View allAll Photos Tagged Behaviour
The strangest aspect of hamerkop behaviour is the huge nest, sometimes more than 1.5 metres (4 ft 11 in) across, comprising perhaps 10,000 sticks and strong enough to support a man's weight. The birds decorate the outside with any bright-coloured objects they can find. When possible, they build the nest in the fork of a tree, often over water, but if necessary they build on a bank, a cliff, a human-built wall or dam, or on the ground. A pair starts by making a platform of sticks held together with mud, then builds walls and a domed roof. A mud-plastered entrance 13–18 centimetres (5.1–7.1 in) wide in the bottom leads through a tunnel up to 60 centimetres (24 in) long to a nesting chamber big enough for the parents and young.
These birds are compulsive nest builders, constructing three to five nests per year whether they are breeding or not.
Went for a photowalk in Oxley Creek Common this morning. The light was magnificent and the birds were on their best behaviour!
Taxon Group: Lagomorpha
Common Name:
Brown hare
Scientific Name:
Lepus europaeus
Description:
Very long black-tipped ears; large, long, powerful hind legs. Much redder than the mountain hare, and with a black-topped tail. Yellow flecking to the fur, more so than grey-brown rabbits. Larger than rabbits.
Size:
52-59cm; tail: 8-12cm
Weight:
Average 3-4kg
Diet:
Tender grass shoots, including cereal crops, are their main foods.
Lifespan:
Adult hares normally live to 3 or 4 years but very rarely can they live much longer.
Origin & Distribution:
Brown hares were introduced in Iron Age times, from the other side of the North Sea. They are widespread on low ground throughout England, Wales and Scotland. Although they have been more recently introduced to Northern Ireland, they have not spread far. They have also been introduced to the Isle of Man and Mainland Orkney. In Scotland brown hares are found on farmland and rough grazing to the far north of the mainland, but are absent from parts of the North West. Brown hares are replaced by mountain hares in upland areas of Scotland and central England.
Habitat:
Grassland, Arable land
Behaviour:
Brown hares live in very exposed habitats, and they rely on acute senses and running at speeds of up to 70kph (45mph) to evade predators. Hares do not use burrows, but make a small depression in the ground among long grass - this is known as a form. They spend most of the day on or near the form, moving out to feed in the open at night. Though generally solitary, hares sometimes band into loose groups when feeding.
Breeding:
Breeding takes place between February and September and a female can rear three or four litters a year, each of two to four young. The young, known as leverets, are born fully furred with their eyes open and are left by the female in forms a few metres from their birth place. Once a day for the first four weeks of their lives, the leverets gather at sunset to be fed by the female, but otherwise they receive no parental care. This avoids attracting predators to the young at a stage when they are most vulnerable. Foxes are important predators of young hares and where foxes are common there are likely to be few hares.
Conservation Status:
Brown hares have little legal protection, as they are game animals managed by farmers and landowners. Numbers declined substantially since the beginning of this century, though they are still common animals in many parts of the country. Today's modern farms are intensive and specialised, either growing crops like wheat and oilseed rape, or raising livestock for meat and dairy produce. A hundred years ago most farms were mixed enterprises, with a patchwork quilt of fields which provide year-round grazing for hares as well as long crops for them to hide in. Modern cereal farms provide little or no food for hares in late summer and autumn, and livestock farms have few crops for them the hide in. Modern farm machinery and pesticides also kill many hares.
Another reason is that there now appears to be many more foxes in the countryside than there were a hundred years ago. Hare shooting still occurs in areas where hares are common and where farms want to reduce crop damage. Hare hunting with beagles and harriers used to occur throughout Britain, and hare coursing events were run by several coursing clubs, but these are now illegal (since Hunting Act 2002) in the UK; hare coursing, though controlled, is still legal in Ireland. Hares are very often poached, particularly with lurchers cross-bred from collies and greyhounds.
Quite a commotion we walked into as these young owls were being harassed by a group of vocal blue jays. The three owlets were flying from tree to tree and then two onto this branch which allowed a couple of quick shots through the leaves.
Thank you for viewing.
photo: gianluca fontana
production: martina riebeck
hair: enrico mariotti
make-up: david jones
styling: martina riebeck
model: morgane dubled
publication: tush #4 2007
(P2013: 38,39,40,41,42,43/52)
Halloween 2013
It's been over month since my last photo. Way too much for me. Hope now, when I'm ok with situation, things will go better. Happy Halloween, Guys!
Red Deer / cervus elaphus. 10/10/18.
´RUTTING BEHAVIOUR.´ (2)
An image made a year ago showing a Red Deer stag moving in on a hind.
I love that look of concentration and intent on his face. Nothing else existed beyond the object of his desires and I felt genuinely sorry when his advances were rejected and she ran off. He had tried so hard to win her over with throaty bellows whilst shadowing her closely.
She certainly kept him keen by acting mean!
His next move was to urinate then thrash the spot with his antlers, spreading his scent. Successful ? … not a chance. Mating was going to be strictly on her terms.
Used the flip down screen for these shots, a little awkward to say the least but using the spirit level and centre spot focus I managed to bag a few shots.
I was poking about in the rocks yesterday afternoon, when this limpet (with another riding on its back) suddenly reared up on its hind legs. I grabbed this shot and got ready to take another, better composed. But the moment passed too quickly.
I spent all afternoon looking for the behaviour to be replicated in other individuals, and saw a few others, all with a 'rider' - doing something similar but none so exaggerated as this one.
What were they up to? Is this common limpet behaviour? Does anyone know?
I was met with in an accident and leg was fractured. A plate was fixed in my leg. With this, I went to Sankagiri Fort, near Salem, Tamil Nadu, India with my friend and I was not able to walk for long distance and due to pain, I laid down on the way under a tree. Then, around 10 monkeys came near the tree and I was waiting for a good shot with my camera. Suddenly, a monkey took newspaper and while laying down, I shot this photo which I feel is the gift given by God.
I also thank my friend at this moment who was with me at that time. Date :- 11-03-2018 - Timing - 15:17 pm
- Instagram id:- @nagendran_c4777
One of the major reasons why we need to work towards protecting the environment is because it helps to protect humanity. If we didn’t have our environment, then we wouldn’t have a place to live or resources to live.it is our moral obligation to do so. As a human who lives on earth, it is our responsibility to make sure that it is protected. We must give back to the future generation that what we have received and enjoying. Give them an environment that isn’t damaged and teach them how to continue living sustainably. I request all good souls to plant Banyan tree while making tree plantation. It will have a long lasting effect for mankind and go a long way in carry forwarding the nature to the next generation and will also give fruits useful for birds. Instagram Id : @nagendran_c4777. Planting of trees in a special occasion such as Birthday Wedding etc is a excellent gesture. It can be done in memory of our Parents, Teachers, Friends and also people who comes across in our life such as Doctors Nurses and health staff for their noble service to the society.
( Interview of Shri. C. Nagendran BSNL in NewsTamil 24x7 - Dated:- 05-10-2024 )
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2Ly_euGfvk
youtu.be/GgOvcjSlA6Y?si=hH_LWz9Ij_NBI1Xr
C. Nagendran,
Instagram id:- @nagendran_c4777
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european magpie ~ pica pica (behaviour)
The magpie is on the RSPB Green status list.
I thought this magpie was looking for the squirrels stashes to raid but he kept stopping and flapping his wings as though he was about to fly off. Then I realised he was looking at the roof of our extension and I looked up to see another magpie watching. Whether this was threat behaviour or courtship display it was entertaining. I had just taken a photo of two magpies in an old wild cherry tree as I had never seen magpies sitting together like that before I wonder if these are the same pair.