View allAll Photos Tagged Destructive
Often portrayed as destructive monsters that hold light captive, black holes take on a less villainous role in the latest research from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. A black hole at the heart of the dwarf galaxy Henize 2-10 is creating stars rather than gobbling them up. The black hole is apparently contributing to the firestorm of new star formation taking place in the galaxy. The dwarf galaxy lies 30 million light-years away, in the southern constellation Pyxis.
A decade ago this small galaxy set off debate among astronomers as to whether dwarf galaxies were home to black holes proportional to the supermassive behemoths found in the hearts of larger galaxies. This new discovery has little Henize 2-10, containing only one-tenth the number of stars found in our Milky Way, poised to play a big part in solving the mystery of where supermassive black holes came from in the first place.
Image Credit: NASA, ESA, Zachary Schutte (XGI), Amy Reines (XGI); Image Processing: Alyssa Pagan (STScI)
#NASA #NASAMarshall #Hubble #galaxy #blackhole
Shot this beauty today. First time shooting a Fiat and it's the first time I could get up close and personal with an Abarth. Fantastic little car!!
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Last century, work in this small barn and silo kept a man and his family busy. Needed supplies were a mile away in downtown stores but today the farm has shrunk to this farm site which is now located only a stone's throw from a Menards. Major life changes come from generation to generation, some good and some destructive.
Helgoland is a German island in the North Sea.Helgoland was established around 4000 BC. an island due to rising sea levels after the last ice age. The island was colonized from Friesland in the 8th century. The current residents still speak a North Frisian dialect, the Helgolands or Halunder Freesk. It was incorporated into the Viking Empire. In 1720 a sandbank between Helgoland and the smaller island of Düne largely washed away due to a storm tide. The connection between the two islands was lost as a result. Heligoland remained in Denmark until 1814. The British conquered the island in 1807 from the Danes. The strategically important island. In 1890 the British exchanged Helgoland on Germany for East African Zanzibar. Emperor Wilhelm II converted Helgoland into a naval support point and it remained that way until after the Second World War. In the First World War all residents were forced to leave the island. At the end of World War II, a thousand airplanes from the Royal Air Force carried out a destructive bombing, dropping around seven thousand bombs, making the island uninhabitable and the population to be evacuated. In 1952 the population was allowed to return after long insistence. At the northern end Helgoland you can see Lange Anna a landmark of Helgoland. Lange Anna is a tall 47 metres high sea stack of Buntsandstein. Its real local name is Nathurn Stak.
The Helgoland museum offers a rich overview as to the history, the folklore and the nature of the island. Helgolander Franz Schensky (1871-1957) is one of the pioneers of black and white photography and has a permanent place in the history of German photography. Franz Schensky has his own place at the Helgoland museum. With his photos he takes you into the breathtaking world of the beauty of the North Sea. On the north side of Helgoland you see Lange Anna, a landmark of Helgoland. Photograph Franz Schensky of Lange Anna c. 1900.
Helgoland is een Duits eiland in de Noordzee. Helgoland werd rond 4000 v.Chr. een eiland door het stijgen van de zeespiegel na de laatste ijstijd. In de 8e eeuw werd het eiland vanuit Friesland gekoloniseerd. De huidige bewoners spreken nog steeds een Noord-Fries dialect, het Helgolands of Halunder Freesk. Het werd ingelijfd bij het Vikingrijk. In 1720 spoelde een zandbank tussen Helgoland en het kleinere eiland Düne door een stormvloed grotendeels weg. De verbinding tussen de twee eilanden ging daardoor verloren. Helgoland bleef tot 1814 tot Denemarken behoren. De Britten veroverden het eiland in 1807 op de Denen. Het strategisch belangrijke eiland. In 1890 ruilde de Britten Helgoland aan Duitsland voor het Oost-Afrikaanse Zanzibar. Keizer Wilhelm II bouwde Helgoland uit tot marinesteunpunt en dat bleef het tot na de Tweede Wereldoorlog. In de Eerste Wereldoorlog werden alle bewoners gedwongen het eiland te verlaten. Op het einde van de Tweede Wereldoorlog voerden duizend vliegtuigen van de Royal Air Force een vernietigend bombardement uit, waarbij circa zevenduizend bommen werden afgeworpen, waardoor het eiland onbewoonbaar werd en de bevolking moest worden geëvacueerd. In 1952 mocht de bevolking na lang aandringen terugkeren. Sindsdien leeft het eiland hoofdzakelijk van het toerisme. Het Helgoland-museum biedt een rijk overzicht van de geschiedenis, de folklore en de aard van het eiland. Je kunt ook genieten van films. De geschiedenis is opwindend omdat Helgoland is beïnvloed door Deense, Britse en Duitse inzittenden. Helgolander Franz Schensky (1871-1957) is één van de pioniers van de zwart-wit fotografie en heeft een vaste plaats in de geschiedenis van de Duitse fotografie. Franz Schensky heeft zijn eigenplek in het Helgoland-museum. Met zijn foto's neemt hij je mee in de adembenemende wereld van de schoonheid van de Noordzee. Aan de noordkant van het Helgoland zie je Lange Anna, een herkenningspunt van Helgoland. Lange Anna is een lange 47 meter hoge rots (nu door omvallen bedreigde) van bontzandsteen. De echte lokale naam is Nathurn Stak. Foto van Franz Schensky van Lange Anna ca. 1900.
