grrlscientist | April 2, 2008tags: migrating sandhill cranes, Grus canadensis, Platte River, birds, birding, bird watching
Sign about the Platte River in Nebraska.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2008. [wallpaper size].
This past weekend, Dave, Elizabeth and I drove from Manhattan, Kansas to the Platte River in next-door Nebraska to see the migrating sandhill cranes, Grus canadensis. These flocks of migratory cranes are a mixture of greater and lesser sandhill cranes along with some hybrids between these two subspecies, often referred to as intermediate sandhill cranes. (There also are sedentary subspecies of sandhill cranes,…
grrlscientist | April 2, 2008tags: Hymenoptera, photography, subway art, AMNH, NYC, NYCLife
Ant species (but which one, Alex?)
as portrayed in tiles on the walls of the West 77th street entrance to the NYC subway stop (A-B-C)
at 81st and Central Park West. (ISO, no zoom, no flash).
Image: GrrlScientist 2008. [wallpaper size].
The ants run away ..
Read more about the AMNH tile artworks and see the AMNH tile artworks photographic archives -- with all the animals identified.
Thus ends the AMNH subway art series. In short, I photographed all of the tile mosaics (uptown-bound platform, entrances and stairways), several…
grrlscientist | April 2, 2008tags: birds, American White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". This is the third image in a series of five.
American White Pelican, Pelecanus erythrorhynchos.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
The photographer, Jerry Kram, writes;
Ah the pelican, whose beak can hold more than its bellican. A few years ago, there was a major dispersal of pelicans from their largest nesting area in North America, the Chase Lake NWF. It caused some concern at the time because a lot of…
grrlscientist | April 2, 2008tags: The Family is all There is, Pattiann Rogers, poetry, National Poetry Month
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day, this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). Today's poem was suggested by my friend, Professor of Poetry at KSU, Elizabeth Dodd.
The Family Is All There Is
Think of those old, enduring connections
found in all flesh -- the channeling
wires and threads, vacuoles, granules,
plasma and pods, purple veins, ascending
boles and coral sapwood (sugar-
and light-filled), those common…
grrlscientist | April 2, 2008tags: European starling flock, birds, behavior, streaming video
This streaming video shows what happens when a large flock of starlings decides to roost in a small red cedar tree -- it bends over and then, when they fly away, it snaps back. [1:40]
grrlscientist | April 1, 2008tags: flying penguins, humor, satire, streaming video
Wow, hot off the presses: A flock of flying penguins has just been discovered! This video documents this amazing feat. [1:31]
grrlscientist | April 1, 2008After a lengthy delay in Detroit due to high winds in NYC, I finally made it back to the city in the same number of pieces I was in when I departed. The bad news is that I left Manhattan, Kansas, and my new friends-for-life, Dave and Elizabeth. The good news is my birds missed me! The yellow-bibbed lories heard my footsteps on the stairs and screamed until I actually entered the apartment, when they fell silent, pretending to be perfect parrots. The female Solomon Islands eclectus parrot, Elektra, was clearly excited (the normally large pupil of her eye was quite small, which is how many…
grrlscientist | April 1, 2008tags: Hymenoptera, photography, subway art, AMNH, NYC, NYCLife
Ant species [detail]
as portrayed in tiles on the walls of the West 77th street entrance to the NYC subway stop (A-B-C)
at 81st and Central Park West. (ISO, no zoom, no flash).
Image: GrrlScientist 2008. [wallpaper size].
Read more about the AMNH tile artworks and see the AMNH tile artworks photographic archives -- with all the animals identified.
grrlscientist | April 1, 2008tags: birds, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Dendroica pensylvanica, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". This is the second image in a series of five.
Chestnut-sided warbler, Dendroica pensylvanica.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
The photographer, Jerry Kram, writes;
Warblers are hard to to photograph, especially after trees have leafed. I consider myself lucky to catch this fellow swathed in a halo of oak American elm leaves.
grrlscientist | April 1, 2008tags: The Best Cigarette, poetry, Billy Collins, streaming video
April is National Poetry Month, and I plan to post one poem per day, every day, this month (If you have a favorite poem that you'd like me to share, feel free to email it to me). For this first poem of the month, I found this gem by Billy Collins, former US Poet Laureate and one of America's best-selling poets. It is a streaming video where the poet reads his own poem in his luscious voice, and it is wonderfully animated by David Vaio of FAD [1:42]
The Best Cigarette
There are many that I miss
having sent my last one out a car…
grrlscientist | March 31, 2008tags: kitsch, tacky midwestern shit, ball of twine
The World's Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, Kansas.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2008. [larger size].
grrlscientist | March 31, 2008tags: Aves, photography, subway art, AMNH, NYC, NYCLife
I think this might be a Common Black Hawk, Buteogallus anthracinus,
(although it lacks the broad white terminal tail band)
as portrayed in tiles on the walls of the West 77th street entrance to the NYC subway stop (A-B-C)
at 81st and Central Park West. (ISO, no zoom, no flash).
