doing a lil dance
Bath time!
Juvenile, eaten by an adult Green heron. The heron swallowed the fish almost immediately, so these two shots are the only ones I have
fight between two American Coots, with a non-combatant onlooker that appears in photos 2-4. The fighting went on for about 20 minutes. The onlooker arrived shortly after the fight began and remained near the scene throughout.
Two pairs in tandem with females ovipositing in rotting wood.
River Trail Park,
Luling,
Caldwell Co., Texas
22 July 2016
Reserva privada Don Luis
I had to.
Near parking lot 5 at Floyd Lamb Park
@clauden any ideas on this little tourist?
Black-nosed crappie (a rare and harmless genetic mutation in black crappie that gives the fish a black racing stripe).
Experts - What is going on here? This male American Kestrel sure did seem to have the hots for this female Merlin. He kept trying to get close to her and even brought her a few treats (insects?) from the grass beneath the fence. She accepted the treats but didn't seem thrilled with the attention. However, when he flew off, she followed him...
Proof Green Herons Are Weird
When relaxed and resting, a green heron looks like it has no neck. Then it will do something like this.
A large fish that was poking its head up out of the water.
uploading this to be able to refer back to photo as a teaching tool
Photos of owl dad. Burrow has 7 owlets and the 2 parents. Mom and dad hunted from 5:30-8:00 am getting dozens of grasshoppers and other insects.
This is an interesting story with a happy ending. My friend David Ferry and I were driving along Hwy 87 at 60 mph near Crystal Beach, Texas, when I glimpsed what I thought was a Least Bittern standing on the very edge of the road with cars whizzing past. I made a U turn and went back where we indeed found a Least Bittern, resting back on its tarsus joints within inches of passing traffic. I picked up the bird and we stood on the side of the road to examine it. My best guess is that (1) it took a glancing blow off a car windshield, perhaps, or (2) It was totally exhausted from migrating across the Gulf of Mexico. It did not seem to be badly injured and its wings did not seem to be broken. Rather than just leave it here on the road to be crushed and killed I decided we would take it to a nearby marsh area off the roadway where it could die in peace and dignity. So we drove off with Dave holding the bird in his lap and heading to a marsh well off the road where I know Least Bitterns were present. We put the bird down on the edge of the marsh and it just stood there looking at us. I was about to just drive away and let nature take its course, but decided to take a few more shots of the bird. I got down low to the bird's level and it went into the characteristic bittern pose by stretching its neck high and trying to look like a swaying bit of marsh grass. It kept a watchful eye on me from both sides of its raised bill and image 1 shows this action. The bird then started slowly walking away from us. I bent down to take another shot and the bittern took flight and flew out into the marsh and out of sight. I choose to believe it recovered and is doing well.
near Crystal Beach,
Galveston Co., Texas
26 April 2018
Mounting of this extinct bird on display in the Macon Museum of Arts and Sciences.
Ring-billed Gull sitting atop a "Do not feed the birds" sign in Great Kills Gateway National Recreation Area.
~19 cm. Very gorgeous specimen. Good fighter too. Caught in a pool of a creek. Released after photos.
"Magpie" colour morph. Swimming in the shallow water just outside the Little River bird hide
Here's the magpie observation: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/70785441
Lifer! How exciting, and how gorgeous. The yellow tail indicates it's only a few weeks old, I think. Probably a den, so I wouldn't be surprised if there were more around that I didn't see.
Calamaria albiventer (Gray, 1835) is rediscovered at its type locality on Penang Hill on Penang Island, Malaysia after a six-decade absence of recorded sightings in the country. The species is known from only six locations in Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, and Sumatra. A description of the new specimen is provided along with the first ever illustrations of the species in life and observations of its natural history. An updated taxonomic key to the Calamaria species of Peninsular Malaysia is included.
They do not care about tourists
This moth, first time for me, was spotted at Karzi-Mangnam, West Sikkim, one of the remotest villages in our state. I'd taken my family to show them how does it feel like reaching there (adventurous roads, first road came in 2004), living there and experiencing their lives.
The trip indeed was fruitful, despite the back-breaking journey, I managed to photograph some extraordinary moths, like this one.
Enjoying the sea view...
Florida Bluet riding a sandwich through the inky void. This is not an altered photo, nor was this my sandwich.
Male Pachydiplax longipennis attempting to wipe rain from eyes
I went out the other day as it was about to rain to see if I could follow some dragonflies and find the best types of places they hole-up when it rains.
I got there a little too late and the rain was coming down pretty heavily so I just hung out under some tree cover and looked around.
As I moved from one covered spot to another I saw this lone Blue Dasher clinging to a branch, sitting there as it rained. He kept trying to wipe the large water droplet that had accumulated near the vertex but he was unable to dislodge it.
I don't know what it is like to see like a dragonfly but I imagine the water must distort the vision quite a bit. As well it could possibly have been a grooming response (just as if other detritus where resting on eyes) and not been related to the fact that the water may distort vision.
Either way, kind of funny to watch.
I am 6 feet from finger tip to finger tip. Big fish!