Flickr photography portfolio

Hey all,

I have created a portfolio of my wildlife photography shots over the years, now on Flickr.

Flickr photostream

There are currently around 1800 photographs in there of animals and plants, wild and captive, taken in the UK, Europe, Cyprus, and the US. I have created sets for broad taxonomic groups, orders of tetrapod, continent of origin, and conservation status. Any suggestions for more tags or sets welcome.

I cannot guarantee everything is correctly identified, so any well-informed suggestions for taxonomy and identification are also welcome.

I will also add selected art pieces in due course.

Blue-and-gold Macaw

Blue-and-gold macaw
Ara ararauna (Linnaeus, 1758)
Psittacidae; Psittaciformes; Aves; Chordata
Digital painting created using ArtRage 3.5.4 Studio Pro
January 2013

A tropical start to 2013! A happy new year to all.

Penguins of the World

Penguins of the World
Digital art created using Artrage 3.5.4 Studio Pro, using original pencil illustrations first published on this blog in 2008
November to December 2012

I have been inactive on this blog of late. I am still creating artwork, as can be seen here. Here are the eighteen species of penguin in existence, ranging in size from the emperor to the little blue, and extending in distribution from the Equator to within a few degrees of the South Pole, and on four southern continents. I have blogged about the Spheniscidae in more detail some years back, with posts on all species as linked to below:

Emperor Penguin and King Penguin
Adélie Penguin and Chinstrap Penguin
Gentoo Penguin and Yellow-eyed Penguin
Northern Rockhopper Penguin and Southern Rockhopper Penguin
Erect-crested Penguin and Fiordland Crested Penguin
 Macaroni Penguin and Royal Penguin
Snares Crested Penguin and Little Blue Penguin
Jackass Penguin and Galapagos Penguin
Magellanic Penguin and Humboldt Penguin

What's that gosling?... revealed

It's a Hawaiian goose, or nene, gosling.



Hawaiian goose with gosling
Branta sandvicensis (Vigors, 1833)
Anatidae; Anseriformes; Aves; Chordata
London Wetland Centre
April 2012

The hint in the photo was the half-webbed, or semipalmate, feet. The goslings are growing fast and are as of yesterday almost the same size as their parents.

Why I'm NOT boycotting Eurovision 2012

I don’t normally make a habit of using this blog as a platform for my political opinion (in fact this might be the first time, I can’t remember), but since I feel quite strongly about human rights, LGBT rights, and camp pan-European song contests, I will make an exception to explain why I won’t be boycotting the 57th Eurovision Song Contest which takes place this Saturday in Baku.

Until I watched Panorama: Eurovision’s Dirty Secret, an excellent piece of investigative journalism by the BBC, last night, I was quite ignorant of the plight of the Azeri people, especially those who speak out against the corrupt government. Journalist Paul Kenyon interviewed several protesters who were horrifically treated and have had to seek exile in order to avoid even worse torture. Despite legalising homosexuality in 2001, same sex unions are still not recognised, and many Azeri people feel uncomfortable being openly gay due to the threat of persecution. Several European countries have officially boycotted the event: Armenia, a long time foe of the neighbouring Azerbaijan, has pulled out altogether, as has Poland. So why am I still watching?

Until I came out as gay two years ago, I never admitted to enjoying watching the song contest, as doing so would have most likely automatically outed me. I watch for several reasons:

• guessing to whom each country will give twelve points/douze points and no points/nul points;
• to laugh at the ridiculous costumes;
• to make derisive tweets about the representatives each country chooses to give the vote results;
• to laugh at Graham Norton’s comments on said representatives;
• to root Turkey and the UK on;
• and to have something to talk about for the next few weeks because even if you’re European and don’t watch it, you know someone who does and most likely have an opinion on it anyway. 

So why deprive myself of this multi-level enjoyment only to be heard by no-one? There are more productive ways to get heard: blogging about it is a start, as is signing a petition (such as here and here) to the Azeri government or to your own government, pleading to them to stop the unjust treatment of dissidents or the economic/ political support of a nation that allows this to happen.

Comments welcome as usual. Tell me, will you be watching this year?

What's that gosling?

Hey readers, long time no blog I know... there should be some nice new material appearing on this patch of cyberspace in the next few months [if I can be arsed]. Well, for now, here's a photo of a cute ickle gosling. Anyone able to identify the species and/or breed? Comments here or via the social network site of your choice.



Bonus picture, here's a gorgeous lapwing.

