Category: mammals

Readers’ wildlife photos

April 27, 2024 • 8:20 am

Today is part 2 of photos of a part in southern Africa from reader William Terre Blanche; this is the second of two installments (the first is here).  His notes are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them. I begin by quoting his introduction from yesterday:

Here are some photos from a visit last year to the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park  (Kgalagadi means “place of great thirst” in the San Language).

This vast wilderness reserve used to comprise two separate game parks, the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park (South Africa) and the Gemsbok National Park (Botswana) separated by an unfenced border. However, in a historic 1999 agreement, South Africa and Botswana joined forces to create the world’s first trans-frontier nature reserve, the Kalagadi Transfrontier Park. It covers an amazing 38,000 km², an enormous conservation area across which the wildlife flows without any hindrance.

The Park is famous for its magnificent black-maned male lions, as well as an abundance of raptor species, but the beautiful desert landscape and unique atmosphere is probably what draws most return visitors there (myself included).

In December 2023, I had the privilege of spending almost 2 weeks in the park, and these are just some of the many photographs taken there (apologies, mostly birds, again..).

Three-banded Plover (Charadrius tricollaris)  These can often be seen using the typical plover run-stop-search method of foraging at any suitable body of water. The area had unusually good summer rains last year, and these pretty little birds were often seen:

Violet-eared Waxbill (Ureaginthus granatinus).  An almost impossibly brightly coloured little bird, they are actually quite common in the Kgalagadi, but the vibrant colours never ceases to amaze me whenever I come across one of them:

Sociable Weaver (Philetairus socius).  One of the most iconic sights of the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is the massive communal nests of the Sociable Weaver. Colonies of up to 500 birds build these nests in trees, telephone poles and sometimes rock faces. The nests are built entirely out of grass, and each pair builds its own nest chamber:

Northern Black Korhaan (Afrotis afraoides). Their raucous kraak-kraak-kraak call is often heard long before they are seen! Spends most of the day on the ground, searching for food which is mostly insects and occasionally small reptiles:

Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus).  The world’s fastest land animal and Africa’s most endangered big cat. This female was presumably calling for the young, although I unfortunately never got to see them:

Urikaruus Wilderness Camp.  There are 3 main “Restcamps” inside the Park, plus a number of so-called Wilderness Camps. There are normally well off the beaten track, and mostly only reachable by 4×4 vehicle. There are no facilities whatsoever at these camps, so you have to be completely self-sufficient during the time spent there:

Male Lion (Panthera leo).  I spent a couple of nights at the abovementioned Urikaruus Wilderness Camp, and on the second morning was awakened at around 04:30 by a male lion roaring right under the room where I was sleeping (next to my car, in the picture below). This was at the same time exciting and terrifying, but one of the memories that will stay with me for life.

After a while he started moving away, and I was able to get a photograph of this magnificent animal:

Lioness:

Cubs.  On another occasion I spotted a single female lion lying in the shade of the tree a small distance from the road. After a couple of minutes she started calling, and these two cubs appeared from a nearby bush to join her. I can only assume that she had hidden them there, and after determining that the area was safe called them out into the open.

Readers’ wildlife photos

March 29, 2024 • 8:15 am

Posting may be light today as I have an event to attend. But please send in your photos. I have about two batches left, and today I’m featuring the work of people who sent me only one or a few photos.  Their comments are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

From Lee Jussim

A young muskrat (Ondatra zibethicus) dining among pondscum:

Three from Claudia Baker.

On a winter’s walk one day last year, I came across this barred owl (Strix varia) high up in the branches of a tree. Just out there in the bright sunshine, having a snooze, open for anyone to snap a picture. What a beautiful sight. Made my day. The interweb says “originally a bird of the east (where I live), during the twentieth century it spread through the Pacific Northwest and southward to California”. They are fairly prolific around here (Ontario) and, according to a birding friend of mine, they are crowding out the other owls, especially the Barn Owl.

On an old spruce stump along my road, I spotted this fungus. When I tried to identify it, it was very confusing as there are so many. I think it is a Ganoderma lucidum, but I’m not sure. Perhaps a reader can weigh in. Sure are beautiful.

