So What Are We Staring At?!

July 9, 2016 — 26 Comments

Great Black-backed Gull

F/13.0, 1/640, ISO 320.

Great Black-backed Gull  

What do you call a seagull when it flies over the bay?

A bagel.

Interesting Fact: This is the largest gull in the world. Its broad wings and powerful appearance give it a regal look that have impressed naturalists for years. In the words of one early observer: “It surely seemed to be a king among the gulls, a merciless tyrant over its fellows, the largest and strongest of its tribe. No weaker gull dared to intrude upon its feudal domain.” ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Black-backed_Gull/lifehistory )

Why You Looking At Me Like That?!

July 4, 2016 — 6 Comments

Happy 4th Of July!

Bald Eagle

F/6.3, 1/320, ISO 200.

Bald Eagle

What do you call a sick eagle?

Ill-eagle!

Interesting Fact: Had Benjamin Franklin prevailed, the U.S. emblem might have been the Wild Turkey. In 1784, Franklin disparaged the national bird’s thieving tendencies and its vulnerability to harassment by small birds. “For my own part,” he wrote, “I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. … Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District.”  ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bald_Eagle/lifehistory )

 

Car Is In Garage We Will Poop On The Roof Then!

July 2, 2016 — 18 Comments

Brown Pelicans 1

F/5.6, 1/500, ISO 250.

Brown Pelicans

Do you know what the white stuff in bird poop is?

That’s bird poop, too!

Interesting Fact: Pelicans incubate their eggs with the skin of their feet, essentially standing on the eggs to keep them warm. In the mid-twentieth century the pesticide DDT caused pelicans to lay thinner eggs that cracked under the weight of incubating parents. After nearly disappearing from North America in the 1960s and 1970s, Brown Pelicans made a full comeback thanks to pesticide regulations. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Pelican/lifehistory )

 

 

Look Out I’m A Biter!

June 28, 2016 — 14 Comments

Shark Week 2016

Bull Shark

F/5.6, 1/500, ISO 320.

Deadliest Shark In The World

Bull Shark ( Baby )

For five years, two sharks and a dolphin have worked side by side every day as window washers, and every night after work they stopped for a drink. One day, disaster struck, and the dolphin fell to his death. The police came to the site and began asking questions. “Where does he live?” The sharks shrugged their shoulders. “Is he married?” The sharks didn’t know. “What is his name?” The sharks shrugged again. “You worked with this guy for five years and you don’t know anything about him?” the cop asked. “I know something about him,” one shark volunteered. “He has two assholes.” “What are you talking about?” said the cop. “Well,” said the shark, “Whenever we go for a drink after work the bartended says, ‘Here comes the dolphin with the two assholes.'”

Interesting Fact:  Bull sharks are aggressive, common, and usually live near high-population areas like tropical shorelines. They are not bothered by brackish and freshwater, and even venture far inland via rivers and tributaries. ( http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/fish/bull-shark/ )

 

You Goat It Dude!

June 27, 2016 — 14 Comments

Goats

F/6.0, 1/800, ISO 200.

Goats

How do you keep a goat from charging?

You take his credit card away!

Interesting Fact: Goats are very intelligent and curious animals. Their inquisitive nature is exemplified in their constant desire to explore and investigate anything unfamiliar which they come across. ( http://www.onekind.org/education/animals_a_z/goat )

Thank You For Bearing With Me

June 26, 2016 — 19 Comments

Black Bear

F/6.0, 1/40, ISO 500.

American Black Bear

How do you catch a fish without a fishing pole?

With your BEAR hands.

Interesting Fact: Black bears are not true hibernators. During their winter dormant period, though, they do not eat, drink, urinate, or defecate, but may wake up if disturbed. ( http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/black-bear/ )

The Water Is Fine Come On In!

June 19, 2016 — 8 Comments

American Coot

F/5.6, 1/500, ISO 360.

American Coots

Father: Why did you get such a low score in that exam?

Son: Absence!

Father: You were absent on the day of the exam?

Son: No but the boy who sits next to me was!

Interesting Fact: Although it swims like a duck, the American Coot does not have webbed feet like a duck. Instead, each one of the coot’s long toes has broad lobes of skin that help it kick through the water. The broad lobes fold back each time the bird lifts its foot, so it doesn’t impede walking on dry land, though it supports the bird’s weight on mucky ground. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Coot/lifehistory )

Look Into My Eyes, You Are Getting Sleepy!

June 17, 2016 — 19 Comments

Black-crowned Night-Heron 1

F/ 6.3, 1/640, ISO 200.

Black-Crowned Night-Heron ( Juvenile )

How do you wake up Lady gaga?

Poke her face.

Interesting Fact: The familiar evening sight and sound of the Black-crowned Night-Heron was captured in this description from Arthur Bent’s Life Histories of North American Marsh Birds: “How often, in the gathering dusk of evening, have we heard its loud, choking squawk and, looking up, have seen its stocky form, dimly outlined against the gray sky and propelled by steady wing beats, as it wings its way high in the air toward its evening feeding place in some distant pond or marsh!” ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-crowned_Night-Heron/lifehistory )

I See What You Did There!

June 15, 2016 — 18 Comments

White-Tailed Deer 2

F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 250.

White-Tailed Deer

Teacher: Who answers my next question, can go home.
One boy throws his bag out the window.
Teacher: Who just threw that?
Boy: Me and I’m going home now.

Interesting Fact: In the wild, white-tails, particularly the young, are preyed upon by bobcats, mountain lions, and coyotes. They use speed and agility to outrun predators, sprinting up to 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour and leaping as high as 10 feet (3 meters) and as far as 30 feet (9 meters) in a single bound. ( http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/white-tailed-deer/ )