 

Northern lapwing
Vanellus vanellus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Charadriidae; Charadriiformes; Aves; Chordata
London Wetland Centre
April 2012

Sapphire, 1996-2012

Sapphire
Digital painting created using ArtRage 3.0
January 2012

At ten past six in the evening on Wednesday 25th January, my darling Sapphire was euthanized at the age of 15 years and 8 months. In his last few months we’d noticed him becoming slower in his movements and that he’d been losing weight. In the last week, he seemed to have lost all feeling in his right hind leg. The vet, after detecting a lump in his abdomen which was causing him pain, decided his prognosis was poor due to his age and the likelihood that the lump was cancerous and most probably inoperable. He will always be remembered for his extreme affection, especially in his later years, and his funny ways. Here follows a biography I wrote about Sapphire back in 2008 on this blog:



“Sapphire is a big neutered male 12 year old shorthair cat we have had since he was 2 months old. Scarlett and Saff (as he is known for short, or Saffy) have never liked each other, and pretty much can't stand being in the same room together, except if it's a big room. He is the greediest of the three cats and eats more than his fair share.

He hasn't had as many misadventures in his life as Scarlett, for example, he's never been pregnant, but has had poor health over the last few years to with the bladder, and is slightly overweight so he is on a diet (less food less often). Once his collar got stuck in his mouth, and we thought he broke his jaw. The name comes from the fact that his eyes were once blue but turned greeny.

Saff's funny habits include preference for paper above plush carpet to sleep on, peeing in the bath, sleeping near the toilet, dribbling while he "kneads", sleeping with his head in people's slippers, sounds like ET when he's unhappy. His favourite human food is carrots, and likes playing ice hockey with carrot tops in the kitchen, and also likes food meant for other animals, such as algae-based catfish food.”

Since I wrote that, I also wrote this, which appeared in the “blook” I self-published a couple of years back:

“Sapphire is now a world-famous racecar driver, and has brought out a range of fragrances for men and women called Essence. He’s also become very affectionate of late, and will sit on anybody’s lap.”

Here are a few photographs from throughout Sapphire's life:



Sapphire sheltering from the rain under the barbecue
2002



Sapphire lying on my newly-fitted bedroom carpet
c. 2000



Sapphire as a kitten
1996



Sapphire letting us know he wants to come in!
c. 2000



Sapphire having a roll around in the garden
c.2003



Sapphire lying in a basket
c. 2003



Sapphire as a kitten
1996



Sapphire waiting for dinner
2000



Sapphire resting on one of his favourite spots
2005



Sapphire on my bed
2005



Sapphire and Dolly on my bed
2005



Sapphire under the delusion he can fit inside a shoe box
2007



Sapphire up close and personal
2007



Sapphire resting on a book
2009



Sapphire sitting on my printer
2010

Sapphire, 1996-2012

Celebrity Plant Quiz - Answers

Sorry it’s taken a while, but here are the answers to the Celebrity Plant Quiz from two months ago:

1 K – Olive (Oyl) – photo of Olea europaea
2 E – Hazel (Blears) – photo of Corylus avellana
3 L – (Rose of) Sharon (Stone) – photo of Hypericum calycinum
4 S – (River) Phoenix (the genus of date palms) – photo of Phoenix dactylifera
5 H – Rosemary (Clooney) – photo of Rosmarinus officinalis
6 C – (Sweet) (Prince) William – photo of Dianthus barbatus
7 W – (Condoleezza) Rice – photo of Oryza sativa
8 B – (Black-eyed) Susan (Sarandon) – photo of Rudbeckia hirta
9 V – (Aloe) Vera (Lynn) – photo of Aloe vera
10 I – (Leslie) Ash – photo of Fraxinus excelsior
11 M – (Weeping) Willow (Rosenberg) – photo of Salix babylonica
12 U – Joshua (Tree) (Jackson) – photo of Yucca brevifolia
13 A – (Buddy) Holly – photo of Ilex aquifolius
14 X – Ginger (Rogers) – photo of Zingiber officinalis
15 O – Apple (Martin) – photo of Malus domesticus
16 D – Heather (Mills) – photo of Calluna vulgaris
17 F – Basil (Fawlty) – photo of Ocimum basilicum
18 Q – (Dog) Rose (Nylun) – photo of Rosa canina
19 G – Lavender (Brown) – photo of Lavandula angustifolia
20 P – (Neneh) Cherry – photo of Prunus subhirtella
21 J – (Princess) Jasmine – photo of Jasminum officinale
22 T – (African) Lily (Allen) – photo of Agapanthus africanus
23 N – (Common Dog) Violet (Beauregarde) – photo of Viola riviniana
24 R – Rowan (Atkinson) – photo of Sorbus aucuparia

Well done to Ed Gill for getting them all right.

