Photography
grrlscientist | June 10, 2010tags: Red Knot, Calidris canutus, Tringa canutus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Red Knot, Calidris (Tringa) canutus photographed at Bolivar Peninsula, Galveston County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 26 April 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.
There is something very sad about this beautiful migratory species, can you tell me what that is?
The red knot stopover on the Delaware…
grrlscientist | June 9, 2010tags: Brandt's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Brandt's Cormorant, Phalacrocorax penicillatus, photographed in Monterey, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 5 May 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.
Its specific name, penicillatus is Latin for a painter's brush ("pencil of hairs"), in reference to white plumes on its neck and back during…
awild | June 8, 2010
Audubon's Ted Williams explains that staged images have taken over the animal photography business and argues that these ubiquitous phonies give the public an inaccurate view of nature:
Audubon has sent me to lots of wild places over the past 31 years, but I'd seen only one wolf and three cougars (a litter) until December 8, 2009. On that day, before noon in the Glacier National Park ecosystem of northwestern Montana, I encountered not just one wolf but two and not just one cougar but two! What were the chances of that?
Well, they were 100 percent, because I'd rented the animals for a photo…
grrlscientist | June 8, 2010tags: Pigeon Guillemot, Cepphus columba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Pigeon Guillemot, Cepphus columba, photographed in Monterey, California. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 5 May 2010 [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.
This bird of the north Pacific Ocean has very distinctive feet, but is very similar to a close relative: can you identify both species and tell me how to distinguish…
laelaps | June 7, 2010
A female pronghorn (Antilocapra americana), photographed at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
grrlscientist | June 7, 2010tags: Short-tailed Albatross, Steller's Albatross, Phoebastria albatrus, Diomedea albatrus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Short-tailed Albatross, also known as Steller's Albatross, Phoebastria (Diomedea) albatrus 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 identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joe Fuhrman. I encourage you to purchase images from this professional photographer.
NOTE: Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification…
grrlscientist | June 6, 2010tags: Dickinson's Kestrel, White-rumped Kestrel, Falco dickinsoni, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] A pair of Dickinson's Kestrels, also known as White-rumped Kestrels, Falco dickinsoni, photographed in Mikumi National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 8 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300s, 600 mm VR lens with 1.4 x extender ISO 800, f/7.1, 1/400 sec.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
White-rumped Kestrel's closest relatives are the Grey Kestrel and Banded Kestrel, and the…
laelaps | June 6, 2010
Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), photographed at Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
grrlscientist | June 5, 2010tags: Slate-Colored Boubou, Boubou Shrike, Laniarius funebris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Slate-Colored Boubou, also known as the Boubou Shrike, Laniarius funebris, photographed in Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 19 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 200-400 VR lens at 400 mm ISO 640, f/4.5. 1/320 sec.
This lovely bird is a member of a taxonomic family that does not occur in North America -- can you identify it anyway?
Please name at least one field mark that supports your…
grrlscientist | June 4, 2010tags: Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla, photographed at East Grand Terre Island, Louisiana.
Image: Charlie Riedel, 3 June 2010 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Here's what this bird would look like without its lovely coating of oil:
Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla, photographed at Bolivar Flats Shorebird Sanctuary, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 7 April 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1250s f/8.0 at 1000.…
laelaps | June 4, 2010
A Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens), photographed in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
laelaps | June 3, 2010
A golden-mantled ground squirrel (Spermophilus lateralis), photographed in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
grrlscientist | June 3, 2010tags: Green Jay, Cyanocorax yncas, Cyanocorax luxuosus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Green Jay, Cyanocorax (yncas) luxuosus, photographed at Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge, Harlingen, 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 eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Because most mystery birders are on vacation right now, I am sharing another knock-your-socks-off-gorgeous…
grrlscientist | June 3, 2010tags: Brian Skerry Reveals Ocean's Glory -- and Horror, conservation, marine biology, fish, marine mammals, oceans, sharks, leatherback sea turtle, right whale, overfishing, photographer, Brian Skerry, TEDTalks, TED Talks, streaming video
Professional photographer Brian Skerry shoots life above and below the waves -- as he puts it, both the horror and the magic of the ocean. Sharing amazing, intimate shots of undersea creatures, he shows how powerful images can help make change.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's…
laelaps | June 2, 2010
Just a few of the many hoodoos which can be seen in Bryce Canyon National Park, Utah.
awild | June 2, 2010The bold, playful style of Graphocephala coccinea, the candy-striped leafhopper, is all the rage this season:
photo details:
Canon EOS 7D camera
Canon MP-E 65mm 1-5x macro lens
ISO 100, f/13, 1/250sec
diffused twin flash
grrlscientist | June 2, 2010tags: Indigo Bunting, Passerina cyanea, Guiraca cyanea, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Adult male Indigo Bunting, Passerina (Guiraca) cyanea, photographed at Quintana Neotropical Bird Sanctuary, Brazoria County, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 14 April 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/180s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Can you tell me how this bird's grows such spectacularly colored plumage?
Blue plumage in…
laelaps | June 1, 2010
Grosvenor Arch, photographed in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, Utah.