RSS 2.0 Feed

» Welcome Guest Log In :: Register

Pages: (74) < ... 53 54 55 56 57 [58] 59 60 61 62 63 ... >   
  Topic: Wildlife, What's in your back yard?< Next Oldest | Next Newest >  
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 05 2012,14:48   

Albatrossity, I've seen them once, along the New Mexico-Texas border, but not close enough to photograph.

Your photo's great.

  
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 05 2012,17:07   

OK, some more from Ruh-Red Road along the north shore of Malheur Lake ... for a change of pace, how about three mammals?

pronghorn



badger



muskrat



OK, I didn't get the eye of the muskrat, major wildlife photo fail! :)

This was such a great trip that I'm going to do everything possible to get back out here the third week of June (gotta go to Montreal for a computer security conference next week, otherwise I'd still be there, working remotely).

  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 05 2012,17:19   

Quote (dhogaza @ June 05 2012,14:48)
Albatrossity, I've seen them once, along the New Mexico-Texas border, but not close enough to photograph.

Your photo's great.

Dhogaza, you need to get to Kansas sometime in the summer; you'd get to see these more often Here's a photo of two males who chased each other into a mistnet one year at one of our banding stations.



--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 05 2012,17:30   

Oh, sweet, scissor-tailed flycatcher on your kiss list!

That's just too cool ...

  
OgreMkV



Posts: 3668
Joined: Oct. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: June 05 2012,17:51   

Well, it's not wildlife, but I took it from my backyard.





--------------
Ignored by those who can't provide evidence for their claims.

http://skepticink.com/smilodo....retreat

   
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 05 2012,17:56   

You never know, there might be wildlife on venus!

  
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 05 2012,19:23   

Quote (dhogaza @ June 05 2012,15:56)
You never know, there might be wildlife on venus!

There's a little black spot on the sun today...

--------------
"[A] book said there were 5 trillion witnesses. Who am I supposed to believe, 5 trillion witnesses or you? That shit's, like, ironclad. " -- stevestory

"Wow, you must be retarded. I said that CO2 does not trap heat. If it did then it would not cool down at night."  Joe G

  
OgreMkV



Posts: 3668
Joined: Oct. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: June 05 2012,21:17   

Quote (fnxtr @ June 05 2012,19:23)
Quote (dhogaza @ June 05 2012,15:56)
You never know, there might be wildlife on venus!

There's a little black spot on the sun today...

I've been here before inside the pouring rain...

--------------
Ignored by those who can't provide evidence for their claims.

http://skepticink.com/smilodo....retreat

   
rhmc



Posts: 340
Joined: Dec. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2012,10:21   

went to Sapelo Island for the weekend, a barrier island on the coast of Georgia that is only accessible by boat.

http://www.gastateparks.org/SapeloR....eynolds

saw all the normal suspects:  gators, snakes, deer, feral hogs, racoons, painted buntings, indigo buntings, turkeys, ospreys and other birds of prey (no bald eagles), sea birds of many varieties...

didn't see any of the feral cattle that roam the island but that may have been a good thing since some of the bulls are reported to be a bit aggressive, not a good thing if one should meet while riding a bicycle on a narrow dirt road with swamps on both sides.  saw plenty of sign of them but no sightings.  got thoroughly lost bicycling up a seldom used dirt road that petered out in the live oak forests several miles up the island.  

did hear an odd call bird call sunday morning.  asked the couple that owned the apartment what that noise was.

was told it was a chachalaca.  

i've lived on the coast for over 30 years and in the south east all my life and i'd never heard of anything called a chachalaca.

i asked our hosts if it was something that was hunted at night with a flashlight.  :)

they cackled and said, no, it really was a real bird and had been imported from mexico so the wealthy landowners in the past (including RJ Reynolds) could hunt them.

we did eventually see a pair but they were too fast to get a camera pointed at them for evidence.

toured ruins and mansions.  Guale Indian shell middens dating from 3600BC, one enormous one that was in a circle 250 feet in diameter and 12 or so feet tall.  it doesn't appear to have been a rubbish pile from a village as there were almost no pottery fragments.  wasn't a defensive position as it's in the wrong place to protect the landing points on that part of the island.  no one seems to know why it was built.  some think it was a religious site.

saw french and english tabby ruins from various centuries, went by a circa 1500 spanish mission site but weren't allowed to wander around as it is an ongoing archeological dig.

there were enormous tabby ruins for some of the old plantations.  remnants of slave quarters, gatekeepers cottages, barns and storage buildings dot areas of the island.  

