View allAll Photos Tagged Behaviour
Whilst photographing the solitary Southern Black-Backed Gull a few days ago that was sitting on the side of the Hutt River, dozens upon dozens of Black-Backed Gulls swooped over-head and landed a little up-river from the loan bird.
It wasn't difficult to find them. They numbered in their hundreds and were sitting on a rock bank in the middle of the river! And this was obviously a very big catch-up session - one which even included Juveniles...!
After watching them from a discreet distance for about 10 minutes, one of the birds suddenly sounded an alarm (though I didn't hear anything unusual!), and the whole flock swarmed into the air, screaming in panic..! They circled once, and then all swooped back to exactly where they'd been a few seconds earlier, and carried on their respective conversations!
What interesting behaviour...!
(You'll have to view this in "Extra Large" format (Double-click the photo) to see this big flock in better detail).
Continue to keep well everyone, and a big "Thank You" for taking the time and the trouble to leave a Comment...! It's always nice to hear from you, and your comments are always greatly appreciated...!
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
American Coot AMCO (Fulica americana)
Adult with 2 chicks
"'Greater' Edmonton Area"
St Albert's Riel Wetlands:
Big Lake and John E. Poole boardwalk
Location: west side of St Albert
St. Albert,
Alberta, Canada
DSCN0011
Interestingly(bizarre) the Parent fed one constantly and persistently ignored constant begging of the other
PS
i like the feet detail visible in this shot
Over-sized Juvenile feet still appear chicken-like - while parent bird shows fully developed lobed features
Click on Image for Enlarged View
Bald head won't win the chicks any cutie-beauty pageants
click on image for more detail
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
The Common Starling (Sturnus vulgaris), also known as the European Starling, or in Ireland and the British Isles as just the Starling, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It has glossy black plumage with a metallic sheen, which is speckled with white at some times of year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer; young birds have browner plumage than the adults. It is a noisy bird, especially in communal roosts and other gregarious situations, with an unmusical but varied song. Its gift for mimicry has been noted in literature.
The common starling has about a dozen subspecies breeding in open habitats across its native range in temperate Europe and western Asia, and it has been introduced to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, the Falkland Islands, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa and Fiji. This bird is resident in southern and western Europe and southwestern Asia, while northeastern populations migrate south and west in winter within the breeding range and also further south to Iberia and North Africa.
The species has declined in numbers in parts of northern and western Europe since the 1980s due to fewer grassland invertebrates being available as food for growing chicks. Despite this, its huge global population is not thought to be declining significantly, so the common starling is classified as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The common starling is a highly gregarious species, especially in autumn and winter. Although flock size is highly variable, huge, noisy flocks - murmurations - may form near roosts. These dense concentrations of birds are thought to be a defence against attacks by birds of prey such as peregrine falcons or Eurasian sparrowhawks. (wikipedia)
A trio of Starlings having a bath at the East Pier, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin.
I found this dead fly attached to the heather in my garden. I assume it is some type of house fly (please correct me if not; and any information on species much appreciated). I often find flies in this typical death pose attached to the higher extremities of plants; they are brainwashed into moving to such locations to die in a specific pose by a parasitic fungus.
For anyone interested, I quote some further information on this fascinating interaction from the book Parasite Rex (Inside the Bizarre World of Nature's Most Dangerous Creatures) by Carl Zimmer (with deletions and insertions marked with square brackets):
"Getting to the next host is a consuming passion among parasites, because there is no alternative: "Live free and die" is their motto. A fungus that lives inside house flies provides a spectacular example of this. When the spores of the fungus make contact with a fly, they stick to its body and dig tendrils into the fly's body. The fungus spreads throughout the fly's body [...] and sucks up the nutrients of its blood, making the fly's abdomen swell as it grows. For a few days the fly lives on normally, flying from spilled soda to cow turd, using its proboscis to sponge up food. But sooner or later it gets an uncontrollable urge [I think caused by the fungus now being ready for the next stage, and growing into the fly's brain, and controlling the fly's behaviour with chemicals, as described here for ants: neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2006/11/20/brainwashed-by-a...] to find a high place, be it a blade of grass or the top of a screen door. It sticks out its probscis but uses it as a clamp this time, gluing itself to its high perch.
The fly lowers its front legs, tilting its abdomen away from the surface. It flaps its wings for a few minutes before locking them upright. The fungus has meanwhile pushed its tendrils out of the fly's legs and belly. On the tips of the tendrils are little spring-loaded packages of spores. In this bizarre position, the fly dies, and the fungus catapults out of its corpse. Every detail of this death pose---the height, the angles of the wings and the abdomen---all put the fungus in a good position for firing spores into the wind, to shower down on flies below.
As if this were not enough of an accomplishment for a speck of fungus, infected flies always die in this dramatic way just before sunset. If the fungus matures to the point where it can make spores in the middle of the night, it doesn't; it holds off the process, waiting through the dawn and the day. It is the fungus, not the fly, that decides not only how it will die but when---just before sundown. Only then is the air cool and dewy enough for the spores to develop quickly on another fly, and only then are healthy flies leaving the air for the night and moving down toward the ground, where they make easy targets."
I'm going to hazard a guess here and say that this is something you've never ever seen before. And probably never want to see ever again. 😄 It has a name ... Social Carrying Behaviour ... and apparently was only discovered in 2013. Ants carry one another for a variety of reasons ... they actually carry dead ants away from the nest and dump them in a pile somewhere once they start decaying and emitting oleic acid. (Bears are known to drag away their dead, too, apparently ... or, so I've heard). But, these two ants are very much alive!
I witnessed this today ... numerous times. I wondered what the heck they were carrying and of course went and grabbed my camera to see if I could get a closer look. Could hardly believe my eyes when I discovered it was another ant ... and that it was alive! If I disturbed them, the one doing the carrying would drop the other, but then pick it up again. So, of course, I then had to go do a little research.
One type of ant ... from the genus Pseudomyrmex, carries one of its adult buddies by grabbing it at the base of the mandibles (mouthparts) and it then curls up onto the back of the carrying individual. The eyes of the carried individual face forward in this position. This carrying style is called the "parasol-posture" ... umbrella style, if you will. But these two here are Carpenter Ants and they belong to the genus Camponotus ... subfamily, Formicinae and Formicinae carry other ants by grabbing the base of the mandibles, too, but the one carried is positioned upside-down and curls up under the ventral side of the carrier's head as seen in this photograph I took. Notice that this way the eyes of the two ants face each other.
Why is it done? Well, I believe it's a type of recruitment procedure when the ants are about to start building a new nest. Maybe akin to the British press gangs from years ago when they took men into military service or the navy, usually, by compulsion ... quite often after getting them blind drunk in some waterfront tavern. Don't know if these ants are willing participants or have have been spirited away by compulsion, too.
Anyway, learned something new today. Hope you did, too.