by @sarahmackattack.bsky.social
Follow along with the 2025 Nearby Nature challenge! Every month, make art of one of the animals that lives in your area. Post your work with the hashtag #NearbyNature2025 along with something you find interesting about them. Organized by @sarahmackattack.bsky.social
Dynamognathus For my last #NearbyNature2025, I’ve drawn one of the rarest birds in North America: the Whooping Crane. They are the tallest bird on the continent at nearly 5 feet, a bit taller than the more abundant Sandhill Crane. On this New Year’s Eve, I saw these magnificent birds for the first time. #alabama
Annie Shao Art One more piece before we ring in the new year! And my phone did a decent job with the photo. I'll take a better photo later, I just wanted to share it now! A Hermit Thrush enjoying some Staghorn Sumac. #BirdArt #SciArt #Watercolor #ArtYear #NearbyNature2025 #AnimalArt #FineArt 1/2
Annie Shao Art A Boreal Chickadee from Birdtober for #ArtAdventCalendar on Winter Solstice. I have only seen one once, at Sax-Zim Bog, so I gave him a little fruticose lichen on his branch and puffed him up! #BirdArt #SciArt #ArtYear #NearbyNature2025 #AnimalArt #FineArt
Dynamognathus For November’s #NearbyNature2025, I’ve drawn the Pecan Weevil (Curculio caryae). In the same genus as more famous oak weevils, this species lays eggs in pecans and other hickory nuts. It is native to the southeast, but is a notable agricultural pest. #bugs #sciart #wildlife #alabama
Bri Cropped in bug! Beetles & Spicy Friend #art #sciart #bugsky #nearbynature2025 Funfacts for nearby nature: The hairy scorpion is the largest scorpion in North America. Beetles like this Eleodes and Asbolus have fused elytra. They cannot open their shell. BUT, they do still have wings in there!
Annie Shao Art First finished piece since the end of Birdtober! A Ruby-crowned Kinglet enjoying the beautiful fall leaves. #NearbyNature2025 fun fact: apparently they run on just 10 calories a day, which is funny considering how they never stay still! #BirdArt #SciArt #FineArt #Watercolor #AnimalArt #ArtYear
Dynamognathus October’s #NearbyNature2025 post is of Ctenus hibernalis, a harmless species of wandering spider found almost exclusively in Alabama. They are comparable in size to large wolf and fishing spiders, but are way more secretive than either (I’ve only ever found three). #sciart #wildlife #alabama
Annie Shao Art I finished this Northern Parula last week but only just got around to photographing it. Somehow, I've often seen these guys facing towards me, and I think they look adorably inquisitive. #Watercolor and Chinese ink on Fabriano hot press #BirdArt #SciArt #NearbyNature2025 #FineArt
Annie Shao Art We had a Connecticut warbler fallout at the end of May, so this is my month's #NearbyNature2025 entry. These beauties are extremely skulky and very hard to spot. They prefer to run on the ground rather than fly, which doesn't help! #BirdArt #SciArt #ArtYear #Watercolor #FineArt #AnimalArt
Marlis Denk-Lobnig #NearbyNature2025 June drawing, because I almost tripped over a skunk last night in my neighborhood🦨
Dynamognathus For June’s #NearbyNature2025, I’ve drawn a Red-Shouldered Hawk. These are commonly seen in my area, as there are abundant forests and wetlands. Although a species of Buteo, they’ve converged on the form of large Accipiters as reptile/bird-hunters in dense forests. #wildlife #alabama #raptor
Louis D Strong (The D stands for Dracula) A fox! #NearbyNature2025
Annie Shao Art I finally finished this, it's a been quite a busy month! This is based on a photo I took of a drake bufflehead last year, and my May post for #NearbyNature2025. Buffleheads migrate through Minnesota, their heads are simply stunning! #BirdArt #SciArt #Watercolor #ArtYear #FineArt 1/3
Marlis Denk-Lobnig #NearbyNature2025 tried to draw a silly (creepy?) firefly for May
Dynamognathus This month’s #NearbyNature2025 sketch is of the Blackspotted Topminnow (Fundulus olivaceus), a small freshwater fish commonly found near the surface of small creeks and streams in the central-southeastern U.S. #wildlife #alabama #fish #sciart
One of the Sarahs I saw a couple of these when I was in Illinois last month so I'm a little late for #NearbyNature2025 but wanted to share anyway.
Annie Shao Art I feel like it took me forever to paint this black-crowned night heron! I have a small rookery near me, so this is my 2nd #NearbyNature2025 work this month. Ours are so skulky, I'm sure most people don't even know they're there! #BirdArt #SciArt #ArtYear #Watercolor #FineArt
Bri Coyote! #NearbyNature2025 as I move to a new biome where there are still many, many coyotes. Coyotes are the ultimate survivor and opportunist; At home in chaparral desert, pinyon-juniper woodlands, big sagebrush habitat, conifer forests, and even cities and suburbs. #sciart
Dynamognathus For April’s #NearbyNature2025 and also #EarthDay, here’s a sketch of the mason bee Osmia chalybea. As in other mason bees, this species is a proficient pollinator and solitary nester, each female turning narrow cavities within plant stems into multi-chambered nurseries for their larvae. #wildlife
Annie Shao Art A dunlin for #NearbyNature2025, one of the many shorebird species that migrates through Minnesota. Phew, the background on this was a challenge! #BirdArt #ArtYear #FineArt #SciArt #Watercolor #onlybeautifulthings