He was unexpected...
The calming sound
of the light pitter-patter of drizzle
on an April Sunday morning
in my brutal, destructive hurricane.
[s.g.]
By May 1927, the Mississippi River below Memphis, Tennessee, reached a width of 60 miles (97 km) and submerged an area of the Mississippi Delta nearly the size of New England. The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 was the most destructive river flood in the history of the United States, with 27,000 square miles inundated up to a depth of 30 feet. To prevent future floods, the government built the world's longest system of levees and floodways. Many African-Americans displaced from their homes along the Lower Mississippi River started a large migration North to the industrial cities
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I had a slight mental breakdown yesterday. I think it was a mixture of stress from finals and a feeling of photographic inadequacy. I keep seeing the amazing photos others are creating and the success they are having and feeling like mine will never be as good. I kept looking back at all my photos and found that most of the ones I was most proud of were from months ago or were followed by ones that I really don’t care for. I started having a personal identity crisis and just wanted to crawl into a hole and hibernate until I was ready to face the world. I eventually decided that what I really needed was to go out and lose myself in the forest. I ended up going to a completely different area of the forest and just wandering about and ended up finding an amazing area that I plan on shooting in a lot. It was exactly what I needed. I eventually got out of my funk and realized that I was the only one creating my problems and was the only one who could fix them. If I want to get better I need to put in more effort. It’s as simple as that. So today while editing this I made myself become a perfectionist, working every detail until I got it how I wanted it. And then my computer shut off for no reason at all, of course on the one day that I wasn’t saving every so often. I wanted to rage/cry. But instead I just turned it back on and started all over again. I got this.
Also on a separate note, a lot of you are commenting on how cold I must have been. Well surprisingly it hasn’t actually been that cold. It’s usually been around only 32ºF, yesterday even getting up to 37! This is like October weather for Montana. Usually by now we could easily be having wind chill down to -20ºF or colder!
I'm going to put a rotated version of this on my Facebook becasue it loses the concept but has a strange uneasiness to it. Formspring. Tumblr
Of all the birds I've photographed this is been the most "naturally difficult." No, it's not because they're uncooperative. It's not because they twitch and bounce all over the place like tits, oak- or juniper titmice, or flit 59 out of 60 minutes. It is because they are in this range for 10 days a year.
No exaggeration. They come to the corner where two dump sites for the county landfill converge, and they come there because that's when the Mexican Food Truck comes to provide winter fare for the employees at the landfills.
The ten-day period can change from late October to early January, but it invariably coincides with their molt. I used to think that the worst any species could look was during a molt, but then there's the Cardinal molt, and then the Great-tailed Grackle molt. The Grackle loses all feathers, but in patches. In other words, it looks diseased. Literally. (The Cardinal on the other hand, looks like a parrot that has Feather Destructive Behaviour.)
Okay, this Grackle doesn't have that problem. This one had already been through the molt and was waiting for the males to finish so they could fly to Southern California which has more varied food trucks. Maybe they like Italian or Greek. I don't know. What I do know was that when I was informed that "The Great-tailed Grackles" were back, I drove to the spot (literally, a dot on their range map), and I didn't see any black birds of any kind. (The Brewer's Blackbird also molts at the same time.) And then I went back to the Sibley's and read, "Adults of both sexes have bright yellow eyes, while juveniles of both sexes have brown eyes and *brown plumage* like females."
He might have also mentioned that they love to nest and park between palm fronds, preferably on the darkest days...and when they know I'm looking for them.
Nearby forest fires, though kind of sad and destructive, made for a dramatic sky over the beautiful Sedona skyline.
Taken from a turnout off Upper Red Rock Loop Road.
James Marrs Penland (1876-1945) founded the Waco Drug Company in 1911, and the company became one of Texas' leading wholesale drug businesses before joining with six other Texas firms in becoming Southwestem Drug Corporation, one of the largest in the nation. For the length of his career, Penland served as a leader in his field and in his community, and the Waco Drug Company building serves as a reminder of his company's prominence in Waco's history. The building, which underwent remodeling under the Federal Historic Preservation Tax Incentives program between 2002 and 2006, is one of only a few large warehouses remaining in the downtown business district. The building, situated at the corner of Fifth and Mary Streets in Downtown Waco, was constructed in 1925 as the headquarters of the regional drug wholesale company. The building is 4 stories with a full basement and faces east on Fifth Street. Built of poured- in-place concrete construction with brick and tile infill walls, steel industrial windows, decorative cornices and molding, the building represents a fine example of early 20th century warehouse construction.
