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Additional Resources

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  • My Observation Lists

      Every bird watcher and nature observer has his or her "lists." Here are mine for Birds and Insects (left sidebar), and Travel, Mammals, Plants, Reptiles, Fish and Crustaceans (right sidebar), complete with pull down menus.

      BIRDS

    Categorized by genus/species, placed chronologically by common name

      American Coot

      American Crow

      American Flamingo*

      American Goldfinch

      American Kestrel

      American Robin

      American Tree Sparrow

      American White Pelican

      Bald Eagle

      Baltimore Oriole

      Barn Swallow

      Barnacle Goose*

      Belted Kingfisher

      Black-and-White Warbler

      Black-Capped Chickadee

      Black-Headed Gull*

      Black Vulture*

      Blue Jay

      Blue Tit*

      Blue-Winged Teal

      Bobwhite

      Broad-Winged Hawk

      Brown Creeper

      Brown-Headed Cowbird

      Brown Thrasher

      Bufflehead

      Canada Goose

      Canvasback

      Cape May Warbler*

      Carolina Chickadee*

      Carolina Wren

      Cedar Waxwing

      Chipping Sparrow

      Common Gallinule

      Common Goldeneye

      Common Grackle

      Common Gull*

      Common Moorhen*

      Common Pochard*

      Common Redpoll

      Cooper's Hawk

      Dark-Eyed Junco

      Dicksissel

      Double-Crested Cormorant

      Downy Woodpecker

      Eastern Bluebird

      Eastern Goldfinch - See American Goldfinch

      Eastern Kingbird

      Eastern Meadowlark

      Eastern Phoebe

      Eastern Towhee

      Eastern Wood Pewee

      Eurasian Blackbird*

      Eurasian Collared Dove

      Eurasian Coot*

      Eurasian Jackdaw*

      Eurasian Magpie*

      European Serin*

      European Starling

      Fox Sparrow

      Golden-Crowned Kinglet

      Gray Catbird

      Graylag Goose

      Great Black-backed Gull*

      Great Blue Heron

      Great Egret

      Great Spotted Woodpecker*

      Greater Flamingo*

      Greater White-Fronted Goose*

      Hairy Woodpecker

      Harlequin Duck

      Hermit Thrush

      Herring Gull

      Hooded Crow*

      Horned Lark

      House Finch

      House Sparrow

      House Wren

      Indigo Bunting

      Killdeer

      Laughing Gull*

      Lesser Black-backed Gull*

      Lesser Scaup

      Lincoln's Sparrow

      Magnolia Warbler

      Mallard (Domestic)

      Mallard (Wild)

      Mourning Dove

      Mute Swan*

      Neotropic Cormorant*

      Northern Cardinal

      Northern Flicker

      Northern Rough-Winged Swallow

      Northern Shoveler

      Orange-Crowned Warbler

      Palm Warbler

      Red-Bellied Woodpecker

      Red-Breasted Nuthatch

      Red-Headed Woodpecker

      Red-Legged Thrush*

      Red-Tailed Hawk

      Red-Winged Blackbird

      Ring-Billed Gull

      Ring-Necked Duck

      Rock Pigeon

      Rook*

      Ross's Goose*

      Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

      Ruddy Turnstone*

      Scarlet Tanager

      Smooth-Billed Ani*

      Solitary Sandpiper

      Song Sparrow

      Spotted Sandpiper

      Swamp Sparrow

      Tricolored Heron*

      Tufted Duck*

      Tufted Titmouse

      Tundra Swan*

      Turkey Vulture

      White-Breasted Nuthatch

      White-Cheeked Pintail*

      White-Crowned Pigeon*

      White-Crowned Sparrow

      White-Eyed Vireo

      White-Throated Sparrow

      White-Winged Dove

      Wild Turkey

      Wilson's Warbler

      Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

      Yellow-Rumped Warbler


      INSECTS, ARACHNIDS, MYRIAPODS & GASTROPODS

    Categorized by family, placed chronologically by common name

      Ants (Formicidae)

      Bee Flies (Bombyliidae)

      Blow Flies (Calliphoridae)

      Brown Lacewings (Hemerobiidae)

      Bumble Bees, etc. (Apidae)

      Carrion Beetles (Silphidae)

      Cellar Spiders (Pholcidae)

      Centipedes, House (Scutigeridae)

      Cicadas (Cicadidae)

      Common Sawflies (Tenthredinidae)

      Crane Flies (Tipulidae)

      Emeralds (Corduliidae)

      Fireflies (Lampyridae)

      Flower Flies - See Syrphid Flies

      Funnel-Web Spiders (Agelenidae)

      Honey Bees - See Bumble Bees, etc.