From Jon Alexander:

I just stumbled on some photos of a pigeon (Columba livia domestica) I took in 2013 from the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building in New York City. (I straightened a couple today.) Not exactly the best photos of wildlife, but I like them. I don’t remember if I put a cracker there or if someone else put it there. But I imagine that some pigeons may have learned that crackers might be had with a little effort (or an updraft).

This is from Richard Pieniakowski.  I have many good pictures from him, but must download them from a Google Drive. This is from October, and a barred owl, like the one pictures above.

I just wanted to share this photo of a Barred Owl I captured the other day with you. I think that readers would appreciate looking at this silent hunter.

And from Reese Vaughn, a duck (I think it’s a mallard hen, Anas platyrhychos):

Betty Brown Duck graces the deck on the resaca in Brownsville, Texas. The Williamsons, Kay and John, are her staff. I have asked if she is a mallard hen and how long they have been feeding her — she swims up for food on an elaborate deck that belongs to my friends Kay and John Williamson and they call her Betty Brown Duck. They may be able to send more pictures. Every morning they feed a swarm of nutria, fish, and water birds.

Readers’ wildlife photos

March 28, 2024 • 8:15 am

Today we have some photos from the Galápagos by Ephraim Heller. His narration and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

You have published lots of photos from the Galapagos Islands over the years. Here is my contribution to the genre. I took these photos on a March 2022 trip. They are divided into two classes first identified by Linnaeus: birds and non-birds. Each will be posted separately. First the non-birds.
Galapagos sea lions (Zalophus wollebaeki). Sea lions use whiskers for social communication (from Chilling Seals):
Sea lions, like other pinnipeds, have a highly developed sense of touch, which they utilize both in their aquatic and terrestrial environments. They possess long, sensitive whiskers known as vibrissae, which are dense clusters of sensory hair follicles. These vibrissae play a crucial role in the sea lion’s ability to navigate through their environment, locate and capture prey, and communicate with conspecifics.
Research suggests that sea lions do, in fact, use their vibrissae to recognize each other. These whiskers are rich in nerve endings, allowing them to perceive even subtle tactile cues. When sea lions come into close contact, they engage in a behavior known as ‘whisker touching,’ where they gently touch each other’s vibrissae. This behavior is considered a form of non-vocal communication and is thought to serve as a means of social bonding and identification.
Each sea lion’s whisker pattern is unique, similar to a human fingerprint, allowing for individual identification. Sea lions use their whiskers to recognize each other by comparing the unique pattern and structure of the vibrissae. This recognition process involves a combination of tactile exploration and visual inspection. Sea lions often nuzzle or touch each other’s whiskers to gather information about the individual they are interacting with.
Furthermore, sea lions possess a specialized neural network in their brain known as the somatosensory system, which processes information from their vibrissae. This system allows them to discriminate between different whisker patterns, aiding in the recognition and identification of conspecifics.

Sea lion pup being cute. They are experts at this:

Nursing sea lion pup:

Galápagos green turtle (Chelonia mydas). Per Wikipedia:
A subspecies of the green sea turtle. The species’ common name does not derive from any particular green external coloration of the turtle. Its name comes from the greenish color of the turtles’ fat, which is only found in a layer between their inner organs and their shell.
Since green sea turtles migrate long distances during breeding seasons, they have special adaptive systems in order to navigate. In the open ocean, the turtles navigate using wave directions, sun light, and temperatures. The sea turtles also contain an internal magnetic compass. They can detect magnetic information by using magnetic forces acting on the magnetic crystals in their brains. Through these crystals, they can sense the intensity of Earth’s magnetic field and are able to make their way back to their nesting grounds or preferred feeding grounds.

Galápagos giant tortoise (Chelonoidis niger). Per Wikipedia:
The species comprises 15 subspecies (13 extant and 2 extinct). It is the largest living species of tortoise, and can weigh up to 417 kg (919 lb). They are also the largest extant terrestrial cold-blooded animals (ectotherms). With lifespans in the wild of over 100 years, it is one of the longest-lived vertebrates. Captive Galapagos tortoises can live up to 177 years.
Galápagos tortoises are native to seven of the Galápagos Islands. Shell size and shape vary between subspecies and populations. On islands with humid highlands, the tortoises are larger, with domed shells and short necks; on islands with dry lowlands, the tortoises are smaller, with “saddleback” shells and long necks. Charles Darwin’s observations of these differences on the second voyage of the Beagle in 1835, contributed to the development of his theory of evolution.

