Atlantic Puffins of Skomer Island

August 7, 2014 by pumapix

The largest breeding colony of Atlantic Puffins (Fratercula arctica) south of Scotland is on Skomer Island, on the western coast of Wales. Over 10,000 pairs breed in underground burrows here. Sometimes they burrow the holes they lay their eggs in themselves, sometimes they simply kick out the rabbit that was using it before (considering the size difference, that is an amazing feat). All of the burrows are close to the coastal cliffs. This means they can take flight easily if danger approaches (in the form of Peregrine Falcons) and there isn’t much time for gulls to steal the catch the puffins are bringing back to their chicks between landing and disappearing underground.

The Breeding Colony:

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) group at coastal breeding colony, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Puffins at their Burrows:

IMG_117237_Atlantic_Puffin_United_Kingdom_Sebastian_Kennerknecht

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) at nest burrow at sunrise, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

IMG_116900_Atlantic_Puffin_United_Kingdom_Sebastian_Kennerknecht

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) at nest burrow, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

IMG_116908_Atlantic_Puffin_United_Kingdom_Sebastian_Kennerknecht

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) at nest burrow, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

To collect food for their one chick (also called a pufflling), they forage in relatively close waters (most within 7km from this colony) by diving underwater and catching small fish. They collect multiple fish at one time by pressing the caught ones to their upper mandible with their tongue (amazing or what!?!). Eleven species of fish are common prey (mostly sandeels), but up to twenty four different species of fish have been recorded to be used as food by these guys.

IMG_117288_Atlantic_Puffin_United_Kingdom_Sebastian_Kennerknecht

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) carrying fish prey, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

When on land without fish, they engage in a few different behaviors.

Like many other birds, a male and female pair bond by touching their bills together in a behavior called billing.

IMG_117517_Atlantic_Puffin_United_Kingdom_Sebastian_Kennerknecht

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) pair billing, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Flapping their wings is also quite easily seen. Ornithologists interpret this as both a comfort and/or displacement behavior.

IMG_117154_Atlantic_Puffin_United_Kingdom_Sebastian_Kennerknecht

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) flapping wings, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

When you are this cute, it’s understandable when one needs a rest.

IMG_117203_Atlantic_Puffin_United_Kingdom_Sebastian_Kennerknecht

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) resting, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Towards the late evening, you may start seeing individuals head-flicking, which is a way to communicate between individuals and may partially serve to synchronize the departure from the colony.

IMG_117213_Atlantic_Puffin_United_Kingdom_Sebastian_Kennerknecht

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) head-flicking, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

The amazing thing about this particular colony is that the puffins let you get extremely close, often even running right by your feet. Scientists on the island are currently figuring out if our human presence is having a negative impact on the Puffins. Instinctively, I would wager that to be the case but I talked to one scientist who said it may be balanced by the fact that our presence often dissuades the gulls from coming in and stealing the puffins caught fish. I sure hope that’s the case and I am interested to hear the final results of that study. At the very least, it allows for amazing portrait opportunities.

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) in breeding plumage, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) at sunrise, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

I really didn’t feel like I had enough time to hang out with these amazing creatures and only tried for a few minutes to get a flight shot.

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) flying, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

or a on the water shot for that matter.

Atlantic Puffin (Fratercula arctica) on water, Skomer Island National Nature Reserve, Skomer Island, Pembrokeshire, Wales, United Kingdom

If you want to see more Puffin pictures from the trip, click here, if you want a free desktop wallpaper, check out this blog post.

*If you are interested in purchasing any of the pictures displayed in this post, please check out my fine prints page for pricing.*

Most Endangered Cats in the World

May 19, 2014 by pumapix

Updated in 2017 to reflect new taxonomic decisions made by the IUCN Cat Specialist Group’s Cat Classification Task Force¹ and 2018 after determination of six tiger subspecies².

Being cat obsessed, I always want to find out more about these amazing animals. So recently I was searching for the most endangered felines in the world. I ended up finding conflicting results (I think this is partially due to the fact that listing certain species is ‘sexier’ than others and that some addressed subspecies while others did not). So I decided to do my own research. It took some time, looking up every subspecies of wild cat, but it was well worth it. And now, in honor of Endangered Species Day, which was this last Friday I decided to put together a list of the ten most endangered felines in the world. Now a list depends on the parameters set and since the exact numbers of breeding individuals for many subspecies or even species is not known, I will deal only with the numbers that are known.

This is the overall list of the most endangered wild cats in the world, including subspecies and species.

1. South China Tiger (Panthera tigris amoyensis)

Status: Critically Endangered, most likely Extinct in the Wild
Population Size: 72* (Captive Only)
Population Trend: Unknown

2. Balkan Lynx (Lynx lynx balcanicus)

Status: Critically Endangered
Population Size³: 20-39
Population Trend: Decreasing

3. Asiatic Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus venaticus)

Status: Critically Endangered
Population Size⁴: Less than 40
Population Trend: Decreasing

4. Arabian Leopard (Panthera pardus nimr)

Status: Critically Endangered
Population Size⁵: 45-200
Population Trend: Decreasing

5. Amur Leopard (Panthera pardus orientalis)

Status: Critically Endangered
Population Size⁶: Less than 60
Population Trend: Increasing

6. Iberian Lynx (Lynx pardinus)

Status: Critically Endangered
Population Size⁷: ~ 156
Population Trend: Increasing

7. Javan Leopard (Panthera pardus melas)

Status: Critically Endangered
Population Size⁸: Below 250
Population Trend: Decreasing

8. Barbary Serval (Leptailurus serval constantina)Status: Critically Endangered
Population Size⁹: Below 250
Population Trend: Decreasing

9. Northwest African Cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus hecki)

Status: Critically Endangered
Population Size¹⁰: Below 250
Population Trend: Decreasing

Sri Lankan Leopard (Panthera pardus kotiya)

Status: Endangered
Population Size¹¹: 700-950
Population Trend: Decreasing

There are a few really interesting things to note when looking at this list. One thing for example is that all but two of these subspecies and species’ population numbers are decreasing (the exceptions being the Amur Leopard and Iberian Lynx). This downward trend is really not a great sign for the survival of these cats in the long run.

