A Quote

Our perfect companions never have fewer than four feet.  

          — Colette

My couch buddies of an evening.

And my partner on the trail.

 

Crack For Animal Lovers

I guess I must just be slow or something, but I just discovered Explore dot org.  This is a site with tons of animal live cams.  Some with audio! I have spent too much time here this evening watching bears at Alaska’s Brooks Falls in Katmai National Park  fishing for salmon in a river.  Single bears and a mommy with cubs!  It’s also fun to watch the fish trying to jump up the falls. The comments are interesting too.  The people who frequent the bear site know some of these bears by sight.  Wow.  But the one I really can’t wait for is the one in Africa.  It’s night there as I type this.  Elephants, hippos, etc…!

Just click Explore.org and enjoy!  Scroll down past the bears for the other cams and comments.

Aviary 2016 (Part Three of Three)

My final pictures are of Bateleur Eagles.  Having a ‘near threatened’ status, this African eagle prefers open woodlands and tree savannas. They are a medium-sized eagle with a wingspan of 5 to 6 feet.  While viewing them, I watched them perform some type of ritual that was interesting and beautiful. While most of the pictures are of the eagle closest to me, both were involved.

These actions were repeated several times. Such beautiful birds!

And, of course, to end one’s trip to the Aviary, one must purchase souvenirs.

This is a postcard of the painting by Johno Prascak. It is one of my favorites. I can’t afford a wall sized version so this postcard will do. I’m even going to frame it. 😀

Ooooo, I’ve found a new artist to love. Dean Crouser. This mug is just gorgeous. And it’s a good solid mug. And you should see his prints! Go here to view his art. Guess what’s going on my Christmas list!

That’s it!  Hope you enjoyed the pics!

Aviary 2016 (Part Two of Three)

Here are some more of the 72 pictures I took at the aviary.  😀

Northern Bobwhite Quail.  Once a numerous bird in the eastern United States, its population is in sharp decline mostly due to habitat loss. This small quail, not hugely bigger than a soft ball, has a distinctive call that literally sounds like ‘bob-white’. And this call is SO loud it makes you think they are twice their actual size.  It is sad to say that I have only heard this call in the wild only once in the past twenty years.

Could this be a young Red Bishop Weaver just coming into color?  I just had to take her picture as she sat there all sleepy and rumpled.

Scissor-tailed Flycatcher. A bird of south-central U.S. and across to Louisiana, Arkansas, and Missouri.  These birds love open scrubby country and sometimes catch bugs by launching off a perch to catch them in mid-air. I was very fortunate to get a picture of these little guys as they were very busy flying around.

I have no idea what the black and blue bird is, but he was very aware of me and the camera, staring straight at me and slightly poofing his chest.

Wattled Curassow.  Endangered. They are native to the rainforests of South America. In addition to habitat loss, they are hunted for meat much like we hunt for turkeys.  This particular bird was enjoying himself standing on the railing next to the door startling visitors as they came through.  😀

Brown Pelican. Yep, another of my favorites.  I wish I could find a decent small china figurine.  These birds dive headfirst into the ocean to catch fish, the pouch on the underside of their bill expanding to hold 2-3 gallons of water to help trap the fish.  Did you know they incubate their eggs with their feet? o_o

I went to a free flight show!  One of the free flying birds were these adorable Hooded Vultures.  These birds are common across sub-Saharan Africa.  They live in a wide variety of habitats including villages!  They are carnivores and scavengers.  Unlike a lot of vultures who feed only on carcasses, these guys can be found feeding in refuse dumps and along shore lines.  Unfortunately, like most vultures, they do poop on their own legs to help cool themselves off.  Eww! (But they are so cute!)

Another of the free flight birds, the Lanner Falcon.  A beautiful raptor found mainly in Africa with small populations in Europe and Asia, these birds have been used in falconry for over 1000 years.  Unlike the North American Peregrine who is known for their stunning high-speed dives, the Lanner Falcon hunts horizontally reaching speeds up to 90 mph from wing flaps alone.  Do you see the antennae attached to the bird’s leg?  There are actually two, one to gauge speed and one for GPS in case the bird decides to wander off.

