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Algarve Portugal 29-04-2022
ebird.org/checklist/S108376485
Scientific classification
Domain:Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum:Chordata
Class:Aves
Order:Coraciiformes
Family:Meropidae
Genus:Merops
Species:M. apiaster
Binomial name
Merops apiaster
[order] Coraciiformes | [family] Meropidae | [latin] Merops apiaster | [UK] Bee-Eater | [FR] Guêpier d'Europe | [DE] Bienenfresser | [ES] Abejaruco Común | [IT] Gruccione europeo | [NL] Bijeneter
spanwidth min.: 36 cm
spanwidth max.: 40 cm
size min.: 25 cm
size max.: 29 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 19 days
incubation max.: 21 days
fledging min.: 25 days
fledging max.: 31 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 5
eggs max.: 7
Physical characteristics
Highly distinctive with multicolored plumage. Male has black gorget, greenish-blue underparts, scapulars and rump flaxen. Long uppertail coverts the same green as tail, latter with streamers. Primaries and their coverts and tertials green to green-blue, but rest of upperwing mahogany. Iris red-crimson, mouth flesh-pink. Female tends to have scapulars and lower back greener, lees flaxen, than male, lesser wing coverts less intensely green.
Habitat
Sunny hillsides, meadows, pasture and cultivated land with shelter-belts and scattered trees, plains, dissected steppe, broad river valleys, shrubby riverbanks in semi desert, and practically any open and well-timbered country, and Mediterranean macchia scrub.
Other details
Merops apiaster is a widespread summer visitor to southern and eastern Europe, which accounts for less than half of its global breeding range. Its European breeding population is large (>480,000 pairs), but underwent a moderate decline between 1970- 1990. Although the species increased overall during 1990-2000—with increasing or stable trends across most of its European range—its population probably has not yet recovered to the level that preceded its decline.
Feeding
Diet relies largely on bumblebees and honeybees, mainly in Europe, wasps of many families and stingless bees in Africa, but takes most other orders of insects as opportune. In fact, probably eats all day-flying insects. Nestling are fed larger insects than those consumed by adults, particularly if latter are foraging more than a few hundred meters from nest. Forages from vantage point on tree, fence or telephone wire, making lengthy forays after a passing insect, seizing it after short dashing chase, and bringing it back to the perch to beat its head, killing the prey.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence of 1,000,000-10,000,000 km². It has a large global population, including an estimated 950,000-2,000,000 individuals in Europe (BirdLife International in prep.). Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern. [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
The European Bee-eater is a colonially breeding migratory species. The birds arrive in the breeding colony in early May and have departed again by the end of August. The interval from the first egg being laid until the start of hatching (which is highly asynchronous, is about 28 days, and from hatching to the completion of fledging about 32 days. Clutches consist of 4-7 eggs laid at 2 day intervals in a nest burrow. The nest chamber is at the end of a tunnel a meter or more in length, built in a sand or earth bank or in level ground. Some nest burrows are re-used in consecutive years, but the majority of pairs excavate burrow anew each year. About a fifth of the nests with chicks have helpers. The majority of these have a single helper, some have two helpers, and occasionally nests may have three or four helpers. Helpers contribute to provisioning the brood, but unlike in White-fronted Bee-eaters, they do not help with incubation. They may start helping at any stage during the nestling period, and continue to provision chicks after they have fledged.
Migration
Migratory; exclusively a summer visitor to breeding range. Winters almost entirely within Africa in 2 distinct segments: West Africa and Sénégal to Ghana, marginally to Nigeria, and eastern and southern Africa, mainly south of Equator and Congo basin forests. Passages broad-front overland, with unbroken overflying of Sahara and Arabian deserts. Migrant flocks favour thermal conditions; hence some tendency to concentrate at narrows for Mediterranean crossing: Straits of Gibraltar, Sicilian Channel, and Cyprus/Levant. Sicilian Channel passage much more pronounced in spring, in line with more conspicuous spring (than autumn) passage through North Africa generally. Family parties begin congregating in second half of July, and main exodus from Europe spans mid-August to early October. Present in African winter quarters from mid-September (early October in South Africa); return movement begins March in south, continuing through April; European spring passage mid-April to late May. Spring migrants often overshoot in anticyclonic weather, regularly reaching north-west Europe and exceptionally nesting.
