animals

Go Away! I’m Really Focused Here

May 27, 2016 — 21 Comments

Great Blue Heron 3

F/7.1, 1/800, ISO 200.

Great Blue Heron

Two neighbors are talking to each other.
First neighbor: Do you know that my dog is so smart, he waits for the newspaper to drop at the doorstep and then delivers it to me?
Second neighbor: Of course, I know that very well.
First neighbor: Really, well then, how?
Second neighbor: My dog came and told me.

Interesting Fact: Great Blue Herons congregate at fish hatcheries, creating potential problems for the fish farmers. A study found that herons ate mostly diseased fish that would have died shortly anyway. Sick fish spent more time near the surface of the water where they were more vulnerable to the herons.  ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/lifehistory )

Can’t Touch Me!

May 25, 2016 — 23 Comments

Black-crowned Night-Heron

F/6.3, 1/250 ISO 100.

Black-crowned Night-Heron

Why was the math textbook so sad?

He had a lot of problems!

Interesting Fact: Young Black-crowned Night-Herons leave the nest at the age of 1 month but cannot fly until they are 6 weeks old. They move through the vegetation on foot, joining up in foraging flocks at night. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-crowned_Night-Heron/lifehistory )

Why Wasn’t I Casted In The “Angry Bird” Movie?!

May 25, 2016 — 10 Comments

Chipping Sparrow 1

F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 100.

Chipping Sparrow 

Bob: You know Tom, sometimes I don’t understand life.
Tom: What do you mean?
Bob: When we were a younger, we learnt to talk and to walk. At school, we always have to sit down and shut up…

Interesting Fact: In much of the West, Chipping Sparrows disperse shortly after breeding to move to areas with better food resources. It’s not unusual to see Chipping Sparrows on alpine tundra or along roadsides in open grasslands. This results in the common misperception that they bred in those areas, when really they simply moved there to molt. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Chipping_Sparrow/lifehistory )

Blue Ducky Wants To Quacky!

May 18, 2016 — 20 Comments

Swedish Blue

F/5.6, 125, ISO 125.

Swedish Blue

Why was the computer tired when he got home?

Because he had a hard drive.

Interesting Fact: The Swedish Blue (Swedish: Svensk blå anka)[4] or Blue Swedish is a breed of domesticated duck which emerged during the 19th century in Swedish Pomerania, near the Baltic shores of the what is now modern Germany and Poland.[5] Within the American Standard of Perfection, the “blue” is the only variety of the breed “Swedish”. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Blue#Description )

 

Let’s Get In Formation!

May 17, 2016 — 16 Comments

Mute Swan & Babies

F/ 7.1, 1/800, ISO 200.

Mute Swan and Cygnets

A three year old walked over to a pregnant lady while waiting with his mother in the doctors office.
He inquisitively ask the lady, “Why is your stomach so big?”
She replied, “I’m having a baby.”
With big eyes, he asked, “Is the baby in your stomach?”
She said, “He sure is.”
Then the little boy, with a puzzled look, asked, “Is it a good baby?”
She said, “Oh, yes. It’s a real good baby.”
With an even more surprised and shocked look, he asked…
“Then why did you eat him?”

Interesting Fact: Hans Christian Andersen’s fairly tale The Ugly Duckling chronicles the woes and triumphs of a young, Mute Swan that hatches in a clutch of duck eggs but goes on to become a beautiful swan. Some speculate that the book was based on Andersen’s own less-than-handsome looks as a youngster. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/mute_swan/lifehistory )

Swimming For The Gold

May 9, 2016 — 8 Comments

Muskrat

F/ 6.3, 1/125, ISO 500.

Muskrat

What did one lab rat say to the other?

I’ve got my scientist so well trained that every time I push the buzzer, he brings me a snack.

Interesting Fact: Muskrats normally live in groups consisting of a male and female pair and their young. During the spring, they often fight with other muskrats over territory and potential mates. Many are injured or killed in these fights. Muskrat families build nests to protect themselves and their young from cold and predators. In streams, ponds or lakes, muskrats burrow into the bank with an underwater entrance. These entrances are 6–8 in (15–20 cm) wide. In marshes, push-ups are constructed from vegetation and mud. These push-ups are up to 3 ft (91 cm) in height. In snowy areas, they keep the openings to their push-ups closed by plugging them with vegetation, which they replace every day. Some muskrat push-ups are swept away in spring floods and have to be replaced each year. Muskrats also build feeding platforms in wetlands. They help maintain open areas in marshes, which helps to provide habitat for aquatic birds. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muskrat )

Happy Mother’s Day To Every Mom Out There! 

May 8, 2016 — 12 Comments

Happy Mother’s Day!

Canada Goose 3
F/4.8, 1/800, ISO 100.

Canada Goose

Son asked his mom a question about computers

Son: Why is a computer so smart mom?

Mom: It listens to its motherboard.

Interesting Fact: The modern holiday of Mother’s Day was first celebrated in 1908, when Anna Jarvis held a memorial for her mother at St Andrew’s Methodist Church in Grafton, West Virginia. Today St Andrew’s Methodist Church now holds the International Mother’s Day Shrine.[6] Her campaign to make “Mother’s Day” a recognized holiday in the United States began in 1905, the year her mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, died. Ann Jarvis had been a peace activist who cared for wounded soldiers on both sides of the American Civil War, and created Mother’s Day Work Clubs to address public health issues. Anna Jarvis wanted to honor her mother by continuing the work she started and to set aside a day to honor all mothers, because she believed that they were “the person who has done more for you than anyone in the world”. ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother%27s_Day )

That Worm Has To Come Out Sooner Or Later

May 7, 2016 — 19 Comments

White-throated Sparrow 1

F/6.3, 1/100, ISO 400.

White-throated Sparrow

What do you get if you cross a worm and an elephant?

Very big worm holes in your garden!

Interesting Fact: The oldest recorded White-throated Sparrow was at least 14 years, 11 months old, when it was recaptured and rereleased during banding operations in Alberta. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-throated_Sparrow/lifehistory )

Quack Quack Mother Ducker!

May 6, 2016 — 16 Comments

Bufflehead Duck 1

F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.

Bufflehead Duck 

The Teacher says to the class: Who ever stands up is stupid
*Nobody stands up*
Teacher: I said who ever stands up is STUPID!
*Little Johnny stands up*
Teacher: Johnny, do you really think that you are stupid?
Little Johnny: No Mrs, I just thought that maybe you are lonely being the only one standing.

Interesting Fact: Bufflehead normally live only in North America, but in winter they occasionally show up elsewhere, including Kamchatka, Japan, Greenland, Iceland, the British Isles, Belgium, France, Finland, and Czechoslovakia. In some of these cases, the birds may have escaped from captivity. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bufflehead/lifehistory )

Quack Pack!

May 5, 2016 — 20 Comments

American Black Ducks

F/5.6, 1/320, ISO 100.

American Black Ducks

What’s the best way to ship duck eggs?

Put them in a quacker barrel.

Interesting Fact: As soon as their down feathers dry, newly hatched ducklings are able to leave the nest, a depression on the ground lined with plant materials. They follow their mother to rearing areas with a lot of invertebrates to eat and plenty of vegetation for cover. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Black_Duck/lifehistory )