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Casu Marzu posted:I thought it was an owl of some sort at first, but then I heard a great horned owl a bit later. It also wasn't repeated like I normally hear owls call. It was a who-who, wait for a while, then another. Maybe a bullfrog distress call? Those are pretty crazy. Probably the owl, though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9_kckU5O50&NR=1 Wisconsin has twelve species of frogs; bullfrogs, green frogs, mink frogs, wood frogs, northern leopard frogs, pickerel frogs, two gray treefrogs, chorus frogs, spring peepers, American toads, and Blanchard's cricket frogs. All of them have pretty distinct calls; I like to try to describe or imitate them so that I can remember them. I'm pretty good with imitating a few frog calls, and I can get American, Fowler's toads, and narrow mouth toads to call back to me, which is really cool. Bullfrogs are pretty obvious, with a deep, vrOOmm, vrooom, kinda sound. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9_kckU5O50&NR=1 Green frogs sound of sound like a banjo being plunked, people describe them as. Sort of like, "dunnnk!" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0uGjsM_gh4 Mink frogs have a double or triple call, kind of duck duck. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOKE6qgyYn4 Wood frogs will have a sound that at a distance sounds a bit like a duck. nykk nkkk nkkk. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8vl...feature=related Northern leopards have part of their call that sounds a bit like rubbing a finger against a balloon. It's hard to describe, though. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDuv...feature=related Pickerel frogs have a sort of snoring call. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvamqQXtzO8 Gray treefrogs, which are calling in my backyard as I write this, have a jilting trill call. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2k5CTLNw04w Eastern chorus frogs generally sort of sound like rubbing your thumb along a plastic comb, though each species sounds a bit different. Pseudacris maculata, the boreal chorus frog native to Wisconsin, has a trill that goes up a few notes and then repeats, over and over. They sound a bit like crickets. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qq4fw1Zh4gc Spring peepers are obvious, just a simple peep. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhBsNqF7Hkk American toads have a long, high trill that can last for 40 seconds or so. When you get close to them, you can feel the sound waves bouncing off of your skin, especially if a lot are calling at you. I've been in the middle of small ponds surrounded by toads, and you can REALLY feel it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6-8pC8o5fw Blanchard's cricket frog is Wisconsin's only (state) endangered amphibian; they pretty much disappeared in the 70's. They're limited to a handful of sites in Wisconsin, and sound like two ball bearings banging into each other, and it generally increases in speed as the call progresses. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLL2mjTw2UU Wisconsin doesn't have any frogs that sound like other frogs, aside from the two grays, so it's really easy to learn the frog calls there. I struggled a bit after moving to South Carolina, but I'm pretty good with the calls in my area now, at least. If anyone is interested in frog calls, you might want to look into NAAMP, the North American Amphibian Monitoring Program. It's a volunteer program where they survey sites for calling frogs, and is active in 26 states. It's pretty fun; you just need to make three runs a year, where you go along an assigned fifteen mile route, stopping at ten sites for five minutes each, and then listen for frogs calling and record it on a data sheet. It's just 3 nights a year, for 3-4 hours each, and it is pretty relaxing. http://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/naamp/
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| # ? Apr 29, 2012 23:56 |
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| # ? May 20, 2013 04:50 |
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I found this Chrysalis/Pupa thingy when I was out walking around with my daughter earlier today: It's in a pretty secluded spot, so I'm gonna try and keep an eye on it. Anyone know what I should expect to pop out?
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| # ? Apr 30, 2012 02:42 |
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WHEEZY KISS A DUDE posted:I found this Chrysalis/Pupa thingy when I was out walking around with my daughter earlier today: It is a bagworm. They are kinda trippy because the caterpillars spin the bag around them and stick a bunch of stuff to it, and then crawl around with it on them like a hermit crab or something as they grow up with just their heads and true legs sticking out. There are a couple hundred different species but they mostly look like fat bee-moth-ugly things as adults. At least in some species the female is flightless, and potentially parthenogenic. Slo-Tek fucked around with this message at Apr 30, 2012 around 02:54 |
| # ? Apr 30, 2012 02:49 |
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That actually sounds cooler than just another moth/butterfly, thanks!
