View allAll Photos Tagged mottled
An old wreck beached on a mud bank. River Medway, Kent.
Captured using ICM techniques and post processed to emphasise the colour tones.
A florida reisdent, helping the ID with a blue flag with black borders, like American black duck, but a warm buffy neck and head. The spread of Mallards and risk of hybridization is a real game changer for these birds.
Hi Everyone, and a good Sunday morning to all and hope the weekend is good and that your day goes as well.
I really just liked this image very much folks, and as a matter of fact I printed it to show it's beauty and will have a place on my wall of shame.
Thanks for the visit, it is always very much appreciated.
These owls roost in the day, usually in pairs. When disturbed they may fly in bright sunshine although they choose to shelter within a dense grove of trees. They produce an eerie chuhua-aa call with a quaver in the second note. This call is an antiphonal duet of the male and female. The male calls one or two times followed by the female's shorter and less tremulous version. The calling is more frequent in November when the begin to breed. Most Nests are found from February to April. They also produce a single note hoot and a screech not unlike that of the barn owl. The nest is a tree hollow in which two to three white eggs are laid. They feed on palm squirrels, mice
Breeding male Shovelers are bold white, blue, green, and rust, but their most notable feature is their white chest and white lower sides. In flight, males flash blue on the upper wing and green on the secondary's (the speculum).
Female and immature Shovelers are mottled in brown and have powdery-blue on the wings that is sometimes visible on resting birds. Their very large orange bill is their most notable field mark.
Northern Shovelers often have their heads down in shallow wetlands, busily sweeping their bills side to side, filtering out aquatic invertebrates and seeds from the water.
The colours can be highly variable but the riotously 'camo' paint job of blotches & streaks is characteristic. Also note that no matter how green the rest of the insect is, the wings are NEVER green.
Prees Heath, Shropshire.
Strix ocellata is a large Owl widely distributed throughout India. Its eerie reverberating call is distinctive. Found in a derelict Mango orchard in the outskirts of Bangalore.
Seen at Mary Caincross Nature Reserve.
"Carpet Pythons grow to be the largest snake Found on the Sunshine Coast growing up to 3.5 meters in length and maybe even reaching 4 meters. The average size Carpet Python we see is usually around the 2 meter mark. They are a large, heavy bodied snake with a highly variable, mottled & blotched pattern and colour. Mostly white to cream on the underside. The head is quite distinct from the neck. Deeply pitted scales along bottom jaw and to a lesser extent the upper jaw with small "granular scattered scales on top of the head.
The Carpet Python is by far the most commonly encountered species of snake within the Sunshine Coast, Noosa and Deception bay regions. They basically occupy all habitats and will be found it all suburbs within the area. They are often found within close proximity to homes and are often not too bothered by human presence compared to other shy snake species. Often found in roof spaces making the most of the rats, mice and possums running around up there. They are active day and night. Large specimens can take small suburban pets such as dogs, cats, chickens and guinea pigs with smaller specimens taking caged birds. Their diet consists of mainly mammals such as rodents, possums etc; also some reptiles, birds & frogs. They will often be found basking in the sun in trees, on fences or even on your roof. Fantastic climbing ability."
A Sally Lightfoot Crab on the rocks on Santa Cruz Island
Sally Lightfoot Crab
The crab Grapsus grapsus (known variously as "red rock crab", "abuete negro", and, as "Sally Lightfoot") is one of the most common crabs along the western coast of South America. It can also be seen along the entire coast of Central America and Mexico, and nearby islands. It is one of the many charismatic species that inhabits the Galápagos Islands, and is often seen in photos of the archipelago, sometimes sharing the seaside rocks with the marine iguanas. The Sally Lightfoot is a typically-shaped crab, with five pairs of legs, the front two bearing small, blocky, symmetrical chelae. The other legs are broad and flat, with only the tips touching the substrate. The crab's round, flat carapace is just over 8 cm (3 inches) in length. Young Sally Lightfoot’s are black or dark brown in color and camouflage well on the black lava coasts of volcanic islands. Adults are quite variable in color. Some are muted brownish-red, some mottled or spotted brown, pink, or yellow. Sally Lightfoot crabs are thought to have been named for a sultry nightclub dancer from Guayaquil, whose alluring performances in her red and yellow dress, captivated 19th century sailors. This crab lives amongst the rocks at the often turbulent, windy shore, just above the limit of the seaspray. It feeds on algae primarily, sometimes sampling plant matter and dead animals. It is a quick-moving and agile crab, and hard to catch, but not considered very edible by humans. It is used as bait by fishermen.
Santa Cruz
With the largest human population in the Galapagos archipelago, Isla Santa Cruz is the most important of the Galapagos Islands. Meaning Holy Cross in Spanish, this island is also known as Indefatigable, after the HMS Indefatigable landed here long ago. The second largest island terms of land area at 986 sq km, Isla Santa Cruz is home to the key town of Puerto Ayora, the Charles Darwin Research Station and the headquarters of the Galapagos National Park Service. With its own airport on Isla Baltra a few miles away, Isla Santa Cruz is where most visitors who come to the Galapagos Islands usually stay. With a number of bars, hotels, restaurants and shops in Puerto Ayora, most tours of the Archipelago also usually begin from here.
Galapagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, some 900 km west of Ecuador. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site: wildlife is its most notable feature. Because of the only very recent arrival of man the majority of the wildlife has no fear of humans and will allow visitors to walk right up them, often having to step over Iguanas or Sea Lions.The Galápagos islands and its surrounding waters are part of a province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 40,000, which is a 40-fold expansion in 50 years. The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
”The mottled ant of sorrow and pleasure in me
A long path passing through a forest in a fairy-tale
In my body, the worldly whims of the wells
On my brow, a charcoal sketch of the future
My mouth, a song with clipped wings
A solitary atlas of two blurred times
A hotel room made of tear candles
Sea gardens where even the sand blooms…”. — Şükrü Erbaş
This folks is the wetlands community's morning aerobics class, and this is it's leader. Hope everyone has a wonderful day, and is safe and careful.
Thanks as always for visiting, it is very much appreciated.
Mallards (male and female).
18 to 27 inches in length. The male has a green head, white neck ring, chestnut breast and a grayish body. Speculum metallic purplish blue, bordered in front and back with white. The female is mottled brown with a white tail and purplish-blue speculum. The bill is mttled orange and black.
They inhabit ponds, lakes and marshes. Semi-domesticated birds may be found on almost any body of water.
They range from Alaska east to Quebec and south to southern California, Virginia, Texas and northern Mexico. They winter throught the United States south to Central America and the West Indies. They are also in Eurasia.
Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.
Mottled Grasshopper (Myrmeleotettix maculatus). Active in large numbers in the parched, dry grass on limestone, Derbyshire Peak District. I think this is the female.
Mottled Ducks (Anas fulvigula) are found in South Florida and South Texas.
I probably had seen several of these relatively common ducks during the last four visits to SW Florida, but I thought that they were the closely-related female Mallards.
This Life Bird photograph #173, a male Mottled Duck was taken on Sanibel Island, Florida.