Galapagos marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus). Per Wikipedia:
Unique among modern lizards, it is a marine reptile that has the ability to forage in the sea for algae, which makes up almost all of its diet.
Researchers theorize that land iguanas (genus Conolophus) and marine iguanas evolved from a common ancestor since arriving on the islands from Central or South America, presumably by rafting. The land and marine iguanas of the Galápagos form a clade, the nearest relatives of which are the Ctenosaura iguanas of Mexico and Central America. Based on a study that relied on mtDNA, the marine iguana was estimated to have diverged from land iguanas some 8–10 million years ago, which is older than any of the extant Galápagos islands. It has therefore traditionally been thought that the ancestral species inhabited parts of the volcanic archipelago that are now submerged. However, a more recent study that included both mtDNA and nDNA indicates that the two split about 4.5 million years ago, which is near the age of the oldest extant Galápagos islands (Española and San Cristóbal).
The different marine iguana populations fall into three main clades: western islands, northeastern islands and southeastern islands. These can be further divided, each subclade generally matching marine iguanas from one or two primary island, except on San Cristóbal where there are two subclades (a northeastern and a southwestern). However, even the oldest divergence between marine iguana populations is quite recent; no more than 230,000 years and likely less than 50,000 years. On occasion one makes it to another island than its home island, resulting in hybridization between different marine iguana populations.

Galapagos land iguana (Conolophus subcristatus).
Charles Darwin personally disparaged these beauties as “ugly animals, of a yellowish orange beneath, and of a brownish-red colour above: from their low facial angle they have a singularly stupid appearance.” But what did he know, anyway?
Per Wikipedia:
Because fresh water is scarce on its island habitats, the Galápagos land iguana obtains the majority of its moisture from the prickly-pear cactus, which makes up 80% of its diet. All parts of the plant are consumed, including the fruit, flowers, pads, and even spines.
The Galápagos land iguana has a 60 to 69 year lifespan.

I’m pretty sure that Captain Kirk engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the Gorn subspecies:

Galapagos lava lizard (Microlophus albemarlens). Per Wikipedia:
There are seven species within the Galapagos lava lizard population and these species are found on several islands.
The major defense mechanism used by these lizards involves dropping their tail; their tail continues to move and thus distracts their predators while the actual lizard will camouflage or flee.

Painted ghost crab (Ocypode gaudichaudii). I love the eye stalks.

Sally Lightfoot crab (Grapsus grapsus). Quite beautiful, IMHO.

Terrestrial hermit crab (superfamily Paguroidea). This individual seems very pleased to have his photo taken.

Readers’ wildlife photos

March 18, 2024 • 8:15 am

Today’s photos come from Borneo courtesy of reader Daniel Shoskes. His notes are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Just back from an incredible trip to Borneo. Just a smattering of the photos. Please forgive the lack of precision in species naming; I did my best to get the names from our guides.

First, a video of his whole trip can be seen here.

Orangutans (Pongo pygmaeus):

Bornean Bearded Pig (Sus barbatus):

Silvered leaf monkey (Trachypithecus cristatus):

Pit viper:

Macaque:

Flying squirrel climbing a tree (I have an amazing video of it gliding):

Macaque striking a Review #2 pose:

Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus), smallest species of bear:

Proboscis monkeys (Nasalis larvatus):

Juvenile female, nose not as pronounced:

Green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) laying eggs and getting measured and tagged:

Newly hatched turtles about to be released to the sea:

Macaque mother and baby:

Crocodile with monitor lizard in its mouth:

Oriental pied hornbill (Anthracoceros albirostris):

Monitor lizard:

Black-and-red broadbill (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos):

Rhinoceros hornbill (Buceros rhinoceros) :

Rhinoceros beetle:

An insect eating bat (species unknown) curled up asleep inside a banana leaf:

Tiger leech (Haemadipsa picta). Amazing to see: when you exhale near them they lunge towards the CO2:

Red leaf monkey (Presbytis rubicunda):

Readers’ wildlife photos

March 12, 2024 • 8:15 am

When I last showed photos of my beloved warthog Ozymandias (“Ozy” for short), reader Ant produced this new version of Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias,” the source of the pig’s name.

My name is Ozymandias, Pig of Pigs.
Look on on my Warts, ye Mighty, and despair!

