red-winged starling/onychognathus morio on Klipspringer [Oreotragus oreotragus]
rooivlerkspreeu/red-winged starling/onychognathus morio on Klipspringer [Oreotragus oreotragus]
Blue-green stain on wood of dead trees in a mixed forest. A few old logs have fruiting cups arising from them. Very small size, maybe 0.5cm tall max.
This Pepsis was cooperative for images, but the ID of these from photos is more than challenging
I feel like I should post one of those warnings you see on some TV shows...."Viewer Discretion is Advised; some images may be disturbing to some viewers". After some of the road kill images that are posted on iNat perhaps this is not too bad. At least it was completely natural, unlike the slaughter caused by vehicles on our wildlife.
Between 1996-2005, I was a bird guide on 13 trips to Antarctica. During those trips I saw lots of Leopard Seal attacks on penguins, but none stands out in my mind more than this one. This adult Chinstrap Penguin had somehow escaped from the jaws of a Leopard Seal, but was mortally injured. The penguin was virtually "de-gloved" whereby its skin was almost removed from its body. The penguin struggled ashore where it stood still for 10 or 15 minutes, much to the distress of several tour participants I had with me. As the penguin stood there, several Brown Skuas began to gather about, waiting for the inevitable to happen. Slowly the penguin walked farther away and out of immediate view, with 4 or 5 skuas walking along behind it. I did not follow, but rather decided to allow the scene to unfold without my observation and intrusion. It was a reminder that nature can be tough and brutal.
Image 4 shows a small portion of the Chinstrap Penguin colony at this location.
image scanned from 35 mm slides
Bailey Head,
Deception Island,
Antarctica
29 January 2002
Had a wonderful time with some master naturalists, iNatters, and Lauren Silverman from KERA. http://keranews.org/people/lauren-silverman
Stay tuned for a radio program on moths and iNaturalist! :)
Gila Monster
Heloderma suspectum
Catalina,
Pima Co., Arizona
8 March 2009
In March 2009 I was with some friends in Catalina, AZ near Tucson. One of them was a federal wildlife officer and we were taking some photos of a Gila Monster that had been confiscated from someone that had it illegally. I don't remember all the details, but the Gila Monster was to be released near this location at some point in the near future. So, I had the opportunity to take some shots of this beautiful animal, but it was a captive at this time. It had originally been captured in the wild nearby, however.