Category Archives: Nature

Grackles and spectres of Ole Owyhee

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

Many species of grackles (Qusicalus spp) have adapted fairly well to the human landscape. I came across them in large numbers in and around San Antonio a few years back. Here on my trip to Puerto Rico it was no … Continue reading →

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More on Olonā

Posted on May 29, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

While we’ve been lucky to have an intimate knowledge with olonā, there is so much more to this plant that I’m not familiar with, especially culturally. I’ve been lucky to be part of a project to bring more attention to … Continue reading →

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Taxa that break my brain

Posted on April 30, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

First of please check out Gabriel Ugueto’s artwork. He is an amazing paleoartist that brings to life many obscure taxa one hardly finds quality images of. You can check out his twitter here and his facebook page here I made … Continue reading →

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Snapshot: Pinao

Posted on March 29, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

Hawaiian damselflies are another neat radiation of invertebrates here in Hawai`i. They evolved to exploit some niches and habitats that aren’t readily available to them elsewhere. Most damselfly elswhere in the world are aquatic, but some occupy other niches here. … Continue reading →

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Snapshot: Hinahina

Posted on February 29, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

Hinahina (Heliotropium anomalum var. argenteum) is a coastal plant that one can still come across fairly readily in Hawai`i. Many populations have dense silky pubesence, but this varies. The population that I saw at Pounder’s did not have much pubesence; … Continue reading →

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The Takahe at Zealandia

Posted on February 28, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

Takahe (Porphyrio hochstetteri) are another member of New Zealand’s wonderful endemic avifauna. Once thought to be extinct, they are making a comeback and giving us a glimpse of a lifestyle that we don’t really associate with birds.

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Snapshot: More Cerambycid beetles

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

I wanted to see if I could get a little bit better shots of that native cerambycid beetle I took a few weeks back. They seem to really like rotten koa trees as I rather easily found another one on … Continue reading →

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The weka of Kapiti Island

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

In honor of Kahurangi, I will continue to talk about the other awesome birds we came across in Aotearoa. I mentioned in that post that each conservation area we went to had a different bird taxa stand out. Kapiti Island … Continue reading →

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Snapshot: Short-horned longhorn beetle

Posted on January 15, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

I can across this while randomly picking at the bark of a dead koa tree. It’s a native cerambycid beetle (Parandra puncticeps). I thought it was interesting even though it’s part of the longhorn beetle radiation, it has short antennae. … Continue reading →

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Getting to know your Hawaiian Lobeliads #41 Cyanea kauaulaensis

Posted on January 7, 2024 by Sebastian Marquez

Cyanea kauaulaensis Links: Oppenheimer H, Lorence DH. A new species of Cyanea (Campanulaceae, Lobelioideae) from Maui, Hawaiian Islands. PhytoKeys. 2012;(13):15-23. doi: 10.3897/phytokeys.13.3447. Epub 2012 Jun 20. PMID: 22787424; PMCID: PMC3391714.

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