Brittany's Nature Compendium

When I started playing the game, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, I was immediately drawn to the photo feature. I'd roam the lands of Hyrule taking random pictures of different scenes like Death Mountain or the Korok Forest.

One of the little side quests the player could go on, instead of fighting Calamity Ganon and saving the princess, is taking pictures for the Hyrule Compendium.

The different categories are monsters (always fun to get silly pictures of bokoblins), creatures, weapons and materials.

So, this is why I've created this website in the first place. I wanted to compile my own wildlife photos I've taken into a compendium in order to keep track of my sightings in a fun way (and not just in a bunch of folders). The identification apps like Seek and inaturalist have been a huge help and of course, it brings me joy to know that my photography will contribute to science!

I do hope you stick around as each encounter is an adventure in itself and there are plenty of stories to tell just like in one of my favourite video games!

Birds

Birds are probably one of my favourite subjects to capture. Most of these photos were shot with this very inexpensive 100mm lens. It's safe to say that for the price, I am very proud with how they turned out. For example, the Cooper's Hawk is by far one of my favourite photos I've ever taken.

Now for a little story about the Indian Peafowl (or commonly referred to as Peacock) photograph. It was taken in Glendale Arizona at a Grapefruit Orchard. I was absolutely blown away when I found out just how close these birds can get to humans. Unfortunately, I was unable to see his wings fan out, but regardless it was a sight to see.

Fungi

Check out these fun guys... No? Okay...

Well, I'm sure Atie would appreciate the dad joke. Anyways, these mushrooms are quite hard to identify even when using inaturalist, which is why when you hover, some of them are unidentified. Though, it doesn't mean that I won't keep searching for answers! Most of these photos were actually taken on campus at the gardens during the inaturalist City Nature Challenge. I know for a fact that I'll be coming back even in the summer!

Plants

Now, for a few fun facts about some of these plants.

If my grandfather was around, I'd ask him more about this, but did you know that you could make Chokeberry Wine? The same thing goes for dandelions! My mom told me when her and her and my uncles were all children, they'd go out and collect some for him.

This is why I say for dandelions, they shouldn't be considered as "pests" or "weeds" as they do have healing properties. Dandelion tea is actually one of my favourites as it soothes cramps!

A few of these plants are from, once again, when I went to Phoenix, Arizona. I thought it would be interesting to show them!

At the Desert Botanical Gardens, I tried something quite interesting. I sadly can't remember the name, but essentially, it was a drink made from the prickly pear cactus fruit, with a garnish of chia seeds. The gardens themselves even sell these cactus candies as well.

Insects

Now, here in the insects category, features another one of my favourite photos of all time and that would be the Brown Lipped Snail, taken on the balcony after the rain. It's just the colours, the way I framed it, even the details in the shell... It was also one of the top photos for a gurushots (photo app) challenge.

The Brown Mammorated Stinkbug has a fun story to it as well. It was taken right here at our campus on pass day. Good thing I had brought my camera that day! We had the little guy for a few days and I think we even ended up naming him, which sadly I forgot. Though of course, as much as I would've liked to keep him as a pet, we had to release him. It was emotional, but it was for the best!

Another thing I should mention, although spiders are in this category, they are techincally arachnids and not insects.

Mammals

Surprisingly, this is the category I have the least photos of. It seems everytime I find groundhogs, rabbits or foxes, I never have my camera with me, though, it doesn't mean that I don't have a story.

Last year, from spring to the end of summer, right in the very tree that I captured the Cooper's Hawk was this sleeping raccoon. I always knew it was the same one as he had a little knick in his left ear. This photo was one of the only times he had his face turned toward me, as he liked to bury himself in the little nest made by one of the squirrels.

Prior to my research, I had no idea the three squirrels shown below were all the same type. The black one just has more melanin and the white one lacks!

Uncategorized

I made this little section for photos that don't really fit in with the rest!