The Waco Drug Company building is a link to local industry that played a major role in the local economy throughout most of the 20th century. As an intact, preserved building that predates the destructive 1953 tornado, the building is also a significant reminder of a building type and style once common throughout the community's business center. It also embodies a type of building rarely constructed today, a warehouse with sufficient windows for natural light and ventilation, once common. Unlike warehouses and much of the large-scale construction projects today, the Waco Drug Company building features architectural details at a pedestrian scale, from the simple human scale of the bricks to the elaborate entry pavilion. Together with the Waco Hardware Company building, the Gradel Printing building (at the opposite end of the Waco Drag block), and the Behrens Drag Company building, the Waco Drug Company building is one of only four remaining loft-style warehouses in Waco.
For its history and significance described above, the Waco Drug Company building was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) on March 24, 2008. All of the information above (and much more) was found on the original documents submitted for listing consideration that can be viewed here:
catalog.archives.gov/id/40973017
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." --Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/
Storm Arwen proved quite destructive on the one hand, but equally was a great source of logs from all of those fallen trees (shame to let them go to waste)!
“Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.”
Salvador Dalí . Sometimes what we perceive as real is actually surreal, while what we see as surreal is actually real. A orange and red river runs past white islands of borax salt (sodium borate) in Laguna Colorada. The red and orange colours in the lake are from pigmentation in algae which grows in the borax rich water. The lake sits high (4278m or 14035ft) in the Bolivian Altiplano in the Andes. Eduardo Avaroa National Reserve. Bolivia.
Love Life, Love Photography
I'm a little old-fashioned in my approach to photography. Actually, I'm old-fashioned in my approach to writing and recording music, too, and in a very similar way. I love digital tools. The portability, flexibility, power and non-destructive nature of the editing process make photography, for me, a fantastic creative medium. (That non-destructive aspect is also a very powerful learning mechanism, but that is likely the subject of another study.) With all that power and flexibility comes the need for discipline, though, the need for very specific objectives when approaching an exposure, and, for me, the need for establishing rules that govern my processing methods, both in general and specific to the photograph i'm developing.
One rule, or philosophy, that i have applied pretty faithfully in all my creative work is to emulate analog processes and workflows as much as possible, not because i think it's better to do it this way, more because it's a better fit for the way I think and work and for the things I create. There are many, many amazing photographic artists pushing the limits of the medium with transformative digital approaches. And honestly, I love the work and the people creating those new spaces for us to explore and inhabit. But that's not my choice, at least for now. My choice is to be faithful to the analog approach, transported to digital media. That's why I do most of my editing in lightroom and silver efex. These tools feel very organic to me, and support me in a very non-intrusive way. For me, they are tools that are simple enough to stay out of my way, yet powerful enough to enable my creative process. In other words, they are tools that stay tools, for me. But i digress …
Today's study began its life on a terrace in Manarola, Italy, just after the sun had set. This presented the classic, tricky exposure challenge with a bright sky and a shadowy foreground. So, I exposed this image for the highlights, knowing that the shadows would retain some detail (in this case, a lot of detail.) Sure enough, the hills in the foreground were deep black in the raw image (at least 2 stops under-exposed), and the sky and sea were a little bright (maybe a half-stop over-exposed.) Getting this corrected would require a little dodging and burning in those two areas.
I dodged (using LR's adjustment tool) the hills to the left and right of the deep cleft that defines this beautiful village, leaving the houses and structures untouched. The roofs and flat surfaces picked up just enough sky light, and combined with the few incandescent lights, scattered through the foreground, the core of the village was at just the right exposure to produce the effect I wanted, that twilight time when the light of living shifts from the natural to the manufactured.
I burned the sky down to the horizon line, using LR's graduated filter with a very light touch of exposure reduction (maybe a tenth of a stop) combined with a slight increase in saturation and some small adjustments to contrast, highlights and shadows, just enough to enhance the definition in the clouds and bring out that touch of light on the leading edge of all the scattered clouds.
And, finally, I burned the sea (again with the adjustment tool), applying a very subtle reduction in exposure (not even a tenth of a stop) and the same approach to saturation, contrast, highlights and shadow adjustments to bring out more definition in the reflections and the texture of the surface near the shoreline.
And there you have it - a pretty simple study of dodging and burning in digital photography. Best of all, I kinda like the result.
littletinperson
p.s. For those of you following the continuing saga of nick, this photograph was the source for the sky in chapter 40. And charlotte hedman, with her simple question about where a person might find a sky like this, was the unknowing instigator behind this study. If you like this image, you can thank her by visiting her photostream at www.flickr.com/photos/111778568@N06/.
Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. Martin Luther King, Jr.
It's all in your perspective. What is beautiful? What is destructive? How do you know the difference? Does it matter?
17 mile drive on the Monterey Peninsula -- A bit of heaven on earth
Not the destructive kind!
Photo taken in my old former neighborhood, which was about 55 years old when the photo was taken.
Pholiota populnea
- destructive pholiota
- pholiote destructrice
- Pappel-Schüppling
- wollige bundelzwam
Location: Afrikaanderwijk in Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
Date taken: October 6, 2024.
Bushfires are both a destructive and a life-giving entity in the outback.
