Bird bug & dog people etal

[Calilasseia]

And today, I find myself being introduced to a spectacular little bird, in the form of Cissa hypoleuca, the Indochinese Green Magpie. Some nice photos of this can be found here.

One for Pat's bucket list perchance?

Sample photo from that website:

[Hobbit]

That's beautiful Calilasseia.  I'd swap it for the magpies in my garden in a heartbeat!

[pat]

One for Pat's bucket list perchance?

Such a big world. So many birds. So little time.

[Calilasseia]

One for Pat's bucket list perchance?

Such a big world. So many birds. So little time.

Exactly how I feel about Lepidoptera, only two orders of magnitude more intensely because of the numbers involved 

If I find myself in Peru sometime, there's 3,500 species of butterfly to chase down with the camera, and a whopping 35,000 moth species. That's around 25 to 30 lifetimes' worth of study material in one country alone.

But if the chance to do that arose, I would SO much be in my happy place.

[pat]

Funnily enough I'm going to Peru on Saturday!

It is of course a birding trip, the prime target being a tiny hummingbird called the marvellous spatuletail, a bird that can only be found in a tiny area in north Peru. It will be my second trip to the country. The first was during July of one year, with a company that specialised in Peru birding. The marvellous spatuletail was touted as THE bird to see, but what they unforgivably failed to mention was that July is the absolute worst time to look for it. Even if we'd seen one, which we didn't, the males wouldn't have had their wonderful tail feathers. Although November might be a bit dodgy, weather wise, as it's the start of their wet season, the chances of seeing the bird are much higher.

Here's a link to a 12 second video:

https://youtu.be/ivhKT4ejL4c

One of the places where we'll be spending a couple of nights is the Owlet Lodge in Abra Patricia. I stayed there on my last visit and it was a fantastic place for all manner of insects. I'm hoping they're not seasonal and I see them again this time round.

[Calilasseia]

Had a sighting I didn't think I would see ... Small White butterfly on the wing near my home ... on November 9th!!!!

[lilys field]

Crossing my fingers for you, Pat, to get a siting.

Happy for you Cal.

[pat]

Thanks, lilys field. I'm happy to report that I did in fact see this little beauty yesterday and got some reasonable pics. Once I'm home and have sorted them out I'll post one.

[Calilasseia]

Meanwhile ... change of subject ... fish.

I've been doing the rounds of a few aquarium shops in my locality, and I've found some real beauties to share with everyone here ... let's start the ball rolling with this little lot:

[1] Juvenile Koran Angelfish, Pomacanthus semicirculatus
[2] Royal Gramma, Gramma loreto
[3] Magnificent Firefish, Nemateleotris magnifica

[Calilasseia]

Next up, we have:

[1] Badgerfish, Lo vulpinus
[2] Purple Tang, Zebrasoma xanthurus
[3] Pyjama Cardinal Fish, Sphaeramia nematoptera

[Calilasseia]

Next up, we have:

[1] Flame Angelfish, Centropyge loricula
[2] Red Sea Peacock Wrasse, Macropharyngodon bipartitus
[3] Juvenile Emperor Angelfish, Pomacanthus imperator

[Calilasseia]

Next up, we have:

[1] Indian Butterfly Fish, Chaetodon mitratus
[2] Spotted Tang, Zebrasoma gemmatum
[3] Royal Empress Angelfish, Pygoplites diacanthus

[Calilasseia]

Next up, we have:

[1] Longnosed Butterfly Fish, Forcipiger flavissimus
[2] Orchid Dottyback, Pseudochromis fridmani
[3] Banggai Cardinal Fish, Pterapogon kauderni

[Calilasseia]

And I'll round off the selection for now with:

[1] Bermuda Blue Angelfish, Holacanthus bermudensis
[2] Coral Beauty Angelfish, Centropyge bispinosa
[3] Bicolour Angelfish, Centropyge bicolor

Couple of notes to make at this point - in the case of the larger Angelfishes (Pomacanthus and some of the Holacanthus species), these undergo a dramatic colour change from juvenile to adult. If you check out the species in that Genus, and see just how radical the colour changes are, you'll understand why these fishes are popular with the lucky people who can afford to buy and house them. Though in the case of Holacanthus ciliaris, the Queen Angelfish, that adds to the expense the fact that to grows to be 20 inches long, and as a consequence needs a 5,000 gallon aquarium if you're going to house it properly ...

Several of the larger Wrasses also undergo significant colour changes, though some of these are too big for the home aquarium, and are usually only seen in public aquaria as a result.

Then you have the fishes that undergo sex changes. The various Fairy Basslets in the SubFamily Anthiinae are prime examples - these gorgeously coloured fishes begin life as female, and the largest female changes into a male when the resident male in the shoal dies (or is removed via predation). One of the most resplendent of these is the Princess Fairy Basslet, Pseudanthias smithvanizi, which is one of the true "catwalk stars" of the animal kingdom in terms of colouration.

Meanwhile, a fish that will really leave you with your eyes on stalks when you see it, is the Mandarin Fish, Synchiropus splendidus, which has pretty much every colour of the rainbow somewhere on its body. Also featured in the line up of "wow, look at that" fish are Stonogobiops yasha, the Hi-Fin Clown Goby, Equetus lanceolatus, the Jack-Knife fish, and Platax batavianus, the Zebra Batfish (in its outlandish juvenile form).

One that you sadly won't see in the aquarium, because no one has cracked the secret of keeping it alive in captivity, is Pseudanthias tuka, the Purple Queen. A photo of this beauty in the wild can be viewed here.

And now, time to take a break.

[pat]

From the sublime to the ridiculous...

Two photos from Peru. The bird is a tiny hummingbird called the marvellous spatuletail. Not the best quality because the light was poor and these birds don't sit still for long. The second is (I think) some sort of mantis. It was less than 2cm long and it was only when it moved its head to look at me that I was sure I wasn't photographing a bird dropping!