activities: snatching berries off a tree and menacing its colleagues. 🪶

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 14/02/2026

For #ValentinesDay, a throwback to a piece I wrote about odonate heart-wheels, which for some reason is structured as a game of Ms. Pac-Man. No, it does not make sense to me either. overtonpark.org/blog/naturez... #BugSky

overtonpark.org

NatureZen: Hearts Soaring | Overton Park Conservancy

words and photos by Melissa McMasters

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 08/02/2026

A little something different for #SuperbOwl Sunday this year: an enormous banded owl-butterfly that graced me with its presence in Costa Rica last month. I'm a lover of insects with false eyes and this is one of the very best I've seen. #BugSky

A butterfly nearly the size of a human hand perches on a gnarly green stem. It has mottled brown wings with various spots that mimic owl eyes, and its wings have been tattered by bird attacks.

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Reposted by Melissa McMasters

natbutterflycenter.bsky.social @natbutterflycenter.bsky.social · 04/02/2026

Call your U.S. Senators and Representative and tell them: ✔️ Protect the National Butterfly Center, Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, La Lomita Chapel and Bentsen-Rio Grande Valley State Park and nearby conservation lands Your voice matters.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Locally we're on day 8 of the landscape being one giant sleet brick. I ventured out to see what the #birds were up to and found all that brightness quite revealing: overtonpark.org/blog/naturez...

overtonpark.org

NatureZen: Snowed Out | Overton Park Conservancy

We check in with how the birds are doing during this snowy week in Memphis.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 28/01/2026

I had the great fortune of catching up with the @aba.org Bird of the Year today! I'm sure horned larks are present here semi-regularly, but I only ever spot them when there's a lot of snow on the ground. This one wasn't quite ready to show his horns yet. #birds

A mottled brown and black bird with a yellow and black face sits with its back to the camera, looking to the right in a field of snow.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 23/01/2026

Minneapolis, y'all are my heroes ❤️

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

This long-tailed tyrant is checking in from Costa Rica for #BirdOfTheDay #ShortBeaks. He promises he has a beak, if you know where to look. Don't be distracted by his splendid tail! 🪶

A small, very long-tailed black bird with a white band around its eyes and a gray cap, sits on a snag in the rain

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 24/12/2025

For my final #ArtAdventCalendar entry, here's a deciduous holly containing one of the prettiest ornaments of all: a cedar waxwing. It's been delightful seeing everyone's beautiful art this month! 🪶

A bird with a tan head, wraparound black sunglasses, and a lemon-yellow belly sits in a tree that has no leaves and many round red fruits

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 23: the black orchid is the national flower of Belize. Our guide spotted this one growing on a tree trunk while we were sailing by in the vehicle, and I went back later to enjoy it up close. Worth the walk in 90% humidity! #plantsky

You can tell why one of this flower's common names is clamshell orchid - the flower is shaped like a clamshell, with shades of yellow, mauve, and white.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 23/12/2025

Week four of #ArtAdventCalendar is for plants! This lovely spray of forget-me-nots (Myosotis decumbens) brightened up the landscape in Northern Norway this summer. #wildflowers #plantsky

A spray of light blue five-petaled flowers with yellow centers comes out of the bottom left of the frame

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 21/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 21: We don't have featherleg damselflies in the U.S., so it was a treat to run across this one in France over the summer. Because I mostly saw females, I was surprised to learn that this one is called the blue featherleg! Not a stitch of blue on her. #bugsky

A damselfly with an almost-white body and pale brown thorax and eyes, with little spikes on its legs, perches on a blade of dry grass

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 20: These Mexican pitted-stingless bees chose to make their nest in the mouth of a sculpture I was checking out on a Belize boat dock. "Why is its mouth moving?" was a question with a delightful answer for me, an extremely creepy one for everyone else around! #bugsky #bees

Eight small bees with green eyes and red antennae sit at the entrance to a small tunnel

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 20/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 19 is your favorite yellowjacket mimic and mine, the Eastern hornet fly. You could really get lost in those eyes, no? #bugsky

A large fly with a black and yellow striped body waves its two front legs as it rises from the flower of a field aster

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 18 is a Southern spreadwing with a sparkling personality. #bugsky

A damselfly with electric-blue eyes and a blue-and-black striped thorax sits on a twig with its wings spread. The background is dark and sparkly from the sun's reflection off star jelly that is covering the ground.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 17 brings us this secretive resaca mantis (a South Texas specialty recently split from Carolina mantis). I always feel a sense of accomplishment when I spot one of these! #bugsky

The bright green head of a praying mantis peeks up from between the stems and yellow flowers of an esperanza bush

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 17/12/2025

I decided to make a little year in review: highlights of my favorite new species recorded in each month of 2025! Featuring tropical turkeys and reindeer, @mariposanature.bsky.social and @natbutterflycenter.bsky.social, and lots of time in a pollinator garden. overtonpark.org/blog/naturez...

overtonpark.org

NatureZen: Lifer of the Month Club | Overton Park Conservancy

A highlight reel of new species seen in 2025.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 16: I've been spoiled for bees this year, and this photo might be my favorite. I got to admire a Drury's long-horned bee in a rare moment of stillness, with her pollen pants blending right into the disk of the aromatic aster she loves. #bees #bugsky

A fuzzy bee with blue eyes and enormous yellow globs of pollen on her back legs sits in the middle of a lavender flower, atop more yellow pollen

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

Let's go with critters for this week's #ArtAdventCalendar! One day this spring there wasn't much stirring in the forest, until I came across these baby trapdoor spiders (Ummidia sp.) marching across a thick line of silk. I was wildly charmed. #spidersky

Three chunky red spiders with purplish abdomens cross a highway made of silk. Two of them are passing each other while another trails behind.

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 14/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 14: One morning this spring I had about 15 minutes for a forest walk, which is often not enough to spot a bird low enough for a photo. (Birding in an old-growth forest is definitely Hard Mode.) Happily, I found a rose-breasted grosbeak enjoying mulberries at eye level. #birds

A female rose-breasted grosbeak, with a pale breast streaked brown, sits in a glossy green shrub surrounded by red berries

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 13/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 13: I had a real love affair with crows this year, with a family of fish crows becoming our office friends until they migrated out. But the handsomest fellows of all were the hooded crows in Norway. This one kept me occupied while I waited out a shower in Oslo. #birds

A large bird with a grayish body, black wings, and a black head sits on a metal pipe with rain falling in the background

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 12/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 12: this friendly common tody-flycatcher was a highlight at Bird's Eye View Lodge in Belize earlier this year. I'm not sure this side-eyeing bird ever *looks* friendly, but this one was content to flit around at eye level for a long time. #birds

A plump little bird with a yellow throat, black head, and black-and-yellow wings sits looking perturbed on a branch

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

For today's #ArtAdventCalendar, here's a common gallinule that plopped itself in front of me on a trail in Puerto Rico on its way to a different mud puddle, where its youngster was foraging. #birds #BirdOfTheDay

A slate-gray bird with a red facial plate and big old yellow feet walks across a muddy path

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Melissa McMasters @melissamactn.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

#ArtAdventCalendar Day 10: This spring, we had a day of torrential rains and flash flooding, and this flock of American white pelicans had to pause its migration and hunker down at a lake until conditions were better. This shot was taken the next day, as they lifted off to head northwest. 🪶

Several dozen white birds with black wingtips and large orange beaks fly against a gray sky

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