There he is high in the sky.

A lucky shot of the Lanner Falcon having a go at the lure.

Mantling (protecting) his ‘kill’.

A wonderful shot of the Lanner Falcon as he gets ready to eat his treat.

I love watching the birds working with their trainers.

Next up will be the Bateleur Eagles and, of course, souvenirs!

Aviary 2016 (Part One of Three)

Saver went to meet a friend in the Big City in the weeks before she left.  I was to play chauffeur into the City and decided to treat myself to a side trip to the Aviary.  I do love birds.

Victoria Crowned Pigeon from northern New Guinea. These are the largest pigeon in the world and are nearly the size of a turkey.  These guys live in lowland swamp forests eating fruit, seeds and insects.  I liked this weird shot ’cause it shows off the crown and the soft shading of the feathers.

Pied Imperial Pigeon (the light-colored birds with black wing tips).  From Myanmar and Thailand, south to Java and east to the Philippines.  They eat fruit and live along the coastal islands and scrub.

White-crested Laughing Thrush.  This is a noisy social bird the can occasionally sound like they’re laughing.  They are native to the Himalayan forest of teak and bamboo. I have no clue why he was waving a foot at me! 🙂

Malayan Great Argus.  A repeat, I know, but this shot gives a better idea of just how large these birds are.  They have the longest tail feathers of any wild bird. From Borneo, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula, they are omnivorous.

Palm Cockatoo. From New Guinea, Papua New Guinea and northern Australia.  Eats nuts and seeds.

Burrowing Owl.  How can I not show a picture of this cutie on every Aviary post? Native to the Americas, these little guys live in open grassland, prairie, and desert habitats.  A long-legged tiny owl that eats small rodents, large insects, and other invertebrates. Unlike most owls, these guys are actually active during the daylight hours, but hunt mostly at night.

I have no idea what this bird is. I couldn’t find a tag or anything on the website. So if you know what this bird is, PLEASE speak up!

Roadrunner.  A long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, this bird lives in desert and shrubby country of the southwestern United States and northern Mexico. These birds are known for running down their prey and have been clocked going as fast as 20 mph (32km/h).  They are carnivorous and eat pretty much anything smaller than they are.

Double-barred Finch.  Poor thing.  This guy is from Australia and lives in grasslands, savannah, and shrubbed habitat.  Grass is a natural material used for nesting and this poor little guy just kept working and working this piece of grass, unable to pull it free because it is still half green and well attached.  I was seriously tempted to reach in and tear it off for him.

The Double-barred Finch is also known as the owl finch because of the dark rings around their eyes. You can see where he’s been grooming his feathers.  The nest basket in the corner is  where the grass was supposed to go, the spouse fussing inside.

Hope you’re enjoying the birdies.  Part two coming soon.

Chillin’ In The Window (Cato Is Sure He Lives Here Now)

Sweet kitty!

Belly up, comfortable and secure.

Critters Around The Yard

How can you not smile when watching these little stinkers?  Yes, they managed to yank the lid off.  Guess that’s one of the reasons the feeder was on clearance!

A young blue jay in the tree outside my bedroom. He was not happy being by himself!

Two Clymene moths. I had never seen moths like this before. Always something new to learn about!

The tiniest stink bug I have ever seen!

As the summer comes to a close and the nights become colder, you will sometimes wake up to find that a preying mantis has been hunting around your windows at night.

A young hummingbird coming to the feeder and learning how it works.

Enjoy your day and take a moment to look  around and appreciate nature!

My Trip To The Zoo (Part 3 of 3)

Elephants! African Elephants to be exact. I love all animals, but elephants amaze me. My most recent discovery was an article that made the rounds about how wounded elephants knew where to go to get help from us humans. Read about it here at “The Dodo“.

I could watch elephants all day.  Here are some of the photos I took while I sat and watched.

