grrlscientist | May 25, 2009tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Who's shooting endangered condors?
The shooting of two rare California condors, like this one, set phones ringing at the offices of environmental groups.
Image: [larger view].
Birds in Science
Northern Mockingbirds tend to sing fancier tunes with changing climate, say researchers. The research team from the National Evolutionary Synthesis Centre (NESCent), the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, and McGill University showed that species in more variable climes also sing complex tunes. "Survival and reproduction become more…
grrlscientist | May 25, 2009tags: Tufted Titmouse, Parus bicolor, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tufted Titmouse, Parus bicolor, photographed in Manhattan, Kansas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Dave Rintoul, 11 April 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
We find ourselves looking up at a gray bird. The tail is moderately long and somewhat disheveled; the body plumage is lax and fluffy. This one's a poser.
When we can…
grrlscientist | May 25, 2009tags: religion, prayer in schools, godlessness, atheism, streaming video
This video discusses using religion, particularly school prayer, as a mechanism for alienating children who are different. [6:34]
grrlscientist | May 24, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Wild rose, Rosa acicularis.
Photographed while walking to the library along Amsterdam Avenue
on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 22 May 2009 [larger view].
After I snapped this picture, an unnamed person approached me and yelled at me for photographing -- flowers! I know this sounds shocking, and I was certainly confused, but apparently no one -- NO ONE -- is allowed any joy, not even one second of joy, not one second, if they haven't paid for it. Not in NYC, anyway.
As one of tens of…
grrlscientist | May 24, 2009tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…
grrlscientist | May 24, 2009tags: Inca Dove, Columbina inca, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Inca Dove, Columbina inca, photographed in Paul Rushing Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
The gentle, big-eyed, small-headed look of this bird should send us in…
grrlscientist | May 24, 2009tags: religion, atheism, godlessness, Science is the Dumbest Religion, humor, funny, satire, edward current, streaming video
This video asks the important question: Have scientists really found the missing link? Or are Darwinianists just blindly worshipping roadkill again? [3:23]
grrlscientist | May 23, 2009tags: NYC, Upper East Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Pansy, Viola hybrid, purple and yellow cultivar.
Photographed while waiting for the bus on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 18 May 2009 [larger view].
I really like the coloring of this particular cultivar, possibly because it closely resembles its wild ancestors (although its giant size dwarfs its wild ancestors). I also think the blue/purple veins on the middle petals (upper yellow colored petals) make an interesting contrast to the reddish-brown veins on the bottom petals (lower yellow…
grrlscientist | May 23, 2009tags: animals, kittens, whack-a-kitty game, silliness, cute, funny, streaming video
This video is filled with head-exploding cuteness! It's time to play Whack-A-Kitty! It's like the game, Whack-A-Mole, but on cute overload. [1:33]
grrlscientist | May 23, 2009tags: NYC, Upper West Side, Manhattan, A train, cities, NYCLife
Broken A Train.
Photographed while standing around, waiting for the engineers (and everyone else) to figure out if they can fix the downtown-bound A train that broke down at 168th street and Broadway this morning (Upper West Side of Manhattan, NYC).
Image: GrrlScientist, 23 May 2009 [larger view].
So, how did you spend the first morning of your three-day holiday weekend? I spent my first morning standing around, watching the conductors, engineers, and roughly six thousand passengers trying to fix the downtown-bound A Train,…
grrlscientist | May 23, 2009tags: Lesser Goldfinch, Carduelis psaltria, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lesser Goldfinch, Carduelis psaltria, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 13 October 2007 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2007:10:13 08:34:51
Exposure Time: 1/639
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Here's a tiny, acrobatic bird with a short, deeply notched tail. Even…
grrlscientist | May 23, 2009tags: animals, porcupine, banana, hiccups, cute, funny, streaming video
This cute video depicts a baby porcupine (also called porcupet) while he eats a banana. You'll hear tiny squeaks -- those are hiccups! [1:24]
grrlscientist | May 22, 2009
Today has been another day of Blog Hell. Yes, you read that correctly; Blog Hell.
But I thought that you love your blog, you ask.
Indeed, I do. Even when my blog doesn't love me, as has been the case recently, and that is what I am referring to: Blog Hell. Non-reciprocal love.
In short, the site has been giving me a tremendous amount of trouble this past week or so, and today was the worst. I could not access my blog for more than five hours today. After I noticed the guys with the butterfly nets skulking around the library stacks, I got the hint, packed up my laptop and left the library…
grrlscientist | May 22, 2009
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
The Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) blog carnival celebrates the best science, nature and medical writing targeted to the public that has been published in the blogosphere within the past 60 days. To send your submissions to Scientia Pro Publica, either use this automated submission form or use the cute little widget on the right (sometimes that widget doesn't upload when the mother site is sick). Be sure to include the URL or "permalink", the…
grrlscientist | May 22, 2009tags: NYC, Upper East Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
White dahlia, Dahlia hybrid/cultivar, in the early morning sunshine.
Photographed while waiting for the bus on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 18 May 2009 [larger view].
If you look closely, you'll see lots of black specks on those white petals .. this is genuine Manhattan air pollution -- soot -- the same crap that coats the insides of your lungs and tries to kill you with every breath you take.
grrlscientist | May 22, 2009tags: Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura, photographed at Tom Bass Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 8 April 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | May 22, 2009tags: paleontologists, fossils, scientists, dinosaur hunters, pervatasaurus, humor, funny, satire, streaming video
Paleontologists recently discovered a new dinosaur fossil in Argentina: they believe the intact skeleton could shed light on the bizarre fetishes of this pervert dinosaur [2:10]
grrlscientist | May 21, 2009tags: NYC Life, NYPL, public services, public education, public libraries
If you are broke and unemployed in any city of this nation, including NYC, you would have very few free public resources at your disposal to help you find work because of the massive budget cuts that have been made to this nation's public libraries and other public resources. I find this situation outrageous.
I have a special request to make of you: if you read this blog, please write a letter to Mayor Bloomberg, asking him NOT to cut NYC's public library services and to maintain six day per week service! Even if…
grrlscientist | May 21, 2009tags: book review, Why Evolution is True, evolution, creationism, religion, scientific method, Jerry Coyne
Considering the plethora of books about evolution out there, is it really necessary to publish yet another one? What can another book about evolution have to offer that previous books have not provided? This new book not only presents the latest information about evolution to come to light, but it also responds to the most recent attacks made upon this branch of scientific knowledge. The book, Why Evolution is True (NYC: Viking; 2009) by Jerry Coyne, is the most up-to-date and one of the…
grrlscientist | May 21, 2009tags: NYC, Upper East Side, Manhattan, flowers, nature, image of the day
Flossflower, also known as Bluemink or Ageratum, Ageratum houstonianum.
Photographed while waiting for the bus on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, NYC.
Image: GrrlScientist, 18 May 2009 [larger view].
These tiny bushy plants are members of the sunflower family and are native to the west coast of Central and South America. It's amazing that something so small is related to something that is as large as a sunflower!