      Hornets - See Yellowjackets, etc.

      Hover Flies - See Syrphid Flies

      Ichneumon Wasps (Ichneumonidae)

      Jumping Spiders (Salticidae)

      Katydids (Tettigoniidae)

      Ladybird Beetles (Coccinellidae)

      Leaf Beetles (Chrysomelidae)

      Leaffooted Bugs (Coreidae)

      Leafhoppers (Cicadellidae)

      Lightning Bugs - See Fireflies

      Longhorned Beetles (Cerambycidae)

      Mantid Flies (Mantispidae)

      Mantids (Mantidae)

      Minettia Flies (Minettia)

      Narrow-Winged Damselflies (Coenagrionidae)

      New York Weevils (Ithyceridae)

      Orb-Weavers (Araneidae)

      Paper Wasps - See Yellowjackets, etc.

      Picture-Winged Flies (Ulidiidae)

      Plant Bugs (Miridae)

      Robber Flies (Asilidae)

      Scarab Beetles (Scarabaeidae)

      Scentless Plant Bugs (Rhopalidae)

      Short-horned Grasshoppers (Acrididae)

      Signal Flies (Platystomatidae)

      Soldier Beetles (Cantharidae)

      Soldier Flies (Stratiomyidae)

      Spittlebugs (Cercopidae)

      Stink Bugs (Pentatomidae)

      Swallowtails (Papilionidae)

      Sweat Bees (Halictidae)

      Syrphid Flies (Syrphidae)

      Tiger Moths (Arctiidae)

      Tiphiid Wasps (Tiphiidae)

      Yellowjackets, etc. (Vespidae)


    Friday, June 7, 2013
    2013-06-04 17.17.06

    Northern CardinalCardinalis cardinalis – also known as Cardinal Rouge (French), Rode Kardinaal (Dutch), Rotkardinal (German), Cardinale rosso (Italian), Cardenal Norteño (Spanish), Röd kardinal (Swedish).


    Posted by: Moe in: Birds at 9:32 pm

    Permalink | trackback (right click and save) | No comments yet  | 
    Saturday, May 25, 2013
    American Robin babies one week old

    American RobinTurdus migratorius – also known as merle d’Amérique (French), merle erratique, Roodborstlijster (Dutch), Wanderdrossel (German), Tordo migratore (Italian), Robín Americano (Spanish).

    Babies were born between May 6 or 7 (first egg had hatched) and May 8 (all four had hatched). Picture taken May 15. The babies were all gone from the nest by May 17 or 18.


    Posted by: Moe in: Birds at 9:21 pm

    Permalink | trackback (right click and save) | No comments yet  | 
    Tuesday, May 21, 2013
    baby american robins four days old

    American RobinTurdus migratorius – also known as merle d’Amérique (French), merle erratique, Roodborstlijster (Dutch), Wanderdrossel (German), Tordo migratore (Italian), Robín Americano (Spanish).

    Babies were born between May 6 or 7 (first egg had hatched) and May 8 (all four had hatched). Picture taken May 12.


    Posted by: Moe in: Birds at 9:19 pm

    Permalink | trackback (right click and save) | No comments yet  | 
    Friday, May 17, 2013
    baby american robins days old

    American RobinTurdus migratorius – also known as merle d’Amérique (French), merle erratique, Roodborstlijster (Dutch), Wanderdrossel (German), Tordo migratore (Italian), Robín Americano (Spanish).

    3 of the 4 baby robins are less than 48 hours old. Babies were born between May 6 or 7 (first egg had hatched) and May 8 (all four had hatched). Picture taken May 10.


    Posted by: Moe in: Birds at 7:14 am

    Permalink | trackback (right click and save) | 2 comments  | 
    Tuesday, May 14, 2013


    IMG_6266
    IMG_6278
    Smoking the ghalion (hookah).


    IMG_6413
    IMG_6411
    Raees Coffee. Logo looks conspicuously similar to Starbucks.

    Posted by: Nagge in: Iran,Travel at 8:00 am

    Permalink | trackback (right click and save) | No comments yet  | 
    Saturday, May 11, 2013
    IMG_6185
    The “Women Only” compartment on one of the Tehran metro trains.