The RJ Reynolds mansion is quite impressive.  
the filthy rich certainly knew how to live back in the day.  :)
(Plum Orchard mansion on Cumberland Island is of similar opulence).

(i keep asking my mother why i wasn't born rich and she just laughs at me.)

spent most of each night roaming the atlantic beaches looking for sea turtles coming ashore to lay their eggs.  never did see one.  
the University of Georgia Marine Institute staff member who keeps official track of nests said it had been a slow week.  
erosion from Beryl had also eaten into the dunes so on a large stretch of the beach there was a 3 or 4 foot tall "cliff" that the turtles couldn't negotiate so they'd crawl up, meet the cliff and crawl off into the ocean.
did find some crawl tracks like that but never did eyeball any of the turtles themselves.

monday night's full moon looked more like a sunrise than a moonrise.  blood red and orange.  quite the sight.

up til 2 am on the beaches most nights and then up again before dawn to roam the beaches some more and then wander the island after sunrise.  way cool trip.

but no damn turtles.  guess we'll have to go back sometime...

  
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2012,11:53   

Quote
i've lived on the coast for over 30 years and in the south east all my life and i'd never heard of anything called a chachalaca.


Yes, it's real, though I had no idea it had been imported to the SE for the hunting pleasure of retarded tobacco executives :)

Chachalaca are named after their call and while primarily found in Mexico, are also native to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

Quote
i asked our hosts if it was something that was hunted at night with a flashlight.  :)


Snipe are actually easy to find and watch or photograph!

  
Badger3k



Posts: 861
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2012,12:13   

Quote (dhogaza @ June 06 2012,11:53)
Quote
i've lived on the coast for over 30 years and in the south east all my life and i'd never heard of anything called a chachalaca.


Yes, it's real, though I had no idea it had been imported to the SE for the hunting pleasure of retarded tobacco executives :)

Chachalaca are named after their call and while primarily found in Mexico, are also native to the Rio Grande Valley in Texas.

Quote
i asked our hosts if it was something that was hunted at night with a flashlight.  :)


Snipe are actually easy to find and watch or photograph!

Nonsense.  Snipe are harder to find than chupacabra and Bigfeet (or is it Bigfoots?).  Just look online.  Lots of those, but no snipe.

Although, maybe I'm using the wrong bait.

--------------
"Just think if every species had a different genetic code We would have to eat other humans to survive.." : Joe G

  
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2012,12:33   

Quote
Lots of those, but no snipe.


naw, easy ...

  
Robin



Posts: 1431
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2012,14:04   

Quote (dhogaza @ June 05 2012,17:07)
OK, some more from Ruh-Red Road along the north shore of Malheur Lake ... for a change of pace, how about three mammals?

Beauty photos D!

--------------
we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo

The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

  
Badger3k



Posts: 861
Joined: Mar. 2008

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2012,16:06   

Quote (dhogaza @ June 06 2012,12:33)
Quote
Lots of those, but no snipe.


naw, easy ...

Well, I'll be damned.  Never knew they were an actual creature, so I never even checked.  Doing some quick research shows there are quite a few of those.  Cool.

--------------
"Just think if every species had a different genetic code We would have to eat other humans to survive.." : Joe G

  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2012,17:19   

Quote (Badger3k @ June 06 2012,16:06)
Well, I'll be damned.  Never knew they were an actual creature, so I never even checked.  Doing some quick research shows there are quite a few of those.  Cool.

Snipe

Don't have a good pic of a chachalaca, alas. Need to spend more time in south Texas.

--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 06 2012,17:53   

That's a nice one, too ...

  
Robin



Posts: 1431
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: June 19 2012,16:12   

A few photos gathered over the last few weeks.




Zabulon Skipper (Poanes zabulon)


White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus)


Northern Flicker (Colaptes auratus)

--------------
we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo

The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

  
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 19 2012,18:27   

Nice!

  
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 24 2012,14:32   

I've missed this thread whilst I've been off gallivanting and whatnotting. ...and by that, I mean I've missed some very very nice photos!

--------------
“Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas?

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
George



Posts: 316
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 24 2012,15:50   

I've been out surveying sand dunes the past few weeks and last week was a winner for some really nice plants.  Maybe not so nice photos, but I had to share.