From Wikipedia:
Plants have evolved a variety of strategies to survive (or even require) fires, (possessing reserve shoots that sprout after a fire, or developing fire-resistant or fire-triggered seeds) or even encourage fire (eucalypts contain flammable oils in the leaves) as a way to eliminate competition from less fire-tolerant species. Many native animals are also adept at surviving bushfires.
Many of you have heard of Robbie, the most energetic, destructive little daredevil squirrel in my yard. Well, meet Robbie Jr. this adorable, innocent looking little guy has yet to be destructive but his energy and tricks make Robbie look like a timid, lazy, little squirrel. I just hope he does not learn to be destructive. For now, the entertainment factor is off the charts.
Earlier this month Robbie Jr. was on the main bird feeder. I noticed a branch in oak tree number two that needed to be trimmed in order to prevent this from continuing. Or so I thought... The branch was removed, yet every time I turned around young Robbie was on that feeder. Hmmm, I wondered how on earth he could get there. That question was soon answered. I watched as he ran and took a flying leap at the squirrel baffle, hitting it dead center. He scampered quickly the rest of the way to the top of the baffle and it was game over from there.
I allowed him to eat a while, after all a little treat was well deserved for that stunt. I decided that five minutes was enough time to partake in the birds treats so I sent Robbie Jr. on his way. Then I raised the baffle higher on the pole and waited, but not for long. With great amusement, I watched Robbie try, try and try again to reach the main feeder with his jump and scamper method. Ha, Robbie was defeated and I was confident things would go back to normal. Feeling rather pleased with myself for thwarting Robbie's ability to reach the main feeder , I gave him some treats and went about my business.
As I was preparing dinner, I happened to look out the living room window. What did I see? You guessed it, Robbie Jr. on the main bird feeder. How on earth did he get there. Would I need a shorter baffle? Once again, I allowed Robbie Jr. to stay a while and enjoy the treats that he obviously deserved. This time he ate every last seed from the feeder and went on his way. Knowing that the birds had plenty of other options at the other feeding stations, I did not fill that feeder until the following day.
The next morning, Robbie Jr. was waiting in oak tree number two when I went out to fill the main feeder. His little body was quivering and tail twitching with excitement as he watched. Keeping an eye on Robbie Jr. I closed and fastened the top of the freshly filled feeder and walked away grinning.
In a matter of seconds I heard swish, thump, scratch. I turned to the feeder and Robbie Jr. was on the feeder. He had leapt about twelve feet through the air, landed on the feeder, loosened the fastener, opened the top and was devouring the birds treats. This time I did not allow Robbie Jr. to stay nor did I give him treats after he was scolded. No sense in letting him train me to give him treats for bad behavior. Robbie Jr. immediately scampered back up oak tree number two and started quivering and twitching once more. We continued our game for several rounds, Robbie Jr. gave up, at least for a while and settled on eating beauty berries from one of the many available bushes.
Other squirrels in the yard do not attempt a jump from that distance and height. They seem content with the treats put out for them on the palm stump and other locations.
As for the main bird feeder, other locations are under consideration but I'm not sure there is a location that won't allow Robbie Jr. access :)
The bumblebee who has collected a lot of pollen and ready to leave wants 'just a little more'....the other bug (which I believe is a destructive type..Japanese Beetle?) simply would not budge.
I took more photos of other flowers and came back...several times....and they were in the same positions-lol
Enjoy the end of the week, flickr friends...
Happy you've stopped by:-)...Pat...xo
Two years ago a destructive fire affected the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, an impressive monument of early Gothic architecture. It was the place where I used to linger for a long time, to be silent, in my frequent pilgrimages through the French capital. In February 2020 (on my last trip to Paris, before the terrible pandemic) I was again near the cathedral and what I saw gives me hope that in a few years this architectural gem will be reborn from the ashes, more splendid and stronger, like the Phoenix bird...
================================================
Many Thanks to the +13,415,000 visitors of my photographic stream
===============================================
© Ioan C. Bacivarov
All the photos on this gallery are protected by the international of copyright and they are not for being used on any site, blog or forum, transmitted or manipulated without the explicit written permission of the author. Thank you in advance
Please view my most interesting photos on flickriver stream: www.flickriver.com/photos/ioan_bacivarov/
Forest fires can be very destructive and disruptive in many ways. It’s hard to see landscapes you know dramatically changed and charred to a crisp from a fire. On the flip side it's scenes like this one that remind me of the beauty that will always be there as nature grows back into whatever it will be next. It’s all part of the cycle of nature on our planet, one that shows us resiliency at it’s best.
Pholiota populnea
- destructive pholiota
- pholiote destructrice
- Pappel-Schüppling
- wollige bundelzwam
Location: Afrikaanderwijk, The Netherlands.
Date taken: October 6, 2024.