    IMG_6190
    IMG_6191
    Some street shots of Tehran.


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    Mountains north of Tehran.


    IMG_6364
    At the summit of Milad Tower/


    IMG_6474
    North Tehran. Homes in the mountains.


    IMG_6417
    IMG_6464
    On the way to Lavasan, a city northeast of Tehran.
    IMG_6426
    IMG_6428
    IMG_6445
    Views from the balcony in Lavasan.



    Posted by: Nagge in: Iran,Travel at 8:00 am

    Permalink | trackback (right click and save) | 1 comment so far  | 
    Wednesday, May 8, 2013
    IMG_6183
    IMG_6182
    Bought a watch in Tehran. 7,000,000 Rials (approximately $194).


    IMG_6287
    An Iranian stop sign. It literally says, “Be human” (ensan bashid).


    IMG_6195
    Iran’s national car: The Peykan.


    IMG_6469
    A Hooded Crow!


    IMG_6549
    Construction continues on the Mausoleum of Ayatollah Khomeini.

    Posted by: Nagge in: Birds,Iran,Travel at 8:00 am

    Permalink | trackback (right click and save) | No comments yet  | 
    Sunday, May 5, 2013
    There is nothing better than Persian food! Here are just a few things we ate around Iran.


    IMG_6174
    At grandma’s house (maman bozorgh). Lots of great food: fesenjan (chicken in walnut and pomegranate sauce), polo e zaffron (saffron rice), maste e khiar (yogurt cucumber sauce), kashke badamjan (eggplant whey dip), and khoresht badamjan (eggplant stew).


    IMG_6237
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    IMG_6245
    IMG_6260
    Street vendors selling fruit in Darband, an area of northern Tehran.


    IMG_6283
    Brunch at Cafe Shemroon.


    IMG_6258
    Again in Darband, a street vendor selling lavashak (a type of Persian fruit roll-up).


    IMG_6259
    More lavashak, in smaller quantities.


    2013-05-04 17.25.55
    Individual portions of lavashak.


    IMG_6401
    Fresh fish (ghezelala) at the market. It’s brown trout, great when fried (head and all) in Persian spices.


    IMG_6402
    Spices and dried fruits.


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    IMG_6537
    A home-cooked meal!


    2013-05-04 17.30.28
    2013-05-05 12.20.29
    2013-05-05 12.30.18

    Gaz, from Kerman, Iran. Not really sure how to describe gaz. Made with nougat and rosewater (golab) and stuffed with almonds or pistachios, it’s a delicious sweet that does not taste sugary or artificial in any way. Truly unique.


    Posted by: Nagge in: Food,Iran,Travel at 8:35 pm

    Permalink | trackback (right click and save) | No comments yet  | 
    Tuesday, April 30, 2013
    eastern meadowlark back 2
    eastern meadowlark back

    Eastern MeadowlarkSturnella magna – also known as Sturnelle des prés (French), Triguera común (Spanish), and Östlig ängstrupial (Swedish).

    They blend in pretty well when the yellow breast and black “V” are not visible.

    Photos taken with the Canon Digital Rebel XT and a Sigma 175-500mm lens on March 31, 2013 in Davenport, Iowa.


    Posted by: Moe in: Birds at 9:44 pm

    Permalink | trackback (right click and save) | 2 comments  | 
    Monday, April 22, 2013
    CAM00153
    Lamb.


    image-1366661367399-V
    image-1366663219522-V
    image-1366663388042-V
    The golden camel.

    Posted by: Moe in: Qatar,Travel at 9:31 pm

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      MAMMALS

      American Beaver

      Common Raccoon

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      Groundhog - See Woodchuck

      Ground Squirrel - See Eastern Chipmunk

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      PLANTS

      Brown-Eyed Susan

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      Spider Lily - See Spiderwort

      Spiderwort

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      REPTILES and AMPHIBIANS

      American Toad

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      Eastern Box Turtle*

      Green Frog

      Long-Tailed Salamander*

      Northern Fence Lizard*

      Painted Turtle


      FISH

      Giant Sea Star*

      Nassau Grouper*

      Puffer Fish*

      Scrawled Filefish*

      Sergeant Major*

      Spanish Hogfish*

      Spotted Grouper*

      Stoplight Parrotfish*

      Yellowhead Wrasse*

      Yellowtail Snapper*


      CRUSTACEANS

      Crayfish


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