Today we have another mystery. What is this marbled cellar spider, Holocnemus pluchei, carrying?
Month: August 2009 (Page 1 of 4)
Over the last two weeks we’ve had a birding bonanza, with a flurry of novel bird sightings in our yard. First we spotted a black-throated gray warbler.
That didn’t stay long, but a few days later we had a sweet little orange-crowned warbler who decided our back patio was a good place to find food. Its yellow belly and olive-green back really stood out. It would hop about between the flower pots catching insects.
Yesterday a female black-headed grosbeak came to visit our feeder. She has a striking black and white-striped head and a large beak, strangely out of proportion for the rest of the bird.
A few days ago my son noticed a pale bird visiting the feeder. With a string of new birds showing up, we excitedly pulled out the bird books. Nothing really seemed to fit, and the bird did look familiar. Very familiar. In fact it looked like all the house finch females that have come to our feeder for years.
You decide. The pale bird is on the right, a regular female house finch on the left.
We think she is an example of leucism, a bird or mammal with abnormally pale coloration.
Project Feeder watch has an article on Plumage Variations: Albinism or Leucism?
Stokes birding blog also has an article on leucistic birds.
Ever wonder what it is like to be a graduate student training to be a scientist? How about what it is like to attend a scientific meeting? Danielle Lee at Urban Science Adventures(c) has been posting about her experiences writing a PhD thesis and attending an International meeting in France. It gives you a window into what the pathway to becoming a scientist is like. I wish someone like her had been around when I was a graduate student.
The Science Behind-the-Scenes post is a good starting point, then take a look around. The newest posts are from the meeting in France. In Live Blogging she describes her field of science, called ethology.
Danielle is also trying to win a trip to Antarctica via blogging. If you are interested in helping her out, stop by her contest site and vote for her. It does require registration to ensure you only vote once. I think it would be wonderful if she won. If she can make us feel like we’re tagging along when she is blogging about France, think what it would be like to hear about her experiences in Antarctica!
For more information, see Roberta Gibson Writes.