Photography
grrlscientist | July 17, 2010tags: Gray Wren-warbler, Zambia Wren-warbler, Western Wren-warbler, Calamonastes simplex, Lesser Striped Swallow, Striped Swallow, Hirundo abyssinica, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird]Gray Wren-warbler (perched), also known as a Zambia Wren-warbler or Western Wren-warbler, Calamonastes simplex, and a Lesser Striped Swallow (flying), also known as a Striped Swallow, Hirundo abyssinica, photographed near the Pangani River Camp, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 14 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300s, 600 mm VR lens. ISO…
grrlscientist | July 16, 2010tags: White Tern, Gygis alba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] The White Tern is known by more alternate names than a con-artist, also being known as the Angel Tern, Common White-tern, Common White Tern, Little White Tern, Little Fairy Tern, Fairy Tern, Little White-tern, Little Fairy-tern, and even (since it lives in tropical oceans of the world) as the Atlantic White Tern, Gygis alba (formerly; Gygis microrhyncha), photographed on Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge -- one of the most remote coral atolls on earth -- a US territory in the north Pacific Ocean [I will…
grrlscientist | July 15, 2010tags: Bicolored Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus gubernator, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Fledgling Bicolored Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus gubernator, photographed at Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds, Marin County, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 13 May 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This mystery bird is quite challenging to identify, but for those of you who can ID this…
grrlscientist | July 14, 2010tags: Red-throated Loon, Red-throated Diver, Gavia stellata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Red-throated Loon, also known as the Red-throated Diver, Gavia stellata, photographed at Bodega Bay, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 May 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This bird has a character that sets it apart from the others in the same genus and family, and this…
grrlscientist | July 13, 2010tags: Least Bittern, North American Bittern, Ixobrychus exilis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] 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, 5 July 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Why are these bird's eyes placed in such a strange way on its head?
This bird's eyes are placed in a pointing down way…
grrlscientist | July 12, 2010tags: Swallow-tailed Kite, Fork-tailed Hawk, Swallow-tailed Hawk, Snake Hawk, Fish Hawk, Elanoides forficatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Swallow-tailed Kite, also known by a bunch of other common names, such as the Fork-tailed Hawk, Swallow-tailed Hawk, Snake Hawk and Fish Hawk, Elanoides forficatus, photographed at Double Bayou Park, Chambers County, Anahuac, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 26 June 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/400s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please…
grrlscientist | July 11, 2010tags: Irania, White-throated Robin, Irania gutturalis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Irania, also known as the White-throated Robin, Irania gutturalis, photographed at Nyumba ya Mungu Reservoir, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 14 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens. ISO 500 1/400 sec, f/6.3.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 10, 2010tags: Green Barbet, Stactolaema olivacea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Green Barbet, Stactolaema olivacea, photographed at Udzungwa Mountains National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 10 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 200-400 VR lens at 400 mm., ISO 800, 1/640 sec, f/7.1.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 9, 2010tags: White-winged Scoter, Melanitta deglandi, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] White-winged Scoter, Melanitta deglandi, photographed at Bodega Bay, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 May 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The White-winged Scoter, Melanitta deglandi, a large black duck of coastal waters which is the largest of all the scoters. This species breeds farther…
awild | July 6, 2010
Eristalis, the drone fly
Urbana, Illinois
Easily mistaken for a bee, Eristalis is in fact a clever mimic capable of luring many an unsuspecting observer into the land of amusing taxonomy fail.
But the structure of the antennae, the broad attachment of the abdomen to the thorax, and the presence of only a single pair of wings mark it as a fly.
I took this photo in bright sunlight, although it doesn't look that way from the black backdrop. This dramatic lighting effect is achieved by using such a small aperture (f/13) and a fast shutter speed (1/250 sec) that almost no ambient light reaches…
grrlscientist | July 6, 2010tags: Paul the Prognosticating Octopus Oracle Sez, soccer, football, World Cup 2010, fun, offbeat, weird, news
Paul the Prognosticating Octopus Oracle has disappointed his German fans by choosing Spain over Germany in tomorrow's World Cup Football match. Paul is a two-year-old English-born octopus of unknown species who has lived in the aquarium in Oberhausen, Germany since shortly after he was born.
Image: Mark Keppler / DAPD
This is a bummer for all those German fans who believe in tooth fairies and Santa Claus, because Paul the Prognosticating Octopus Oracle of Unknown Species (PPOOUS…
grrlscientist | July 6, 2010tags: Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus, photographed in China Camp State Park, Point San Pedro Peninsula, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 11 May 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/400s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This bird has a very unusual behavior that is a response to the availability of its primary food supply. Can you tell…
laelaps | July 5, 2010
A collared brown lemur (Eulemur collaris) baby, photographed at the Bronx Zoo.
grrlscientist | July 5, 2010tags: Black-throated Sparrow, Desert Sparrow, Amphispiza bilineata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black-throated Sparrow, also known (erroneously) as the Desert Sparrow, Amphispiza bilineata, photographed in Falcon State Park, Falcon Heights, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 5 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This species has one character that sets it apart from all others…
grrlscientist | July 4, 2010tags: Zitting Cisticola, Streaked Fantail Warbler, Cisticola juncidis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Zitting Cisticola, sometimes known as the Streaked Fantail Warbler,Cisticola juncidis, photographed at Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 20 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm VR lens with 1.4 extender ISO 400, f/8, 1/1000 sec.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This African mystery bird has the largest range of any of its congeners and its range…
laelaps | July 4, 2010
Rock formations near the "Natural Bridge" turnout in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah..
grrlscientist | July 3, 2010tags: Hooded Vulture, Necrosyrtes monachus, Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hooded Vulture, Necrosyrtes monachus (background: Marabou Stork, Leptoptilos crumeniferus), photographed at the Ndutu Safari Lodge, near Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 21 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm lens with 1.4 extender ISO 800, f/5.6 1/400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Since this African mystery bird is easy to…
laelaps | July 2, 2010
A toe bone from a Cretaceous ornithischian dinosaur, just laying on the ground. Photographed at Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah.
grrlscientist | July 2, 2010tags: Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Western Tanager, Piranga ludoviciana, photographed in Wilsall, Montana. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Ron Shimek [larger view].
Olympus OM-10 in an Ikelite Housing, Kodachrome 64 film.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
This stunning mystery bird is more than "eye candy"; there is something special about this bird's breeding habits that set it apart from all its congeners, can you tell me what that is?
The Western Tanager breeds…
awild | July 2, 2010
Leptinotarsa decemlineata
Urbana, Illinois
Meet the Colorado Potato Beetle.
If I had to make a list of ten insects all people should know, I'd probably put this one on it. Leptinotarsa decemlineata is a walking case study in evolutionary ecology.
Anyone with a potato patch will recognize this large, pin-striped beetle as a particularly voracious consumer of potato leaves. And that's true- the insect is a major agricultural pest. But it has only been eating potato plants for 150 years or so. Before that, L. decemlineata was an obscure insect found in the mountains of western North America…