grrlscientist | January 17, 2010tags: Birdbooker Report, bird books, animal books, natural history books, ecology books
"How does one distinguish a truly civilized nation from an aggregation of
barbarians? That is easy. A civilized country produces much good bird
literature."
--Edgar Kincaid
The Birdbooker Report is a special weekly report of a wide variety of science, nature and behavior books that currently are, or soon will be available for purchase. This report is written by one of my Seattle birding pals and book collector, Ian "Birdbooker" Paulsen, and is edited by me and published here for your information and…
grrlscientist | January 17, 2010tags: Eurasian Tawny-Eagle, Asian Tawny-Eagle, African Tawny-Eagle, Tawny Eagle, Aquila rapax, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Tawny Eagle, also known by a number of common names that reflect its wide-ranging status; Asian Tawny-Eagle, Eurasian Tawny-Eagle and African Tawny-Eagle, Aquila rapax, photographed at Nakuru National Park, Kenya, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 29 July 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm lens at 400. ISO 200, 1/350, f/6.3.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.…
grrlscientist | January 17, 2010tags: religion, school, religion, catholicism, comedy, humor, fucking hilarious, Dave Allen, streaming video
Irish Comedian Dave Allen (1936-2005) remembers his introduction to religion -- his first day of school.
David Tynan O'Mahoney (Dave Allen) was popular in the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada in the 1960s, 1970s and also in the 1990s; he became known in America through reruns of his shows on public television.
Allen's act was typified by a very relaxed, intimate style -- he would sit on a chair, smoking and holding a glass of whiskey. An atheist[1] (according to Allen himself, "…
grrlscientist | January 16, 2010tags: religion, IDiots, satire, parody, comedy, humor, fucking hilarious, Hitler, DOWNFALL, streaming video
The so-called Discovery Institute is a pretentious über-Christian disguise for creationism and an ultra-Conservative social agenda called The Wedge Strategy. So-called Intelligent Design theory is plagiarized from William Paley's long-refuted Blind Watchmaker argument, and is merely creationism in a not-so-cunning disguise.
Having neither facts nor logic at their disposal, the polemicists of the so-called Discovery Institute have been forced to resort to lies and subterfuge. One of…
grrlscientist | January 16, 2010tags: Suomenlinnan Ikkuna, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinnan Ikkuna (Suomenlinna window).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | January 16, 2010tags: Two-banded Courser, Smutsornis (Cursorius) africanus gracilis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Two-banded Courser, Smutsornis (Cursorius) africanus gracilis, photographed at Tarangire National Park, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 30 August 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm lens at 400. ISO 200, 1/250, f/8.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | January 16, 2010tags: Kitten Mittens, funny, weird, silly, cats, pets, streaming video
Does your cat make too much noise? Try Kitten Mittens!
Interessante Showeinlage eines verrückten Katzenbesitzers.
grrlscientist | January 15, 2010tags: The Downfall, Hitler, funny, weird, silly, Jay Leno, Conan O'Brien, streaming video
It's a bad day for everyone! In this parody, Hitler finds out the devastating news just before a planned vacation to Southern California: Leno Is Moving Back To Late Night. The film used to parody the NBC Late Night situation is DOWNFALL starring Bruno Ganz. Essay below the jump is a brief blow-by-blow synopsis of Leno-O'Brien opinions on the matter.
A brief blow-by-blow synopsis of Leno-O'Brien opinions on the matter:
MONDAY
Jay Leno, monologue from "The Jay Leno Show" : "I take pride in one thing. I…
grrlscientist | January 15, 2010tags: evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, life history, migration, long-distance migration,birds,ornithology,researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper
White-rumped sandpiper, Calidris fuscicollis, chicks on Bylot Island, Nunavut, Canada.
Image: Laura McKinnon [larger view]
I recently told you about research that used new microtechnology to document the incredible journey of Arctic Terns, a small bird species that annually migrates from its wintering area in Antarctica to its breeding colonies in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions of Europe, Asia, and North America…
grrlscientist | January 15, 2010tags: Suomenlinnan käytävällä, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinnan käytävällä (Suomenlinna passageway).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | January 15, 2010tags: Delicate Owl, White Owl, Barn Owl, Tyto alba, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Barn Owl, occasionally known as the Delicate Owl, or more commonly as the White Owl, Tyto alba, photographed on the roadside in the Rio Grande Valley, the southernmost tip of Texas. This valley occurs at the boundary between the United States and Mexico. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: ©JRCompton.com/birds: JR Compton, 2008 [larger view]. [Added 19 April 2010: Link to photoseries of this bird]
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at…
grrlscientist | January 15, 2010
Image: wemidji (Jacques Marcoux).
