Heidi Eaton

@heidi-eaton

Artist, birder, nature lover, elementary aide, former great ape keeper, "Once a Zookeeper, Always a Zookeeper" she/her

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Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· 27d

I painted my own Christmas card designs for many years, so for the #ArtRepostJuly theme of #joy, I'll post one of those designs. #art #watercolor

A watercolor drawing of a hippopotamus resting its head on an enormous red ornament ball.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· 27d

For the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #SingersAndWingers, this Yellow-headed Blackbirds wants to apply for both. While most people wouldn't call the sound they make a song, they are songbirds, and they throw their whole body into each song, extending their wings as they sing. #birds #birding

A Yellow-headed Blackbird, perched on some small twigs, is singing. It's yellow head and breast is framed by its extended black wings with their white patches exposed.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· 29d

The #ArtRepostJuly theme for the 15th is #green. This Red-winged Blackbird, was my first attempt at #scratchboard starting with a white clayboard. I discovered the clay doesn't smoothly accept colored ink from a brush, so I struggled to get a smooth background and made it into reeds instead. #art

A scratchboard art of a Red-winged Blackbird perched on a cattail head that is going to seed. The background is a field of green streaks, implying the green reeds behind the bird.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· 29d

When looking for #Birds&Flowers for today's #BirdOfTheDay, I discovered I don't have many birds standing in flowers. I have a few sparrows amidst dandelions from a fallout after a winter storm in May in Colorado, so here's a Vesper Sparrow surrounded by dandelions in various stages. #birds #birding

A late winter storm during spring migration can result in a "fallout" of birds. On this particular day, the lawn of an urban park was covered in various sparrows, bluebirds, and warblers, all looking for a bite to eat before continuing on their way north. This photo is of a Vesper Sparrow, which are common out in the country, but not so much in the city normally.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· 29d

Out on the plains, a barbed wire fence becomes the best places to hang out and wait for bugs to catch. The #BirdOfTheDay with #PerfectPoise is this Western Kingbird. #birds #birding

Multiple strands of barbed wire lead off into the distance on several poles doing the same, while a Western Kingbird, with its yellow belly, white breast, and gray back is perched on the top wire .

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 13

My scratchboard art isn't very #colorful, even when I do color it with ink, so I'm digging into my marker drawings file for this Dogbane Beetle, which is quite colorful, especially when the light hits it right. #ArtRepostJuly #art #drawing

A marker drawing of a Dogbane Beetle sitting on a leaf. The beetle is green and shiny, with some red color reflected on its side.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 13

It was easy to find a pic for today's #BirdOfTheDay theme of #buttshotts. I got this photo of a Lesser Prairie-chicken this past April at #KansasLekTreks Such a handsome butt! #birds #birding

A male Lesser Prairie-chicken with his tail erect and butt toward the camera. He is looking over his left shoulder with his beautiful yellow eyebrow and peek at his reddish air sac.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 12

For the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #AmongTheRipples, this American Dipper stands out as the only aquatic songbird in the US. Native to the Western US, they go under the water in rapidly moving streams, walking on the bottom to find aquatic larva and worms. They have a beautiful song. #birds #birding

An American Dipper, a medium-sized gray songbird, is standing in shallow water with ripples coming out from its feet.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 11

For today's theme of #UpAndDown, my #BirdOfTheDay is this Caspian Tern looking down for some fish to prey on. #birds #birding

A fall-plumaged Caspan Tern (so it has a mottled black and white cap, instead of all black) is flying against a blue sky and looking straight down.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 10

I'm going to post the alt #BirdOfTheDay theme #Contortionist as well, because I have this photo of a Ring-necked Duck bathing, that I had titled "Broken Duck", because it is so contorted. #birds #birding

A Ring-necked Duck bathing. Its head is down and to the left in an awkward position and the body is twisted with one leg out of the water and the tail up in the air.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 10

The #ArtRepostJuly theme for the 10th is #above, so I'm going to share this #scratchboard of a meerkat, who is looking above him for danger. It is entitled, "The Sentinel". #art

