spacecadet 4,696 Posted March 30, 2020 Share Posted March 30, 2020 1 Link to post Share on other sites
gvallee 4,172 Posted March 31, 2020 Share Posted March 31, 2020 One from your country this time Betty... Lost Dutchman State Park, Arizona 3 Link to post Share on other sites
gvallee 4,172 Posted March 31, 2020 Share Posted March 31, 2020 23 hours ago, Sally R said: I love peacock spiders! In the place I was renting until a few months ago I had a peacock spider that loved my kitchen. By photographing him with my macro lens I was able to see his patterns closely and found he was a Dunn's Peacock Spider. I put him outside several times thinking maybe he would be better outside, but he just kept coming back into the kitchen again and again (assuming it was the same spider). My images were extremely grainy so I won't try and upload them here. They are so small and it is so amazing the beautiful patterns that are less noticeable unless you look really closely. Yes, they are a pleasure to watch. I remember the excitement when I saw my first one, I could hardly focus. Jurgen Otto who's the expert in Oz, believes that all species have now been discovered. He's had a few to his name! Not all of them have been described though (no name given yet), science is always a slow process. They're tiny bugg***s, most people don't realise. The size of a match head. Link to post Share on other sites
spacecadet 4,696 Posted March 31, 2020 Share Posted March 31, 2020 (edited) I'm fresh out of birds (wild; I have some humorous ones of some geese), so here's my only butterfly, from Kos, uploaded by accident because I though it was SoLD😮 An answer to the squeezed image problem- click on it and you get it in a window, smaller but miraculously unsqueezed. Doesn't work from AIM. Edited March 31, 2020 by spacecadet 3 Link to post Share on other sites
gvallee 4,172 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 Proboscis monkeys, Borneo 2 Link to post Share on other sites
gvallee 4,172 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 22 minutes ago, Sally R said: Thanks, I just googled Jurgen Otto and had a look at the variety of colourful peacock spiders. Fantastic! I'd only ever seen photos before and assumed they were bigger, so thought the one in my kitchen was just a regular, small jumping spider. But then I noticed the blue and red and took a photo with my macro lens, and was very excited to realise it was a peacock spider. If you ever want a good laugh, I suggest googling "jumping spider macro". It makes me laugh every time I look at them 🤣 They look like mini alien beings. Are you familiar with the peacock spiders mating dance? It's extraordinary. There are quite a few videos. Here's one by Jurgen Otto. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
dustydingo 873 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 (edited) Well, it's not just Australia that has cranky birds . . . here's "proof" that a giant cockatoo, that just happens to live in a zoo in Bali, harassed a couple of women from Australia who were walking through a well-known Florida USA holiday resort . . . oh, and I have a lovely arched bridge over in Sydney I can sell you for a song . . . DD Edited April 1, 2020 by dustydingo 1 1 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Betty LaRue 4,087 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 Bluejay, when you are too big for the feeder. They are as smart as squirrels. 2 Link to post Share on other sites
dustydingo 873 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 8 minutes ago, Betty LaRue said: Bluejay, when you are too big for the feeder. They are as smart as squirrels. Bewdiful. He seems to be stuck working out the best approach? DD Link to post Share on other sites
dustydingo 873 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 Our equivalent to Betty's delicate bluejay is our delicate long-billed corella . . . hmmm . . . on second thoughts . . . DD Link to post Share on other sites
spacecadet 4,696 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 These geese are fattened up for Christmas in a favourite Flemish town of ours. It has elaborate 17th- century fortifications, including moats, and they alternate between the grass and the water. When they wish to cross the road, the traffic waits, of course. 4 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Allan Bell 3,232 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 58 minutes ago, Sally R said: Here is a baby Welcome Swallow. They have a sort of frog-shaped mouth when they are little. It is called a "Gaper". At least when I was a lot younger and a breeder of budgerigars the young with the wide mouth were called gapers. Allan 2 Link to post Share on other sites
NYCat 3,090 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 Geese!!! These were on the move in the Falkland Islands... Ruddy-headed Geese on Carcass Island, Falkland Islands Paulette 1 Link to post Share on other sites
Bionic 137 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 I’m a bit late to the party with this but here’s a hoverfly from last summer 3 Link to post Share on other sites
gvallee 4,172 Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 10 hours ago, Sally R said: Thanks, that's a brilliant video 😀 😂 Love the music/dance combo. Yes I had seen it before on a nature documentary. It's quite amazing the complex world of small creatures that most of the time we don't see. They are pretty groovy dancers too! What did I say? No further new species to be discovered? That's what Jurgen Otto said months ago. And today, this. 5 out of 7 new species are your way in WA. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-02/seven-new-species-of-peacock-spider-discovered/12110306 Link to post Share on other sites
