Photography
grrlscientist | April 10, 2010tags: African Skimmer, Rynchops flavirostris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] African Skimmer, Rynchops flavirostris, photographed mystery location Nyamba ya Mungo, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 14 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 x 1.4 lens ISO 320, 1/1000 sec, f/6.3. Exp comp +.3
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | April 10, 2010
An eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
grrlscientist | April 9, 2010tags: Farben, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, flowers, image of the day
Farben.
Nordwestzentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 7 April 2010 [larger view]
This is one of several photographs I snapped of these tulips. The colors were so intense that it made me think of a very neatly arranged stack of Easter eggs.
awild | April 9, 2010
Penthe pimelia (Tetratomidae)
Illinois, USA
A couple years back I was working on the Beetle Tree of Life project as a molecular phylogeneticist. My main responsibility was to gather DNA sequence data for several hundred beetles distributed across the spectrum of Coleopteran diversity.
As I'm not a Coleopterist, I spent most of my time lost in a befuddled daze of incomprehensible taxonomy. There are so many beetles. The larger families each hold more species than all of the vertebrates combined. Think about all the mammals and birds you know- the warblers, the polar bears, the shrews, the…
grrlscientist | April 9, 2010tags: Pied Crested Kingfisher, Crested Kingfisher, Megaceryle lugubris, Alcedo lugubris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pied Crested Kingfisher, Crested Kingfisher, Megaceryle (Alcedo) lugubris, photographed at Kosi River, Ramnagar, India. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: John Kneeshaw [larger view].
Canon EOS 40D with 300mmAF lens.
What sex is this bird and upon what are you basing that assessment?
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 8, 2010tags: WeiÃe Blüte in Morgensonne, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, flowers, image of the day
WeiÃe Blüte in Morgensonne.
Nordwestzentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 7 April 2010 [larger view]
This is another flower I photographed yesterday in the morning sunshine. The photograph turned out better than I expected, despite the shadows and peculiar sunlight that seemed to transform colors before my very eyes.
grrlscientist | April 8, 2010tags: Pacific Golden-Plover, Asian Golden-Plover, Eastern Golden-Plover, Pluvialis fulva, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pacific Golden-Plover, also known as the Asian Golden-Plover or Eastern Golden-Plover, Pluvialis fulva, photographed on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Midway Island, Hawai'i. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Image: Joe Fuhrman, March 2010. I encourage you to purchase images from this professional photographer.
This migratory bird that visits North America as well as countries on the other side of the Pacific Ocean shares a…
laelaps | April 7, 2010
An eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
grrlscientist | April 7, 2010tags: Violett HahnenfuÃ, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, flowers, image of the day
Violett HahnenfuÃ.
Nordwestzentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 7 April 2010 [larger view]
As soon as I saw this image through the viewfinder on my camera, I knew it was magic. The camera did not capture the purple color correctly (it was much richer and brighter than you see here -- a rather washed out version of real life) but it did capture the amazing patterns that made this image so beautiful in my eye.
grrlscientist | April 7, 2010tags: Butcherbird, Loggerhead Shrike, Lanius ludovicianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Loggerhead Shrike, also known as the Butcherbird, Lanius ludovicianus, photographed on the Katy Prairie, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/80s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This mystery bird has a weird common name .. can anyone tell me why it has such an odd name?
Review…
awild | April 7, 2010Wasmannia auropunctata - little fire ants Buenos Aires, Argentina
One of the world's worst invaders, the little fire ants have spread from the new world tropics to warmer regions around the globe, becoming especially problematic on oceanic islands. The ants above, though, are from an innocuous native population in northern Argentina. They arrived at a cookie bait at the Costanera Sur reserve, barely noticeable specks of orange just over a millimeter long.
Wasmannia has a painful sting for such a small insect, and the ants do this annoying thing where they'll wander around on your body for an…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: Bockenheimer Turm bei Nacht, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, photography
Bockenheimer Turm bei Nacht.
Bockenheimer Warte, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 April 2010 [larger view]
So why am I in Bockenheim again? I went here because I had an appointment to get a bank account. After complaining mightily about this enormous waste of time (I've never had to make an appointment to set up a bank account before), I was surprised and most pleased to meet a personable banker who visits NYC frequently (he has family there and is returning on 15 May for a…
laelaps | April 6, 2010
An eastern painted turtle (Chrysemys picta), photographed in suburban New Jersey.
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: Bockenheimer Turm, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day
Bockenheimer Turm.
Bockenheimer Warte, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 April 2010 [larger view]
This is an astonishingly gorgeous day in Frankfurt am Main; warm (but not too warm) and everything is exploding into bloom under an impossibly blue sky. I wish you were here with me because I would bring you to my favorite coffee shop in Bockenheimer Warte; Cafe Extrablatt, where they not only give me FREE wifi, but they also cheerfully provide powerpoints (that's a "plug in" or an "…
grrlscientist | April 6, 2010tags: Razorbill, Alca torda, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Razorbill, Alca torda, photographed at the Machias Seal Island, Maine. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Paul Sweet, 26 May 2008 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
These stunning birds are the only member of their genus -- can you identify it? As a bonus question, can you tell me about one of its famous relatives?
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 5, 2010tags: Lake Gull, Common Gull, Ring-billed Gull, Larus delawarensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ring-billed Gull, also known as the Common Gull or Lake Gull, Larus delawarensis, photographed at Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, March 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s 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 | April 4, 2010tags: Sonnenuntergang, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, sunset, image of the day
Sonnenuntergang.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: Bob O'Hara, 4 April 2010 [larger view]
Sunset over Frankfurt, as photographed from the bedroom window.
awild | April 4, 2010
Prenolepis imparis - winter ant (queen)
Urbana, Illinois
Photo details: Canon mp-e 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 100, f13, 1/250 sec, diffused flash
grrlscientist | April 4, 2010tags: birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] photographed in mystery world location. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours, unless I've eaten them all first]
Image: orphaned [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This flock of birds is easy to ID, so I am "upping the ante" by also asking you to give me these birds' scientific name, traditional geographic range, age and gender! Can you do this?
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | April 4, 2010
A short-billed dowitcher (Limnodromus griseus), photographed in Cape May, New Jersey.