Uploads from Abizeleth, tagged animal, with geodata

Lounging

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Thu, 16 May 2013 20:25:05 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

Calico lounging outside the Serbian church in Dubrovnik. I saw her there more than once.

dolphin escort

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 18:12:49 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

A short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) following our ferry in the Cook Straight between the north and south islands in NZ. There was a very large pod of dozens of dolphins - amazing to see! They were leaping and following the boat and clearly enjoying themselves.

We were extraordinarily lucky - the weather in the Cook Straight is usually ridiculously awful, but it was a nice calm day when we were there.

Apparently this shot has made an appearance on Explore - thanks all! :)

sharp-snouted rock lizard

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 15:31:21 -0800

Abizeleth posted a photo:

Sharp-snouted rock lizard (Dalmatolacerta oxycephala) on a wall at Trsteno Arboretum.

Look at those toes!

Swallow-tailed gull

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:05:43 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

Swallow-tailed gulls (Creagrus furcatus) are endemic to the Galapagos and the only nocturnal gulls in the world. They feed on squid and fish that come to the ocean surface to feed on plankton at night.

waved albatross

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 07:17:04 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

The waved albatross (Phoebastria irrorata) were my favorite birds that we saw. They are large, sturdy birds, with a wingspan of 2.3m (7.5 feet) and can soar for long periods of time without stopping. They're so large, in fact, that they can't easily take off unless there's a tall cliff to use as a runway for take off. That's what this one is doing -- heading for the cliff edge to take off.

On Española, we were lucky to see them do their courtship dance, which involves a lot of bowing, head waving, and bill fencing. Pictures of that later!

They are critically endangered as a species, with a world population of around 30,000. 99% of them live and breed in the Galapagos, but there's a small population on Isla de la Plata, off the coast of Ecuador.

Hello there!

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 14:12:50 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

A Galapagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki) comes to see what's up. Or down, as the case may be.

They would often swim towards us upside down, quite rapidly, and then dive and swim beneath us. This one was particularly interested in the camera leash. They were very friendly and playful, and would imitate your actions. If you did a circle, they would follow. If you did a somersault, they would follow. If you blew bubbles, they would too. Totally delightful creatures! A real highlight of the trip.

Roadblocks

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 13:31:44 -0800

Abizeleth posted a photo:

From Stina's trip up Srđ yesterday.

through the fence

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 04:04:05 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

A friendly cat through an iron fence at one of the monasteries in Dubrovnik's old town this morning. Dubrovnik has a LOT of cats - it's hard not to want to take them all home.

takeoff

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:34:01 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

Took the dog down to the lake yesterday for an evening walk - we've had unseasonably warm weather the last 2 days!

cat nap

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:33:51 -0800

Abizeleth posted a photo:

We had a string of sunny days last week, and the neighborhood cats were out. Alas, today we are having heavy rain.

scrawled cowfish

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:50:20 -0800

Abizeleth posted a photo:

Almost perfectly camouflaged, a scrawled cowfish (Acanthostracion quadricornis) hangs out in the seagrass.

See it large.

ghost crab with seaweed accoutrement

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 08:55:38 -0800

Abizeleth posted a photo:

These ghost crabs (Ocypode quadrata) were quite common and funny to watch scuttling around on the beach.

Turks & Caicos rock iguana

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:47:02 -0800

Abizeleth posted a photo:

The Turks & Caicos rock iguana (Cyclura carinata) is an endangered species endemic to the Turks & Caicos Islands. This species is actually doing well compared to other Cyclura in the Caribbean, but there are only 50,000 of them left. About 2,000 of them live on Little Water Cay, a nature preserve that's near the island of Providenciales. Lots of tourboats visit the island and you can walk around on the boardwalks and see the iguanas.

The main threat to the iguanas throughout their range is from dogs and cats, which particularly hunt the smaller, young iguanas. TCI has been working to remove dogs and cats from their nature preserves, and some areas have been fairly successful.

lizard

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:43:50 -0800

Abizeleth posted a photo:

Sending this to one of my herpetologist friends for an ID.... Looks like he lost his tail at some point and regrew it.

All the better to hear you with

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 15:14:17 -0800

Abizeleth posted a photo:

Mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus) from Bandelier National Monument. It's hard to get over how much bigger the mule deer's ears are compared to the white-tailed deer we're used to seeing!

awwwww....

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:00:57 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

Galapagos sea lion (Zalophus wollebaeki) on the beach on South Plaza, Galapagos

Galapagos land iguana

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 09:59:29 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

The Galapagos land iguanas (Conolophus subcristatus) are endemic to the Galapagos, and some of the populations have been seriously threatened by wild dogs and goats that have been released on some of the islands. The Charles Darwin Research Station has been working to remove goats, dogs and cats from areas where they threaten wildlife.

action snot

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 12:30:25 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

Marine iguanas (Amblyrhynchus cristatus) are the only iguanas that go into the ocean to feed. They have a lot of extra salt in their bodies from feeding on marine algae, and they have several adaptations to get rid of that salt. One adaptaion is the salt glands that are part of their nasal structure, and every now and then, they blow salt everywhere out their nose, like a big salty sneeze.

The white crusty structures on their faces aren't actually skin, but rather are hardened plates of salt from this sneezing action.

long-tailed brush lizard

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:57:06 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

I'm lucky to have several colleagues who are quite good at IDing animals. I sent this photo to a herpetologist friend and got the reply that it was a gravid female long-tailed brush lizard (Urosaurus graciosus).

Seen at Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada. I quite liked the patterns on the lizard and in the rocks!

coyote

nobody@flickr.com (Abizeleth) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 12:15:12 -0700

Abizeleth posted a photo:

This coyote (Canis latrans) was wandering along the road in Death Valley, perhaps looking for handouts from tourists. It got quite close to the car, and I shot this picture through the windshield.