Allan Bell 3,232 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 7 hours ago, Sally R said: Thanks Allan. I hadn't heard of gapers before. When really small in the nest, baby birds do seem to be mostly a mouth attached to a body. Must be nature's way of ensuring they get fed! That would have been lovely raising baby budgerigars. Rewarding but a lot of work. Every chick had to be checked each day for food stuck to their little beaks as it would harden and their beaks would become deformed. Adults are messy feeders of their young. Can't remember exactly how many nest boxes we had going at any one time but we were only a small concern with around 20 and usually an average of three young per nest. Breeding was year round too. Added to that there was the regular daily cleaning of the nest boxes and cages as well as the aviary and outdoor flights. Then topping up feeding containers and water bottles. But the birds are great fun and we had a good time watching their antics. In the winter when snow was on the ground we would open the doors to the outside flights and the birds would roll in the snow on the bottom of the flights. Allan Link to post Share on other sites
spacecadet 4,696 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 (edited) My last bird picture, I think. Ardea cinerea (on top), vulpes vulpes, brenta canadensis. Oh, and a few anas platyrhynchos in the pond. Edited April 2, 2020 by spacecadet 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites
NYCat 3,090 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 17 minutes ago, Allan Bell said: Rewarding but a lot of work. Every chick had to be checked each day for food stuck to their little beaks as it would harden and their beaks would become deformed. Adults are messy feeders of their young. Can't remember exactly how many nest boxes we had going at any one time but we were only a small concern with around 20 and usually an average of three young per nest. Breeding was year round too. Added to that there was the regular daily cleaning of the nest boxes and cages as well as the aviary and outdoor flights. Then topping up feeding containers and water bottles. But the birds are great fun and we had a good time watching their antics. In the winter when snow was on the ground we would open the doors to the outside flights and the birds would roll in the snow on the bottom of the flights. Allan You might enjoy the videos and photos by this photographer.... https://www.leilajeffreys.com/video-art I saw this exhibit here and loved it. https://www.olsengruin.com/artworks.php?artist_id=422 The videos are hypnotic. Paulette Link to post Share on other sites
spacecadet 4,696 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 25 minutes ago, NYCat said: You might enjoy the videos and photos by this photographer.... https://www.leilajeffreys.com/video-art I saw this exhibit here and loved it. https://www.olsengruin.com/artworks.php?artist_id=422 The videos are hypnotic. Paulette That white budgie sitting there enjoying the air from (presumably) a hair dryer- hilarious. Link to post Share on other sites
Allan Bell 3,232 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, NYCat said: You might enjoy the videos and photos by this photographer.... https://www.leilajeffreys.com/video-art I saw this exhibit here and loved it. https://www.olsengruin.com/artworks.php?artist_id=422 The videos are hypnotic. Paulette Thank you Paulette. Brings back memories. I noted that there are quite a few all white budgies in the clips but did note see an albino which have pink eyes. There were a lot of colours and combinations of colours around then but no pink budgies. There was a push on to be the first breeder to try to beed a pink budgie and we joined in the race. The nearest we got was an Albino with a very slight tinge of pink in its' feathers when the light shone on it in a certain way. Unfortunately as it grew older the pink tinge disappeared. As far as I know no one has bred a pink budgie but I have not kept up with the news on that front since I finished breeding them when I left home to go to another job in another part of the country. Allan Just come back from googling "Pink Budgerigar". Seems to be a few pink budgies on there but I am not convinced they are real. ITMA Edited April 2, 2020 by Allan Bell Link to post Share on other sites
dustydingo 873 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 (edited) Some lovely images around showing animals slowly (in some cases rapidly) adapting to the lack of people on the streets--the wild goats in the little unpronounceable Welsh village are a delight. Never one to ignore a trend, here's my take on this phenomenom, taken in downtown New York . . . She'd actually come into town to see the movie you can see advertised on the building in the background . . . DD Edited April 2, 2020 by dustydingo 1 Link to post Share on other sites
dustydingo 873 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 20 minutes ago, Allan Bell said: Just come back from googling "Pink Budgerigar". Seems to be a few pink budgies on there but I am not convinced they are real. Allan, if you search for "pink budgies" you'll find several forum entries of budgie breeders. The consensus on those forums is that budgies cannot produce red or any variations thereof, it simply is impossible genetically. So your scepticism is warranted and correct it seems. DD Link to post Share on other sites
Allan Bell 3,232 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 4 minutes ago, dustydingo said: Allan, if you search for "pink budgies" you'll find several forum entries of budgie breeders. The consensus on those forums is that budgies cannot produce red or any variations thereof, it simply is impossible genetically. So your scepticism is warranted and correct it seems. DD Thanks for the information DD. Allan Link to post Share on other sites
Betty LaRue 4,087 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 On 01/04/2020 at 09:51, dustydingo said: Bewdiful. He seems to be stuck working out the best approach? DD Yes, a moment later he plucked out a sunflower seed. I think the moment I snapped the image, he was just securing himself enough to not land on his back in the grass. 😊 Link to post Share on other sites
Betty LaRue 4,087 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 On 01/04/2020 at 05:08, gvallee said: Proboscis monkeys, Borneo A bit of Jimmy Durante in her family tree? Link to post Share on other sites
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