Trees with beautiful blossoms on Duffins trail in Discovery bay , Martin’s photographs , Ajax , Ontario , Canada , May 29. 2022
Looking down at the front end of my bicycle
Bicycle
Four days after the destructive storm of 21 May 2022
old apple trees with beautiful blossoms
old orchard on the waterfront trail of Lake Ontario
blue sky in Squires beach
May 2022
Blossoms
Flowering trees
apple trees with blossoms
old orchard on the waterfront trail
Old orchard
Trees with blossoms
vista with colourful trees ,
bulrushes
tall grasses
the large stone block walls
system to keep the Carp from entering Duffins marsh and creek system
viewed from the bridge across the marsh in Squires beach
Having a nice walk with granny in the woods
Family
Sunset
May 2022
Shrubs
Oak tree
Trees with blossoms
Trees
Stones
Reflections
Reflection
Dogwood
Orange yellow Tamarack tree
Duffins trail
blue sky
cloud cover
yellow Tamarack tree
Tamarack tree
Tamarac
American Larch tree
Beautiful Nettles and it’s flowers
Nettles
Waterfront trail on Lake Ontario
Waterfront trail of Lake Ontario
Black eye Susan’s
Colourful bird houses
Autumn
Shadows
Reflections
Garter snake
Large mushroom
Bird houses
Autumn
Duffins creek
Discovery bay
cropped photograph
closeup photograph
Martin’s photographs
Ajax
Ontario
Canada
Duffins creek
Favourites
IPhone XR
Mushroom
Large Mushroom
wildflowers
Trout lilies
Lake Ontario
Mouth of Duffins creek marsh
white Deadnetles
River
Dogwood
Woods
Granny
Favourites
White Trilliums
Duffins marsh
Duffins trail
Ferns
Trilliums
Large tree
Pitt Meadows, BC Canada
Pitt Polder Ecological Reserve is a protected area in Pitt Meadows, BC, known for its unique and diverse ecosystems. The reserve was established to preserve a fragment of the rapidly disappearing Fraser Valley boglands. It features a mix of marshes, wetlands, and forested areas, providing a habitat for a variety of wildlife, including black bears, black-tailed deer, and numerous bird species.
The reserve is open to the public for non-destructive activities like hiking, nature observation, and photography. However, activities such as hunting, fishing, camping, or foraging are prohibited to protect the delicate ecosystem.
It's a fantastic spot for nature lovers and those interested in ecological preservation.
Thank you for your visit and any faves or comments are always greatly appreciated!
~Sonja
Two years ago a destructive fire affected the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris, an impressive monument of early Gothic architecture. It was the place where I used to linger for a long time, to be silent, in my frequent pilgrimages through the French capital. In February 2020 (on my last trip to Paris, before the terrible pandemic) I was again near the cathedral and what I saw gives me hope that in a few years this architectural gem will be reborn from the ashes, more splendid and stronger, like the Phoenix bird...
================================================
Many Thanks to the +13,415,000 visitors of my photographic stream
===============================================
© Ioan C. Bacivarov
All the photos on this gallery are protected by the international of copyright and they are not for being used on any site, blog or forum, transmitted or manipulated without the explicit written permission of the author. Thank you in advance
Please view my most interesting photos on flickriver stream: www.flickriver.com/photos/ioan_bacivarov/
Fig tree's destructive roots slowly ripping apart ancient Khmer temples and returning the area back to nature's own design at Angkor Wat, Cambodia.
Beautiful mushrooms on a tree at trail near the shore of Duffins marsh in Discovery bay , Martin’s photographs , Ajax , Ontario , Canada , June 11. 2022
Mushrooms on a tree
Closeup photograph of this wrecked old tree I found laying across Duffins trail
June 2022
Looking down at the front end of my bicycle
Bicycle
Hours after the destructive storm of 21 May 2022
old apple trees with beautiful blossoms
old orchard on the waterfront trail of Lake Ontario
blue sky in Squires beach
May 2022
Blossoms
Flowering trees
apple trees with blossoms
old orchard on the waterfront trail
Old orchard
Trees with blossoms
vista with colourful trees ,
bulrushes
tall grasses
the large stone block walls
system to keep the Carp from entering Duffins marsh and creek system
viewed from the bridge across the marsh in Squires beach
Having a nice walk with granny in the woods
Family
Sunset
May 2022
Shrubs
Oak tree
Trees
Stones
Reflections
Reflection
Dogwood
Orange yellow Tamarack tree
Duffins trail
blue sky
cloud cover
yellow Tamarack tree
Tamarack tree
Tamarac
American Larch tree
Beautiful Nettles and it’s flowers
Nettles
Black eye Susan’s
Colourful bird houses
Autumn
Shadows
Reflections
Large mushroom
Autumn
Duffins creek
Discovery bay
Martin’s photographs
Ajax
Ontario
Canada
Duffins creek
Favourites
IPhone XR
Mushroom
Large Mushroom
wildflowers
Trout lilies
Lake Ontario
Mouth of Duffins creek marsh
white Deadnetles
River
Dogwood
Woods
Granny
Favourites
White Trilliums
Duffins marsh
Duffins trail
Ferns
Trilliums
Large tree
After some real destructive action, most of the cars in this round of the demolition derby were no longer moving. Smoke and steam poured out of engines and tailpipes. The Lone Wolf car got permanently stuck against a cement wall.
