Sunday, November 7, 2010

Birdwatching at Hawk Mountain

Hawk Mountain is a wildlife sanctuary in east-central Pennsylvania. It is located right on the migration path many birds take and is a very popular spot for birdwatching.

We did see the migrating raptors - but only the outlines. Raptors tend to fly rather high, and only the strongest optics could get a good close-up of them flying overhead. There were volunteers calling out the types of birds and keeping count, and lots of people getting very excited about each one. But, of course, I have no photos to show for it - my lens are not that strong.

Besides raptors, there was other wildlife in the sanctuary, though - at a much closer distance. We saw some birds at the feeder by the Nature Center, chipmunks and squirrels gathering acorns for the winter, heard and saw Blue jays and grackles... Not to mention the beautiful view, fall colors and great crisp weather.

This American goldfinch united forces with a pine siskin (?) to repel an invader.

White-breasted nuthatch. You can tell these guys from a mile away by the way they run around the tree trunks.

White-breasted sparrow. Looks a lot like the white-crowned ones in CA.

Still undecided, if this was a female downy or hairy woodpecker. Most likely downy, since it was not too large.

Black-capped chikadee.

Barely captured this titmouse - it wouldn't stand still for a second.

This winter wren was exploring a small cave. Do they nest in caves, I wonder?

A Northern Cardinal in all his glory...

...and his fair lady.

Dark-eyed (or Slate-colored) junco.

Non-avian wildlife :))

This American Kestrel was part of a very educational lecture at Nature Center amphitheater.

A view of the River of Rocks from Hawk Mountain.

Wildlife Refuge

Shortly after arriving in Philadelphia (and before even unpacking my car) we visited Heinz National Wildlife Refuge, which is located right in Philadelphia and was established to protect the tidal marshes next to Delaware river.

We didn't have much time, but the place looked very promising and we will definitely return there for a longer walk.

We did see a white-tailed deer, though! There it is giving me one last look before disappearing into the bushes.

The Great Blue heron was intently watching the water and allowed us to come quite close.

An assortment of butterflies on a cleared patch near the parking lot. A Common Buckeye, a White Admiral (or Red-spotted Purple) and some sort of a sulphur...

A whole new Zoo

This Zoo is, actually, the oldest in the US. It's new to us, because we just moved to Philadelphia.

Here are some of the residents of Philadelphia Zoo as we found them this fall.

Gila monster taking a snooze on a warm rock.

These two male kangaroos were practicing wrestling in their spare time.

Hammerkops are known for their huge nests. The pair in aviary was actually working on building one.

Southern ground hornbill with it's amazing eyelashes.

Cheetah... the Zoo has several, all beautiful and very large.

African Wild Dog

White-nosed coati - a relative of the racoon...

Patagonian cavy, also known as Mara, is a rodent - a relative of Guinea pig.

This Lowland gorilla male was curiuos.

Spectacled langour

Sifaka... it's nice to be flexible, isn't it? I bet you can't do that!

This baby orangutan just turned one. The dad is hiding under a blanket in the background.

Mountain lions resting in a shade.

The Zoo Baloon is quite a landmark; so what it's grounded most of the time due to inclement weather :))

Milk frog lazily eyeing food...

Alligator lizard

Saturday, May 22, 2010


After helping out with a herpetology survey for Natural History Museum today (walking around the park looking for lizards) we were invited to a private tour of the museum's herpetology collection. Fascinating stuff, although a little disturbing, especially for those with weak stomachs (ye be warned!).

The collection is housed in a very modern-looking vault with mobile shelving units, much like the one we had at a film company I used to work for. It saves a lot of space by eliminating the isles - you just move the shelves around to access whichever section you need.

The shelves are filled with jars of all sizes and with randomest things inside them. Like an iguana head.

Or some pickled turtles. Okay, they are not pickled, they are contained in alcohol, which need to be constantly refilled to keep the specimens from um... losing value.

Too bad the alcohol also causes discoloration, so all specimens have almost the same shade of greenish color. The shape, texture and any markings still remain though, and the specimens are in high demand by scientists all over the world and, sometimes, by moviemakers too. The curator told us that there is a special protocol for shipping specimens. I would imagine so.

Alligator vs. crocodile. Yes, they have skeletons, too. And parts of skeletons. Or skeletons without parts...

This iguana skeleton was intact, but the Komodo dragon right next to it was lacking the head.

Gila monster. Dried specimens retain color much better than those preserved in alcohol.

All in all it was very interesting. I still prefer live animals though.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

The wonders of the Central Coast - Elephant Seals at Piedras Blancas

One of the greatest attractions of the Central Coast for me is the elephant seal rookery near San Simeon. The huge seals can be seen there any time of year, because they take turns coming ashore to molt, mate, be born, fight, rest, nurse... The winter is the best time, though, because it's the peak season for births and mating. This year I was for the first time able to drive up there in the winter and indulge in watching and taking photos of this huge and wonderful guys.
Following the photos, there are some interesting facts about them, which I collected from various websites.

By mid-February, which is when I got there, most adult males have already fought over and established their territories, and the females were more or less fairly distributed among them, most of them with an accompanying pup. The younger/smaller males were orbiting around, taking every chance to mate with the females while the dominant male was looking the other way. They would retreat hastily once detected, without waiting to be assaulted. While seals are rather awkward on land and move around like huge caterpillars, it was amazing how agile a 2 ton male can be when chasing a competitor away from his harem.

While most of the pups were busy nursing every waking moment, some seemed to be already abandoned by their moms and were lounging around, waiting for their turn to leave land. As it usually happens, some youngsters did not make it, and there were a few immobile, sand-covered foul smelling bundles here and there that were an object of keen interest for vultures and crows. Around them the life went on: mating, nursing, sleeping, scratching, throwing sand over themselves, sparring (mostly young male pups), with a lot of yelling into the bargain. Everyone contributed to the noise: huge males snorting to announce their presence and maintain territorial boundaries; females yelling, pretending to be unhappy about the males' advances; pups screaming while being "stepped" on or after losing that teat for a second...

Elephant seals are large, oceangoing seals in the genus Mirounga. They were hunted to the brink of extinction by the end of the nineteenth century, but numbers have since recovered.
Elephant seals take their name from the large proboscis of the adult males (bulls) which resembles an elephant's trunk. The bull's proboscis is used in producing extraordinarily loud roaring noises, especially during the mating season. More importantly, however, the nose acts as a sort of rebreather, filled with cavities designed to reabsorb moisture from the animals' exhalations. This is important during the mating season when the male seals rarely leave the beach to feed and therefore must conserve body moisture as they have no incoming source of water.
The Northern Elephant Seal, somewhat smaller than its southern relative, ranges over the Pacific coast of the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

Females come ashore in January-February to give birth. The pups are black, noisy and active with a strong interest in the milk from their mother that will take them from approximately 70 pounds at birth to over 300 pounds in four weeks. Some resourceful pups nurse from two or three females. They can weigh 600 pounds and are aptly called "super weaners".
Adult females abruptly wean their pups by desertion about 24 days after giving birth. They come into season and mate before leaving for the ocean. However, the fertilized egg does not implant in the wall of her uterus for about four months a rare phenomenon called "delayed implantation". The theory is that the female is so weak after nursing and fasting that she doesn't have enough energy to nourish the egg. Since the seals' gestation period is seven months, this delay means that the young will be born after the female reaches her breeding ground the following year. The pups could not survive if born at sea.
By mid-March, most of the adult seals are gone, leaving the pups behind. The pups teach themselves to swim before following them.

(Info collected from Wikipedia, and