Wildlife February 2011

[Paul T]

Howdy All,

Just to show you we have cute little songbirds as well........  a blue wren posing on gravel at a local nursery today.   They're small, and very flighty little beggars, so I was very happy to actually get a decent pic.  He even sat in place on a fence later for a couple of other shots, and had a bit of a sing for me as well. 

[Paul T]

And here's a cute little chap we found on our front doorstep last night, sitting under the front light waiting for insects.  My wife had just walked by and hadn't seen him, so he or she is lucky they weren't a squished little frog. 

This is a Peron's Tree Frog (Litoria peroni).  Distinctive in that it has a cross shaped pupil (makes it instantly recognisable).  I've included 3 pics here, 2 of which show different angles, but the 3 in sequence show his pupil changing shape as it responded to the camera flash.  I took 3 quick shots and then stopped as I didn't want to disturb him any further.  Only when I looked at the shots later did I notice the change in the pupil between the 3 of them.  I don't know if it is of interest to anyone else, but I thought it was cool. 

[ranunculus]

VERY pretty Paul ... and beautifully captured.

[Gail]

I don't know if it is of interest to anyone else, but I thought it was cool. 

Me too.  Any reason for the cross-shape??
(Love the wren too)

[Paul T]

Gail,

No idea.  I do wonder whether there would be advantages to a cross shape pupil when it came to peripheral vision?  I really don't know.

[Lori S.]

I like the frog but the blue wren is stunning!
Here is some mountain wildlife from nearby Banff National Park... including a wolverine, something most people, me included,  have never seen.
http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/ab/banff/plan/plan1/decembre%202010-december%202010.aspx

[Paul T]

Lori,

Yeah, the blue shimmer on the head and neck feathers is pretty beautiful if you get close enough to get a good look.  They're very flighty birds, which makes a lot of sense as it keeps them alive.    Speed and constant movement is what maintains them against predators in most cases I think.  They have the most uplifting song..... I can never be unhappy hearing them, always getting a smile out of me.

Wolverine on the other hand might be a bit different!!    Very cool, but better from a distance!!

[Lori S.]

Wolverine on the other hand might be a bit different!!    Very cool, but better from a distance!!

Well, I think Homo sapiens are a lot more dangerous than any other animal, but having said that, we always give any wild animal it's space... even the little, cute ones. 

[Nick_the_grief]

... but having said that, we always give any wild animal it's space... even the little, cute ones. 

And a Bull Elk needs some space

[annew]

I like your wren and frog, Paul. Our wren, too, has a wonderful song. It never ceases to amaze me how such a deafening blast of sound can come from the lungs of one of our tiniest birds.

[Lesley Cox]

Super pics everyone and I really love the blue wren Paul. Did you take the frog pics with flash? That could explain the pupil becoming smaller with each shot.

Lori, many years ago, I guess about 50, I had a pair of ankle boots which were wonderfully comfortable for walking and were entirely waterproof. Now I would never buy such things because they sold as being wolverine which I'd like to think is now a protected animal? Anyway, why I mention it is because they were not black as the pics in your link but were of short rather bristly fur/hair of a greyish colour which glistened silver in the sun. On thinking about that now, I wonder were they seal or even baby seal. If so, I'd like to go and bury myself deep in a bog.

[Lori S.]

Lesley, that does sound like sealskin.  When I was a kid, I was given a little stuffed seal made of real sealskin so in good conscience, I guess I should be bog-bound too.    (It was actually a souvenir from Hay River, Northwest Territories from my sisters... which is a little odd since Hay River is far inland and North America has no fresh water seals*...  )
Anyway, wolverine fur is long, and, so the lore goes, was used for trimming parka hoods in the arctic because it did not freeze up.  (Having related that tale, the property that a substance might have that would somehow prevent water vapour from freezing on it eludes me...)


*Oops, wrong again...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freshwater_seal
Well, at least the Northwest Territories has no fresh water seals... ?

[mark smyth]

I need to be buried in a bog also because I have a winter Parka with a fur edged hood made from and I quote "road kill"

[Lesley Cox]

Oh Mark, did you kill it? Last Satuirday when I drove to work at 5.30am I killed 2 rabbits. There were 7 altogether on the side of the road and two just darted out under the wheels. I couldn't have missed them to save myself. I sent a text to Roger who retrieved them. Cain and Teddy finished them last night.

[mark smyth]

Lesley will I send you a spade  As far as I know I have only killed one bird and millions of flies

In the UK in the 80s we couldnt have driven very far without the windscreen getting covered in dead flies. It doesnt happen anymore. I only hit moths at night and bees by day

My coat was made in USA/China/far east by Polo.

Out of curiosity if we call China the far east what do NZers call it? We call you down under. What are we?