For more of my creative projects, visit my short stories website: 500ironicstories.com
I photographed this juvenile Eastern Phoebe as it started its day early, while night's damp blackness still surrounded it. In the darkness, the young bird sang with all its might, seemingly unconcerned whether its song would be answered.
When it comes to unrequited singing, my dad, who grew up attending silent movies, once said I had a singing voice uniquely suited for them.
Now at an age when I can sense the fading light of my life's day, I have witnessed in others and felt within myself the suffocating darkness that falls when life threatens to squeeze out the will to continue.
Familiar shadows touch many of us: wayward children, the crushing weight of losing a spouse or child, financial ruin, significant health problems, or lives once brimming with promise now filled with broken dreams.
Each of us handles life's dark times differently. Some people collapse and never fully embrace life again. Others try to fill their losses and disappointments with destructive habits, frantic activity, or material possessions.
However, some sing in the darkness, not because they feel joyful, but because singing gives voice to hope.
To sing in life's dark times is to refuse defeat. It is an act of defiance and faith, the whispered response of a heavy heart that tomorrow may bring light again.
This young Phoebe understands something about living a solitary life. Its family stays together for only a few weeks after fledgling, and then it faces the world alone. In just weeks, this tiny bird, weighing no more than a large grape, will fly thousands of miles to Mexico and Central America to spend the winter.
No family member will accompany it on this journey.
(Photographed near Cambridge, MN)
The Holly Tree public house.
Unfortunately I cannot find any details regarding the year it was built but I think it looks quite likely 1860's-80's, it has been much bullied and destructively renovated over the last 30yrs.
LR3866 © Joe O'Malley 2020
Eastern Sierra, CA.
Forecasted by: Escaype
Peace cannot be attained by false judgement and speculations. Promote LOVE instead of promoting your destructive opinion.
It was a very cold day in Tenby, Pembrokeshire. The light, clouds and setting were perfect to convey the apocalyptic feel I wanted. Especially the people waiting for it. Beautiful, and ultimately destructive. Like many things.
The genesis for the destructive Camp Fire was one mile to the north of the tiny resort community of Pulga, CA, located in the Feather River Canyon. According to reports, the entire area surrounding Pulga was wiped out by the fire. It makes shots like this extra special. Late on a summer afternoon, a westbound Union Pacific grain train exits the small resort community.
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**** This frame was chosen on Sunday 18th June 2021 to appear on FLICKR EXPLORE (Highest Ranking: #229. This is my 204th photograph to be selected.
I am really thrilled to have a frame picked and most grateful to every one of the 39.441+ Million people who have visited, favorited and commented on this and all of my other photographs here on my FLICKR site. *****
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Photograph taken at an altitude of Fifty one metres at 15:54pm on an beautiful summer afternoon on Saturday 17th July 2021, off Woolacombe Road and Broad Walk in a garden in Blackheath, South East London.
Here we see an adult female Eastern Grey Squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis), munching on some kitchen scraps.
The Grey (or Gray) squirrel, you either love 'em or you hate 'em. Cute and fluffy little funsters or destructive critters who ruin trees, kill bird chicks and trees and damage our homes... oh and it's their fault we lost our native Red squirrels as well!
OK
I get it and I see both sides of the story of course. For my part, I am a nature, wildlife and landscape photographer who prefers the company of animals and natural beauty to fellow humans who are systematically plundering Mother Earth's resources and killing off her beautiful creatures at an alarming rate! I believe there is a natural order of things, creatures kill other creatures to survive, they adapt to situations and when mankind encroaches on their territory to make a fast buck, those animals sometimes adapt to survive and the order changes. That is the balance of nature which is ever changing and affected by us..... the dumbest of the great apes.
Some species are driven out by others, some may be destined to become extinct, the fittest will survive, and sometime a species will need intervention and help from mankind in order to survive... usually as a direct consequence of mankind's own actions in destroying the animal kingdom's natural habitat of course.
I adore these little fellas and at almost sixty years old, I never grew up knowing red squirrels at all. I've seen reds in Scotland and black squirrels in Stanley Park on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, Canada, but in my beloved home country of England I have always known and loved the cute little Greys. They visit my garden and give me hours, days, weeks of happiness and wonderful photographic opportunities, and I see them in Parks and forests all around me, so it's time to offer up an insight into the Grey squirrel, much loved, much hated... a sort of Marmite rodent if you will.
WHAT EXACTLY IS A SQUIRREL?
The word 'Squirrel', was first recorded in 1327 and hails from the Anglo-Norman word 'Esquirel', from old French 'Escurel', which was a reflex for the Latin word 'Sciurus'.The Eastern gray squirrel (Sciurus carolinensis) is also known as the Eastern Grey squirrel or simply grey squirrel depending on the region of the world it is found. It is a tree squirrel, of the squirrel family Sciuridae including over one hundred arboreal species native to all continents of the world other than Antarctica and Oceania. Tree squirrels live mostly in trees, apart from the flying squirrel. The best known genus is Sciurus, containing most of the bushy tailed squirrels which are found in Europe, North America, temperate Asia as well as central and south America.
