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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Recent content by pbgrebe

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    Comment by 'pbgrebe' in media 'Great Egret'

    WOW!!! Great photo of this classy egret!
    • pbgrebe
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    Comment by 'pbgrebe' in media 'Incomparable'

    Great photo of this immature pelican...and rather timely from my perspective given that I recently wrote a post about brown pelicans in the "Bird Behavior" forum. As I noted there, pelicans remind me of pterosaurs when in flight and your photo gives a good illustration of this.
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    • Gallery comment
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    An Interesting Detail Regarding Feeding by Brown Pelicans

    I meant to attach these photos with my original post but couldn't locate the correct file at that time. This is a photo sequence of a brown pelican strectching its amazing, elastic pouched beak, ending with it fully stretched. Pelicans are way too cool and they remind of pterosaurs when in flight!
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    An Interesting Detail Regarding Feeding by Brown Pelicans

    Back when I first saw brown pelicans hunting I noted a curious aspect about their feeding process. Brown pelicans utilize several different hunting methods. On that occasion they were using their spectacular high aerial dive method. As I observed various individuals engaging in dives I was...
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    Call at night -- fox? (Cottbus, Germany)

    Yes, a typical red fox call which can be described as a cross between a bark and a scream.
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    New Sea Otter Book

    This new book examines sea otter life in a manner that’s different from any of the others that I’m aware of. If you’re curious about what the daily life of a sea otter is like, this book provides an intimate picture and is worth checking out. The book is about a behavioral case study that...
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    An interesting wood duck food item

    During this seasonal period in my locale the wood ducks here eat a food item that, offhand, you might not think they would bother with. We are currently in the season here during which the cottonwood trees disperse their seeds. Those of you who live in areas which have an abundance of cottonwood...
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    Osprey flying round and round with fish?

    Given the time of year this could be breeding related. However, I’ve had observations of this behavior which indicate that it may also have a function besides just courtship. These were observations that occurred well outside of the breeding season and when only the one osprey (i.e., the one...
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    Gulls in a northern elephant seal rookery

    Gulls are amazing opportunists and are great at finding ways to take advantage in various settings and circumstances (and oftentimes in some surprising ways). I saw a good example of this during the times that I observed the annual, large, seasonal northern elephant seal birth/breeding rookery...
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    Memorable Red Kangaroo Encounter

    While going over some old photos of my visit to Australia I came across two that reminded me of a unique encounter that I feel is worth sharing. My flight arrived in Melbourne and from there my first destination was Mutawintji NP. Shortly after arriving there I went for a hike in the campground...
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    Comment by 'pbgrebe' in media 'House Finch, probably female with some form of albinism.'

    There seems to be an issue with semantics here. “Albino” is one of those terms that have come to acquire multiple meanings and usages. There are basically two interpretations of the term: a popularized (or more common, classic) one, and one that is scientifically/medically based. The more...
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    • Gallery comment
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    Comment by 'pbgrebe' in media 'House Finch, probably female with some form of albinism.'

    Thanks for posting this photo of this finch rarity! The dark eyes tell you right away that it's not an albino. It appears to be leucistic. I've seen many, many house finches from coast to coast but never a leucistic one like this so it appears that this condition is very uncommon among this species.
    • pbgrebe
    • Gallery comment
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    Parrots in California?!

    No, this photo of a pair of Black-hooded parakeets (aka Nanday parakeet/conure—Aratinga nenday) perched in a Eucalyptus tree wasn’t taken in Brazil or Australia. Instead, it was taken in Zuma Canyon in southern California where an introduced feral population of this South American avian species...
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    Making electricity poles safer for birds

    I spent several years working in the California condor reintroduction program and power lines and poles are also a source of mortality for these large, magnificent birds—this is both by electrocution and by striking power lines while in flight. There are those within the program who have pushed...
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    Eurasian jay mimicking birdsong

    Your post reminded me of one of the coolest instances of mimicry in the wild that I’ve heard. It occurred in California and involved a Steller’s jay that mimicked the call of a red-tailed hawk (I jokingly referred to this individual as a red-tailed Steller’s jay). What was particularly...
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