Photography
grrlscientist | July 9, 2009tags: River Vantaa, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
A river flows through it.
A view of the River Vantaa. I believe I was in Vantaa (will check after my host returns),
in northern Helsinki, Finland, when I photographed this.
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I've been telling you about how gorgeous Helsinki is, but mostly so far, I've shown you photographs of flowers. I hope you realize that I wanted to establish in your mind that it is warm and sunny enough here for flowers to bloom, but today, I just had to share a picture of the River Vantaa (…
grrlscientist | July 9, 2009tags: House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] House Finch, Carpodacus mexicanus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 7 August 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:07:08 08:30:57
Exposure Time: 1/249
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | July 9, 2009
A female widow skimmer (Libellula luctuosa), photographed in Mount Kisco, NY. Thanks to Rich for the identification.
grrlscientist | July 8, 2009tags: Potentilla fruticosa, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Is this a wild rose or a close relative?
"Goldfinger" or the Buttercup Shrub, Potentilla fruticosa.
Photographed alongside a roadway in Pitäjänmäki in northern Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
"Goldfinger" -- which has a wide variety of common names, such as the Goldfinger shrubby Potentilla, Shrubby Cinquefoil and my favorite, the Buttercup Shrub -- is a hardy and dense shrub with dark green leaves and bright yellow flowers that are roughly 1 1…
grrlscientist | July 8, 2009tags: Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, photographed at Brazos Bend State Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 30 April 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200 ,Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/200s 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 | July 7, 2009tags: Heartsease, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Heartsease is known by a wide variety of names, including the Wild Pansy, Ladies' Delight, Jump-Up-And-Kiss-Me, and Johnny Jump-Up, Viola tricolor.
Photographed on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Native over large areas of Europe and western Asia, this is the ancestor of the modern pansy. I remember Heartsease from watching a live performance of Shakespeare's comedy, A Midsummer's Night Dream in London last year, where Oberon claims that the…
grrlscientist | July 7, 2009tags: lunch, food, Ravintola Helsinge, Tekniikan Museo, travel, Helsinki, Finland
Coffee and Lunch (croissant with cheese, tomato and "rocket",
a tangy green that I've never seen nor heard of before now)
Photographed at Ravintola Helsinge, the cafe on the grounds
shared with the Tekniikan Museo (Technology Museum),
Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 6 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
I am recovering, albeit slowly, from jet lag. This process is made more difficult because my sleep patterns had been seriously disturbed for several weeks before I left NYC, and further complicated…
grrlscientist | July 7, 2009tags: Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Merops oreobates, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Cinnamon-chested Bee-eater, Merops oreobates, photographed at Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 8 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm VR lens at 400. ISO 320, 1/400, f/5.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 7, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz, streaming video
A reader asked me to ask you to identify these [Mystery Birds], filmed in Wasilla, Alaska, USA, on 4 July 2009. Hint: Turn the sound off while viewing this video to prevent stimulating your gag reflex.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
laelaps | July 7, 2009
A patch of Indian pipe (Monotropa uniflora), photographed in Mount Kisco, NY.
grrlscientist | July 6, 2009tags: Black-eyed Susan vine, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Mystery flower, can you name the species?
Black-eyed Susan vine, Thunbergia alata.
Photographed on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
The Black-eyed Susan vine, Thunbergia alata, is a perennial climbing plant in the Acanthaceae family. It is native to Eastern Africa, and has been naturalized in other parts of the world.
grrlscientist | July 6, 2009tags: Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Upland Sandpiper, Bartramia longicauda, photographed in Kingsbury County, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Terry Sohl, 5 July 2009 [larger view]
Photo taken with a Canon 50D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | July 6, 2009tags: Antarctica, music, Terra Nova, Sinfonia Antarctica, photography, streaming video
This video is the trailer for DJ Spooky/Paul D. Miller's next large scale multimedia performance work: an acoustic portrait of a rapidly changing continent. Terra Nova: Sinfonia Antarctica is a seventy minute performance featuring music combined with visual material from Getty Images' vast collection, creating a unique and powerful moment around man's relationship with nature [5:36]
Quark Expeditions is searching for an Official Blogger to join a voyage to Antarctica. Their goals are to have this person…
laelaps | July 6, 2009
An Eastern grey squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), photographed at the Central Park Zoo.
emjohnson | July 5, 2009Bonobos (Pan paniscus) at Frankfurt Zoo, Germany. Joachim S. Müller / Creative Commons
grrlscientist | July 5, 2009tags: petunias, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
White petunias, Petunia x hybrida.
Photographed on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Petunias are trumpet shaped flowering plants that are endemic to South America. Botanically speaking, tobacco, tomato, potato, and petunia are all in the family Solanaceae. These popular flowers got their name from the French, which took the word petun -- 'tobacco' -- from a Tupi-Guarani language.
grrlscientist | July 5, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black-capped Chickadee, Poecile atricapilla, photographed near a small Olympic Peninsula lake in Shelton, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Lee Rentz, 19 February 2009.
As an added bonus, can you name the close relatives to today's mystery bird that are found in Finland?
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The closest relatives to the pictured bird that live in Finland are [English name, Finnish name, Scientific name];
Willow…
laelaps | July 5, 2009
A common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula), photographed at the Central Park Zoo.
grrlscientist | July 4, 2009tags: Seurasaarenselkä, Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland
Looking out over Seurasaarenselkä on Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 4 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
It looks like it is going to rain today, so I am exploring the open air market in downtown Helsinki. I am still sorting through and labeling all the photographs I took yesterday on Seurasaari. In short, my walk there started out with very nice weather -- sunny, breezy, warm -- and ended up overcast, but still bright (too bright for good photography, as you can see in the above image) and chilly.