Age is Just a Number
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This is a detail from the Monument to the Discoveries which is a memorial statue dedicated to Henry the Navigator. It stands in the harbor of Lisbon, Portugal near the mouth of the Tagus River. It was permanently erected in 1960 to honor Prince Henry who led the voyages of discovery into the New World in the 15th Century. The Portuguese were legendary mariners & explorers. One can barely imagine risking the treacherous waters of the Atlantic Ocean in wooden boats powered only by sails.
"Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go."
~ Albert Einstein
Layers of ice showing the passage of time in the 250-foot-tall face of Alaska’s Margerie Glacier at Glacier Bay National Park.
"Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul."
~Samuel Ullman
Gannet - Morus Bassanus
Bempton Cliffs
The gannets are large white birds with yellowish heads; black-tipped wings; and long bills. Northern gannets are the largest seabirds in the North Atlantic, having a wingspan of up to 2 metres (6.6 ft). The other two species occur in the temperate seas around southern Africa, southern Australia and New Zealand.
Gannets hunt fish by diving into the sea from a height and pursuing their prey underwater. Gannets have a number of adaptations which enable them to do this:
no external nostrils, they are located inside the mouth instead;
air sacs in the face and chest under the skin which act like bubble wrapping, cushioning the impact with the water;
positioning of the eyes far enough forward on the face for binocular vision, allowing them to judge distances accurately.
Gannets can dive from a height of 30 metres (98 ft), achieving speeds of 100 kilometres per hour (62 mph) as they strike the water, enabling them to catch fish much deeper than most airborne birds.
The gannet's supposed capacity for eating large quantities of fish has led to gannet becoming a description of somebody with a voracious appetite.
Gannets are colonial breeders on islands and coasts, normally laying one chalky, blue egg. Gannets lack brood patches and they use their webbed feet to warm the eggs. It takes five years for gannets to reach maturity. First-year birds are completely black, and subsequent sub-adult plumages show increasing amounts of white.
The most important nesting ground for northern gannets is the United Kingdom with about two thirds of the world's population. These live mainly in Scotland, including the Shetland Isles. The rest of the world's population is divided between Canada, Ireland, Faroe Islands and Iceland, with small numbers in France (they are often seen in the Bay of Biscay), the Channel Islands, Norway and a single colony in Germany on Heligoland. The biggest northern gannet colony is on Scotland's Bass Rock; in 2014, this colony contained some 75,000 pairs. Sulasgeir off the coast of the Isle of Lewis, St. Kilda, Grassholm in Pembrokeshire, Bempton Cliffs in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Sceilig Bheag, Ireland and Bonaventure Island, Quebec are also important northern gannet breeding sites.
Young gannets were historically used as a food source, a tradition still practised in Ness, Scotland, where they are called guga. Like examples of continued traditional whale harvesting, the modern day hunting of gannet chicks results in great controversies as to whether it should continue to be afforded exemption from the ordinary protection afforded to sea birds in UK and EU law". The Ness hunt is currently limited to 2,000 chicks per year, and dates back at least to the Iron Age. The hunt is considered to be sustainable, as between 1902 and 2003 Gannet numbers in Scotland increased dramatically from 30,000 to 180,000.
Population:
UK breeding:
220,000 nests
Last spring and summer I watched this bird for hours. She would go to the bird bath and rest. Then go to the feeder and eat, rest, repeat. I love this bird, more than any other bird I've had the opportunity to capture. I showed this bird to an expert … was told this dear girl was likely old. I don't think I'll see her this year. I only hope she aged gracefully.
I hope you find her as lovely as I do!
This high dynamic range photo taken near Zion's river, the Virgin River, was the hardest to take and later blend. Let me know you thoughts on this photo.
Featured in this photo is my fantastic friend, Redd.
Hattusa City
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hattusa%20City/191/121/22
“Age of Gods” by Tom Bergersen from Illusions
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxtnFs7lpA4
Solaris outfit by Fallen Gods, Inc.