January 31, 2009
Category: ornithology
The White stork Ciconia ciconia is a well-known migrant, moving from Europe down to Africa (either via the Iberian Peninsula or via the Middle East) during the winter. Increasingly, however, birds are choosing to over-winter in Europe. The numbers...
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Posted by Darren Naish at 8:48 AM • 15 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 30, 2009
Category: from the archives
'... [it] clambers up and down trees because it cannot fly ... it purrs like a cat and smell like a posy of fragrant flowers ... it allows itself to be picked up and handled without demur or apparent...
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Posted by Darren Naish at 6:30 AM • 39 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 29, 2009
Category: herpetology
Last year Dave Hone (of Archosaurs Musings) and Mike Benton published their analysis of the English rhynchosaur Fodonyx spenceri. Ever one to make promises that I'm unable to fulfil (in the short term, at least), I vowed to cover the...
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Posted by Darren Naish at 5:31 AM • 22 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 27, 2009
Category: picture of the day
Over the weekend Will and I visited another local museum: this time Westbury Manor Museum, Fareham (Hampshire, England). I particularly liked the several bird paintings they have on display, one of which - the one you can see here -...
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Posted by Darren Naish at 6:36 AM • 12 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 26, 2009
Category: ornithology
The mystery skull from the other day is indeed that of a charadriiform: more specifically that of an auk and, most specifically of all, that of a Razorbill Alca torda. Well done Dartian and Kryptos18, and well done everyone...
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Posted by Darren Naish at 6:13 AM • 20 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 24, 2009
Category: picture of the day
Test your skills and impress us all by identifying the object! Dammit, missed Atomic Betty......
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Posted by Darren Naish at 6:45 AM • 37 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 23, 2009
Category: conservation
I don't know about the rest of the world, but in Britain there is a very entrenched tradition of 'feeding the ducks'. People go on walks (usually at the weekend), and they take with them bagfuls of bread (sometimes even...
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Posted by Darren Naish at 4:10 AM • 34 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 22, 2009
Category: mammalogy
It's very funny how things sometimes work out. I had absolutely no plans whatsoever to cover cats at Tet Zoo this week. Then, on Friday, I watched the documentary that featured the pogeyan* and, obviously, decided that it was worth...
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Posted by Darren Naish at 4:05 AM • 60 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 21, 2009
Category: community
Oh my god. Two years at ScienceBlogs have passed, and Tet Zoo has now been going for three years. It all started on January 21st 2006 when, for no good reason at all, I started a blog over at...
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Posted by Darren Naish at 4:28 AM • 37 Comments • 0 TrackBacks
January 20, 2009
Category: mammalogy
Over the weekend I and a bunch of others from the Southampton Natural History Society visited the collections at the County Museum, Winchester (Hampshire, UK). This is a research collection and local repository, and is not open to the...
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Posted by Darren Naish at 4:18 AM • 18 Comments • 0 TrackBacks