Celebrity Plant Quiz

This is a (hopefully) fun little quiz that links plants with celebrities. Each of the twenty-four descriptions below match up with one of the plants pictured above (click to enlarge). Each person is named after a plant. For example, if one of the clues read: “I am the lead character in an American teen drama starring Kristen Bell”, the answer would be Veronica Mars. The picture of a speedwell (genus Veronica) would then be matched up with the clue, i.e. 1-A. The names are either first or surnames (not both), and the plants are either common or generic names, with one example of a specific name (one that is well known). In some cases, the plant’s full name is not the answer, only a part of it, e.g., there might be a Stanley Flower or a Tree of Barbara. You can comment here to answer, or on whichever social network site you see this on, or just wait for the answers which I will reveal at some point. Have fun!

1. I am a comic strip character best known for being the girlfriend of a spinach-loving strongman.
2. I am a female British politician for the Labour party who served as Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government from 2007 to 2009.
3. I am an American actress best known for my role in Basic Instinct.
4. I was an American actor who died at the age of 23, known for my role in the movie Stand By Me.
5. I was an American singer and actress best known for the song Mambo Italiano and my famous acting nephew.
6. I am a member of the British Royal Family and married Catherine Middleton in 2011.
7. I am an American politician who was the 66th US Secretary of State.
8. I am an American actress known for my Oscar winning performance in Dead Man Walking, and for my marriage to Tim Robbins.
9. I am a British singer in her nineties known for Second World War era songs such as The White Cliffs of Dover.
10. I am a British actress best known for my role as Deborah in Men Behaving Badly.
11. I am a character in a television series about a teenage vampire-killer and her cohort.
12. I am an American actor known best as Pacey in Dawson’s Creek.
13. I was an American singer-songwriter who died at the age of 22.
14. I was an American actress, singer, and dancer known for my partnership with Fred Estaire.
15. I am the daughter of a British singer-songwriter and an American actress, and I have received ridicule for my unconventional name.
16. I am a former model mostly known for my marriage to Paul McCartney.
17. I am the owner of a fictional hotel which I run with my wife, Sybil.
18. I am one of four fictional mature ladies who share a house in Florida.
19. I am a character in a series of children’s books and movies who had a brief romance with a Weasley.
20. I am a Swedish singer with West African roots known for the song Buffalo Stance.
21. I am a fictional princess who went on a flying carpet ride with a street boy.
22. I am a British fashion designer but am more widely known for the songs The Fear and Smile.
23. I am a character in a children’s book and film adaptations about a group of children and adults who tour a confection manufacturing facility.
24. I am a British comedian and actor known for my portrayal of Edmund Blackadder.

Crocodiles of the World

As a birthday treat to myself this year, on the nineteenth of September I made a trip to Crocodiles of the World in Crawley, a town just outside of Oxford in the Cotswold Hills. When I first heard about this place, about a month before, I was so excited to visit that I booked a place on a private tour for that day, knowing that I’d be passing through the area en route back to London from Gloucestershire. It’s a small facility that houses twelve species of crocodilian and a small number of other reptiles, but some of the species are found in few other captive collections. A breeding pair is sought for each species, and some are already breeding in the very short history of the centre, which only opened to the public in February this year. The centre exists due to the work of Shaun Foggett, known to viewers of a UK Channel 5 documentary as ‘Croc Man’, and he deserves high praise for the work he is doing to help conserve and educate the public about crocodilians.

All photos below were taken by Mo Hassan at Crocodiles of the World, Oxfordshire, September 2011.



Siamese crocodile
Crocodylus siamensis Schneider, 1801
Crocodylidae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

The Siamese crocodile is one of the rarest crocodiles in the world, restricted to the Indochinese Peninsula, Borneo, and possibly Java. It is a relatively small crocodile that coexists with its much larger relative, the saltwater crocodile (C. porosus) across its range, and indeed they occasionally hybridise both in the wild and in captivity. This dilution of the gene pool is a severe threat to the Siamese crocodile, as well as hunting for its skin, as in all crocodilians.





