Winter's in the air

[Radman]

Thanks, Boki!
These pictures were taken at night, with my fancy new camera and its nightvision feature (thanks wifey). The exposure time is extended, which is why the rat opposum is blurry in some of the shots.
There are truly a lot of foxes around here; I see them often, but they are much more wary than the 'coons and 'possoms, so it is difficult to get a picture.
OTOH, the weather is really nice these days, neither muggy nor buggy, so I can open the doors without worries of hordes of mosquitoes coming in, as the temperature shifts towards COLD. Which reminds me, I need to bring most of the plants indoors for a couple months, as it does get to freezing and below here November-March.
Lastly, thanks Boki again for posting your latest paints - nice work on the sauropods especially, hopefully will inspire me to put brush to resin soon!

[DinoLord]

With the recent snowstorm in the Northeast, I think you ought to change the thread title.

[paleoferroequine]

Yes, now that fall is here, a lot of the critters here are going south or stoking up for winter. I haven't been able to get all the pictures I want. I would like to get pictures of the robins. This time of the year they mass around the town. About 4:00pm they fly over town to roost east of town. In the early morning, they reverse and fly west to feed. They repeat it daily. Some years they don't go any further south and winter over. I'm talking 10's of thousands! Sometimes it can take a half hour to an hour to fly over, these are pretty dense flocks.

Canada Flying Rats er, I mean Geese. This was in the summer.

Fattening up

Flying south

Woodchuck or Ground Hog using underground railroad ;D Must be busy down there with woodchucks, raccoons, opossums, cats, skunks and armadillos using the storm sewers to travel around town.

Magil

Rocky and Magil. Cute, aren't they? Also fat!

[Radman]

A Day at Folly Beach.

Thanks to the Thanksgiving holiday, I actually got to spend some time with the family. We took a morning trip to Folly Beach, just 30 miles away, a nice long walk on the shore. Some birds were obliging for photography:

Here is a juvenile Laughing Gull:



As well as a cute little sandpiper Sandlet:

.

We had a great time, and more pictures will follow tomorrow!
Peace out, everyone, and enjoy the weekend.

[Horridus]

'Tis funny - over here in Europe-land, the name 'laughing gull' is sometimes attributed to the black-headed gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus, which (having seen them poop on Wills&Kate flags in Lincoln) is also a most fascinating bird. It does play a significant part in my memories of being at university in winter.

[Radman]

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure about that one. However, here is a mature ring-billed gull:



I am quite confident that this one is correct (due to the ring on the bill); again, the other may have been a juvenile? Gull experts, anyone?

[Horridus]

Nov 26, 2011 0:27:29 GMT Radman said:

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure about that one.

Don't get me wrong, I was just saying that the same common name can be applied to different animals, depending on where you live in the world.

[Radman]

Nov 26, 2011 0:46:47 GMT Horridus said:

Nov 26, 2011 0:27:29 GMT Radman said:

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure about that one.

Don't get me wrong, I was just saying that the same common name can be applied to different animals, depending on where you live in the world.

No worries. Actually, I meant that I wasn't sure of the exact species because many gulls (including the Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla) undergo a series of morphological changes including plumage and bill color, from year one to year two, and even to year three, where the adult colors and patterns finally appear that last them the rest of their (unusually long, for birds) lives, even though their size remains pretty much the same after the first year.
Anyway, here are some more pictures. Regardless of how one feels about gulls, they are one of the few birds that will fly around you, catching food in the air, making for a cool and fun experience, unlike pigeons, ducks and sparrows, which will just scoot around on the ground for crumbs. Here we go:

[Archosaur]

Nov 26, 2011 13:46:05 GMT Radman said:

Nov 26, 2011 0:46:47 GMT Horridus said:

Don't get me wrong, I was just saying that the same common name can be applied to different animals, depending on where you live in the world.

No worries. Actually, I meant that I wasn't sure of the exact species because many gulls (including the Laughing Gull, Larus atricilla) undergo a series of morphological changes including plumage and bill color, from year one to year two, and even to year three, where the adult colors and patterns finally appear that last them the rest of their (unusually long, for birds) lives, even though their size remains pretty much the same after the first year.
Anyway, here are some more pictures. Regardless of how one feels about gulls, they are one of the few birds that will fly around you, catching food in the air, making for a cool and fun experience, unlike pigeons, ducks and sparrows, which will just scoot around on the ground for crumbs. Here we go:

Gulls are intelligent, they have complex social structures and they display defensive aggressive behavior amongst themselves, they are opportunists, they steal from others, they also make use of what humans leave behind, they sometimes encroach upon 'our territories' and they have loud voices. Maybe that's why they irritate some people. I like them

[Radman]

We saw many pelicans diving for fish, as well as cormorants and loons. However they were either too far away or moving too quickly to get any decent snaps. Meanwhile, here are some sandpipers, which, even though they were approachable, they move so quickly that even getting these snaps was a bit of a challenge:











Lastly, here's a shot of the surf:

[Himmapaan]

I love the second to last picture.

[zopteryx]

Nov 26, 2011 0:27:29 GMT Radman said:

To be honest, I'm not 100% sure about that one. However, here is a mature ring-billed gull:



I am quite confident that this one is correct (due to the ring on the bill); again, the other may have been a juvenile? Gull experts, anyone?

You are correct, mature Ring-billed Gull in winter plumage.

[Radman]

Nov 28, 2011 13:54:19 GMT Himmapaan said:

I love the second to last picture.

That's a theropod in action, for sure!

[Radman]

Christmas birds:

Winter and frost have finally arrived here in South Cackelacky, so I've had to shlep all the tropicals inside for a couple of months. My legacy bird-of-paradise rewarded me with two beautiful blossoms that came out in late November, so now we can enjoy them inside for a week or two.





Bonus - according to my wife, while I was at work, we currently have at least three anoles that were planning to overwinter in the plants and are now scampering throughout the house.
Update: Number One Son caught one and chucked it outside. Overwinter safely, dear anole!

[EmperorDinobot]

I hate winter. Everything around me dies. Including myself.

But I moved somewhere less cold than WA state, soooo...I hope to be seeing less snow.

[Radman]

Even though it's nearly mid-December, and the temperature has dropped below freezing several times, amphibians here are still active. I was cleaning up in the back yard when I discovered this pair of large slimy salamanders (Plethodon glutinosus) under a board. They slithered away quite actively, but I managed to scoop them up and take some pix:



One appears to have a bigger head and a longer tail than the other. They're both about 7 inches long.

I put them on some moss:



They didn't move much. I then returned them to the leaf litter and board where I found them, and they wiggled away quickly.

[Radman]

This poor Didelphis has had a rough time, although he looks happy here munching on some chicken bones:



Although he's apparently been bitten on the face:


And his poor tail has been mangled:



Overall, he looks happy enough, though:



Kleines Schweinchen!

[Radman]

Finally got that that pesky squirrel from raiding my sunflower seeds. Darn thing(s) will empty that whole feeder in an hour. My soon-to-be-patented tape and paperplate invention should rake in millions! thousands! dozens . Maybe I can sell one to the neighbors for a quarter.

[paleoferroequine]

Hope it works, they will probably eat the paper plate and then get the seed!

[roselaar]

I would be very happy with a squirrel doing that in my back yard, they're very rare in my area.