Ambystoma maculatum egg mass

Ambystoma maculatum egg mass, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

Go to nature; take the facts into your own hands; Look, and see for yourself. Louis Agassiz

Raggiana Bird of Paradise

Raggiana Bird of Paradise, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

I love photographing animals, and if I can't do it in the wild, animals at a zoo, especially one new to me, will do. This striking bird from New Guinea is amazing.

Don't sit too close

Don't sit too close, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

We couldn't explain the spacing, but the color and spacing were pleasing, in Budapest Hungary.

red-backed salamanders

red-backed salamanders, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

I love these little salamanders. They are lungless and are indicators of quality temperate and boreal forest. They can be at high densities when the quality is really high. This was a good place. I hope they are still there.

Sting ray in the sand

Sting ray in the sand, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

Hidden in plain sight. Shared for no particular reason other than I would love go out snorkeling for a week and see more things like this. In Hawksnest Bay St John USVI

Terrace Chairs

Terrace Chairs, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

I just finished as the local host for an international conference in Madison. We even got the group down to the Terrace for an evening. It is refreshing to see your city through new eyes. I was surprised at how many people had not been here before, and was excited to see how many people loved it. It was worth the months of effort.

Madison from 5000 feet

Madison from 5000 feet, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

I have about 250 people coming from out of state, many by air, so I am sharing what that view looks like at other times of the year. Here is Lake Mendota in January, cold & frozen, and still beautiful.

Sunset at Swiftcurrent Lake

Sunset at Swiftcurrent Lake, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

It's time for me to make a trip to see something like this again.

Demoiselle Crane

Demoiselle Crane, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

As a say on the Flickr page, I wish I had gotten a bit more in focus to the tip of the beak, but this is an amazingly beautiful crane. I love the texture of the feathers and white streak behind the red eye. It looks like it remembering something wonderful. At the San Diego Zoo.

It's time for a trip

Sunset by the Rogue Brewery, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

I don't know where, but I want to get away for a while and make some pictures. Someplace interesting, someplace with animals, and maybe someplace without any form of internet. I guess I am tired, if I am saying this.

needlefish

needlefish, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

I mostly try to bring forward photos that I posted far in past years, but sometimes you find one while poking through the archives that requires a bit more notice. These are needlefish, I am not sure what kind. They were small so maybe keel-tailed needlefish. I passed by this photo many times. It was an accident of trying to photograph these fish that hide right at the water line. I was getting pushed around by the surf, which lent this pleasant blur of fish and refractions of the light off the waves above. It reminds me to keep going back to take a second or even third look.

dragonfly on a field of blue

dragonfly on a field of blue, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

I just needed a peaceful scene today, so I made this my desktop picture today. This was taken a long time ago, when we lived on a small lake in Michigan. There were some truly beautiful moments there.

Via Flickr:
A misty morning on the shore of Fish Lake in Livingston Co. Michigan. Summer 1993.

Motherly devotion

Motherly devotion, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

You may not like spiders, but while not wanting to be bitten, I think they are fascinating. I found this mother guarding her egg sac in the early fall. She will will not survive until spring, but I hope her eggs did. I love the perspective of this shot, showing the the long lines of the corrugations of walls of a barn. It was a pretty open spot, so I am questioning her choice, but she has millions of years of evolutionary programming, so who am I to question her judgement?

Kermit or why I love the Smithsonian

Kermit, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

As a herpetologist, how could I pass up this display. It is a cross-over between my field of study and my childhood in a way I can't describe. I love that we have an institution that recognizes the importance of artifacts like this one,

With all due respect to the many museums in the world, but I have yet to find one as amazing as the Smithsonian. The collections are outstanding, natural and cultural. The exhibits are inventive, the research conducted there is world class. The most amazing thing, especially compared to other national museums I have visited, Smithsonian museums are free. You should visit. And, yes, I donate, and I hope you do as well.

Hotel Durant

Hotel Durant, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

I am taking a tour through my older Flickr uploads, and I come across some where, while I did my best at the time, I think I could do better know in post-processing. This might be one of those photos. I am torn as to whether I should go back or leave it as it is, as I first created it.

Small crab blowing bubbles

For the most part I repost photos out of my Flickr account, but with my camera shooting such wonderful quality video (not necessarily well shot by me though), I might from time to time post a little video, too.

This is a small crab above the waterline on the Pacific coast at Crystal Cove State Park in California. I think the bubbling comes about in the act of aerating its gills.

Crane Fountain

Crane Fountain, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

I like making panoramas, this is a simple one of two photos of a fountain in Syndey, NSW Australia. This a beautiful spot, not far from the outstanding Sydney Aquarium.

What are you doing out here?

I found this surprised Canada goose while surveying a wetland in Ann Arbor Michigan.  It did not move but watched me intently. I took a quick shot and moved away before I disturbed it, or just as likely, it attacked me. Keep an eye out for the unexpected.

dragonfly on a field of blue

dragonfly on a field of blue, a photo by alumroot on Flickr.

One the favorite times of my life was spent living on a small lake in Michigan. The water was clean, there were abundant turtles and birds and of course dragonflies. I spent a lot of time swimming and canoeing. I miss that.