iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 20h

PS. Kanaka Creek Regional Park, Maple Ridge, BC.

Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 20h

Witches' butter fungus. Known by many other names, including "yellow brain". Focus stack of 29 images. Available light. f8, 1/20s, ISO 400. Canon R5 + RF100. #fungifriends #fungus 🌿 #photography #macrophotography

Witches' butter growing on a fallen stick. The fungus is bright yellow with a texture that resembles a brain.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Note to self: #infrared @ 850nm with that lens and shooting straight into the sun can cause some lens flare. Stanley Park, Vancouver BC. #eastcoastkin #infraredphotography #landscapephotography #photography

A view towards downtown Vancouver from Stanley Park. There is a dramatic pattern of lens flare in a diagonal line across the image.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Double-crested cormorant at Stanley Park, Vancouver, BC. #birds #wildlifephotography 🌿

A cormorant stands on a rock that is covered in green seaweed. The cormorant's wings are outstretched, drying in the sun. The cormorant is looking back at the viewer.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Things you see on the way to a trail that make you do a double take: a mannequin chained by the neck to a fence holding a beer can. Squamish, BC. #photography #infrared #infraredphotography #eastcoastkin

A mannequin dressed as an airplane pilot. The mannequin has chipped paint. It is holding a beer can and standing beneath a flag.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

All my favourite ephemeral ponds for frog-hunting on Sugar Mountain above Sasamat Lake, BC have dried up but there were lots of mushrooms poking through the caked mud yesterday. Not sure of ID. #fungifriends 🌿 #macrophotography

Three mushrooms, with specks of mud on them, poke up from the pond floor against a dark background.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

A derelict truck being reclaimed by nature. Near Squamish, BC this summer. #infrared #infraredphotography #photography #eck

The front of an old truck, with dents and broken windows. Plants are beginning to grow up around it.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

A little more autumn colour from a few years ago: a cranberry farm at DeBoville Slough, Coquitlam, British Columbia. #landscapephotography 🌿 #eck #fall

Rows of red cranberry bushes lead off to the horizon where there are trees with yellow and orange leaves beneath a dark forest of fir and cedar.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

We don't get a lot of autumn colour compared to other places in Canada, but sometimes there's a splash of colour in the forest. #landscapephotography 🌿

A maple tree with yellow and orange leaves catches the light. The tree stands out in a dark, foggy forest of fir and cedar.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

An alley in Venice, Italy. The #BlueSkyArtShow theme of #Lights sent me on a trip down memory lane. #photography #EastCoastKin

A cobblestone alley at night. There are two mopeds parked beneath three street lights.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Old (1980) and not really targeted at a non-specialist audience but how about Lakoff and Johnson “Metaphors we live by” for one interpretation of cognitive linguistics. It made a big impression on one of my kids in a recent undergrad writing course.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

The local corvids are running a PR campaign. #birds

An electrical utility box on the side walk with graffiti that says “FEED THR CROWS”

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I have been studying Spanish with Sandra for a few months now, focused on conversation. I heartily recommend her. Her patience, gentle corrections and explanations have already made a big impact on my conversational proficiency. Contact info in her flyer here. #linguistics #español #spanish

A promotional flyer for Sandra Mejía, a Spanish tutor from Ecuador. Her contact email is tut.cuenca@protonmail.com

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

We should have an office sweepstakes to predict which of the big AI companies bends the knee first and calls their products SI.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

A female Red Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra) on Salt Spring Island, BC this past weekend. There was a bright red male too but he didn't cooperate so no internet fame for him. #birds 🌿 #wildlifephotography

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

I like to divide the animal kingdom into three groups: * amphibians * things that eat amphibians * things that amphibians eat Here's one of each group: a bullfrog, a garter snack and a grasshopper. Yesterday at Deer Lake, Burnaby BC. #herps 🌿 #wildlifephotography 🐸 🐍 🦗

An American bullfrog in a pool of water filled with wood chips.

A common garter snake partly coiled up in the sun.

A grasshopper on the edge of the boardwalk.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 21/09/2026

Look what I found in a flower bed as if it had sprouted there. A set of teach-yourself Italian vinyl records. Salt Spring Island, BC. #linguistics

In a flower bed is a set of vinyl records. The cover says “Living Italian” with claims that you will learn Italian easily in 49 lessons.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Best not to dwell on the question of what animal decided to sharpen its claws on this tree on my hike today. Salt Spring Island, BC. 🌿

A young cedar tree that appears to have been scratched by a large animal

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

I led a nature walk at Burnaby Lake on Sunday to search for frogs. After the walk someone pointed out this little Pacific chorus frog to us. I love that it has found the perfect point on the leaf where it bends but still supports its weight. #herps 🌿 #wildlifephotography

A Pacific chorus frog sitting on a blade of a tall grass that has curved under the frog's weight. The frog is mostly bright green with some rust coloration (and the obligatory black coloration on the face).

