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Antievolution.org Discussion Board > From the Panda's Thumb > After the Bar Closes... > Wildlife

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ppb Posts: 325 Joined: Dec. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 26 2009,10:01    Went to Plum Island, north of Boston, over the holiday weekend.  There were large areas of the beach roped off to protect nesting Piping Plovers and Least Terns.  I got a few nice pictures. A pair of Piping Plovers An adult and baby Piping Plover A very fast Least Tern Also spotted were Snowy Egrets, Song Sparrows, Semipalmated Plovers, Dunlins, assorted gulls and miscellaneous other little shore birds that I always have trouble identifying. -------------- "[A scientific theory] describes Nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And it agrees fully with experiment. So I hope you can accept Nature as She is - absurd." - Richard P. Feynman

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 26 2009,13:58    Quote (ppb @ May 26 2009,10:01) An adult and baby Piping Plover Nice! If there is anything cuter than a baby shorebird, I've yet to meet up with it... -------------- 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

fusilier Posts: 252 Joined: Feb. 2003 (Permalink) Posted: May 26 2009,14:17    If I knew how to post images, I'd show a honeybee swarm setting up shop in one of our compost barrels. This is a Good Thing.  When we first moved here, in 1986, there were honeybees all over the place.  You could enjoy a low hum as the ladies went about their business - 25 years of "development" ran them out. The unfortunate thing is that we'll have to call a beekeeper to remove the hive.  There are too many small children nearby. No, they aren't Africanized, I got within about 10-15 feet of the swarm. -------------- fusilier James 2:24

ppb Posts: 325 Joined: Dec. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 26 2009,14:33    Quote (Albatrossity2 @ May 26 2009,14:58) Quote (ppb @ May 26 2009,10:01) An adult and baby Piping Plover Nice! If there is anything cuter than a baby shorebird, I've yet to meet up with it... Thanks.  This was taken with my 28-135mm Canon zoom.  That's the longest lens I have since I switched to a digital SLR.  The chicks were numerous, and very cute, but I couldn't get a very large image of one.  They were all so tiny. I'm saving my pennies for something a bit longer, in the 300-400mm range. -------------- "[A scientific theory] describes Nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And it agrees fully with experiment. So I hope you can accept Nature as She is - absurd." - Richard P. Feynman

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 26 2009,15:51    Quote (fusilier @ May 26 2009,14:17) The unfortunate thing is that we'll have to call a beekeeper to remove the hive.  There are too many small children nearby. A beekeeper will gladly remove it for you. The going rate for a bee colony in these parts (if you wanted to buy one) is $80-100. So you are giving him a nice present! -------------- 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

khan Posts: 1554 Joined: May 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 26 2009,15:57    Quote (Albatrossity2 @ May 26 2009,16:51) Quote (fusilier @ May 26 2009,14:17) The unfortunate thing is that we'll have to call a beekeeper to remove the hive.  There are too many small children nearby. A beekeeper will gladly remove it for you. The going rate for a bee colony in these parts (if you wanted to buy one) is $80-100. So you are giving him a nice present! OT: I have an early memory (4 or 5) when parents called a beekeeper for a hive on the side of the house & he (Wolfgang Bauer) gave me a piece of comb to bite. -------------- "It's as if all those words, in their hurry to escape from the loony, have fallen over each other, forming scrambled heaps of meaninglessness." -damitall That's so fucking stupid it merits a wing in the museum of stupid. -midwifetoad Frequency is just the plural of wavelength... -JoeG

Erasmus, FCD Posts: 6349 Joined: June 2007 (Permalink) Posted: May 26 2009,23:12    my uncle will come get it if you are within an hours drive of montreat NC -------------- You're obviously illiterate as hell. Peach, bro.-FtK Finding something hard to believe based on the evidence, is science.-JoeG the odds of getting some loathsome taint are low-- Gordon E Mullings Manjack Heights Montserrat I work on molecular systems with pathway charts and such.-Giggles

Henry J Posts: 5786 Joined: Mar. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 27 2009,00:05    Middle of Indiana looks to be about 400 miles from eastern NC. I doubt that's under an hour's drive.

