Beautiful Animals

http://www.noupe.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/squrel.jpg
Convinced this guy is just settling in front of the TV with the remote control. I wonder what's on?

You still can.

Roberta, thought of you when I saw this ice sculpture photo on Facebook.

bump

A Holiday Wish: 2013, The Year Of The Chimpanzee

http://www.npr.org/blogs/13.7/2012/12/20/167580886/a-holiday-wish-2013-the-year-of-the-chimpanzee

Barry, Thanks for the cute. I needed that. Dramatic is good too. Gawgeous hawse.

HH, Something rodential no doubt.

Butrflynet, Holy moley. Wow. That's spectacular. Nice to know you thought of me when you saw it. Thanks.

tsar, The year of the chimp?? I love that. I love dem chimps. (You knew that.)

Brown-eared pheasant (rare Chinese bird):

Very Beautiful

@ all

Time for my visit to the Guardian's The Week in Wildlife (as you can tell, I love that series). There are more nature type galleries to look at too. I could be there all day.


Parrots enjoy the sunshine at the Suzhou Zoo in Suzhou in eastern China
Photograph: Hang Xingwei/Corbis




An impressive sight as thousands of knots enjoy the last high tide at Snettisham on the Norfolk coast on 16 December. Richard Peters, who took the shot, explains: 'Over the winter tens of thousands of knots spend the winter on the Norfolk coast at Snettisham. When there is a high tide the birds are forced off the mud flats where they fly in mass across to a lagoon where they spend time on the banks until the tide goes back out, at which point they return to the mud flats'.
Photograph: Richard Peters/Rex Features




A new miniature fish which was recently discovered 83km north of Surat Thani in southern Thailand. Measuring just 15-20mm, the species has been recorded at several spots within the lower Tapi river catchment. The fish is named after the large blotch on its body (the Latin naevus means blemish). From a devilish-looking bat to a frog that sings like a bird, scientists have identified 126 new species in the Greater Mekong area, said the World Wide Fund for Nature.
Peter Maguire/AFP/Getty Images




An undated handout picture released on December 17, 2012 by World Wide Fund for Nature shows a "yin-yang" frog (Leptobrachium leucops), just one of five new amphibian species discovered in the region in 2011.
Jodi Jl Rowley/AFP/Getty Images




An iguana sleeps on the branch of a tree in the Tra Pang Sap village rescue centre.
Photograph: Heng Sinith/AP




Long-tailed ducks in Shetland, Scotland – a species now threatened with extinction. The UK has lost 44 million birds since 1966, according to a new report.
Photograph: Hugh Harrop/Alamy




A pileated gibbon, a species found in the Central Cardamom Mountain Range, but seen here in Phnom Tamao wildlife rescue centre, Cambodia.
Photograph: David Emmett/Conservation International





A green pit viper in the Cardamom Mountains, Cambodia
Photograph: David Emmett/Conservation International




A spotted jaguar in the jungle of Brazil. The species is a symbol of Mayan royalty.
Photograph: Larry Larsen/Alamy

Hi Roberta, Just posted your owl and pussycat video to Facebook. Did this precede or follow their sea voyage?

@all

Seen in Houston today
The fork-tailed flycatcher, native to Central and South America, was spotted Dec. 15 during the Travis County Audubon Society's annual Christmas Bird Count.

Its arrival has caused a stir nationwide because birders have documented only 25 sightings of the fork-tailed flycatcher in Texas in the past 150 years, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife.

Mark Klym, a Texas Parks and Wildlife biologist, said the bird's presence this far north is probably due to a mix-up during migration.

"The fork-tailed flycatcher usually comes from Argentina to Mexico at this time of year,"

osso, Overwhelmed. Great pics and great animals. I confess I don't know what knots are--the animal variety. But the photo is fascinating. Enjoyed seeing the newly discovered fish. I love dem primates, gibbons included. Thanks mucho.

nextone, I think they're working up to their sea voyage. Quien sabe?

edgar, Major news. A rare siting indeed. And a beautiful bird. Thanks.

One of the first cross-species friendships I knew about was the one shown here. There's a bit of back story in the narration. I love this stuff.

Sighting.

That's what computer language will do for one.

edgar, Can't blame the computer. Sigh.

Not a flower. This is a configuration of nudibranch eggs:

I got this Japanese buzzard a few days ago:

That's a kite, not a buzzard.

Buteo japonicus, if anyone's interested. Nothing rare about the bird, but it's the best bird pic I've taken in a while.

http://www.planetofbirds.com/accipitriformes-accipitridae-eastern-buzzard-buteo-japonicus

glorious, fbm, thank you!

And danke right back, osso. I got a new camera right after that, so I hope I can offer something better before long.

Ok. Be well, happy new year. I mean it.