grrlscientist | June 16, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
"Blue enough for ya?"
Male Eastern Bluebird, Sialia sialis.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU [larger view].
Birds and Dads News
I stop for pileated woodpeckers. That'd be my life's bumper sticker. These days, I know my birds. Not because I ever saw them as a kid, but because on the way home from hikes with my dad, I'd grab his Golden field guide, Birds of North America, and read up on what we just spent the whole day not seeing. Pileated, by the way, means capped, a reference to its distinctive triangular red crest. Woody…
grrlscientist | June 16, 2008tags: Barack Obama, religion, politics, streaming video
In this video, Barack Obama talks downright lucidly about religion and politics. To all the idiots claiming the US was founded on christianity, he suggests that they read the words of John Adams because "the government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion..." He also states that "the United States is not a Christian nation any more than it is a Jewish or a Muslim nation." Obama suggests that all these so-called christians and other religious wingnuts actually READ THEIR BIBLES -- wow, how radical…
grrlscientist | June 15, 2008tags: West 86th street subway art, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
West 86th Street Subway Art #35
as seen at NYC's West 86th Street stop at Broadway for the downtown 1 train.
(This piece was completed in 1989).
Artist: Nitza Tufino.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
I have photographed tile artworks from several NYC subway stations now, so far, all are westside Manhattan subway lines, including Chambers Street (A & C trains), Houston Street (1 train), Pennsylvania "Penn" station (1, 2 & 3 trains) [subway art archives] and, my favorite subway station of…
grrlscientist | June 15, 2008
My favorite picture of my friend, Jessica, an aspiring actress.
Image: GrrlScientist, 15 June 2008.
I took a little time away from writing today because a friend of mine, an aspiring actress, invited me to her improvisational acting class graduation. Even though I understand what improv is, I have never been to an actual performance, so I didn't know what to expect.
The theatre itself is located in the basement of a building in Chelsea. It was like a cave; low ceilings and thick concrete support pillars in the middle of the space -- all painted black -- and a collection of old movie…
grrlscientist | June 15, 2008tags: Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus, birds, nature, Image of the Day
My good friend, Dave Rintoul, has just returned from a much-deserved vacation camping in the Chiricahuas and Gila Wilderness area and sent a couple images to share with you.
Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus, on the trunk of an Alligator Juniper, Cave Creek Canyon AZ.
Image: Dave Rintoul, June 2008.
grrlscientist | June 15, 2008tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, natural history books, ecology books
"One cannot have too many good bird books"
--Ralph Hoffmann, Birds of the Pacific States (1927).
Here's this week's issue of the Birdbooker Report by Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, which lists ecology, environment, natural history and bird books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.
New and Recent Titles:
D'Amato, Peter. The Savage Garden: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants. 1998. Ten Speed Press. Paperback: 314 pages. Price: $24.95 U.S. [Amazon: $16.47]. SUMMARY: An easy to use guide to growing carnivorous…
grrlscientist | June 14, 2008tags: West 86th street subway art, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
West 86th Street Subway Art #34
as seen at NYC's West 86th Street stop at Broadway for the downtown 1 train.
(This piece was completed in 1989).
Artist: Nitza Tufino.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
I have photographed tile artworks from several NYC subway stations now, so far, all are westside Manhattan subway lines, including Chambers Street (A & C trains), Houston Street (1 train), Pennsylvania "Penn" station (1, 2 & 3 trains) [subway art archives] and, my favorite subway station of…
grrlscientist | June 14, 2008tags: A Little Taste of Home, photography
I had to relocate 3000 miles away before I finally appreciated SBC. Well, it's better late than never, right?
A Little Taste of Home.
Image: GrrlScientist, June 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | June 14, 2008tags: Blue-throated hummingbird, Lampornis clemenciae, birds, nature, Image of the Day
My good friend, Dave Rintoul, has just returned from a much-deserved vacation camping in the Chiricahuas and Gila Wilderness area and sent a couple images to share with you.
Juvenile male Blue-throated Hummingbird, Lampornis clemenciae, Cave Creek Canyon, AZ.
Image: Dave Rintoul, June 2008 [larger view].
For comparison, an adult male of the species -- also read the comments section to learn more about how to identify juvenile males of this species.
grrlscientist | June 13, 2008tags: West 86th street subway art, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
West 86th Street Subway tile mosaic art #33
as seen at NYC's West 86th Street stop at Broadway for the downtown 1 train.
(This piece was completed in 1989).
Artist: Nitza Tufino.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
I have photographed tile artworks from several NYC subway stations now, so far, all are westside Manhattan subway lines, including Chambers Street (A & C trains), Houston Street (1 train), Pennsylvania "Penn" station (1, 2 & 3 trains) [subway art archives] and, my favorite subway…
grrlscientist | June 13, 2008tags: Greater Short-horned lizard, Phrynosoma hernandezi, reptiles, Image of the Day
My good friend, Dave Rintoul, has just returned from a much-deserved vacation camping in the Chiricahuas and Gila Wilderness area and sent a couple images to share with you.
