Beautiful Animals

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2015/apr/24/the-week-in-wildlife-in-pictures

Two great egrets mate in their nest in the mangroves on an island in Cat Bay, in Plaquemines Parish in in Louisiana, US.
Photograph: Gerald Herbert/AP




A goldfinch feeds its newly hatched chicks in their nest in Chungju, North Chungcheong province, South Korea.
Photograph: Kim Jae-sun/EPA

Coyote Pretty: Videos Show Coyote Prancing In Battery Park
http://gothamist.com/2015/04/25/coyote_pretty_battery_park.php

Awww. They're smarties..

http://www.buzzfeed.com/richardhjames/a-giant-rat-has-been-spotted-in-north-london-and-people-are

Shenanigans ! Going by the size of the tread on the stair and the size of the brick as comparison, the rat is about 10" long, which is quite reasonable for a pet rat, and that would also explain the tameness . Slow news week in London...

A goldfinch feeds its newly hatched chicks.

Such gorgeosity:

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/send-them-back#.cjAJjo5Av

THUD ALERT IN ...


5...



4...



3...



2...


Sorry about that. I just couldn't wait that long.

What a beauty!

The Guardian has another good batch of The Week in Wildlife photos, just a few I'll show here.
Link to see all the photos - http://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2015/may/08/the-week-in-wildlife-in-pictures


A rare black squirrel foraging among bluebells in Fairlands Valley Park, Stevenage, UK. Black squirrels can also be found in places where grey squirrels were first introduced from North America at the end of the 19th century. Their origin in the UK has been a topic of dispute, with initial research indicating that melanistic individuals are descendants of black zoo escapees. Regardless though their population continues to grow.
Photograph: David Haylock/Rex Shutterstock




A female Yangtze giant softshell turtle (Rafetus swinhoei) in Suzhou zoo in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China. Artificial insemination in a pair of the only left 100-year-old turtle at the zoo was successful, raising hopes of saving the world’s largest freshwater turtle species. Rafetus swinhoei is an extremely rare species of softshell turtle found in Vietnam and China. It is listed as critically endangered on the IUCN red list and only four living individuals are known.
Photograph: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images




Golden monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) play in a forest in Senlongjia, Hubei, central China. Photograph: Fawei Yang/Corbis




A blackbird feeds worms to its chick at Lake Constance in Langenargen, Germany. Photograph: Felix Kaestle/AP




And then, this cat -
A Eurasian lynx at the zoological park in Amneville, France.
Photograph: Jean-christophe Verhaegen/AFP/Getty Images

"A bite from a blue-ringed octopus can completely paralyze and kill an adult human in a matter of minutes." Photo by Gary Bell

That almost looks like a neat way to go, if you gotta go.
Wonderful photo.

Taiwan (or Formosan) blue magpie:

I have actually poked one of those with my big toe, whereupon its rings turned blue and I became the record holder of the World Land Speed Record . Look it up...I'm in Guinness .

Guardian photos -

Sea birds (kittiwakes) in their nests on a cliff face above the North Sea near Craster, Northumberland, UK. Photo: Anita Nicholson/Alamy




A female silver-leaf langur (Trachypithecus cristatus) with its young at Bako national park, Borneo, Malaysia. Silver-leaf langur babies have a ginger fur, evolved to make it easier for parents to spot their offspring, experts say. The fiery colour also acts as a signal to the rest of the troop that there is a baby in their midst and they should share the work of caring for it. The fur begins to darken after a few months. Photo: NPL/REX Shutterstock




Pink flamingos in the Camargue regional natural park, near Arles, southern France. Situated in the delta of the Rhone river on the French Mediterranean coast, the Camargue biosphere reserve is made up of a mosaic of lagoons of fresh, brackish and saline wetlands, one of the most important in Europe. It covers an area of over 360 square miles with an exceptional biological diversity and home to unique breeds of horses and bulls, and more than 400 species of birds including pink flamingos.
Photo: Jean-paul Pelissier/Reuters




A great blue heron catches a catfish during the final round of the Players Championship at the TPC Sawgrass Stadium Course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, US. Photograph: Erik S. Lesser/EPA

For Roberta - American Pharoah wins Preakness

(made me cry, just like each time I watch Secretariat at Belmont)

http://www.savagechickens.com/2015/05/the-beaver.html