המועדפים של rajanrao

There is a small population at Dana point harbor of these strange all white squirrels. Are they albino or leucistic? What species are they? Why are there so many of them at this one site? They hang out in the rocks at the end of the point, over the bridge and down to the left.

We reported this sea otter to the Marine Science Center in Charleston Harbor when we first sighted it Feb 28, 2004 and had it verified by Jan Hodder. Note one of the photos shows the sea otter dragging around a harbor seal pup. After several minutes it released the pup

New one to me! This crazy nudibranch was not teeny -- about 1" long. Cream body with brown speckling and cool yellow lines. Large foot. Rows of gills like Dendronotus? Oral tentacles flicked up and down like a cockatoo's crest. BUT THE WEIRDEST THING were these crazy long flowing 'streamers' coming from the top of each rhinophore sheath - kind of looked like worms, though clearly attached and marked like the rest of the body (cream with brown specks). Found on Tubularia. Invasive? Video: https://www.flickr.com/photos/30314434@N06/25521619833/in/dateposted/

Calling out the big guns for help: @tgosliner @mcduck @rebeccafay @sluglust @kestrel @kueda

UPDATE 5/16/2016: Here's the very nice video that the California Academy of Sciences created about this guy: https://www.facebook.com/calacademy/videos/10154157032862311/

This bird is called a seagull. It was not scared of anyone. I got an arms length away from it and it did not fly away. It was strange because it looked right into my eyes. It was a quiet seagull with no chirping. I didn't smell anything but fish because it was near the ocean. I did not want to touch the seagull because it was it looked like it was going to bite my hand if I touched it. I walked away before it flew into my face.

An ancient beetle lineage
Identified as Omma stanleyi on Bowerbird by Matthew Connors: "This family is considered one of the oldest beetle families alive today and consists of just two genera, one from Australia and the other from South America. This genus is incredibly old and was once much more widespread, with a fossilised representative extremely similar to this one (O. daxishanense) known from the Late Jurassic of China around 160 million years ago! An exciting find to say the least"

My Eugryllacris comotti (Griffini, 1908) preying on a Uvarovites inflatus (Uvarov, 1924).
This individual is from Xishuangbanna, Yunnan, China, it would need to go through two more molt to reach adulthood.
Posted this because there is currently no observation of this genus on iNat, the one before is a mis-identified Ocellarnaca furcifera.

These are my nature journal notes and drawings. I’ve tagged them to the Nature Drawing and Journal project. Not sure how to share with only that page to avoid identification challenges.

The Trumpeter swan's black connection between mandible and eye, and vocalization was unmistakable. I sketched this using binoculars and direct observation in-situ. And yes it was snowing while observing! This one was an interloper visiting a mated pair who was setting up a nesting area on a nearby pond.

Bottom illustration is Spring Peeper.

These are my nature journal notes and drawings. I’ve tagged them to the Nature Drawing and Journal project. Not sure how to share with only that page to avoid identification challenges

Found under a log, and it was dark, so I broke out the UV light. After that I kept on searching with the light and realized they were everywhere on the surface of the leaf litter. Probably saw 20, at least.

My cuz Pete and I got bored from the tedious effort of removing dozens of these cuddly little bloodsuckers from an otherwise happy and healthy Wood Turtle (Glyptemys insculpta) study population in scenic Sussex County, NJ - so we decided to take a break, and have a few laughs with our "recently-evicted" parasitic pals!