Photography
laelaps | March 28, 2010
A stuffed polar bear (Ursus maritimus), on display at the New Jersey State Museum.
awild | March 28, 2010I've moved some of my better termite photos to a new gallery at alexanderwild.com.
Go visit.
grrlscientist | March 28, 2010tags: Nordwestzentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Gelbe Wolken, flowers, nature, environment, image of the day
Gelbe Wolken.
Nordwestzentrum Open Air Market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 3 March 2010 [larger view]
When I saw these brilliant lemon yellow flowers, I was immediately captivated. I took half a dozen photographs, trying to capture the fluffiness and the brilliant yellow color of the flowers and contrast that against the dark background as well as the sharp edges of the green leaves. I don't think I succeeded at this, but this is still a nice image to look…
grrlscientist | March 28, 2010tags: Cape Thick-Knee, Spotted Dikkop, Spotted Thick-Knee, Burhinus capensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Spotted Thick-Knee, also known as the Cape Thick-Knee or the Spotted Dikkop, Burhinus capensis, photographed in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 18 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens with 1.4 extender. ISO 400, 1/1600 sec, f/6.3. Exposure compensation -1.3.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date…
grrlscientist | March 27, 2010tags: Water Dikkop, Water Thick-knee, Burhinus vermiculatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Water Dikkop, also known as the Water Thick-knee, Burhinus vermiculatus, photographed near the Kilombero River, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 9 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens. ISO 320, 1/800 sec, f/7.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | March 27, 2010
A stuffed North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), in the collection at the New Jersey State Museum.
laelaps | March 26, 2010
A partially dissected head of an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), showing some of the internal anatomy, in the collection at the New Jersey State Museum. (And here is a similar preserved sea lion head in the same collection.)
grrlscientist | March 26, 2010tags: Nordwestzentrum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Beobachten Sie, flowers, nature, environment, image of the day
Beobachten Sie.
Nordwestzentrum Open Air Market, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 3 March 2010 [larger view]
This was one of hundreds of cut flowers that I photographed at the Nordwestzentrum Open Air Market one particularly sunny morning. I knew I had a winner when I was looking at the flowers through the view finder, but the sunlight was strong and bleached some of the colors (although not in this image!). Despite my crappy German, it was rather obvious that…
awild | March 26, 2010
Tenebrio molitor, pupa
Tenebrio molitor is a darkling beetle known more for its immature stages than for its adults. It is the ubiquitous mealworm. You can buy these granivorous beetles at any pet store as food for fish, birds, and reptiles.
The above shot of a developing pupa requires two sources of light. A flash head positioned behind the insect backlights the subject to produce the translucent glow. A second, positioned above and in front, is powered down and provides the highlights and details of the head and appendages.
Tenebrio molitor larva and pupa
Stronger backlighting gives…
grrlscientist | March 26, 2010tags: Upland Plover, Bartram's Sandpiper, Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Upland Sandpiper, also known as the Upland Plover or as Bartram's Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, photographed in Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge, Angelton, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 23 March 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date…
aardvarchaeology | March 26, 2010
Spring is coming slowly, but it's finally coming. These squills have been awakened by heat radiating from our house, but still they reach for the sun.
In other news, Discover Magazine continues to buy over top Sb bloggers, and I have finally learned the story behind the state of Oklahoma's weird panhandled outline. Briefly put, it ended up that way because the state of Texas allowed slavery but the Union allowed it only south of a certain line. And so when Texas joined the Union, it ceded a ribbon of land that was north of the slavery line.
bioephemera | March 26, 2010
This beautiful photo by Kindra Clineff catches nature one-upping human craftsmanship. I can just hear that spider piping "neener neener neener". Also, it's a perfect follow-up to Christobal Vila's graceful animation about math in nature, which has now officially gone spiral-viral.
Buy a print here.
Via NOTCOT.
grrlscientist | March 25, 2010tags: Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Armeen von Schokoladenhasen, easter, springtime, holidays, photography
Armeen von Schokoladenhasen.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 24 March 2010 [larger view]
Easter is coming, and vast armies of chocolate bunnies are massing in the grocery stores, waiting to invade your homes and waistlines.
grrlscientist | March 25, 2010tags: Max-Planck Institut für Biophysik, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Quaken Crocus, flowers, nature, environment, image of the day
Quaken Crocus.
Max-Planck Institut für Biophysik, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 24 March 2010 [larger view]
This morning, at the Max-Planck Institute, I photographed some cheerful flowers; brilliant red petals, each with a lemon yellow base .. tulips, I believe, but the lighting was all wrong, so I could not capture what I wished to share with you. I shall return soon to try again. But this "miss" does provide me with the opportunity to…
awild | March 25, 2010
Blatta orientalis
Oriental Cockroach
The key to this image is the soft lighting. A strobe fired into a white box produces an even white light, allowing us to see the subtler tones and textures on the surface of this common pest insect. You could almost sell this roach on ebay.
Photo details: Canon 100mm f2.8 macro lens on a Canon EOS 50D
ISO 200, f10, 1/160 sec
grrlscientist | March 25, 2010tags: Paddyfield Pipit, Anthus rufulus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Paddyfield Pipit, Anthus rufulus, photographed on the Yamuna River, New Delhi, India. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Adrian White, November [larger view].
Nikon D40x with 70-300AF.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
HINT: I think you can narrow this bird down to one of two very similar species.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | March 24, 2010
Our temporary houseguest, Rusty, playing in a stream in northern New Jersey.
grrlscientist | March 24, 2010tags: Max-Planck Institut für Biophysik, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, Moosblüten, flowers, nature, environment, image of the day
Moosblüten.
Max-Planck Institut für Biophysik, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 24 March 2010 [larger view]
I was walking around at the Max-Planck Institute today, enjoying the spring weather and saw these tiny moss flowers growing in the lawn. The grass has not yet awoken, but the moss was happily growing on the moist earth. I wish you were here with me today, to see these tiny flowers with me.
grrlscientist | March 24, 2010tags: Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria immutabilis, Diomedea immutabilis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Laysan Albatross, Phoebastria (Diomedea) immutabilis, photographed on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge, Midway Island, Hawai'i. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joe Fuhrman, March 2010 [larger view].
NOTE: Unless you are a beginning bird watcher, PLEASE wait 24 hours before identifying this bird. (Intermediate-expert birders are encouraged to use puns, anagrams, poetry references or citations, Monty Python quotes or anything else that tickles…