Mammals coming soon!

Hello there readers

I just wanted to apologise for the huge delay in the mammal post. I’m having exams right now so time for editing shots is minimal. I do have a taster for you for next time however, and I’m going to need you to remember this shot, because I want to show you the reason I shoot raw and have a four stage development process.

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 flash unit @ 1/60s f/8

This photo by the way, is as taken, but heavily cropped. That’s going to be important for my next post.

Hang in there, it’s coming soon! And I’ll tell you now, it’s worth waiting for. Or I think it is.

Madagascar – Critters – Skinks!

hey! sorry it’s been so long since my last update. Had a mad weekend and couldn’t get around to any photo editing. But I am now ready to bring you the second to last installment in the critters section from Madagascar!

Scincidae

Skinks are found quite easily in most of Africa, but in Madagascar some have evolved some really peculiar habits. There are numerous fossorial species (dwelling underground), several leaf-litter swimmers, and even acquatic species. The only ones I was able to photograph, which we found in our bucket traps, were leaf-litter swimmers. Typical of skinks, they show dramatic limb reduction, though unlike species I’ve found before, they have not completely lost any limbs. They also have extremely elongated tails, helping them swim through the undergrowth.

Amphiglossus tanysoma

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Madascincus intermedius

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And that is unfortunately it for the skinks! I apologise for the monotony of it all, it’s very difficult to get photos of skinks in situ, seeing as they do sort of slither through the undergrowth and the only times we really saw them were in buckets and in hands.

Anyways, next time is what I hope to be the most awaited installment, and the final one – Mammals! Lemurs, tenrecs, and all that jazz! stay well tuned, it should be out by Saturday!

Madagascar – Critters – Frogs!

So, frogs? They’re everywhere. The Malagasy frogs are particularly vocal, and being near a stream in the middle of the night is a little bit like listening to a chorus of drills. The sheer volume is impressive. But the frogs themselves are fascinating. Of course, there are several unique genera, and they are all beautiful.

The following photos were taken of frogs that were not quite compatable with descriptions of the species they somewhat matched up to, and hence had photos taken. They demonstrate the scientific process we went through on each frog captured.

Boophis spp. aff. taephromystax

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D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/8

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/8

Just so you know, the activity shown above is called Tibiotarsal Articulation. It doesn’t hurt or injure the frogs in any way, and gives a very good indicator of the leg length and therefore can be a species indicator. One of the main reasons this is not necessarily B. taephromystax is that this articulation reaches beyond the nose significanlty, and according to Glaw and Vences it should reach between the eye and tip of snout.

Mantidactylus spp. aff. femoralis

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D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/11

We set out some bucket traps, and these came back with an unfortunate number of dessicated frogs, but one or two live litter dwellers, including one of the smallest frogs in the world.

Stumpffia gimmeli

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And I think that’s quite enough of him. It’s really tough getting good shots of something quite so small. The last picture is provided for a sense of scale, not quality. The frog is almost a centimetre long.

Boophis septentrionalis – this guy was found at the lagoon. The blue leg is actually only half there. The end of the bone is exposed and the foot is completely missing.

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D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/7.1

And finally, quite naturally, we found some gorgeous frogs in Montagne d’Ambre. Adorable faces.

Boophis sp.

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Boophis sp. – this species, I am almost certain, is not found in Glaw and Vences. It would seem that it may be a new species, and it posed for me beautifully.

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/3

Anyways, I’m afraid that’s it for the frogs. But later this week, I bring you Skinks!

Stay tuned, keep clicking.

Madagascar – Critters – Birds!

Alright, before we get into the feathered fun, I just want to say thanks to the people of WordPress.com for featuring me it made me very happy. ta.

Anyways, moving on. As it turns out, I still have AT LEAST three more of the critter posts to do after this one! I hope you’re as pleased about that as I am. As to what they are, you’ll just have to wait and find out!

