View allAll Photos Tagged fluff
I've been seeing hawks lately. They must be moving north already. I
spotted this Cooper's hawk through the kitchen window in a paloverde tree.
It remained there for quite a while. For some reason it fluffed out its
feathers at one point and I got the slightly comical shot.
A lovely little greylag goose gosling, albeit looking a bit grumpy, I think you can still see the egg tooth on the end of the beak. Last time I saw them they'd lost four of them, fingers crossed for the other two.
Fluff is a humble pattern, content to stay in the background and help other, more flashy patterns look good. I think it is very useful to draw around and behind thin curving lines, such as Quib (as shown) or Mak-Rah-Me or Mooka. (I used it behind Mooka in this tile: www.flickr.com/photos/101210107@N03/11834566833/ ). When done, it somewhat resembles Stiritup or Amaze but it is easier to draw IMO and because it grows one small section at a time it is easy to control. It also creates a nice edge.
I called it "Fluff" not just because it Looks fluffy but it is also like "fluff" in journalism - a light, easy filler. I normally try to find names for my patterns that aren't too evocative of what they they look like but I couldn't resist this little word play!
This pattern is so simple, I also think there is a good chance it's already out there somewhere - so if I have come too close to someone else's idea, let me know.
My pet lab pup got infected with Parvovirus recently and I'm wishing for his speedy recovery soon. My family lost a few pet dogs through the years and I hope this time around this little fellow will survive.
Sony Alpha a7Rlll ı Canon EF70-200mm f/2.8L USM II ı Metabones IV ı 125mm ı f/.8 ı 1/125s ı ISO 100
I captured this image up in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park near Danby during an early/ish morning visit. No sunrise light due to mist and fog!
Thanks for taking the time to view my images. Happy to receive feedback.
The Parque Central is really just a park in the middle of the city, but it's full of amazing nature!
The mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) is a perching duck species native to the East Palearctic. It is sexually dimorphic - the males are elaborately coloured, while the females have more subdued colors. It is a medium-sized duck, at 41–49 cm (16–19 in) long with a 65–75 cm (26–30 in) wingspan. It is closely related to the North American wood duck, the only other member of the genus Aix. 'Aix' is an Ancient Greek word which was used by Aristotle to refer to an unknown diving bird, and 'galericulata' is the Latin for a wig, derived from galerum, a cap or bonnet. Outside of its native range, the mandarin duck has a large introduced population in the British Isles and Western Europe, with additional smaller introductions in North America.
Taxonomy
The mandarin duck was described and illustrated in 1727 by the German explorer Engelbert Kaempfer in his The History of Japan. He wrote: "Of Ducks also there are several differing kinds, and as tame as the Geese. One kind particularly I cannot forbear mentioning, because of the surprizing beauty of its male, call'd Kinmodsui, which is so great, that being shew'd its picture in colours, I could hardly believe my own Eyes, till I saw the Bird it self, it being a very common one." In 1747 the English naturalist George Edwards included an illustration and a description of the species in the second volume of his A Natural History of Uncommon Birds. He used the English name "The Chinese teal". He based his hand-coloured etching on a live specimen kept by the merchant Matthew Decker on his estate at Richmond in Surrey. Decker was a director of the East India Company. When in 1758 the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus updated his Systema Naturae for the tenth edition, he placed the mandarin duck with the ducks and geese in the genus Anas. Linnaeus included a brief description, coined the binomial name Anas galericulata and cited the earlier publications. The mandarin duck is now placed together with the wood duck in the genus Aix that was introduced in 1828 by the German ornithologist Friedrich Boie. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The genus name is the Ancient Greek word for an unknown diving bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific epithet is from Latin galericulatum meaning a "peruke" or "wig".
Description
The mandarin duck is among the more diminutive types of waterfowl, with a shorter height and smaller overall body size than the dabbling ducks, and is slightly smaller than its American wood duck relatives. The adult male has a petite, red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The male's breast is purple with two vertical white bars, the flanks ruddy, and he has two orange feathers at the back (large feathers that stick up similar to boat sails). The female is similar to the female wood duck, with a grayish-lavender tone to her plumage, and a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye. The female is paler on the underside, has a small white flank stripe, and a pale tip to its bill.
Both the males and females have crests, but the purple crest is more pronounced on the male.
Drake in eclipse plumage
Like many other species of ducks, the male undergoes a moult after the mating season into eclipse plumage. When in eclipse plumage, the male looks similar to the female but can be distinguished by its bright yellow-orange or red beak, lack of any crest, and a less-pronounced eye-stripe.
Mandarin ducklings are almost identical in appearance to wood ducklings, and very similar to mallard ducklings. The ducklings can be distinguished from mallard ducklings because the eye-stripe of mandarin ducklings (and wood ducklings) stops at the eye, while in mallard ducklings it reaches all the way to the bill.[citation needed]
I'm in such a goofy girly mood...here is my pink fluff for the day...
TExtures by Caleb Kimbrough, clean grunge, and by Paree Erica
www.flickr.com/photos/8078381@N03/4288947879/
added coffee shop vintage action
Hadn't been to the dogpark for about a year and dropped in after shooting some CIB at the skatepark next door.
the battle over property lines :)) (see comment below)
Taken through a tinted window on a cold, cloudy morning.