Here's your checklist: Read my story for the Whidbey Daily about my ride please. More photos to come... this is a teaser.
PHOTO CREDIT: Joe A. Kunzler Photo, AvgeekJoe Productions, growlernoise-AT-gmail-DOT-com
That wing pattern was so crisp, and even a bit of the pink hue was viewable at certain angles and light.
Three of the above are Hall of Fame hockey players - Jeremy Roenick, Larry Murphy and Bryan Trottier.
1990/91 Hockey Pro Set - The inaugural Pro Set issue contains 705 cards measuring the standard size, with the first series containing 405 cards followed by a 300 card second series. The fronts feature a color action photo, banded above and below in the team's colors. The horizontally oriented backs have a head shot of each player and player information sandwiched between color stripes in the team's colors. Many grammatical, statistical and factual errors punctuated this issue. LINK to checklist - www.tcdb.com/Checklist.cfm/sid/4874/1990-91-Pro-Set
1990-91 Pro Set Jeremy Roenick (#58) Rookie Autograph - Chicago Black Hawks - Jeremy Shaffer Roenick (born January 17, 1970) is an American former professional ice hockey player who played the majority of his career in the National Hockey League. He was drafted 8th overall in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft by the Chicago Blackhawks, for whom he played from 1988 to 1996. Roenick subsequently played for the Phoenix Coyotes, Philadelphia Flyers, Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks over the course of his twenty-season career in the league. He also represented Team USA in several international tournaments. On November 10, 2007, he became the third American-born player (Joe Mullen and Mike Modano were the first two) to score 500 goals. He is one of 46 players to have scored 500 goals. After retiring in 2009, Roenick joined NBC Sports as a hockey analyst from 2010 to 2020. Roenick was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2024.
1990-91 Pro Set Dave Taylor (#128) Autograph - Los Angeles Kings - David Andrew Taylor (born December 4, 1955) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey player who played in the National Hockey League with the Los Angeles Kings from 1977 to 1994. He featured in the 1993 Stanley Cup Finals with the Kings. Taylor was a member of the famous Triple Crown Line along with hall of fame centre Marcel Dionne and left winger Charlie Simmer. In the 1980–81 season all three scored more than 100 points with the Kings with Dionne and Simmer scoring 135 and 105 points, respectively and Taylor scoring 112 points to record the best season of his career. Following his playing career, he served as the Kings' general manager from 1997 to 2006, and currently serves as vice-president of Hockey Operations with the NHL's St. Louis Blues.
1990-91 Pro Set Larry Murphy (#143) Autograph - Minnesota North Stars - Lawrence Thomas Murphy (born March 8, 1961) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey defenceman. He played over 20 years in the National Hockey League, suiting up for the Los Angeles Kings, Washington Capitals, Minnesota North Stars, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings. He won two back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, the first of two being with Pittsburgh in 1991 and 1992; and then with Detroit in 1997 and 1998. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility. He currently serves as a studio analyst and fill-in color commentator during away games for the Red Wings on Bally Sports Detroit.
1990-91 Pro Set Ken Baumgartner (#178) Rookie Autograph - New York Islanders - Kenneth James Baumgartner (born March 11, 1966) is a Canadian former professional ice hockey left winger who played in the National Hockey League for twelve seasons. Drafted 245th overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 1985 NHL Entry Draft, Baumgartner made his NHL debut with the Los Angeles Kings during the 1987–88 season. A defenseman until he reached the NHL, he would go on to play for the New York Islanders, Toronto Maple Leafs, Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Boston Bruins until his retirement in 2000. Baumgartner's primary role was an enforcer and in his 12 NHL seasons, he tallied 2242 penalty minutes in 696 regular season games. He recorded 13 goals and 41 assists for 54 career points. He is the only player in the history of the NHL to play a full 82-game season and record only 1 point.
