Send in your photos, folks! Although I have a fairly comfortable backlog, we Jews (cultural or religious) always worry. . . .
Today we have two wildlife photos and then some travel photos, since H. sapiens is also wildlife.
First, from Stephen Barnard in Idaho:
The Canada Goose (Branta canadensis) is incubating eggs in a nest box along my driveway, doing its best to be invisible and failing badly.
Cinnamon Teal (Anas cyanoptera) are back. I also saw the first Yellow-headed Blackbirds (Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus) of the season, and I think a Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) from quite a distance. I’ve located a pair of elusive, secretive Virginia Rails (Rallus limicola). I’m sure they’re nesting in some tall, dense reeds. They respond to “grunt duets” played on my iPhone, but refuse to show themselves. Persistence is called for.
Here are photos that reader Ken Phelps took in Cuba, a place I still hope to visit before it becomes like Bermuda. His notes are indented:
Just a random street in Havana, letting the different scenes unfold as sun comes up.
Too bad I missed the eyes on the golden incisored gal:
The old guy dragged me a couple blocks to his home so that he could show his wife (who was doing the wash by hand in an old style laundry bucket) the photo in the camera.
Was out walking in Havana just at daybreak and poked into this garage type space. I was just trying to figure out a shot of the light and shadow with Fidel gazing over it all when the kid just popped around the corner with his bicycle cart loaded with bananas. Surprised us both.
I’m hoping today to buy an old used monochromator which will let me move along my project of building ICC color profiles from spectrographic imagery…a project that’s been stuck for some time as I’ve tried to design and build a decent one from cheap stuff that could also be built and used by poor students. I finally realized that they’re two separate projects and I really shouldn’t let the less important project hold up the real one any longer.
…so, with luck, I’ll finish up the photographic project in short order, after which I’ll have lots of reason to put it to the test by going out and shooting photos….
In the mean time, that “hiding” goose is unbearably cute, and HCB would be proud of that surprised banana cart photo.
b&
The goose nest box is very interesting. I wonder if this is a migrating Canadian or a local. We have locals that nest and have young here but never thought of anything like this box. Raising their young here is very difficult….
If the goose is local, wouldn’t that make it an Idaho goose rather than a Canadian one?
b&
Humans gave us a very good hint, but it is true then, Maru Syndrome is a very old trait.
I can hear the fishes, to the first tetrapod:
“Goin’ for a walk? What for, up there are no boxes.”
“I’m going off to _find_ one!”
Nobody here but us silly Canada Gooses;-). Doesn’t Deets disturb these nests?
Great Havana shots!
Great shots as always from Barnard and Phelps. Especially enjoyed the image of the older gentleman by the take-out window. Thanks!
Is that a bonus felid in the first Cuba picture? It could be a small d*g, but let’s hope for the best.
I’m guessing it’s a little dog.
Ooh, Cinnamon Teal. For some reason I’m reminded of the Canvasback.