F/ 5.6, 1/500, ISO 250.
Elegant Tern
What did one eyeball say to the other eyeball?
Between you and me something smells.
Interesting Fact: The Elegant Tern was first found nesting in the United States in 1959 in San Diego Bay, California. Since the 1980s, several more colonies have been established in California. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Elegant_Tern/lifehistory )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 500.
Dandelion ( Taraxacum )
What did the alien dandelion say to the earthly dandelion?
Take me to your weader!
Interesting Fact: Dandelions are thought to have evolved about 30 million years ago in Eurasia.[18]Fossil seeds of †Taraxacum tanaiticum have been recorded from the Pliocene of southern Russia.[19] Dandelions have been used by humans for food and as a herb for much of recorded history.[20] “They were well known to ancient Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, and have been used in Chinese traditional medicine for over a thousand years. Dandelions probably arrived in North America on the Mayflower – not as stowaways, but brought on purpose for their medicinal benefits,” according to the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taraxacum#History )
F/13.0, 1/640, ISO 320.
Barn Swallow
What did the blanket say to the bed?
Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered!
Interesting Fact: According to legend, the Barn Swallow got its forked tail because it stole fire from the gods to bring to people. An angry deity hurled a firebrand at the swallow, singeing away its middle tail feathers. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Swallow/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 125.
Semipalmated Sandpipers
Where do you learn to make ice cream?
Sundae school.
Interesting Fact: Semipalmated Sandpipers from eastern populations probably undertake nonstop transoceanic flights of 3,000 – 4,000 km (1,900 – 2,500 mi) from New England and southern Canada to South America, powered by extensive fat reserves. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Semipalmated_Sandpiper/ )
F/11.0, 1/500, ISO 500.
Black Scoter
Mother: What did you learn in school today
Son: How to write.
Mother: What did you write?
Son: I don’t know, they haven’t taught us how to read yet!
Interesting Fact: The Black Scoter is divided into two subspecies. In the form found in Europe, the “Common Scoter,” the male has a larger swollen knob at the base of the upper bill that is black on the sides with a yellow stripe on top, not entirely yellow. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_Scoter/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 125.
John Deere Tractor At Dawn
What do you get when you cross a robot and a tractor?
transfarmer.
Interesting Fact: The first powered farm implements in the early 19th century were portable engines – steam engines on wheels that could be used to drive mechanical farm machinery by way of a flexible belt. Richard Trevithick designed the first ‘semi-portable’ stationary steam engine for agricultural use, known as a “barn engine” in 1812, and it was used to drive a corn threshing machine.[4] The truly portable engine was invented in 1839 by William Tuxford of Boston, Lincolnshire who started manufacture of an engine built around a locomotive-style boiler with horizontal smoke tubes. A large flywheel was mounted on the crankshaft, and a stout leather belt was used to transfer the drive to the equipment being driven. In the 1850s, John Fowler used a Clayton & Shuttleworth portable engine to drive apparatus in the first public demonstrations of the application of cable haulage to cultivation. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tractor#History )
F/7.1, 1/200, ISO 1000.
Green Heron
What do you call an alligator in a vest?
An Investigator
Interesting Fact: Like many herons, the Green Heron tends to wander outside of its breeding range after the nesting season is over. Most of the wanderers stay nearby as they search for good feeding habitat, but some travel long distances. Individuals have turned up as far away as England and France. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Green_Heron/lifehistory )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 320.
Northern Mockingbird
Why don’t witches like to ride their brooms when they’re angry?
They’re afraid of flying off the handle!
Interesting Fact: The Northern Mockingbird frequently gives a “wing flash” display, where it half or fully opens its wings in jerky intermediate steps, showing off the big white patches. No one knows why it does this, but it may startle insects, making them easier to catch. On the other hand, it doesn’t often seem to be successful, and different mockingbird species do this same display even though they don’t have white wing patches. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Mockingbird/lifehistory )
F/6.3, 1/250, ISO 640.
Muskrat
Why is sex like math?
You add a bed, subtract the clothes, divide the legs, and pray there’s no multiplying!
Interesting Fact: Muskrats provide an important food resource for many other animals, including mink, foxes, coyotes, wolves, lynx, bobcats, bears, eagles, snakes, alligators, and large owls and hawks. Otters, snapping turtles, and large fish such as pike prey on baby muskrats. Caribou and elk sometimes feed on the vegetation which makes up muskrat push-ups during the winter when other food is scarce for them.[24] In their introduced range in the former Soviet Union, the muskrat’s greatest predator is the golden jackal. They can be completely eradicated in shallow water bodies, and during the winter of 1948–49 in the Amu Darya (river in central Asia), muskrats constituted 12.3% of jackal faeces contents, and 71% of muskrat houses were destroyed by jackals, 16% of which froze and became unsuitable for muskrat occupation. Jackals also harm the muskrat industry by eating muskrats caught in traps or taking skins left out to dry. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat#Behavior )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.
Red-Eared Slider Turtles
Why did the nurse go to art school?
To learn how to draw blood!
Interesting Fact: Red-eared sliders are almost entirely aquatic, but as they are cold-blooded, they leave the water to sunbathe to regulate their temperature. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-eared_slider )
Through Open Lens 