1990-91 Pro Set Bryan Trottier (#192) Autograph - New York Islanders - Bryan John Trottier (born July 17, 1956) is a Canadian and American former professional ice hockey centre who played 18 seasons in the National Hockey League for the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins. He won four Stanley Cups with the Islanders, two with the Penguins and one as an assistant coach with the Colorado Avalanche. He shares the NHL record for points in a single period with six (four goals and two assists). He is also one of only eight NHL players with multiple five-goal games. In August 2014, Trottier was announced as an assistant coach for the Buffalo Sabres. In 2017, Trottier was named one of the "100 Greatest NHL Players" in history. Trottier's best offensive season was 1978–79 when he scored 134 points, earning him the Art Ross Trophy as the League's top scorer, as well as the Hart Memorial Trophy as NHL MVP. In winning the Art Ross, he became the first player from a post-Original Six expansion team to win the award. In that same season, he led the NHL in assists with 87, which he had also done the year before with 77. Trottier was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility in 1997. During his induction speech, Trottier spoke about his mother's encouragement of his pride in his Aboriginal identity.
Powerful Owl (Ninox strenua), Sydney, NSW, Australia
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/view/checklist/S57880232
The powerful owl (Ninox strenua) is a species of owl native to south-eastern and eastern Australia, the largest owl on that continent. It is found in coastal areas and in the Great Dividing Range rarely more than 200 km (120 mi) inland.
Source: Wikipedia
Make a checklist before setting out to buy your new home. This picture free to use - please credit: Alan Cleaver. See My Freestock set for other free stock pictures you can use.
Checklist:
Lipstick? OK.
Lashes? OK.
Earrings? OK.
Gloves? OK.
Hat? OK.
Veil? OK.
Round to the corner shop, then. A pint of milk and a packet of fish fingers...
a checklist for 19'nov'82 - 27'feb'92 in recognition of the end of phase 1 & the beginning of all the rest.
by jwcurry.
[Toronto], Room 3o2 Books, [26] february 1992. [96 copies issued in 4 variants:
a) 4o "participants' copies" with found black photocopy bleed on cover label;
b) 54 copies as described;
c) 2 copies as described but mistrimmed & with red ballpoint annotations].
5-1/2 x 8-3/8, 4 sheets buff & 3 blue mimeo bond folded to 28 pp & sewn navy in 2 double stitches into purple wove endsheet & pail black construction paper wrappers with 15/16 x 1-3/8 grey mayfair card front cover label printed green rubberstamp, buff bond all printed black photocopy, all else black rubberstamp rectos only at front/versos only rear, with purple & red additions to title page.
cover graphic (of Nicholas Power) by jwcurry from a photograph by Stuart Ross.
6 contributors:
Gary Barwin, Randall Brock, Greg Evason, Nicholas Power, Stuart Ross, Yves Troendle.
includes:
i) CHRONOLOGY, by jwcurry (bibliography with passing references to Nichol in entries 25 (Nicholas Power, Schrodinger's Potatoes) & 34 (Mark Laba, the Mack Bolan poems))
Blue-and-white Flycatcher (Cyanoptila cyanomelana), Yehliu, Taiwan
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S25273738
More Old World Flycatchers:
www.daveirvingwildlifephotography.com/#!chats--old-world-...
The blue-and-white flycatcher (Cyanoptila cyanomelana) is a migratory songbird in the Old World flycatcher family Muscicapidae. The species is also known as the Japanese flycatcher. It breeds in Japan, Korea, and in parts of north eastern China and far eastern Russia. It winters in South East Asia, especially in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Sumatra and Borneo.