Image: GrrlScientist 2008. [wallpaper size].
Read more about the AMNH tile artworks and see the AMNH tile artworks photographic archives -- with all the animals identified.
grrlscientist | March 31, 2008tags: birds, Western kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis, ornithology, Image of the Day
A long-time reader, Jerry, sent some images for me to feature as the "image of the day". This is the first image in a series of five.
Western kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis.
Image: Jerry Kram. [larger size].
The photographer, Jerry Kram, writes:
I love these birds because when I was growing up a flock of grackles started nesting in the shelterbelt around the house and chased away many of the robins and other perching birds. That limited my window birding opportunities until a pair of highly aggressive…
grrlscientist | March 31, 2008tags: Birds in the News, BirdNews, ornithology, birds, avian, newsletter
Female Ocellated Turkey, Meleagris ocellata,
in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the Southern Yucatan
in the state of Campeche. They are endemic to the region
and are known locally as both Pavo Ocelado or Guajalote Ocelato.
Image: Kevin Sharp. [larger size].
Birds in Science
If you read nothing else in this issue of Birds in the News, then this is the story to read. A serious affliction has been observed in birds in the Pacific Northwest, including Alaska, British Columbia and Washington state; Long-billed Syndrome…
grrlscientist | March 31, 2008tags: The Streetwalking Lawyers of Aurora Avenue, humor, satire, streaming video
"The Streetwalking Lawyers of Aurora Avenue" is a great idea that I should emulate to get a job .. maybe I can hang around in the garment district with a set of pipettemen and offer to clone rich people so they can get transplants of their own organs from their clones? [1:26]
grrlscientist | March 30, 2008tags: Lepidoptera, photography, subway art, AMNH, NYC, NYCLife
A Zebra Swallowtail, Eurytides marcellus,
as portrayed in tiles on the walls of the West 77th street entrance to the NYC subway stop (A-B-C)
at 81st and Central Park West. (ISO, no zoom, no flash).
Image: GrrlScientist 2008. [wallpaper size].
Read more about the AMNH tile artworks and see the AMNH tile artworks photographic archives -- with all the animals identified.
grrlscientist | March 30, 2008tags: Sandhill cranes, Grus canadensis, birds, Platte River, image of the day
Dave, Elizabeth and I were in Nebraska yesterday, watching migrating Sandhill cranes, Grus canadensis, over the Platte River in the evening. This is one of the images that Dave took of the sunset that we saw while we were there. (I also have a bunch of images of the Platte River and its Sandhill cranes to share with you).
Migrating Sandhill cranes, Grus canadensis,
over the Platte River, Nebraska.
Image: Dave Rintoul, KSU. [wallpaper size].
grrlscientist | March 30, 2008tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, natural history 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 Paulsen, which lists bird and natural history books that are (or will soon be) available for purchase.
FEATURED TITLE:
Holtz Jr., Thomas R., and Luis V. Rey. Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia for Dinosaur Lovers of All Ages. 2007. Random House Books for Young Readers. Hardbound: 428 pages. Price: $34.99 U.S. [Amazon: $23.09]. SUMMARY: Although this book is…
grrlscientist | March 30, 2008tags: How many hungry cannibals could your body feed, online quiz, fun and games
I am sure that many of you wonder this very thing during those early mornings just before the sun rises.
grrlscientist | March 29, 2008tags: Amphibian, photography, subway art, AMNH, NYC, NYCLife
I think this is a caecelian with eggs
as portrayed in tiles on the walls of the NYC uptown-bound subway stop (A-B-C)
at 81st and Central Park West. (ISO, no zoom, no flash).
Image: GrrlScientist 2008. [wallpaper size].
Read more about the AMNH tile artworks and see the AMNH tile artworks photographic archives -- with all the animals identified.