Dicromantispa interrupta

Dicromantispa interrupta
Mantisfly

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Elephant paints an elephant

They call this a self-portrait:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LHoyB81LnE

I don't know about the "self" part, but it is an amazing video. How much of trained animal behavior is rote, and how much indicates a form of "locked-in syndrome?"

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Ivory Billed Woodpeckers in Florida

Any birdwatchers who do a lot of paddling on the wilder rivers of Florida should check out these two websites:

http://tinyurl.com/ncctb

http://tinyurl.com/zgs6b

Listen to the latter's recordings of the IBW's so-called "kent" calls. They don't sound to me like "kent." Rather, they sound like a soft, old-fashioned auto's bulb horn.

Also study the way that IBW's remove bark from recently dead sweetgums and spruce pines. It is pretty distinctive.

The Choctawhatchee River is not the only river in FL with a lot of mature floodplain forestland.