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"Night, the beloved. Night, when words fade and things come alive. When the destructive analysis of day is done, and all that is truly important becomes whole and sound again. When man reassembles his fragmentary self and grows with the calm of a tree." - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
[Honestly, I don't really know what this is. The idea for today's photo morphed in my head a good three or four times and then it turned into this. Which I don't think is bad, but it's certainly not my favorite. *However*, the cool thing about this is that it got me to build a blanket fort, which I haven't done since I was probably eleven. There is something about coming home on a Thursday night and building a blanket fort that I can't quite put into words. It made any of the daily tasks and tribulations I was earlier encumbered with to completely fade. I was awash with childhood memories: logistics of how to build it and how low the roof should hang and where are my blasted heavy books when I need them? Life: it's all a matter of perspective. What takes priority for each of us largely spells out how our lives will unfold. And tonight my priority was blanket forting.
This image also reminds me of my night-owl tendencies. I work an 8-5 job, but I will naturally fall into night-owl patterns every weekend or anytime I have a day off. I really am a star child.
PS: Fun fact: the wall backdrop is an image taken from the Hubble telescope!
PPS: I'm totally sleeping in this tonight. ♥]
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Part left of the old apple tree in the old orchard on the waterfront trail of lake Ontario with a cloudy blue sky in Squires beach , Martin’s photographs , Ajax , Ontario , Canada , June 1. 2022
The destructive storm of 21 May 2022 that destroyed life and did damage to buildings and nature it wrecked this beautiful old apple tree with blossoms in the old orchard on the waterfront trail of lake Ontario with a blue sky in Squires beach
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
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
Washington series: Mount St. Helens.
I'm old enough to remember the news when Mount St. Helens erupted on May 18, 1980. This eruption remains the deadliest and most economically destructive volcanic event in U.S. history. Fifty-seven people were killed; 200 homes, 47 bridges, 15 miles of railways, and 185 miles of highway were destroyed. A massive debris avalanche, triggered by a magnitude 5.1 earthquake, caused a lateral eruption that reduced the elevation of the mountain's summit from 9,677 ft to 8,363 ft, leaving a 1 mile wide horseshoe-shaped crater which you can see in this picture taken from the Spirit Lake Highway. We wanted to drive up to the Johnston Ridge Observatory for the best view of the crater, but unfortunately the last 10 miles of the highway were closed due to a landslide.
Ich kann mich noch an die Nachrichten erinnern, als Mount St. Helens am 18. Mai 1980 ausbrach - es war der bis heute verheerendste Vulkanausbruch der amerikanischen Geschichte: 57 Menschen starben; 200 Häuser, 47 Brücken und fast 300 km Straße wurden zerstört. Der gewaltige Erdrutsch, ausgelöst von einem Erdbeben der Stärke 5.1, reduzierte die Höhe des Vulkans von 2.950 m auf 2.549 m und hinterlies einen 1.6 breiten, hufeisenförmigen Krater, den man vom Spirit Lake Highway gut sehen kann. Wir wollten die Straße bis zum Johnston Ridge Observatorium fahren, von wo aus man den besten Blick in den Krater hat, aber leider waren die letzten 16 Kilometer der Straße wegen eines Erdrutsches gesperrt.
During my seven and a half decades on this planet our country has undergone magnificent changes, some good and others destructive. But one huge change from my childhood is how our country has changed from one where the majority of livelihoods were made by folks who labored manually and knew what sweat on the brow meant. Many today have to don high-priced jogging shoes to experience what used to come free.
This photo was taken in 1913 in South Dakota and my grandfather is behind the wheel driving the mules. My guess is this photo was taken when the farmer's wives brought out a field lunch for the harvesters which they did in the mornings and many times in the afternoons as well.
Though there were exceptions I am sure, for the most part this generation had a strong sense of right and wrong, solid morals, a sense of community and almost all of them needed a good night's sleep due to the work they did each day. The departure of a society from hard physical work to mental labor may bring certain advantages but I know from experience as a lad that working hard during the day leaves little inclination or energy to act foolish in town at night.
(Note: My wife thinks I might be regressing to my childhood as I could spend hours colorizing old photographs but growing up in an age where we could not afford color film when it first came out, I still prefer some color in photos to simply black and white.)
Volcán de Agua (Also Known as Hunahpú by Mayans) is a stratovolcano located in the department of Sacatepéquez in Guatemala. It has been inactive since the mid 16th century. At 3760 metres, Agua Volcano towers more than 3500 metres above the Pacific coastal plain to the south and 2000 m above the Guatemalan highlands to the north. It dominates the local landscape except when hidden by cloud cover. The volcano is within 5 to 10 kilometres of the city of Antigua de Guatemala and several other large towns situated on its northern apron. These towns have a combined population of nearly 100000.
It is within about 20 km of Escuintla to the south.Coffee is grown on the volcano's lower slopes.
The local Kaqchikel people have always called the volcano Hunapú "place of flowers" or Jun Ajpu' "one hunter (The calendar date for the sacred site; a typical method for naming sacred sites in Mayan cosmovision)" in current Kaqchikel orthography. The Spanish conquistadors also called it Hunapú until a lahar from the volcano in 1541 destroyed the original capital of Guatemala (now known as Ciudad Vieja) and the city was moved to the current site of Antigua Guatemala following this disaster. As the lahar produced a destructive flood of water, this prompted the modern name "Volcán de Agua" meaning "Volcano of Water", in contrast to the nearby "Volcán de Fuego" or "Volcano of Fire". The Kaqchikels call Volcan de Fuego Chi Gag, which translates to "where the fire is" or Chi Q'aq' in current Kaqchikel orthography.
