Last February I wrote about a pair of interesting puddle ducks I saw in Brooklyn Bridge Park. She was a mallard,Anas platyrhynchos. He was an American black duck, Anas rubripes. She would normally mate with a green-headed male mallard duck. But they appeared to be a couple. I think I saw the same pair today […]
Snowy owl spotted in Cairngorms
A rare sighting of a snowy owl has been made in the Cairngorms. The birds of prey are native to Arctic regions, including parts of Norway and North America. The snowy owl in the Cairngorms was seen on 18 February and reported on the nature website iSpot earlier on Tuesday. RSPB Scotland said that to […]
Long-billed Curlew with Crabs
Long-billed Curlews are crazy awesome birds. It’s pretty amazing to see them at work. They can get those bills down pretty far into the sand in search of crabs and other food. I found this one at Fort De Soto yesterday. It was actively probing the sand, and I saw it catch at least two […]
Reflection
70-300.0 mm f/4.0-5.6 1/500s, f/4.8, ISO 1,250 Mode: M, Meter: Matrix, No Flash, Auto WB Focal: 200mm, Dst: 11.9m, 11/29/2011 NIKON D90
A lifetime with elephants: an interview with Iain Douglas-Hamilton
Iain Douglas-Hamilton has dedicated his life to elephants. “I like elephants because of the way they treat each other,” he says. “They’re very nice to each other most of the time, but not all the time … You see a lot of play…a lot of tender touching, caressing, tactile contact of one sort or another.” […]
Don’t call him hummingbird.
Hmm, I thought I had put these up already. Apparently not. Sphinx moths. You love them, right? As you should. They’re sort of fancy-pants. This is a White-lined Sphinx (Hyles lineata) unless someone tells me otherwise. Not really the easiest photo subject. These shots aren’t all that sharp but I like ’em anyway. My attention […]
Round up of Al Hayer in February
Last year I visited Al Hayer south of Riyadh almost weekly and it became what we birders call my local patch. This year I vowed to make trips more widely within Saudi Arabia and I have been doing so. However last weekend I returned to Al Hayer for the first time in over 6 weeks. […]
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) A Winter Visitor
Lesser Black-backed Gull (Larus fuscus) is a winter visitor to the East Coast of North America. The birds that are found here probably come from the breeding population in Iceland. The Lesser Black-backed Gull breeds in the Atlantic coasts of Europe and migrates in the winter. From the British Isles self to West Africa. Every […]