Daniel D. Brown, Ph.D.

Also, this continued video quality issue is the main reason I find myself going back to IG. @bsky.app :/

I may have a problem.
Nature photos for #iNaturalist

This piece is called “Deer Resistant My Ass!”
We have a few painted rocks around our garden. After deer browsed my evening primrose literally the day I planted it, I thought about a rock with this quote. Then was like “wait. I have a bandsaw.” #nativeplants #starwars #failure Oenothera biennis

A fly infected with a zombie-making fungus, with the fungus erupted between abdominal segments.

A fly infected with a zombie-making fungus, with the fungus erupted between abdominal segments.

I found a dead fly in my yard. Turns out it’s zombie fly infected with a fungus that makes it find a high perch, spread its legs/wings, die, and release fungal spores below. I’ve found 3 now, with 1 shipped to @zombiflied.bsky.social at Harvard for science! Just in time for Last of Us finale! 😂

Close up of a zebra butterfly wing. Lots of white, yellow, and cyan dots in a field of black.

Zebra swallowtail wing looks like pixel art. #butterfly #naturalist

Getting ready to release #4 that just hatched!

After 87 years, zebra swallowtail butterflies return to Pittsburgh thanks to pawpaws Although its host plant is native to Pittsburgh, no sightings of zebra swallowtail butterflies had been reported in 87 years. Until now.

And this excellent @nextpittsburgh.bsky.social article by Andy Moore gives a lot more history, research, and context!
nextpittsburgh.com/environment/...

Long-gone zebra swallowtail butterflies in my Pittsburgh pawpaws Naturalists waited decades for the zebra swallowtail butterfly's return to the northern end of its habitat. My pawpaw trees bred hope.

This was my original story in @publicsource.org: www.publicsource.org/zebra-swallo...

It happened! At least 4 of the 32 zebra swallowtail #butterfly chrysalises that overwintered survived (maybe all). The 1st eclosed today! This shot was NOT planned. 3 more coming in the next 1-2 days. All offspring of this single mom: www.publicsource.org/zebra-swallo...
#pawpaw #nativeplants

New garden bed being solarized around native plantings.

New garden bed being solarized around native plantings.

Turf lawn before-shot. With some holes dug.

Another tiny strip of lawn I’ll never mow again! The other side is neighbor‘s lawn. Shrubby St. John’s wort + foxglove beardtongue from seed. I’ve solarized w/cardboard/mulch around plantings before. Works well enough. If the deer strike and I need to replace, well the hard part’s done.

Fall blooming New England aster… blooming in April.

Fall blooming New England aster… blooming in April.

Just perusing through your native plant photos. :) this one reminded me of some NE aster shots I took this week! Yes, really. I grew them from seed under light in my basement. Then took them in and out trying to harden them while avoiding freezes. They’re so confused 😵‍💫 😂. I was shocked.

More great info! Thank you so much!

That’s great to know! Although these deer will keep coming back over and over. City deer… haha. I had read that oenothera are deer-resistant. That clearly does not apply to starved urban deer. 😂 or just bad internet info

Bonus: I get to make dog walkers laugh when they go by. 😂

Beautiful evening primrose fully leafed out.

A lonely evening primrose cane stripped of leaves with a sign hanging that says “Nice try, sucker! -DEER”

Before and after. Evening primrose grown from seed in my basement. 😂 #nativeplants #gardening #eveningprimrose #deer

Yes the “stairs” were haphazardly thrown together today. Squirrels will ruin it regularly anyway.

Blue painted hobbit hole nestled in the ground.

Blue painted hobbit hole nestled in the ground next to the old yellow one.

Blue painted hobbit hole.

Cut pieces for the hobbit hole.

Made a new #hobbit hole for our front garden. Partly to make kids/parents smile when they walk by. But mainly to make myself smile. Scrap fence cedar and acrylic paint. It’ll look better with real plants around it I think. Pieces cut on #scrollsaw. #woodworking #geekart

Wow. Here in Pittsburgh (6B), they haven’t even emerged from the ground yet!

Chewbacca the tiny Wookiee (puppy). Apparently one of his 🏀s was up in his abdomen and took a second incision to get to.