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| # ? Apr 30, 2012 02:53 |
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withak posted:
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| # ? Apr 30, 2012 05:50 |
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Finally able to contribute! I have a five-lined skink living in an unused planter on my front porch. I had more but they died by drying out?? The one remaining one stays on a pot with lots of water. Is that normal?  This weekend I cleaned off the back deck and filled up the bird feeders. Didn't take long for the birds to find them. I watch from inside and noticed several hummingbirds zooming around so I filled that feeder too. So far I've gotten Cardinals, Blue Birds, Blue Jays, Cow birds, some titmouse I need to figure out which ones and then this guy that I'd never seen before:   He's a Rose-breasted Grosbeak. This morning there were 3 boys and a girl (maybe), a Cow bird and a titmouse in line waiting for their turn. I'll try to get more pics this afternoon. FYI: If you have an Andriod you can download the Audubon Birds: A Field Guide to North American Birds from the Amazon App Store. They had it for free a couple days ago and I think it's 1/2 price now.
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| # ? Apr 30, 2012 15:06 |
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OneTwentySix posted:Frog calls This post owns so hard. It's nice to put a name to all the distinct frog calls I hear all the time.
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| # ? Apr 30, 2012 16:39 |
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 "Oh, hi there! I see you're studying for your toxicology final, care if I join you?"  "Don't mind me, just going to rifle through your notes a bit."
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| # ? Apr 30, 2012 18:41 |
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Aceofblue posted:
Ohmigosh 
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| # ? Apr 30, 2012 19:30 |
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Last cecropia hatched yesterday. Had 4 cocoons, got 3 males and one crop of tachnid flies. So, last couple cecropia pictures  cecropia3 by RReiheld, on Flickr  cecropia2 by RReiheld, on Flickr  cecropiaagain by RReiheld, on Flickr I need to get an off-camera flash or at least do something silly with a pringles can and some paper towels. Slo-Tek fucked around with this message at Apr 30, 2012 around 23:28 |
| # ? Apr 30, 2012 23:20 |
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Bawwwwww. He looks like a bunny rabbit. Here's a bee~ 
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| # ? May 1, 2012 00:07 |
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Slo-Tek posted:Last cecropia hatched yesterday. Had 4 cocoons, got 3 males and one crop of tachnid flies.  Good god. What camera are you using? Is that a light box? What's the lens you are using? VVV The wonders of a macro lens. Love them.
VendaGoat fucked around with this message at May 1, 2012 around 00:38 |
| # ? May 1, 2012 00:15 |
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VendaGoat posted:
8 year old Nikon D70, 25 year old 60mm f/2.8, on camera flash on my back porch. Was just moaning about the lack of a decent off-camera flash and diffusion. The bugs are just really big, contrasty, and colorful, and don't move around too much. Though the old 60mm macro is a really nice lens. Slo-Tek fucked around with this message at May 1, 2012 around 00:27 |
| # ? May 1, 2012 00:21 |
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Slo-Tek posted:
Dang man. That is one awesome photo! Some beautiful color on that one and the perfect pose for it. Great job. Also I recommend the pringles can and paper towel trick.  Works surprisingly well! I've been super busy lately and haven't had a whole lot of time for photography, the other day I came across a large velvet ant and didn't have my camera and I've been kicking myself since. Took it out today and spotted this robber fly with its catch:  Kinda looks like they're just hugging.
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| # ? May 1, 2012 00:40 |
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Hey thread, can someone identify this bird? I think one of our cats killed it and since she's a lazy domesticated gently caress, she didn't eat it. I was gonna just throw it out into the yard but I was intrigued by the yellow spots above its eyes. I think it's just a house sparrow, but it doesn't seem quite right. 
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| # ? May 1, 2012 01:17 |
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Clockspider, that looks like a white throated sparrow. They are pretty common and have that distinct yellow eyebrow. That looks very clean for a cat kill, is it possible it smacked a window?Kerfuffle posted:Bawwwwww. And here's another bee  Click for big bee She hung out in the windowsill this morning and ignored a little drip of honey I set nearby. Then the sun hit her and she groomed a bit, sucked down the honey, and flew off.
