Having a blonde moment since 1987

a rare closeup of a black swift, found throughout north america and small parts of south america. swifts are rarely seen up close; they spend more of their life in air than any other species of bird - they eat, drink, mate and sleep while in flight. they are incapable of perching like other birds; they must cling to vertical surfaces.

Three bookmarks requested by a friend long ago. I didn't find them particularly good, but I thought the techniques used to create them were interesting including the gradient washes and the blend of watercolour and gouache.

Paper ~ Arches 100% cotton/ 300 GSM

Brush ~ Escoda Optimo liner/ Rosemary & Co detail brushes / Silver Black Velvet rounds/ Da Vinci Petit Gris Pur mop

Black-rumped Flameback (Dinopium benghalense), male, family Picidae, order Piciformes, India

Female birds with confusing names.

Paradoxical Frog (Pseudis paradoxa), family Hylidae, Colombia

The name refers to the adult frog being rather smaller than the tadpole, which is not something you see often with frogs.

Adult: SVL of up to 7.6 cm (3.0 in)

Tadpole: TTL of up to 27 cm (11 in) long

Tadpoles in larger bodies of water with fewer predators and more food grow larger.

photographs by Mawild

Black Heron aka Black Egret (Egretta ardesiaca), family Ardeidae, order Pelicaniformes, South Africa

the bare-throated bellbird is so loud that it can cause permanent damage to human hearing at close range!

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I have provided an updated funnypic to more accurately reflect the reality of the bird.

Loving the range from 'Butch lesbian who will chew you out when you bring your car in for maintenance but does the best damn body work in town' to 'High femme courtesan who is linked to a suspicious number of heart attacks amongst palace officials.'

But for the most part, Gojyo's gender seems to just be Slut.

Tamaulipas Pygmy-Owls (Glaucidium sanchezi), family Strigidae, order Strigiformes, Xilitla, SLP, Mexico