on these creatures.
(a different angle from previous--can see iridescence on head better)
<sigh>
bb
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
one more sign of winter...
Last week a package was not delivered to our house due to,
and I quote from the delivery slip:
"Snow."
=)
Got 8 inches, and our driveway isn't the friendliest if it's snowy. Therefore, town run today to pick up the books. That which you see above, though, is a more recent 1-3 inches. I'd say closer to 3 than 1.
Do you know who made this tracks, generally speaking?
bb
tiny ice skating rinks ...
on top of the chickens' water bowls. I broke through them, fearless chicken defender that I am, refilled with warm water, then gave everyone sunflower seeds (shelled), tomatoes, and pak choi for breakfast. It's officially cold!
One error I did make was pouring one chicken's watering bowl contents onto her porch. Ooops, now it's probably frozen... a summer time habit. Sorry, Fanny!
Still thousands of words behind schedule (NaNoWriMo, and might I add, arf!), but here's a very handsome duck from the SD zoo. Do click and zoom--I saved it extra large so you can enjoy his spectacular and finely detailed beauty. Yowsa!
xobb
Sunday, November 28, 2010
one San Diego zoo pic, then I type...
This is probably my favorite pic from the SD Zoo trip, AND it's a native species (bonus). If you click on it and zoom in, you can see some of the amazing iridescence on the male's head. STUNNING. Until the 1st time I was in this exhibit, I didn't even know they had iridescence on their head. Swoon!
bb
Friday, November 26, 2010
more beach + Phriday photo quiz
And the Phriday photo quiz picture is....
Who are we?
And the bonus Phriday photo quiz is....
Who are we, and what specific physiological feature is unique to us from among all other birds?
=) bb
Thursday, November 25, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
oh, so behind...
Hey, gang. On the road and as of this minute (wrote nothing yesterday or today so far) am 4,370 words behind NaNoWriMo schedule, SO will be posting little 'till December (9 days) and writing more more more on this little novel thingy.
However, I did get an a-MA-zing big city YMCA (San Diego) workout that was fairly spectacular today, then got to eat hazelnut-encrusted salmon with garlic spinach and garden veggies for lunch.
WOW.
Oh, and the drive down, post rainstorm was spec-TAC-ular INCLUDING the full moon-lit night, low clouds hugging the hills, etc. STUNNING.
So, I hope you all have a great next several days, I'm sure I'll be back, but for now must shut my babbling mouth and type, type, type instead. =)
I'll wave to the Pacific for ya!
xoxo
biobabbler
Saturday, November 20, 2010
up with the coyotes, down with the rain beetles
The coyotes got me out of bed yesterday, then last night I went to bed because I couldn't write in the dark, but having the lights on meant the poor rain beetles bashed their substantial bodies against the windows and did not actually find females. So, for their sake, I just went to bed.
Who knew wildlife would be setting my schedule for me?
=)
biobabbler
Friday, November 19, 2010
great post by curbstone: bobcat v. chicken drama
Check out this story. Includes amazing photographs of a stunning bobcat, and nice shots of hens, as well. I could SO relate to dropping everything and running outside barefoot to chase off a predator that was lusting after my hens.
bb
Phriday photo quiz #24
Who am I?
(I stowed away in bb's rental while in the Midwest this summer. It was my big chance to move from Small Town, Midwest, to the big city, Minneapolis! woo hoo!)
P.S. Answer to last week's quiz, in case you missed it, was white-headed woodpecker, which Melissa at http://www.redoingit.blogspot.com/ got in about 4 minutes. YOWsa! Quick on the draw Birder Woman! Nice work. =)
impending snow = fatten up those chickens!
Snow storm Sat-Mon. So, today the chickens get an extra special treat:
Yogurt with broccoli, roasted beets (leftovers), and chopped nuts (fat & protein to get/stay warm). This breakfast is one effective way to quiet down the coop. Nothing but the sound of quiet chicken concentration and beaks tapping a plate.
The three amigos. That's Moby chick in the very back, she's done molting and super bright and fluffy, on the left is Cinder who did molt, but very mildly. Then, there's Edie, my chief concern. She's practically naked. Won't even roost near the window with her buddies, now. Of course I've since closed it. I hope she cuddles up this weekend during the snows!
That's Fanny finger painting her meal, having a great time.
Fanny did seem to get some feathers to fill in where Moby had plucked them out when Fanny flew to their side of the coop. Doesn't go over well (Moby is designated butt-kicker), and I sincerely hope she never does that when I'm not here to rescue her. Anyhow, she's looking pretty well feathered, lately. Yay.
We recently shoveled a bunch of oak tree litter into their runs. They're loving scratching in all that for bugs, and it gives our soil a buffer between it and those always-scraping chickens.