Ozy is a common warthog (Phacochoerus africanus), but he’s anything but common. He lives in a wildlife region near Kruger National Park in South Africa, and runs with a group of other pigs who have managed, via burrowing under the surrounding fence, to get near the local houses where they forage for veggies and grass.

Ozy, whom reader Rosemary (who took these photos) calls a “truck with tusks”, is a very large pig who spends his time driving other pigs away, especially when he’s eating. (Ozy is the uber-alpha male, and no pig dares stand up to him.)

He’s also very amorous, though females are afraid of him because of his size. There’s a photos of his testicles and tail below, and sometimes he walks around sometimes with his penis dangling, an appendage shaped like a corkscrew  (see also here).  That shape, also seen in ducks, may be the result of antagonistic sexual selection, with females evolving a twisted vagina to enable them to control which males get access to their eggs. (It’s thought to be a “genital arms race,” and may apply in warthogs and other pigs as well).

Ozy is somewhat friendly, though you don’t want to get near him because of his four razor-sharp tusks, which can slice you open. He does like his head scratched with a stick, but only when he’s eating.

Rosemary is helping me take care of Ozy’s well being, though we’re concerned about a slight limp he has in his right front leg. He may be an old pig with arthritis, but we try to make his golden years as good as possible.

I’m providing an update today with photos of Ozy taken in the last couple of days.

Isn’t he lovely?  Males have four warts on their head, females two.

After eating, Ozy often takes a nap on his side, like this.  He’s usually covered with mud, which helps keep the pigs cool in the African heat. Ozy and the other pigs also have their own little bathtub for soaking; you can see a picture in the last post.

Nothing is sweeter than a warthog at rest!

Ozy wakes up, thinking it might be time for a bath. I will see him when I visit South Africa in August.

Ozy’s caboose. You can see his thin tail (always held vertically in warthogs when they’re running), and his testicles, as well as his thick coat of bristles and a layer of mud.

Readers’ wildlife photos

March 11, 2024 • 8:15 am

We are in serious trouble, folks. I have about three days’ worth of readers’ wildlife photos left, and that feature (like “Caturday felids”, which has a dearth of readers) is in danger of becoming extinct. Please send in your good wildlife photos.

Today we feature ecologist Susan Harrison with some lovely tropical animals and one landscape photo.  Her captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Costa Rica Miscellany

Here’s the third and last batch of photos from a February 2024 trip to Southwestern Costa Rica, during which I visited a wildlife-rich field station on the Rio Sorpresa (Surprise River) and saw many colorful birds, both there and in the nearby Corcovado National Park and the towns of Golfito and Puerto Jimenez.  Today’s photos mostly feature smaller and/or more subtly colored creatures from this trip.

Basilisk (Basiliscus basiliscus), also known as the Jesus Christ Lizard for its skill of dashing across water surfaces:

JAC: I’ve added this National Geographic video of a basilisk running on water:

Bright-rumped Attila (Attila spadiceus), whose distinctive song (“quit it, quit it, QUIT IT – aaaaah!”) is heard much more often than the bird is seen:

Panamanian White-faced Capuchin (Cebus imitator) looking angsty:

Charming Hummingbird (Polyerata decora):

Cocoa Woodcreeper (Xiphorhynchus susurrans):

Great Kiskadee (Pitangus sulphuratus), screaming its loud squeaky calls straight at me:

Green Iguana (Iguana iguana), a yard-long reptilian lawn mower:

Grey-capped Flycatcher (Myiozetetes granadensis) on Purple Mombin tree (Spondias purpurea):

Grey-capped Flycatcher on branch with Snakefern (Microgramma) epiphyte:

Common Pauraque (Nyctidromus albicollis), a member of the nightjar family, making its weird sounds:

Scarlet-rumped Tanager (Ramphocelus passerinii), which looks to me like a Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) turned sideways:

Northern Tamandua (Tamandua mexicana), a large placid anteater seen in Corcovado National Park:

Variegated Squirrel (Sciurus variegatoides):

Yellow-green Vireo (Vireo flavoviridis):

One of the many waterfalls on the Surprise River:

Readers’ wildlife photos (and videos)

March 9, 2024 • 8:15 am

I have at most four installments of RWP left. If you have good wildlife photos and wish this feature to continue, please send them in. Thanks!