Diagram of an orchid. Complete with two fuzzy tubers.

Current vibe post Chewie’s “cryptorchid” surgery. Fun tangent: this lead to me learning that “orchid” means “testicle.” Hat tip to @metalmarks.bsky.social for sharing this illustration of why the plant is called an #orchid in our Pittsburgh #Naturalists signal chat. #DogsofBluesky

Aw thanks for sharing, Kate! I appreciate you!

Exhibition of my wooden monarch butterfly intarsia, along with materials and references to milkweed, native plants, and the story of the zebra swallowtail in my backyard last year.

Exhibition of my wooden monarch butterfly intarsia, along with materials and references to milkweed, native plants, and the story of the zebra swallowtail in my backyard last year.

Exhibition of my wooden monarch butterfly intarsia, along with materials and references to milkweed, native plants, and the story of the zebra swallowtail in my backyard last year.

Exhibition of my wooden monarch butterfly intarsia, along with materials and references to milkweed, native plants, and the story of the zebra swallowtail in my backyard last year.

Happy to have this recent wooden monarch #butterfly piece shown at the University of #Pittsburgh #EcoArtisans Sustainable Art Expo today! Bonus materials showcasing #milkweed, #nativeplants, #pawpaw, and zebra swallowtails.

A hand and a pawpaw flower bud

lol I took that same photo

Nice catch ;)

Wooden monarch butterfly intarsia, made from 310 pieces of wood handcut on a scrollsaw.

Wooden monarch butterfly intarsia, made from 310 pieces of wood handcut on a scrollsaw.

Wooden monarch butterfly intarsia, made from 310 pieces of wood handcut on a scrollsaw.

Wooden monarch butterfly intarsia, made from 310 pieces of wood handcut on a scrollsaw.

Plant Milkweed!
#Monarch #Butterfly wood #intarsia is complete! Started this thing in Dec24! Made from 310 pieces of wood handcut on a scrollsaw. Ebonized black walnut, orange-dyed ash, American holly (all scavenged). + A bit of wenge, and painted metal cord antennae. #woodworking #nativeplants

Patio table made from walnut & sapele, with bloodwood, yellowheart, & wenge sunflower inlay.

Patio table made from walnut & sapele, with bloodwood, yellowheart, & wenge sunflower inlay.

Patio table made from walnut & sapele, with bloodwood, yellowheart, & wenge sunflower inlay.

Patio table made from walnut & sapele, with bloodwood, yellowheart, & wenge sunflower inlay.

Cold & rain makes for a great day to do my annual refinish of this inlayed patio sunflower table I made. Downside of oil-finish: yearly maintenance. Upside: it’s easy and much prettier than something like spar urethane. It stays on our porch so at least somewhat limited exposure to elements.

Purely based on my 1 successful attempt at doing exactly this: don’t give up hope on them if it takes FOREVER for them to pop out. Haha. Mine took like a couple months to germinate (I tried scar vs non-scar, fridge cold strat vs fall sow). But everything ended up growing after a few months.

Save the date: Pitt’s 2nd Annual Sustainable Art Expo, April 2, WPU, 10-2pm.

If any of you happen to be #pittsburgh local, the monarch I’m working on will be displayed at the “EcoArtisans Sustainable Art Expo” on April 2nd (10-2pm, WPU, Pitt Campus).

Wooden monarch hindwings being glued.

Wooden monarch forewings being glued. A scrap piece of ash superglued to the backer. And scrap walnut wedge gives clamping pressure.

Next 2 stages of glue up. Since body is glued, I 1st did the bottom wing, pressing them toward center with cauls. Then repeated with forewings. You can see the cauls (a superglued scrap and a wedge) in the second photo to apply clamping force. The pieces interlock at the body creating a pivot point.

Wooden butterfly with a brick on it.

1 step of glue up has begun. I usually find it helpful to glue at least 1 piece to serve as a stable reference when I go to glue the rest. Tiny errors are additive (especially with over 300 individual pieces of wood). So it’s best to take it in stages. I’ve never had a stress-free glue up. 😂

Orange dying a wooden monarch butterfly.

On to the alcohol dyes!
#scrollsaw #woodworking #intarsia #monarch #butterfly