Beautiful Animals

Can't reach it -- it's pretty far up. I've become an early bird magnet recently. Had my own alarm duck for a while (6:30 am like clock-work) -- a mallard that thought about setting up housekeeping in the pool next door until he saw their Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever:

Gorgeous retriever there.
Hmm, maybe Woody will peck the metal thing out of its niche.

There are two kinds of people in the world....

an update on the daily B who's been poorly



February 24’s Daily Bunny just had major surgery to remove some abscesses in her belly and is now in intensive care. Her owner is hoping for your best wishes. We’re hoping Fearn gets well soon!

UPDATE:

Fearn’s owner sent us a happy update on the bun’s condition!

The past few days have been pretty full on but I am ecstatic to say that Fearn is doing terrifically. We took her back to the vets [on Saturday] for her post-surgery check-up & the vet is super happy with her progress. We can now stop critically care feeding her & she’s slowly getting back to her naughty self The abscesses remaining in her tummy are still a concern but we’re hoping that the antibiotics that we continue to administer will assist in shrinking them.

dj, You saw bluebirds and didn't take a picture!? You disappoint me greatly. I don't accept the excuse that you didn't have your camera. Very happy to hear that Fearn's health is improving. Rooting for ya, bunny.

osso, I never noticed page numbers. From your reaction I'm assuming that page 500 is some kinda milestone. I usually pay attention to views. Past 400,000. Makes my head spin.

tai, An actual real woodpecker pecking wood and tin. I'm impressed. Also another one without a picture. (And they're related. Must be genetic.) Love that retriever, Tai. Trying to remember if I've ever seen this breed. It doesn't look familiar.

hingehead, I needed a laugh, and I got one. Thanks mucho, kid.

A friend is on vacation and sent me a long letter/nature report. She saw a vireo. Do I know what a vireo looks like? I do now:



Lovely little thing, doncha think?

i did have my camera, but it was logistically impossible to park the car safely

the daily B & O

Funny bunny and darling otter..


"Ugly? We think not: Ever since Hans Christian Andersen wrote the "Ugly Duckling," baby swans have been getting a bad rap. This face should settle the issue once and for all. (Mute cygnet, Abbotsbury Swannery in Abbotsbury, England."
Photo: Matt Cardy / Getty Image/SFGate





"Now that you mention it, my tail does resemble a smoldering cigar. Thanks for noticing. (Baby meerkat, Gelsenkirchen Zoo in Germany.)"
Photo: Victoria Bonn-Meuser / AFP / Getty Images/sfg




"A gannet makes a clumsy landing on a ledge at Bempton Cliffs on the East Yorkshire coast of England. About 20,000 gannets nest with more than 200,000 other seabirds on the 300-foot-high chalk cliffs."
Photo: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images




"Take-home for the kids: Dog rose pollen sticks to the hairs of a bumble bee's leg near Frankenthal, Germany. Upon returning to its hive, the bee will feed the pollen to its young."
Photo: Uwe Anspach / AFP / Getty Images

dj, Park, shmark. I want pictures. Double thud again re today's B&O. There's only so much a body can take.

osso, Great shots. Thanks, kid.

Members of the French Gendarmerie take part in a rehearsal for the 2011 Royal Tattoo at Windsor Castle on May 10, 2011. This year the Royal Tattoo features 250 troops from the French Army, Navy, Air Force and Gendarmerie.

Proof of the existence of the secret league of ninja-assassin squirrels!

Here's also one of mine. I love 'em flamingoes...

the daily B & O

bunny looks apprehensive

otter looks smug

Barry, Such beautiful equines. Wonderful pic.

Royable, Wonderful shot of well-fed flamingos. Thanks for posting.

Madagascan emperor moth:

Terrific - and welcome to the thread, Royable.

A couple of photos via today's SF Chronicle Day in Pictures -

Fox kits -
Photo: Terry Prather / The Ledger Independent




"A Canada goose gosling munches a sprout near the Schuylkill River in the City of Brotherly Love."
Photo: Matt Rourke / AP

dj, I think the otter looks pensive.

osso, Love those alert foxy faces. The gosling is a cutie.

Thanks you guys.

An endangered Green Sea Turtle dives through a breaking wave at the perfect moment to avoid getting dragged across the reef in Oahu, Hawaii.
Picture: CLARK LITTLE/BARCROFT USA

Cool.

Osso, that photographer has a unique way of photographing the ocean. Here's another of his shots on the same day (no animal involved, so I didn't post it before)...

Lying on the ocean floor in Oahu, Hawaii, Clark Little points his camera upward and captures an unusual perspective of a wave as it rolls over him, creating tornado-like spirals. Clark was awarded the 2010 Oceans Photography Award at the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC for an underwater picture of a surf tube similar to this one, entitled 'Twister'. His winning picture will be shown at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC from April 16 - September 25, 2011...
Picture: CLARK LITTLE/BARCROFT USA

This one needs a caption...

This bobcat got into a spot of bother after running from a pack of wild dogs - and climbing to the top of a prickly cactus. It sat on the spines and cowered as ten hounds gathered at the base of the 15ft-high saguaro cactus. Paco Espinoza took the picture in Navojoa, Sonora, Mexico. He said: ""The saguaro had a lot of thorns and it would have been painful sitting up there. The dogs had the cactus surrounded and the bobcat was scared so my dad and I threw stones to make them flee."
Picture: Paco Espinoza/Solent News & Photo Agency

that gosling eating the shoots hits close to home, my neighbour runs a vegetable stand and was planting onions the other day, he finished went in the house, and when he comes back out, he finds the Canadian Geese who hang out in his pond walking up and down the rows munching on the little plants

meanwhile, the last few days i've been getting grief from a Robin while working in the garden, and today i see why

these guys have taken up residence in a conifer near the house

they'll probably be long gone by the time i get back from the north, but i'll get a few more pics in the next week