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Reeds are the natural habitat of the Least Bittern (Ixobrychus exilis), the smallest of the herons, a wading bird that doesn't often wade (too small), but fishes from the reeds. Native to the Americas. Elusive, not commonly seen. Shoveler Pond, Anahuac NWR, Chambers County, Texas.
A calm, foggy morning on the banks of a lake in the Brecon Beacons, S. Wales. Processed in B&W. (Looks like Flickr is in financial trouble. Don't know what to make of all these begging emails. Wondering if it's time to jump ship.)
Broad-tailed Hummingbird (Selasphorus platycercus) among Hooker's Evening Primroses (Oenothera elata). Sandia Mountains, New Mexico, USA.
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In 1634 Jacques-Philipe Cornut (1606-1651) saw this Nerine in a French garden owned by the famed Morin family, well-known nurserymen of Paris. He named it Narcissus japonicus. Apparently a Dutch eastindiaman had earlier been shipwrecked on Guernsey. The Dutch traded heavily with Japan and would return to Europe by way of the Cape of Good Hope. Some of that ship's wreckage among which the bulbs of our plant washed away and quickly brightened the shores of Guernsey. Soon they were growing in Europe and England, too. Cornut incorrectly assumed that our plant hailed from Japan by way of South Africa and Guernsey. It is, in fact, a South African plant. In 1820 it was renamed Nerine sarniensis - from Guernsey - by astute English botanist William Herbert (1778-1947). Incidentally, Cornut remarks that their lack of aroma is compensated by the very beauty of the colors of the flower.
Here in the Amsterdam Hortus it's Autumn and one of the few bright plants to be seen. In the background Euryops, also from South Africa.
Many thanks for the visits, faves and comments. Cheers
Grey-crowned Babbler
Scientific Name: Pomatostomus temporalis
Description: The Grey-crowned Babbler is the largest of Australia's four babbler species. It is dark brown-grey above, with a distinctive grey crown stripe and a dark face mask that contrasts with a white eyebrow. The chin and throat are white, running into a pale grey lower breast. It has a long, curved bill, short rounded wings with cinnamon brown wing patches and a long tail tipped white. The eye is pale yellow in adults. There is a darker-coloured subspecies, rubeculus, in north-western Australia (often called the Red-breasted Babbler), that has a rufous lower breast and darker crown stripe. The Grey-crowned Babbler is a noisy and gregarious bird, usually found in small groups of four to twelve, and is often seen on the ground or in low trees. It is sometimes called the Yahoo, after one of its calls.
Similar species: The Grey-crowned Babbler lacks the dark crown of other babblers and has a yellow rather than a dark eye.
Distribution: The Grey-crowned Babbler is widespread throughout north-western, northern, central and eastern Australia. It is also found in Papua New Guinea.
Habitat: The Grey-crowned Babbler is found in open forests and woodlands, favouring inland plains with an open shrub layer, little ground cover and plenty of fallen timber and leaf litter. May be seen along roadsides and around farms. In south-east Melbourne, small populations survive on golf courses.
Seasonal movements: Sedentary.
Feeding: Grey-crowned Babblers feed on insects and other invertebrates and sometimes eat seeds. They forage in groups of two to fifteen birds on the ground among leaf litter, around fallen trees and from the bark of shrubs and trees (they tend to use trees more than other babblers).
Breeding: Grey-crowned Babblers live and breed in co-operative territorial groups of two to fifteen birds (usually four to twelve). Groups normally consist of a primary breeding pair along with several non-breeding birds (sometimes groups may contain two breeding pairs or two females that both breed). Most members of the group help to build nests, with the primary female contributing the most effort. Two types of nest are built: roost-nests (usually larger and used by the whole group) and brood-nests (for the breeding females), and often old nest sites are renovated and re-used from year to year. The large domed nests are placed in a tree fork 4 m - 7 m high and are made of thick sticks with projections that make a hood and landing platform for the entrance tunnel. The nest chamber is lined with soft grass, bark, wool and feathers. The brooding female (sometimes more than one) is fed by the other group members and all help to feed the nestlings. Larger groups tend to raise more young, and two broods are usually raised per season.
Calls: Loud scolding and chattering calls: 'wee-oo'. Also distinctive 'ya-hoo' duet by breeding female ('yah') and male ('ahoo') repeated six to eight times.
Minimum Size: 25cm
Maximum Size: 29cm
Average size: 27cm
Average weight: 81g
Breeding season: July to February
Clutch Size: Usually two to three, up to five if more than one female.
Incubation: 23 days
Nestling Period: 23 days
(Source: www.birdsinbackyards.net)
© Chris Burns 2023
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Playing with some texture and photo of my sweet little Smidgen. I can rarely get a clear picture of her. Hope you can find her among the wonderful colors and bokeh of this texture by Brenda-Starr!
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Eastern Sierra, California
A copse of aspens takes literally the phrase “between a rock and a hard place”.
Among the flowers of the South Africa Collection, the Hortus boasts a seeded out bed of this wonderfully bright blue African Sunflax: www.flickr.com/photos/87453322@N00/35458766322/in/photoli....
Olymp and his master looked for perhaps ten minutes and were rewarded with a view of at least 20 different insects. Here are four of them: two Hoverflies and two Bees. From top left to bottom left: Thick-legged Hoverfly, Syritta pipiens; Masked Bee, Hylaeus sp.; Mining Bee, Andrena sp.; Long Hoverfly, Sphaerophoria scripta. Two are after pollen, two nectar.
This old lady is an absolute rarity. Former ZS-FTE was made airworthy again by Morlock Aviation and provided with Olive Air titles. Was used among others for the German TV-series "Steel Buddies".
The famous pumpkin snakes ! They are not really dangerous, cuter than most snakes and always in a good mood ! :)
Wonder if it's noisy at night?
I'm indebted to [https://www.flickr.com/photos/blofeld09] for telling me about this location.