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Lots of 💩 Teaching aids at a Metro Vancouver parks training course for volunteer nature guides. 🌿

Plastic replicas of animal scat including cougar, coyote, black bear etc

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I am (very slowly) reading "Como agua para chocolate" ("Like water for chocolate") by Laura Esquivel. Lots of new vocabulary then there are delightful discoveries like this: 𝘯𝘰 𝘵𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘵𝘢 𝘮𝘶𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘢 "don't do the dead mosquito" i.e. act innocent #linguistics #spanish #español

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

For the #BirdOfTheDay alt theme, birds that start with #RSTU: A female Sooty Grouse peeking out from a among a clump of skunk cabbage on Mount Seymour, BC. #birds #wildlifephotography 🌿

A female Sooty Grouse cranes its neck to look around some plants. Only its head and neck are visible. There are out-of-focus bright yellow skunk cabbage flowers in the background.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

For the #BlueSkyArtShow theme of #Undulating: Salt marsh grass on the Bay of Fundy, Wolfville, Nova Scotia.

Marsh grass forms tufts and undulating wavy patterns.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

Specifically, a young Muscovy duck

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

For the #BirdOfTheDay alt theme #borbs: a very round, fluffy duckling on a mat of pond algae. #birds #wildlifephotography 🌿

A very young yellow duckling standing on a mat of yellow algae on a pond. The feathers on the duckling's head and back are a little spiky. The feathers on its front and tails are wet and matted.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Correction: "critically imperiled"

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) at Tsawwassen, BC. Rated "Critically endangered in Canada". #birds 🌿 #wildlifephotography

Two Western Sandpipers standing on a rock by the water. One has its head tucked between its wings.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

perhaps their colony will have new members once word gets back to the interior

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

It was a drab day at Tsawwassen, BC. I wished I could zoom in more on this belted kingfisher but decided I liked this composition. #birds 🌿 #wildlifephotography

A belted kingfisher perched on a pole in the middle of the water.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

They're usually found in the interior of BC. I read speculation that they hitched a ride in a truck or freight train. I hear that the Tsawwassen marmots don't hibernate. I guess they have fled the harsh winters of the interior for the temperate coastal climate and ocean views.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

There are Yellow-bellied Marmots living in Tsawwassen, BC in the artificial rock wall along the beach between the ferry terminal and the container port (along the Roberts Bank trail)! 🧵 #mammals 🌿 #wildlifephotography

A Yellow-bellied Marmot faces us, its front feet on a rock.

A Yellow-bellied Marmot stands up on its rear legs to get a better view.

A Yellow-bellied Marmot pokes its head and upper body out of a hole in the rock wall.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

The theme for the first meeting of the season at my local photo club was what we did this summer. Here's a 30 second overview of this summer's local reptiles and amphibians. #herps 🌿 #wildlifephotography

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

One very soggy Malayan Night Heron during torrential rain in Taipei, Taiwan. For the #BirdOfTheDay theme #BirdsUpClose. #birds #nature #wildlifephotography 🌿 #birdphotography

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

I saw so many green frogs in the swamp at Aldergrove Regional Park today and not a single bullfrog. Those two observations are no doubt causally related. Not that green frogs are the good guys. They're also an invasive species that outcompetes native BC frogs. #herps 🌿 #wildlifephotography

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

A green frog chilling among the water cress and bugs. So many bugs! Aldergrove Regional Park, BC. #herps 🌿 #wildlifephotography

The head of a green frog poking through some water cress. Some of the leaves of the cress have stuck to the frog's head. The leaves are covered in small bugs and there is even one bug on the frog's eye.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

What happens when your eyes are bigger than your s̶t̶o̶m̶a̶c̶h̶ beak. This seagull was having trouble swallowing a starfish. I thought the starfish might be stuck but several times it spat it out and tried unsuccessfully to turn it and swallow it. #birds #birdphotography #wildlifephotography 🌿

A seagull with a large starfish in its beak. The starfish was too big to swallow.

I worried that the starfish was stuck but several times it spat it out and tried again at a different angle.

The seagull was trying to turn the starfish so it would go down. Another seagull nearby was having the same problem.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I got to the the Belcarra Bluffs lookout at Belcarra Regional Park, BC today and saw this female sooty grouse keeping a watchful eye on an almost fully grown chick. #birds #birdphotography #wildlifephotography 🌿

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

The recent trade ruckus with the USA has had a surprisingly strong unifying effect across the political spectrum in Canada. This sign outside the Port Moody community centre usually has feel-good seasonal messages. #canada

A sign that reads “Welcome to Pleasantside” then in adjustable letters “STRONG FREE SOVEREIGN / ELBOWS UP”

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

A twofer for the #BirdOfTheDay themes: #simple background and #Paridae. A chestnut-backed chickadee at Burnaby Lake, BC. #birds #birdphotography #wildlifephotography 🌿

A chestnut-backed chickadee on a stump where someone has left birdseed.

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Simon Corston-Oliver @simonhco.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

For the #BirdOfTheDay #simple theme: any bird against a simple background. An American pygmy kingfisher in the swamp at the Sian Ka'an Biosphere Reserve, Quintana Roo, Mexico. #birds #birdphotography 🌿 #wildlifephotographyhttps://bsky.app/profile/simonhco.bsky.social

An American pygmy kingfisher sitting on a branch.

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