The scientific classification for the Eastern Grey is:
KINGDOM: ANIMALIA PHYLUM: CHORDATA CLASS: MAMMALIA ORDER: RODENTIA FAMILY: SCIURIDAE GENUS: SCIURUS SUBGENUS: SCIURUS SPECIES: SCIURUS CAROLINENSIS
They were first noted by German naturalist, botanist, entomologist, herpetologist, and malacologist - Johann Friedrich Gmelin in 1788.
A mammal and rodent, predominantly herbivorous they are none the less an omnivore with a life span of between two and ten years. They can grow to 70cm in length and weigh up to 8kg. There are more than two hundred and sixty species of worldwide squirrel, the smallest being the African pygmy squirrel at just 10cm in length, whereas the Indian giant squirrel is three feet long! The oldest fossil of a squirrel, Hesperopetes, dates back to the late Eocene epoch period Chadronian period of 40-35 million years ago. The tree squirrels rotate their ankles by 180 degrees, so that the hind paws pointy backwards gripping tree bark which enables them to descend a tree headfirst.
Originally native to Eastern and Midwestern United States of America, they were first introduced into the United Kingdom in 1876 in Henbury Park, Macclesfield in Cheshire when Victorian banker Thomas V. Brocklehurst released a pair of Greys that he brought back from a business trip to America after their attraction as pets had waned. Victorians had a penchant for collecting exotic animals and birds of the world, but trends came and went and subsequently animals were simply discarded into the wilderness. There are early records of greys released near Denbighshire in north Wales from private collections. Later introduced to several regions in the UK, they quickly settled and spread, colonizing an area of three hundred miles in a quarter of a century between Argyll and Stirlingshire in Scotland.
Introductions of the Greys between 1902 and 1929 (the year of the last recorded introduction), included: Regent’s Park in London, Berkshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, Oxfordshire, Devon, Warwickshire, Nottinghamshire, Suffolk and Hampshire. Grey Squirrels spread into Gloucestershire and eastern Wiltshire with animals coming directly from the United States or from Woburn. One hundred greys were released in Richmond Park in Surrey in 1902, Ninety one into Regent’s Park between 1905 and 1907 and a further ten New Jersey imported greys were introduced into Woburn Park in Bedfordshire.
Predators include hawks, weasels, raccoons, bobcats, foxes, domestic and feral cats, snakes, owls, and dogs, African harrier-hawks in Africa and... oh yes, Mankind pretty much everywhere who despise, mistreat, cull or eat it .
FACTS, MYTHS AND THAT POXY PARAPOX!
The massive decline in native red squirrels blamed upon the spread of the invasive greys has always been perhaps a little harsh as reds were already in a steep decline due to loss of habitat and disease and thus the greys simply took over the areas where the reds were dwindling. It's also a fact that reds were also seen as a plague, branded as pests who killed birds and damaged trees and the culling of reds almost brought them to the brink of extinction. Licenses to kill reds could still be obtained up until the seventies!
Reds suffered at the hands of mankind thanks to a combination of agricultural deforestation also linked with war and fuel needs which caused extinction in Southern Scotland and Ireland by the early eighteenth century, way before greys had been introduced. Harsh winters killed off the less hardy red population in the early nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Greys are more adept at finding food and adapting to locations and environments, but also carry the squirrel poxvirus (SQPV) which although not particularly harmful to them, is a serious infection for the reds.
Parapox in red squirrels causes swollen lesions around the mouth, eyes, ears and nose also the front paws and sometimes genitals and skin ulcers and kills a red within fifteen days. There is no definitive correlation between the spread of the virus and the spread of the Greys, it actually arrived in several areas before the greys began to colonize there. An epidemic virus was observed in Red squirrels from at least 1900 with isolation attempts failing, and the first case of Parapox in the UK was in 1980 in the county of Norfolk. Greys cannot transmit the virus to reds via saliva or faeces, but reds can between each other from bodily secretions and at animal feeders in gardens. The transmission from greys to reds is though to come from parasites. Eight to ten per cent of reds survive the virus, and there is some evidence that reds are slowly building an evolved resistance.
Greys are seen as pests to forest land, stripping bark from trees during May and June, and are also capable of destroying household bins, water pipes, causing roof damage not to mention taking eggs and killing young chicks of ground nesting and songbird populations. They also take from bird feeders and there is a whole industry for creating squirrel proof feeders these days.
THE CULLING OF GREY SQUIRRELS
Grey squirrels have limited legal protection and can be legally controlled all year round by a variety of methods including shooting and trapping. Methods of trapping and killing include Drey poking and shooting, Tunnel trapping using spring traps set in accordance with BASC’s trapping pest mammals code of practice. They can also be shot using a shotgun or powerful air rifle or up until September 30th 2014 poisoned by Warfarin (Now outlawed).