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| # ? May 1, 2012 01:36 |
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Shifty Pony posted:Clockspider, that looks like a white throated sparrow. They are pretty common and have that distinct yellow eyebrow. That looks very clean for a cat kill, is it possible it smacked a window? Ahh yeah, GIS seems to agree too. And I dunno, the poor thing was under our patio table and had feathers tangled in its claws and beak. Maybe it got in a fight with another bird? Is that a thing that can happen? Clockspider fucked around with this message at May 1, 2012 around 01:56 |
| # ? May 1, 2012 01:47 |
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Well, the cat could have carried it around for a while or it is entirely possible that she killed it. I'm just used to them having a much more slobber-y appearance than that. I guess it looks like the back is a bunch more roughed up than the front. Birds can get in "fights" but they won't fight to the death or even to injury. They are just little short territorial spats with lots of flapping and noise and then one flies off.
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| # ? May 1, 2012 02:07 |
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Kerfuffle posted:Here's a bee~ Nice shot! It's a member of the Bombus lucorum complex. From northwestern North America? Likely B. moderatus. From the UK? It could be either B. lucorum or B. terrestris. Shifty Pony posted:And here's another bee Aww, she was waiting to warm up. How early in the morning was this?
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| # ? May 1, 2012 02:38 |
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Found this little guy bouncing around the lights making a ruckus. I was able to coax him into a plastic cup and I took him outside. No loving idea how he got in my office because I'm a good 200 feet away from anything that's not an emergency exit. Some kind of moth or butterfly right?
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| # ? May 1, 2012 03:28 |
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Slo-tek your moth photos are always amazing. new laptop background! I swear to god I'm going to get out and take pictures this weekend, everything just keeps happening and life is so dumb and busy  I miss my questing.
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| # ? May 1, 2012 03:50 |
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Telemarchitect posted:Found this little See the little clubs at the tip of the antennae? That's a diagnostic feature of butterflies, Rhopalocera. If you post a picture where you can see the wings, you can probably get an id on it too. Some butterflies often winters inside buildings. The fly in on one of the lower floors and just sit there until spring. When it's time to escape, insects usually fly upwards, and this guy maybe just kept going up inside the building without finding an exit.
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| # ? May 1, 2012 07:05 |
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axolotl farmer posted:See the little clubs at the tip of the antennae? That's a diagnostic feature of butterflies, Rhopalocera. If you post a picture where you can see the wings, you can probably get an id on it too. It was a Red Admiral!
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| # ? May 1, 2012 13:41 |
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Mak0rz posted:Nice shot! It's a member of the Bombus lucorum complex. From northwestern North America? Likely B. moderatus. From the UK? It could be either B. lucorum or B. terrestris. Oh about 7:30 and she flew off at 8:30 when the light hit that part of the windowsill. It has been getting down to about 58 at night. It was nice having a bee-buddy at my home office. A community garden only a block away has several hives so I'm sure she was from there. They have been going nuts around my sage plant and simple-flowed roses.
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| # ? May 1, 2012 14:37 |
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Clockspider posted:Hey thread, can someone identify this bird? I think one of our cats killed it and since she's a lazy domesticated gently caress, she didn't eat it. I was gonna just throw it out into the yard but I was intrigued by the yellow spots above its eyes. I think it's just a house sparrow, but it doesn't seem quite right. Poor guy. White-throated sparrows are a real favorite of mine. They have a beautiful song, with a fair amount of variation among individual birds. That one looks like the tan morph--there's a morph with much clearer white stripes on the head.
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| # ? May 1, 2012 15:19 |
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Shifty Pony posted:Oh about 7:30 and she flew off at 8:30 when the light hit that part of the windowsill. It has been getting down to about 58 at night. It was nice having a bee-buddy at my home office. A community garden only a block away has several hives so I'm sure she was from there. They have been going nuts around my sage plant and simple-flowed roses. Poor girl was probably stuck there for the night. 7:30 is way too early for a bee to be buzzing about when the nights are that cold. She likely appreciated the honey
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| # ? May 1, 2012 15:27 |
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Finally, I found live animals that weren't the kind to fly away as soon as I reach for my camera.  These were shot in Southern Finland.The first frog was chilling out on a gravel path, very neatly camouflaged. I would've walked right past him if not for him moving around a bit.  The second one was in a small shallow stream. There were several others in the same stream and in one place they were milling about as a group, maybe five strong. Couldn't get a decent shot out of that, but I'm happy with what I got. 
