Web Robin

When Sacramento Turkeys Attack

Given all the wild turkeys around the temple where my parents live, this video of a woman encountering an aggressive turkey in Sacramento seemed appropriate to share. It's either the Blair Witch Project meets Thanksgiving or Jaws at a much slower (and yummier) pace.

Discovered via Google+

 

Science Friday: Where's the Octopus?

A fun video and discussion on octopus camouflage. Discovered on Google+.

What is it?

This is a picture of a "growth" on a tree stump in my back yard. It started out very small and very white. Every day it got bigger and bigger. It looked like something from outer space coming to get me. OK, I'm kidding, but it is weird. My gardener said he thought it was a fungus. He sprayed it Tuesday (that's why it is now yellow). Any ideas as to what it is and how to get rid of it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An afternoon with the birds

Yesterday, when I went into the lunchroom, I saw the Sacramento Bee had a feature about the migrating waterfowl that can be seen at the various preserves and wetland areas. The article said to go "when there's sun," and predicted that this weekend would be a great time to visit, so Rick and I drove south to the Consumnes River nature preserve and had a delightful afternoon watching the birds. 

I would share the photos I took, but you would think you'd gone blind. We never got very close, so while we could see the birds well through our binoculars, my little camera, even on 16x zoom, wasn't right for the job. Every photo I took is pixelated.

So, I've gathered a few photos from the web to let you know what our favorites were. The first photo shows many Tundra Swans surrounded by ducks. I put this in for Chela, who called me a couple of weeks ago when she saw hundreds of swans. We only saw 6, but the wetland looked like what you see here.

Next, the Sandhill Cranes. These are large birds, standing about 3-4 feet high, with up to a 6-foot wingspan. When they fly, their wingtips look like they end in fingers. Check this link to see a video of them flying and doing their jumpy mating dance. We did get to see that a bit, and you should have heard the crowd of people go "Ahhh" in appreciation. (We're such city slicker suckers, getting excited about a few birds jumping around!)

Jellyfish Gone Wild!

Check this NSF site for an interesting and informative special report (in text, video, photos) about jellyfish. You have to explore the tabs to see the report; it's not all available on the front page. Click "biology," "anatomy," and "life cycle," for example. You can also see a 3-minute video interview with a few scientists.

Sunday's sky

Last night I pointed out the interesting "stars" and moon configuration to Richard as we left choir practice. Turns out, it was Venus and Jupiter, not stars. See photos of the conjunction on this CNN site. The view we saw was most like the "smiley moon" photo, but more like an acute triangle. Did you notice last night's display? If so, what did you see?

Catalog of Fish we saw

I've assembled a collection of photos I found online that represent the fish, invertebrates, coral, and animals we saw while diving in Bonaire.

Scuba diving is a slow sport. You might have to swim out a distance before dropping down, but once you're down, you drift with the current or swim slowly so you can see everything.

Lucky for us, we were with a group who were committed to this kind of discovery. Having lots of eyes made spotting elusive creatures easier. 

Make a Guess

MSNBC is running an interesting story about an ocean census, complete with a small collection of photos. Before you navigate out to read all about it, see if you can figure out why the shrimp pictured at left has such an enlarged left claw.

Molly and Cindi -- you both know the answer.

A fantastic place

This month's National Geographic contains photos and a story about the explorations of an incredible Crystal Cave in Chihuahua, Mexico. The crystals shown in the photos above are more than 30 feet long and are at least 600,000 years old. They developed in water, but stopped growing in 1985 when the level of the water table dropped as part of pumping out nearby mines.

Apparently, this cave was discovered in 2000 by brothers looking for new silver and lead deposits -- the cave is 1000 feet below a mine and more than 4000 feet below the earth's surface.

I would want to go see this incredible site -- but apparently it's really hot down there. Because the cave lies above a pool of magma, it's often 112 degrees or higher. Researchers can usually only last 20 minutes per excursion. Also, the crystals are very fragile, so tourism is (not surprisingly) prohibited.

Giant Spider Eats Bird

*WARNING*  The pictures below are not for the faint of heart, even if they are perfect for the upcoming Halloween holiday (I suggested that we get a replica to hang from our porch, but was vetoed).

Heather came across this gem, so I'll credit her for the find, even if I was the one who dug a little bit for more graphic pictures of the subject.

While the pictures look fake, wildlife experts in Australia (where the pictures were taken) have authenticated them.

-Do enjoy!