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grrlscientist | October 1, 2008tags: Least Tern, Sterna antillarum, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Least Tern, Sterna antillarum, photographed at Bolivar Flats, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 16 August 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Another teeny tern. If that wasn't your first thought, you might want to run back through the other tern images in this series and try to get a sense of what a big tern looks like, a…
grrlscientist | September 30, 2008tags: Pobull Fhinn stone circle, North Uist, Loch Langass, Scotland, Image of the Day
Pobull Fhinn.
Stones at Pobull Fhinn, a stone circle on North Uist. On the shores of Loch Langass (visible in the picture), and about 1/2 mile south of the Barpa Langass tomb.
Image: Dave Rintoul, Summer 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | September 30, 2008tags: Forster's Tern, Sterna forsteri, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Forster's Tern, Sterna forsteri, photographed at Robbins Park, Smith Point, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 June 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Read how to identify this species below ..
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A pretty picture, and well composed; with the bird's head turned haughtily towards the observer, we can't see the exact…
grrlscientist | September 29, 2008tags: Callanis Stone Circle, Callanish, Isle of Lewis Scotland, Image of the Day
Detail of one of the Callanish stones. The stones are Lewisian gneiss, formed approximately 2.5 billion years ago.
Image: Dave Rintoul, Summer 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | September 29, 2008tags: Common Tern, Sterna hirundo, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Common Tern, Sterna hirundo, photographed at the Texas City Dike, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 September 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
This is the image that springs to mind when a birder hears the word "tern": a graceful rear end, the wingtips tapering into infinity above a long pointed tail; a slender, flat-…
grrlscientist | September 28, 2008tags: Callanis Stone Circle, Callanish, Isle of Lewis Scotland, Image of the Day
Callanish (Callanais) stone circle on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland.
This image present a view of central monolith and central cairn.
Image: Dave Rintoul, Summer 2008. [larger view].
grrlscientist | September 28, 2008tags: Royal Tern, Sterna maxima, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Royal Tern, Sterna maxima, photographed at Quintana and Bryan Beaches, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 3 September 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/2000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Bring that recent ruffian of a Caspian Tern back up on your screen, and turn everything we said about that bird into its opposite. Here's a slender, graceful-footed, pale-…
grrlscientist | September 27, 2008tags: Callanis Stone Circle, Callanish, Isle of Lewis Scotland, Image of the Day
Callanish (Callanais) stone circle on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland.
Earliest construction at this site dates to 3000 BC.
Image: Dave Rintoul, Summer 2008 [larger view].
Read more about this.
grrlscientist | September 27, 2008tags: Caspian Tern, Sterna caspia, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Caspian Tern, Sterna caspia, photographed at Bolivar Flats, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 16 August 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Scared yet? This is about the meanest-looking bird I've ever seen, which identifies it immediately as a Caspian Tern.
But what are the features that make this animal look so intimidating…
grrlscientist | September 26, 2008tags: Callanais Stone Circle, Callanish, Isle of Lewis Scotland, Image of the Day
Callanish.
Callanish (Callanais) stone circle on the Isle of Lewis, Scotland.
View from southeast.
Image: Dave Rintoul, Summer 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | September 26, 2008tags: Black Tern, Chlidonias niger surinamensis, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Black Tern, Chlidonias niger surinamensis, photographed at Smith Point Hawk Watch, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 15 August 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
After all of those big, mean-looking terns, it's nice to see one as sweet and gentle as this little bird. How do we know it's little? The pebbles and…
grrlscientist | September 25, 2008tags: Butt of Lewis, Isle of Lewis, Isle of Lewis Scotland, Image of the Day
Butt (north end) of the Isle of Lewis, approx. 58.5º N.
Image: Dave Rintoul, Summer 2008 [larger view].
grrlscientist | September 25, 2008tags: Gull-billed Tern, Sterna nilotica, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Gull-billed Tern, Sterna nilotica, photographed flying over Bolivar Flats, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 6 June 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/2000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Read a detailed analysis for identifying this species below the fold ...
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Compare this bird's shape and structure to the Sandwich Tern in a recent quiz. You'll notice…
grrlscientist | September 24, 2008tags: Baile Tughaidh, Blackhouse Village, ancient human dwellings, Gearranan Scotland, Isle of Lewis Scotland, Image of the Day
Baile Tughaidh.
Blackhouse village at Gearranan (Isle of Lewis, Scotland). These thatched-roof, drystone walled houses were still inhabited until 1976.
Image: Dave Rintoul, Summer 2008 [larger view].
On the exposed Atlantic coast of the Isle of Lewis, the blackhouse village of Gearrannan lies steeped in history and sited in an environment of outstanding natural beauty. Since 1989 the local community trust Urras nan Gearrannan (the Garenin Trust) has been…
grrlscientist | September 24, 2008tags: Sandwich Tern, Sterna sandvichensis, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Sandwich Tern, Sterna sandvichensis, photographed flying over Quintana and Bryan Beach, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 26 August 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/640s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Below the fold is a detailed analysis for how to identify this species ..
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Does anybody else remember The Book of Terns? My favorite was the sketch of…
grrlscientist | September 23, 2008tags: Royal Tern, Sterna maxima, birds, nature, Image of the Day
[Mystery bird] Royal Tern, Sterna maxima, photographed flying over Frenchtown Road, Bolivar Peninsula, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 22 August 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/2000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Below the fold is a detailed analysis for how to ID this species ..
Rick Wright, Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
The taxonomically savvy will have noticed that these quizzes are proceeding in roughly…
grrlscientist | September 6, 2008tags: Long-Billed Thrasher, Toxostoma longirostre, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Long-Billed Thrasher, Toxostoma longirostre, at Santa Ana Wildlife Refuge, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 31 March 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/750s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | September 5, 2008tags: Golden-Fronted Woodpecker, Melanerpes aurifrons, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Golden-Fronted Woodpecker, Melanerpes aurifrons, at Valley Nature Center, Weslaco, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 31 March 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
grrlscientist | September 4, 2008tags: Golden-Fronted Woodpecker, Melanerpes aurifrons, birds, nature, Image of the Day
Golden-Fronted Woodpecker, Melanerpes aurifrons, at Valley Nature Center, Weslaco, Texas.
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 1 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/100s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
esiegel | April 24, 2008(Thanks to Starts With A Bang! reader benhead.) The Hubble Space Telescope has released some beautiful images of colliding galaxies in a huge collection! Here are some of my favorites, with my very own names for them (real name in parentheses).
We'll start with the Glowing Arrow (Arp 148):
The Highway Windshield (NGC 6240)
The Flaming Splinter (NGC 6670):
And finally, I call this one "my new desktop wallpaper:"
I was going to write a whole bunch about this, but I have been beaten to the punch by Universe Today, Bad Astronomy, and Will Gater. I'll have to wake up earlier next time! In the…