Share Animal Pictures: For Animal Lovers

[DennisN]

A common blackbird photographed today.
They are very careful, moving often and usually keep their distance from humans, so they are quite a challenge to photograph. This one was about 5 meters away from me for only a short while.

 

[Rive]

They are very careful, moving often and usually keep their distance from humans

?
Quite interesting to see the perception of the same 'thing' from other parts of the world.
We have more of them living in city/town/village than in the forest
They are quite friendly too. During gardening we can watch them from 2-3m only: but in the park I've seen them right near people sunbathing.

 

[DennisN]

They are quite friendly too. During gardening we can watch them from 2-3m only: but in the park I've seen them right near people sunbathing.

Maybe I haven't met the social blackbirds yet . I have been trying to photograph them for a while, and they've been elusive so far.

 

[Rive]

I have been trying to photograph them

Maybe that's the problem. Ours are sensitive to intent too: if you are just doing your stuff in the garden, then they are friendly and just doing their own stuff close to you. But if they sense that you have some business with them, then they are suddenly starting to evade you.

And somehow, most of our guests are sensitive to the lens of the camera. I could not figure out that one yet

 

[DennisN]

A nectar thief earlier this summer.

Taken with an extension tube attached between the lens and camera, which enables focusing at smaller distances. It works rather well, though the photo is not quite as sharp as I would have liked it to be .

 

[DennisN]

 

[BillTre]

Clear belly of a glass frog.
The round things are eggs.

 

[BillTre]

 

[DennisN]

A beetle photographed with extension tubes. I tried to identify it with "Google Picture search", and I think it is a Large pine weevil.

 

[Drakkith]

Cat butt on my face.

 

[Jarvis323]

Some creatures I found in my garden.

 

[DennisN]

Some creatures I found in my garden

You've got some good magnification going on there. Nice!
What gear did you use, I wonder? A mobile phone, compact, DSLR or mirrorless camera?

 

[Jarvis323]

You've got some good magnification going on there. Nice!
What gear did you use, I wonder? A mobile phone, compact, DSLR or mirrorless camera?

IPhone X. The camera was only a few inches away. As close as I could get it without losing focus.

 

[BillTre]

Sponge Bob and Patrick sighted on the Retreiver seamount:

 

[BillTre]

Northern Pygmy Owl in British Columbia, Canada:

 

[fresh_42]

Northern Pygmy Owl in British Columbia, Canada:

View attachment 287259

Owls are a nice example of how evolution works. Despite their reputation, they are actually not very smart. They simply do not have to! Their physiological properties make them perfect hunters at night. No need to be smart.

 

[Ibix]

Northern Pygmy Owl in British Columbia, Canada:

View attachment 287259

That owl looks like it's auditioning for the serial killer role in a cop thriller movie.

 

[Astronuc]

Cat butt on my face.

View attachment 287031

Been there, seen that, more times than I can remember.

 

[Rive]

Northern Pygmy Owl in British Columbia, Canada:

I've seen the picture first
...then I've misread that as 'Northern Grumpy Owl'

 

[BillTre]

Well, they look like animals:

 

[fresh_42]

If you are looking at your problem again and again and can't find the clue because you only repeat the same thoughts again and again ...

 

[BillTre]

 

[fresh_42]

View attachment 287588

Looks as if someone leaked information about Covid and hoarding began.

 

[DennisN]

Fascinating topic, and with splendid photos:

Dolphins: Even Smarter Than You Thought (National Geographic)
From learning English symbols to teaming up to trick their prey, dolphin intelligence continues to surprise researchers. National Geographic photographer Brian Skerry catches the dolphins' remarkable behavior in action.

 

[DennisN]

This is a demanding fellow:

Lemur Asks For Back Scratch | Won't Take No For An Answer
Cuddle time for elephants:

Baby Elephants love to cuddle

 

[DennisN]

My two fellows just now:

 

[DennisN]

Some animal photos taken yesterday (using a vintage Helios 44M7 lens, with or without extension tube):

A graceful swan:

A nectar thief on a red flower:

A nectar thief on a yellow flower:

The nectar thief taking off:

...and a fly on a leaf:

 

[Drakkith]

A nectar thief on a red flower:

Hey, they're just borrowing it. They'll return it later!

 

[Rive]

Hey, they're just borrowing it. They'll return it later!

Rather, it's paid service they doin'

I found them bumblebees a bit ... dumb (but likeable: we are trying to get some of them nesting for years already, yet without success).

Once I've seen some of them nesting in a floor crack in a barn, behind a door (they've been slipping trough a cat-hole).
Once the door was opened, they were totally confused and just buzzing in circles where the cat-hole should have been, not finding their way through the missing door
Once the door was closed, they were happily shuttling through the cat-hole again

 

[Drakkith]

I found them bumblebees a bit ... dumb

If you want a good example of a dumb insect, look no further than the June Bug:

It can barely walk, it flies like it's had 9 shots of vodka after taking a Xanax, and rumor has it that it failed its last three math tests.

 

[Jarvis323]

If you want a good example of a dumb insect, look no further than the June Bug:
View attachment 287955

It can barely walk, it flies like it's had 9 shots of vodka after taking a Xanax, and rumor has it that it failed its last three math tests.

The ten lined june beetle is pretty cool.

 

[Rive]

it flies like it's had 9 shots of vodka after taking a Xanax

When it's about weird flying then stag beetles are really unmatched


One would expect to see some dignified, slow cruise by their sound and then seeing that panicked drunken instability at the continuous edge of catastrophe ...

(video is some random google find)

 

[DennisN]

There's something fishy going on here...

I returned to the aquarium in the shopping mall and this time I brought my autofocus lens instead.
Still it was a real challenge taking photos since the fishes moved constantly and unpredictably.

I used a mode called "Continous Autofocus" on the camera (Sony A6000) which is pretty cool since it can track objects in realtime, which is pretty impressive, so that helped quite a bit.

I spent 20 minutes there taking a total of 92 photos, and most of them turned out like this anyway :

But a few got at least decent, here are five:
(so the "success rate" was 5/92 = ca 5 % )

A cropped fish, but I thought it was a bit fun anyway:

 

[berkeman]

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2021 competition​

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/wildlife-photographer-award-2021-scli-intl-scn/index.html

 

[berkeman]

And a little variation on the theme:

Comedy Wildlife Photo Awards 2021​

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/comedy-wildlife-photography-awards-2021-scli-intl/index.html