Beautiful Animals

That's a neat photo, Irish.

Re the tigers - what sweethearts!

Eagle photo great too.

Morning New York....

Whooper Swans.

G'night.

That one is going to be hard to beat.

ROFLMAO - literally.....

Irish, That looks like a young and inexperienced lion who learned a lesson. The wildebeest herd picture is amazing. When I scrolled down, my first reaction was that I was looking at snakes. Nope. Horns. Little Einstein is beautiful--and small. I love the vole pic and the baby tigers. If you ask me, dem eagles is just showing off. They're amazing aerialists. Why not show off?

dj, Am I looking at bunnies in a top hat? They have wonderful bright faces. (Where's the magician?) The otter is snoozing. I sometimes wonder how sea mammals keep from drowning. I guess they're buoyant.

Barry, I never heard of whooper swans. Thanks for the lesson. Don't need a lesson about the g'night pic. I know adorable when I see it.

Hawk on a pigeon hunt in Bryant Park, NYC:

Pigeon hunt?? I'm surprised that the park authorities are allowing such an event happen in such a highly populated park. Never heard of them in the middle of the city Roberta.

I'm relaying what the caption said. For all I know the hawk could be photoshopped in to a pic of Bryant Park. I liked the idea, but you're right, tsar, very unlikely.

tsar, The more I think about it, the more annoyed I am at myself for believing that a hawk would fly so close to humans. Highly unlikely. So to make up for a phony baloney picture, here's a pic of a famous pair of hawks living on Fifth Avenue--Pale Male and Lola:

African Jacana


African Pygmy Kingfisher

the daily B & O(h my god, there otter be a law)

dj, Glad to see dem boids. The kingfisher is a rare beauty. The photo with the jacama is stunning. The B&O today are the usual wonderful. Thanks, kid.

I kinda think that hawk in the park may be real, not photoshopped. It looks like it has jesses on its legs, which means it's not wild but somebody's trained hawk. Bryant Park apparently is home for thousands of pigeons as well as a hangout for thousands of New Yorkers, and the city gets hundreds of calls a month complaining about pigeons pooping on people. They've tried hiring a falconer who scares pigeons off by bringing his hawks around and letting them fly around a given area. Pigeons being pretty smart birds who can count to at least seven among other attainments do not hang around when the hawks fly. The city hired the guy in 04 or 05 to bring his birds--they're supposedly trained to not attack the pigeons or kill them. Unfortunately they didn't generalize their training and tried to carry off someone's pet chihuahua playing on the grass. That apparently cut the hawk experiment short. They're inured to some degree at least to people, so I wouldn't be surprised if that picture is really real. And of course there are wild hawks like Pale Male, who lives in a building with a doorman, for god's sake. They hunt pigeons too, and if you hunt pigeons you go where the pigeons are, which is eating people's hamburger buns and doughnuts.

Jack, Thanks mucho for all the info. While I was reading your post, I vaguely recalled the hawk experiment. I noticed the jesses, but didn't make the association.

Thanks for making it possible for me to enjoy the hawk in the park photo.

Morning New York,here's a couple of working dogs....


Spc. Adam Zettel and Mine Detection Dog Allan, 49th Mine Detection Detachment, search a compound in Qalat, Afghanistan, for possible unexploded ordnance, April 18. The team was asked to perform a ground sweep of the compound prior to the start of a forward operating base expansion project for Forward Operating Base Smart, home to Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul. Photo by 1st Lt. Brian Wagner



CAMP LEATHERNECK, Helmand province, Islamic Republic of Afghanistan - Boerne, Texas, native Lance Cpl. Wayne Snelling (left), looks on as Lance Cpl. Taylor Slay, a Baton Rouge, La., native, shares a piece of his steak with Mac, a military working dog with 3rd Light Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. Steak Team Mission, a privately funded, nonprofit organization from Dallas, served the Marines and sailors of 2nd Marine Division (Forward) steak dinners in seven separate locations within a five-day period.

Wining hearts and minds....

U.S. Army Spc. Ahren Blake, a combat medic from Clinton, Iowa, with Company D, 1st Battalion, 133rd Infantry Regiment, Task Force Ironman, a part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Task Force Red Bulls, holds two puppies he found at an observation post in the Aziz Khan Kats Mountain Valley range near Jalalabad, Afghanistan, April 15. The puppies have been living with the Afghan National Army Weapons Company, 2nd Battalion, 201st Infantry Corps, which man the Ops that 3rd Platoon visited.

G'night.

Barry, I enjoy seeing the working dogs. Hey dogs. Be careful. Also enjoyed seeing the puppies. There's an organization (can't remember the name) that makes it possible for dogs adopted by soldiers overseas to get a chance to come to the USA with them. I hoping this happens with those puppies.

Red pandas are among the best sleepers I've ever seen. They're cute/beautiful asleep and awake.

Blue-winged mountain tanager:

the annual (possibly one time only) BF & EB