Source: Wikipedia
Medicare can be complex, and there is certainly no one size all fits approach to it. Everyone will find themselves with different needs and wants when it comes to the their healthcare, and we all have expectations that we would like to have met. This is one of the most important decisions we have to make, and with all of the information you may start to receive before the transition into Medcare it can seem overwhelming. There are many benefits to using a Medicare Checklist to sort through it all, but here are the top 5 reasons.
An adult Bicknell's Thrush coming in with food for its young at the top of Whiteface Mountain in the Adirondacks. We saw the baby thrush but I don't think any of us were able to capture a photo of it. I learned that the Bicknell's Thrush is not monogamous and shares the parenting responsibilities with the other adults.
eBird Checklist: ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S38060294
The MacWorld Expo Celebrity Checklist, by the Joy of Tech. See Leo Laporte, Andy Ihnatkco, Merlin Mann, Amber MacArthur, Kevin Rose and more.
Checklist: ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S9469933
Grace's Warbler. Point Lookout, Nassau County, NY. 01/01/12. Photo by Doug Gochfeld.
This represents the first record of Grace's Warbler for the East Coast of North America.
These small wading birds were preening themselves in the early morning sun in the upper reaches of Portsmouth harbour.
Black bills and black legs. They were darting around and moved very quickly in the air in a large flock.
They were about the size of a blackbird with very rapid wing movements
Passengers are boarding and the cockpit-crew is busy with the preflight checklist.
See the whole set at :
www.flickr.com/photos/wblokzijl/sets/72157650982054150
Terwijl de eerste passagiers instappen is de bemanning druk bezig met de vluchtvoorbereiding en de preflight-checklist.
Black-winged Petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis), Lord Howe Island, NSW, Australia
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/australia/checklist/S77463270
The black-winged petrel (Pterodroma nigripennis) is a species of seabird in the family Procellariidae. It breeds on a number of oceanic islands in the tropical and subtropical East Pacific Ocean and spends the rest of the year at sea.
Source: Wikipedia
Asian Desert Warbler (Sylvia nana), Zakher Lake, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Ebird checklist:
ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist/S33426201
It is a small bird (the second-smallest in the genus after African desert warbler), 11.5–12.5 cm long. The sexes are almost identical in colour, pale grey-brown above with browner wings and tail, and whitish below; the bill and legs are yellowish, and the eye has a yellow iris. Like its relatives, it is insectivorous, but will also take small berries; unlike most warblers, it commonly feeds on the ground. The song is a distinctive jingle often given in an advertisement flight, with a mix of clear and harsher notes.
Source: Wikipedia
20151217-JCB_1565 - Pajaro Dunes, Lower Watsonville Slough, SCZ (CA)
Infrequent vistor to the west coast especially in Santa Cruz County.
After ninety seven days in a row I need to start coming up with some new ideas ... unfortunately not all of my suggestions are well received.
inspired by Tony Buzan, Created with www.bubbl.us/
Every time I go home, I just open this and start packing my bag.I've been using this for an year. I never over pack, this helps in avoding under packing :)
Joseph R. Tanner, STS-82 mission specialist, is backdropped against Earth's limb and a sunburst effect in this 35-mm photo taken by Gregory J. Harbaugh, mission specialist, his extravehicular activity (EVA) crewmate. Harbaugh's torso is reflected in Tanner's helmet visor. The two were making their second EVA and the fourth one of five for the crew in order to service the Hubble Space Telescope. A cuff checklist of tasks is seen attached to Tanner's left arm for quick reference.
Credit: NASA
Checklist S25382595
All albums:
www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/sets
Viewers' favorites (top 10):
www.flickr.com/photos/ljcouple/sets/72157640904897455
My favorites:
John Heinz NWR... note reddish/orangish legs
I eliminated all of the ones I thought. Laughing, Franklins, Bonaparte, Little Gull... hoping this is correct!
