grrlscientist | November 2, 2007
A slightly worn Julia Heliconian butterfly, Dryas julia Fabricius.
This image was taken summer 2004 at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park's Pollinarium exhibit. It was donated to Wikipedia under the GFDL by Steven G. Johnson, the photographer. [wallpaper size].
As promised, here are my Houston, Texas, bird and butterfly lists for last weekend, including life list additions denoted with an asterix (below the fold);
Bird List
* = New species on Life List
Common Loon
Horned Grebe
Eared Grebe
Great Egret
Mallard
Ruddy Duck
Turkey Vulture
Black Vulture*
Northern Harrier
Sharp-shinned Hawk…
grrlscientist | November 2, 2007tags: atheism, online quiz
Okay, the questions on this quiz are kind of annoying, something that I discovered only after I took it, but as I said, I took it, so here are my results;
What kind of atheist are you?created with QuizFarm.com
You scored as Scientific Atheist
These guys rule. I'm not one of them myself, although I play one online. They know the rules of debate, the Laws of Thermodynamics, and can explain evolution in fifty words or less. More concerned with how things ARE than how they should be, these are the people who will bring us into the future.
Scientific Atheist…
grrlscientist | November 2, 2007tags: hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Deroptyus accipitrinus, clicker training, streaming video
As some of you know, I recently added a four-month-old hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, to my household. I plan to learn how to clicker-train this bird (I already have the necessary tools and books). Below the fold is an example of another young Hawk-headed parrot, named Scooter (owned by Jeannie), who was approximately six months old and had only been clicker-trained for two days in this video. This training session focuses on reinforcing the bird's earlier training…
grrlscientist | November 1, 2007This short streaming radio report, presented by The Onion, tells how Microsoft was recently sold to crows. Includes an exclusive interview with the spokescrow.
grrlscientist | November 1, 2007tags: Ask a Science Blogger, vertebrate eye, molluscan eye
Image: Wikipedia. [larger view].
The newest "Ask a Science Blogger" question is; Which parts of the human body could you design better?
Since I have only 500 words or so to explain, I will discuss only one anatomical feature: I would choose to redesign the vertebrate eye so the microscopic structure of the retina more closely resembles that of the molluscan eye.
On causal observation, the vertebrate eye appears to be similar to the cephalopod eye (cephalopods are often thought of as the "classical" mollusc), however, a more…
grrlscientist | November 1, 2007I know we all were told that the seventh Harry Potter book was the last one, but it appears that this is not true! JK Rowling has written yet another book, entitled The Tales of Beedle the Bard.
Do you recognize the title? This was the book that Dumbledore gave to Hermione in the seventh and last book of the series. This book of wizarding fairy tales contained clues for the fearless trio to use in their quest to finally defeat Lord Voldemort.
As an added bonus, there are only seven copies of this book in the world. Further, the book is handwritten and illustrated by the author. Six of the…
grrlscientist | November 1, 2007tags: circus of the spineless, blog carnival
I know that at least some of you assume that that the Circus of the Spineless blog carnival is all about politicians, but (sorry to disappoint you), this blog carnival instead focuses on linking to essays about invertebrates. The 26th edition of this blog carnival has a lot of wonderful links and stories about insects and other invertebrates for you to enjoy. And, best of all, they included a submission from me!
grrlscientist | November 1, 2007Are you already worried about Christmas shopping? Are you worried about what to get that family member or friend who seems to have everything? Well, worry no more! Thanks to a reader of mine, you now can give the most unusual gift that anyone has every received; the gift of a Fish 'n Flush! Not only can you keep freshwater or marine fish in this unique set up, but you can also keep lizards or frogs or live plants or even inanimate objects in this thing! Wow, what a great gift, especially for that person on your holiday shopping list who has everything!
(No, I earn nothing for showing this to…
grrlscientist | November 1, 2007tags: women, all women blogging, blog carnival
Actually, the latest edition of the All Women Blogging blog carnival has been available for a few days, but I was in Texas this past weekend, so was unable to post anything about it. But as they say, better late than never, eh? This is really a huge international blog carnival, full of a variety of blog goodness, so be sure to go there and check out what they've linked to.
grrlscientist | November 1, 2007tags: humor, edith ann, Lily Thomlin, streaming video
The brilliant Lily Thomlin portrays a five-and-a-half year old girl, Edith Ann, who is describing the sandwich that she made [2:32]
grrlscientist | October 31, 2007tags: carnival of cities, blog carnival
Wow, they like me!
