Raven Droppings

I'm a biologist, studying American crows, who pretends to be an artist when she has time.

[corvidblog-blog]

“Pica Pearlescence”

A watercolor painting of a black-billed magpie I just completed for the Changeling Artist Collective’s Operation Gaia, an online art auction to benefit the National Audubon Society.  The auction will be taking place at the art collective’s Facebook page on January 20th at 8pm EST.

The astonishing beauty of magpies is often overlooked. I wanted to emphasize the iridescent in the tail and wings of these lovely birds. I used pearlescent pigments throughout the painting, which the scan does not provide justice.  To see this painting from different angles, here is a video: https://youtu.be/ZKWpkYmngvI

[livingstills]

[pretty-dead-dog]

[birdstudies]

July 3, 2016 - Henderson’s Ground-jay, Mongolian Ground-jay, Black-tailed Ground-jay, Henderson’s Ground-chough, or Mongolian Desert Jay (Podoces hendersoni)

These jays are found in desert and semi-desert areas of Russia, Mongolia, and China. They are omnivorous, eating mostly insects, and sometimes small lizards, during the breeding season. Although they can fly, they seem to prefer to stay near the ground. Their long legs are well adapted to running and jumping. Little is known about their breeding habits, though they probably lay their eggs in March and April.

[corvidblog-blog]

I want to feature more art on this blog, and I will kick it off with these delightful photos of art reflecting real life. The above photo, taken by the talented @adammillerstudio shows two corvids (@qawstume, mask made by @nambroth, and @rah-bop) tag-teaming a snowy owl (made by @crystumes); one distracting the target and the other pulling the tail (one of my favorite corvid behaviors talked about here). The lower photo is by miketabak (on Flickr), showing the exact behaviors in real life!  Thanks to @rah-bop for originally posting these on her Twitter!  I had to share them for all the other corvid fans here :)

[hkluterman]

I had an epic Pokemon Adventure today. Finally hit lvl 5 and decided to go check out some of the gyms nearby and also visited some Pokestops. Ended up at this big open air shopping plaza where two gyms are and maybe about 10 Pokestops. EVERYONE walking around was playing and talking about it. A girl ran up to a bunch of us as we were sitting in the shade between two lured stops and was shouting “THERE’S A DRATINI BY THE CAROUSEL!” Everyone within listening range went over to get one (including myself).

I think I’m more excited about the Gowlithe I caught. But then again I know nothing about pokemon and just go by what I think look cute. 

One of the younger gentlemen asked me what team I was. He just stared at me funny when I said “Yellow.” I chortled.

There was a wild Squirtle by one of the gyms but my game kept crashing and losing connection, and so I eventually gave up and left. Ended up at the historic section of my town and took a walk, watching a crowd of people attacking the gym at one of the gazebos as I hit the 5 or so pokestops. It stayed blue the entire time I was there, though.

I also had to do a few errands and ended up catching pokemon at Lowes and Best Buy. I am now lvl 7, and it’s been a really fun day. I haven’t had this much fun out by myself in forever.

I need a Lucky Egg so I can evolve my millions of Pidgies.

[ravendroppings-blog]

Hooray Team Instinct! I finally got Arcanine (what Growlithe evolves into) and was so, so pumped. Glad you are having fun adventures!!

[ravendroppings-blog]

Pokemon Snap

*sits in rocking chair*  Gather around fellow Pokemon dorks.  This is no story about PokemonGo, no sirs, this is about Pokemon Snap.  Don't remember Pokemon Snap?  Well, it came out in June 1999, when I was still 13-years-old.  I was stoked.  A game with Pokemon AND taking pictures?  Heck yeah!  I even had a Nintendo64 (thanks mom and dad), so I rented the game and played it constantly. Then there was a competition.  You could win a trip to Australia for taking "your best shot" in the game (click here for one of the TV commercials for the contest).  I managed to get the highest possible score in the game!

Turns out, a lot of other people also got that highest score, so it came down to an essay competition.  They wanted us to write about the photo we took, so I, like the nerd I am, did an accurate history of Mew based on the games, movie, and any other information I could get my hands on.

