Sunday, October 30, 2011

Pikas

The pika is a small mammal, with short limbs, rounded ears, and short tail. It is also known as the "whistling hare" due to its high-pitched alarm call when diving into its burrow. The name "pika" appears to be derived from the Tungus piika.

Habitat

Pikas are native to cold climates, mostly in Asia, North America and parts of eastern Europe. Most species live on rocky mountain sides, where there are numerous crevices to shelter in, although some also construct crude burrows. A few burrowing species are instead native to open steppe land. In the mountains of Eurasia, pikas often share their burrows with snowfinches, which build their nests there.

Activity


Vegetation pile, drying on rocks for subsequent storage. Gad Valley, Snowbird Ski Resort, Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah

American pika with mouthful of dried grass. Sequoia National Park, CA
Pikas are diurnal or crepuscular, with higher altitude species generally being more active during the daytime. They show their peak activity before the winter season. Pikas do not hibernate, so they rely on collected hay for warm bedding and food. Pikas gather fresh grasses and lay them in stacks to dry. Once the grasses dry out, the pikas take this hay back to the burrows for storage. It is not uncommon for pikas to steal hay from others; the resulting disputes are usually exploited by neighboring predators like ferrets and large birds.
Eurasian pikas commonly live in family groups and share duties of gathering food and keeping watch. At least some species are territorial. North American pikas (O. princeps and O. collaris) are asocial, leading solitary lives outside the breeding season.

Pika photos

More than a Mouthful (pika-5857.jpg)
"More than a Mouthful by Larsthrows

More than a Mouthful Too! (pika_DSF5803.jpg)
"More than a Mouthful Too! by Larsthrows

Ochotona thibetana,Tibetan Pika, རྫ་བྲ་ rdza bra/bra ba,
"Ochotona thibetana,Tibetan Pika by reurinkjan


Pika - Stanley Glacier Trail
Pika - Stanley Glacier Trail by Jimbo1239

Pika
Pika by these are only words
Up Close and Personal with a Pika
Up Close and Personal with a Pika
Collared Pika at Denali National Park
Collared Pika at Denali National Park by Critter Seeker
Quintessential "cute" - The pika
Quintessential "cute" - The pika by oldmantravels
Adorable rock rabbit, the pika.
Adorable rock rabbit, the pika. by oldmantravels

Day 6 - Crews spot a Pika
Crews spot a Pika by WSDOT

Pika
Pika by Sandra Leidholdt

Pika near Medicine Lake
Pika near Medicine Lake by Patrick Berden

Pika
Pika by MikeManning

Tango Anyone??
Tango Anyone?? by Badgerdx

Pika
Pika by Colorado Sands

66217 Pika
Pika by wild prairie man

Pika
Pika by gainesp2003

Pika under a Blue Sky
Pika under a Blue Sky by Colorado Sands

A Sweet Little Pika
A Sweet Little Pika by Colorado Sands


Pikas videos

Fragment from BBC's Attenborough Explores Our Fragile World about Pikas. 

"A relative of the rabbit, the collared pika sounds much like a squeak toy when it calls out. Taken at Denali National Park in Alaska."

Images via Flickr

Productivity Future Vision (2011)



Watch how future technology will help people make better use of their time, focus their attention, and strengthen relationships while getting things done at work, home, and on the go. (Release: 2011)

Friday, September 30, 2011

Celebrities as Russian Generals (23 portraits)

George Dawe was an English portrait artist who lived in St Petersburg in 1819. He was commissioned to paint portraits of Russian Generals who had successfully fought Napoleon in the Patriotic War of 1812 and over a nine year period he completed over 300 of them.

Tumblog Replace Face has been replacing the faces of Russian generals in the portraits with those of celebrities. Below you can see the results of this work.

























Copyright © 2010 Steve Payne
(adapted from original work by George Dawe 1823-1825 )

Monday, September 26, 2011

Reach for the Star

A young man climbes Red Gates skyscraper in Moscow and literally reaches for the star.

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Moscow Alfa Show 4D

View the highlights of the Alfa Show 4D, the largest video mapping projection attempted in history. The Alfa show took place on September 4, 2011 at Vorob'yovy Gory (Sparrow Hills), Moscow. More than 800, 000 people attended the event.


Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Tempest Milky Way Timelapse Video

Another amazing timelapse video, this time featuring good storms with stars shots.



Tempest Milky Way timelapse was shot  in central South Dakota from June-August.

Photography and editing by Randy Halverson
Music by Simon Wilkinson

Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Light Painting Photography

Light painting, also known as light drawing or light graffiti is a photographic technique in which exposures are made usually at night or in a darkened room by moving a hand-held light source or by moving the camera. In many cases the light source itself does not have to appear in the image. The term light painting also encompasses images lit from outside the frame with hand-held light sources. 
wiki


Light painting photography by Lichtfaktor