It's tough to get sharp pictures of busy chickens on a dim, cloudy morning.
Hope you all have a great weekend. =)
biobabbler
coyotes got me out of bed this a.m.
Their calls, that is. I'd gotten up at 5 for a potty run, then was lazy and tho' awake, went back to bed. 3 minutes later, one, then a chorus of coyote howls and yips ensued, emanating from pretty nearby, in the dark.
Too cool...
But I was very glad the chickens were locked up tight.
=)
biobabbler
Thursday, November 18, 2010
oh, my... spectacular micro photo competition winners
From the New York Times, "Counting down the top 10 winners of the 2010 Olympus BioScapes photomicrography competition."
Stunnnnnninnnnnnnnnnnng.
And I have to say, my alma mater, UC San Diego, got 2nd place! Go Tritons!
=) bb
this is pretty amazing
Restricting reducing carbohydrates in an epileptic kid's diet can reduce seizures by 70-90 percent. WOW.
Check out the article. No to cookies, candy, soda, yes to bacon, cream, eggs.
Who knew.
The human body is so mysterious.
bb
ew...
Sometimes being a biologist has it's costs.
I just woke up.
This morning I was dreaming, the images crystal clear, that I had a bunch of house plants and they'd been invaded by pale green scale insects, and sometimes when I'd reach in to scrape them off, some that were in a row would then raise up and morph into a green caterpillar which would then start walking. And there were ants surrounding the whole mess.
ew.
I think it was inspired by Bug Girls post on shellac, "also not a beetle," and its reference to a previous post on scale insects.
For some reason, scale insects creep me out. I think it's 'cause when I wasn't paying attention, they found and then COVERED my little plant, a cute little pink polka dot thing that I loved. I was so grossed out I chucked the whole thing out in the trash in the alley.
I know. I should have handled it. I am a biologist, after all. However, I do reserve the right to get grossed out by a very few things. Maybe next time I'll deal.
So, as I have suggested before, sometimes when a biologist is dreaming about a snake, rather than dipping into handy psychological symbology and suggesting it's a sexual thing, ask yourself if they actually handle snakes.
Sometimes a snake is just a snake.
Especially if you're a biologist.
And now, I'm off to check my plants for scale.
=)
biobabbler
P.S. What wildlife thing freaks you out?
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Mumday interpreted
I'm afraid I don't know the name of these SCREAMING bright flowers, but they are part of the xeriscaping at the Joshua Tree NP visitor center, and I'm pretty sure it's native. That color killed me.
I think it kinda freaked out my camera, too. =)
Lucky, lucky, lucky to be in the park during a storm.
Yow. Calling all herp-ers!
Reading my Peterson's field guide, the description best matches Sceloporus virgatus, striped plateau lizard, but then I look at the range map, and it doesn't even overlap California. Slevin's bunchgrass lizard also looks pretty good, S. slevini, but like S. virgatus, it's barely in the US on the map. I've looked through the list on http://www.californiaherps.com/southwest.html#lizards and frankly am not sure.
Thoughts? Any desert herp folks wanna take a stab? Or, really, just anyone better at lizard ID than moi?
Lovely palms at the oasis near the 29 Palms visitor center.
Hee. This shot cracks me up.
This is why:
Look at the verrrrry bottom just right of center.
Yes, that's a truck. I LOVED what I was seeing but it was from a parking lot and there were cars in the way, but I was determined so just cranked up the angle, so who's to know? =)
Lovely to be in the desert during a storm.
This is, IMHO, a GENIUS ad campaign with outrageous style that just makes me SO HAPPY! I wrote down the name of the guy who designed it, but I'm not sure I can find it... ah, FOUND it: Tim Palin. I think he's a GENius. I am presently working on confirming which Tim Palin it is...
This makes me happy on so many levels.
1. this is a great bakery, 2. the design is AMAZING and colors delightful, 3. I love how you can see this shot as the inside of a corner or as the corner of a cube poking out at you. So very Escher. prrrrrrrrr.
=)
biobabbler
P.S. I have not yet written WORD ONE for NaNoWriMo and I still have to workout! Lawdy, SUCH the slug today.
when ya just don't feel like writing...
Cook those tomatoes!
7 lbs of home grown tomatoes
I'm doubling Lynn Rosetto Casper's recipe for tomato sauce (tho' darn it I can't find it on the web--got it second hand...) to use more tomatoes.
And about 10 cloves of garlic.
Funny it should take writing procrastination to get me past procrastinating re: cooking the tomatoes.
Either way, I can now see more counter space that I have in a while. I still have a LONG ways to go, but most, yes, most of the really red ones are now destined for sauce. TODAY. =)
biobabbler
P.S.
Here is the sauce, gettin' saucy...
Lunch. Yum.
Monday, November 15, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Saturday, November 13, 2010
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