rosemary mosco birdandmoon.com

What to do if you find a baby bird. Many thanks to the wildlife...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 18:17:59 -0400

What to do if you find a baby bird. Many thanks to the wildlife rehabilitators who have been tirelessly fielding calls and saving birds all season.

If it’s too small, the original chart is here.

I was looking at the nature names for babies, and all I could think was, why don't you have Destroying Angel? It's the coolest named mushrooms that causes a horrific death!

Sun, 09 Jun 2013 20:30:00 -0400

Destroying Angel is a great, creepy name. There are so many names that I left out of my guide to nature names for babies cartoon because they didn’t fit. Here are a few:

Question Mark, Comma, and White M (butterflies)
Stinky Squid (a stinkhorn fungus)
Peppered Rock Tripe (a lichen)
Paradoxical Frog (a frog, yes, but it’s smaller as an adult than as a tadpole… PARADOX!)

Weird common names are relatively easy to dig up, because there are so many of them. According to the great book Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast, for example, the humble greenbriar is also known as catbrier, bullbrier, hellfetter and… blasphemy vine. Poor thing.

There are far fewer weird scientific names (the two-word latin names that signify genus and species), but they’re out there, like Han solo the trilobite and Dracorex hogwartsia the dinosaur.

I’ve had so much fun wading through the strange names we’ve given the other beings on our planet. What are some of your favorites?

Everybody I know is having kids, so I made this helpful guide to...

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 22:28:27 -0400

Everybody I know is having kids, so I made this helpful guide to nature names for your baby. The original is over here.

Poison Ivy Quiz

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 05:00:45 -0400

Poison Ivy Quiz:

How well do you know poison ivy?

Recently, someone told me, “Poison ivy is everywhere! How can I ever go hiking?” The woods were so scary for her, and it broke my heart.

My talented friend Glen and I made a Poison Ivy Quiz that will hopefully help you beef up your plant-spotting skills. Glen did the programming, and I took photos in bogs, woods and the urban jungle.

A new goofy thing about the wild turkeys I’ve seen (and...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:46:51 -0400

A new goofy thing about the wild turkeys I’ve seen (and heard) this spring. Here’s this comic on my site.

Thanks for your comments on my last post — so interesting!

Here’s what spring has looked like so far in my neck of...

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 19:47:00 -0400

Here’s what spring has looked like so far in my neck of the woods: spring azure butterflies fluttering, blue-spotted salamanders creeping, mourning cloaks emerging from hiding (they overwinter as adults!), and turkeys showing off. I love how this season looks different everywhere. What does spring look like where you are?

Happy spring, nature lovers! Here’s this comic on my...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 22:00:00 -0400

Happy spring, nature lovers! Here’s this comic on my site.

Edit: lots of discussion on my Facebook Page about whether actinomycetes are fungi or bacteria. Actinomycetes are now classified as gram-positive bacteria, though they have fungus-like characteristics. I highly recommend this book for the budding (or zoosporulating?) bacteriophile!

Science and comics event cancelled

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:56:00 -0400

My Cambridge MA event tomorrow is cancelled. I’ll have a new comic for you soon, because like a lot of you, I’ve been stuck inside with lots of time to work :) I’d love to do more events in the future — if you’ve got one, ping me at rmosco@gmail.com. Please stay safe and SO MUCH love to all.

Thanks to Lalo Hidalgo G for translating this comic for a...

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 20:25:00 -0400

Thanks to Lalo Hidalgo G for translating this comic for a Spanish Richard Dawkins Facebook page!

Some news! I’m giving a talk about science cartooning on Saturday, April 20th for the Cambridge Science Festival, along with two other science cartoonists. More event details here! I’m really excited. Please come hang out with me and ask questions!

Here’s some cool press from the Times of India.

I finished my art for Ryan North’s record-breakin’ Hamlet adventure. I did more work for the Stated Clearly video series. My store’s all stocked up. I have a bunch of new comics in the works - stay tuned!

Happy bEaster! Google image search horn shark eggs at your own...

Mon, 25 Mar 2013 18:49:00 -0400

Happy bEaster! Google image search horn shark eggs at your own peril…

(For easter treats guaranteed to be 100% horn shark free, I have a store over here.)

I’m not an amazing baker, but I get so excited when I come...

Sat, 23 Mar 2013 15:36:00 -0400

I’m not an amazing baker, but I get so excited when I come across new biology-themed snacks. The recipe for these macaroon nests came from the Culinary Couture blog. They’re easy and would be great to help teach kids about spring phenology! These nests are headed to a nature club meeting tonight, much to my poor pining parrot’s dismay.

I was in the tropics this past week, where I was so excited to...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:30:00 -0400

I was in the tropics this past week, where I was so excited to run into a scruffy baby Cuban Emerald hummingbird (above), in its little nest. Eat well and grow strong, kiddo! One day you’ll be big and fast like your momma (below). Then you, too, can poop on humans who get too close.

I just put up some greeting cards in my store on...

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 23:09:00 -0400

I just put up some greeting cards in my store on TopatoCo.com!

Are you looking for a gift for a nature-loving pal? These cards feature some songbirds and their real sounds. You get a 12-pack of cards, with two of each design, plus envelopes. That’s twelve birds you’ve already seen today! No need to get up early!

Here’s new comic about a deeply complicated issue. Let me...

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 14:34:00 -0500

Here’s new comic about a deeply complicated issue. Let me know how you think I did! So much research went into this one. There’s a story behind every critter.

On my site, in case it’s too small on tumblr.

Every branch of nature-watching has its own ridiculously tough...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 21:05:00 -0500

Every branch of nature-watching has its own ridiculously tough IDs. Feel free to substitute your own!

Here’s a link to this comic on my site.

Here are some valentines for the biology nerds. Love to...

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 21:08:00 -0500

Here are some valentines for the biology nerds. Love to y’all!

By the time I finish a comic, it looks like a small library...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:22:07 -0500

By the time I finish a comic, it looks like a small library exploded onto my floor. (These are all terrific books, by the way! Have you read any of them?)

A little cartoon about the monarch/butterfly relationship....

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 21:45:00 -0500

A little cartoon about the monarch/butterfly relationship. It’s inspired by AMAZING research from this lab here, though any errors, factual, technical or aerodynamic, are mine. On my site here.

Like so many biology geeks, I grew up with David Attenborough...

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 20:55:00 -0500

Like so many biology geeks, I grew up with David Attenborough documentaries. This comic includes a shout-out to some Attenborough favorites, like the critically endangered Panamanian Golden “Waving” Frog. The original comic is over here!

archiemcphee: From the Department of Awesome Natural Wonders...

Wed, 02 Jan 2013 22:14:00 -0500

archiemcphee:

From the Department of Awesome Natural Wonders comes this impressive geological formation - an enormous rock perfectly balanced atop a smooth mound. Located deep inside the forests of Finland, the balancing rock is called Kummakivi:

“There is still no scientific explanation for how the rock, whose given name translates as ‘strange rock’ in Finnish, has wound up in such a perplexing position.”

However it happened, it’s a pretty awesome sight. But we don’t recommend standing under it for too long.

[via My Modern Metropolis]

I find this picture very… erratic.

I’m pretty sure that this rock was left there by a glacier! Glaciers leave AMAZING signs on the landscape, such as winding elevated paths (former river beds) called eskers, isolated round pools called kettle holes, and huge boulders left all over the landscape (called erratics). Every time I come across a glacial feature on the landscape, I struggle to imagine the amount of sheer power and crushing strength that created it. It makes me dizzy!