grrlscientist | December 8, 2008
Santa in the Stacks.
Image: GrrlScientist, 8 December 2008 [larger view].
I was sitting in one of the public libraries in NYC when all of a sudden, a celebrity walked in: Santa Claus! He gathered together some reading materials and sat at a table near me for at least an hour. Even though I tried to be discreet, I think he noticed me snapping pictures of him.
Okay, so I have a question for you: what was Santa reading? Obviously, it's not an Atlas (although you'd think that Santa needs to brush up on his geography so he doesn't get lost on Christmas Eve) but after that, I cannot tell you…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2008tags: sunset, Mexico, landscape, nature, image of the day
Sunset with Palm
Rosarito Beach, Mexico.
Image: John del Rio [larger view].
grrlscientist | December 8, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Female Anna's Hummingbird, Calypte anna, sitting on her nest.
Notice her long tongue sticking out of her mouth and the uncommonly bright colors on her gorget.
This bird nested on Bainbridge Island in Washington state earlier this year.
Image: Eva Gerdts, May 2008. [larger view].
Christmas Bird Count News
The Annual Christmas Bird Counts are rapidly approaching, so I am publishing links to all of the counts here; who to contact, and where and when they are being held, so if you have a link to a Christmas Bird Count…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2008tags: Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 2006 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Now comes a tiny bird, barley bigger than the leaves of the desert hackberry it's perched among. The gray plumage, hint of a wingbar, and conspicuous but broken eyering are characteristic of two common…
grrlscientist | December 8, 2008tags: the doghouse, humor, social commentary, streaming video
I am not a fan of diamonds because they are the single biggest cause of oppression in South Africa, but I am also not much of a fan of dual-bag vacuum cleaners. However, in my case, a parrot would make an acceptable "get out of the doghouse" gift [4:45]
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street Times Square, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
The commission for this work was received in 1992 and the art work was finally installed in 2004 and 2005. The complete work consists of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is a lifetime resident of…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: BirdNote, BirdNote calendar
Image: BirdNote calendar.
In these difficult economic times, it is unusual to get something for nothing. However, there is one thing that you can get for free: BirdNote. BirdNote is a 2-minute radio program that combines the rich sounds of birds into stories that illustrate the intriguing and sometimes truly amazing ways of birds. BirdNote premiered in February 2005 and runs seven days per week on a roughly a half dozen National Public Radio stations. For years, I have advertised BirdNote in Birds in the News because I strongly believe in their mission,…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: The Hungry Scientist Handbook, DIY projects, kitchen science, Patrick Buckley, Lily Binns, book review
When I was a kid, I enjoyed cooking and baking and I excelled at these activities since I regularly won all the blue ribbons in the pre-adult age divisions at the annual state fair. A little later, I expanded my kitchen-based activities to mixing drinks, a hobby that I pursue whenever possible to this very day. Later, when I began taking chemistry classes in school, my kitchen-based skills served me very well because I was a superb chemist. But I am not the only one to notice this…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008Here's the latest blog carnivals to entertain you and to keep your mind happy while you are engaged in other, less pleasant activities;
Book Review Carnival, which, as its name implies, is filled with book reviews. I find it interesting to see that the number of non-fiction book reviews outnumbers reviews for all other genres -- this is encouraging for me, since I am getting ready to take the plunge and write my own book (thanks to some encouragement from my SciBling colleagues).
Carnival of Cinema, which includes everything about film, from film reviews to trailers.
Friday Ark, issue 220.…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: sunset, Mexico, landscape, nature, image of the day
Sunset
Rosarito Beach, Mexico.
Image: John del Rio [larger view].
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"One cannot have too many good bird books"
--Ralph Hoffmann, Birds of the Pacific States (1927).
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 enjoyment. Below the fold is this week's issue of The Birdbooker Report which…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Fox Sparrow, Passerella iliaca (sooty form), photographed in the Naches Pass Area, King County, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Marv Breece, 9 August 2007 [larger view].
Canon EOS 350D 1/400s f/5.6 at 300.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Sometimes we take the coward's way out. Instead of rising to the challenge, we let a bird that is at first…
grrlscientist | December 7, 2008tags: birds, hatching chick, streaming video
This is a really interesting little video that features a chick hatching out of its egg. It also includes some really fun banjo playing as background music [1:17]
grrlscientist | December 6, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street Times Square, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
The commission for this work was received in 1992 and the art work was finally installed in 2004 and 2005. The complete work consists of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is a lifetime resident of…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2008tags: sunset, Hawaii, landscape, nature, image of the day
Sunset
Ka'anapali, Maui.
Image: John del Rio [larger view].
grrlscientist | December 6, 2008tags: safety tips, holidays, christmas, hanukkah, kwanzaa, new year's day, pets, birds, parrots
Elektra.
Female Solomon Islands Eclectus parrot, Eclectus roratus solomonensis, April 2008.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
This message was emailed to me, and I am posting it here as a public service. With the Christmas, Kwanzaa, Hanukkah and the New Year's holidays upon us, we are all busy planning our family gatherings, gift giving and decorations. The season brings with it unique hazards that we all need to be mindful of so that we can ensure that our feathered family members are…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2008tags: Great tit, Parus major, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great tit, Parus major, photographed in Helsinki, Finland. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: GrrlScientist, 24 November 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Chickadees all look alike: chubby, rather long-tailed little birds with fluffy plumage, big heads, and black-and-white faces. In North America, our chickadees are a colorless lot, only Chestnut-sided straying from…
grrlscientist | December 6, 2008Wow, I just discovered the video from ScienceBlogs' millionth comment party in Seattle -- I flew in specially for this party and also to visit my friends from University .. I love this silly, funny, interesting video -- now, don't you wish you had been there?? Anyway, since the winner of this contest is in NYC and some of the NYC sciencebloggers are meeting her for brunch today, I thought I'd share this video with you [4:47]
Hattip to my colleague, Sandy.
grrlscientist | December 5, 2008tags: Times Square, 42nd street Times Square, 35 Times, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
35 Times (2005).
Glazed ceramic panels. Artist: Toby Buonagurio. Photographed at 42nd Street Times Square in the transfer corridor (between the 1, 2, and 3 trains and the Shuttle).
Image: GrrlScientist 5 November 2008 [larger view].
The commission for this work was received in 1992 and the art work was finally installed in 2004 and 2005. The complete work consists of 35 ceramic panels installed in over 800 feet of passages at Times Square.
Toby Buonagurio is a lifetime resident of…
grrlscientist | December 5, 2008tags: evolution, Phylogeny, ornithology, chemical defense, Batrachotoxin, poisonous birds, Pitohui, Ifrita, Pachycephalidae, New Guinea
The Hooded Pitohui, Pitohui dichrous,
endemic to New Guinea, is very unusual
because it has poisonous plumage and skin.
Image: John Dumbacher.
I have been in love with New Guinea since I first read about it as a kid. Everything about this tropical island is exotic and fascinating to me, from the large numbers of endemic bird and plant species to the tremendous number of spoken languages -- more than anywhere else on the planet. So I was immediately…