Photography
laelaps | October 24, 2009
The view behind our campsite at the Green River Campground at Dinosaur National Monument, Utah.
grrlscientist | October 24, 2009tags: Bearded Vulture, Lamb Vulture, Lammergeyer, Gypaetus barbatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lammergeyer, also known as the Bearded or Lamb Vulture (for reasons that I'll bet you can correctly guess at), Gypaetus barbatus, photographed on Mt Kilimanjaro, at just under 15000 feet, at Barafu Camp. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 24 July 2006 [larger view].
NIkon D2X 70-200 VR lens at 200, ISO 200, 1/1250, f 6.3.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
According to legend, the Greek playwright…
awild | October 23, 2009
Female (left) and male Sandalus niger Cicada Parasite Beetles
Sandalus niger is one of the oddest beetles in eastern North America. While most parasitic insects are concentrated in other orders- notably Hymenoptera and Diptera- Coleoptera contains relatively few parasites. But there are a few.
Beetle larvae in the small polyphagan family Rhipiceridae attack cicada nymphs in their underground burrows. Our local species is Sandalus niger, and in the past week the spectacular inch-long adults have been gathering in mating aggregations on tree trunks around campus.
the remarkable…
grrlscientist | October 23, 2009tags: Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Chipping Sparrow, Spizella passerina, photographed at Illinois Beach State Park, Lake County, Illinois. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Janice Sweet, 20 October 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | October 23, 2009
A black bear (Ursus americanus), photographed in Grand Teton National Park. It was the first of two my wife and I saw walking along the Leigh Lake trail that afternoon.
grrlscientist | October 22, 2009tags: Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorous rufus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Rufous Hummingbird, Selasphorous rufus, photographed at Smith Point Hawk Watch, Texas. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 10 October 2009 [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.
laelaps | October 22, 2009
With a park ranger so close, this Yellowstone bison (Bison bison) makes sure to cross at the intersection.
grrlscientist | October 21, 2009tags: Crested Caracara, Southern Caracara, Common Caracara, Mexican Eagle, Polyborus plancus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Crested Caracara, also known as the Southern or Common Caracara, or as the Mexican Eagle, Polyborus plancus, photographed at Smith Point Hawk Watch, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 30 September 2009 [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.
Review all mystery birds…
grrlscientist | October 21, 2009tags: SEM, ASPEX Corp, DonorsChoose, science education, teaching, fund-raising, poverty
Would you like a FREE, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) image of an object that you've always wanted to see really close up? Stephanie at ASPEX Corporation has offered a free benchtop SEM scan as a prize to one lucky person who donates to my DonorsChoose Challenge! If you win, you could send them anything to scan (as long as it fits into an envelope); lunch room mystery meat, a fingernail clipping, or even a dead insect .. anything you'd like to see a picture of under a powerful microscope. Here's an…
grrlscientist | October 20, 2009tags: food, Kauppatori Open Air Market, Helsinki, Finland, travel
A look out from under a coffee tent at the Kauppatori open air market.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 July 2009 [larger view].
Here's a look at the Kauppatori open air market from a little coffee tent that my friend and I (and close to 50 other people) hid under after it started to rain.
The Kauppatori open air market looks like almost any other open air market in the United States, and probably in most European countries.
Fresh produce, Kauppatori open air market, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 July 2009 [larger…
grrlscientist | October 20, 2009tags: Gambel's Quail, Callipepla gambelii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Gambel's Quail, Callipepla gambelii, photographed near San Manuel, Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 17 April 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D300 and 600 mm VR lens ISO 320, f/8, 1/640.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | October 20, 2009
A lizard (perhaps the common side-blotched lizard, Uta stansburiana?), photographed at Antelope Island, Utah.
grrlscientist | October 19, 2009tags: food, Helsinki, Finland, travel
Traditional Finnish lunch, prepared at the Kauppatori open air market.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 July 2009 [larger view].
Here's a look at this traditional lunch as it was being prepared in front of my friend and I at the Kauppatori open air market.
A look at the finished meal, waiting to be served to hungry people (and gulls!);
Traditional Finnish lunch, prepared at the Kauppatori open air market.
Image: GrrlScientist, 5 July 2009 [larger view].
This meal was as good as it looks;
Traditional Finnish lunch, prepared at the Kauppatori open air…
awild | October 19, 2009
Formica obscuripes
Trophallaxis- the social sharing of regurgitated liquids- is a fundamental behavior in the biology of most ant colonies. One ant approaches another, asks for a droplet of food, and if her partner is willing the two spend anywhere from a few seconds to several minutes in what is best described as a myrmecological french kiss. The behavior is so central to the life of ants that the insects have an entire stomach, separate from their digestive gut, devoted as a reservoir for social sharing.
Although the act involves a transfer of food, it would be a mistake to think of…
grrlscientist | October 19, 2009tags: Green Parakeet, Green Conure, Aratinga holochlora, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Green Parakeets, also known as Green Conures, Aratinga holochlora, photographed at Elizabeth Street Parrotry, Brownsville, Texas. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 April 2008 [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.
The Green Parakeet, Aratinga holochlora, is a medium-sized parrot that is native to Central…
laelaps | October 19, 2009
The Riverside Geyser in the Upper Geyser Basin of Yellowstone National Park.
grrlscientist | October 18, 2009tags: 2009 Frankfurt Book Fair, Frankfurt Messe, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, image of the day
Frankfurt Messe.
Frankfurt Book Fair 2009.
Image: Bob O'Hara, 18 October 2009 [larger view].
grrlscientist | October 18, 2009tags: Black Crake, Amaurornis flavirostris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black Crake, Amaurornis flavirostris, photographed at Amboseli National Park, Kenya, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 6 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, ISO 200, 200-400 VR lens at 400 mm. 1/180 sec, f/4.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | October 18, 2009
A chipmunk gnaws on a sun chip in a parking lot in the Mount Naomi Wilderness in Utah. Free range cattle were also a common sight along the trail.