Specimen collected by Jim Vargo
Last year Pete Badra from MNFI identified a picture of a similar snail as this species. I'll forward the email.
Male and female captured and photographed. Subgenital plate projects to end of abdomen on female. Both individuals brown with yellow lateral stripe on S1-3
Core taken and aged at ~137 years
Black pins coming out of Lecanora?
Looks a lot like this: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/194838523
I've also seen branched pins without an associated dust lichen on Red Oak:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/182391125
Sometimes you just gotta mash the shutter for too long
county record
Looked surprisingly healthy
D. marginalis?
Growing on Abies balsamea about 4in dbh right on the lakeshore. Only one found otherwise I'd have taken a collection. Photo #4 habitat shot
Big live elm, ~1.25ft in diameter, looked healthy enough but some sprouts coming out of the trunk
Several thousand stems in 8 inches of water in a pristine pond in the Berkshires. Apparently my three iNat observations are the only three in all of New England. I does occur in all six states, though.
I thought I’d seen this before but it’s not ringing any bells. Fully submerged in a sandy creek. Added a habitat shot in the last photo
In calcareous groundwater-fed stream, branches upwards of 4cm long
Pretty incredible crop here
S. acutus (left) and S. californicus (right)
Calliostoma annulatum making a funny face.
Familia: Cyperaceae
Broad nose has me thinking this species in my location. Big Brown Bat?
Northern Hawk Owl who has been in our area for a couple of months now.
Was in a swamp like area and the base was submerged in water. Had these almost wheat like stalked growing up if it that I’m assuming are the flowering part. http://www.southeasternflora.com/view_flora.php?plantid=2644
Scripus litoralis
Observed within a seasonal wetland area in Sundays Valley Thicket vegetation. Heavily grazed on by goats and cattle of from the nearby community. Not 100% on species, possibly S. decipiens.
Emergent plant
7 Months after wildfires
On August 16, we witnessed what has to rank with one of the most incredible wildlife experiences I’ve ever had. Cheryl and I were on a trip with 6 other nature photographers and our leader. We had been in the Pantanal area of Brazil for about a week with 5 days along the Cuiaba River near Porto Jofre, looking for Jaguars and other photo ops. Our daily routine was breakfast at 5:30 AM and we took off on boats from 6 till about 11AM, lunch at noon at the lodge, then on the boats again 3PM till dark. Our group has 3 boats so just 3 people per boat so plenty of room for photo gear, etc. Over several days we had seen 10-12 Jaguars. Some were very good photo ops, some poor photo ops, some just glimpsed.
There are several lodges in the area and it is a popular place to visit for folks hoping to see Jaguars, so much like Yellowstone National Park, a crowd can gather when some significant wildlife is seen, but instead of car jams to see a Grizzly such as Yellowstone, this can be boat jams for a jaguar. I have seen as many as 22 boats, 70-100 feet off shore with lots of people in each boat taking photos of a sleeping Jaguar. BUT…that is not the end of the story! We were often in more remote areas of the rivers and inlets and streams more or less on our own looking for birds, etc., so lots of times there are no other boats around. The boat drivers all have radios, so if a Jaguar is seen, other boats are informed. We move 20-25 miles up and down the river to explore, so many times other boats are not close enough to arrive while a Jaguar is in view.
My limited Jaguar experience is that some are just sleeping and/or resting and mostly ignore the boats in the river. Others are walking though the edge of the forest near the river and when a boat becomes visible, the animal just vanishes back into the forest. This morning at about 7:30 AM our three boats were in an out-of-the way location, a mile or so apart. The boat I was in was photographing a Great Black Hawk when one of our other boats called us on the radio to say they had a Jaguar swimming in the river, apparently hunting, so we headed to that area. Apparently the Jaguar, with just its head visible, swam up to loafing Yacare Caimans and pounced onto a caiman which was about 6 or so feet long. The Jaguar and the caiman thrashed in the water with the Jaguar biting into the skull of the caiman. That is about the time our boat arrived, after the Jaguar had mostly subdued the caiman, but the caiman was still thrashing about. The Jaguar was up against a high dirt bank, still mostly in the water with a firm grip on the skull of the caiman and the Jaguar was not letting go. It was very dark and under heavy foliage and vines so I was shooting at 4000 and 6400 ISO but that was my only choice. Eventually the Jaguar was able to work itself and its prize away from the vines and it drug the caiman out of the water and up the dirt bank and eventually back into the forest to enjoy its catch beyond the curious and amazed eyes of the human observers. The caiman was as large or larger than the Jaguar. All I have to say is that a mature Jaguar is an incredibly powerful predator and watching this whole 15 minute episode is something I’ll not forget. What a beast!
This entire series was shot from a boat, perhaps 40 feet off the bank with a Canon EOS 7D Mark II and a Canon 100-400 IS lens in case anyone is interested.
Cuiaba River,
near Porto Jofre,
Pantanal,
Brazil
16 August 2017
Underside view of pitcher plant flower (Sarracenia purpurea)
Was delighted to find this fishless (and newtless!) little pond full of fairy shrimp and other crustaceans. Clearly a lot of pig action nearby, but probably no cows. Very unlike most cow ponds around.
It's "Heron Week", folks...
Fontigens bottimeri
Near mouth of Milwaukee River.
Photo courtesy of M.Durkalec.
Albino plethodon species, possibly Western Red-backed (Plethodon vehiculum) a common species in this area.
~50mm SVL
~45mm Tail Length
16 Costal Grooves (from what I can tell)
Next to Tamarack bog, edge of water
Perhaps Allopeas gracile, though these snails seem to be longer than A. gracile. Found in a cave. Note that I tweaked colors to get the snails to represent the brilliant and almost fluorescent yellows and blues in real life. As a result, the dark soil in the background also looks a little bluer than it was
Comesebo patagónico - Patagonian sierra finch