#amadee ricketts

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It's the most wonderful time of the year - baby praying mantis season!

I haven't posted any new photos in a month or so for reasons, not least that it's been fun to look through old pictures and give them another chance at love, or views, or whatever. But yesterday I spotted the first praying mantis babies of the season, and that calls for a change of pace. Shoot, I think it should be a holiday.

The earliest I have ever seen mantis babies here is April 14. So, April 21 is right on time. I found at least five individuals, and they are so tiny and well-camouflaged that it certainly means there are lots more I haven't seen.

Hooray, and happy Baby Mantis Season!

Cochise County, Arizona, April 2024.

#insect #praying mantis #babies #macro #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #arizona #green #leaves #mint #dill #camouflage #finger #in the yard #in the garden #spring #april #tiny #cute #they are little killing machines #but so cute though

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A sphinx moth enjoying moonflowers in the garden.

Cochise County, Arizona, September 2023.

#insect #moth #sphinx moth #flower #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #game camera #video #night #black and white #datura #moonflower #in the yard #garden #fall #autumn #proboscis #gardening at night #hummingbird moth #white lined sphinx moth #arizona

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#insect #butterfly #painted lady #flower #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #arizona #macro #in the yard #garden #fall #autumn #december #salvia #orange #blue #green

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This is a secretarybird, the most alien-looking bird I have ever seen in person. It stands about four feet tall, and hunts lizards, snakes, and other small animals by walking along looking at the ground. It can strike prey with its beak, but often uses its long legs and claws.

I have read that secretarybirds often hunt in pairs or groups, but the two I saw were solitary.

Masai Mara, Kenya, July 2023.

#bird #secretarybird #kenya #raptor #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #hunting #secretary bird #todaysbird

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The lilac-breasted roller is a small, beautiful bird which is fairly common in Southern and Eastern Africa. It is Kenya's national bird.

The bird is even more colorful in flight, but I wasn't quick enough to get a clear photo then.

Masai Mara, Kenya, July 2023.

#bird #lilac-breasted roller #fancy #purple #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #todaysbird #blue #green #kenya #masai mara

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The horns on this cape buffalo skull have been colonized by the horn moth (Ceratophaga vastella), a relative of the clothes moth. The caterpillars are able to digest the keratin in old horns, and the protuberances you see are cases or towers the caterpillars build using their own feces, as protection from predators.

Masai Mara, Kenya, July 2023.

#moth #horn #Ceratophaga vastella #entomology #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #macro #kenya #caterpillar #skull #buffalo #grass #horn moth

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Lappet-faced vultures, the largest vultures in Africa, have a wingspan of up to nine feet.

Masai Mara, Kenya, July 2023.

#vulture #lappet-faced vulture #bird #kenya #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #flying #grass #tree #todaysbird #acacia

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#insect #wasp #flower #moonflower #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #arizona #macro #white #datura #shadow #spring #june

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#insect #praying mantis #green #macro #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #arizona #face #eye #in the yard #garden #fall #autumn #november #she looks very offended

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#spider #orb weaver #flower #marigold #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #macro #arizona #orange #in the yard #summer #september

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#flower #morning glory #blue #vine #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #arizona #macro #sky #heavenly blue #in the yard #garden #fall #autumn #november

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Yellow-billed stork

#bird #stork #yellow-billed stork #kenya #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #water #creek #river #flying #masai mara #todaysbird

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This extra-small hyena cub was up and about first thing in the morning, while its litter mates slept in the den below. Hyena cubs have very dark fur at birth, and develop their distinctive spots or stripes (depending on the species) as they grow.

Masai Mara, Kenya, July 2023.

#hyena #spotted hyena #kenya #babies #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #fur #cute #cub #den

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This little giraffe absolutely could not stand having a bird aboard. She tried walking fast, wiggling her neck, swishing her tail around, and rubbing her neck against mom, but the oxpecker was bound and determined to stay put.

This baby was at least two days old, and steadier on her feet than the new baby giraffe we saw a couple of days later.

Darn that bird, anyway.

Masai Mara, Kenya, July 2023.

#giraffe #bird #oxpecker #babies #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #kenya #masai mara #cute #todaysbird #when symbiosis tries your last nerve

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I believe the bird is a greater blue-eared starling, and the zebras are definitely zebras.

Masai Mara, Kenya, July 2023.

#zebra #bird #starling #kenya #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #greater blue-eared starling #grass #stripes #blue #iridescent #black and white and read all over #todaysbird

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#lion #cub #babies #kenya #photographers on tumblr #textless #amadee ricketts #face #eye #cute