JimB88 Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 I was looking for this post! Ive come across three of these now at different locations when picking up a rock to examine it: and a big bug: and a cute cat pic for good measure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted September 27, 2014 Share Posted September 27, 2014 Arachne in the bright morning light deconstructs her laden web from the previous night; only to weave it anew at dusk. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squali Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 True to form John, you bring us the artists vision and voice. It's hard to remember why you drained the swamp when your surrounded by alligators. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 True to form John, you bring us the artists vision and voice. Jeff, the approbation is much appreciated. I certainly enjoy the images posted in the wildlife and nature topics of the Forum. It is almost certain that all fossil enthusiasts hold a degree of reverence and wonder to Nature in toto. I am glad the Forum provides the space to share images with broad natural content. I also am enamored of photography and like to see the results others have achieved and to perhaps learn a little of how they did it. The spider above was a technical challenge due to the strong back light. I could have used a flash or simply walked around and taken the shot from the illuminated side. This would have certainly provided a "better" image of the creature in the sense of a superior revelation of its features. However, I enjoyed the beauty of the light, as well as the spider's grace; so the shot was snapped as it appears. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plantguy Posted September 28, 2014 Share Posted September 28, 2014 Nice bugs, bats, snails, cats, bugs eating bugs....I'm like them all! Sometimes things leave traces here in the mud of Florida "badlands".......TREX too, maybe I'm just dreaming and its just one of those loud prehistoric sand hill cranes thats been there! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Sympetrum, the meadowhawk "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pagurus Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Beautiful! Here's something a little different. Start the day with a smile and get it over with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PFOOLEY Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Pickled squid! Yumm "I am glad I shall never be young without wild country to be young in. Of what avail are forty freedoms without a blank spot on the map?" ~Aldo Leopold (1887-1948) New Mexico Museum of Natural History Bulletins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted October 4, 2014 Share Posted October 4, 2014 A Green Heron, Butorides striatus basks in Fall's beautiful late afternoon light. For the past couple of weeks there has been a pair of these hanging out where I walk daily. They take offense at my approach and fly off with a great vocal protestation. They sound like the chain of a playground swing, badly in need of oiling. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roanoker Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 Love your pictures and descriptions, Snolly. And love the green heron. We see this rather small bird on occasion on the lake behind our house, but he hunches down motionless, like a hood ornament, ready to pounce on unwitting, would-be food. It's almost easier to see his reflection in the water than his tightly wrapped body. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
masonboro37 Posted October 5, 2014 Share Posted October 5, 2014 (edited) NC cameleon crunching on juicy waterbug. A pretty Cedar Waxwing. Edited October 5, 2014 by masonboro37 Process of identification "mistakes create wisdom". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Ah, Anolis carolinensis (the Carolina Anole) in the state for which it was named. It's getting ever more rare to see the native anoles scurrying around South Florida as they are being steadily replaced by the invasive Cuban/Bahaman/Brown Anole (Anolis sagrei). This invasive was introduced to Florida in the 1970s and has outbred, interbred, and even consumed the native species. These days it is a notable event to see a native green anole anywhere in South Florida. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 As I've just returned from a month doing coral reef surveys on the Great Barrier Reef (down under) I've got a little eye candy to contribute to this topic. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 And a little more where that came from: -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 And finally.... Enjoy. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Awesome! The sea snake gave me a shiver... "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 I was already shivering when I saw this Olive Sea Snake (water temps were in the low 70s and my 3 layers of neoprene were barely keeping me warm--I'm a card-carrying Warm Water Wimp after moving to South Florida). Over the years I've learned that most sea snakes are pretty mild tempered and sometimes curious. This big bad boy (the first of several we saw on our mission) was a little over meter in length and was swimming around investigating the nooks and crannies (ever notice how you never have crannies without the nooks?) on the reef looking for some fishy snacks. We had several divers accompanied by sea snakes during their survey work: http://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/olive-sea-snakes-of-great-barrier-reef/ I've seen several species of sea snakes during my work in the Pacific but this was the first Olive Sea Snake that I'd encountered. They have a very flattened tail which makes them excellent swimmers. This one was so busy poking about the reef that it hardly noticed when I reached my hand out and let the back half of its body slide between my fingers. Fish tend to feel slippery due to the mucus covering they have (though sharks feel rough and sandpaper-like) but this sea snake felt smooth and scaly just as any other snake might feel like on land--though I would not try this maneuver with any serpent this venomous above water. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snolly50 Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Ken, just wonderful, thanks. Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, also are remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so. - Douglas Adams, Last Chance to See Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jcbshark Posted October 8, 2014 Share Posted October 8, 2014 Beautiful pics Ken, I wish we had viz like that a little more often in my neck of the woods! Every once in a great while it's not just a big rock down there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I love your Carcharhinus albimarginatus pic and the other ones, in particular the sea slug that we don't usually see on pics. Coco ---------------------- OUTIL POUR MESURER VOS FOSSILES : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 1 (Poissons et sélaciens récents & fossiles) : ici Ma bibliothèque PDF 2 (Animaux vivants - sans poissons ni sélaciens) : ici Mâchoires sélaciennes récentes : ici Hétérodontiques et sélaciens : ici Oeufs sélaciens récents : ici Otolithes de poissons récents ! ici Un Greg... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ludwigia Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Now that's what I call really tasty eye candy! Thanks for the wonderfully colorful panorama! Seeing things like that always makes me wonder how our bland-looking fossils might have been colored while they were alive and kicking. And how would we interpret such a creature as that stonefish if it was found as a fossil with the soft parts preserved? Greetings from the Lake of Constance. Roger http://www.steinkern.de/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
donnyjoe Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 Cane toad, Rhinella marinus. Went out to check the eclipse and noticed this fella. Thought it was a rabbit at first. I would guess near 15 cm and he left a poop the size of my thumb. First toad of any kind I've seen in my desert home in 10 years. Cogito ergo cephalalgia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digit Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 I love your Carcharhinus albimarginatus pic and the other ones, in particular the sea slug that we don't usually see on pics. Thanks Coco. The GBR has a rebounding shark population after putting in stronger shark protection several years back. One of the researchers on our expedition was specifically doing shark research to see if the shark population was rebounding (which it seems to have done). Many of the sharks were small and about the same size though (130-140 cm) which seems to show that these were all young ones of about the same age that are filling in the ranks after the increased protection was in place. Silvertips like this one have been more rare in other places we've done research but they were much more common (and curious) along the GBR. You can read a bit more from our shark researcher here if you have the interest: http://www.livingoceansfoundation.org/sharks-of-the-great-barrier-reef/ The Reticulidia halgerda nudibranch was one of several sea slugs I tried to photograph during the mission (makes for good Facebook fodder). Though I saw many nudis on my dives they were a challenge to film with the wide-angle lens I was using for my other work. On occasion, I would spend the effort to try to capture (and crop out) a few charismatic nudis or flatworms if they were eye catching enough but the smaller ones were beyond my power to photograph. This one was over 10 cm and was easy enough to capture digitally. Cheers. -Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now