Brian Williams
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oaktreehopper.bsky.social
Brian Williams
@oaktreehopper.bsky.social
160 followers 110 following 19 posts
Geographer, photographer, fungi enthusiast, occasional social media user.
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oaktreehopper.bsky.social
Ahhh, springtime! Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, the woods are green again, and slime molds are throwing plasmodial parties on the forest floor.

This is honeycomb coral slime mold (Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa), one of my favorites, and one of the first to spring back to life in Mississippi.
This photo shows a scattering of critters, for lack of a better word, that look a bit like white sea anemones, blooming from rotting wood. They are extremely delicate and ephemeral, and are not actually single organisms but multi-organismal assemblages. This is another photo of the same group, but at a much tighter angle, taken with both a macro lens and extension tubes for additional magnification. The honeycomb like structure is visible, as are the extended, anemone-like tips, which also have a fuzzy texture if viewed with enough detail. #naturephotography #slimemolds #slimemoldsunday #fungalfriends (though not technically fungi)
April 6, 2025 at 3:44 PM
oaktreehopper.bsky.social
Mycena scene
#fungifriends #photography #macro
Four delicate mushrooms growing in series from twigs and leaves on the forest floor. The stalks and gills of the fungi glow subtly with light passing through the. A bokeh of autumn colors is visible in the background.
March 10, 2025 at 4:42 AM
oaktreehopper.bsky.social
Coral mushroom #fungifriends
In the foreground, a coral mushroom emerges from the leaf litter in a patch of Atlantic rainforest in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. From a single base, the fungus diverges into a number of limbs. At the crown of the fungus the subtle orange to violet hues of the base and branches end in numerous white tips. In the background, the greens and browns of the forest are visible.
March 8, 2025 at 1:47 PM
oaktreehopper.bsky.social
1) A photo of a springtail (Ptenotrix marmorata) 2) grazing in a field of pyramids 3) on the cap of a mushroom (Amanita polypyramis) 4) in the understory of a forest in Mississippi. When evil looms I find some comfort and courage in the existence of the tiny things.
A cute, miniscule striped creature that looks like an insect (six legs, round body, antennae) but is in an entirely different family of hexapod. Image taken from above, with a background that is almost entirely white. The same springtail, in this second photo, is now very small in the image, and is dwarfed by small white spires (pyramidal warts) surrounding it. With a yet wider angle, the pyramidal warts are now clearly on top of the cap of a white mushroom, Amanita polypyramis. A drop of water is hanging from the side of the cap, and the ground below, which is out of focus, is covered by pine straw. At an even wider angle, the smilax vines and shrubs surrounding the mushroom are visible, as are the trunks of loblolly and shortleaf pines in the background.
February 9, 2025 at 3:51 PM
oaktreehopper.bsky.social
We're looking for a couple more members to round out this important committee and somebody sent me your name.
Photo: One leafcutter ant carrying a piece of fruit, along with the four other leaf cutter ants that are riding on the fruit. In the foreground, another leafcutter ant is passing in the opposite direction.
January 13, 2025 at 11:40 PM
oaktreehopper.bsky.social
Slime mold on a pine needle.
Tiny, silvery orbs growing from the top of a pine needle. They look a bit like toy balloons, or push pins, and are quite tiny (0.2 mm in diameter).
October 21, 2024 at 6:35 PM
oaktreehopper.bsky.social
Charismatic minifauna.
The oak treehopper (Platycotis vittata), a colorful small insect with a funny helmet-like projection over its head, clings to an oak twig, looking a bit like a dinosaur.
September 19, 2023 at 10:05 PM