Tuesday 26 May 2009

Cauga una?

Here's lastweek's:
Of which I'm sad to report the one on the left is Brown Bear (Ursus arctos) and the one on the left that's been peroxide washed is Black Bear (Ursus americanus). The yugcetun for bear is pretty complex. It's one of those things that depends who you're talking to. Like `Cougar,` `Puma,` and `Mountain Lion.` Black bear tends to be tan'gerliq. Brownbear doesn't tend to be anything. Carayak, sometimes. But for other people, that's a ghost. Or something else.

You all were on the right track with the more disk like face, but really, the thing that gives it away is the slope of the muzzle. Brownbear pitches forward more near the brows, and blackbear is more smooth, gradual angle. Here, you can see it better with a picture. A brownbear:
Look where the pen tip touches.


On to new stuff! I like the way these guys (and it is a male!) look. I have a still frame, and a crummy video.
That's a picture from this weekend, to give you an idea of the plumage. Obviously, Alaska. Interior Alaska at that.
The bird won't show up for a few seconds, so be patient. My digital camera isn't a very good video camera recorder.

Who is this handsome beast?

5 comments:

Alaskan Dave Down Under said...

I'm gonna go with a Male Hooded Merganser Duck. Obviously I could be wrong given the totally "awesome" quality of your pics :)

gpc said...

I love waiting until someone else comments because then I can use their answer as a starting point for my googling. (that's why my confidence about the mallard was so amazing to me!) I wouldn't have known a merganser from a hole in the ground, but I didn't find any other hooded duck with such a pointed bill -- so I'm on the 'me too' bandwagon again.

TwoYaks said...

Quality?! Hrrmph! Given how small birds are, and how far I'm taking half these pictures, they're great. Let's see you take pictures of birds from 200+ yards!

*grumble*Damn austrailians, stealing all our*grumblegrumblegrumble*

Alaskan Dave Down Under said...

200 yards?!!?!?? Ok, I take it back, that's good quality for 200 yards away. I wouldn't even try!

*grumble*Damn austrailians, stealing all our*grumblegrumblegrumble*beer!

TwoYaks said...

Dave: I actually looked at a map. It was 150ish yards from where I was sitting in the shade to the far side of the lake. I've got one of those Kodiak Mega-zoom cameras (shame the lenses aren't removable) and I know how to shoot through a scope or pair of binoculars. Trick I learnt, ironically enough, in Utah.


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