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Temple of Piety, Studley Royal landscape gardens, UNESCO World Heritage Site, near Ripon, North Yorkshire, England, UK
Submitted: 02/06/2016
Accepted: 14/06/2016
Published:
- Hearst Magazines International (NEW YORK) 10-Jul-2017
- Hearst - North America (NEW YORK) 11-Mar-2020
In una goccia d’acqua s’incontrano tutti i segreti di tutti gli oceani. (Khalil Gibran)
All the secrets of all the oceans meet in a drop of water. (Khalil Gibran)
Thank you so much for favorites and comments, Ferruccio
Thanks for viewing my photos, I really appreciate you taking the time, and for the faves and comments you make thank you.
Well, hallelujah! I got out for the first time since October 1. I went to Ruth Bancroft Garden because I got an email from them showing about 30 species of plants that were flowering in January! This is my first January, and I was really surprised, so I had to go.
For the first time in eight months, my eyes focused (I've been having double vision - soon to be corrected at last we hope), at least while it remained overcast and my transitions lenses gave me an "automatic" - 2 for which I had to correct in the viewfinder.
I came away with about 20 images that are acceptable, even one of an Anna's Hummingbird that took me by surprise. And if this flower, one of 600 species of Saxifraga, isn't in focus, then we all have a problem. This species is native to the eastern Alps, but is found in Europe and North America so keep an eye out (1/4") unless, of course, you live in South America or Australia...
The red "berries" are not berries at all, but the hard bud that opens to bring us the five petals and a very intricate flower if you view large.
43002 "Sir Kenneth Grange" & 43183 working 1B28 11:12 London
Paddington to Swansea passing Undy 14/09/17
Photos Carol took of bats outside of Tucson in 2018 - Bats are one of the most iconic figures of Halloween. Feared for their thirst for blood and tendency to surprise unsuspecting hikers who disturb their slumber, bats give people the heebie jeebies. But that is not fair.
Arizona is home to 28 species of bats, more than almost any other state. Bats are the only true flying mammals and are valuable human allies. Worldwide, they are primary predators of vast numbers of insect pests, saving farmers and foresters billions of dollars annually and helping to control insect-spread human diseases. For example, large colonies of Mexican free-tailed bats eat hundreds of tons of moths each week, especially the moths that prey on cotton crops. Bats can eat up to 1,200 mosquitoes in an hour.
Although bats play key roles in keeping insect populations in balance, they are North America’s most rapidly declining land mammals. Declines are often caused by human fear and persecution, and each of us can help by learning how to live with these animals.
The Pallid bat has yellowish brown to cream colored fur on its back and white fur on its belly. What is most noticeable about this bat are its large ears. The ears are almost half as long as the total length of its head and body. Because they have such large ears they are able to detect the sound of their prey's footsteps on the ground. Also, its eyes are larger than most species of North American bats. Pallid bats are social creatures and live in groups. Their groups are called colonies. And the size of these colonies can range anywhere from 12-100 individuals. Most of these colonies have more than 20 bats. The largest recorded colony had 162 individuals.
Pallid bats weigh 0.7-1.2 oz. (20-35g). A pallid bat can eat half of its body weight in one night. Imagine people doing that! The pallid bat may live as many as 10 years in the wild.
Pallid bats are also more effective pollinators than some of the nectarivorous bats with whom they compete for cacti. By eating fruit and nectar from plants, bats carry seeds and pollen to new places. Not so scary anymore, huh? Well, there is one thing about bats that's pretty scary…it's that they are disappearing.
Bats aren't really blind—in fact, the larger species of bats can see better than humans—but in order to "see" in absolute darkness, they use echolocation, which means they emit high-pitched sounds (inaudible to the human ear) and listen as the sound waves bounce off nearby surfaces. In fact, with echolocation bats can see everything but color and detect obstacles as fine as a human hair. Pretty cool! So the next time someone calls you "blind as a bat," you can go ahead and take it as a compliment.
Pallid bats are a unique bat species because they are heterothermic, meaning they can be either poikilothermic or homoeothermic depending on the time of year.