Photography
grrlscientist | February 19, 2010tags: Sonic Boom Meets Sun Dog, amazing science, sonic boom, Atlas V, rocket launch, amazing, beautiful, atmosphere, physics, astronomy, streaming video
This amateur video is absolutely amazing: recording the precise moment when a rocket goes supersonic, which coincides with the moment it passes through a layer of ice crystals in the atmosphere, creating a rippled effect that is just astonishing to see.
Solar Dynamics Observatory Launch, Feb 11, 2010: A sun dog is a prismatic bright spot in the sky caused by sun shining through ice crystals. The Atlas V rocket exceeded the speed of sound in…
grrlscientist | February 18, 2010tags: Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola, 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.
This mystery bird species was chosen by my spouse (today is his birthday) and photographed by a friend who lives in California. I'd like to honor all my mystery bird commenters and photographers by asking you to choose the daily "mystery bird" species for your birthdate. If you have a favorite photograph that you'd like…
laelaps | February 17, 2010
A stuffed coyote (Canis latrans), photographed at the Utah Museum of Natural History.
awild | February 17, 2010
Timema sp. stick insect, California
I've created a new gallery to hold my photographs of stick insects. Check it out here:
Stick Insect Photos
grrlscientist | February 17, 2010tags: Night Heron, Black-crowned Night-heron, Nycticorax nycticorax,birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black-crowned Night-heron, sometimes known just as the Night Heron, Nycticorax nycticorax, photographed in California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Steve Duncan, January 2010 [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 16, 2010tags: Butterbutt, Yellow-rumped Warbler, Dendroica coronata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Yellow-rumped Warbler, also known as a Butterbutt, Dendroica coronata, photographed on the Katy Prairie, Katy, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 6 February 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.
Note to my readers: I am currently without an internet connection…
laelaps | February 15, 2010
A horseshoe crab (Limulus polyphemus), photographed at Cape Henlopen State Park, Delaware.
grrlscientist | February 15, 2010tags: Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Field Sparrow, Spizella pusilla, photographed on the Katy Prairie, Katy, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 6 February 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s 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 | February 14, 2010tags: Maasai Barbet, Masai Barbet, Usambiro Barbet, Trachyphonus usambiro, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Usambiro Barbet, also known as the Maasai (Masai) Barbet, Trachyphonus usambiro, photographed outside the visitor's center for the Serengeti National Park headquarters, Tanzania, Africa. They have a wonderful visitor center with a short trail through a Kopje, interpretive signage, and a small pool for birds and mammals to drink at. This bird was hanging out at the pool, drinking and looking for handouts. It was so tame that it would eat from your hand, and one of our…
laelaps | February 14, 2010
A grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis), photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
grrlscientist | February 13, 2010tags: Common Egret, Great White Egret, Great Egret, Ardea alba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great Egret, also known as the Great White Egret or the Common Egret, Ardea alba, photographed in California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Steve Duncan, February 2010 [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 12, 2010tags: faith-based birding, mass hysteria, endangered species, extinct species, conservation, politics, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, Campephilus principalis, IBWO, ornithology, birds, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has posted a reward of $50,000
to be given to anyone who can provide "video, photographic, or
other compelling information and lead a project scientist to a
living wild Ivory-billed Woodpecker."
Mass hysteria is that strange psychological phenomenon where a group of people experience the same hallucination at the…
grrlscientist | February 12, 2010tags: Curlew Sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea, Ruff, Calidris pugnax, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Curlew Sandpiper, Calidris ferruginea, and Ruff, Calidris pugnax, photographed in the Nyumba ya Mungu reservoir, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, February 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm lens x 1.4. ISO 320, 1/800 sec, f/6.3.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | February 11, 2010
A reconstruction of Smilodon, photographed at the American Museum of Natural History.
grrlscientist | February 11, 2010tags: San Lucas Nighthawk, Sharp-Winged Nighthawk,Texas Nighthawk, Trilling Nighthawk, Lesser Nighthawk, Chordeiles acutipennis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lesser Nighthawk, also known by a suite of other common names, including San Lucas Nighthawk, Sharp-Winged Nighthawk, Texas Nighthawk, and Trilling Nighthawk, Chordeiles acutipennis photographed on the South Padre Island Convention Center, South Padre Island, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 30 March 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera…
laelaps | February 11, 2010
Tracey (pictured) and I go for a stroll in the snow.
A walkway light buried by the snow.
awild | February 10, 2010
Plectroctena mandibularis, South Africa
Every now and again someone asks how I get the white background on these sorts of stylized ant shots. Pretty simple: it's a sheet of cheap white printer paper. Overexposing the shot slightly by boosting the flash evens out the white.
I set the ant down on the paper under a petri dish or a lens cap, let her settle in, and remove the cover to get a few seconds of a relaxed ant before she's off to the races.
Photo details: Canon mp-e 65mm 1-5x macro lens on a Canon EOS 20D.
ISO 100, f13, 1/250th sec, diffuse twin flash
laelaps | February 10, 2010As the snow continues to pile up outside, I can't help but think of polar predators. There are animals that live and hunt in the conditions that are keeping me inside today, and one of my favorites is the leopard seal. An apex predator in its Antarctic home, the leopard seal is an enormous pinniped that specializes in hunting penguins and other seals. Getting into the water with one is not something to be done on a whim, but as described by photographer Paul Nicklen, particularly friendly predators can be among the most frightening: