Tessera

Gregory Rothman

@gregoryrothman.bsky.social

I take pics -occasionally artistic. Secular Humanist. Doctorate in Armchair Biology & working on one in Law. Terminally Diagnosed w/ Wanderlust & Curiosity. Always working on being a better person - not always successful. Tap pics for further descriptions

1001 Posts715 Follower 486 Folgt

Harry Dunn @libradunn1.bsky.social · 5d ago

🖤

MJM Grand @huntnfish8.bsky.social · 5d ago

Definitely a #Stunday #Scape #Monochrome #NationalParks

A slender band of silver mist stretches across Kintla Lake, suspended between the dark mountains and their nearly perfect reflections. Forested slopes rise steeply from the far shore, their trees merging into deep shadow, with individual conifers tracing the ridgelines. Above them, rugged summits stand against a luminous sky swept with long, feathered clouds.

The still water carries the entire scene downward: peaks point toward the lakebed, and reflected clouds brighten the shallows around scattered stones. Along the foreground shore, small pebbles catch touches of light, lending a fine, rough texture to the otherwise smooth expanse.

In black and white, the photograph draws its strength from these contrasts—the weight of the mountains, the delicacy of the mist, and the intricate movement of clouds above an almost motionless lake. That narrow ribbon of light across the water holds the composition together, quietly separating the mountain world from its reflection.

Lecia Michelle @leciamichelle.bsky.social · 3d ago

Just a lil pop of color. A Tennessee warbler. #birds #photography #birdsofbluesky

Tennessee warbler with bright yellow head, darker yellow and gray wings and light yellow and white chest feathers perched on a bare branch. Tree trunk in the background.

Kort Duce @kortduce.bsky.social · 4d ago

A great blue heron stands on one leg during sunrise at a nature area in Longmont, Colorado. #BirdOfTheDay #OnOneLeg #bird #birdphotography #ЕСК #birds #photography #birdsofbluesky #BirdsSeenln2026 #nature #wildlife #wildlifephotography

Photo by Kort Duce

A great blue heron stands on one leg during sunrise at a nature area in Longmont, Colorado.

Western Lens @planzing.bsky.social · 4d ago

Weather Warning From the West… At Priest Mesa…

kevinosx @kevinosx.bsky.social · 4d ago

Fall on the Colorado front range... #photography #landscapephotography #fallcolors #canon

Looking across a pond at the trees on the other side, covered with yellow and orange leaves. The trees are reflected in the water.

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 4d ago

Saw this over the weekend. In a word -Terrific. It’s a Princess Bride for adults. Funny, magical and romantic… with a bit of Wicker sex. Go see it before everyone else.

WICKER | Official Trailer | Only In Theaters October

YouTube video by Black Bear

youtu.be

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · last wk.

I believe today’s #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Black&White with an Alt of #Colourful. As it happens, in the S pond, I happened upon some wood ducks. I am certain they qualify under the Alt of the day #photographersUnited #Birds #Photography #EastCoastKin

Male Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

A brilliantly colored male Wood Duck floats across a tranquil pond, its reflection shimmering in the gently rippling water. Its iridescent head glows emerald green and deep purple, decorated with sweeping white stripes that curve from its face toward the back of its head. A vivid red eye contrasts with the dark surrounding feathers, while its short, multicolored bill combines red, yellow, white, and black.

Its rich chestnut breast is covered with delicate white speckles, contrasting with glossy dark wings and warm golden-brown flanks. The surrounding water reflects soft shades of copper, brown, and blue, creating an almost painterly background. The solitary duck appears calm and elegant, its extraordinary plumage standing out against the subdued reflections.