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| # ? May 1, 2012 16:53 |
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Your Finish frogs are most likely Rana temporaria (tavallinen sammakko, vanlig groda, European Common Frog). Possibly a Rana arvalis (Viitasammakko, åkergroda, Moor frog), but they're difficult to tell apart unless you have them in your hand and can check a couple of details, like the callus on the hind feet. e: if you find a blue frog in Northern Europe in the spring, it's a Moor frog. The males change color during the mating season, and turn brown again once its over.
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| # ? May 1, 2012 17:31 |
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Cheers. I found a site in Finnish which helps identify between the two http://www.sammakkolampi.fi/lajit/ranat-erot.html. Based on the shape of the snout I'd say it's the Common Frog I saw.
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| # ? May 1, 2012 18:01 |
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Now that I've been bringing my camera back out the cool bugs (velvet ant, where are you?!) have taken off. This one isn't too bad though, a long legged fly.  I bought a cheap flash and a wireless trigger to try my hand at off camera lighting of macro shots. It'll take some getting used to but I've found it's easier to convince the subject to face how you want since they're often quite interested in the giant flash unit moving around above them.
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| # ? May 1, 2012 23:06 |
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What's this little guy turn into? (north CA)
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| # ? May 1, 2012 23:33 |
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BrightestCrayon posted:If it helps at all for the Frog, I'm in NE Arkansas. 'Sup NE Arkansas buddy  Native of Sharp County here, didn't know there was anyone in our corner. Was under the impression all the AR Goons were in Fayetteville 
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| # ? May 1, 2012 23:33 |
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An observer posted:What's this little guy turn into? (north CA) A tussock moth! Their caterpillars are pretty famously ornate. Mak0rz fucked around with this message at May 2, 2012 around 00:24 |
| # ? May 2, 2012 00:21 |
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T1g4h posted:'Sup NE Arkansas buddy Well, I've only been up here since January, moved to Jonesboro from Central Texas so I can do my master's degree at ASU.  Found this tiny tiny turtle trying to cross the road, so I helped it to the stream right near by.  They hid from me pretty quick. I'm bad at IDing, well, anything but birds and some bugs, but I'm going to guess a box turtle?  I've been cleaning out nest boxes that aren't included in my study in preparation for the second clutch of the season. Found this box full of titmice in the process of fledging.  Really blurry, I know, had to use my phone. That is a titmouse fledgling sticking its head out of the box right before flying into the tree above the box. Mom and Dad were flitting about the tree calling to the little ones as the flew out.  Dung beetle enjoying a nice fresh cow pie. Hard to tell in the picture, but he was a good 2 inches long.
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| # ? May 2, 2012 01:33 |
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I have a fondness for Banana Slugs, and because they are fairly common, I made a tribute video to them. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bs6e...eature=youtu.be e: to clarify, the footage is mine
Rubber Slug fucked around with this message at May 2, 2012 around 02:59 |
| # ? May 2, 2012 01:54 |
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BrightestCrayon posted:
Titmice are so freaking cute This is from a while ago when it was still cold out:  Click for big
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| # ? May 2, 2012 02:00 |
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BrightestCrayon posted:
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| # ? May 2, 2012 02:57 |
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Knormal posted:Yep, juvenile box turtle. For the record they're terrestrial, so hopefully you didn't actually put it into the stream. They normally live in fields, forests, and the like. Nah, I just moved him off the road right next to the creek, which was where he was headed anyway.
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| # ? May 2, 2012 03:16 |
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PREYING MANTITS posted:Now that I've been bringing my camera back out the cool bugs (velvet ant, where are you?!) have taken off. This one isn't too bad though, a long legged fly. This is a really cool picture!
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| # ? May 2, 2012 04:42 |
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| # ? May 20, 2013 04:50 |
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Mak0rz posted:Nice shot! It's a member of the Bombus lucorum complex. From northwestern North America? Likely B. moderatus. From the UK? It could be either B. lucorum or B. terrestris. It was taken during my visit to Holland. It had a white stripe on the end of its butt. The butt shot was blurry though. <  >
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| # ? May 2, 2012 05:53 |
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