Posts about photos

Bird on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail

close up photo of a bird

Bird on the Ice Age National Scenic Trail in Wisconsin. Please comment if you know what type of bird this is.

Related: Backyard Wildlife: Blue JayBird Using Bread as Bait to Catch FishFriday Cat Fun: Cat and Crow FriendsBackyard Wildlife: Sharpshinned Hawk

Backyard Wildlife: Family of Raccoons

Mother raccoon with 3 babies

I took this photo of this mother Raccoon with 3 youngsters in my backyard. Raccoon’s are pretty big; it is somewhat amazing to me they manage to find enough to eat. I have seen individuals around over the years (not very often though) but only saw this family twice.

I continue to have many wildlife sightings in my backyard which is quite nice.

Related: Backyard Wildlife: FoxBackyard Wildlife: Great Spreadwing DamselflyRed-Shouldered HawkBackyard Wildlife: Turtle

Backyard Wildlife: Great Tailed Grackle

Great tailed grackle, stalking in grass

I think this is a Great Tailed Grackle, please comment if you think I am wrong. This is taken in my backyard in Arlington, Virginia.

Great tailed grackle, sitting in grass

Related: Red-Shouldered HawkBackyard Wildlife: Fox and DeerBackyard Wildlife: Blue JayBackyard Wildlife – ChimpmunkBackyard Wildlife: Robins Attack Holly Tree

Backyard Wildlife: Fox

photo of a fox in ivy under a holly tree

I have seen this (or another fox) several times recently but this was the first time it stayed visible long enough for me to get a photo. It is fun having backyard wildlife to connect us to nature.

A few years ago another fox enjoyed laying out in the sun in my backyard for a few weeks.

I am amazed how many animals I have seen in my backyard in a very urban area. In the last few weeks, in addition to this fox: possum, raccoon (I’ll post photos later), deer, squirrels, and various birds.

Here is an updated photo of deer, since my first few sightings didn’t result in a good photo.

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Images of 200 Calorie Portions of Various Foods

Wisegeek has photographed what 200 calories of various foods looks like. A small sample is shown here:

photos of 200 calorie portions of various foods

Some of the other 200 calorie portions they show are 1425 grams of celery, 588 grams of broccoli, 385 grams of apples, 333 ml of whole milk, 290 grams of grapes, 204 grams of sliced smoked turkey, 150 grams of eggs, 72 grams of a blueberry muffin, 53 grams of brown sugar and 52 grams of a donut or pretzel.

Related: A Healthy Lifestyle is More About Health Care than the Sickness Management That We Call Health Care IsHealthy Diet, Healthy Living, Healthy WeightEat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.Better Health Through: Exercise, Not Smoking, Low Weight, Healthy Diet and Low Alcohol IntakeObesity Epidemic Explained – Kind Of (1970 – Americans ate an average of 2170 calories per day 2000 – Americans ate an average of 2700 calories per day) – Examining the Scientific Basis Around Exercise and Diet Claims

Camera Trap Images of Very Rare Wild Cats

This video show some wonderful images from remote cameras equipped to film when an animal is spotted. These camera have aided scientists in understanding wildlife in their natural environment and also by providing us cool images.

Related: Rare Chinese Mountain CatBornean Clouded LeopardPhotos of Rare Saharan Cheetah and Other WildlifeScottish Highland Wildcats

Rubber Trees

I think rubber trees are pretty cool, dripping out nice latex is just neat.

photo of rubber trees

Photo of rubber trees in Khao Lak, Thailand

Latex is collected from trees which is then treated to make rubber. Hevea brasiliensis (originally found the Amazon basin in Brazil), the Pará rubber tree, sharinga tree, or, most commonly, the rubber tree, is a tree belonging to the family Euphorbiaceae. Gutta-percha (Palaquium) is a genus of tropical trees native to Southeast Asia. The milky latex extracted from the trees is the primary source of natural rubber. Now refining petroleum is an alternative way for creating products that required rubber previously, but rubber is still economically important.

In 1876, Henry Wickham gathered thousands of para rubber tree seeds from Brazil, and these were germinated in Kew Gardens, England. The seedlings were then sent to India, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), Indonesia, Singapore and British Malaya (now Malaysia). Malaya was later to become the biggest producer of rubber. In the early 1900s, the Congo, Liberia and Nigeria also became significant producers of natural rubber latex.

photo of a rubber tree seed

Rubber tree seed from near Fraser’s Hill, Malaysia, by John Hunter.

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Circumhorizontal Arcs – Fire Rainbows – Cloud Rainbows

photo of rainbow in a cloud

Fire Rainbow, Johor Bahru by John Hunter

Yesterday afternoon I spotted this odd, colorful, spectrum seemingly in a cloud in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. The colors are similar to a rainbow but the prism effect takes on a bit different form than a rainbow as I learned with a bit of searching online. I added a short post to this blog, about the phenomenon a few years ago.

photo of a large cloud over Johor Bahru

Johor Bahru under a large cloud which is topped with a fire rainbow.

A circumhorizontal arc is an optical phenomenon – an ice-halo formed by plate-shaped ice crystals in high level cirrus clouds. They are also known as “fire rainbows,” if the cloud is at the right angle to the sun, the crystals will refract the sunlight just as when rainbow is created.

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Wonderful Views of Life Using Micro-photography

The Olympus BioScapes 2011 Winners Gallery is full of great photos and videos of micro bioscapes.

Floschularia Ringerns Rotifer

Floschularia Ringerns Rotifer feeding by Charles Crebs

Winning photo by Mr. Charles Krebs, Issaquah, Washington, USA
Specimen: Rotifer Floscularia ringens feeding. Its rapidly beating cilia (hair-like structures) bring water containing food to the rotifer
Technique: Differential interference contrast microscopy

The photo shows the microscopic animal’s self-made reddish tube-shaped home, with a building block in the process of being formed inside the rotifer’s body.

Related: 2006 Nikon Small World Photos50 Species of DiatomsArt of Science at PrincetonArt of Science

Amazing New Light Field Camera: Adjust Focus After You Take the Picture

The cool Lytro light field camera lets you adjust the focus after the picture is taken. Wow what a surprise the company is located in Mountain View, California. Oh wait, no that isn’t a surprise. Those of us in the USA should thank our lucky stars for having Silicon Valley in our country.

The Lytro will be available in early 2012 starting at $399 (a 8 GB model able to hold up to 350 images) and $499 for a $499 16 GB model able to hold 750 images.

The camera does take 3d images. That feature will be enabled via a software update after the initial release.

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Image of Map Showing Concentration of Life in Oceans

Image showing regions of life in the oceans

This image shows the abundance of life in the sea, measured by the SeaWiFS instrument aboard the Seastar satellite. Dark blue represents warmer areas where there is little life due to lack of nutrients, and greens and reds represent cooler nutrient-rich areas.

The nutrient-rich areas include coastal regions where cold water rises from the sea floor bringing nutrients along and areas at the mouths of rivers where the rivers have brought nutrients into the ocean from the land. NASA has posted a large gallery of great images for Earth Day.

Related: Altered Oceans: the Crisis at SeaMicrobes Beneath the Sea FloorA single Liter of Seawater Can Hold More Than One Billion Microorganisms