grrlscientist | September 4, 2009tags: birds, parrots, Quaker Parrot, Monk ParakeetGrey-Breasted parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus, NYC events, NYC Life, Brooklyn, Wild Parrot Safari
Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Image: Magnus Manske, 10 May 2008, Wikipedia [larger view]
Even though NYC is located in the armpit of hell where, during the summers, the air is a humid miasma of fetid human sweat and decomposing dog shit, and the winters possess the cold and wind of Antarctica with none of its natural charms, there is a brave group of illegal aliens who not only live here, but are actually thriving…
grrlscientist | September 4, 2009tags: Great-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great-tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus, photographed at Bolivar Flats, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 14 July 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1000s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | September 4, 2009The cricket sang,
And set the sun,
And workmen finished, one by one,
Their seam the day upon.
The low grass loaded with the dew,
The twilight stood as strangers do
With hat in hand, polite and new,
To stay as if, or go.
A vastness, as a neighbor, came,--
A wisdom without face or name,
A peace, as hemispheres at home,--
And so the night became.
~ Emily Dickinson
This is the cutest event I've heard of for NYC: a night spent counting crickets and katydids.
What: NYC Cricket Crawl (counting 7 species of crickets and katydids in NYC)
Where: New York City area
When: Friday, 11 September 2009 at 7:…
grrlscientist | September 4, 2009tags: egg inside an egg, chicken, offbeat, birds, streaming video
This video documents opening an extraordinarily large chicken egg and shows what was inside: another, normal sized egg!
What's disgusting about a chicken egg shell? All you have to do is wash it off, let it dry, and you have a really interesting set of eggshells!
grrlscientist | September 3, 2009tags: bunnies, show jumping, humor, funny, streaming video
This video shows what happens when Brits Danes are locked into the same room with a bunch of very cute bunnies.
Kinda reminds me of this; horse Grand Prix show jumping;
grrlscientist | September 3, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 5768 - 1838 - 1652 - 1208 - 1117 out of 553 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With less than 4 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. Many tens of thousands of votes have already been cast in this competition, so if the people who have cast their votes already decide to change them, they can significantly affect the outcome of this competition. The…
grrlscientist | September 3, 2009tags: conservation, environmentalism, global warming, ocean acidification, AMNH, American Museum of Natural History, New York City, A Sea Change, film premier
Image: A Sea Change [larger view].
Can you imagine oceans that have been emptied of all fish? What would life be like for other life forms on this planet if there really were no more fish in the sea? This is not science fiction: human-caused ocean acidification is already making its effects known. Sometimes known as the "wet underbelly" or "evil twin" of climate change, ocean acidification is caused by excess carbon dioxide from…
grrlscientist | September 3, 2009tags: Daisy, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Helsinki daises.
Photographed as I walked to Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 3, 2009
Who: Toni Van Pelt, director of the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C.
What: free public presentation, "Lobbying for Science and Reason on Capitol Hill"
Where: University Settlement, 184 Eldridge Street (and Rivington St.) [map]
When: 730pm, Thursday, 10 September
Toni Van Pelt is the director of the Center for Inquiry's Office of Public Policy in Washington, D.C. She will talk about her work as a lobbyist, promoting and advancing science and secularism. In her work, she asks our congresscritters to base law and policy on empirical evidence and the scientific…
grrlscientist | September 3, 2009tags: birds, parrots, Quaker Parrot, Monk ParakeetGrey-Breasted parakeet, Myiopsitta monachus, NYC events, NYC Life, Brooklyn, Wild Parrot Safari
Monk Parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Image: Magnus Manske, 10 May 2008, Wikipedia [larger view]
Even though NYC is located in the armpit of hell where, during the summers, the air is a humid miasma of fetid human sweat and decomposing dog shit, and the winters possess the cold and wind of Antarctica with none of its natural charms, there is a brave group of illegal aliens who not only live here, but are actually thriving…
grrlscientist | September 3, 2009tags: Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Great Crested Grebe, Podiceps cristatus, with baby aboard, photographed on Lake Constance, Kontanz, Germany. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Joe Byrnes, 14 June 2009 [larger view].
