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  Topic: Wildlife, What's in your back yard?< Next Oldest | Next Newest >  
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 18 2013,21:19   

That last one could almost be a flag!

  
The whole truth



Posts: 1554
Joined: Jan. 2012

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 19 2013,07:33   

[quote=k.e..,Feb. 18 2013,05:14][/quote]
 
Quote
TWT I might write up some of the adventures when I retire, my very rewarding career still involves travel to various projects around the world.


k.e., I must admit that I'm curious about your career and travels, but I realize that you may want to preserve your privacy.

 
Quote
And thanks for the introduction to the Hercules moth, in the flesh they are truly awesome, Herulean even :)


You're welcome. I'm glad I could help, and I envy your up close and personal experiences with such a Herculean moth. The biggest moth where I live is the Polyphemus Moth (5 1/2" to 6" wingspan).

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Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. - Jesus in Matthew 10:34

But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. -Jesus in Luke 19:27

   
The whole truth



Posts: 1554
Joined: Jan. 2012

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 19 2013,07:59   

Nice pictures, Freddie. It's hard to decide which bird is the prettiest/cutest, although the Goldfinch is tough to beat.

There are 'Goldfinches' and 'Robins' here too (Washington State - USA) but they don't look like yours. There are also 'Tits' here but they are drab brown (but still cute) and they're called Bushtits. Wrentits show up around here sometimes but they're usually farther south.

Cue the jokes about Bushtits.  :p

--------------
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. - Jesus in Matthew 10:34

But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. -Jesus in Luke 19:27

   
Robin



Posts: 1431
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 19 2013,10:30   

Quote (k.e.. @ Feb. 16 2013,08:40)
Here is something that flew into my exploration camp one evening May 2008 across the Muso River from Kakoda New Guinea

The worlds biggest butterfly.
A female Queen Alexandra's birdwing Butterfly.

Cool! I want one!

Do they cuddle, cuz something that furry ought to cuddle...

:p

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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: Feb. 19 2013,10:33   

Quote (Freddie @ Feb. 18 2013,17:29)
Glad this forum is starting to come out of winter hibernation!  It was an almost spring-like morning in Southern England (if a little chilly). Managed to get out and about and take a few photo's.  Plenty of Robin's and Blue Tits / Great Tits around.  I'm also seeing way more pair's of Chaffinch's this year than last, the wet weather must suit them.

Lovely shots Freddie! Thanks!

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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

  
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 19 2013,11:48   

Aren't butterflies a subset of moths? That's what tolweb.org indicates.

  
The whole truth



Posts: 1554
Joined: Jan. 2012

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 19 2013,16:21   

Quote (Henry J @ Feb. 19 2013,09:48)
Aren't butterflies a subset of moths? That's what tolweb.org indicates.

Apparently so, although the terms subclade or subgroup are also used. We humans sure do like to label things. :)

If any of you would like to read some interesting articles, see these:

http://sysbio.oxfordjournals.org/content....93.full

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content....39.full

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content........093

A bunch of articles:

http://nymphalidae.utu.fi/publi.h....bli.htm


This pertains to my neck of the woods (I don't necessarily agree with everything said in it):

http://www.driftcreeknaturecenter.org/Documen....nds.pdf

--------------
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. - Jesus in Matthew 10:34

But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me. -Jesus in Luke 19:27

   
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 20 2013,18:16   

Quote

There are 'Goldfinches' and 'Robins' here too (Washington State - USA) but they don't look like yours.


European goldfinch and our american and lesser goldfinches are all in the same genus.

American robin is a thrush, our early colonists weren't particularly noted for their ornithological skills.  Related to the thrush called blackbird in the UK, or merle in France, "coal thrush" in sweden (don't know the swedish), etc.  Common city bird.

Quote

There are also 'Tits' here but they are drab brown (but still cute) and they're called Bushtits. Wrentits show up around here sometimes but they're usually farther south.


No relation to european tits.  Here we call some of the related species chickadee(-dee-dee) because that's what they sound like.  Other related species we call titmouse, i.e. tufted titmouse.

Quote

Cue the jokes about Bushtits.


With blue tit, siberian tit, and (the best) great tit, the europeans have it all over us in the tit joke department!

  
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 20 2013,18:35   



It has been a bit of a snooze around here, I must admit.