Lou FCD Posts: 5455 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 27 2009,17:53    Quote (Henry J @ May 27 2009,01:05) Middle of Indiana looks to be about 400 miles from eastern NC. I doubt that's under an hour's drive. 'pends on who's drivin'. -------------- “Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas? Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

Henry J Posts: 5786 Joined: Mar. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: May 27 2009,23:36    I wondered if somebody might say that... Henry

dhogaza Posts: 525 Joined: Feb. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 28 2009,14:28    Quote I'm saving my pennies for something a bit longer, in the 300-400mm range. The image stabilized 300/4 is a good choice.  I dumped my (non-IS) 300/2.8 and will buy the lighter IS f4 job.  It becomes an excellent 420/5.6 with a 1.4x extender.  Since modern digital bodies are so good at reasonable speeds like ISO 200, 250, even 400 - far better than say Sensia pushed a stop, much less two - and since image stabilization gets you a couple more working stops, I don't mind dropping from f2.8 to f4 (not to mention losing about 4 lbs in lens weight). Canon's 400/5.6 isn't image stabilized so I think the 300/4 IS is a better choice.  Especially with an APS sensor camera, where the image circle is cropped to the smaller format, you'd be unlikely to see a difference with Canon's 1.4x extender vs. the 400/5.6.  Tamron's 1.4x isn't bad, either (I own both, Canon's has a "snout" that sticks up the rear of a telephoto and won't work with lenses with a flush rear element like my old 80-200/2.8). OK, wildlife ... Here's a photo I took last weekend of the 3rd glossy ibis ever recorded in Oregon (behind it is a white-faced ibis, common here).  The bird nerds are all atwitter over it:

ppb Posts: 325 Joined: Dec. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 28 2009,14:58    Quote (dhogaza @ May 28 2009,15:28) Very nice photo!   Thanks for the suggestions.  I have a Rebel XT with the APS sensor, so 300mm should be plenty long.  Now I just have to squeeze it into the budget.   -------------- "[A scientific theory] describes Nature as absurd from the point of view of common sense. And it agrees fully with experiment. So I hope you can accept Nature as She is - absurd." - Richard P. Feynman

Lou FCD Posts: 5455 Joined: Jan. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: May 28 2009,15:32    Quote (dhogaza @ May 28 2009,15:28) Sweet. -------------- “Why do creationists have such a hard time with commas? Linky“. ~ Steve Story, Legend

qetzal Posts: 311 Joined: Feb. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 01 2009,16:24    Was hiking this weekend at Huntsville State Park (north of Houston) & saw two otters in the lake. They were going down beneath the water lilies and coming back up with crayfish in their mouths. They'd hold their heads up above the water while they crunched on a crayfish, then head back down for another. Sadly, my wife had taken the camera out of town with her. I didn't even realize otters lived around here!

subkumquat Posts: 26 Joined: Jan. 2009 (Permalink) Posted: June 02 2009,06:00    Quote (qetzal @ June 01 2009,16:24) Was hiking this weekend at Huntsville State Park (north of Houston) & saw two otters in the lake. They were going down beneath the water lilies and coming back up with crayfish in their mouths. They'd hold their heads up above the water while they crunched on a crayfish, then head back down for another. Sadly, my wife had taken the camera out of town with her. I didn't even realize otters lived around here! Interesting. I live a bit south of there, in Montgomery, and haven't heard of otters there. I might have to venture farther north to check it out this weekend when I go to the Stubblefield Lake area to look for/photograph endangered red-cockaded woodpeckers. Where in the lake did you see them?

