by platydracus

Cat.exe non-functional

🪶🥸bearded reedling🥸🪶

Source: niqiu_niru

Bouncy boy

Oh. My. Gawd. Honey, is that the Whitefeathers nesting next to us again? I really don't think I can stand them for another season.

Least Tern (Sternula antillarum)

North America & Caribbean, winters in South America

Status: Endangered (USA interior and California populations)

Threats: human disturbance, predators, extreme weather

Hudsonian Whiteface - Leucorrhinia hudsonica

I really enjoy my visits to the lakes and cottage country of Muskoka, not just for the peace and views, but also the all the aquatic-based insects that fly around, day or night. Today's specimen is a day flier and she's somewhat small by my estimations. I mean, you can see for yourself as it perches on my thumb. Although this sky hunter is quick, I was able to form a loose grip around her with both hands in order to catch her for a closer look. For any aspiring bug hunters that will attempt to try this in their journeys, do keep in mind that Dragonflies can be very swift and agile, and they must be handled gently so as to not damage their wings or abdomen. Furthermore, try not to agitate or trap them in a small area as they can (and likely will) bite in defense...as I found out. Her bite was more than a pinch, but not too painful. Such a bite has to be designed with strength and efficiency given how specialized Dragonflies are in snatching aerial prey midflight and then subsequently shredding them to food! So yes, serrated mandibles are a great asset for offense and defense, and this was a small Skimmer's bite. A larger Darner Dragonfly would likely have more powerful slicing and crunching mandibles! Formidable as their bite force could be, I'd rather be bitten by 100 Dragonflies in cottage country than contend with a single hungry mother Horsefly!

It's most fortunate that these hunters can be an effective biological control against Dipteran populations, including Mosquitoes which can really swarm lakes. All she (this individual) needs to do is swoop in and fly to her heart's content. As for some more concrete information on this specie, as a member of the genus Leucorrhinia it has a white-colored face from the frons to the labrum. In addition to the lack of claspers, the pattern along her body is indicative that this is a female specimen; mature males feature bold red markings along the spine and wing-bases. However, immature males are incredibly similar in appearance to females (their red deepens with age) so look closely for the abdominal claspers. Finally, the females of this specie are very similar in pattern and appearance to Dot-Tailed Whiteface (L. intacta) females which also call Canada home. I settled on the Hudsonian Whiteface as an identification after closely examining the wings, and comparing against Dot-Tailed pictures. The Dot-Tailed images that I've seen have minimal side-patterning at the thorax-abdomen region and their yellow spinal pattern appears a thin streak rather than variable shapes arranged in sequence. Both species have overlaps in their habitat range, so it never hurts to be as thorough as possible.

Pictures were taken on May 26, 2024 in Muskoka with a Google Pixel 4. What a wonderful day! This specie also shares some physical appearance similarities to the Belted Whiteface (L. proxima - both the females and males), but that specie seems easier to distinguish. At least when considering North American species.

A mother moose and her calf.

Photo: Coby Brock

Third place, wildlife, Alaska Magazine’s photo contest: 2021 Photo Contest Winners

Source: alaskamagazine.com

[x]

moose and little moose

Photo - Wild On Alaska

the moooose

enraptured by them ooooose

images (x) (x) (x) (x) (x)

they are like brothers to me. do you understand

African Forest Buffalo [Syncerus caffer nanus]

The Asian golden cat (Catopuma temminckii) is a medium-sized wild cat native to the northeastern Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia and China. It has been listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List since 2008, and is threatened by poaching and habitat destruction, since Southeast Asian forests are undergoing the world's fastest regional deforestation. - Wikipedia