Percy G. Ulsamer

Photographer, Birder, and Blogger

[percyulsamer]

Dawn Traveler by Percy G. Ulsamer 

For purchase as prints here

[percyulsamer]

Dawn Swim by Percy G. Ulsamer

[hashtagloveloses]

the renaissance faire is just comic con but outside and with jousting on horses instead of deadpool with a katana vs a brony with a lightsaber

[theeverydaypagan]

@elphabaforpresidentofgallifrey I have seen a Brony and Deadpool fighting at a ren faire. It was historically accurate and Deadpool handed that guys ass to him.

[hashtagloveloses]

i cannot believe this

[machine-dove]

Renaissance faires are comic-cons with a storyline and more beer.

[ariaste]

renfaires are a source of deep chaos energy

[percyulsamer]

I’ve worked at a Ren Faire for about 2 years and a good half of all the costumes were pop culture, just twisted to be period clothing. That fourth photo is actually my friends at my local faire!

[percyulsamer]

Name Change

Hello everyone! Sorry that I haven’t been on in a long time. I’ve been finishing up school and actually just graduated from high school Monday! 

With high school over and a new beginning with college, I’m finally changing my name! 

I’m going from Gale Ulsamer to Percy Gale Ulsamer. I’m working on getting a probate court date as well as a gender change on my birth certificate. Feel free to still call me Gale, as it will take a while to change everything around.

[quaggly]

idk why people act like ufos are so elusive and rare. i see ufos all the time. every bird i don’t recognize is a ufo

[myfrogcroaked]

We Finally Know How Birds Can See Earth's Magnetic Field

Earth's magnetic field plays a vital role in everything from animal migration to protecting the Earth from the Sun's harsh solar wind. Now, a recent study finally sheds light on how some birds visually see Earth's magnetic field.

A special eye protein is helping birds to “see” Earth’s magnetic field! If that’s not cool, I don’t know what is.

The ability to see Earth’s magnetic field, known as magnetoreception, relies on the presence of specifically the blue wavelength of light. The complex process involves “radical” intermediate molecules which are sensitive to Earth’s magnetic field. The Earth’s magnetic field, as it relates to the direction the bird is facing, could alter the intermediate radical molecules differently, giving the bird a sense for where it is facing in relation to the Earth’s magnetic field.

While the exact way birds visualize Earth’s magnetic field is part of further investigation, scientists believe the Cry4 protein acts as sort of a filter over the bird’s vision. This filter would allow birds to see a sort of compass of the Earth and direct their migratory flights accordingly.

Source: Forbes

[tinysaurus-rex-deactivated20240]

NICE. The secret of the pigeons has been revealed!

[percyulsamer]

Name Change

I don’t really talk about my personal life too much on Tumblr but I’m ready to announce I’m legally changing my name! I’ll now be going by Ezra, but you can still call me Gale if you’d like.

It’s a huge step in my FTM transition and I’m excited about it! I’ll be eventually changing all my social media accordingly.

[silverhawk]

underappreciated bird species

nicobar pigeon

golden pheasant

victoria crowned pigeon

kakapo

blue footed booby

[silverhawk]

long-tailed widowbird

greater bird of paradise

lesser bird of paradise

stork-billed kingfisher

frillback pigeon

[tinysaurus-rex-deactivated20240]

The frillback pigeon is a breed of domesticated rock dove, not its own species. It’s the same thing as the feral pigeons you see in cities that look like this:

just like how pugs and huskies are the same species.

[tinysaurus-rex-deactivated20240]

you are right that rock pigeons are under appreciated! all breeds of domestic pigeon derived from birds that looked much like my little feral pigeon from Brooklyn pictured above, and we believe they have been domesticated for over 10,000 years. they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, with different behaviors similar to how we have working or hunting dogs. some cool breeds:

the old Dutch capuchine

a classic old frill bred by @ramseyringnecks

beautiful Indian fantail, a very ancient breed

Voorburg cropper

and of course my beloved Rex, an Aachen Lacquer shield owl…however her breed isn’t supposed to have a crest so she looks more like an old German owl

[spooky-cowfish]

@galeulsamer

[percyulsamer]

Who wants to hear how some of these species didn’t evolve due to natural selection but rather sexual selection because it is so cool

[percyulsamer]

Okay since @jensteed said so, here we go!

So there is a difference between natural and sexual selection. Natural selection happens when a mutated trait helps the animal gather more food, defend food sources, etc. If we focus on food, this happens when food sources are closely clustered, meaning males have to compete. The survival aiding traits spread through the population.

Sexual selection happens when there are a lack of predators or the food source is maybe more spread out, making it so everyone is happy and no competition is in play. Now, it is up to the females to chose. So, a mutation like the Greater Bird of Paradise’s plumage might have happened. The females liked it as an appealing trait. So, as more males bred with the long feather trait, we’ll call it, more males started showing up with it. Males with longer, colorful feathers were more appealing so they got more elaborate to the point where they look like that. The problem with sexual selection is that typically, the males don’t survive as long as they’ve sacrificed survival aiding traits to appeal to males. Like, look at this Long-tailed Widowbird; he can barely keep himself above the grass!

So, that’s how we got all of these crazy, fancy, colorful birds.

