Photography
laelaps | March 6, 2010
A male red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), photographed in Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware.
grrlscientist | March 5, 2010tags: PalmenGarten, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, flower porn, nature, environment, image of the day
Flower Porn
PalmenGarten, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 24 February 2010 [larger view]
grrlscientist | March 5, 2010tags: Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Least Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis, photographed at Anahuac National Wildlife Refuge, Anahuac, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 31 July 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | March 4, 2010tags: Masked Bobwhite, Common Bobwhite, Rufous-bellied Bobwhite, Black-headed Bobwhite, Bobwhite, Northern Bobwhite, Colinus virginianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Northern Bobwhite, known by a bevy of common names including Bobwhite, Common Bobwhite, Rufous-bellied Bobwhite, Masked Bobwhite, and Black-headed Bobwhite, Colinus virginianus (thank science for scientific names so we all know what we're talking about!), photographed on the Katy Prairie, Waller County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 29 April 2007 [larger view…
awild | March 4, 2010
Who's that odd ant out?
While in sunny Florida last summer (ah, sunshine! I vaguely remember what that looks like), I spent an hour peering into a nest of little Dorymyrmex elegans. These slender, graceful ants are among Florida's more charming insects.
Every few minutes, though, the flow of elegant orange insects out of the nest was interrupted by a darker, more robust ant: Dorymyrmex reginicula. Who was this interloper?
Dorymyrmex reginicula is a temporary social parasite. Mature colonies behave pretty much like normal ants. Workers guard the nest, forage for food, and tend the larvae.…
grrlscientist | March 3, 2010tags: Red Grass Bird, Marsh Sparrow, Swamp Finch, Swamp Song Sparrow, Swamp Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Swamp Sparrow, also known by a wide variety of other names, such as the Marsh Sparrow, Red Grass Bird, Swamp Finch, and the Swamp Song Sparrow, Melospiza georgiana, photographed on the Brazos Bend State Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 27 December 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least…
laelaps | March 2, 2010
A young Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), photographed at the Central Park Zoo.
awild | March 2, 2010Here's a chart I made this morning. It depicts the number of new photos tagged "insects" or "insect" uploaded over the history of the leading photo-sharing site Flickr. Note that the graph doesn't show the cumulative total of insect photos on the site; rather, it shows the increase from year-to-year. Thus, even though the rate of increase slowed in 2009, the amount of insect content is still accelerating.
Interpretation of the chart is tricky. The increase may reflect several patterns: a growth in Flickr's popularity, the growth of digital photography, and a growth in overall interest in…
grrlscientist | March 2, 2010tags: Dusky Kinglet, Ruby-Crown, Ruby-crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Ruby-crowned Kinglet, also known as the Dusky Kinglet and the Ruby-Crown, Regulus calendula, photographed on the Brazos Bend State Park, Needville, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 10 January 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.
grrlscientist | March 1, 2010tags: Wailea, Maui, Hawaii, tsunami, nature, environment, image of the day
Image: Ron Barranco, Wailea, Maui, Hawaii [larger view]
One of my friends lived on Hawaii in 2008, where his uncle still resides. His uncle emailed two images to my friend the morning after the tsunami, which were snapped from his lanai. My friend shared these images with his friends, and he also gave me permission to share them here with all of you.
Image: Ron Barranco, Wailea, Maui, Hawaii [larger view]
grrlscientist | March 1, 2010tags: Pied-Billed Dabchick, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pied-billed Grebe, also known by a much cuter name, the Pied-Billed Dabchick, Podilymbus podiceps, photographed in California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Steve Duncan [larger view].
Nikon D200 w/ Nikkor 300mm f/4 & TC17E.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | February 28, 2010tags: Large Flycatcher, African Grey Flycatcher, Bradornis microrhynchus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] African Grey Flycatcher, also known as the Large Flycatcher, Bradornis microrhynchus, photographed in the Pangani River Camp, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm lens, ISO 500, 1/320 sec, f/8, Exposure compensation -1.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | February 28, 2010
An American avocet (Recurvirostra americana), photographed at Antelope Island, Utah.
grrlscientist | February 27, 2010tags: Taveta Weaver, Taveta Golden Weaver, Ploceus castaneiceps, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Taveta Golden Weaver, also known as the Taveta Weaver, Ploceus castaneiceps, photographed in the Pangani River Camp, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm lens, ISO 800, 1/640 sec, f/7.1, Exposure compensation 0.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | February 26, 2010tags: Oriental Dwarf-Kingfisher, Ceyx erithaca, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Oriental Dwarf-Kingfisher, Ceyx erithaca, photographed "somewhere" in Indonesia. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: a herpetologist photographed this bird while visiting the islands of Indonesia [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
bioephemera | February 25, 2010
A physicist with a baby iceberg in Qaanaaq, Greenland. (I think its enraged mother is just out of range of the camera, about to crush him.)
Via Armed with Science.