Year in Nature Photography – Day 2

Day 2 was a rainy day here in southern Delaware, so I managed to snap a picture of some birds feeding on seed we put out in our backyard. As it is still winter for another month one would expect there not to be much blooming, but we’ve had a very mild winter and some plants are blooming earlier than usual, such as the daffodil I snapped a picture of. Studying the timing of the blooming of plants falls under phenology which is (from the dictionary) “The study of cyclic and seasonal natural phenomena, esp. in relation to climate and plant and animal life”. As you can see from the definition, phenology is important to study in order to understand our changing climate. To that end, scientists have enlisted the help of every day citizens, which is what we term “citizen science” to help collect data on when trees and flowers bloom or when they first hear certain bird calls.

Project Budburst is one of these citizen science projects and you can click the link for the website to find out more information and how you may be able to help in your own back yard http://neoninc.org/budburst/. Additionally you can check out the National Phenology Network http://www.usanpn.org/ for even more information.

Chipping Sparrows (Spizella passerina) most likely

Daffodil (Narcissus sp?)

Year in Nature Photography – Day 1

So for my first photo post-a-day for a year I attempted to try and do some night time photography to relatively little success. Over exposure and too much light are some of the culprits, but will definitely be working on it some more. So besides the moon I took a picture of the family dog.

Moon, 28 February 2012

Holly, the family dog Jack Russell terrier, (Canis lupus familiaris)

Birds

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Birds are wonderful creatures, unfortunately my avian (Latin for bird {avis}) identification skills are lacking. If I include a ? or sp? (species unknown) it means I’m not entirely sure of the exact ID.

You want to be careful when photographing nesting birds as you don’t want to scare them away from a potential nesting site, or a site where they have already lain eggs. My photo with the bird nesting in river cane was taken while doing my river cane research, for which I had to sample around the bird so as to not cause it to leave its nest. Beyond that, photographing birds as with all wildlife takes some patience and some good luck.

Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus)

Hooded Warbler, female (Wilsonia citrina) Nesting in River Cane

Indigo Bunting, male (Passerina cyanea)

Rock Dove (Columba livia) Photographed in Italy

Canada Warbler (Wilsonia canadensis)

Black-throated Blue Warbler, female (Setophaga caerulescens)

Laughing Gull, ? (Leucophaeus atricilla)

Humming Bird sp? Photographed in Los Angels, CA

Heron sp? Photographed in Italy

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)

Salamanders

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Salamanders are amphibians and often found in cool damp places. When photographing or studying them you want to try to handle them as little as possible or not at all. They breath through their skin and so the oils and any chemical residues (soaps and especially anti-bacterials) on our hands can damage them and dry them out. Additionally if you handle more than one at a time you may inadvertently transfer disease between salamanders. In some salamander species, if you grab them by their tails, they can actually lose their tails, which they’ll eventually regrow. This serves as a defense mechanism allowing them to escape capture, but we want to avoid stressing them as much as possible. We all want to strive to be conscientious nature photographers and through our photography increase awareness of the wonders of our world.

Red-cheeked Salamander (Plethodon jordani)

Possibly a Red-legged Salamander (Plethodon shermani) Possibly a Hybrid with (Plethedon teyahalee)

Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus)

Possibly a Red-legged Salamander (Plethodon shermani) Possibly a Hybrid

Possibly a Red-legged Salamander (Plethodon shermani) Possibly a Hybrid

Two-lined Salamander possibly Blue Ridge Two-lined (Eurycea wilederae)

Climate Change and the Red-cheeked Salamander

Climate Change And The Red-Cheeked Salamander

First video I did for Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This one following a researcher studying possible effects of climate change on the Red-Cheeked Salamander, an endemic species which means it’s only found within the National Park.

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/photosmultimedia/climate-video1.htm

Butterflies and Moths

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A few species of butterflies and moths I’ve photographed over the years. The simplest way to tell if you’re looking at a moth or butterfly is by the wings. If they’re ever held vertical then you have a butterfly, if they’re horizontal you have a moth.

Fritillary (sp?)

Unknown Moth

Giant Leopard Moth (Hypercompe scribonia)

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Giant Leopard Moth (Hypercompe scribonia)

Luna Moth (Acitas luna)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus)

Pipevine Swallowtail (Battus philenor)

Summer or Spring Azure (Celastrina sp?)

Eastern Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio glaucus) puddling

Random Nature Photos

River cane shoot tip (Arundinaria gigantea)

Luna Moth (Actias luna)

Humming bird (sp?) in Los Angeles, CA sipping from a Bird of Paradise Flower (Strelitzia sp?)

Mountain-laurel (Kalmia latifolia) at Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC

Carolina anole (Anolis carolinensis) at Congaree National Park, SC

Sunset from the Blue Ridge Parkway, NC

Spring Salamander (Gyrinophilus porphyriticus), NC

Monitoring Climate Change in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Monitoring Climate Change in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Second video I did for my internship with Great Smoky Mountains National Park on the possible effects of climate change within the park.

http://www.nps.gov/grsm/photosmultimedia/video-climate-change-phenology.htm

First Post

Ok, so I’m going to try to make this a daily thing by posting pictures, music videos, news articles, along with my own personal musings. We’ll see how this goes.