Another interesting thing is that seven out of the ten cats are larger cats (though not all of them are classified as Big Cats). Larger animals require larger areas to contain enough prey to sustain themselves. As their habitat is constantly disappearing so do their numbers decrease. The only plus side of this is that if we can protect these large cats, so do we protect lots of habitat not only for them but many other animals as well.

Another thing to note is that only one species (not subspecies) has made the list, the Iberian Lynx. It proves how threatened of extinction this animal really is. Some tiger and lion subspecies have gone extinct due to humans in recent times, but if the Iberian Lynx was to disappear for good, it would be the first cat species to go extinct since the Saber-toothed Cat, which died out 11,000 years ago.

On a personal note, in creating this list, it was amazing was to discover the Balkan Lynx, a subspecies of Eurasian Lynx I had never heard of, and it is the most threatened cat of extinction!

Sources:

Cat news, Special Issue, Number 11, Winter 2017: A revised taxonomy of the Felidae
2018, Liu: Current Biology: Genome-Wide Evolutionary Analysis of Natural History and Adaptation in the World’s Tigers
Balkan Lynx Population (2015): http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/68986842/0
Asiatic Cheetah Population (2016): Cat News, Special Issue, Number 10, Autumn 2016: Cats in Iran
Arabian Leopard Population (2008): http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15954/0
Amur Leopard Population (2014): http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15954/0
Iberian Lynx Population (2015): http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/12520/0
Javan Leopard Population (2008): http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15954/0
Barbary Serval Population (2015): http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/11638/0
Northwest African Cheetah Population (2008): http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/221/0
Sri Lankan Leopard Population (2015): http://www.iucnredlist.org/details/15954/0

Extended Bio

October 5, 2010 by pumapix

I figured I would let you know a little bit more about myself, especially since most of this information is probably already scattered around the internet anyway. I was born on June 12, 1985 in Munich, Germany – yes, presents are always welcome :). I have an older brother (a world class sailor) and a younger sister (an amazing artist). My interest in wildlife began before I can remember, and animals hold an extremely special place in my heart. The love of the outdoors and nature probably arose from the local lakes, hiking the in Alps, and our backyard pond. The beauty and diversity of animals became really apparent to me at the Munich Hellabrunn Zoo. I have mixed feelings about zoos now, I really hate seeing the animals caged up, but I do think they can provide the benefit of getting people excited about nature to the point where they want to preserve it.

One of my favorite places to go at the zoo was the Raubtiergehege (Carnivore Cages). It was a concrete building with steel bars, and it stank, really really badly. I loved that smell though, it meant that no one else would be there and that I was surrounded by true predators. It housed the lions, tigers, and leopards. Thinking back, it really was a very bad place for those amazing creatures to be, but it made me fall in love with animals, specifically all the wildcats. The structure has since then been brought down and newer, better exhibits have been built for these carnivores. I do still go back and visit the Munich Zoo, which brins back memories of my early childhood.

I moved to the United States when I was ten years old. The move was extremely hard on us children. We left our best friends back in Germany and moved to a country we knew nothing about, least of all spoke its language. After a few years though we were speaking English fluently and started to really appreciate our new home. For myself, the vast wilderness of the States is just breathtaking and the biodiversity is unbelievable. California has so many different ecosystems and did I mention its on the coast! We lived eight hours away from it by car in Germany, now we could walk there.

After attending a private German-American school for three years, I went to Mission San Jose High School in Fremont. Then I went on to study Behavioral Ecology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. The layout of the campus, encompassed by nature was the perfect fit for me. In my second year I really started to get interested in photography again (before then I just dabbled around) and I would spend many hours looking for bobcats. Maybe I should say that I got better at tracking here than photography, I really didn’t take too many pictures since I only saw two bobcats for a few seconds each at my time at UCSC.

Then I bought my first digital SLR, a Pentax ist*Ds. I started taking hundreds, better yet, thousands of images and I really started to learn how to operate the camera and how to achieve the kind of images I was imagining. A couple years later I switched to a Canon system and really started to explore more photographic possibilities. I am most definitely still learning, and feel that I always will be, but that’s part of the fun of it. Photographically I am always excited to try new things!

At this point I am focusing my photography on the endangered wildlife that lives in the area, to try and showcase them and their need for conservation. I am currently in the last stages of photographing for an exhibit at the Santa Cruz Museum of Natural History called Endangered Neighbors. It is a project close to my heart, I approached the museum four years ago asking them if they would be interested in an exhibit that covers the threatened and endangered wildlife of the central Coast, highlighting their natural history, why they are endangered, what people are doing to save them, and what the general public can do to protect them. They agreed and we are finally starting the development phase of the exhibit. Look for it in summer 2011!

As time progresses there will be more events and happenings, but for those you will have to read future blog posts…