alecc's Favourites

Squirrel and rabbit hanging out.

This observation is for the squirrel.

Rabbit observation:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/116665442

Added 1 hour to time, camera was not adjusted for daylight savings.

White Rock lake, pool behind the lower spillway steps
Standing Watch
30 minutes later when I returned to my car, the parent was still standing there watching as the two juveniles were diving and looking for food.

The Superb Gaza, Gaza superba (Dall, 1881), is a beautiful and now rare gastropod from the deep Gulf of Mexico. It has a transparent shell layer covering the iridescent layer. The shell in the photos was not polished but it is in unusual great condition. It occurs in deep water, from 47 to 1006 m.

It used to be brought up by shrimp boats in the 1960's and 1970's but in recent years it has been rarely collected because of the dearth of oceanographic expeditions collecting material in deepwater, and shrimp fishing operations have dwindled in the Gulf of Mexico.

There is some evidence that this species is actually common at depth and it may be a dominant species between 500-600 m (Hicks in Tunnell at el., 2010, p. 57). More information can be found on the same book, page 119.

The shell shown in the photo was collected by a research vessel in the 1970's off Texas, but collection data are not available.

White Rock lake, Sunset Bay
Photo 1:
Odd Wood Duck
Wood ducks look strange when they change from their pretty breeding colors into their drab summer (eclipse) colors. But this duck is stranger still. It has both male & female characteristics. Not a juvenile, they have dull olive color bills. Male traits here are that colorful bill that remains even in summer and the colorful head crest feathers. Female traits are the brown eye instead of red, the shape of the white outlining the eye and the lack of a white chin strap going up the neck. Males keep the red eyes and white chin strap even in the summer.
Photo 2:
Another View Of The Odd Wood Duck
From every angle and when I lightened up colors all the way on the desktop briefly, that eye stayed brown. Pretty cool.

Photo 3:
Comparison shot of mine that shows 1 male & 2 female wood ducks in eclipse colors. Male eyes red, female eyes brown. male no white around eye and white chin strip and colorful bill. females white around eye, no chin strap and non colorful bill.
So, is this a gynandromorph or am I missing something?

Melanistic Song Sparrow. Singing male, ID'ed as Song Sparrow by song, and similar face pattern (visible in photo though muted due to melanism). The bird was also associating with a standard-issue SOSP, possibly a mate.