Aves

Madagascar has a multitude of birds, a number of which are found nowhere else. Whole genera in fact. Amongst the most famed perhaps are the Paradise Flycatchers, Terpsiphone mutata. These beautiful birds were actually very common around camp and up in Montagne d’Ambre. It was great to see and hear them flitting about. The males are spectacular. Unfortunately however, I only got shots of the females, and these have been quite heavily cropped. I really missed the 300 out there.

Terpsiphone mutata

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One of my favourite birds however is the Madagascar Pygmy Kingfisher, Ceyx madagascariensis. It is elusive, small, but friendly and very cute. We got extremely lucky one night at camp, and found one sleeping just above the path. Then later in Montagne d’Ambre one of the members of the group noticed that others had walked right by one. It was a unique opportunity to shoot a fascinating and difficult to find species at very close range:

Ceyx madagascariensis

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In Montagne d’Ambre, we also got to see the Amber Mountain Rock Thrush, Monticola erythronotus. These are common, small birds, but their level of comfort with humans is impressive.

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By far the most enchanting moments however were spent with owls. Much like the kingfishers, it seems the owls have very little experience with humans. They’re not sure how to react. They’re also rather common. They afforded me some of my favourite pictures from the whole trip, and a special photographic moment I will never forget:

Madagascar Scops Owl, Otus rutilus

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And in Montagne d’Ambre, again we got a short opportunity to do some owl shots. Same species, just a grey-er morph. The bright spot in the background is the moon. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to shoot again with a smaller aperture.

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 Flash Unit @ 1/60s f/2.8

Wahey, and that’s it for the birds. We saw dozens more species, but the absence of a nice long lens meant that they could only really be appreciated by sight and through binoculars. None quite so stunning as the Blue Vanga. But sunbirds aplenty and such like. Next time, I’ll bring the monster and do it right. Promise.

Next time on Shutters and Technicalities, Frogs!

Hope you enjoyed, and are looking forward to the froggies. I am.

Madagascar – Critters – Geckos!

Back in the swing of things! getting it all together. Now just trying to get through all the Madagascar shots so I can get them burnt onto DVDs and send them around the world.

Before we dive into the post, let me say, if you would like any prints, just contact me by going to the contact page and shooting me an email! If you tell me which picture (either by post or by general description or URL) and an idea of the dimensions, I can give you a quote. All of the pictures hoisted onto the blog (and more actually, if you have something in mind that’s similar to things seen, I might have shot it as a lucky coincidence – stranger things have happened) are available as prints. They come without the black border and Mark Scherz 2009 label, though these can be added if you would like. All prints are signed and dated.

Anyways, forward!

Gekkonidae

So there are a LOT of geckos in Madagascar. 10 endemic genera even! That means a lot of diversity. I just wrote a 1500 word essay on their evolution, but I’ll try not to go into it. Basically, they’ve been isolated for some 90 million years. That means they are unlike anything anywhere else on the planet. They took up specialisms and went crazy, and there ensued the beauty of today’s species.

Hemidactylus platycephalus

This was the first gecko we saw on the whole trip. Upon consulting the edition of Glaw and Vences that I just received, it appears to be H. platycephalus, one of the only introduced species we saw.

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Phelsuma grandis

This is one of the most common species in the north. They are on every banana tree. Most of you who know me will know what they look like, because I own one.

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D300 + 105mm VR @ 1/160s f/3

Phelsuma abbotti checkei

This is the other species of Phelsuma found in the same area of forest. They are less common and more shy, because they are much smaller.

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Interestingly, the only other genus found in the actual forest where we were besides Phelsuma was the one that is supposedly the hardest to find, Uroplatus. I have a feeling there were other genera about, but that we never came across them because for the most part our eyes were upwards pointing.

There are two species of Uroplatus found in the dry deciduous forest in the north (from what we found). I am assuming that almost all of the species we found were U. henkeli, but I don’t really know, because the species recognition is extremely difficult.

Uroplatus henkeli

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I think this individual is actually a Uroplatus sikorae:

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Then we of course have the Uroplatus from Montagne d’Ambre:

Uroplatus sikorae

I have no idea how our guide spotted this guy. Insane.