OK, that male elephant seal was photographed about three weeks ago by me, at Piedras Blancas, on the Big Sur coast of California.

Highly recommended.  15,000 there at the moment, and the moms whelp about 3500 pups. There's a trail that goes along a bluff right next to the beach.  I shot that with a 70-200, to give you an idea as to how close the trail brings you to the beasties.

  
Henry J



Posts: 5786
Joined: Mar. 2005

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 20 2013,19:51   

Quote (dhogaza @ Feb. 20 2013,17:16)
Quote

Cue the jokes about Bushtits.


With blue tit, siberian tit, and (the best) great tit, the europeans have it all over us in the tit joke department!

Except for areas where that pun doesn't work in the local language! ;)

  
k.e..



Posts: 5432
Joined: May 2007

(Permalink) Posted: Feb. 21 2013,08:28   

Quote (Henry J @ Feb. 21 2013,03:51)
Quote (dhogaza @ Feb. 20 2013,17:16)
 
Quote

Cue the jokes about Bushtits.


With blue tit, siberian tit, and (the best) great tit, the europeans have it all over us in the tit joke department!

Except for areas where that pun doesn't work in the local language! ;)

Which reminds me I went to an art gallery awhile back and it had great Titians!


--------------
"I get a strong breeze from my monitor every time k.e. puts on his clown DaveTard suit" dogdidit
"ID is deader than Lenny Flanks granmaws dildo batteries" Erasmus
"I'm busy studying scientist level science papers" Galloping Gary Gaulin

  
Arctodus23



Posts: 322
Joined: Mar. 2013

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 02 2013,10:25   


That's what's in my yard.

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"At our church’s funerals, we sing gospel songs (out loud) to God." -- FL

"So the center of the earth being hotter than the surface is a "gross
violation of the second law of thermodynamics??" -- Ted Holden

   
Dr.GH



Posts: 2333
Joined: May 2002

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 02 2013,11:35   

I propose the caption should be, "Busted!"

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

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

   
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 08 2013,14:27   

I've been mostly hibernating in my cave this winter, but here's some stuff I've shot over the last few months that y'all might enjoy.

Mute Swan



Unhappy Mute Swan



Mallard ducklings, look at teh cutenez!



Horned Grebe, doing a fine Nessie imitation



Wood Stork



Juvenile Yellow-crowned Night Heron, on the overlook at the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and Tunnel:



Bald Eagle, on a really shitty day for photography



A Razorbill, here in SE NC



A male Belted Kingfisher, a bird which has eluded my lens so damned studiously that I've taken to appending "bastard!" to its name whenever I use it. I finally got this yesterday.



A male Yellow-bellied Sapsucker



It took a lot of patience and waiting before I could even get this clean a shot of this Nelson's Sparrow in the reeds



But this right here is my current pride-and-joy shot. A Great Egret



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

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
Robin



Posts: 1431
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 08 2013,14:30   

Quote (Lou FCD @ Mar. 08 2013,14:27)
I've been mostly hibernating in my cave this winter, but here's some stuff I've shot over the last few months that y'all might enjoy.

Awesome as usual Lou! Thanks!

I really like the Belted Kingfisher btw. I have yet to be successful in shooting one of them myself.

--------------
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

  
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 08 2013,14:36   

Quote (Robin @ Mar. 08 2013,15:30)
Quote (Lou FCD @ Mar. 08 2013,14:27)
I've been mostly hibernating in my cave this winter, but here's some stuff I've shot over the last few months that y'all might enjoy.

Awesome as usual Lou! Thanks!

I really like the Belted Kingfisher btw. I have yet to be successful in shooting one of them myself.

Thanks, Robin!

Yeah, the Belted Kingfisher (bastard!) usually leaves a blue and white smear across my shots and that's about it. If it's not perched on a pole or something a kilometer away from anyplace I can access, it comes out of nowhere, I hear it, and by the time I raise my camera in the general direction of the sound, it's halfway across the next county.

Bastard.

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

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 08 2013,17:36   

Belted kingfishers are tough, they're skittish as hell.  Here's one I got many years ago:


  
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 10 2013,06:33   

Quote (dhogaza @ Mar. 08 2013,18:36)
Belted kingfishers are tough, they're skittish as hell.  Here's one I got many years ago:

Exactly. Nice catch!

