Public Enemy #1

It has been a struggle, but looks like I am going to make my minimum 6 posts a month goal after all.  I must say that I seriously underestimated the amount of extra time it takes to maintain this goal while fulfilling my commitment to jazz the site up more with images.  Hopefully you noticed that every single post for the new year has had either an accompanying photo or topic relevant graphic.  What this translates to is extra time required for every post.  But I am committed to my loyal but demanding readers, so we journey on.

“Thy Enemy Has Fur!”  Today we set our sites on my wildlife nemesis. That’s right, I am talking about this beast.

Squirrel

Do not be fooled by the cute brown-gray fur or the sparkling in the eyes because this monster is pure evil.  I believe he spends his day scheming how to circumvent every one of the bird feeder protections I can think up.  He’ll first use ninja like stealth to shimmy up the tree and wait until the coast is clear.  Using his cunning ability to blend with the tree trunk colors, he will navigate towards the prize.

Squirrel

Look at him with that smirk on his face.   But what he doesn’t know is I’m on to his little game.  I’ll turn my back to give a false sense of security. Slowly he creeps out of the shadows and begins his decent.  Claw over claw he makes his way to shiny brass container with the belly filling seed.

Squirrel

Actually it is a pretty impressive ability as he basically does a pawstand to stretch as far as possible down the twine.  But what would you expect from devil-spawn?  Once shimmed down the rope, he has to maintain his balance on the slippery top of the feeder.  A top supposedly designed to hurl the rodent to is final resting place.  But no, it doesn’t even seem to give an ounce of concern.

Squirrel

Another check to verify the coast is clear and over the side he goes.   I would love to know what his strength to body weight ratio is.  This must be where the heart gets pumping.  With a constant eye on the nearby doors and windows the feet are put in place to give optimal support yet freedom to totally mangle my feeder.

Squirrel

I can’t take it anymore so I turn to face him… to strike fear in his eyes… to end this folly.  Our eyes remain fixed as he assesses the danger and braces for my attack.  At least that is what I though he was going to do.  Instead, the coward literally leaps from the bird feeder and grabs on to the side of the tree.  The leaping ability puts the twine crawling capability to shame.  Back on solid ground he scampers back up to a position of authority.  What’s he doing now?  You have got to be kidding me?

Squirrel

The little SOB has taunted me a second time with a full flip-off.  Enraged I fling open the door in protest.  In a flash of the tail (yes, he waved it in my face for a third level of taunt) he bolts down the tree and heads out into the forest.  He may have be able to get away clean this time, but I’ve got the camera charged up and waiting his return.  Come to think of it, I’m a little hungry.  I wonder if they really taste like chicken.

Until the NEXT time!

Night Dwellers Part 2

Figured I would go ahead and get another night shot out of the way.  As with the spiders in the previous post these shots were taken late night on our porch.  Some people have bird dogs other rabbit dogs.  I happen to own a frog and toad dog.  When our poodle heads outside, he always does a quick look around the porch to see if there are any toads or frogs hanging around and makes sure he puts his nose no farther than a millimeter away.  The running joke is that Rizzi is a junkie and likes to lick the frogs to get his fix.  That was the case the night I took this frog shot.

Frog

It was definitely started by the flood of lights (not to mention the personal space violation from Rizzi).  I was afraid to get to close so I didn’t have a chance to give a visual size reference, but this one was around 3 inches.  The flash gave some pop to the eyes but again lost in the ‘shopping.  I am guessing this little creature is impossible to see on a tree trunk or in the dead leaves.  Not such great cover on the cement.

Frog

I probably need to pick up a frog reference when I go to pick up my spider reference book.  After quick searches on the web and a follow up with the trusty Wikipedia, the consensus is Gray Treefrog or Hyla versicolor.  Apparently if I had waited for it to jump there would have been color under the legs.  You don’t believe that did you?  Of course I did not just “wait” for it to jump.  After 5 minutes of trying to entice it with my toe in order to get the super cool jumping shot, I gave up and went to bed.

Well, I hope Mr. Gray has a fulfilling life and my thanks to him for being a willing subject.  RIIIIIBBBBBEEETTT

Night Dwellers (part 1 of likely many throughout the year)

One of my chores, if you will, is to take our dogs out before retiring for the night.  Due to the potential for coyotes and other non-friendly pet wildlife we coexists with out in the country, this involves hitting our flood lights which illuminates our entire porch and a large section of the yard.  You cannot be too careful when taking care of a 5 pound dog.  This instant light tends to surprise animals, insects and the like.  As a result, I tend to see some interesting (and sometimes scary) things previously undercover of the night.  I decided to snap a few shots to share the experience with my readers – especially those people who have not experienced the country life.

