Doveski

Some cool photos of animals images:

Doveski

Image by Furryscaly
This near-adult American mourning dove, Zenaida macroura, came to my "animal rescue facility" (also known as my house) earlier this summer. He was found in the street in Burleigh County, North Dakota, with a clearly injured wing that he held abnormally most of the time. He was also incapable of any form of flight, but very fast at walking. I nicknamed him "Doveski" (Duv·skee).

I set up a temporary habitat with plenty of cover, and let him out now and then. I set up a sun-bathing area where he could also eat, drink, and swallow grit, all of which I witnessed him doing. After a few days we began flight training, as he had shown a desire to fly, but not an ability. After a week or so of building up his wing muscles and practicing direction-changing and landing, he was ready to go back in the wild. And although I say "he", there was actually no way of knowing his true sex. "He" could have been a female.

A couple interesting factoids related to this photo:
- Columbidae (doves and pigeons) have no gall bladders.
- The reason they bob their heads when they walk is that they prefer to keep their surroundings constant in their vision. A 1978 experiment by B.J. Frost showed this when he placed doves on treadmills. They kept their heads steady because despite being in motion, their surroundings stayed the same.
- Columbidae are also some of the only birds capable of drinking by suction; sucking water when they dip their beak in it, as humans can do. Most birds have to scoop water with their beak and tip their head back.
- The genus Zenaida is named after Zénaïde Laetitia Julie Bonaparte, wife of French ornithologist Charles Lucien Bonaparte, who named the genus.
- The common name "mourning dove" comes from the mournful sound of their call. The name is not spelled "morning" dove as some people mistakenly do.
- In Audobon's time the mourning dove was known as the Carolina turtle dove, or Carolina pigeon.
- They are often called American mourning doves, to avoid confusion with the African mourning dove, which is not closely related.

Expedition Everest AT NIGHT!!!!!!!

Image by Tom.Bricker
Walt Disney World Resort
Disney's Animal Kingdom
Asia
Expedition Everest

For now, this is a rare sight. That's because Disney's Animal Kingdom no longer offers evening Extra Magic Hours and frequently closes at around 5pm. Despite there being some complaints in the fan community about nixing evening EMH at Animal Kingdom (then again, what don't some "fans" complain about?!), I fully support the decision. While Animal Kingdom is incredibly photogenic at night, the already-limited attraction lineup is even more limited at night. A park can't stay open at night just for the sake of photography (even as much as some of us might wish for it!).

I say "for now" because I fully expect Animal Kingdom to be open at night once the Avatar expansion at Animal Kingdom opens. Now that should be rife with photo ops!

Today on DisneyTouristBlog, the sixth installment of our November Disneyland trip report features a trip to Club 33 and I provide an assortment of free Disney Facebook Cover images to make your new Timeline Facebook profile pop!

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Pumbaa

Image by Cali4beach
Just a few of the toys I got from donating to WWF (world wildlife fund) Now I am donating these guys to needy children for Christmas!

Although he looks slightly evil here, I think the warthog is the best! He will make a very unusual gift for someone.

I know my absolute favorite stuffed animal as a kid was a vulture so ugly (to most people) that he was cute.

Hopefully the child who gets him will feel the same :)

**mydailyshoot #ds761-> Photograph something unusual today **

** Now that the Dailyshoot project has officially ended, I am continuing on by taking photos inspired by my own Dailyshoot ideas. *