A scratchboard art of a meerkat perched on the tip of a termite mound, looking up and to the right of the viewer. The background is black and the piece is left in black and white.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 10

This adorable Canyon Wren with a beautiful voice seems perfect for the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #rocky. This one was spotted in Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs, CO, USA #birds #birding

A Canyon Wren with brown belly, dark cap, white throat and a long, thin bill is perched on a red rock wall. A dark cavity in the wall is behind him and accentuates his shape and colors.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 9

Day 9 of #ArtRepostJuly has the theme #orange. This #scratchboard and ink of Greater Prairie chickens, entitled "On the Lek" was a commission for the 2025 Kansas Lek Treks prairie chicken festival. It was used on t-shirts for the event and auctioned off to raise money for Audubon of Kansas. #art

A scratchboard and ink artwork of two Greater Prairie-chickens. The one in the foreground is in his classic mating dance pose, bent horizontal to the ground with his orange air sac inflated on his neck, tail and pinnae erect and wings dropped. The chicken in the background is standing erect and relaxed.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 9

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #BathTime. The amazing migrant trap on the Gulf Coast, #SabineWoods gets fallouts of huge numbers of songbirds. This photo captures 3 Indigo Buntings, a Northern Parula, and a Blue Grosbeak in the manmade "drip" at the same time. #birds #birding

A manmade bathing spot at Sabine Woods, a patch of woods on the Gulf Coast in southeast Texas, attracts many birds. In this photo there are two male Indigo Buntings, a female Indigo Bunting, a male Blue Grosbeak, and a male Northern Parula.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 8

Today's #BirdOfTheDay them is #Lifer, sharing the most recent bird that was new to me. For me that is this Brown Booby, which made a rare appearance near downtown Kansas City last month. #birds #birding

A juvenile Brown Booby, which is a large sea bird with a brown head, neck, and back, a mottled belly, and a large pinkish bill that almost surrounds the pale blue eye, is standing on a rock in front of a body of water. This bird, which normally is found out over the oceans, was hanging out for several weeks at a small pond near downtown Kansas City, Missouri.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 7

The #ArtRepostJuly prompt for the 7th is #eerie. Might be a stretch, but this is the most eerie piece I have. A #scratchboard of a crow in front of the moon, which I entitled "Moonlighting" #art

A scratchboard of a crow cawing in front of a full moon on a black background

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 7

The #BirdOfTheDay theme is #orange, so I'm going with this photo of an American Redstart. Despite the name, the brilliant color on these birds is really more orange, than red. A species of wood warbler, the American Redstart nests in the woods in my area of the country (e Kansas). #birds #birding

An male American Redstart, a small bird with black head and back, orange patches on wings, tail, and breast, and a white belly, is singing in a tree.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 6

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Cutie. Nothing much cuter than this #borb impersonating a #bird, a Tufted Titmouse puffed up against the cold. #birding

A fluffed up Tufted Titmouse has a ball-like appearance with a pointed crest on its head. a round beady eye completes the cute look.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 6

For Day 5 of #ArtRepostJuly the theme is #wet, so here is a #scratchboard of a Hooded Merganser, which is floating in water. #art

Scratchboard artwork of a Hooded merganser. The artwork has a black background and is mostly in black and white, except for the brown of the flanks of the duck and the yellow eye.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 6

Late in the day here, but the #BirdOfTheDay theme is #Ebony&Ivory (black and white birds), so here is a Black-and-White Warbler in his characteristic nuthatch pose. #birds #birding

A Black-and-White Warbler, which is a small bird with black and white striped head and streaks of black and white on its body, is perched upside down on a tree trunk.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 4

The prompt for #ArtRepostJuly is #wing, so I'll share this #scratchboard art done as a commission in 2022 of a Sandhill Crane in front of the moon. I know you have to suspend lighting realities a bit for this one, but art lets us do that. #art

Scratchboard art of a sandhill crane flying in front of a full moon on a black background.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 4

With a #BirdOfTheDay theme of #WildMotion, how could I not post this photo of millions of Snow Geese taking in flight at once at #LoessBluffsNWR in northwest Missouri, USA. Read alt text for more info. #birds #birding

