Wild Light

Saturday was the Royal Oak Nature Society’s 2008 Open House at Tenhave Woods and despite the cool and sometimes rainy conditions I managed to crawl on my belly like a reptile to find this ant traversing a serrated leaf edge.

Buy a print of this image.

See an ant in a sea of gold.

I’ll be showcasing some of my favorite wildlife illustrators every once in a while.

Below is a color plate by W. Heath Robinson from a favorite of the illustrated books I own, The Song of the English (1909) by Rudyard Kipling.

Zooillogix mentions this great AFP story of a bottleneck dolphin leading two apparently confused pygmy sperm whales to safety after becoming stranded on a sandbar.

Said Conservation Department officer Malcolm Smith: “I was not aware dolphins could communicate with pygmy sperm whales, but something happened that allowed Moko to guide those two whales to safety.”

If you’re in New Mexico, the 20th annual Festival of the Cranes looks like a fun event this week.

Karen Wetherill, an entomologist at the Museum of Southwestern Biology, is giving a presentation Wednesday on “Native Bees of New Mexico“, and is including one of my honey bee photographs in the talk.

Looks like a good way to see lots of wildlife with many events and speakers. Get more information here.

Would anyone like to report back on the festival?   I’ll post pictures if I get any.

A great story on the Zooillogix blog about a bottlenose dolphin rescued after losing her tail fin in a crab trap, and receiving a custom-made flipper.

A vanishing breeze brings a rainy feline mystery wrapped in an enigma: The cat who walked through walls.