White-breasted nuthatch, working on a nest.
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A second pic today, This is partly to make up for getting some sleep rather than posting something yesterday, and partly because I really like teasels. 
Teasel from Stone Valley Recreation Area, Petersburg, PA.
I was in Pennsylvania over the weekend, and took this pic of the night sky. The trees are lit from the campfire and the stars shine. It was cold, getting down to 36 degrees, but had a good time and got this pic. 
Night sky at Stone Valley Recreation Area, Petersburg, Pennsylvania
Not so long ago I put up some pics from Lake Frank. Rock Creek Regional Park is pretty much just across the road, and leads to Lake Needwood. I went up there a second time to have a look at the Rock Creek end of things.  The namesake Rock Creek There were deer all over the place, so I took a few pics.  White-tailed deer. One of many.  White-tailed deer. Number two of many.  A bumblebee in flight  Louisiana waterthrush near the creek  And a Louisiana waterthrush singing its hear out  A skunk cabbage-filled swamp along the trail And just to make this post as complex as possible, I am including a camoflage animal shot. Can you find it and name it? Answer photo is at the bottom of this post.   Yellow violet, a seeming contradiction  Some pretty fungi that I am unfamiliar with  Next up in the frog zone are the pickerel frogs, which are very common this time of year along the streams  Red-bellied cooter at Lake Needwood  Red-tailed hawk, with two blue-gray gnatcatchers behind it. The gnats were attracted to the hawk and the gnatcatchers were eating them. And now, if you have read this far, it is quiz time. A bird and a feather. What species do you think these are (from).  Great pic of a bird, but can you name it?  Might be harder or easier, but here is a distinctive feather. Name the bird As no one has taken a stab at this feather, I will tell you it is from a northern flicker. And, since you have been waiting, here is the close-up of the camoflage animal.  Another white-tailed deer This is my final post for Borneo Caves week. I had wanted to put up a bunch more photos but no time to do so. I think another such week is needed when I have more time at the home office. 
Wind Cave in the lower river section, not too far from the resurgence. Siria in the front and Don McFarlane way out there.
For much of the Wind Cave river it is big passage, but near the point where the river exits the cave it gets rather huge. The little black dot on the horizon of the water and wall way out there is Don.
As for the photo, it was the best I could do with 150 meters of river cave and just two assistants, one of whom I had no communication with. I took a few photos in Lagangs Cave. Might be some more to come, but I am short of time right now to put up more than this bit... 
Don McFarlane in decorated passage.
A cricket in Lagangs Cave.
Funky stalactite in Lagangs Cave
As promised, more cave shots from Borneo Wind Cave 
A just hatched swiftlet
Joyce Lundberg looking at the volcanish ash layer. This bit was figured out.
The ash layer is explained in the paper at: http://faculty.jsd.claremont.edu/dmcfarlane/MY%20reprints/Lundberg%20McFarlane%202012%20Ash%20online.pdf 
Don McFarlane going down the tight spot.
A whole lot of calcite pretties in the cave.
As promised, some pics of Borneo caving. To start things off, stuff from Gunung Mulu National Park. 
A stalagmite that can't find a decent symmetry in Langs Cave.
A large cricket from Langs Cave
Ceiling formations in Langs Cave
Langs Cave is a pretty place
Big calcite formation in Langs Cave
But more fun was had in Wind/Clearwater Cave and that will be for tomorrow
And this is no where near Borneo or related to caves. I am dipping this post in here as I got out on a fine Easter Sunday for a walk in the park just before sunset. As I like to do, I hit a park I've never been to, to see it and maybe take a photo or two. I'll get back to Borneo caves, but tonight's post is from a park just outside the town of Vienna, in Virginia, US. 
A raccoon skull (Procyon lotor) that I found on my walk.
A red-bellied woodpecker
White-tailed deer coming out of the forest.
It was a short walk, less than two miles covered, but a nice one.
I promised more cave pics from Borneo, but this is today's pic.  A Jade tree frog (Rhacophorus dulitensis) from Gunung Mulu National Park, Sarawak, Borneo, Malaysia. This frog (Rhacophorus dulitensis) might be considered pretty common if you are in undisturbed rainforest, and pretty rare if you are in an impacted area. It appears to be a species that has a low tolerance for variation from undisturbed forests.
So as one might expect, populations seems to be in decline. This seems clearly a female, as the translucent belly skin shows a bunch of eggs inside. |
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