by Matthew Cobb
I spotted these on the Milky Way Scientists Facebook page. Absolutely stunning. The first – an owl in flight – did not have any credit that I could see, beyond “Taken with Phantom High Speed Camera (V711)”. WEIT readers – who can ID da boid? The second photo is equally anonymous but is captioned “Big Headed Caterpillar of Phyllodes imperialis” – this is the Imperial Fruit-Sucking Moth, which is found in Australia, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia. Photographers, own up to your genius!
Stunning photos
Looks like a Great Grey Owl
I’d sign that, Bill.
Da. We have them in the wild here in interior Alaska; I photographed one early this summer, though not nearly as successfully.
Phantoms aren’t exactly amateur cameras, this is probably from a professional or research effort.
Damn bug’s wearing a Spider-man mask.
Definitely a great grey owl, Strix nebulosa
The caterpillar is ready for the Tucson All Souls Procession! Beautiful colors.
Wow, that owl shot is a once-in-a-lifetime capture. Lovely.
The Milk Way Scientists are TERRIBLE at giving credit or correctly identifying even the subject matter of what they post.
The oldest version of the owl I found was from early 2010: http://www.veoverde.com/2010/01/un-buho-en-vuelo/
Be sure to subscribe to Milky Way Scientists on Facebook. You will get several great photos each day from natural sciences.
Well, now it’s obvious why owls fly soundlessly. It looks like a bullet.
I’ll see your stunning photos and raise you this one.
Phyllodes imperialis,
I will see you in my dreams tonight.
Behind me,
as I run and scream.
There should be a horror movie called “Empire of the Fruit-Suckers” with that thing’s head on the poster.
A really good birder friend,David Ladd, from here in Maine said re the owl:
“If it’s from this country I’d say Great gray owl.”
Yup, Great Grey if North America…
I’m as sure as any christian could be that the second picture is Jesus Christ.
Very cool to see how the head aligns vs. the body when in flight. Since they’re largely nocturnal, is this shot likely taken with a strobe activated by a photocell, placed in some frequent flyway?
And wasn’t a DC Comics character based on that caterpillar?
Reblogged this on Mark Solock Blog.
whoa. these little guys are neat.