Dwarf crocodile (one-year-old juvenile above, two-day-old hatchling below)
Osteolaemus tetraspis Cope, 1861
Crocodylidae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

As its name suggests, the dwarf crocodile is the smallest crocodile, and is native to west and central Africa. It too coexists with a larger, more well known species, the Nile crocodile, as well as the slender-snouted crocodile (Mecistops cataphractus), all of which occupy different niches so they do not suffer from interspecific competition. Dwarf crocodiles eat fish and crustaceans, not taking larger prey. As you can see, they are breeding well at the centre.





American alligator
Alligator mississippiensis (Daudin, 1802)
Alligatoridae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

American alligators need no introduction, so no introduction shall I give. Notice the maloccluded jaw on this specimen.



Cuban crocodile
Crocodylus rhombifer Cuvier, 1807
Crocodylidae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

The Cuban crocodile is a lightly built, critically endangered species of crocodile restricted in distribution to parts of Cuba and nearby small islands. It was previously more widely distributed on the island, and fossil remains have been found on other Caribbean islands. It is easily distinguished from other crocs by its ‘pebbled’ appearance and relatively long legs, which suggest it is more terrestrial, and it is. It shares its range with the American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), but doesn’t clash due to differences in habitat and ecology.





Black caiman
Melanosuchus niger Spix, 1825
Alligatoridae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

The largest of the six species of caiman, the black caiman hails from the river Amazon and its tributaries. It can be told apart from the other, smaller caimans by the presence of black blotches on its lower jaw and its darker coloration. When adult, the black caiman is an apex predator, eating the other large animals found in its ecosystem, including capybara, anaconda, and tapir, and are immune from attack from jaguars due to their size.





Juvenile Nile crocodiles
Crocodylus niloticus (Laurenti, 1768)
Crocodylidae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

This is the beast that dominates much of Africa and Madagascar, unless the studies that have shown there to be two species of African Crocodylus prove to be correct. The subspecies C. n. suchus from western and central Africa, and historically from the lower reaches of the Nile, has been identified in various studies as perhaps forming a species in its own right. Part of the basis for this finding has been the study of DNA from mummified crocodiles from Egypt and the Sudan. I’ll personally wait until there have been more studies, especially morphological ones.



Schneider’s dwarf caiman
Paleosuchus trigonatus (Schneider, 1801)
Alligatoridae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

Also known as the smooth-fronted caiman, this is a small little-known species from northern parts of South America in the Amazon and Orinoco rivers.



Cuvier’s dwarf caiman
Paleosuchus palpebrosus (Cuvier, 1807)
Alligatoridae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

Another tiny crocodilian, in fact, the tiniest, at no more than one and a half metres in length. It is found in lowland tropical parts of South America, mostly in fast-flowing streams. At the time I visited Crocodiles of the World, the female Cuvier’s dwarf caiman had just laid a nest of eggs.



Broad-snouted caiman
Caiman latirostris (Daudin, 1801)
Alligatoridae; Crocodilia; Sauropsida; Chordata

The broad-snouted caiman is in the same genus as the spectacled caiman (C. crocodilus) and the yacare caiman (C. yacare), and is found in southern Brazil and neighbouring countries in marshes, swamps, mangroves, and other slow-moving water bodies. It is intermediate in size between the larger black and spectacled caimans and the smaller dwarf caimans.

The other species held at Crocodiles of the World are the Morelet’s crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) from southern Mexico and Central America, the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis), and the spectacled caiman. There are also a few kinds of freshwater turtle, a Meller’s chameleon (Trioceros melleri, and two of the longest monitor lizards.



Crocodile monitor
Varanus salvadorii Peters & Doria, 1878
Varanidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata

The crocodile monitor from New Guinea reaches lengths of almost two and a half metres, truly earning its name. It’s an arboreal species and uses its prehensile tail to help with gripping to tree branches. It is the apex predator of New Guinea (despite there being an endemic crocodile, Crocodylus novaeguineae, and even saltwater crocodiles on the coasts), bringing down large mammals, like its heavier relative, the Komodo dragon (Varanus komodoensis) does.



Water monitor
Varanus salvator (Laurenti, 1768)
Varanidae; Squamata; Sauropsida; Chordata

The water monitor was previously believed to live in much of southeast Asia, but several former subspecies have been separated, including three Philippine species, from the water monitor proper. It’s another very large monitor, among the world’s longest, and like the crocodile monitor, can take large prey.