Well, we are about halfway through this epic snowstorm and we still have power. Woohoo!!!
Here’s a picture my son Ryan took earlier this morning. This is the scene looking out my front door:
Though you can’t tell from the picture, the snow is coming down heavy at a 45° angle. The whole experience is magnificent. Sort of like riding out a storm at sea in a relatively stable boat, but knowing things could go south at any second.
Here’s one more picture. This one out my back window:
Posted by Dave Mark on Jan 19, 2010 in animals, nature
A few days ago, I posted a video showing the group hunting behavior of some bottlenose dolphins. Blog reader Dave Head posted a comment, mentioning a dolphin named Moko. Turns out that Moko, and Dave Head himself, are celebrities in New Zealand.
Here’s a pic of Dave and Moko together:
Moko is a solitary dolphin, a dolphin that survives without friends and family, rare for any species of dolphin and, perhaps, peculiar to the bottlenose species. Moko became a celebrity in New Zealand when he saved two pygmy sperm whales from almost certain death. Moko gained notoriety when, as he grew older and much larger, he started exhibiting aggressive behavior toward local swimmers.
All in all a fascinating story, one told in countless newspaper and web articles. Here’s a good place to start. This story was printed in the March 12, 2008 issue of the New Zealand Herald. It tells of Moko’s whale-saving heroics.
Then came trouble for Moko. He got a bit over-eager when playing in the water with a swimmer and towed her out to sea. A boat came to the rescue, but the fact that Moko had a bit of a wild side became apparent. You can read more about Moko in this more recent story.
I am happy to welcome Dave Head, dolphin lover and New Zealand environmentalist, to my blog. If you read about Moko, you’ll find references to Dave sprinkled in most of the stories. Glad to have you aboard, mate. If I visit New Zealand, perhaps you can introduce me to Moko in person…
Posted by Dave Mark on Oct 13, 2009 in nature, video
The top of a mountain in the Nile Valley in Yakima Washington sheared off and slid down to the base, covering a road and pushing through a river and about 40 feet up the other side. Incredible.
From Gizmodo, this video shows a skier with a helmet-cam making an ill-timed descent down a slope that broke free and ultimately buried him. Watch the video below. Once he is buried, you might want to click ahead to about 5:10. That’s the point where it gets interesting again.
We’re down at the lake this weekend, mostly sitting out on the back porch, looking out at the rain and wildlife. We’ve got two hummingbird feeders and they are incredibly active. One hummingbird is the big bully and has decided that he owns both feeders.
I pulled out my phone to try to capture the action. Video is far back and backlit, but if you look carefully, you can see one hummingbird using the feeder, followed quickly by a dive bomb attack by the bullybird. Too funny!
