You have a bright face! Female Spotted turtles (Clemmys guttata) exhibit orange irises as well as orange chins (some say yellow). Whereas males will often have both darker colored eyes and chins.

Behold the eye of the cormorant! This double-crested cormorant's (Nannopterum auritum) eyes turn this stunningly bright blue during mating season.

For my birthday my wife got me the new Carl Zimmer book, Air-borne, The Hidden History of The Life We Breathe. This is a great book as I've come to expect from Zimmer given his previous works. Timely, as science has come under fire recently, we need this now.

A turtle looks out. The Spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) is an excellent little turtle, the smallest turtle species native to Ohio wetlands. Spotted turtles face multiple threats and need protection to save the species in this part of their range.