Greater Short-horned lizard, Phrynosoma hernandezi, in Chaco Canyon.
According to the photographer, this animal was a very cooperative subject.
(NOTE: This species was recently split into the greater and lesser short-horned lizards).
Image: Dave Rintoul, June 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | June 13, 2008tags: researchblogging.org, evolution, experimental evolution, adaptation, mutation, natural selection, Richard E. Lenski
The common gut bacteria, Escherichia coli, typically known as E. coli.
Image: Dennis Kunkel.
Evolution is a random process -- or is it? I ask this because we all can name examples of convergent evolution where very different organisms arrived at similar solutions to the challenges they are faced with. One such example is the striking morphological similarities between sharks (marine fishes) and dolphins (marine mammals). Thus, based on observations of convergent…
grrlscientist | June 13, 2008tags: five types of lucky, wow, humor, streaming video
Because it is Friday the Thirteenth, a day that the superstitious among you view with abject terror, I thought I'd have a little talk with you about luck. Yes, luck. There are five types of luck, apparently, as documented in this video [0:57].
Oddly, all these types of luck involve vehicles. It makes me wonder if they also invoved alcohol?
grrlscientist | June 12, 2008tags: West 86th street subway art, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
West 86th Street Subway tile mosaic art #32
as seen at NYC's West 86th Street stop at Broadway for the downtown 1 train.
(This piece was completed in 1989).
Artist: Nitza Tufino.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
I have photographed tile artworks from several NYC subway stations now, so far, all are westside Manhattan subway lines, including Chambers Street (A & C trains), Houston Street (1 train), Pennsylvania "Penn" station (1, 2 & 3 trains) [subway art archives] and, my favorite subway…
grrlscientist | June 12, 2008tags: tornado, Manhattan Kansas, weather
"Hello? Dad? Can I borrow your car?"
Image: Dave Rintoul, 12 June 2008 [larger view].
[Includes slideshow]
After I returned from Manhattan, Kansas, I thought of it as a wonderful, magical place where I would always be able to return, to see birds and photograph lots of native wildlife, to find a warm and safe place with my good friends, Dave and Elizabeth. (I am sure all of you know Dave quite well, since his gorgeous photographs are often featured as the "Image of the Day" on this site.) But while I was preoccupied with my imaginings, I was…
grrlscientist | June 12, 2008tags: wapiti, Desert elk, Cervus canadensis, mammals, nature, Image of the Day
My good friend, Dave Rintoul, has just returned from a much-deserved vacation camping in the Chiricahuas and Gila Wilderness area and sent a couple images to share with you.
Wapiti, Cervus canadensis, grazing at sunset with Chaco Canyon's Fajada Butte in the background. Desert elk... Who knew?
Image: Dave Rintoul, June 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | June 12, 2008tags: bird nestboxes, skull, humor, streaming video
This video shows you the most remarkable nestbox that you can provide for your birds -- a nestbox that will be a certain conversation stopper, or starter, depending upon what your conversation is doing when your guests spot it [0:46]
grrlscientist | June 11, 2008tags: West 86th street subway art, subway art, NYC through my eye, photography, NYC
West 86th Street Subway tile mosaic art #31
as seen at NYC's West 86th Street stop at Broadway for the downtown 1 train.
(This piece was completed in 1989).
Artist: Nitza Tufino.
Image: GrrlScientist 2008 [larger view].
I have photographed tile artworks from several NYC subway stations now, so far, all are westside Manhattan subway lines, including Chambers Street (A & C trains), Houston Street (1 train), Pennsylvania "Penn" station (1, 2 & 3 trains) [subway art archives] and, my favorite subway…
grrlscientist | June 11, 2008tags: Rock Wren, Salpinctes obsoletus, birds, nature, Image of the Day
My good friend, Dave Rintoul, has just returned from a much-deserved vacation camping in the Chiricahuas and Gila Wilderness area and sent a couple images to share with you.
Rock Wren, Salpinctes obsoletus, in Chaco Canyon.
Image: Dave Rintoul, June 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | June 11, 2008tags: Mean and Lowly Things, herpetology, reptiles, venomous snakes, amphibians, field research, Congo Brazzaville, Kate Jackson, book review
Are you familiar with the aphorism, "Do what you love and the money will follow"? Well, the money part of that equation is probably questionable, but I think you will be convinced that a person who pursues her passions will never live a boring life, especially after you've finished reading Kate Jackson's book, Mean and Lowly Things: Snakes, Science, and Survival in the Congo (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press; 2008). This book tells the…