Amazing Feather Paintings

Feathers can be colorful and spectacular in their own right, but how much more stunning might they be when used as canvases for artists, eager to demonstrate their talent for the unusual?

Alaskan-born and -bred artist Julie Thompson is an astounding exponent of this incredible art form. Julie, a self-taught wildlife artist for nearly 20 years, strives to make every feather painting as unique as the feathers themselves are, and believes that every feather has a kind of personality relating to the painting it bears.

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via Presurfer

What's new?

New species discovered in 2010

From invisible squids to bald parrots to deep-sea fish with teeth on their tongues, guardian.co.uk picks the best of of 2010's newly discovered animals.

This image provided by NOAA shows a deep-sea chimaera. Chimaeras are most closely related to sharks, although their evolutionary lineage branched off from sharks nearly 400m years ago, and they have remained an isolated group ever since.

Meet me at the swimming hole

These incredible pictures of orangutans swimming in an Indonesian
river have left wildlife experts stunned.

Playing on the Rungan River, near to Palas Island on Borneo, these
orangutans can be seen swimming and submerging themselves in the muddy
waters.










For experts the behaviour of these orangutans – who like all apes have
a natural fear of water because of predators such as crocodiles -
could prove to be a significant step forward in their evolution.

“This is a rarity – to see orangutans coming down for a swim is
unheard of in the wild,” says Simon Husson – project advisor and
scientific consultant for Borneo Orangutan Survival (BOS) Foundation.

“However, we know that orangutans are intelligent and innovative."

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Gay German Zoo Pair Raising Baby

Two male Humboldt penguins cautiously guard the entrance to their cave in the "Zoo am Meer" zoological park in Bremerhaven, northern Germany, where they are fostering a six weeks old penguin chick.

After a penguin egg had been abandoned by its biological parents, it was placed in the male penguins' nest, who then adopted and hatched it.

Bremerhaven zoo veterinarian Schoene said the male birds, named Z and Vielpunkt, are one of three same-sex pairs among the zoo's 20 Humboldt penguins that have attempted to mate.

AP Photo/Focke Strangmann

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Wild Wonders of Europe

Wild Wonders of Europe showcases beautiful photo galleries sponsored by National Geographic which highlight the flora and fauna of Europe.

This is Marmots Feeding on Flowers by Grezgorz Lesniewski, from the Austria Galleries

International Garden Photographer of the Year

The finalists of the UK's International Garden Photographer of the Year award have just been announced.

Garden tiger moth close-up by Paul Keene

This picture of a garden tiger moth (Arctia caja) was taken in Amersham, Buckinghamshire. The caterpillars of this moth feed on nettles, so if you want these moths to be a feature in your garden, then keep a rough, uncultivated patch

(via Look at This)

The Most Dangerous Bird on Earth

The rainforest of the northeastern coast of Australia is home to the Southern Cassowary and as the third largest bird on the planet it is strange that its reputation is not greater. Certainly, it is a remarkable looking animal, almost like something out of ‘Jurassic Park' with its large casque (a horn like crest which indicates age and dominance) positioned, dinosaur-like on its forehead. Estimates vary but it is thought that only around 1500 of this mysterious and ancient creature still survive in the wild.

Considered dangerous because when the birds become frightened (they are naturally skittish) they can attack and do damage with their claws, one of which is almost five inches in length. Their inner toe in the medial position looks like a dagger. When panicked these birds have been known to kick - and sometimes kill - dogs and humans.

Urban myths abound about the birds being able to disembowel a man with their claws. The last record human death by cassowary was in 1926. The claws however cannot do this - though they can leave a nasty puncture wound up to two centimeters in diameter.

Source

(via Webphemera)

Run, bunny, RUN!