At this point, I should just make a whole post about the Bird of Paradise and their crazy evolution story!

This video really helps explain it:

[galeulsamer-photography]

A Fitting Meal by Gale Ulsamer Via Flickr: I’ve been learning how to use Lightroom so not my best edit but good practice!

[percyulsamer]

I’ve been super busy but here is a sneak peek into something I’ve been working on! I’m not showing the complete poster yet because it still needs many edits. 

I am doing this with the Natural Resource Conservation Academy at UConn! I’ll be presenting it at the Connecticut Conference on Natural Resources in March. 

[silverhawk]

underappreciated bird species

nicobar pigeon

golden pheasant

victoria crowned pigeon

kakapo

blue footed booby

[silverhawk]

long-tailed widowbird

greater bird of paradise

lesser bird of paradise

stork-billed kingfisher

frillback pigeon

[tinysaurus-rex-deactivated20240]

The frillback pigeon is a breed of domesticated rock dove, not its own species. It’s the same thing as the feral pigeons you see in cities that look like this:

just like how pugs and huskies are the same species.

[tinysaurus-rex-deactivated20240]

you are right that rock pigeons are under appreciated! all breeds of domestic pigeon derived from birds that looked much like my little feral pigeon from Brooklyn pictured above, and we believe they have been domesticated for over 10,000 years. they come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, with different behaviors similar to how we have working or hunting dogs. some cool breeds:

the old Dutch capuchine

a classic old frill bred by @ramseyringnecks

beautiful Indian fantail, a very ancient breed

Voorburg cropper

and of course my beloved Rex, an Aachen Lacquer shield owl…however her breed isn’t supposed to have a crest so she looks more like an old German owl

[spooky-cowfish]

@galeulsamer

[percyulsamer]

Who wants to hear how some of these species didn’t evolve due to natural selection but rather sexual selection because it is so cool

[pangur-and-grim]

making two extremely bitter dinosaur shirts for myself to wear to the June 22 2018 Jurassic World 2 premiere

[pangur-and-grim]

this is the first one

[pangur-and-grim]

let’s be real, no matter how crap this movie is I WILL be going multiple times. thus, multiple outfits - here’s number 2

[pangur-and-grim]

ALRIGHT, getting a lot of messages arguing with the rooster! so I’ll break it down once, & then please obey the rooster’s speech bubble

1. Birds are Dinosaurs

at this point, no sane person can deny the relationship between birds & non-avian dinosaurs. if through magic you saw a photo of velociraptor today, you’d just say “neat-o I think that turkey has teeth!” & go back to scrolling your twitter feed. 

but let’s clarify what a dinosaur is: Dinosauria is defined as the MCRA (most common recent ancestor) of Megalosaurus & Iguandon, and all their descendants thereof. you see that branching cladogram up above? everything past ‘Archosauria’ is an archosaur, including birds, everything past ‘Dinosauria’ is a dinosaur, including birds, and everything past ‘Aves’ is a bird.

so, Tyrannosaurus rex is not a bird, but a house sparrow IS a dinosaur.

2. Birds are Reptiles

many clades (groups consisting of a common ancestor & all it’s descendants) were made based on physical features like ectothermy and scales, before we fully understood who was related to who. so birds were not originally intended to be grouped with reptiles, but tracing their path backward in the tree of life, birds are nested in Archosauria (crocodiles, pterosaurs, dinosaurs, etc.), which is in turn nested in Reptilia (turtles, lizards, snakes, etc.)

by our own stupid rules, birds are reptiles.

[vulvva-deactivated20200910]

The term “reptiles” should not be used at all in scientific discussions of phylogenetic relationships. Reptiles are a grade, a polyphyletic group constructed before we had evidence of birds being dinosaurs. The grup containing reptiles and birds is Sauropsida. Bird are not reptiles, but they are dinosaurs, which is a much cooler assertion.

[pangur-and-grim]

[percyulsamer]

1. I need these shirts

2. Thank you for the explanation! It’s been a huge argument at my museum.

[trekkiebeth]

Rabbit 1/27/18 | photo by trekkiebeth

[percyulsamer]

I hope to make it back to a SPG show some day. The lightning, makeup, outfits, and effects always make really awesome photos. With more photography experience now under my belt, I really want to get the opportunity again! 

Can’t wait to see more photos from the show! 

[percyulsamer]

Just got a Canon 80D. Oh what beauty it is! I can’t wait to start using it as opposed to my Rebel T5. Praying for a jump in quality with my photos!

[percyulsamer]

we drifted apart a few years ago, but I'm really happy you have become so talented. i'm really, REALLY proud of you!

Aww... I don’t know who you are but thank you so much! Feel free to message me off anon if you want to get back in touch!

[trekkiebeth]

SPG’s show tonight was fantastic. I took lots of photos.

[percyulsamer]

I can’t wait to see them! Your SPG photos are what inspired me to start photographing in the first place!

[trekkiebeth]

You take gorgeous photos! <3 

[percyulsamer]

Thank you! Hoping to make it a part of my career!

[trekkiebeth]

SPG’s show tonight was fantastic. I took lots of photos.

[percyulsamer]

I can’t wait to see them! Your SPG photos are what inspired me to start photographing in the first place!