Several people have sent me photographs of birds recently, including one person who sent a penguin mystery bird! The penguin image has mysteriously disappeared, so please do re-send that image. This mystery bird (which is on my life list, thanks to the many pairs I saw in Finland) is the…
grrlscientist | September 3, 2009tags: travel, nature, Antarctica, king penguins, Aptenodytes patagonicus, David Attenborough, streaming video
This video presents a Nature program that documents the huge colonies of Antarctica's King Penguin, Aptenodytes patagonicus. It's amazing to see a giant creche comprised of 50,000 King Penguin chicks, and to watch the courtship behaviors among these birds. Narrated by the incomparable David Attenborough.
grrlscientist | September 2, 2009tags: canada, health care, human rights, streaming video
This video consists of a series of interviews with real Canadians. They discuss the realities of their single payer health care system, and are offended by the American right wing's insulting it.
This video made me deeply angry: in America, health care is obviously not a human right. In America, people like me -- whose health, credit rating, ability to find employment and financial future have been severely compromised due to a lack of health care -- deserve our situations, right? After all, things like this don't happen to real…
grrlscientist | September 2, 2009
Image: Sneer Review.
The current Antarctic Trip Vote count is as follows; 5715 - 1830 - 1628 - 1208 - 1117 out of 546 candidates registered. I am in third place and sloooowly creeping up on second place. With less than 4 weeks remaining, things are heating up and voting is changing rapidly as previous voters reassign their votes and new voters cast theirs for the first time. Many tens of thousands of votes have already been cast in this competition, so if the people who have cast their votes already decide to change them, they can significantly affect the outcome of this competition. The…
grrlscientist | September 2, 2009tags: road, woodland, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Trees.
Photographed as I walked to Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
Can you name any other large city in the world where you can walk in nature within 20 minutes or so after arriving on a plane?
grrlscientist | September 2, 2009Everyone loves free books, right? Well, I know I do, and since I've got a huge stack of books in my apartment that are seeking a loving home, I want to share them with you. These books are duplicates of review copies, advance reading copies and uncorrected proofs as well as some books that I purchased or somehow obtained. All books are in excellent (like new) shape, unless otherwise noted. I am offering them to you several times per week for the next few months, free of charge, although I will ask you to pay the cost of the shipping envelope and postage for mailing each book to you. Below the…
grrlscientist | September 2, 2009tags: road, woodland, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
A Well-Traveled Road Through a Wood.
Photographed as I walked to Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 2, 2009tags: Daisy, Gardening, Horticulture, Botany, nature, Helsinki, image of the day
Mystery blossoms.
Photographed as I walked to Tarvaspää Café at the Gallen-Kallela Museum
near Tarvon Salmi in Helsinki, Finland.
Image: GrrlScientist, 2 July 2009 [larger view]. (raw image)
grrlscientist | September 2, 2009tags: Cut-throat Finch, Ribbon Finch, Amadina fasciata, Kenya Canary, Yellow-crowned Canary, Serinus flavivertex, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Yellow-crowned (Kenya) Canary, Serinus flavivertex (left), Cut-throat (Ribbon) Finch, Amadina fasciata (right), photographed in the Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania, Africa. [I will identify these birds for you in 48 hours]
Image: Dan Logen, 7 August 2006 [larger view].
Nikon D2X, 200-400 mm VR lens at 310 mm. ISO 400 f/5 1/500 sec.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds…
grrlscientist | September 2, 2009tags: travel, ecotourism, Antarctica, music, Sarah Maclaughlan, Silence, streaming video
This is for everyone who has asked me, "why do you want to go to Antarctica?" This is the most amazing video I've seen on YouTube about Antarctica .. everything about it -- from the footage to the music -- is first-class. The music is sung by Sarah Maclaughlan and is called "Silence."