Diana Gruber

The next generation has arrived. #deer #pnw

A very small frog eating aphids. 🐸

Bruno is fascinated by bubbles like he was watching the aurora borealis or something. #herps

Metamorphosis! Both legs have burst forth and the right arm is about to pop. 🐸

Meanwhile Bruno and Brunette are thriving. I haven't seen any babies yet this year but I don't really know what is going on in that cave. (I don't even know which one is Bruno and which one is Brunette) Happy little critters tho. 🐸

@pogue.omg.lol A few frog eggs avoided getting eaten by newts. This lucky tadpole is about to sprout legs. They will burst thru his skin fully formed and his tail will shrink and then he's a frog. He's tiny. 🐸

#cats #killers #killercats

That handsome buck from last fall is back now, looking a bit worse for wear. He still has his harem of four ladies so I assume he won all his fights. Hopefully the girls are all pregnant. #PNW #photography #deer #alphamale

Poor Bruno! His true love is hiding from him. Brunette pops her head up for a gulps of air when he isn't looking. #herps #newts 🦎

Bruno and Brunette eating fruit flies. #herps 🦎

Another baby newt has lost his gills and started breathing air through his tiny lungs. Young newts may spend several years wandering around in the forest before returning to the water to breed. #herps 🦎

Bruno and Brunette are getting lovey-dovey again. These two reproduce prolifically. #herps 🦎

A flock of mourning doves was startled by an eagle. #photography #pnw #birds

Look how precious this baby newt is! I don't usually handle them but today is moving day. He is ready to get out of the water and walk on land. I am putting him in the isopod tank. #herps #newt 🦎

This baby newt has recently lost his gills and now he is breathing with his little lungs. I will move him to a new habitat soon. When all the baby newts have left the water, I will put the parents back in the tank to produce more baby newts. #herps #newt 🦎

Eagles surveying nervous waterfowl at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. #photography #wildlife #nature #pnw #birds

Tundra swans arriving at their winter destination in Ridgefield, Wa. They are thirsty from their journey so the first thing they do is drink water. #nature #photography #waterfowl #winter #migration

Animal tracks and scat on the dike near the sewage treatment plant. #pnw #photography #fallcolors

24-hour time-lapse of the cooling pond at the former Trojan nuclear power plant. #pnw #park

We had four inches of rain in three days. #pnw #weather

The sky above the Ridgefield wildlife refuge is agitated by the approaching atmospheric river. After the rains come, the fields turn into shallow lakes inhabited by massive flocks of waterfowl. Today I saw about a dozen sandhill cranes, six swans and one eagle. #pnw #photography #weather #birds

A lot of drama in my yard today. There's a buck wandering around being horny and a small flock of does trying to avoid him. #nature #photography #pnw

Sunset #photography #pnw #sunset

Columbia River 24-hour time-lapse.

I see no ships at the grain port in Longview. That's sad. It's harvest time, and the grain elevator should be busy. Mt. St. Helens in the background currently has no snow, but don't worry, we are not having a drought. It's been an excellent growing season. #pnw #photography

The Columbia River near Cathlamet. #photography #pnw #river

A magnificent black-tailed deer strutting around my yard looking for love. #pnw #nature #photography

A baby newt eating brine shrimp. #herps #babyanimals

On the left, fancy white-tailed deer at the Julia Butler Hansen Refuge for the Columbian White-tailed Deer. On the right, ordinary black tail deer in my back yard. 🦌 #deer #nature #photography #pnw

A heron hunts in the marsh at low tide. #photography #pnw #birds

Elochoman River #photography #pnw #river

It's kind of a weird place to see pelicans because I did not think we were on their migration path, but this is the 3rd year I have seen them on this little lake near Ranier, Oregon. #birds #nature #migration #pelicans

He's starting to sound defensive. #ppploan #madeoutlikeabandit #redneckasshole

One time Greebo and Marv stared down a bobcat. Words were exchanged. The bobcat retreated. #cats #barncats #caterday

Are they cute? These brothers are mountain barn cats. They patrol the forest and keep pests away, including large predators. They are 9 years old, gray and battle scarred, with no desire to retire and live in the house. They threaten to kill me every time I suggest it. Meet Marv and Greebo. #cats

At 3 weeks old, the baby newts are still transparent, but they are starting to develop their characteristic red bellies, an important defensive signal that lets predators know they are poisonous. #herps #pondlife

A baby newt eating baby brine shrimp. #herps #aquarium #babyanimals

Working and playing on the Columbia River. #pnw #photography

Cathlamet marina #pnw #photography

Succulents and pear trees. #photography #pnw #trees #flowers #summer

So far, my lovey-dovey newts have produced at least 6 healthy offspring. I set up a bubbler system to breed baby brine shrimp, and Bruno watches it like it's TV. #herps #newts #nature

At first, my newts did not seem to like each other, but over time, they became attached, and now they show a surprising level of affection for cold-blodded critters. They sleep with their heads cuddled together. #herps #newts #pnw #pets