Readers’ wildlife photographs

40 thoughts on “Readers’ wildlife photographs”

1. I’m always amazed with how much birds look like turtles as you can see with the baby eagle.

   1. I’d never thought of that. But you’re right.

   2. I don’t see it. Let me try squinting.

      1. Look at the beak.

         1. I did. And I grant that turtles also have beaks, but I still don’t see any significant resemblance. But, I’m trying! 🙂

            1. Try thinking of Mitch McConnell.

               http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitch_McConnell

            2. Uuuuuuuuhhhhhhhyuuup.

            3. Mitch the turtle muppet!

               The eaglet is turtlish to me too.

            4. LOL, far more turtle-ish!

2. I suggest that the vole numbers are the result of the weather. If there is sufficient food available then the numbers will increase. Because they can breed so fast & mature quickly, their numbers will grow until they outgrow the food supply. It is the same with grasshoppers becoming locusts. Perhaps it depends on the type of climate or landscape, for to the best of my knowledge we do not get those sorts of outbreaks in Britain.
   ?

   1. Conditions are pretty much the same year-to-year. Periodic fluctuations of vole populations in a 3-5 year cycle is well established and apparently something of a mystery. A Google search of “vole population fluctuation” turns up a lot of hits.

      1. Isn’t this an expected result of population biology? The size of the vole population fuels the growth rate of the predator population. Conversely, the size of the predator population determines the death rate of the voles.

         So what we have is a pair of differential equations, relating one function (prey population) to the derivative of another function (predator population), and vice versa. The solution is a pair of out-of-phase sinusoids.

      2. When the voles burgeon here, they bring in the Sandhill Cranes.

3. Great photos, thanks!

4. We have to put out “vole hotels” in our front garden over the winter (with D-con blocks). Otherwise, the voles take out all our perennial bulbs and tubers!

   I’ve also trapped a few in our garage and even in my workshop.

5. Wouldn’t want to be that Harrier. Red-winged blackbirds can be extremely aggressive to perceived threats. I avoid certain country roads on my bike in the spring because some of them will attack anyone remotely close.

6. That photo of the avocets is amazing.

   1. I wonder, do they fly with their head tilted at an angle to counter asymmetric aerodynamic forces generated by their asymmetric beaks?

      1. The beak is bilaterally symmetric; it just curves up instead of down.

         See here.

         1. Thanks. Based on the previous Avocet pictures Stephen posted and a comment in that post I could have sworn their bills curved up & to the left. But indeed, they do not.

            1. That would be rather unusual for a bird. The only case I can think of where a birds beak is not bilaterally symmetrical is the crossbill genus. The upper and lower beaks cross left and right. “This occurs in an 1:1 frequency of left-crossing or right-crossing morphs…what determines the direction, has hitherto withstood all attempts to resolve it.”

            2. The wrybill has a beak bent to the right. It is a very unusual bird. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrybill

            3. Now that is really odd. I can’t see how that could be an adaptation unless it adds some sort of leverage advantage in prying out shell fish or turning rocks.

            4. The females might not like sinister males.

            5. Well, the females also have right bent beaks. I’d suggest it could help in kissing to keep from stabbing each other in the nostril. That’s assuming the birds kiss as part of their mating ritual. Could that be right?

            6. Maybe it lets them pry or probe under pebbles more efficiently. At least, pebbles to their right. 😀

            7. It would be very cool if there were a mollusk with a shell curved at just the same angle!

      2. I never really noticed until you mentioned it, but yeah, that sounds reasonable to me.

7. Amazing as usual, Stephen. I would be sick if I just ate voles. I guess Deets has the constitution for it.

8. Voles are intermediate hosts for various helminth parasites that infect canids. Have you had you dog checked for worms, Stephen?

   Sorry to sound like such a worrywart, but when you eat something that everything else eats, you run a chance of picking up everything else’s parasites as well.

   1. Our dogs eat all sorts of varmints too and to stop worms, we give them Sentinel. Seems to work as no worms since they’ve been on it.

   2. He’s up to date on all his shots. There’s no way I’m going to keep him from eating voles. I have, however, read him the riot act on the pygmy rabbits.

      1. Yes, I’m sure that it’s hard to restrain him when you’re in the middle of a vole explosion. It’s been a long time since I kept a mammalian pet, however, and I guess that I’m a bit behind the times when it comes to what they can inoculate them against nowadays.

         1. Today’s wormers are amazing!

9. That Deets shot is priceless. LOL!

   I love the Flame azaleas. On our property we have a similar colored Rhododendron. I’m actually looking at it right now. They are just starting to bloom- the blaze orange is stunning. It is also our only deciduous Rhody.

10. Such cool shots, Stephen; each one tells a story!

    Michael, what a gorgeous azalea! There’s a wild azalea in Pacific NW forests, too–light purple, IIRC.

11. I have to sneak my d*g in past Jerry by any means necessary.

    1. Yes, keep sneaking in the Deets. I think you may be wearing down his d*g disfavor.

       1. Looks like the vole’s tail is coming out of Deets’ mouth…

          Not sure how I missed this post last week…

          Gorgeous azaleas!

          1. I meant Deets’ nose;-)

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