F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 320.
Coyote
What do you say when you meet a talking Coyote?
Howl about that?
Interesting Fact: Coyotes are smaller than wolves and are sometimes called prairie wolves or brush wolves. They communicate with a distinctive call, which at night often develops into a raucous canine chorus. ( https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/c/coyote/ )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.
Northern Shoveler ( Female )
How do you know if there’s a snowman in your bed?
You wake up wet!
Interesting Fact: Northern shovelers feed by dabbling for plant food, often by swinging its bill from side to side and using the bill to strain food from the water. They use their highly specialized bill (from which their name is derived) to forage for aquatic invertebrates – a carnivorous diet. Their wide-flat bill is equipped with well-developed lamellae – small, comb-like structures on the edge of the bill that act like sieves, allowing the birds to skim crustaceans and plankton from the water’s surface. This adaptation, more specialized in shovelers, gives them an advantage over other puddle ducks, with which they do not have to compete for food resources during most of the year. Thus, mud-bottomed marshes rich in invertebrate life are their habitat of choices. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_shoveler#Behavior )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.
Sandhill Cranes
How do you make fruit punch?
Give them boxing gloves.
Interesting Fact: Sandhill Cranes are known for their dancing skills. Courting cranes stretch their wings, pump their heads, bow, and leap into the air in a graceful and energetic dance. ( Sandhill Crane Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 160.
Sandhill Crane
A guy walks into a bar with a set of jumper cables…
the bartender says, buddy, I’ll serve you as long as you don’t start anything.
Interesting Fact: Sandhill Crane chicks can leave the nest within 8 hours of hatching, and are even capable of swimming. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/overview )
F/10.0, 1/320, ISO 160.
Sandhill Crane
Why was the chicken afraid?
Because it was chicken.
Interesting Fact: Although some start breeding at two years of age, Sandhill Cranes may reach the age of seven before breeding. They mate for life—which can mean two decades or more—and stay with their mates year-round. Juveniles stick close by their parents for 9 or 10 months after hatching. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/lifehistory )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 160.
Sandhill Crane
What bird can lift the most?
A crane.
Interesting Fact: The Sandhill Crane’s call is a loud, rolling, trumpeting sound whose unique tone is a product of anatomy: Sandhill Cranes have long tracheas (windpipes) that coil into the sternum and help the sound develop a lower pitch and harmonics that add richness. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 320.
American Coot
What did the rug say to the floor?
Don’t move, I’ve got you covered.
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 )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.
Sandhill Crane
Where do fortune tellers dance?
At the crystal ball.
Interesting Fact: The earliest Sandhill Crane fossil, estimated to be 2.5 million years old, was unearthed in the Macasphalt Shell Pit in Florida. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/ )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 320.
Brown Creeper
How do you make a tissue dance?
Put a little boogie in it.
Interesting Fact: The Brown Creeper builds a hammock-like nest behind a loosened flap of bark on a dead or dying tree. It wasn’t until 1879 that naturalists discovered this unique nesting strategy. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Brown_Creeper/lifehistory )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 250.
Desert Cottontail Rabbit
What do rabbits say before they eat?
Lettuce pray.
Interesting Fact: Due to the variable temperature of living conditions, desert cottontails must be adequate thermoregulators to minimize water loss during the hotter seasons and require shaded areas of their environment to conduct evaporative water loss through thermal heat transfer. In open-desert areas, they can withstand for a short period with extremely high temperatures of around 45 °C and have a large evaporative water loss capacity of around 1.5% body mass/hour, though cottontails can withstand longer in an ideal environment with shaded areas. To cope with evaporative heat loss, they do panting and undergo changes in production of their basal metabolic rate in relation to the ambient temperature of the environment. Ears of desert cottontails make up 14% of their body size and may help with thermoregulation. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_cottontail )
Through Open Lens 