shrikes around the world

All are very stunning birds.

Chinese grey, Qinghai, CN:
http://birding-benstead.blogspot.com/2012/11/postcard-from-qinghai.html
great grey, Thursley Common, Surrey, UK:
http://billsbirding.blogspot.com/2012/11/shriking-it-lucky.html
northern, Portland, OR, USA:
http://johnrakestraw.net/2012/11/04/fernhill-wetlands-11112/
black-faced cuckoo-, Gloucester, NSW, AU:
http://peonyden.blogspot.com/2012/10/quick-trip-to-gloucester.html
grey backed, Manas National Park, Assam, IN:
http://nature-stop.blogspot.com/2012/05/manas-wildlife-sanctuary-assam_15.html
http://nature-stop.blogspot.com/2012/05/manas-wildlife-sanctuary-assam.html
loggerhead, Oxnard Plain, CA, USA:
http://seagullsteve.blogspot.com/2012/09/some-terns-drink-at-carpal-bars.html

Superstorm Sandy

Never mind the handful of central CA earthquakes strong enough to wake us up in the past week or so, Sandy is much worse.  Even though this hurricane turned superstorm has been in the news, it's been interesting to follow personal accounts from bloggers who are doing much better than many in the area:

http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/2012/10/preparing-for-sandy.html
http://matthewwills.com/2012/10/29/high-tide/
http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/2012/10/storm-of-leaves.html
http://www.thefreequark.com/2012/10/how-birds-handle-hurricanes/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-birds-handle-hurricanes
http://zanshinart.tumblr.com/post/34617442169/buzzfeed-coney-island-is-underwater
http://matthewwills.com/2012/10/30/hunkered-down/
http://thecommonmilkweed.blogspot.com/2012/10/superstorm-sandy.html
http://matthewwills.com/2012/10/30/calm/
http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/2012/10/alive-and-kicking-post-sandy.html
http://matthewwills.com/2012/10/30/red-hook/
http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/2012/10/after-sandy.html
http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/2012/10/red-hook-day-later.html 
http://matthewwills.com/2012/11/01/a-rare-personal-appearance/
http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/2012/10/wednesday.html
http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/2012/11/callery-pears-just-say-no.html
http://66squarefeet.blogspot.com/2012/11/the-southern-tip.html
http://matthewwills.com/2012/11/02/wrack-canis-kestrel/
http://birdsandnature.blogspot.com/2012/11/hurricane-sandy-sweeps-rare-seabird-to.html
http://micropolisnyc.tumblr.com/tagged/hurricane-sandy
http://www.vincentmounier.com/blog2/2012/11/sandys-aftermath-chaos-in-the-rockaways/
http://neverseconds.blogspot.com/2012/11/thanksgiving-care-and-share.html 

crazy cool creatures

Finally catching up with my blog reading.  I'm only linking to those posts where I'm fairly certain the pictures belong to the blogger, otherwise it's just a matter of searching the internet for any 'ol thing.

http://normalbiology.blogspot.com/2012/11/marvelous-mossy-millipedes.html

http://cabinetofcuriosities-greenfingers.blogspot.com/2012/09/a-tiny-mammal-with-iron-tipped-teeth.html
http://thebuggeek.com/2012/09/21/photo-friday-glow-in-the-dark-scorpion/
http://antsbeesbutterfliesnature.blogspot.com/2012/09/baby-box-turtle.html
http://dansbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2012/09/tody-tastic.html
http://odonata-malaysia.blogspot.com/2012/09/macromia-euterpe.html
http://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2012/09/the-mystery-critter-mystified-even-more.html
http://peonyden.blogspot.com/2012/09/spikes-big-and-small-at-bungonia.html
http://seagullsteve.blogspot.com/2012/09/common-cuckoo.html

keeping solitary bees (& wasps)

wasps:
http://bluejaybarrens.blogspot.com/2012/09/wasps.html

leafcutter bees and parasitic wasps:
http://natureofaman.blogspot.com/2012/09/hymenoptera-hotel.html

mason bees and leafcutter bees:
http://thenatureofportland.blogspot.com/2012/08/native-bees-large-and-small.html

mason bees:
http://www.restoringthelandscape.com/2012/10/native-bee-spotlight-mason-bees-osmia.html
http://curbstonevalley.com/blog/?p=9275

insect hotels:
http://www.inspirationgreen.com/insect-habitats.html

recommended ID books and sites, part 3

This is my continuing list of recommended books (and sites) from blogging.  I may have to create a spreadsheet of this, so I can figure out my want list for when I book shop.  Click here to see part 1 and part 2.

http://natureid.blogspot.com/2012/09/ring-necked-snake-092912-rocky-creek.html

edifices of human oddness

I love finding these monumental structures on road trips. Is it contemporary American folk art?

http://hwyfly.blogspot.com/2014/02/leonard-knight-of-salvation-mountain.html
http://hwyfly.blogspot.com/2012/08/imlay-nevada.html
http://www.soenyun.com/Blog/2012/02/12/talk-about-it/

online feel-good

Being online seems to hold an increasing amount of negativity these days. In addition to the incomplete breaking news headlines of wars, mass shootings, and economic and political failures, even the inherently feel-good event that is the 2012 Summer Olympics in London has been sensationalized into the cynical. I want to have a list o' links dedicated to those things I find online that are positive, if nothing else, to remind me there is, indeed, good in this world. I plan to keep adding to this post.