Whilst professional trapping and extermination is hopefully done as humanely as possible, there have been cases, many of them where cost savings have been gained by battering the squirrels to death! Grey squirrels are trapped in ghastly metal contraptions for hours and hours, wearing themselves out frantically trying to escape by gnawing at the metals bars. They bite the floor and scratch at them with their claws and do not get a moments peace or rest through absolute fear. Once the traps are retrieved, each squirrel, terrified will be thrown into a sack and smacked on the head countless times with a blunt instrument. When a mother is slaughtered, her babies who are totally dependent on her, will die a slow death of thirst and starvation.
There is an argument for the control of Greys on many grounds but also a counter argument that Culling does not work, and has not on countless times where, once a population of greys have been culled, the nearest group will move back in and claim the land. The university of Bristol concluded that there was little evidence that culling greys to save red squirrels was effective, and that perhaps finding a way of boosting red squirrel immunity to the poxvirus or planting areas of yew trees where reds are known to thrive and spending money on research into positive moves might be a better option.
In Ireland, the re-introduction of the Pine marten, a species made extinct originally by the very same land owners who also wish to do the same to the grey squirrel, has seen the rapid demise of the grey and the re-introduction of the native reds. Red squirrels are smaller and more nimble than their grey counterparts, and as such can get to the very ends of tree branches where neither the pine martins, nor more importantly the heavier greys can, thus surviving and thriving. As a result in Ireland, the grey squirrel population has crashed in approximately 9,000 km2 of its former range and the reds has become common once more after a thirty year absence... oh and Pine Martens are protected again!
In Scotland, Pine Martens exist in areas where Red squirrels thrive, and greys do not. So perhaps there is a lesson here, as in England where there are no pine martens, the greys are prolific breeders. So there is an argument against the barbarity of shooting and poisoning greys, and if, as so many believe, the greys MUST be controlled, how about a more humane and natural method that nature intended.. with re-introduction of predators. Just a thought!
So a few facts and figures on the greys and to wrap up, from a purely personal perspective I love these little guys, as I do almost every creature in nature other than those eight legged beasties that shall not be named and for which I have a deep and powerful phobia that borders on paranoia!
I could no more harm an animal deliberately than eat a McDonald's McRib (Once saw how they are made and let me just say... eeeuuuuuwwwww!!).
They are small, cute, cuddly, furry, they photograph beautifully, have great personality and make me smile. They trust me enough to take food from my hand in parks, and I can't bare the though of ugly, hairy land owners sticking a shotgun in their face and blowing them away! I appreciate they can be a pest, a problem, a menace, that their PR managers might have a bit of a problem winning you over when they flay small chicks alive on your lawn or decimate the songbird population by stealing their eggs.... and perhaps there is a need to keep the population under control and try and re-establish the red population.....
Yep I get that....
I just hope we can solve the problem more humanely to create a peaceful coexistence of the reds and greys in different areas. A man can dream can't he.
Paul Williams June 18th 2021
©DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams).
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Nikon D850 Focal length: 600mm Shutter speed: 1/400s Aperture: f/8.0 iso400 Hand held with Tamron VC Vibration control set to ON (Position 1) 14 Bit uncompressed RAW NEF file size L (8256 x 5504 pixels) FX (36 x 24) Focus mode: AF-C AF-Area mode: 3D-tracking AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points Exposure mode: Manual exposure mode Metering mode: Matrix metering White balance on: Auto1 (4860k) Colour space: RGB Picture control: Neutral (Sharpening +2)
Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD G2. Nikon GP-1 GPS module. Lee SW150 MKII filter holder. Lee SW150 95mm screw in adapter ring. Lee SW150 circular polariser glass filter.Lee SW150 Filters field pouch. Hoodman HEYENRG round eyepiece oversized eyecup.Mcoplus professional MB-D850 multi function battery grip 6960.Two Nikon EN-EL15a batteries (Priority to battery in Battery grip). Black Rapid Curve Breathe strap. My Memory 128GB Class 10 SDXC 80MB/s card. Lowepro Flipside 400 AW camera bag.
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LATITUDE: N 51d 27m 58.33s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 1m 53.65s
ALTITUDE: 51.00m
RAW (TIFF) FILE: 130.00MB NEF FILE: 90.4MB
PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 37.50MB
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PROCESSING POWER:
Nikon D850 Firmware versions C 1.10 (9/05/2019) LD Distortion Data 2.018 (18/02/20) LF 1.00
HP 110-352na Desktop PC with AMD Quad-Core A6-5200 APU 64Bit processor. Radeon HD8400 graphics. 8 GB DDR3 Memory with 1TB Data storage. 64-bit Windows 10. Verbatim USB 2.0 1TB desktop hard drive. WD My Passport Ultra 1tb USB3 Portable hard drive. Nikon ViewNX-1 64bit Version 1.4.1 (18/02/2020). Nikon Capture NX-D 64bit Version 1.6.2 (18/02/2020). Nikon Picture Control Utility 2 (Version 2.4.5 (18/02/2020). Nikon Transfer 2 Version 2.13.5. Adobe photoshop Elements 8 Version 8.0 64bit.