The first subject for the night dwellers collection is the Wolf Spider.

Wolf Spider

Interesting enough, I have often heard these spiders referred to as Timber Spiders, but I was unable to find that name on the web.  It may be time to hit the bookstores and pick up a spider reference book since at least once a week a new species pops up around here.  They are not venomous to humans, but their hairy texture and potentially large size have a tendency to provoke pretty aggressive stomping by those caught off guard.  As an FYI, the Brown Recluse is really the only venomous spider we have to worry about around here.  Those tend to avoid any contact and therefore not a big concern but I do give a quick scan of the woodpiles and such just in case.

Wolf Spider

My general rule is to let all insects and arachnids live if they are not found inside the house or are smaller than a Loon coin.  This specimen was definitely on the larger end of that (if not bigger) but since it tolerated my flash photography it was given a second chance.  I have a new lens coming for my camera that will give me much sharper shots, but hopefully you can tell these things are extremely hairy and look quite formidable.  The eye reflection was pretty neat through the glass, but did not really make it through the reduction process which makes the image web friendly.  By eye, I mean the reflection coming off of one or more of their eight eyes.

Follow the jump to see another image of the wolf spider taken a few days later.  That one has an egg sac.

Continue reading Night Dwellers (part 1 of likely many throughout the year)

Newspapers RIP 1690 – 2009

Newspapers Tombstone“Newspapers … Black and White but Never Re[a]d and Therefore Dead”

At the beginning of April, I came across a web article where the New York Times Editor Bill Kerry stated that “Saving the New York Times now ranks with saving Darfur as a high-minded cause.”  I was absolutely stunned by this opinion for a number of reasons.  First being the ironic aspect that without disasters such as Darfur, Somalia, Virginia Tech etc. etc. most of these print rags wouldn’t have anything to pontificate their Liberal views about.  As a result, Bill thinks the industry based on talking about what other people do is more important than the actual event.  Second is an assumption that the emerging generations do not actually bother getting their fingers dirty reading newspapers.  There are way to many avenues for information flow these days from the ubiquitous nature of the web and the instant gratification of a Tweet.  Additionally, once a readership is obtained, the roving journalist is no longer tied to a media outlet much like musicians no longer need the middleman to reach their listeners.

The other major issue newspapers have is the press time lag.  As of late, I have been teasing my wife at the breakfast table.  She will start reading me an article she finds interesting in the local paper and I’ll quickly give her the details from the Yahoo News, Drudge Report or local news webs I read at least a day or more previously.  Quite frankly, the only reason I get the newspaper these days is for the Sunday adds and the Police Beat of the Local Section … with a little effort I could even obtain this information on the web.

But there is still one reason Bill’s comments are way off base.  That reason is pure and simply the fact most articles are horribly written or do not focus on the aspects I want to know and care about.  I have scanned in a few articles from our paper to help prove this point.  Follow the jump to see them.
Continue reading Newspapers RIP 1690 – 2009

Would You Like Some “Screw You” On That?

Burger Money

First off, go check out the latest posts at the Dead Reckonings Forum for some fascinating discussion on the impact metal had on naval navigation.  When you are done you can come back here and read my stupid rant on McDonalds.

Back so soon? … or were you captivated by my less than stellar graphic?  Anyway, on to my rant.  My wife and I were on our way to a dog show in Caseyville, IL when we stopped off at a Mickey D’s in Bartonville.  As a note, there were other places we could have stopped to that point including Subway, Hardees and KFC, but I had a taste for some yellow arches.  As we walked up to the counter I noticed a sign had been added to the menu detailing their new policy involving an ADDITIONAL charge for any condiments added to an item that doesn’t normally come on it.  I then immediately recalled that my wife had come home griping about this policy when she went to one in Peoria.

I decided to read it slowly again in order to understand all the nuances, but it basically just resulted in more questions.  The clerk finished ringing up my wife’s order and then prompted me for my selection.  I decided to lead with “so if I get my sandwich plain, do I get it for less?”  This resulted in an answer explaining how the meal is a few cents cheaper than ordering everything together. Apparently, this request went sailing over her head.  I restated the question and emphasized the plain “sandwich” part.  This got a strange look so I tried again and referenced the fact the sign above her stated that adding a condiment increased the priced so removing the standard available condiment should be less.  “No, we don’t do that” was the response … as in not discounting the sandwich.  I decided continuing this discussion was going to get me nowhere, so I ordered by plain sandwich and made a personal decision to contact McDonalds and talk to a graduate of their fine McDonald’s University.  I am still awaiting a response (no, not holding my breadth), but the way I see it, I am obviously paying the cost of a fully condimented (is that a word?) sandwich.  This mean I have been increasing their profit margin every time I order there.  This makes me sick and from this point on I will choose one of the other establishments and get the sandwich the way I want it.

