Be sure to think of this site (and the readers!) when you have some good wildlife photos to send. I have a decent backlog, but, you know, posting once every day exhausts that pretty quickly.
We have mixed media today, starting with the photos of Stephen Barnard in Idaho. There are DUCKS! Everyone’s comments are indented:
Mink [Neovison vison] in a snowstorm this morning, just before sunrise.
I’ve been seeing this individual hunting along the creek in the early morning, while I’m exercising on a stationary bike. It’s always a close call whether to interrupt my workout to grab a camera and chance a photo in very marginal conditions.
Hooded merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) in a light snow this morning [Feb. 17]. I watched him diving in the creek for several minutes. No idea what he was catching. I was trying to photograph some miserable looking snow-covered Canada geese when he swam by, very active, diving repeatedly.
Here are a couple of different poses. He’s very expressive with his crest.
Downy woodpecker (Picoides pubescens). Funny thing—I thought I was photographing a chickadee until I saw it in the viewfinder. 🙂
And an astronomy video sent by reader Rick Longworth at 12:30 a.m. on Tuesday:
Last night I saw the “Full Snow Supermoon” that is said to be the largest full moon of 2019. I saw it through swaying branches and thin clouds but decided to film it anyway. Around 1:00 a.m. it will be the closest to Earth, the brightest, and the larges, it will get for all of 2019. It will appear 14% larger than a typical full moon and 30% brighter.
Hooded merganser is a belter of a bird!
Great stuff Stephen – esp the merganser
Rick, Beautiful – very atmospheric. Is that the real audio & real speed?
Yes, real audio & speed.
Glad you like it.
I can hear a dog [or dogs] barking near the end & possibly people too, but I have to turn it up loud on my HiFi. Not much louder than the background hiss.
There are dogs in the area. I thought it lent the film a certain je ne sais quoi.
Beautiful stuff. Thank you for sharing.
The downy woodpecker is great!
That is really good catching that mink. Very hard animal to get a photo of in any weather.
Cool video.
Around 33 degrees F. 😎
These are wonderful.
Either the moon is rotating or we are looking at the contents of a Paramecium food vacuole which also rotate as the vacuole cruises through its own cytoplasmic galaxy.
I like that idea. Paramecium are my favorite animalcule.
I didn’t know about the super snow moon…dang. It was cloudy last night though, so thanks for the video!
Looks like Idaho got hit with a lot of snow, just like Washington. Mergansers are cool.
Beautiful photos!