Talking pet starling

Not to give anyone any ideas, but in the United States, it's legal to own a European Starling as a pet (or pretty much do anything you want to them, as long as you don't run afoul of animal cruelty lawas). Here's someone in (apparently) South Carolina who has one, and has taught it a few phrases to speak. It's interesting how the quality of its voice is different from other talking birds.

http://myspace.com/talkingstarling

Edited to Add:

Interesting article about starling song choices: http://www.nwf.org/nationalwildlife/article.cfm?issueID=104&articleID=1323

Nerds eat their own

My friend gweir writes a weekly column, which I should read every week, because it's always funny (unless it's not really supposed to be, like his 9/11 article) and always insightful, and often challenges my coziest beliefs. I missed reading last week's, and it's a good 'un, throwing some uncomfortable light on nerds and geeks: The Deconstructionist: Nerds Eat Their Own

Urban Snorkeling

Well, as planned (but delayed), I went snorkeling in Ward's pond, in Boston. It was fun, a little scary, and I was very impressed with the reporter who accompanied me. She's a much better swimmer than I (who isn't?) and had no misgivings about simply slipping into the water and following me around. She eventually got bored of me and swam in different places taking pictures. We saw sunfish, which I expected, trout, which I didn't, and got a couple glances at sticklebacks (I think). No turtles, unfortunately. We also saw these large, coralesque bodies attached to sticks. I've seen these in the water at Mt. Auburn cemetery before, but not in Ward's pond, though they were deeper than I usually go. Unfortunately, I've forgotten what the damn things are. I'll do some research, but if anyone recognizes them on sight, that would be very helpful. They aren't frog eggs (too tightly packed, and only one or two species of frogs live in there) or salamander eggs (our only species of salamander near the pond is very small). ( take a look? )

365 Urban Species. #260: Freshwater Bryozoan

Photos by urbpan. A small colony attached to a stick is pulled out of the water to be examined. Location: Ward's Pond, Boston.

Urban species #260: Freshwater bryozoan Pectinatella magnifica

A football-sized clump of gelatinous material in a pond may not be an egg mass. You may encounter a colony of animals called bryozoans, or as that obsolete scientific name translates, "moss animals". Bryozoans make cockroaches look like spring chickens: their fossil record extends back 500 million years. The vast majority of the thousands of species in this group live in salt water, with only 50 or so found in fresh water. This one, Pectinatella magnifica (with no good common name but sometimes referred to as "blobs") is the one most often seen in urban waterways. I have seen it in Spectacle Pond at Mt. Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge Mass., and recently found it in Ward's Pond in Boston. It also apparently occurs in the waters of the Connecticut and Potomoc rivers. Bryozoans have a similar ecology to corals. Hundreds of thousands of individual animals (or "zooids" in zoological jargon) live together, secreting a jelly-like matrix, growing quickly in favorable conditions. Favorable conditions include water temperatures of 68 degrees or more (20 degrees or more celcius) and large amounts of food: single-celled algae, bacteria, and other microorganisms, conditions not uncommon in urban ponds in summer. Each zooid has tiny tentacles with which it grabs food particles. Rapidly growing bryozoan colonies are alarming to some people, and may create problems when they form on intake pipes and other structures. However, it seems that their presence and growth may potentially be a good indicator of water quality.

( bonus saltwater bryozoan )