By the way, my wife ended up answering my second question as to whether removing something off the sandwich from the standard condiment list would allow me to get option added for free.  That answer is a big NOPE! – kudos for my wife for actually getting an answer to that scenario.

The good thing about a bad economy (thank you money lending criminals) is I have many many choices to spend my money and you would therefore think establishments would be a little more customer friendly and not jeopardize future sales for the price of a condiment.

Oh well, was that a Quiznos over there?

Happy Easter!!

Easter Bunny

Just a quick post today to wish everyone a happy holiday.  So what do you think of my image today?  I was on my way back from my parents’ house and all of a sudden some rogue synapse fired bringing into memory recall a doodle I had made some years back.  I was with my brother (also at my parents’ house) on Easter Eve.  I think all of his kids are beyond this age now so I will not ruin anything for them, but we were doing some prep for a standard Easter morning surprise.  My brother wanted to add a card to the things we were making to signify who they were left from.  I decided to whip up this little image which quite frankly was going pretty good until in my haste, a rogue whisker was made.  Working in the medium of ink, I was unable to repair it so I embellished a little bit.  I call it “Easter Bunny Smoking Plastic Grass”.  Obviously, my brother vetoed it, but since I can remember, I’ve actually saved and scanned all my various doodles… a bad habit formed from sitting in too many unproductive meetings with an active imagination.  My intent is someday to print them out and bound them into a coffee table book as an interesting conversation piece.

By the way, I was curious enough about the origin of rabbits and eggs I decided to Wiki It.  Interestingly, it is a tradition brought to America from the Germans and was really focused on the hare and not the rabbit.  The association might have originated from a similar nesting trait between the hare and a Lapwing (bird).  Each uses a ground nest and resulted in the myth that hare’s laid eggs in the Spring.

Oh well, hope you had a good holiday.  I’ve been working on some posts so there should be some additional output coming soon.  Until then, I hope Alice isn’t haunted by my grass smoking white rabbit.

Book Recollection: The 10 Big Lies About America

I am guessing you are tired of looking at bird pictures.  If so, you are in luck because tonight’s post is a book recollection.  My brother gave me this book as a gift (possibly Xmas or my birthday, I can’t remember), but in either case, I actually finished reading Michael Medved’s book awhile back.  Now that the birds are done for a bit, I figured I better wrap up the recollection before I forgot everything.  I was actually not familiar with Michael who apparently has a conservative talk show.  The premise of the book is his attempt to refute some common misconceptions (translated liberal distortions of truth) about my country.  It appears my brother has me correctly profiled since I did enjoy this read.  It was more like a fire hydrant of interesting information regarding America’s past.  My weakest subject is Geography (unless it is on a RISK board game).  A close second has to be American history – in complete contrast to my academic success in Mr. Beagles high school History class where I achieved an A+ (amazing the amount of effort you are willing to put in a class when the instructor goes the extra mile to make it fun and interesting.

A few of the refuted lies hit close to home.   The topic of America being founded on the genocide of Native Americans was relevant based on my university removing the most reverent symbol to American Indians that I am aware of (it was NOT a mascot, apparently it is okay if you buy them off – Florida State and explain to me how the professional teams don’t seem to get bothered by the so called activists – Washington Redskins and Cleveland Indians come to mind).  As a result I will never give another penny to my alma mater and will continue to display the honored Chief Illiniwek.  Another topic regarded America’s guilt and supposed need to reconcile for past slavery.  I appreciate him taking on this sensitive topic and coming from the Land of Lincoln, I am astutely aware of efforts that were taken to end this activity.  I often find it interesting that people want to harp on the past without giving any credit to efforts that set the slaves free – America went to war over this and jeopardized the union of states to accomplish it.  The other very relative topic concerned reaffirmation that America’s founding fathers were immersed in faith.  My brother and I have had many discussions on this topic and both agree that the recent changes in coin design are covert attempts to rid our currency of the word “God”.  The latest attempt at putting the In God We Trust on the coin edge is simply so it will get rubbed off and then slowly desensitize us to the point we don’t notice it missing in the next design.

