Hummingbird Clearwings, a species of Hummingbird Moth, are fondly called "flying lobsters" due to their flared tail. The species Snowberry Clearwing, which looks very similar, also has this nickname.
Catherine H. Michael
@catherineh.bsky.social
Librarian 📚 Day in the Life. Poetry. Sun. Moon. Clouds. Trees. Animals. Art. Politics. Religion. Philosophy. Everything is consciousness, respect everything. Opinions are my own. 🐮🐷🐣🐶🐱From Planet Claire.
Robin and Wisteria (_Erithacus rubecula_ and _Wisteria sp_), Watercolour on Bockingford, 97 mm square.
On this day in 1985, an 18-year-old singer named Sinead O'Connor signed with Ensign Records, setting the stage for one of music’s most powerful, fearless voices.
On this day in 1985, Kate Bush released "Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)." The groundbreaking single became a global hit again in 2022, proving that truly great songs never stop finding new generations.
Did you know the Library of Congress is home to the Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Papers? There are hints about the couple's domestic life therein, including recipes! Here are a few of them, "Desi's Paprika Steak" and "Lucy's Sunday Night Special."
'Scarlet poppies' by contemporary Impressionist style US contemporary painter Erin Hanson #WomensArt
The Boys recording one of the greatest albums of all time — REVOLVER — at Abbey Road in 1966. This seminal album was released 60yrs ago today.
RIP writer Toni Morrison, died this day 2019. "Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all." “You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” “Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
Richard Pettibone, Andy Warhol, "Jackie," 1964, 1968 https://botfrens.com/collections/14377/contents/1135456
Today's the feast of St Oswald, 7th Century Northumbrian king. Here on the right with St Aidan in glass of 1907 by Caroline Townshend in Newcastle Anglican Cathedral.
Mononykus. Brown pencils on ivory cartridge paper, approximately 150 × 100 mm. From 2022.
Glowing Embers. Photo taken before sunrise this morning on Glastonbury Tor.
Today's artist without a (known) birthday: Jacob van Hulsdonck, still-life painter of Antwerp. Here, from around 1620, wild strawberries in a wan-li bowl. And a carnation.
I’m in Penn Station awaiting the 1:45 Greyhound. I’ve a lot on my mind & in my heart— decisions to be made that I hope unfold kindly. 8/4/26
It’s 1961 and 152 black Cats line up on a Hollywood sidewalk to audition for a part in the new movie ‘Tales Of Terror’ — starring Vincent Price, Peter Lorre and Basil Rathbone.
#FairyTaleTuesday Joan of Arc remains an iconic figure. Perhaps her contribution to the history of human courage is greater than her significance in the political history of France. She was victimized by a civil conflict & by a war with a foreign power. www.britannica.com/biography/Sa...
Peace, peace! he is not dead, he doth not sleep, He hath awaken'd from the dream of life; 'Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep With phantoms an unprofitable strife, And in mad trance, strike with our spirit's knife Invulnerable nothings. Percy B. Shelley
8/4/26 I read The Last Man week to week. This weekend, I read ahead to the final chapter which I’ll post next weekend — I had the time and was curious. Happy birthday to Percy. 
happy bday English writer Percy Bysshe Shelley, b.1792. “The sunlight claps the earth, and the moonbeams kiss the sea: what are all these kissings worth, if thou kiss not me?” “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” “A poet is a nightingale who sits in darkness and...
"It’s as if we launched a war against nature, and that has turned place after place into something that resembles a war zone. The climate movement is a peace movement, a movement to end this war and its casualties. ...summer was an immaterial treasure and joy that belonged to all of us."
The largest conservation areas in the U.S. are in the Pacific Ocean, where tiny islands are epicenters of biodiversity. The Trump administration is now opening their waters to commercial fishing, sparking a battle over some of the country's most pristine ecosystems. n.pr/4pSfqqC
These are some of the last pristine ocean ecosystems. Now, they're losing protections
The largest conservation areas in the U.S. are in the Pacific Ocean, where tiny islands are epicenters of biodiversity. The Trump administration is now opening their waters to commercial fishing, sparking a battle over some of the country’s most pristine ecosystems.
n.pr
8/3/26 Mom’s birthday 🎂 Peter is a good gardener. There are lots of birds & bees 🐝 & flutterbees
Red-billed Blue Magpie It ranges from the western Himalayas eastwards into Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam, and through central and eastern China to southwest Manchuria. 📸: @raghunath.wildlife
Today is also #NationalWatermelonDay so here is one, with some other fruits, by Fernando Botero. A little Cotán moment with those hanging oranges.
MAGAZINE MONDAY | A young English girl. A charming British soldier. Seduction, betrayal, heartbreak. Generations of American readers couldn’t put down this 18th-century novel. https://lcm.loc.gov/issue/july-august-2026/americas-first-bestseller/?loclr=blsky
America’s First Bestseller?
‘Charlotte Temple’ spawned generations of devoted fans.
lcm.loc.gov