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D300 + 105mm VR + R1 flash unit @ 1/60s f/8

and then there is Uroplatus ebanaui

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D300 + 105mm VR + R1 flash unit @ 1/60s f/8

And that’s basically it from the geckos! Hope you enjoyed the heavy image load. These were basically what I went to Madagascar to see, and I got really really lucky. Unfortunately, there were no U. giganteus to be found, but we tried.

The next and quite possibly the final instalment from the Critters series is Birds. It’ll be short, but I got one of my favourite shots from a particularly cooperative birdy.

Madagascar – Critters – Serpents!

Well, looky here! I’m back! I really must apologise for the huge delay in the continuation of these posts. I’ll try and make up for the lost time. Luckily, the photography has been slow lately, so I figure I can probably catch up!

anyways, in this instalment, i’ll be bringing to you…

Serpentes!

Collubridae

Right, so, Madagascar is home to a large number of snakes, all of which are endemic, and none of which are venemous (per se, though some, such as Madagascarophis colubrinus can cause mild envenomations which, if allergic, can become severe). Of course, the largest family of snakes in the world are the collubrids, and the following are photos of the ones that we found:

Ithycyphus miniatus

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These guys were absolutely everywhere! Gorgeous snakes. Apparently they eat frogs. So not so happy. But beautiful to handle and measure. Completely laid back.

Bibilava lateralis

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An amazing and adorable snake. Difficult to catch, but stunning to look at. When they breathe in, white sacks along their centre expand, giving them white stripes.

Stenophis variabilis

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This is a truly stunning species. True-treesnakes, these serpents will almost never venture to the floor. We got extremely lucky one night and found one just on the border of the camp. Quite an experience, I must say!

Mimophis mahafalensis

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This species is everywhere. Unfortunately we found one that was flat as a board, which had been crushed by a tyre or something in the middle of the road. Pain to catch though.

Madagascarophis colubrinus

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Unknown

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It’s actually not that I don’t know what species this is, more that I can’t remember and don’t have my version of Glaw and Vences yet (The authorative guide to Madagascars herps). Anyways, this is the fourth individual of this species ever to have been found it would seem. Amazing little snake.

There are two other species not shown here, Leioheterodon madagascariensis and L. modestus, but the photos aren’t that great. The interesting this is that the L. modestus represents a range extension, which I have yet to contact Glaw and Vences about. On the to-do list it goes!

Boidae

The really exciting thing about Madagascar in terms of its biodiversity is the presence of boas. Mainland Africa has pythons, while South America has boas. The crucial difference is that Boas are vivparous – they give birth to live young – while pythons are oviparous – they lay eggs.

There are three species of boas in Madagascar, two of which we found single individuals of:

Acrantophis madagsacariensis

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Amazing snake, this one was found by the president of our forest. We were informed about it as it slithered through his crops, and Robbie and I went to pick it up. Its sides were badly scarred, but it was a beaut anyways.

Sanzinia madagascariensis

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This perfect snake was brought to us by a farmer from a field which apparently was some distance away. It is a Madagascar tree boa, and a beautiful specimen. It is remarkable how different the colouration of these northern individuals is from that of the individuals we found in Mantadia in 2006.

And that’s just about it! Good to be back in the rhythm again! keep your eyes peeled, the next instalment will be… Geckos!

I still exist!

I have no idea how many photos this is. More than the last one!

Hey! Just wanted you to know that I’m still around! I haven’t left you all! I just am having a few technical difficulties which I promise to try to sort out as soon as I can!

This is another of those lovely waterfalls that Montagne d’Ambre is teaming with. I hope you enjoy.

Wahey, new toy!

Hey beauties!

So sorry it’s been so long since last I updated! I really need to have my computer sent off to be repaired. I’m still acquiring photos though, and doing all that flying (oh yeah, for those who don’t know, I’ve joined the gliding club here at Edinburgh University) I have gotten some pretty good shots. My post process relies on that stupid computer and its programmes, so yeah. I’m working on it, I promise. And those people from Madagascar, so sorry about it taking so long. I am working on it. Honest.

