Gordon Grice's Blog, page 16

Jellyfish

Photography by Dee Puett

Turkey Vultures and Me

Andrea Westmoreland/Creative Commons
Check out my article in the latest issue of This Land:


Winter 2016 – This Land Press:

TWO WAYS OF LOOKING AT A TURKEY VULTURE Gordon Grice contemplates the morbid beauty of circling scavengers.

"Monstrous" Cougar Killed in Idaho

A fascinating find in Idaho. 

Deformed mountain lion mystery - CNN.com: "the big cat had another set of fully-formed teeth and whiskers growing out of the top of its head. Wildlife officials say they have never seen a deformity like that -- but have offered up several theories."

Ladder-Backed Woodpeckers

Hodari  Nundu captured these images of ladder-backed woodpeckers in action. One of them drills insect larvae out of a plant stem and feeds them to the other. This is probably a mother feeding her nearly-grown offspring.
Cornell’s Birds of North America, which is my go-to site for bird info, has this interesting quote about the critter formerly known as the cactus woodpecker:
We have become so accustomed to associating Woodpeckers with big timber, that it strikes us as uncanny to flush a Cactus Woodpecker from a creosote bush at the edge of the desert, and to have it go plinking contentedly from one bit of dwarf vegetation to another. . . . [H]owever much it may forage over the creosote and cholla patches, on occasion, it requires something of more ample girth for a nesting site.--W. L. Dawson, The Birds of California 1923
The “something of more ample girth” is generally a bigger cactus, especially a saguaro. But, as the photos make clear, the ladder-back isn't limited to cacti when it forages. 

At the Aquarium

Photography by Dee Puett

How Animals Sense Magnetic Fields

Some new findings on this enduring mystery. 

Newly Discovered "Compass" Protein Lines Up With Magnetic Fields | IFLScience: "It took a long time for scientists to believe that animals were capable of sensing our planet’s magnetic field, and while we now know this so-called magnetoreception is very much a real phenomenon, researchers have yet to grasp a deep understanding of how this is achieved. Now, scientists are starting to piece together this complex puzzle, aided by the discovery of a protein complex that aligns itself with magnetic fields."

Baltimore Sun on Cabinet of Curiosities

Pleased to see Cabinet of Curiosities mentioned in the Dec. 6 Baltimore Sun:



(Here's a peak into my own cabinet:)

Huff Post on Cabinet of Curiosities

Excited to see this article by Arin Greenwood.



This Author Says We've Lost Some Sense Of Wonder, And He Has The Cure: "He said he hopes the compendium inspires others to take a tactile interest in the environments' beauty, stories and interconnectedness -- and our role, as cataloguers, participants and stewards."

Huff Post Reviews Cabinet of Curiosities

Excited to see this review by Arin Greenwood.



This Author Says We've Lost Some Sense Of Wonder, And He Has The Cure: "He said he hopes the compendium inspires others to take a tactile interest in the environments' beauty, stories and interconnectedness -- and our role, as cataloguers, participants and stewards."

The New York Times on Cabinet of Curiosities

A nice review in the Times.

‘The Big Book of Animals of the World,’ and More - The New York Times: "Gordon Grice began collecting at age 6, filling a cigar box with such natural-world discoveries as a skunk’s skull, porcupine quills and seed pods, and he has never stopped. In “Cabinet of Curiosities,” he gives an engaging historical overview of the human enthusiasm for collecting. . ."