Each fall and spring, Snow Geese make their way between their breeding grounds in the arctic and wintering grounds in the southern half of the US. Loess Bluffs National Wildlife Refuge in NW Missouri is a stopping spot for them in both directions. If the water doesn't freeze over, they may stay there all winter, but usually it freezes from mid-December to February. Their numbers usually peak in mid- to late-February on their way north when numbers over 1 million are not unusual. Bald Eagles flying over, frequently stir up the geese into a deafening flying wall as shown in this photo. The photo shows a blur of black and white with tiny peeks of sky visible between wings and bodies, but individual geese can still be seen when zooming in on the photo.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 4

Stumbled upon this #ArtRepostJuly and today's theme is #red I'm sharing this #scratchboard with a splash of red ink of a Red-bellied Woodpecker that I did in 2024. #art

Scratchboard art of a Red-bellied Woodpecker - black background with a gray branch on which a woodpecker is perched, back to the viewer, looking up and to the right. The woodpecker has a black and white striped back and a red cap on its white face with a tinge of red.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jul 3

For the #BirdOfTheDay theme of #Quackers, here is a dapper male Hoodie (Hooded Merganser) showing off his plumage. #birds #birding #nature #wildlife

A Hooded Merganser duck, which has a black head and bill with a large white patch exposed by raising it's "hood", a white breast and belly with black stripes near the shoulder and ruddy brown sides, is rising out of the water with it's wings open and extended straight up from it's back.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jun 20

Today's #BirdOfTheDay theme is #raptors, so I'm going with this older photo of a #CrestedCaracara I took at #LagunaAtascosaNWR in South Texas several years ago. #birds #birding

A Crested Caracara, which is a large bird in the falcon family that has dark brown wings and back, a white neck and breast, black crested cap, with an orange and blue bill, is perched on a yucca. While in the falcon family, caracaras mostly feed on carrion, so act more like vultures.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jun 14

A wayward Brown Booby found its way to an urban nature area near downtown Kansas City, and I was able to get my life bird #511 today. #birds #birding #urbanwildlife #rarebird

A Brown Booby, which is a large brown sea bird with a mottled belly, yellow webbed feet and a large pale bill that extends around its pale eye, is standing on a rock with water in the background.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Apr 10

I'm helping with Audubon of Kansas' Lek Treks, guiding some of the prairie-chicken tours in western Kansas this week. Here is a gorgeous male Lesser Prairie-chicken on a lek displaying for females that may or may not have been close by at that moment. #LekTreks #Prairie-chicken #birds #birding

Pictured is a male Lesser Prairie-chicken doing his mating dance. He has the long feathers on the back of his neck standing straight up above his head. His red air sac on the side of his neck is partially inflated. He is an older male, so has largish orange combs above each eye. He is holding his tail erect and lowering his wings while strutting about. Male prairie-chickens gather on leks each morning at dawn, displaying for females and battling other males for the opportunity to mate with the females who come looking for mates.
Lesser Prairie-chickens are on the decline and were recently de-listed from the Endangered Species List, not because they are recovering, but on a technicality argued in court. Check out https://www.audubonofkansas.org/advocacy/prairie-chickens for more info on how to help prairie-chickens.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Mar 21

Can you find the butterfly in this photo? #camouflage #butterfly #insect #goatweedleafwing

What looks like just a pile of leaves, actually also contains a butterfly called a Goatweed Leafwing. When it's wings are closed, it looks just like a dead leaf. The topside is orange. In this photo, the butterfly is toward the left-center of the photo. It's head is buried down in the leaves and not visible in the photo.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Feb 8

The February photo from @bugeric.bsky.social and my calendar we make for family is this close-up of a gall caused by a tiny wasp in the genus Acraspis on a Chinkapin Oak leaf. #insects #galls #macrophotography

A tiny gall is attached to the vein of an oak leaf. The gall is pale green and spiky and the tips of the spikes are a reddish-purple color. This gall is caused by a tiny wasp in the genus Acraspis.

Heidi Eaton@heidi-eaton· Jan 25

I edited a photo found online to add the words and made it my profile pic on fb. #fuckice