teaching
grrlscientist | April 28, 2009tags: Roseate Spoonbill, Platalea (Ajaia) ajaj, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Roseate Spoonbill, Ajaia ajaj, photographed at Tom Bass Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 20 March 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 | April 27, 2009tags: leucistic Red-Winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] leucistic Red-Winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 18 January 2009 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2009:01:18 08:46:49
Exposure Time: 1/750
F-Number: 8.00
ISO: 320
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 26, 2009tags: Northern Parula, Parula americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Northern Parula, Parula americana, photographed at Quintana and Beach, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 20 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/1250s 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 | April 25, 2009tags: Great-Tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Great-Tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 7 January 2006 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2006:01:07 15:08:24
Exposure Time: 1/159
F-Number: 13.00
ISO: 200
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
khannula | April 25, 2009It's that time of year again. The plotter is out of paper and the students have new haircuts and clothes I've never seen. It must be time for senior thesis presentations. In about an hour and a half, the senior geology students will be giving 15-minute talks (the same length as at professional geology meetings) to a room full of friends, professors, parents, recent alums, and curious local geologists. They're probably nervous now, but when they come out, they will have accomplished something.
Their senior thesis work really started back in January of 2008, when they started scrambling for…
grrlscientist | April 24, 2009tags: American Golden-Plover, Pluvialis dominica, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] American Golden-Plover, Pluvialis dominica, photographed in Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 19 March 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.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 23, 2009tags: Brown Creeper, Certhia americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Brown Creeper, Certhia americana, photographed at the Big Sioux Recreation Area near Brandon, South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 30 December 2007.
Photo taken with a Canon 20D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 22, 2009tags: Black and White Warbler, Mniotilta varia, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Black and White Warbler, , photographed in Quintana and Beach, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 20 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/320s 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 | April 21, 2009tags: Black-throated Sparrow, Amphispiza bilineata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Black-throated Sparrow, Amphispiza bilineata, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 18 May 2005 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2005:05:18 08:27:35
Exposure Time: 1/249
F-Number: 16.00
ISO: 400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 20, 2009tags: Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Black Vulture, Coragyps atratus, photographed in Tom Bass Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 20 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/400s 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 | April 19, 2009tags: Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Gray Jay, Perisoreus canadensis, photographed in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 9 August 2007 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 20D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
grrlscientist | April 18, 2009tags: Muscovy Duckling, Cairina moschata, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery birds] Muscovy Duckling, Cairina moschata, photographed in Hermann Park, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 22 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with tsn-pz camera eyepiece 1/320s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
The single eyeline is seen only in a small subgroup of the dabbling ducks; the mallards, black ducks and their close relatives. However, a close look at the thicker…
grrlscientist | April 17, 2009tags: Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Poecile rufescens, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Poecile rufescens, Photographed near a small Olympic Peninsula lake in Shelton, Washington State. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Lee Rentz, 19 February 2009.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Review all mystery birds to date.
khannula | April 16, 2009I'm brainstorming for my summer class, and I'm thinking about creating an exercise or assignment in which students try to figure out whether a web site (or blog post, or whatever) is reliable. (I'm going to be teaching in a computer classroom, so I've got a choice of having students do a homework assignment or googling during class time. I don't need to decide that quite yet.)
I'm thinking of splitting the class into several groups and having them google some common pseudoscience/conspiracy theories, and have them look for any kind of hint that the information isn't reliable. I want to avoid…
grrlscientist | April 16, 2009tags: American Coot, Fulica americana, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] American Coot, Fulica americana, photographed in [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 April 2008 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/800s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Lobed feet are rare in birds. The foot in question is too long, too green, and too strong for…
grrlscientist | April 15, 2009tags: mystery bird, identify this bird, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Scarlet Tanager, Piranga olivacea, photographed in Newton Hills State Park in South Dakota. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Terry Sohl, 16 May 2007 [larger view].
Photo taken with a Canon 20D, 400 5.6L.
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Blur your eyes a little and step back from the monitor: what do you see? I see a smallish bird but not…
jlynch | April 14, 2009The Arizona Education Association is reporting that nearly 4,500 K-12 teachers and other personnel have been pink-slipped for the next school year. What is truly worrying about this is that it is based on reports from only 36 of the 220 districts statewide and more layoffs are inevitable. You may remember that Republican lawmakers called for drastic cuts instead of raising taxes (which haven't been raised state-wide in 20 years). I hope they are happy.
For some context, you need to remember that Arizona before the cuts spent less than almost every state in the Union on education while being…
jane | April 14, 2009I have a To-Do list that's longer than my arm.
I have multiple deadlines that are Looming Large this week.
My scholarly materials are due fairly soon, and there are a couple more things that need to be sent out into the Great Reviewing Stream ASAP.
I have about 20 research-related tasks that must be done Right Now.
I have been completely neglecting Mr. Jane. We are not even 2 ships passing in the night....we are 2 ships flying in completely different solar systems.
So what have I spent the last 4 hours doing? Writing a homework assignment. (And actually, much of that was tweaking the…
grrlscientist | April 14, 2009tags: Abert's Towhee, Pipilo aberti, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Abert's Towhee, Pipilo aberti, photographed in Arizona. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Richard Ditch, 22 February 2009 [larger view].
Date Time Original: 2009:02:22 16:36:34
Exposure Time: 1/400
F-Number: 5.60
ISO: 250
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
A big, long-tailed, pot-bellied, heavy-billed sparrow -- aka, a towhee.
The only towhee…
grrlscientist | April 13, 2009tags: Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, birds, mystery bird, bird ID quiz
[Mystery bird] Lesser Black-backed Gull, Larus fuscus, photographed in Quintana, Texas. [I will identify this bird for you tomorrow]
Image: Joseph Kennedy, 2 March 2009 [larger view].
Nikon D200, Kowa 883 telescope with TSN-PZ camera eyepiece 1/1250s f/8.0 at 1000.0mm iso400
Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification.
Rick Wright, author of Aimophila Adventures and Managing Director of WINGS Birding Tours Worldwide, writes:
Yes, it's a gull -- but don't panic. I think you'll agree…