Creature Awaits #183

Each week I plan to feature an amazing creature, admiring God's fantastic artistry.  Hopefully it’ll brighten someone’s day to see something new and interesting if they haven’t seen it before. : )

Concluding our November Fall Color Special! : D

(Amazing photography by Cloudtail (above:CC BY-NC-ND 2.0(cropped)) and Doug Greenberg (below:CC BY-NC 2.0))

The Scarlet Ibis

Scientific Name: Eudocimus ruber

Region: Scattered tropical and sub-tropical areas along the coasts of South America up through the parts of the Caribbean

Size: About 22" (56cm) tall at the shoulder and 26"–41" (66cm–105cm) long from head to tail, with a 16"–22" (40cm–57 cm) long tail

Interesting Notes: Where other species of ibis are white, olive, brown and black, the Scarlet Ibis is (obviously) a bizarrely bright red. Similar to their cousin, the flamingo, their unique coloration is caused by the carotene in the bright red crustaceans they eat. However, here in Florida, people will occasionally catch glimpses of a "pink ibis" - which is not a true separate species, but rather a hybridization caused by the scarlet ibis interbreeding with the nearly anatomically identical American white ibis.

RED ROBIN REDESIGN RAHHGGGG 🗣🗣🔊🔊🔊📢📢📢

I took elements from his different suits plus added some extra flair. My favourite being the addition of climbing shoes.

🐦 | source

How do racers deal with feather damage?

ft. Niki Lauda

Niki Lauda famously returned after his accident in 1976 with red synthetic feathers replacing the majority of his flight feathers, as well as some of his median and lesser coverts. His refusal to hide the extent of the feather damage he sustained did a lot to champion openness around feather issues in F1 and to bring imping to the FIA's attention as an area of racer's lives that needed to be regulated.

Similar in medical magnitude to an orthodontic aid, imping is a relatively painless practice that allows for a comparatively quick solution to feather breakage. Affixing the replacement feather to the existing feather shaft allows for the replacement to be lost in the next molt, identical to a natural feather. There are three primary options for replacement feathers used in imping:

Mass-produced synthetic: These synthetic feathers are produces based on age and wing type specifications, working well enough for the vast majority of people. However, they are often rather obvious, even when painted to resemble natural plumage.

Donor: Often more expensive, especially for those with rare wings, donor feather implantation relies on finding a perfect match wing-type, feather number, and development-stage wise. These feathers perform much like the original(barring the added weight of the joining agent) and blend seamlessly into the recipient's plumage.

Custom-made synthetic: These are often used by racers, in concert with donor feathers. These feathers are created based off a highly detailed model of the recipients undamaged feathers, serving as either a perfect copy of the lost feather, or an idealized version. They can be customized to minimize weight and improve aerodynamics, even when compared to natural plumage. In an attempt to avoid abuse, the FIA has decided that synthetic replacement feathers used by racers may not weigh more than 5 grams less than the natural feather they are replacing. Starting in the 80s racers often used feathers in unnatural colors. Some prefer to have them hand painted in attempt to conceal their injury, but this practice is becoming more noticeable for its rarity.

A necessary addition to the discussion of imping are so called long term prosthetic feathers. These are used in the case of extensive damage to the quill and attachment site of the feather. Unlike replacements used in imping, these are only ever synthetic, and are not meant to be lost in the molt. Prosthetics are attached through a two step process. First, a quill-shaped anchor point is surgically implanted into the cleared attachment site of the lost feather. Second, when the implant has healed, a synthetic feather is attached where the anchor point protrudes from the skin. This two-part construction allows the feather to be changed out when it becomes worn. These prosthetic feathers are common among burn survivors and those whose feathers didn't develop fully.

I don't know what's funnier

The people of Mondstadt actually don't know who the Darknight Hero is despite Diluc's horrible disguise, except for Kaeya who is losing his mind because how!? But also thinking that yeah, that checks out why they all just readily accepted him despite him being an obvious plant.

Or

The people of Mondstadt actually know that Diluc is the Darknight Hero, but they've all agreed to just let their uncrowned king keep up his silly little vigilante fantasy and run around in his silly little disguise, because that's just good ol' sunshine child Diluc for you. None of them mention it out of respect.