I got in the second place category and received a special edition Pokemon Gameboy Color and a copy of Pokemon Yellow/Special Pikachu Edition.  It was pretty rad, but I also remember being pretty bummed about not getting to go on a photo safari in Australia!  I still have that Gameboy and cartridge :) Today I decided to do some sleuthing online, and found a snapshot (har har) of the Pokemon Snap website, with my name in the Second Place section (JEN C. CO): https://web.archive.org/web/20000619113447/http://www.pokemonsnap.com/contest/psc_doc.html

In hindsight, it's no wonder I became the shutter-bug I am today, enjoying wildlife photography the most.  And now that I'm an adult, I plan on going on my own Australian photo safari someday!  Someday!! Just need to amass enough money.

[zookeeperproblems]

Listening to people calling your animal majestic, but you know exactly what they look like most of the time...

[ravendroppings-blog]

Exactly how I feel about most raptors after becoming a falconer XD

[zookeeperproblems]

Decided to jump on the Pokémon Go hype train at the zoo! Hey, if you can’t beat ‘em…

[hearthawk]

This is pretty awesome, actually!

[becausebirds]

Birding GO!

[ravendroppings-blog]

This...is... AMAZING

[becausebirds]

Surfer swans having the time of their life.

[memewhore]

[symphonicseauxl]

WOW YALL

[ravendroppings-blog]

Encountered this while playing PokemonGo last night.  We...didn’t choose to stay in this “hot spot”.

[rah-bop]

Some photos of my kenku costume at Anthrocon 2016, taken by @adammillerstudio! Oh boy did I ever have a lot of fun! The other raven in these photos is @qawstume and the snowy owl we are mobbing is @crystumes, who made both of the blanks that we used for our masks.

If you have any questions about this costume please check out my FAQ!

[ravendroppings-blog]

If you hate PokemonGo...

The only people I've seen saying/posting disparaging things about PokemonGo are people who 1) haven't played the game, 2) don't have a clue what Pokemon are/is, 3) have only read internet articles about a handful of people doing dumb things, half of which are fake stories (because clearly a handful of people doing dumb things out of millions of people using the app means the game is bad). Then it hit me. If people are doing this with a game, a goddamn harmless /game/ then what does that tell you about how people form negative opinions in general? About other people? Cultures? Races? Political parties? Sexual identities? Hobbies? Practices? World views? People who haven't even played PokemonGo are ridiculing it, calling it dangerous, and citing fake articles online. This line of thinking seriously bothers me, because it's not limited to a game. This line of thinking extends to any "not me" group and divides people. Thankfully the people actually playing PokemonGo are experiencing a fantastic sense of community and togetherness, something we desperately need right now, when so many forces are trying to tear us apart. Paradoxically, lots of the people I see posting negative opinions about PokemonGo participate in hobbies or activities that are ridiculed by others in the same exact ways (waste of time, could be doing something better, who cares, that's weird, etc). Their hobbies/activities are also ridiculed for the same reason they are ridiculing a game, because other people don't have a damn clue, read bad information about it, and form hollow opinions without actually having experienced it. So just....stop. Let people enjoy this. No one is forcing you to play the game. Let people discover their communities, new friends/kindred spirits, neat landmarks, local nature, and get some needed exercise without raining self-superiority bullshit on top of them. If you feel it's necessary to dislike something because it's popular or because you don't understand it...take a good long, hard look in the mirror and ask yourself if that world view is helping or harming those around you.

[tigerwithasniper]

Reblog if you’re Team Instinct

Reblog here for Team Mystic

Reblog here for Team Valor

[jenntalksnature-blog]

Time for another baby bird. Here is a pygmy nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea) fledgling.  If this little guy isn’t cute enough on it’s own, you should also know that these birds huddle in cavities together when it gets cold.  These piles (roosts technically) of fluff-balls can reach over 150 individual nuthatches all stacked together.  (Just thinking about it gives me adorable-goose-bumps.)  They not only help keep each other warm, but they are also cooperative breeders, meaning they live in family groups while breeding, with grown offspring helping to feed the new offspring.

These birds are truly “pygmy” weighing only 9-11 grams (not even half an ounce!).

Enjoy!

[jenntalksnature-blog]

Photo from my walk earlier today.  A two-tailed swallowtail (Papilio multicaudata).