Soaking up some sun and scratching an itch. You can see that someone had themselves a soak in the pool.

Big Ears! What a lucky shot with my camera!

I don’t recognize this elephant. It has no tail! I wonder what her story is?

That’s a lot of food!

Here is one of the ‘baby’ males born at the zoo. Only he’s not so little anymore!

A mom and one of the babies.

A ‘baby’ playing with a bit of hay, snorting and ‘waving’ its ears.

Say, “Ahhh…” The elephants were getting an oral checkup. A treat swiftly followed.

It must have been a really yummy treat, ’cause as soon as the word was out, the elephants came running. There was some jostling for position going on as everyone wanted to go first.

I like taking pictures of their faces.  Here are my two favorites from this trip.

This lady came right up to the window where I was sitting and stood there while I snapped pictures.

I loved the high contrast in this picture. I just wish the eye had been a bit more defined. *shrugs*

And, of course, there were souvenirs!

Hope you enjoyed the trip!

My Trip To The Zoo (Part 2 of 3)

Today’s photos will be aquatic themed.  Enjoy!

Philippine Crocodile.  NOT somebody I would want to go swimming with.

Our aquarium propagates its coral to keep from further contributing to the destruction of coral reefs.  Sorry about the glare, but the sun was shining on the window.

Here is the lower tank.

Pot-bellied Seahorse!

How many seahorses can you count?

Wee Horseshoe Crab.

Beautiful fish and live coral and anemones.

Anemones and coral in the waves. So beautiful!

Allard’s Clownfish in an anemone.

Ribbontail Stingray. This one is found in the Indo-West Pacific oceans.  Those blue spots are so bright!  These guys are in a petting area and will rub along your hands.

The Big Toothed River Stingray is a freshwater stingray found in Brazil.  This guy was not shy about having his picture taken!

Sand Tiger shark. These guys get up to 13 feet long and 250 lbs.!

Lovely water fixture by the aquarium.

American Beaver taking a break.

Polar Bear. “What’s this?”

Mine!

Next will be Elephants!

My Trip To The Zoo (Part 1 of 3)

At the end of August, with my son back at college and my daughter and husband off to a LARP, I decided to treat myself since I would be the one at home taking care of all the critters, etc…  No sleeping in for me!  So the day they left I went to the zoo.

I love the zoo.  And this trip there would be no one moaning and groaning if I decided to sit for half an hour just watching the elephants. Unfortunately, with it being the end of the summer, everyone and his brother was there.  It was a bit of a smoosh.  But I had a good time anyway just doing my thing.  And I took lots of pictures.  Even though I’m doing 3 posts, you still won’t be seeing all the pictures I took! 😀

African Lion surveying his domain.  I was lucky to get his face.  The lions were all lying down enjoying the sunshine.

Grant’s Zebras enjoying the day.

Later, the Grant’s Zebras joined the Masai Giraffes up at the feeding area.

Dama Gazelles, Springboks, and an Ostrich.

On my second trip past (I wanted to see the elephants again before I left), I was able to get a close-up of this guy.

The Cheetah enclosure revamped. It goes past me on a curve to the right.  Hallelujah! They have room to run!

So cute!

Male Western Lowland Gorilla. The females were scattered around sleeping. It was getting hot out there!

Eastern Grey Kangaroo. By the time I got here, everyone was snoozing and the yard was closed. Oh, well.

Yellow-footed Tortoise. This guy saw me taking pictures and came over to check me out. You can see my hand and NEW camera in the reflection.

Black Rhinoceros. This guy is very tough to get a picture of. He likes to stay in the back most of the day. I was able to get this picture because it was going on closing time.

Of course, I have to get a picture of the Flamingos! So pretty. And noisy!  And check out the flamingo second from right.  It looks like he’s cleaning his feet!

Oh, I wanted SOOOOO bad to be bad and hang over the fence to get this feather. I was seriously, seriously tempted. Sigh.

I will leave you today with this picture of a sleeping kitty, a Snow Leopard.