Beautiful Animals

Grackles/starlings - I'd never heard of grackles before, so looked them up - they are almost interchangeable with starlings!

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CC8QFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbirdinggirl.blogspot.com%2F2008%2F06%2Fdifference-between-grackles-and.html&ei=uvoMUrXzNY6yhAelpIBo&usg=AFQjCNGzA6nl05w-VqqRuTNH7DRSEpcR3A&bvm=bv.50723672,d.ZG4&cad=rja

Aha! A starling in non breeding plumage and beak color.

Well, I had fun looking at birdie photos last night. Much I don't know.

More of a birder collie: Laddy challenges the notion that border collies are among the most intelligent of dog breeds after being unable to get down from a tree he scampered up. His owner says the pooch apparently chased a squirrel up the tree after escaping the electrical fencing system at his home in Davenport, Iowa, due to a dead battery in his collar.
PHOTO BY RON STEVENSON/ASSOCIATED PRESS/SFGate



Whisker basket: A zookeeper packs a young seal for a beach trip at Seehundstation Norddeich, a rehab center for orphaned seal pups on the North Sea German coast. This youngster is about to be returned to the wild.
PHOTO BY DAVID HECKER/GETTY IMAGES/SFgate




Out you go: Young seals, now strong enough to fend for the themselves, crawl out of their baskets and into the surf on a beach in the Islands of Juist near Norddeich, Germany. The pups were raised at a rehab center for about a year. They would have likely not survived had they not been rescued.
PHOTO BY DAVID HECKER/GETTY IMAGES/SFG

You and vonny are right, I think. I'm not much on bird ID. Horseshoes and hand grenades and all that.

Not sure if this has been posted already.
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/science-discovers-new-very-adorable-mammal.php

Olinguito


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(AP Photo/Mark Gurney)

oops sorry, I just saw that there was a thread posted about this animal.

A young polar bear leaping between ice floes -

You peoples have been very busy. Gonna give this a try.

tsar, Loved the porcine bath. Such gentleness. Wonderful.

Tres interesting shot, osso. The horse and rider are clear and everything else is a blur. Great to see this. Thanks. I know that dogs can occasionally get up a tree. This is the first (for me) where one couldn't get down. The seal pics are delightful. Love the face on the one coming out of the basket. Thanks, kid.

vonny, The polar bear cub made me go Aw. I did not thud. The tortoise watermelon pic made me hungry. Great shot. The leopard shot is a megadoozy. Absolutely gawgeous. As is the horse pic. Great tactile qualities to that one. And another white bear, this one in midleap. Great pic. I don't know how these wildlife photographers have the patience they do to capture just the right moment. Thanks for them all.

Reg, Definitely a plotziferous bear pic. Thanks mucho.

FBM, An amphibian! A change of pace for you. Love the close-up of the eye.

t2l, Thanks for the pic. Doesn't matter that it's been posted already. Great to see it.

Baby stoat (ermine):

Ah, crap, a baby stoat, that is stealing my heart.

(I still miss Stoat from abuzz and I think he was here a bit, not sure)

osso, enjoy this box of delicious Godiva chocolates as you're think of Stoat.

Thank you, deBach, I will.

NAIROBI, Aug. 12, 2013 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on April 20, 2013 shows elephants walking at Amboseli National Park, Kenya. The World Elephant Day was launched on Aug 12, 2012 to bring attention to the urgent plight of Asian and African elephants.
Photograph: Zhang Weiyi/Corbis

Ants

Red-Crowned Crane