Philadelphia, PA
From the autumn 2016 trip to Vietnam:
If ever there were a good way to finish up a trip, this particular Sunday in October would be it. Before arriving in Hanoi, I honestly had exceptionally low expectations. A bit like Saigon, if you are to go online and try to look up a list of places to visit – basically a tourist’s stock photography checklist, as it may be – you don’t find much that’s appealing. Well…I didn’t, anyway, and as a result, I had pretty low expectations for Hanoi.
The charm and beauty of Hanoi, however, isn’t in any one particular place. It’s in the experience of the entire city. (I’d say the same for Saigon, but multiply that a few times for Hanoi.) On this day in the Old Quarter in particular, I kept finding myself thinking, “Oh, my God, I shouldn’t be this lucky as a photographer…” Today ended up being mostly about people, with a little food and historical locations mixed in.
As I mentioned in the last set of posting, today would start off a bit sad with Junebug leaving for China a day before I would. So, we were checked out of our room by 6:00 in the morning or so. The breakfast at the Art Trendy was wonderful. Buffet with a mix of made-to-order omelets mixed in. Strong work, Art Trendy, strong work…
When June left, I really had nothing to do since it was still six in the morning and I was temporarily homeless as I had to switch hotels. So…I sat around the lobby for about two hours (possibly slightly awkward for the poor girls working there, but oh, well; I had to sit somewhere).
Around 8:00, I finally dragged my old bones out of the hotel and walked the five to ten minutes down the street to the Aquarius, where I politely asked them to hold my non-camera bag until I come back around 1:00 in the afternoon to check in.
After that, I was finally off with my cameras to enjoy an early Sunday morning in the bustling Old Quarter. On the street where the hotel is situated are a number of restaurants where locals were jammed in to enjoy noodles, steamed buns, and the like. It was wonderful to be among that crowd (though someone tried to scold me ever so slightly for taking pictures of people eating).
Since this was right next to St. Joseph’s Cathedral – and it was Sunday morning – I found my way back into the church where we crashed the wedding the afternoon before and realized that I almost got locked into Sunday mass while walking around taking pictures. So…I stayed. I prayed. And my prayer was answered when I realized the side doors and even the back door were open. (Ok…I didn’t really think I was locked in a church, but it did feel like it a little bit.)
Upon exiting the church, a handful of frames under my belt, I walked along the lovely streets photographing shops and people. At Caphe, I piggybacked on someone else’s photo shoot – it looked like they were doing a promo for the place, or possibly just a personal shoot for five women, though I have a feeling it was the former. At any rate, I was quite pleased with that little set and am presenting quite a few of those here, even if they’re a little redundant.
My ultimate goal with this wandering was to find my way to the Hanoi Hilton. Now, I’m not taking about the hotel chain, of course, but rather the prison that U.S. prisoners of war sarcastically called the Hanoi Hilton during the Vietnam War. (This is the prison where Senator John McCain was interred while a POW, and there are one or two pictures to that effect here.)
This prison has a particularly interesting history (and morbid since…well…it’s a prison). It’s about a hundred years old and was founded by the French colonialists around the turn of the 20th century. During the first 50 years of its history, the French imprisoned Vietnamese insurgents and those who wanted independence. In the eyes of the French…renegades (hence the imprisonment). In the eyes of the Vietnamese – especially the current government – patriots and national heroes. If they were truly freedom fighters, then I would probably side with the current government on that one.
The French even had a guillotine installed here and overcrowding was a major problem. There were plenty of escape attempts, and more were successful than you may think, which is a little peculiar.
After the battle of Bien Dien Phu and the ejection of the French from the north (and before the U.S. got involved in the south), the prison changed hands and was under control of Ho Chi Minh. During the Vietnam War, it became one of the main prisons for U.S. POWs, as I alluded to above.
The propaganda claims that the Vietcong were absolutely humane and decent with U.S. prisoners, allowing them to observe their religious rites (Christmas celebrations, etc.), allowed prisoners to smoke and enjoy leisure (board games, basketball, etc.), and claimed they were well-fed.