Had never heard of Ellie Goulding before this video of "Anything Could Happen". I like the community-contributed concept. Her voice and pop reminds me of Cyndi Lauper in her heyday. The actual lyrics are not sugar-coated, but the music inspires hope: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zvzWsrS3JE

Have always been a fan of Rube Goldberg drawings. Here's another music video, this time by OK Go "This Too Shall Pass": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w

Gotta love a site focused on the feel-good:
http://www.tonic.com/

This has been a go-to favorite ever since a fellow blogger let me know about this time-lapse photographer and his "The Unseen Sea": http://www.simonchristen.com/index.php?x=video

solar eclipse

I should keep better track of when eclipses occur. I love seeing them, but I usually don't know when they'll happen until after the fact, particularly through blogs:

http://dipperanch.blogspot.com/2012/05/move-rattlesnake-first-ecliptic.html#more
http://biobabbler.blogspot.com/2012/05/hobo-science-annular-eclipse-party-in.html
http://www.soenyun.com/Blog/2012/05/23/failed-eclipse-photos/
http://rootedincalifornia.blogspot.com/2012/05/eclipse-and-blooms-in-sierras.html

wildfires, the aftermath

Am interested in how places recover after a fire. This is sort of a part 2 of an original wildfire post.

http://wildfiretoday.com/
http://camissonia.blogspot.com/2012/05/treks-on-santa-rosa-plateau-chinese.html
http://natureid.blogspot.com/search/label/*%20fires

videos for fun

double-dutch dog:
http://mashable.com/2012/04/13/jump-rope-do/

child's homemade cardboard arcade inspires a $250,000 foundation for young innovators:
http://cainesarcade.com/

testing label order

#
$
%
' (apostrophe)
(
)
* (star)
+
- (hyphen)
. (period)
/
1, 2, 3...
:
;
=
?
[
\
]
^
_ (underscore)
` (below ~)
a, b, c...
{
| (above \)
}
~

most charismatic spiders ever

Since I closed my twitter account, I lost some good links. Thanks to fellow bloggers, I found these videos, lost them, and found them again. Now, there's a 3rd video of Maratus (jumping spider) by Jürgen Otto from Australia:

http://www.youtube.com/user/Peacockspiderman/videos
http://www.flickr.com/photos/59431731@N05/collections/72157627420960710/

staging wildlife photographs

For the most part, I don't... obviously, given the nature of my usually crappy photos. Sometimes, I won't even move a blade of grass from a frame, because I don't want to disturb the "how I found it" setting. On a few occasions, I have handled animals, but I make it very clear on Nature ID that I intruded on their space. I have also on at least 2 instances put insects into the fridge to cool them down enough to get a picture, and those, too, were very obvious (http://natureid.blogspot.com/2010/07/giant-western-crane-fly-holorusia.html and http://natureid.blogspot.com/2010/07/edwards-glassy-wing-moth-hemihyalea.html).

http://www.thefreequark.com/2012/03/baiting-and-staging-nature-shots/
http://naturography.com/staging-photos/
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/compound-eye/2011/12/12/most-of-the-wildlife-photography-you-see-is-fake/
http://skepticalmoth.southernfriedscience.com/2011/08/genius-20/ (see #11, #21, and #25)

CAPTCHA controversy

Since I've turned off my word verification, the amount of anonymous spam has increased tenfold. Before this, most of the spam I received was not anonymous (read: fake names that link to sites that try to sell something). I hate to turn off anonymous comments, since I do get some great comments from non-bloggers, but this is starting to get ridiculous.

ps 02/29/12 - OK, now I'm seriously getting peeved. What is google doing messing with something that worked just fine. Is this because of the new privacy settings that will come into effect tomorrow 03/01/12? What happened to subscribing to comments?

http://swanscot.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/captcha-rant/
http://hwyfly.blogspot.com/2012/02/public-service-annoucement.html
http://run-a-roundranch.blogspot.com/2012/02/word-verification-woes.html
http://birdsfod.blogspot.com/2012/02/laysan-teal-slimbridge-wwt.html

watching woodpeckers

http://bluejaybarrens.blogspot.com/search/label/Red-Bellied%20Woodpecker
http://juliezickefoose.blogspot.com/search/label/red-headed%20woodpecker

in the news

These are old articles, but I want to save them for reference.

using Garlon Ultra 4 (a Roundup alternative) in San Francisco’s Natural Areas Program (NAP):
http://www.marinatimes.com/apr11/pets_poisoning.html

