Monday, July 29, 2019

Color in photo viewers

In a post about my favorite lizard, I noted that the same animal can appear in different colors in different photos. That's true even when using the same camera in the same light. (I still almost always shoot with the camera in full automatic mode.) The other day I noticed that the exact same photo can have a different color cast depending on the program used to view the picture.

In the left image, rocks have a tan cast. In the right, they're gray.
On the left, Windows Photo Viewer. On the right, Windows preview.

The photo is from January, and I can't say now which rendering is closest to what I saw. The picture in Paint and PaintShop Pro looks like the one on the right, so maybe those colors are "correct."

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Columbus Zoo July 22

My visit was actually July 23, but "three" doesn't rhyme with "zoo."

dromedary camel

The signage says common ostrich, but the website says blue-neck ostrich.

Saddle-billed storks dance.
At the Columbus Zoo, North America is adjacent to Heart of Africa, so it was no trouble to walk.

A cedar waxwing. This is one of my favorite birds because of its cool sunglasses and jaunty hairdo.

A scarlet tanager, in nonstandard plumage. These guys are supposed to be red all over with black wings. Females are yellowish.

Caterpillars on the bald eagle enclosure. I hadn't noticed these, but another visitor pointed them out, and the white ones were crawling all over the fencing.

A trumpeter swan takes a drink.

A honey bee at work

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Domesticated

Areas for children and adults who like to scratch goats seem to be popular in zoos. Columbus has My Barn, and the animals are domesticated.

A small white goat with a few tan spots relaxes on the goat yard's pavement with eyes closed.
Tallulah, a pygmy goat.


The sheep stands facing the camera. Its head is black with a wide white stripe from the top of the head to the muzzle. Two horns curve backward. Bottom teeth are visible.
A Jacob sheep. Nice teeth!

A small (as cows go), reddish cow has turned her head completed a lick of her side. The wet spot in her hair is visible. It's a cowlick!
A Dexter cow. I was too slow to get her tongue in the shot.
The same cow's tongue is in her nostril!
Her tongue is pretty long.
The neck, head, and large antlers of a reindeer are in profile, and its exhaled breath is visible in sunlight.
Sven isn't in the My Barn area, but the animal known as a reindeer in North America is a domesticated caribou.
The thigh and long, hairy tail of a small reddish pig.
kunekune pig
A goat in profile. The face is black, horns curve backward, and the long, wavy hair is gray.
Angora goat
Four chickens are lined-up, near to far, in profile. The first has white/silver feathers with black edges. The second is reddish. The third has reddish feathers with gray edges. The fourth is reddish.
It was a cold day in January (snow in the background), but chickens were out. I believe they're all Wyandottes, of several varieties. I think: That's a silver-laced in front and a blue-laced red third. The others?
A close-up of a chicken. The beak is yellow, and there is bare, red skin around its eye and cheek. Feathers are reddish with gray edges.
A blue-laced red Wyandotte?

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Cranes

There are 15 species of crane, and I have photos of six.


red-crowned crane (Columbus Zoo)

sandhill crane (Columbus Zoo)

Ginger, left, and Fred, white-naped cranes at the Columbus Zoo

black crowned crane (Columbus Zoo)

demoiselle crane (Toledo Zoo)
I have two photos of the gray crowned crane, but the birds are quite far away.