Nam et ipsa scientia potestas est (And thus knowledge itself is power)
-- Sir Francis Bacon.
Have you read an especially good essay about science, nature or medicine lately? If so, why not share it with the world by submitting the URL for this essay to a blog carnival designed to share excellent writing with others? You don't need to be the author of an essay to submit it for consideration, and this is one way that blog carnivals grow in size and influence: by sharing with others.
Scientia Pro Publica (Science for the People) is a traveling blog…
grrlscientist | January 15, 2010tags: art, wildlife art, stop-motion painting, Riparian Rashomon, Agami Heron, Agamia agami, Brilliant Forest Frog, Lithobates warszewitschii, entertainment, Carel Brest van Kempen, streaming video
This is a fascinating stop-motion video of the creation of artist Carel Brest van Kempen's painting, Riparian Rashomon. This is a diptych (two-panel) piece, vertically oriented. The upper panel is painted first, then the lower one, and finally the two are brought together as intended. Each panel depicts a different viewpoint of the same event: a Brilliant Forest Frog evading an Agami Heron in a…
grrlscientist | January 14, 2010tags: How it's Made: Aluminum Foil, aluminum, material science, chemistry, technology, streaming video
The video shows the process of producing everyday use aluminum foil from huge, raw aluminum ingots.
grrlscientist | January 14, 2010
Who: Eric Alterman
What: free public presentation, "What Would Thomas Paine Think? Liberal Values in Obama's First Year"
Where: New York Society for Ethical Culture [travel instruction] 2 West 64th Street (at Central Park West) [map]
When: 700 pm, Wednesday, 20 January
Cost: FREE and open to the public
CFI-NYC's annual Thomas Paine Memorial Lecture will be delivered by Eric Alterman, media columnist for The Nation and Distinguished Professor of English and Journalism at Brooklyn College. The event takes place exactly one year after the inauguration of President Obama, and Paine's view --…
grrlscientist | January 14, 2010tags: Suomenlinnan Ikkuna, Helsinki, Finland, nature, image of the day
Suomenlinnan Ikkuna (Suomenlinna window).
Soumenlinna, Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 19 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | January 14, 2010tags: Redhead, Pochard, Raft Duck, Red-headed Raft Duck, Aytha americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Redhead, also known by a slew of other names, including Pochard, Raft Duck and Red-headed Raft Duck, Aytha americana, photographed in Hermann Park, Houston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 23 December 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/500s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Here's another image of a different…
grrlscientist | January 14, 2010tags: art, wildlife art, stop-motion painting, Eastern Painted Turtle, Chrysemu picta, entertainment, Carel Brest van Kempen, streaming video
This is a fascinating stop-motion video of artist Carel Brest van Kempen's painting of an Eastern Painted Turtle, Chrysemu picta, a common and widespread American reptile. In my opinion, Carel Brest van Kempen is the finest wildlife artist alive today.
The original painting has been sold. Carel Brest van Kempen published a stunning book, Rigor Vitae: Life Unyielding [my review] and writes the art blog that goes by the same name, that might be of…
grrlscientist | January 13, 2010tags: conservation, reptiles, King Cobra, Ophiophagus hannah, Gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, water pollution, Romulus+Whitaker, TEDTalks, streaming video
The gharial, Gavialis gangeticus, and king cobra, Ophiophagus hannah, are two of India's most iconic reptiles, and they're endangered because of polluted waterways. Conservationist Romulus Whitaker shows rare footage of these magnificent animals and urges us to save the rivers that sustain their lives and our own.
TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers…
grrlscientist | January 13, 2010tags: evolutionary biology, behavioral ecology, migration, microtechnology, geolocator, natural history, biological hotspots, longest migration, seabirds, Arctic Tern, Sterna paradisaea, researchblogging.org,peer-reviewed research, peer-reviewed paper
Arctic Tern, Sterna paradisaea, Iceland.
Image: Arthur Morris, Birds as Art, 2007 [larger view].
Canon 400mm f/5.6L lens (handheld) with the EOS-1D Mark III. ISO 200. Evaluative metering +1/3 stop: 1/1000 sec. at f/5.6 in Manual mode. Manual Flash with Better Beamer at 1:1.
For decades, it was widely suspected that a small seabird, the…