ANYWAYS, the exciting news that actually warrants me writing a post, is that today, between lectures, I ventured to Jessops and bought an SB-900! It’s so exciting. I’ll try it out tonight I think. OOh. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some shots up here again. Working on it, WORKING ON IT.

Computer troubles!

Ok, so my computer has died. It won’t even start up anymore. It seems the GPU’s (graphics cards) are dead. That makes it very difficult to post pictures, so there’s going to be some delay until the next episode from Madagascar comes out. So sorry for the delays.

Madagascar – Critters – Creepy Crawlies

Well I did promise that I would get a new post on here as soon as possbile, and I apologise for the delay. Here come the bugs!

Alrighty, so we’ll do insects first, shall we?

Odonata

The very first bugs we got to see close up (with the definite exception of mosquitos) were dragonflies. They thrive in the boiling heat of the exposed plains, and were ever present. They were the first animals I photographed outside of Diego, and they were so much more tolerant than any I have seen in Europe. I apologise for the lack of ID’s. I can’t even hope to provide them for the arthropods.

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This species was found alongside this one:

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Later, at the lagoon, I risked the itchy plant to take photos of a beautiful red dragon:

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Dragonflies share Odonata with the damselflies, though the suborder differs. Damselflies were much more difficult to shoot, because they were found in worse light conditions and were generally much more flitty. I got lucky on one though:

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Of course, it’s not only Odonata which has the beautiful fliers. Tropical countries are abound with butterflies, and Madagascar is no exception.

Lepidoptera

As part of the research we were undertaking, it was necessary to catch and ID a number of butterflies. This process didn’t require photographs, and so few were taken for scientific purposes, but I still managed to get a few shots. Faithful followers of this blog may realise that I had JUST come from shooting Painted Ladies at home, so I was used to the technique required to get good butterfly shots.

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I was pleased to note a number of butterflies with translucent wing sections, and though I never got a chance, I would love to know if these sections are also covered in scales, or if they’re simply composed of membrane closer to skin.

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Unfortunately, butterflies are not hatched in this gorgeous form, and we were plagued by their caterpillars, armed with a grand arsenal of weaponry.

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Fortunately for us, there were few incidences of stings and spikes from caterpillars.

Cerambycidae

Members of the long horn beetle family, of which I saw two species, neither of which I can identify, and only one of which I have pictures of. Its antennae span was about the length of my hand if not longer.

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Mutillidae

This is just an educated guess at a family for the peculiar insects that follow. Mutillidae is the family of velvet ants, and this seems to fit the description. It is large, fuzzy, and distinctly wasp-like. The shoe almost fits.

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Well I’ve exhausted my insects it would seem! What follows? Arachnids! Now, these were plentiful, but I was pitiful in my photography of them, so I apologise.

The first I have to show, I have actually narrowed down to a species:

Latrodectus menavodi

This spider is of the same genus as (and possesses, it would seem, a similar venom to) your normal Black Widow, L. hesperus. It is however much larger, and significantly more beautiful.

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I was fiddling with this spider for some time, I’m glad that she didn’t bite me and that I didn’t know how deadly she was, or I wouldn’t have gotten nice pictures.

Salticidae

These are jumping spiders. What you have to bear in mind is that Madagascar has an unprecedented number of spider species, and that there remain thousands to be discovered and described. For that reason, this spider may in fact be a new species, and it would certainly not be easy to place it in terms of genus. All I know is that it belongs to the family Salticidae.

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I leave you with two other spiders. I don’t know even where to begin classifying either of them, so we’ll just leave it nice and open. The first was photographed in Montagne d’Ambre. She’s about the size of my palm:

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The final individual is most likely some form of crab spider of the Thomisidae family, but that’s again an educated guess. It has an amazing camoflage, in that it looks exactly like a stick. The strange thing is that its abdomen, instead of being rigid as you’d expect, flexes and bends. Weird, and probably a new species:

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 flash unit @ 1/60s f/8

D300 + 105mm VR + R1 flash unit @ 1/60s f/8

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this post! Keep coming back, cuz the next post is going to be about… SNAKES! woo, I hope you’re excited. I am. Oh the suspense.

Watch this space!