First, the tiny and quite rare small adder's-tongue fern (Ophioglossum azoricum).  It was impossible to get both the leaf blade and the spore-bearing blade in focus with my compact camera.



The much duller, but even more rare hoary whitlow-grass (Draba incana).



The not-so-rare, but ever beautiful bee orchid (Ophrys apifera).



Lastly, the lady interfering with my work by confusing my camera with lunch.


  
Robin



Posts: 1431
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: June 25 2012,07:33   

Neat plant shots George. Well...except that last one...not a very attractive plant that one.  :p

--------------
we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo

The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 25 2012,11:45   

Just got back from a trip to Alaska (Homer, then Denali, then Seward), and have not caught up with processing the photos that I took there. But here is one image - harbor seals on an iceberg in Harris Bay (Kenai peninsula).


--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 26 2012,17:49   

Quote
then Denali...


We want griz!  We want griz!

I'm back at Malheur NWR and have had loads of fun photographing young 'uns of various species - black-necked stilt, killdeer, pied-billed grebe, black-tailed jackrabbit, bunny.

I'll upload some stuff in a day or two ...

  
Albatrossity2



Posts: 2780
Joined: Mar. 2007

(Permalink) Posted: June 27 2012,08:53   

Quote (dhogaza @ June 26 2012,17:49)
Quote
then Denali...


We want griz!  We want griz!

I'm back at Malheur NWR and have had loads of fun photographing young 'uns of various species - black-necked stilt, killdeer, pied-billed grebe, black-tailed jackrabbit, bunny.

I'll upload some stuff in a day or two ...

We did see brown bears, but at a distance that was both safe and useless for photography. Folks on another one of the tour buses that was out the same day reported seeing a sow and two cubs within 25 ft of the bus. We were not so lucky.
But the state bird of Alaska, Willow Ptarmigan, did show up and display for us.

looking forward to seeing your images from Malheur. That is a great place, and underappreciated, for sure.

--------------
Flesh of the sky, child of the sky, the mind
Has been obligated from the beginning
To create an ordered universe
As the only possible proof of its own inheritance.
                        - Pattiann Rogers

   
Dr.GH



Posts: 2333
Joined: May 2002

(Permalink) Posted: June 27 2012,10:09   

"chachalaca" is a pretty good onomatopoeia.

--------------
"Science is the horse that pulls the cart of philosophy."

L. Susskind, 2004 "SMOLIN VS. SUSSKIND: THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE"

   
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 27 2012,12:15   

Quote
But the state bird of Alaska, Willow Ptarmigan, did show up and display for us.


Nice!  Don't you love it when things come up so close that you almost have to shoo them off?

Like this badger that walked right up to my car about an hour ago.


  
George



Posts: 316
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 27 2012,17:14   

Quote (Robin @ June 25 2012,07:33)
Neat plant shots George. Well...except that last one...not a very attractive plant that one.  :p

Thanks!  I'm really a much better botanist than photographer.  Really.  But it's always nice to take some pretty pictures.

  
Robin



Posts: 1431
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: June 28 2012,07:52   

Nice shot of the Willow Ptarmigan, Alby!

--------------
we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo

The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

  
Robin



Posts: 1431
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: June 28 2012,08:00   

A few shots from last weekend:


Viceroy Butterfly (Limenitis archippus)


I believe this is a female Golden-winged Skimmer (Libellula auripennis)


"My what big eyes you have grandma!" Holloween Pennant (Celithemis eponina))


A very noisy baby Blue Jay (Cyanocitta cristata)


Gray Catbird (Dumetella carolinensis) juvenile, up close and personal.

ETA: Miss IDed the Holloween Pennant as a Painted Skimmer.

ETA 2: Just noticed that the "Male Monarch" I noted above is actually a Viceroy. Gotta work on my identification skilz.

Edited by Robin on July 06 2012,07:33

--------------
we IDists rule in design for the flagellum and cilium largely because they do look designed.  Bilbo

The only reason you reject Thor is because, like a cushion, you bear the imprint of the biggest arse that sat on you. Louis

  
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: June 28 2012,11:55   

Nice, robin!

  
  2219 replies since Jan. 24 2008,14:26 < Next Oldest | Next Newest >  

Pages: (74) < ... 53 54 55 56 57 [58] 59 60 61 62 63 ... >   


Track this topic Email this topic Print this topic

[ Read the Board Rules ] | [Useful Links] | [Evolving Designs]