Photography
tags: Seaside Sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Seaside Sparrow, Ammodramus maritimus, photographed at Anahuac Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 May 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
Anemone Geyser, a small but frequently-erupting geyser in Yellowstone's Upper Geyser Basin.
I have been a little tied up with other writing duties today, so in lieu of a "normal" post here is another snapshot from my trip to the Bronx Zoo last weekend. It is of a young male gelada baboon (Theropithecus gelada) that came down to the moat to drink. He had just been involved in a major altercation. The entire troop went running after another young male who had gotten a little too close to a female spoken for by a larger male. The "fight" was more of a chase than anything else, though, and soon afterward most of the geladas went back to what they do best; eating grass.
tags: house, Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Bench in front of house on the way to Seurasaari (Helsinki, Finland).
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
This house is located on the Helsinki side on the way to Seurasaari.
If you are unfamiliar with South Korea's Everland Zoo and their ridiculously talented photographer who goes by FloridaPFE on Flickr, time to make a new friend.
tags: Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Hooded Crow, Corvus cornix, photographed on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]
Photographed with Canon SX100 IS.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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Three pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), an adult female and two juveniles, photographed in Grand Teton National Park.
I have photographed jugglers several times in the past for physics text books. I have been impressed with the level of skill some jugglers can obtain. It is difficult enough to juggle three balls, four is more difficult, and fire is a another story. When objects move in a circle they can undergo some fairly complicated motions. What would be the best way to show this motion in a still image?
In this case the camera is panned by the juggler at a constant rate on a computer controlled pan head. When the juggler is about the center of the frame a flash is set off. The image…
tags: house, Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Oddly-shaped house on Seurasaari (Helsinki, Finland).
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Can anyone tell me why this house is shaped the way it is? Does it have something to do with heavy snowfall or with how warm air moves inside a house?
tags: Willow Flycatcher, Empidonax traillii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Willow Flycatcher, Empidonax traillii, photographed near Park City, Utah. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 29 July 2009 [larger view]
Canon 50D, 400 5.6L lens.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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Compare:
Lasius claviger at f/3.5
Lasius claviger at f/13
I wouldn't say that either image is better. The first is dreamier, more abstract, more interpretive. The second is crisp and illustrative. Quite a difference for a small tweaking of camera settings!
Most of my insect photography falls in the small-aperture realm of the second image, but on reflection I probably ought to play around more with images like the first one.
For a handful of some of my favorite photos of big cats, check out this post on the website Paw Talk.
A bison (Bison bison) near the side of the road on Antelope Island, Utah.
tags: landscape, Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
Looking out over the water from Seurasaari (Helsinki, Finland).
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
tags: Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird, Nectarinia johnstoni, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Scarlet-tufted Malachite Sunbird, Nectarinia johnstoni, photographed on Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 27 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 70-200 VR Nikon lens, at 200 mm. ISO 200, f/5.6 1/320 sec.
Note the size of the heather that grows on Mt. Kilimanjaro!
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
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A shot of the scenery taken on the way back from an early-morning hike to the Red Fleet Reservoir dinosaur track site in northern Utah.
There are some new residents at the Bronx Zoo: spotted hyenas! I had never seen a live spotted hyena before, and I was quite surprised to find them in what had previously been the cheetah enclosure near the giraffe house. For more on spotted hyenas, see Sci's excellent post on hyena mating or my short essay on the "predatory intelligence" of hyenas in the online journal Antennae (p. 23-25).
tags: flowers, Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland, image of the day
A mystery flower Lesser Stitchwort, Stellaria graminea, photographed on Seurasaari (Helsinki, Finland).
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
tags: Yellow-bellied Sunbird, Nectarinia jugularis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Yellow-bellied Sunbird, Nectarinia jugularis, photographed at Mossman, Queensland, Australia. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Steve Duncan, 25 August 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 w/ Nikkor 300mm f/4 1/640 sec, f/4 iso 400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.