Overall, I thought it was a very good read.   I did not agree with all of his opinions, but to his credit, he did an excellent job of backing up his statements and supporting his opinions.  Follow the jump for the list of things that stood out from the read.

Continue reading Book Recollection: The 10 Big Lies About America

These Mallards Play in Water

I figured I would go ahead and close out the Davenport Iowa bird shoot.  We’ve done the eagles, the gulls and now presenting..

Mallard

That’s right, the Mallard Duck.  This guy was enjoying the 50 degree weather in march.  The shot turned out pretty good with the green shimmering nicely in the sun and you can even make out the water droplets on the duck’s feathers.  This was pretty fitting since the Quad Cities’ minor league hockey team is actually named The Mallards.  Here is another one with a different direction to the sun giving a slightly different shimmer pattern.

Mallard Duck

There were actually a number of them (can’t remember the proper term for a grouping of ducks at the moment).

Mallards

Believe me, it was extremely tough to get them to all go in the same direction.  You also have a nice mixture of the females included in this shot – clearly they were stiffed when the coloring was handed out.

Follow the jump to see some more shots of the Mallard

Continue reading These Mallards Play in Water

Dr. Livingston I Presume

 Gull

This post is a first for our little off-ramp on the Information Highway.  Today we have, in a sense, a guest blogger.  The pictures contained in this post were actually taken by my wife.  As with the previous posts, these were taken up in Davenport IA.  We had parked at the rollers on the Mississippi River looking for eagles and she decided to snap a few shots of a flying gull.  It actually took a while to identify this particular bird.  Previously, we had always referred to them as seagulls.  That name was mysteriously missing from the field guides I use.  After looking and relooking and re-relooking we have decided to go with a Herring Gull.  The beak does not appear to have a strip (ring-billed gull) on it and the range appears to fit.

Gull

Although they are often considered the vermin of the airways, these birds do have a certain aura about them that gives the appeal of a heavenly glow.  A very pure white with a touch of highlighting like a quill dipped in the inkwell.

Gull

While I was trying to identify the species, it occurred to me I couldn’t see his feet (one of the gull types has yellow feet).  Guessing the belly is pretty fluffy allowing him to tuck them under for greater aerodynamics – or possibly warmth.  I saved the best image for last.  I really like this shot and left it a little larger to hopefully show a little more detail.  The sunlight radiates through the wings almost to the point of transparency.  Personally, I think their quite beautiful, but then again, I do not have to live with the pain of their constant scavenging.

Gull from the Heavens

Thanks again to the wife for taking some pretty shots

Riding On The Edge

While taking pictures of eagles down on the backwaters of the Mississippi we came upon a very interesting scene.  So interesting in fact, I had to take a few shots to prove it.

Ice Racer

The adrenaline junkie above was racing in circles on ice out in the middle of the backwater.  Although you cannot really tell it from the picture, he was on the throttle pretty good.  It took me a couple of attempts to even get him in the picture due to misjudging the pan.  This was old news to my Davenport IA born wife who apparently knew this was a common activity in the winter months.  I did not get a close look at the tires, but she says they have metal studs in the tread to keep traction.

However, the fact that people race motorcycles on the ice was not the most intriguing aspect of this scene.  I purposely cropped the image above so you would not jump to the odd part to quick.  When would you expect this activity to happen in Iowa… December, January, February?  Nope.. This picture was taken on 3/1 on a day where the temperature was up in the 50’s.  Here is a widened shot.

Ice Racer

The white stripe about 2/3rds of the way up is the line they were racing on.  Did you notice the water above that?  As you can tell by the land even above that, the winter months were passed.  I guess if you want to improve you need some incentive.  Losing an edge will surely drop that motorcycle in the middle of the water and last time I checked they do not float that well.

The good news is he was smart enough not to be out there on his own. This rider was actually going faster than the other one.   I left the water on this image for the full effect as well.

ICe Racer

While reviewing the other shots I took, I stopped on the next one because of the background.  It looked pretty eerie with the dark trees meshing with a similarly colored ground.  In fact, it looked like a scene right out of Sleepy Hollow or Harry Potter.

Ice Racer

Okay, maybe without the ice and the motorcycle rider and the… alright so maybe I watch too many stupid movies.  This brings to mind my 7th grade teacher who felt concerned enough to point out to my family that my horror book consumption might be at an unhealthy level.  I countered with the fact that a 7th grader spending his time reading 500+ page books rather than playing Atari (dating myself) can’t be that bad.

Anyway, I found it interesting and decided to share.  Clearly they knew what they were doing and against my best wishes, I did not see a single crash or an unplanned bath.