bvcruz's Favorites

In July, 1998, and again in July, 2001, I spent some time on the island of Saba in the Netherlands Antilles with friends who were both researchers helping to gather data on nesting Red-billed Tropicbirds on the cliff sides in various locations there. On a couple of occasions I helped out gathering data on adults and nestlings by weighing and measuring the birds, etc.

Red-billed Tropicbird
Phaethon aethereus
one day old chick in nest
Saba, Netherlands Antilles,
6 July 1998
The bird was removed from the nest briefly for weighing, etc.

We had watched the adult incubating this single egg for several days and it hatched on the morning of 6 July 1998. I posted a shot of the adult incubating a few years ago at:
http://www.inaturalist.org/observations/165396
In image 1 you can see bits of the eggshell near the bird.
This chick later fledged successfully I was told.

these images scanned from slides.

Dear spider experts. Maybe you can help to shed some light on my observation. I found this beautiful female Caerostris with a male sitting tightly next to her. I thought it was just coincidence and that he would become dinner soon. However, two weeks later they were still "cuddling" and sitting in a similar position, once on a different tree connected by the bridge line. When I first saw them, the female had produced one egg-sack, and a second one during my second week of observation. I assume the male is the same one during this time. Then, to satisfy my curiosity, I went on the hunt for more Caerostris spider in the same vicinity. I found six more females!, and two of them had a male sitting next to the female, just like spider no. 1, while one male was sitting between the "horns" on top of the female. I have not yet found a female with more than one male, but will keep observing. My question is whether "mate-pairing" in spiders is common, or am I missing something. Thanks!

Eurasian coot Mating The Eurasian Coot is recognised by its snowy white bill and forehead shield. The remainder of the bird is dark sooty grey, except for its bright red eye. Immature birds are generally paler than adults with a white wash on the throat. Nestlings are downy, black with fine yellow tips. The head is orange-red and the bill is red with a cream-white tip.(text from birdsinbackyards)

Drama. These guys all normally get along pretty well, but here a squirrel decided to start something and nearly got kicked in the head as reward. Moments later they were back to munching sunflower seeds side-by-side again.

3612/3 Photo taken by me during a school trip to Mana Pools. The buff charged us while we were taking a morning break - my bag can be seen on its left. It later moved off and the 3 boys came to safety. It had been wounded by a poacher and a few days later it was shot by a ranger.

As I was taking a picture of this female Common Merganser (Gänsesäger) in the channel at the entry of Nymphenburg Palace, she suddenly raced away with her bill and eyes under water. I first thought she was chasing Black-headed Gulls, but she surfaced with a Chub that was so large and heavy that she lost her grip on it. She must have stunned the fish, because she pulled it out again after searching for it under water. This time, she didn’t only struggle with the weight of the fish, she was also surrounded by excited Gulls who wanted to get a bite. The Merganser tried in vein to get airborne with the heavy load, and eventually had to drop her prey… She seemed pumped up and excited after this catch and shook her feathers and flapped her wings for a bit. And then she continued her search.
For the Chub: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/34861851