California Academy of Sciences "failed" living roof:
http://milliontrees.wordpress.com/2011/03/14/the-living-roof-a-failed-experiment-in-native-plant-gardening/

cruel fox and coyote pens banned in Florida (extremely disturbing):
http://hsus.typepad.com/wayne/2010/09/florida-fox-pens.html

coyotes

http://coyoteyipps.com/words-about-my-coyote-yipps-blog/
http://dipperanch.blogspot.com/search/label/Coyote
http://jwallphoto.blogspot.com/2011/12/year-end-blowout.html
http://jwallphoto.blogspot.com/2011/12/coyotes-mushrooms.html
http://www.photographyontherun.com/CoyoteTag.aspx
http://www.photographyontherun.com/CoyoteTagII.aspx
http://biobabbler.blogspot.com/2010/12/coyotes-think-chicago-is-there-kind-of.html
http://massanuttengametrails.blogspot.com/2010/11/red-fox.html

scale insects

http://naturecloseups.com/posts/scale-insects-2
http://myrmecos.net/2012/02/12/if-you-cant-run/

dark-eyed juncos

It's interesting to me that I find patterns and trends among nature bloggers. This winter I've seen a flurry of snowy owl and snow geese posts, even though there have been very few actual snow flurries this mild winter across North America. Since I'm not a birder, I don't really know what that means. See my virtual snowy owl blog collection that I started November 2011 and a collection of snow geese posts from December to January.

For now, I've become fascinated by the dark-eyed junco, a bird I see right outside my back door, too:
http://dansbirdingblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/my-300th-bird.html
http://www.thegardenroofcoop.com/2012/02/snow-and-snowbirds.html

manzanitas

http://camissonia.blogspot.com/2012/02/manzanita-bloomfest-continues-but-we.html

http://drystonegarden.com/index.php/2012/02/manzanitas/

http://natureid.blogspot.com/search/label/manzanitas

suspicious activity

http://natureblog.blogspot.com/2012/02/tomorrow-i-will-do-something-marking-me.html
http://randomaccesstalk.blogspot.com/2012/02/do-you-like-online-privacy-you-may-be.html

Groundhog Day

http://rockpaperlizard.blogspot.com/2012/02/yellow-belly-ned-was-wrong-and-red.html
http://monarchbfly.com/2012/02/02/ground-hogs-day-2012/
http://beyondmygarden.blogspot.com/2012/02/today-is-groundhog-day-in-united-states.html
http://riverdaze.blogspot.com/2012/02/disagreeing-with-ol-groundhog.html
http://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2012/02/groundhog-or-sailor.html
http://rockpaperlizard.blogspot.com/2012/02/yellow-belly-ned-predicts.html

google's privacy and advertising policies

http://randomaccesstalk.blogspot.com/2012/01/google-announces-privacy-changes-across.html
http://pocahontascofare.blogspot.com/2012/02/google-and-gingrich-they-dont-get-me-at.html

early blooms

http://matthewwills.com/2012/02/02/annus-mirabilis/
http://21stcenturynaturalist.blogspot.com/2012/02/early-flowering-plants.html
http://beyondmygarden.blogspot.com/2012/02/too-soon-for-blooms.html
http://squirrelbasket.wordpress.com/2012/02/01/choisya-chooses-to-bloom-in-winter/

kerfuffle over NWF and Scotts

http://www.northcoastgardening.com/2012/01/monsanto-honeybees-nwf/
http://tmousecmouse.blogspot.com/2012/01/getting-word-out-nwf-and-scotts.html
http://tmousecmouse.blogspot.com/2012/01/getting-word-out.html

SOPA and PIPA

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:CongressLookup?zip=93950
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/sopa-pipa/
http://staff.tumblr.com/post/16186174672/two-days-ago-you-guys-stepped-up-once-again-to

http://pocahontascofare.blogspot.com/2012/01/sopa-and-pipa-are-we-all-pirates-now.html
http://back40feet.blogspot.com/2012/01/protect-ip-sopa-breaks-internet-from.html
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/compound-eye/2012/01/18/in-response-to-sopapipa-i-am-releasing-some-of-my-photographs-to-the-public-domain/

charismatic megafauna and the less so

http://www.patriciaklichen.com/2012/01/lousy-condors.html
http://matthewwills.com/2012/01/06/6220/

tracks

http://dipperanch.blogspot.com/2011/12/tooth-nail-beak-or-bone.html
http://bluejaybarrens.blogspot.com/2012/01/few-tracks-in-snow.html

seeing yellow

http://jimmccormac.blogspot.com/2012/01/yellow-cardinal-lives-on.html
http://lotusleaf-gardentropics.blogspot.com/2012/01/abc-wednesday-y.html

snowdrops

http://orchidcrossley.blogspot.com/2012/02/its-that-time-of-year-again.html
http://flightplot.wordpress.com/2012/02/16/snowdrops/
http://orchidcrossley.blogspot.com/2012/01/earliest-opportunity.html
http://deansdailydiary.blogspot.com/2012/01/monday-2nd-january.html

floating water collembola

http://squirrelsview.blogspot.com/2011/12/water-springtails-podura-aquatic.html
http://bluejaybarrens.blogspot.com/2012/01/living-raft.html

and other collembola:
http://wanderinweeta.blogspot.com/2012/01/popcorn-critters-on-ice.html