grrlscientist | December 29, 2009tags: Black Kite, Milvus migrans, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black Kite, Milvus migrans, photographed at Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen [larger view].
Nikon D2X and Nikon 200-400 VR lens at 270 mm. ISO 160 f/6.3 1/800.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | December 29, 2009tags: dogs, pets, hospitals, organ transplants, comedy, humor, funny, fucking hilarious, television, streaming video
This video is the hilariously stupid dog scene from One Tree Hill, now with suitably awkward closing music.
grrlscientist | December 28, 2009tags: Fencing Flamingos, ornithology, ecology, endangered species, food webs, research, field work, Marita Davison, Jennifer Moslemi, Jamie Herring, streaming video
"Fencing Flamingos" follows the work of Marita Davison, a PhD student in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at Cornell University, and her collaborator Jennifer Moslemi as they study flamingos in the rugged high-Andes of Bolivia. The harsh conditions made it challenging to make the video, Davison says, but it's been worth it. "We've had more people see the video than I'll ever have reading a journal article that I write." The video…
grrlscientist | December 28, 2009tags: Henslow's Sparrow, Ammodramus henslowii, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Henslow's Sparrow, Ammodramus henslowii, photographed on the Konza Prairie Biological Station (Riley County) in Manhattan, Kansas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dave Rintoul, 8 July 2007 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | December 28, 2009tags: Bikini Curling, Drinkers with a Curling Problem, curling, sports, parody, satire, funny, humor, fucking hilarious, streaming video
In a new made-for-mobile series, "Drinkers with a Curling Problem," award-winning Canadian director David Ostry explores deviant variations of the favorite winter sport -- curling.
You might recall my own fondness for the sport of curling.
grrlscientist | December 27, 2009tags: Santa Claus Boot Camp, Marines, Christmas, holidays, Father Christmas, parody, satire, funny, humor, fucking hilarious, streaming video
This amusing video shows you details for how next year's Santas are being prepared for their respected position as givers of gifts.
grrlscientist | December 27, 2009tags: airline security, homeland security, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, Lagos Murtala Muhammed International Airport, LOS, President Obama, politics
Helping Airport Security: Fly Naked.
(orphaned image)
By now, you all are aware that yet another privileged young extremist man, 23-year-old Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, boarded an airplane bound for the United States with the intention of blowing the plane up and in doing so, ending hundreds of innocent civilian lives. If you know that, then you also know that several passengers and the authorities caught Abdulmutallab as he tried to…
grrlscientist | December 27, 2009tags: 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 | December 27, 2009tags: Female Painted Bunting, Passerina ciris, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Female Painted Bunting, Passerina ciris, photographed at Pelican Island (A&M Property), Galveston, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 April 2007 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 500.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | December 26, 2009tags: What Would Jesus Buy? - Beat The Devil, religion, parody, satire, funny, humor, streaming video
This video is by producer Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) and director Rob VanAlkemade. "What Would Jesus Buy?" examines the commercialization of Christmas in America while following Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse (the end of humankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt.) The film also delves into issues such as the role sweatshops play in America's mass consumerism…
grrlscientist | December 26, 2009tags: Syngonanthus chrysanthus 'Mikado', plants, horticulture, Expat Life, Frankfurt through my eye, photography, image of the day
Syngonanthus chrysanthus 'Mikado' cultivar.
Image: GrrlScientist, 26 December 2009 [
Syngonanthus chrysanthus 'Mikado' cultivar.
Image: GrrlScientist, 26 December 2009 [larger view].
This plant has dozens of tiny unscented flowers on the ends of stalks that are up to 35 centimeters tall. These flowers resemble shiny gold balls and when opened, have tiny, paper-thin cream color petals. Its long, narrow and slightly fuzzy leaves closely resemble grass. These…
grrlscientist | December 26, 2009tags: Intergrade Northern Flicker, red-shafted x yellow-shafted Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Intergrade (red shafted x yellow shafted) Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus, photographed at the Black River Riparian Forest in Renton, Washington. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Michael C. Hamilton, 9 August 2009 [larger view].
Digiscoped using a Leica 77-mm spotting scope with a Nikon P6000 compact camera.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | December 26, 2009tags: kitchen science, science abuse, christmas lights, microwave oven, funny, humor, brainiac, streaming video
This video shows one of several dangerous kitchen experiments conducted by real scientists who video them -- all so you don't have to repeat them yourself.
grrlscientist | December 25, 2009tags: Polar Bear Versus Walrus Colony, nature, global warming, climate change, BBC, Planet Earth, documentary, streaming video
This video documents an awesome fight for survival as a grown male polar bear takes on a walrus colony at the edge of the Arctic circle. This was a truly epic battle, phenomenally captured in high quality, from the BBC natural history masterpiece, Planet Earth.
What surprised you most about this footage? I was surprised that the walruses did not work together to defeat/get rid of the polar bear.
grrlscientist | December 25, 2009tags: Holidays, christmas, Atheist Holiday Traditions, big fat whale, cartoon, comedy, humor, satire, fucking hilarious
Image: Big Fat Whale [larger view].
grrlscientist | December 25, 2009tags: Dangerous Wands: The Ghetto Harry Potter, Harry Potter, teaching, poverty, funny, humor, parody, streaming video
A little birdie whispered into my ear about this video .. to say the least, as a former college professor and Harry Potter fan, I LOVE it, and I think you will enjoy it, too!
grrlscientist | December 25, 2009tags: birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Christmas Duck, Anas noellus, photographed in a kitchen on the 13th floor of an apartment building in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Unlike most mystery birds, this individual came with a label indicating that it originated in France. [I might identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: GrrlScientist, 25 December 2009 [larger view].
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Yes, I did roast this duck a little longer, after so rudely slicing into the leg like that.
Image: GrrlScientist, 25 December 2009…
grrlscientist | December 25, 2009tags: Darth Vader in the Death Star Cafeteria, entertainment, comedy, funny, fucking hilarious, transvestite, Eddie Izzard, streaming video
I have a secret for all you kids out there. When your parents tell you to leave your Christmas gifts in the living room while you sleep in your bedrooms, they are spending Christmas night using their new digital video cameras to create YouTube videos, such as this one, where they re-enact scenes from their favorite movies. Don't believe me? Well, watch this, but don't get mad at me if this turns out to be one of your parents playing with your toys!
grrlscientist | December 24, 2009tags: Jingle Farts, Holidays, humor, funny, silly, streaming video
Here's a silly holiday greeting and song especially for all my readers who appreciate such things.
grrlscientist | December 24, 2009tags: Merry Christmas, Maury Povich, ecard, comedy, humor, satire, fucking hilarious
[larger view].
As you all prepare to celebrate the holidays, I thought I'd send an ecard your way.