George Posts: 316 Joined: Feb. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 02 2009,08:06    A couple of photos from last week of Neottia nidus-avis, bird's-nest orchid near St. John's Wood on the shores of Lough Ree (Ireland).  Bird's-nest orchid is a chlorophyll-less, saprophytic plant characteristic of old woodlands on base-rich soils. Not bad for a mobile phone camera I reckon.

qetzal Posts: 311 Joined: Feb. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 02 2009,09:22    subkumquat, I saw them from the boardwalk marked "1" at the top of this map (warning: pdf). It's basically the northernmost part of Lake Raven, about where Alligator Branch enters. The lake is shallow there and fairly thick with water plants. I had stopped to watch a great blue heron that was standing motionless among the lilies. I had it in view in my binoculars when I saw some movement among the lilies nearby. At first I thought it was just a smaller water bird, but then saw an otter poke its head up, and then saw a second next to it. I was pretty surprised to see otters, as I hadn't heard they lived here. But the only other aquatic mammal even close would have been nutria, and these weren't nutria. Afterwards, one of the park rangers confirmed that they do get a few otters in the lake, but she said they were "few & far between."

Erasmus, FCD Posts: 6349 Joined: June 2007 (Permalink) Posted: June 02 2009,09:42    my buddies saw a female with two pups in the Smokies a few weeks ago.  They were near the Sawdust Pile campsite on Hazel Creek (NC side) far from what I would have thought would be good otter habitat.  I wouldn't be that surprised to see them at ABrams or in Cades Cove.  annyhoo they said they heard the awfullest racket all night and never knew what it was, next day they heard the beasts and actually got to see them or would have never figured it out. -------------- You're obviously illiterate as hell. Peach, bro.-FtK Finding something hard to believe based on the evidence, is science.-JoeG the odds of getting some loathsome taint are low-- Gordon E Mullings Manjack Heights Montserrat I work on molecular systems with pathway charts and such.-Giggles

Aardvark Posts: 134 Joined: Feb. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 13 2009,00:30    ATBC exclusive: Who can haz identification?

Dr.GH Posts: 2333 Joined: May 2002 (Permalink) Posted: June 13 2009,09:16    Peahens? -------------- "Science is the horse that pulls the cart of philosophy." L. Susskind, 2004 "SMOLIN VS. SUSSKIND: THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE"

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: June 13 2009,11:27    Aardvark Where do you live, or, more pertinently, where were these photos shot? In the meantime, I'd venture an ID of Guinea Fowl which could be found anywhere, as they are common domesticated fowl, found in zoos, wildlife parks, and even private farmyards. -------------- 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

Aardvark Posts: 134 Joined: Feb. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 13 2009,12:58    Albatrossity2, I live in Durbanville, Cape Town & these are wild birds living in the Willowbridge area. They are indeed Guineafowl, but the reason I posted these pictures was because of the unusually pale colouring of the one specimen.   I've done a little reading but still can't decide if the paleness is due to leucism or albinism.  I'm tending towards albinism right now; mainly because the bird still has some colour around its head at least, unlike this bloke:

Paul Flocken Posts: 290 Joined: Dec. 2005 (Permalink) Posted: June 13 2009,14:57    I wish i had some pics but all I had was my cell phone cam which is worthless beyond 10 meters.  Yesterday evening I happened by a flock(1-2 dz) of White Ibis foraging in the drainage ditch that follows the old trolley line behind my house.  There are a lot of owls around but have only seen them at night and on a rapid wing, so no way to catch identifying marks.  The only other really cool critters I have are the Golden Silk Orb Weavers; Nephila Clavipes aka Banana Spiders who build their webs under my back stairs.  To encourage them to stick around I throw light bulb stricken moths into the web whenever I can.  It is amazing how much effort a previously moribund and dying moth can produce when it is suddenly stuck in a  spider's web.<evil grin>  I have no pics right now but will post them as soon as I can. -------------- "The great enemy of the truth is very often not the lie--deliberate, contrived, and dishonest, but the myth, persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic.  Belief in myths allows the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."-John F. Kennedy

khan Posts: 1554 Joined: May 2007 (Permalink) Posted: June 13 2009,16:00    What is this: flickr For some reason I can't figure out how to display pictures. ETA: that works, thanks -------------- "It's as if all those words, in their hurry to escape from the loony, have fallen over each other, forming scrambled heaps of meaninglessness." -damitall That's so fucking stupid it merits a wing in the museum of stupid. -midwifetoad Frequency is just the plural of wavelength... -JoeG