This is certainly how it’s presented in the prison/museum currently. If you were to go online, though, and try to find a contrary report, you would find that this was all coerced and staged to make it appear as if things were on the up and up. (For anyone curious, per my Vietnamese friends, the general education in Vietnam today is how terrible the French and U.S. were for colonizing and torturing the country and keeping it from its independence.)
So, what’s the truth of what really happened? Who knows? Outside of firsthand accounts, it’s impossible to know for certain and even then, memory can be a tricky thing. I tend to like to say the truth is always somewhere between two opposing viewpoints, no matter what the topic may be.
From an impartial and purely photographic point of view, the prison, currently a museum/memorial, is an interesting place to spend an hour or two. Some of the exhibits seem a bit cheesy, but some are quite tasteful and well done. There’s also an informational video. You’ll have to see this with a bit of imagination (the prison, that is), as at least half of it has been leveled for high rise buildings. At least there’s some tangible piece of it left to visit, including the main gate (Maison Centrale).
After about two hours here at the Hanoi Hilton, I walked over towards the Opera House to get a few daytime shots but, really, to get lunch at El Gaucho. I was looking forward to a proper steak. The prices were astronomical (though justifiable based on what I ate), though I just opted for a steak salad. It was so good I contemplated going back for dinner, but had other plans.
With a happy stomach, I went back to finally check in at the Aquarius Hotel and got my workout huffing up six flights of stairs each time I went out. I relaxed here for a few hours until 4:00 when a dear friend of mine came to town to see me.
Ngan and I had an ice cream at Baskin Robbins right in front of St. Joe’s before heading over to the Temple of Literature. This is a temple dedicated to education and, bless my soul, it’s a place where university graduates come for graduation pictures.
On this particular day – a warm, sunny, late Sunday afternoon – it was packed with college students. And it was beautiful to see that many people happy, full of hopes and dreams, and dressed in either cap and gown or traditional Vietnamese clothes. In short…I had a field day shooting for an hour here.
Around 5:00, Ngan had to head back to school, and I went back to my hotel. I had one more meeting. Hoa, who traveled around Thailand & Cambodia with me in May, flew back to see me this evening. She picked me up at 6:00 on her scooter and rode me all around Hanoi by evening.
She started by taking me to Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum (which I consider a lot more photogenic in its setting than the Great Gangster’s Mausoleum on Tiananmen Square). This one, at least, was in a parklike setting. At evening, it’s well-lit and you can find people relaxing in the grass in front of it. During the day, you can visit and there are quite a few buildings behind the mausoleum that you can also see.
After a few minutes here, Hoa took me by West Lake – the largest lake in Hanoi, as I mentioned yesterday – and just drove me around for over an hour, it seemed. My impressions that Hanoi (even out of the Old Quarter) seemed to be a good place to live – though I’d be concerned about the air pollution – and people here seemed to be happy. Also…Vietnamese really love their coffee.
We finally returned to the Old Quarter for dinner at one of the famous restaurants she recommended and she treated me to a wonderful dinner. I can’t recall what we ate (the Vietnamese names of it, anyway), but it was nice.
After dinner, she drove me over towards the Opera House and then, finally, we stopped by Hoan Kiem Lake in the heart of the Quarter and walked around the lake. It was getting close to 10:00 by this time, and I wanted to get back to the hotel to get a few hours sleep before waking up for my early flight in the morning. Hoa came to the airport with me to see me off.
If ever there were a great way to finish a great trip, this was it. I absolutely loved Vietnam – honestly, a lot more than I imagined I would, even with every single person I know who’d ever come here saying what a fantastic country this is – and would gladly come back. This seems to be one of the kinds of countries that you would never get tired of or, if you did, it would sure take a long time. With that, I’ll bid goodbye to Vietnam for now with the hopes that I’ll someday return to this land of amazing food, landscapes, and people.
As always, thanks for dropping by and viewing these pictures. Please feel free to leave any questions or comments and I’ll answer as I have time.