The latest edition, the Five Digital Snapshots edition, of the Carnival of Cities is now available for you to enjoy. There are several essays there that really make me miss .. other cities, other homes, that I've lived in. But they included a piece that I wrote, a piece that I had a lot of fun writing, as a matter of fact!
grrlscientist | October 31, 2007In NYC, the going fashion seems to be for the men to dress up as bumblebees (they walk around in suits and ties with the bouncing bee eyes mounted on slender springs on their heads), while the women all dress up as lampshades in red and black. Although one of my friends is dressed up as a barfly (can't imagine why ..). The little kids are dressed up as skeletons, princesses, angels and ghosts. I did run into one kid whom I accused of cross-dressing as the Easter bunny, although her mother told me that she actually was a pink poodle. I suppose some of the kids are dressed up in fancy,…
grrlscientist | October 31, 2007
A fossilized brown hyena, Hyaena brunnea,
which lived in Europe 1.8 million years ago. [Larger view].
An amazing fossil find in the Andalusian savannah in southeast Spain has revealed that a large variety of animal species lived together in that region during the boundary between the Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs, 1.8 million years ago. This discovery has so far yielded a remarkable somorgasbord of fossilized remains from at least 24 large mammal species, eight small mammal species, two reptile species and one bird species.
The fossilized remains, found at Fonelas, Spain, were from…
grrlscientist | October 31, 2007tags: halloween, parrots, birds, Image of the Day
This picture is a departure from my normal "image of the day" fare, but it is cute, so I hope you all can forgive me for sharing it with you.
Image: Image source [Larger size].
grrlscientist | October 31, 2007tags: Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, JK Rowling, sexuality, christian values, hatred
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
[Albus Dumbledore portrayed by Michael Gambon in HP films 3-5]
Image: Warner Bros (2003).
Okay, now we all know the horrible, terrible evil truth: Dumbledore is (GASP!) gay. Predictably, the religious wingnuts in American have gone .. er, nuts. They are throwing away all their copies of the Harry Potter books, are calling for the banning of the HP series, and are re-affirming their godliness by busily writing hatefilled screeds…
grrlscientist | October 31, 2007Okay, this is amazing! One of my readers, who shall remain anonymous unless that person chooses to reveal him(her)self, has sent an Amazon gift certificate to me to purchase a digital camera. WOW! So I ask you, dear readers, which digital camera do you recommend? I want to take close-up pictures of birds (and insects and flowers) as well as pictures of birds that I am looking at while birding, which requires some sort of distance-focusing ability. I assume I should also have a fairly large memory card for those wallpaper sized images that I hope to share with you .. but you are the experts…
grrlscientist | October 31, 2007The little hawk-headed parrot is settling in fairly well. (S)he is rather cautious about me, reminding me, by flying away whenever the opportunity presents itself, that I am not the human that (s)he is familiar with. This will pass soon enough, though.
This bird is is good flesh, but is not yet eating on her (his?) own even though I give her(him?) a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as a seed mix, so I am handfeeding her twice per day; once in the morning and then again in the evening. The food is a powder that I mix with water (five parts water to one part food) and is fed…
grrlscientist | October 31, 2007tags: humor, mouse wine, ricey-mice wine, streaming video
Do you want to cure your children of ever developing a fondness for rice wine? Here's the perfect solution! [1:08]
This is a delicacy in rural Korea, it appears. They take a litter of two to three-day old mice, jam them into a bottle of rice wine, leave them to fermet for a year or so, thereby creating ricey-mice, and then they drink it.
grrlscientist | October 30, 2007tags: birds, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus, hawk-headed parrot, red-fan parrot, Image of the Day
This is a picture of my new roommate, a young hawk-headed (red-fan) parrot, Deroptyus a. accipitrinus. This bird was captive born and raised. This picture was taken last week, so it gives you a good idea of what the bird looks like right now.
Image: Andrea Wiebolt [Larger size].
grrlscientist | October 30, 2007tags: talking parrot, African grey parrot, streaming video
This video is a follow-up of the story I linked to earlier from Birds in the News 102 where Gloucester UK residents, Taffy and Jean Howells' African grey parrot, Severiano Ballesteros, is a big rugby fan [1:19]
AN avid rugby lover's pet parrot has taken to speaking the lingo of the fans who stand in the legendary 'shed' week after week.
Taffy Howells' African grey parrot has picked up the legendary cry of "Glawster, Glawster" which reverberates up and down Gloucester Rugby's famous stand at Kingsholm.
And the parrot, named…