J-Dog Posts: 4402 Joined: Dec. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 13 2009,16:13    Quote (khan @ June 13 2009,16:00) What is this: flickr For some reason I can't figure out how to display pictures. khan - I use Image Shack to post pictures.Image Shack -------------- Come on Tough Guy, do the little dance of ID impotence you do so well. - Louis to Joe G 2/10 Gullibility is not a virtue - Quidam on Dembski's belief in the Bible Code Faith Healers & ID 7/08 UD is an Unnatural Douchemagnet. - richardthughes 7/11

deadman_932 Posts: 3094 Joined: May 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 13 2009,16:16    Khan's picture of some manner of mushrooms: I clicked on her link and then on the photo properties, then removed the bit following ".jpg" so Ikonboard accepts it. -------------- AtBC Award for Thoroughness in the Face of Creationism

Dr.GH Posts: 2333 Joined: May 2002 (Permalink) Posted: June 13 2009,21:08    Quote (Albatrossity2 @ June 13 2009,09:27) Aardvark Where do you live, or, more pertinently, where were these photos shot? In the meantime, I'd venture an ID of Guinea Fowl Are they good to eat? -------------- "Science is the horse that pulls the cart of philosophy." L. Susskind, 2004 "SMOLIN VS. SUSSKIND: THE ANTHROPIC PRINCIPLE"

Aardvark Posts: 134 Joined: Feb. 2006 (Permalink) Posted: June 14 2009,04:59    Quote (Dr.GH @ June 13 2009,21:08) Are they good to eat? According to Wikipedia: Quote The cooked flesh of guineafowl resembles chicken in texture, with a flavour somewhere between chicken and turkey. ...

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: June 14 2009,07:50    Quote (Dr.GH @ June 13 2009,21:08) Are they good to eat? Yeah, apparently they are, according to some friends who have a small flock. But mostly they are not kept for purposes of making a pot pie. They are noisy and curious, so a flock of them will make a racket if something unusual happens in the farmyard (itinerant preacher visits, coyotes, etc.) You don't need a watchdog if you have a bunch of these guys, and they have the added bonus of eating vexing insects, ticks, and other things that might pester you or your garden plants. Re the paler specimen in the pictures, there is an interesting discussion of albinism/leucism on one of the bird forums. Albino birds can be quite striking; there is a small museum in one of the smaller colleges here in KS that has a collection of such things, including an albino crow! -------------- 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

Albatrossity2 Posts: 2780 Joined: Mar. 2007 (Permalink) Posted: June 18 2009,11:19    I watched a lovely burying beetle (Nicrophorus marginatus) on my walk in to work today. It was thoroughly investigating a stained spot on the street; probably a place where some critter got flattened recently. It gave up and flew off after figuring out that it wasn't a useful activity; I continued on to work, to engage in other less-than-useful activities... This is the most common of the large Nicrophorine species in this part of the world; these critters are over an inch long and quite impressively marked, as you can see from the image below. They also have a truly wretched odor if you get close enough; I stayed back from this guy and just watched him decide that this smelly spot on the asphalt was not going to be a useful resource for raising the next generation of beetles! In other news, my department head has accepted a position as the interim dean of our college (Arts and Sciences) for the upcoming year, and I have accepted the position as his replacement here in the Division of Biology at KSU. So for the next year I will be the interim Director of the Division of Biology, and that may cut down on my time available to browse, chuckle, and comment here. But I will be back! -------------- 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

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