Curious Facts

* Bridal beauty: Aix sponsa refers to the bird’s elaborate, wedding-like plumage.
* Tree nesters: Wood Ducks nest in cavities, sometimes more than 50 feet above ground.
* Daring ducklings: Newly hatched chicks leap from elevated nests, often falling dozens of feet unharmed.
* Living jewels: Microscopic feather structures produce shimmering greens and purples without corresponding pigments.
* Climbing ducks: Sharp claws allow them to perch on branches.
* Remarkable recovery: Once threatened by overhunting and habitat loss, Wood Ducks rebounded through conservation and nesting-box programs.
* Seasonal disguise: Males temporarily trade their brilliant breeding colors for subdued eclipse plumage.

Photo Credit: Gregory Rothman 2026

Albert Dros @albertdros.bsky.social · last wk.

Tiny things in the autumn forests.

God @thegodshow.com · last wk.

What’s Next Photography @oldlundy.bsky.social · last wk.

Where Time Wanders A quiet corner of old Lyon, France. #WhatsNext #StreetPhotography #UrbanGaze #ECK #CinematicStreets #Lyon

An empty cobblestone street curves through historic Lyon, France, lined with centuries-old buildings, weathered stone facades, shuttered windows, and hanging café signs. Warm peach and terracotta buildings glow in the distance, contrasting with the shadowed foreground. The narrow street disappears around a gentle bend, creating a quiet, timeless atmosphere.

Nick Akers @ni9akers.bsky.social · last wk.

🔥 #thicktrunktuesday

Mr Bill 😯@mrbill420.bsky.social · last wk.

Some more random shots around Sandpoint. 🚁🌾🎥📸🍁🍂🍃🛶🌲⛵️🦅🚤🦌☕️👻🏔️ #idahogems #visit_sandpoint #visit_idaho #lake_pend_oreille #dronephotography_dji_air3 #sandpoint_living

mjlinde.bsky.social @mjlinde.bsky.social · last wk.

Repost; 📸correction #BirdOfTheDay #Alt #BrownBackground #ECK #Nature #Photography #wildlife #Birdsky Sometimes it's all about color and contrast, this beautiful #starling certainly stands out! Every feather tip catches a different color. 📸Geert Klein Breteler @geertkb.bsky.social

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 2w ago

As we packed bags into the uber about to head to the airport at trip’s end, I happened to look up and saw this crazy pink sky with the most persistent pink rainbow. Never seen anything like it. The trip was a bit of a disappointment, but this was quite an ending #Rainbow #iphone17 #RedWednesday #ECK

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 2w ago

@robcrank68.bsky.social says today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Brown & alt is #Blue - any bird with brown or blue plumage . A #BeltedKingfish at N Pond takes in the view before swallowing a snack. #birds #ECK #photographersunited #nikonz8

Belted Kingfisher (Megaceryle alcyon)

Perched atop a weathered, sun-bleached tree trunk, a female Belted Kingfisher surveys the water beneath her. Her dramatic, spiky blue-black crest looks almost windblown, while her long, dagger-like bill points toward the left. Slate-blue feathers cover her head, back, and wings, contrasting with a bright white collar and breast. A distinctive rusty-brown band crosses her lower chest, identifying her as a female.

Behind her, soft blue water and the blurred silhouettes of distant waterfowl create a peaceful, almost painterly background. The rough, textured wood provides a striking contrast to her finely patterned feathers. Alert and poised, she appears ready to launch herself toward an unsuspecting fish.

Curious Facts

Unlike most bird species, female Belted Kingfishers are more colorful than males. Only females sport the rusty-brown breast band; males have a single blue-gray band.

Kingfishers are expert aerial fishermen. They often hover above the water before plunging headfirst, using their powerful bills to seize small fish. Their eyes contain adaptations that help them locate prey despite the distortion caused by light passing from air into water.

These birds excavate surprisingly long nesting tunnels into steep riverbanks or sandy embankments. Both parents dig with their bills and feet, creating burrows that can extend more than six feet underground.

Kingfishers cannot swallow fish sideways. After catching one, they typically return to a perch, strike it against a branch to subdue it, and swallow it headfirst so its fins fold backward.

