Here’s a melange of photos from several readers. The first two, of disparate subjects, come from Tim Anderson in Australia:
This picture shows the Milky Way rising from the south-east of Mudgee, New South Wales. It is a 30-second exposure taken with a Canon 6D and a Samyang 14mm f2.8 wide angle lens on top of a Skywatcher Star Adventurer mount.The Southern Cross is towards the bottom middle of the picture, with the bright Carina Nebula above it. The Drop Bear Nebula is off to the right.
This is a Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris), a common predatory bird in southern inland Australia. It is apparently a juvenile (which have tan patching on the shoulders and breast).Unlike the closely-related Letter-winged Kite (Elanus scriptus), which is commonly employed by Australia Post to deliver mail in country areas, the Black-shouldered Kite lacks useful employment as it is unable to read. Instead it sits about in trees eyeing off the neighbourhood rodents. I found this one perched on the topmost twig of a eucalypt beside the Old Bara Road outside Mudgee, New South Wales.
These come from reader Chris Knight-Griffin, who sent some frog photos from Clermont, Florida. Can anyone identify the species?
Anne-Marie Cournoyer took these photos from the Parc National du Mont-St. Bruno, a small park (8.8 km²) near Montréal.
White-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus); mother and fawn:
A black-capped chickadee (Poecile atricapillus) on the hand of a Homo poutinus quebecus!
The birds in the park are very tame and will fly into your hand. Here’s a photo of Anne-Marie’s partner, Claude, who is clearly the Chickadee Whisperer:
While we were observing this Eastern chipmunk (Tamias striatus), we realised we were not the only one having an interest in the little fellow! Somebody came flying between us. Did the chipmunk get caught? Not this time!
Anne-Marie would like an identification of the bird. . .
It might be the Cuban tree frog (Osteopilus septentrionalis), but I am not sure.
That’s my guess too.
Could the bird be a Cooper’s Hawk (Accipiter cooperii)? Too many shadows in the photo to make out the distinctive stripey (horizontal bands) tail. Can be mixed up with the Sharp-shinned Hawk..
https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/id
Yep, a non-native Cuban tree frog now numerous in southern Florida.
Wonderful photos.
Lovely photos! The frog is delightful and the chickadees always cute.
Beautful capture of the Milky Way too!
You must be a bird whisperer! Great shots!
Thanks 🙂
Another option to consider is a Goshawk, the largest accipiter. I checked my field guide and goshawks have speckling on the wing like the bird in the photo. I grew up in Montreal and spent almost every spring on Mont St Bruno (where Anne-Marie took this photo) mostly observing and photographing nesting raptors. Goshawks used to nest on Mont St Bruno (1980s) and I expect they may still do so.
I hoped it was a goshawk. Since I read H for Hawk, I was hoping to see one! Thanks for the info!
Obviously, it’s the Kilroy frog.
Ha. That’s what I thought.
Phew, I’m glad the chipmunk made it. 🙂
Cute chick a dee. chirp!
The deer’s portrait is adorable.
Great sky photo, but I couldn’t make out the Southern Cross. I’m not very good at spotting nightjars either.
The bird was so silent when it came down a foot in front of us. It took us a moment to realize it really happened. I suppose you are under the charm of those beautiful eyes and lashes,, hein? I am talking about the big Bambi of course 😉
My best guess is it’s a northern goshawk, based on tailfeathers and back.
Thanks!
Abscence of reptiles and amphibians… especially squamates… absence of dogs… but plenty of cats. And of course photos of anything other. Why? I couldn’t hold it more, I must complain. This is a very rare time a frog appears here. No lizard or snake in probably months.
Keep half an eye on that Carina Nebula. In its core is one of the largest known stars (or possibly two bloody big stars in extremely close orbit), and it’s shedding mass at an alarming and very variable rate. Within recorded history (but not quite within photographical history, it has brightened by a magnitude or more in a matter of months, then faded back. It’s pretty much top of the list of candidates for stars to go supernova while we’re watching.
[gets popcorn]
Drop Bear Nebula? Well played, Mr Anderson.
Along with the mail-delivering kites…
😀
Whoops, that one snuck past me. 🙂
Must read more carefully to spot such gems.
Humor as dry as the outback, he has. 😉
What a nice mélange!
Tim, I double clicked on that milky way shot and stared for quite a while. Wonderfully sharp and detailed!
Excellent & funny frog shots, Chris!
Anne-Marie, I’m leaning gos, too. Love the deer in their winter coats.
Diane,
Thank you. I wish I knew it was an invasive species though.
Wonderful winter coats indeed! And hourra for the gos!
“Looking for goshawks is like looking for grace: it comes, but not often, and you don’t get to say when or how.” from the book H for Hawk recommended by Jerry
Yes, I read “H is for Hawk” right after Jerry mentioned it. Count me as one of the many who fell in love with falconry on first hearing about it, some time back in grade school.
Much as I loved this book, I’ve become more and more uneasy about falconry over the years: but the insights that come from being so intimately involved with such a radically different organism (from us) are priceless!
And Macdonald is a heckuva writer.