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

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 10 2013,12:00   

Went to Airlie Gardens yesterday, and got a few shots in on a beautiful day.

This Cedar Waxwing was inside the butterfly house:



Red-headed Woodpecker



Osprey in the nest



Osprey out of the nest



Headshot of a Mute Swan



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

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 10 2013,18:20   

If you squint your eyes just so that nesting material being carried by the osprey looks like a fish!

  
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 10 2013,18:22   

it's the "rubber ducky" ducky:


  
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 10 2013,19:33   

Quote (dhogaza @ Mar. 10 2013,19:20)
If you squint your eyes just so that nesting material being carried by the osprey looks like a fish!

Ha! It is kind of shaped like a big fish! That's Spanish Moss, btw, and oddly, it had taken it *from* the nest as it headed across the creek. I'm not sure what that was about, but it was clearly grasping it - it wasn't just stuck to its talons or something.

As for the rubber ducky, Gadwall? I'm not so good with the ducks.

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

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
dhogaza



Posts: 525
Joined: Feb. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 10 2013,19:48   

"rubber ducky" is an american wigeon.  They're easily identified by the fact that they sound just like a rubber ducky (really!).

  
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 12 2013,14:15   

Quote (dhogaza @ Mar. 10 2013,20:48)
"rubber ducky" is an american wigeon.  They're easily identified by the fact that they sound just like a rubber ducky (really!).

Ah, gotcha. I associate the American Wigeon with the big white patch on the head, so I didn't even consider that.

Meanwhile, big birding trip yesterday that was great for birding, not so great for photography. Still, got a few decent shots in.

Brown Pelican



Common Loon



Red-winged Blackbird



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

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 13 2013,12:48   

Some of the better shots from this morning.

American Oystercatcher



Brown-headed Nuthatch



Mourning Dove



Red-headed Woodpecker



Semipalmated Plover



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

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
fnxtr



Posts: 3504
Joined: June 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 13 2013,21:23   

Heh. "Oystercatcher", now there's a tough job.

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"[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

  
Robin



Posts: 1431
Joined: Sep. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 14 2013,07:22   

Wow! Love the Red-winged Blackbird Lou!

This brings up a question. Here's a shot I got last weekend:



I believe it's a Wood Frog (Rana sylvatica). Now to me it looks (I think the word is) "soft". Could that be from the light reflecting off of the water? Or could it be that I was shooting too low an ISO for the amount of light? This was shot about 5 PM or so, so the light is coming in low and from the left of the photo. Seems like there was plenty of light to me. Maybe I'm being too critical, but it just seems the frog kind of disappears in the pic. Of course, it doesn't help that they were essentially the same color as their habitat (stupid camouflage).

--------------
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: Mar. 14 2013,07:25   

Oh, and to add to Lou's tradition: a Tit with a Tude:



--------------
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

  
Lou FCD



Posts: 5455
Joined: Jan. 2006

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 14 2013,09:18   

Quote (Robin @ Mar. 14 2013,08:22)
Now to me it looks (I think the word is) "soft". Could that be from the light reflecting off of the water? Or could it be that I was shooting too low an ISO for the amount of light? This was shot about 5 PM or so, so the light is coming in low and from the left of the photo. Seems like there was plenty of light to me. Maybe I'm being too critical, but it just seems the frog kind of disappears in the pic. Of course, it doesn't help that they were essentially the same color as their habitat (stupid camouflage).

I get what you're saying. My first thought is that I get this same effect sometimes, but it seems like the angle of light-subject-camera is the cause. The subject itself is backlit. I'm finding that simply walking around the subject whenever possible seems to produce sharper-looking images for me, even when the focus is dead on.

Doc and I went looking for the comet last night, so while we waited, of course:



I haven't seen what he got with that sweet-ass prime of his, but I did get a much better shot than I had of a Piping Plover



And a Black-bellied Plover in non-breeding plumage



Alas, this happened:



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

Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

   
OgreMkV



Posts: 3668
Joined: Oct. 2009

(Permalink) Posted: Mar. 14 2013,10:51   

I got a real good view of the comet last night.

I have access to my wife's Canon Eos Rebel digital and a tripod... I think... and maybe a telephoto lens too.

What would be the best settings for taking a picture of the comet?

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

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

   
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