Today we have the penultimate installment of Antarctica photos by Robert Lang. Today: whales!  The captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Antarctica Part 6: Whales

During our two weeks on the boat (and sometimes when kayaking), we regularly saw humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae), usually from a distance, like this one:

Most times, we were first alerted to their presence by the sound of a blow:

Typically we’d see one of three things: the hump, the blow, or the dive, usually ending with the tail out of the water. With this one, you can see a flock of Gentoo penguins in the background; they’re all feeding on the same school of krill:

The patterns on the tail are highly variable and distinct enough to recognize individuals. Here’s a group of tail shots taken during the course of the trip:

One night, we were fortunate enough for the whales to come quite close to the boat, and we spent about half an hour watching them in the pink sunset glow (it was about 11 pm). The whales were lunge-feeding; not quite bubble-netting where they come straight up underneath a school, but they were still herding their prey, then coming in together from the side. You can see the baleen in some of their open mouths here:

And here’s a short movie of this occasion, showing some of their behavior (with that incredible light as background):

The highlight, whale-wise, of the trip was a visit from a pod of orcas (Orcinus orca). These were Type B2 orcas, which typically hunt penguins, seals, and fish. We watched the pod from a distance for a while; then they turned toward us and came right up to the boat, where they stopped and (for want of a better word) played around a bit. Here’s two coming up to the boat; the one on the left is swimming inverted—I think it wants a belly rub:

Some of them turned vertically in the water, stuck their tails up in the air, and waggled them back and forth, like this one:

And here’s one as it started swimming away. The Type B orcas have a yellowish tinge, which comes from diatoms that attach to their skin (and will eventually be shed):

One of our group, Jack, had a GoPro camera going during the orca visitation, and with his permission, I’ve posted his full movie here (you’ll see Jack’s gleeful face at the very end of the movie). It starts slow, but gets pretty amazing:

Next: The tiny stuff.

Readers’ wildlife photos

March 5, 2024 • 8:15 am

We’re now on to part 5 of Robert Lang‘s 7-part trip to Antarctica (in a small boat).  Today we have several species of pinnipeds. Robert’s narratives and captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Antarctica Part 5: Seals

The three most common seals in the western Antarctic Peninsula are the Weddell seal (Leptonychotes weddellii), crabeater seal (Lobodon carcinophaga), and the southern elephant seal (Mirounga leonina). (There are also Antarctic fur seals, Arctocephalus gazella, and Ross seals, Ommatophoca rossii, but we never saw any of those—the latter are only found in pack ice.)

The Weddell seal lives all around Antarctica, not just in the Weddell Sea—both were named for the same person, British sealing captain James Weddell. Although other seals can be mottled, the Weddell seals we saw had the most distinctive mottling. Still, I’m not absolutely sure on these IDs, and would welcome corrections on any of them.

Although all of the seal mostly just lie around (when they’re out of the water, which was the only place we saw them), Weddells, like this one, seemed to have the most personality.

“Oh hai! I can haz krill?”

This one fancies itself as the sealish Hercule Poirot, judging from the careful curling of its whiskers:

And this one is simply bored.

We saw fewer of the other two seals. The crabeater seal is paler in color and has a long nose, so is easier to identify in profile than head-on. Crabeater seals, contrary to their name, do not eat crabs; they eat krill. They have distinctive multi-lobed teeth, which they use for filter-feeding. We never got close enough to a live crabeater seal to see their dentition, but we did find some skulls with the identifiable teeth still in the jaw.

But they can also be slightly mottled, and from the front, it’s less clear what they are. I think this is also a crabeater:

I’m not sure which one this is, other than that it has a hangover from last night’s party:

We did see a few of the Southern elephant seals, but all females, none of the gargantuan males with their distinctive schnozzes. Even the females are still pretty big, though.

We also hoped to see the “Polar Bear of the Antarctic”:  the Leopard seal (Hydrurga leptonyx). The second-largest seal (after elephant seals), it is a ferocious carnivore and has been known to attack humans on the pack ice. We eventually found one. The leopard seal’s only natural predator is the orca; this young leopard seal, unfortunately, must have encountered said predator, as one of its rear flippers was missing.

We watched it a while. Eventually it yawned. Check out that mouthful of teeth!

And here’s a brief movie as it shifts position.

 

Next: A whale of a good time.