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828-1882) "A Vision of Fimmetta" (1878) Oil on canvas Pre-Raphaelite Currently in a private collection The subject of painting is Boccaccio's muse, nicknamed Fiammetta.

TWO NEW PEGASI WOOO!!

i. still dont have my brain wrapped around colors so especially the giant one looks a bit wonky but im working on figuring that out so !!

1) island giant pegasus:

at 7 1/2 feet (abt 2.2 meters i think?) at the withers they are the largest species of pegasus. they live on an (still unnamed) island and experience island gigantism due to the lack of other predators. they are nocturnal stalking hunters and most vocalizations fall below the human range of hearing. the only noise they make that is audible to humans is the low trumpeting sound they make to call to their young

2) pygmy pegasus

on the other side of the spectrum, the pygmy pegasus is the smallest species of pegasus, with the largest only being around 2 feet (.6 meters?) tall at the withers. they live in the forests of promethea and are omnivorous, eating berries, fruits, nuts, insects, and in some cases will attempt to steal from other animals or rummage through humans’ garbage. they have a wide range of vocalizations, with chirps, whistles, clicks, and more. they have become rare in recent years due to being out competed by the rise of birds like archaeopteryx.

theres my messy pegasi! beasts.

Candle is back again with red valley pod t-shirt

also silly bird thing? Idk

Timed Gift Exchange gift for @wigglyink

(@extrememcytexchange)

Art Fight attack on @weirdbroski !!

made my own colour palette for this one, super happy with how it turned out

Rinniki Changelily AU aka My attempt at getting some of you to listen to Skyjacks (a proposition)

So what is Changelily? Let's start there. It's the ship name for Travis Matagot and Margaret in the podcast Campaign: Skyjacks. Travis is an immortal changeling who likes playing illimat and Margaret is a member of the Black Lilies. Seems simple enough, right?

Well, their history goes far back. The original Margaret knew Travis when he was still going by William. He hadn't made his deal with the Forest Queen yet and they were just two young people in love with each other, tragically torn apart by the River. The Forest Queen and the River are Luminaries, sort of like Gods in the Skyjacks universe and this will be important later.

So then we find out that Margaret has been reincarnating and reuniting with Travis, only for their story to end in tragedy again and again and again. That is, until the present day. Margaret has joined with an organization called the Black Lilies who use their magic to help people for a price. Travis runs into her at one of their stops and she helps him regain his limb that he sacrificed to the Butcher, another luminary. That's the kind of magic we're talking about here.

So where does Rinniki come in? Well, I just think they would be neat. Rinne and Travis have a lot of interesting parallels from running away from home to being really into gambling. Maybe even being different birds--

Whereas Niki would fit right in as a Black Lily, especially if you think about being able to use cooking as his medium for magic, working things into the different processes while he's hearing out the propositions of his customers. We already have Hart Root Tea, which can be blended to the ideal of the person who wants it in order to change their appearance (HRT, do you get it?) with different herbs and brewing methods, so its not a huge stretch to apply that to other forms of food preparation.

Rinne, for his part, has ended up joining a sky pirate ship and traveled around the world scamming people out of their watches and having fun running away from his problems. Somewhere along the line he becomes The Changeling as well which helps break that cycle that he (Rinne/Travis) are stuck in with Niki/Margaret and well.

Can you leak your 2024 header early

this has been my header since 2016 & it ain’t even on ? 😭😭😭

I heckin’ LOVE the birds up here, like, I am not a bird person exactly and my vision is objectively shit but Appalachia has pretty birds and they come in so many colors! I saw a scarlet tanager in full plumage today while we were driving back up the mountain and was just like ‘hello sir! You are VERY HANDSOME! I hope the lady birds appreciate how pretty you are!’

non-zero amount of swans and a non-zero amount of lakes.

Radiant With Bright Color

Radiant with bright color, a canvas so alive, A world of beauty painted in front of my eyes. Flowers of every hue, bloom in glorious form, A symphony of petals, a vision to adore.

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