Their unmistakable rattling call, often heard before the bird is spotted, is one of the characteristic sounds of North American waterways.

Photograph © Gregory Rothman 2026

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 3w ago

With eyes bigger than its stomach, the heron ended up abandoning its catch, and shaking the carp off its beak. #Sunday #EastCoastKin #ECK #PhotographersUnited #PhotographersOfBlueSky #Photography #Birds #GreatBlueHeron #ArtChallenge

Species: Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

A Great Blue Heron stands in shallow, murky green water, its long neck curved sharply downward as it grips a brilliant orange-red goldfish in its pointed beak. The large wading bird has slate-gray feathers, subtle rusty-brown highlights along its wings, and long, slender legs partially submerged in the water.
Its piercing yellow eye is fixed on the fish, which remains partly underwater, its rounded body and flowing fins creating a vivid splash of color against the muted greens and grays of the scene.
Gentle ripples spread across the water, reflecting both predator and prey. The photograph captures an intimate moment in the natural world, emphasizing the contrast between the heron's deliberate, precise movements and the vulnerability of its brightly colored catch.

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 3w ago

#tidesouttuesday The tide was low vis was terrible. Only after processing did all the bodies appear. All I ever saw was a flash of black and white or a couple feet of a black snout bobbing at me. #EastCoastKin #eck #orcas Images shot under strict regulation & permission of Argentinian gov’t.

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · last mo.

#TheDivers for #BirdOfTheDay today. A grab shot of a #pelican just after it boomed into the water for a meal. Scared the hell out of me. Taken in the Sea of Cortez off of Los Islotes. #EastCoastKin #ECK #photographersunited #birds

Clive @stonesphotographs.bsky.social · last mo.

For todays #BirdOfTheDay theme #TheDivers and Alt theme: #BirdStare I give you Great Crested Grebe, Little Grebe (Honest it is) Gannett and a Puffin #Nature #Wildlife @rspb.bsky.social #EastCoastKin #ThePhotoHour #Birds

The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2mo ago

9/11 victim Michael Massaroli’s son: "You do my dad's legacy & the legacy of all victims no honor using this tragedy to spread hate. I've had to spend 25 years seeing people use it to hate on our Muslim brothers & sisters, people who don't look like them."

Steven Beschloss @stevenbeschloss.bsky.social · 2mo ago

I said this years ago. It's been obvious. It remains obvious. It's a tragedy for our country.

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#BirdOfTheDay is #Iridescence Alt. is #mothers, any female bird. #birdphotography #AntilleanCrested #Hummingbird #OrthorhyncusCristatus #ECK #birds #photography #birdsofbluesky #nature #wildlife #Dominica #NikonZ8

A small, dark hummingbird* perches at an angle on a twig, gripping the bark with tiny black feet. Almost the entire bird reads as sooty blackish-green — until you reach the head, where a spiky, forward-swept crest blazes turquoise, emerald, and gold-green, tipped with a flash of blue. The short straight bill points left, one dark eye catches a glint of light, and faint bronze-green edges show along the folded wings and flank. The background dissolves into soft green bokeh, with a sprig of fine compound leaves (looks like a legume, possibly *Leucaena* or similar) entering from the upper right.

*Species: Antillean Crested Hummingbird (*Orthorhyncus cristatus*), an adult male — the erect crest is diagnostic and unique to males. It's a common resident throughout the Lesser Antilles.

Cause of Color Shift: That crest has almost no pigment doing the work. Hummingbird feather barbules contain stacked platelets of melanin riddled with air bubbles, layered in precise arrays a few hundred nanometers thick. Light reflecting off the top and bottom of each layer interferes with itself: wavelengths that come back in phase are amplified, the rest cancel out. The result is a thin-film interference mirror, not a dye.

