travel
grrlscientist | April 25, 2010tags: Parrots the Universe and Everything, biogeography, lemurs, twig technology, conservation, endangered species, evolution, komodo dragons, kakapo, baiji, comedy, Douglas Adams, streaming video
Douglas Adams was the best-selling British author and satirist who created The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy [DVD]. In this talk at UCSB recorded shortly before his tragic and untimely death, Adams shares hilarious accounts of some of the apparently absurd lifestyles of the world's creatures, and gleans from them extraordinary perceptions about the future of humanity.
grrlscientist | April 25, 2010tags: Black-faced Lourie, Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Corythaixoides personatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black-faced Lourie, also known as the Bare-faced Go-away-bird, Corythaixoides personatus, photographed lying motionless in the afternoon sun in Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 17 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 200-400 VR lens at 240 mm, ISO 500, f/8 1/1250 sec.
As an added bonus, can you tell me what this bird is doing and why?
Please name at least one field mark that supports…
grrlscientist | April 24, 2010tags: African Wattled Lapwing, Senegal Wattled Plover, Vanellus senegallus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] African Wattled Lapwing, also known as the Senegal Wattled Plover, Vanellus senegallus, photographed at the Kilombero River, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 9 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 mm lens. ISO 320, 1/1000 sec, f/7.1 Exposure compensation at 0.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 23, 2010tags: Great Horned Owl, Tiger Owl, Bubo virginianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great Horned Owl, also known as the Tiger Owl, Bubo virginianus, photographed on the roadside in the Edinburg, Texas in The Lower Rio Grande Valley. This valley occurs at the boundary between the United States and Mexico. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: ©JRCompton.com/birds: JR Compton, 2008. I encourage you to purchase photographs from this photographer. [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
One of my goals for the…
grrlscientist | April 23, 2010tags: Deutsch für Doofe, German for Boneheads, German language, education, streaming video
Okay, let's face the facts: my German sucks. Every time someone says something to me in German, my first reaction is to either respond in Spanish or Indonesian or (surprisingly) Japanese. As a result, I am left stammering my way through a ragtag collection of phrases in several languages, and no one, not even I, can understand what I am trying to say. So I am too intimidated to attempt to practice speaking my piss-poor German because the Germans are not very forgiving of idiots (forgetting of course,…
grrlscientist | April 22, 2010tags: Koralle, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, cities, image of the day, photography
Koralle.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
Brain coral is a common name given to corals in the family Faviidae, so called due to their generally spheroid shape and grooved surface which resembles an animal brain. Each head of coral is formed by a colony of genetically identical polyps which secrete a hard skeleton of calcium carbonate; this makes them important coral reef builders like other…
grrlscientist | April 22, 2010tags: Tawny Fish-Owl, Bubo flavipes, Ketupa flavipes, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tawny Fish-Owl, Bubo (Ketupa) flavipes, photographed at Corbett Tiger Reserve (also known as the Jim Corbett National Park), northeast of Delhi in the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains of India. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: John Kneeshaw [larger view].
Canon EOS 40D with 300mmAF lens.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 21, 2010tags: Koprolithen, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, fossils, paleontology, image of the day, photography
Koprolithen.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
grrlscientist | April 21, 2010tags: Rose-breasted Grosbeak, Red-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Rose-Breasted Grosbeak, sometimes known as the Red-breasted Grosbeak, Pheucticus ludovicianus, photographed in Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 April 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/200s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Beginning birders: can you name the species?Intermediate birders: can you…
grrlscientist | April 20, 2010tags: Fledermaus Hologramm, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, fossils, paleontology, image of the day, photography
Fledermaus Hologramm.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
grrlscientist | April 20, 2010tags: Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura, photographed in Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 12 April 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/350s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 20, 2010tags: Every Pollen Grain has a Story, pollen, microscopy, forensics, pollen signature, pollen fingerprint, science, Bosnian war crimes, pollinology, Jonathan Drori, TEDTalks, streaming video
Pollen goes unnoticed by most of us, except when hay fever strikes. But microscopes reveal it comes in stunning colors and shapes -- and travels remarkably well. Jonathan Drori gives an up-close glimpse of these fascinating flecks of plant courtship.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of…
grrlscientist | April 19, 2010tags: Sonnenuntergang, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, sunset, photography
Sonnenuntergang.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: Bob O'Hara, 19 April 2010 [larger view]
Sunset over Frankfurt, as photographed from the bedroom window. This sunset was influenced by the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull. The clouds that you see are fluffy and a light gold color, the ash cloud is hazy and dark and (dare I say it?) menacing.
The haze from the Icelandic volcano is much worse today than it has been ever since Eyjafjallajökull first blew. I know that the airlines want to start flying…
grrlscientist | April 19, 2010tags: Koralle, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, fossils, paleontology, image of the day, photography
Koralle.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
This is another beautiful coral that I photographed recently at the Senckenberg Naturmuseum. If you were here today, I would unfortunately opt to show you photographs instead of venturing out into the volcanic ash. However, if you were here, you and I would recall the Mt St Helens explosion over cold beers, and we would look at the jar of…
grrlscientist | April 19, 2010tags: White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] White-crowned Sparrow, Zonotrichia leucophrys photographed at Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 25 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/400s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
This sweet little bird was my "dissertation species" .. can you name it? There are several subspecies as well, each with slightly different habits and ranges .. maybe you can name…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: Sonnenuntergang, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, nature, sunset, photography
Sonnenuntergang.
Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: Bob O'Hara, 18 April 2010 [larger view]
Sunset over Frankfurt, as photographed from the bedroom window. This sunset was influenced by the Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull.
This is probably the last sunset photograph you'll see from Frankfurt that doesn't have a dozen or more (disgustingly ugly!!) contrails messing it up because the latest news is that the eruptions from the Icelandic volcano are slowing down .. and there are some EU flights…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: Trilobiten Abdruck, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, fossils, paleontology, image of the day, photography
Trilobiten Abdruck.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
Impressionsby Ryan Jennings
A lifetime can be likened to a lonely beach of sand.
a stranger makes a mark one day, an imprint of a hand.
As time goes by the beach once clear is now a cluttered field
of memories and keep-sakes of the ones that we hold dear.
Time does its best to wash away remembrances of those -
the ones we…
grrlscientist | April 18, 2010tags: African Spoonbill, Platalea alba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] African Spoonbill, Platalea alba, photographed in the Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 22 January 2010 [larger view].
Nikon D300, 600 x 1.4, ISO 1000, 1/4000, f/9 Exp comp -1.3
As an added bonus, can you tell me about this bird's feeding habits, just from looking at it?
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 17, 2010tags: Lituites lituus, Senckenberg Naturmuseum, museums, Frankfurt am Main, Germany, travel, fossils, paleontology, image of the day, photography
Lituites lituus.
Senckenberg Naturmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
Image: GrrlScientist, 13 April 2010 [larger view]
If you were here today, I would show you this lovely Ordovician fossil shell. The Ordovician Period began with a series of major extinction events that ended the Cambrian Period roughly 488.3 ± 1.7 million years ago, and lasted for about 44.6 million years. Despite a world filled with destruction, death and mass extinctions,…
grrlscientist | April 17, 2010tags: King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Immature King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus, photographed in unknown sub-Antarctic island location. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: creative commons.
NOTE: PLEASE name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
NOTE: Opus the Penguin, a fictional character in the comic strips Bloom County, Outland, and Opus, is a king penguin and the most famous character of the comic strips.
Review all mystery birds to date.