Because the effect depends on the *path length* light takes through those stacks, the color depends on viewing angle. Tilt the head a few degrees and the effective spacing shortens, pushing the reflected wavelength toward blue — which is exactly what you see here, green grading to blue at the crest tips. Turn away from the narrow reflection cone entirely and the feather goes flat black, since the underlying melanin absorbs almost everything.

That's also why the body looks so drab: it's ordinary melanin plumage, so it stays dark regardless of angle. The bird carries a directional signal lamp on its head that it can effectively switch on and off just by turning — brilliant for a rival or a female facing it, invisible to a predator watching from the side.

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 2mo ago

#birdoftheday #strikeapose The Blue Heron would not move. I took the photo even though this is his bad side. If he complains, it’s his own damn fault. #EastCoastKin #ECK #PhotographersUnited

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Haven’t been posting lately. My apologies. Got an elderly dog with issues. She’s moving in the right direction, though, so hopefully will be back at it soon.

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 3mo ago

#BirdOfTheDay theme is #EgretsAndHerons Alt is #Yellow -yellow feathered bird. While night herons are able to pull of rat tails into their dying days- respect, I find the juveniles more fashionable sans the rat tail & formal colorations #ECK #Birds #ArtYear #PhotographerUnited #NorthPond

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 3mo ago

This is Charlie, a juvenile #GreatBlueHeron, aka Don Quixote.This is another shot from his terrifying “REED BATTLE ROYALE.” I love the curl of feathers on his/her? right wing. #BirdOfThDay #yourchoice #Birds #ECK #ArtChallenges #EastCoastKin #PhotographersUnited #UrbanWildlife #NikonZ8

A juvenile Great Blue Heron stands in shallow, rippling water, wings raised high and half-folded above its back in a moment of unbalanced motion. The wings dominate the upper left of the frame — layered slate-grey and blue-grey feathers fanning outward, the primaries splayed like spread fingers, individual barbs catching the light. The bird's body is a mottled grey-white, fluffy and slightly disheveled, with rain-like flecks of pale streaking down the chest.

The long neck curves down and to the right in an S-shape, ending in a heavy yellow-grey dagger bill that grips a thin willow branch. Green willow leaves trail from the stick down into the water. The head is pale grey with a spiky black crest and a bright yellow eye ringed dark. Two thin legs plunge into water thrown up in spray and droplets around them.

The background is soft-focus green water, a fallen log along the top edge, and blades of reed grass entering from the upper right. Bottom left: "©Gregory Rothman 2025."

- That stick-battle is likely practice, not play with purpose — young herons rehearse nest-material handling and bill dexterity long before they'll ever build one.
- Herons have specialized "powder down" feathers on the chest that crumble into a fine dust; they use it with a comb-like serrated middle claw to blot fish slime off their plumage.
- The S-curve neck is structural: an elongated sixth vertebra acts as a hinge, letting the head fire forward like a released spring.
- Despite a six-foot wingspan, an adult weighs only about 5–6 pounds.
- Their eyes shift toward binocular vision at night — they hunt in near-darkness comfortably.

- Great Blue Herons are essentially monomorphic — males average slightly larger with a marginally thicker bill, but the ranges overlap so heavily that a single photo can't tell you. The plumage does reveal is age: the solid dark crown (no white crown stripe), lack of long head and breast plumes, and the shaggy, loosely streaked neck all mark this as a juvenile.

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Had to repost. Accidently tattooed the first image…🥹 Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #MultiColour, birds with 3 or more colors. Alt #DucksOutOfWater Barely Squeaking in, this guy greeted us at breakfast each morning in Dominica. #Bananaquit ( #CoerebaFlaveola) #ECK #Birds #photographersunite

Gregory Rothman @gregoryrothman.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #MultiColour, birds with 3 or more colors. Alt #DucksOutOfWater Barely Squeaking in, this guy greeted us at breakfast each morning in Dominica. #Bananaquit ( #CoerebaFlaveola) #ECK #Birds #photographersunited