Though the volcano has not been active since the mid 16th century, it has the potential to produce debris flows and lahars that could inundate nearby populated areas.
The volcano was last blanketed by snowfall in January 1967.
The Volcán de Agua has been declared a protected area in 1956 and covers an area of 12600 Ha.
"Civilization crumbles as its death rays blast a city of 6 million from the face of the earth!"
('Godzilla' by NECA)
Diorama by RK
We have left the abbey of Fleury but our first stop will not take us very far: just a few kilometers down River Loire. In fact, we are still within what was in the 800s the abbey’s domain. There was probably a small settlement here, and in the hope of creating a real village, Theodulf, abbot of Fleury and also bishop of Orléans, had the church built between 803 and 806. It is not a very large church, but not a small one either, and this time span of only three years says a lot about how fast construction activities could go when the proper will and means were applied...
Perhaps an explanation can be found in the fact that, contrary to what was believed, the church was not built ex nihilo in the early 800s: in 2019, a non-destructive survey demonstrated that some of the structural walls can be dated as early as the mid-600s, i.e. a century and a half before the Carolingian church... Some of that structure was re-used in the 800s.
Of course, the monument was remodeled and added to later. The nave was never vaulted, and thus prone to fall victim to fire, which happened as early as the 850s. In 1060–1067, Hugh I, abbot of Fleury, rebuilt parts of the nave, and yet more repairs and reconstructions were carried out after the Wars of Religion, the nave being almost entirely rebuilt in the 16th century. Extensive reconstruction also took place in the 19th century after the church was listed as a Historic Landmark on the very first list 1840. Long thought to be the oldest church in France, the most authentic parts of the monument today (which started out in life with a simple quatrefoil floor plan) are the eastern apse, the choir, and of course the Carolingian mosaic, which was preserved.
The church is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The lovely apse. You can still enjoy its overall proportions and harmony, but of course, this is all a reconstruction of the 1850s, which is why it looks so pristine! There are genuine parts in there, but telling them from modern-day masonry would be almost impossible.
The wonder, however, and the reason why visiting this church is a must for every Mediævalist, is the Carolingian mosaic which was preserved through the centuries. There is no other mosaic that old anywhere in France.
Today is Teddy day! Otherwise known as the date we set as Teddy’s birthday. He passed away just 3 days after his 14th birthday, now already two years ago. What a wonderful, gentle cat he was, with so many endearing and quirky traits. I probably never posted the photo above because the focus is off. I had almost forgotten how he liked to sleep in the sink in the summer (this from August 2010), and how he sometimes had a “food-dipped” nose…lol ;-) Some other random photos I recently pulled from my archives follow in the comment section.
He loved Christmas, the activity in the house (even the guests), the wrapping and tissue paper, and especially the tree (in a good, non-destructive way--I know that time sweetens memories, but I honestly can’t remember a time when he misbehaved.) He could often be found relaxing in “his” chair gazing at the decorations and lights. I missed his help when we brought this year’s tree home—he always enjoyed a sip from the freshly filled stand, and napping on the tree skirt before it was put in place. And he and Ollie used to go wild running circles around the tree—I was forever straightening the skirt and putting scattered toys away, (I made sure to put non-breakable ornaments on the lower portion ;-) Ollie carries on the tradition, making sure the tree skirt is always in need of fixing, and kept me company today while I hung the lights.
Happy Birthday dear Teddy, I’ll always miss you :-)
The recent Rains have been very destructive in many parts of New Zealand, with wide-spread flooding and devastating slips, but those same Rains were life-giving for this Fern...!
Thank you for your very kind and very encouraging comments beneath my photos...! Without your encouragement, I'd have probably given up on photography years ago...
Snapped during the recently concluded "Alarm Clock Tour" (destructive.....details to follow) in the Greater Mojave with the magnificent Qua.
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I shot this mini 'documentary' with one camera in one three hour period a few years ago with the intention of playing/learning digital editing. It's bumpy in lots of places but if you like cowboys, horses, Cajun music, blues and fellowship and lots of animals you might check it out.....these are my friends where I live (most of the time) in Agua Dulce, California.
Part Two of "Father's Day":
Wollige Bundelzwam, destructive Pholiota (Pholiota populnea / Hemipholiota populnea)
Hemipholiota populnea is a mushroom-forming fungus commonly known as destructive Pholiota
11 November 2025, Westerpark, Zoetermeer
© All rights reserved.
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© All rights reserved.
This image is protected by
Dutch and international copyright laws. You may not use or reproduce this image in any form, including copy and paste, without my prior permission.
there are some people who are particularly self-destructive and you just want to shake them, slap 'em around and say WAKE UP!!! you know the old socratic adage, know thyself... well, how's bout it? i'll never understand sufferers. those who choose to make life harder for themselves and those around them. similarly, they'll never understand themselves, or anyone else. 'tis indeed a pity.
*grabs a violin*
on a somewhat related note, i feel very mature for my age. whatever that means. minus this weekend where i completely forgot my college fight song, "liquor before beer, you're in the clear, but beer before liquor, you've never been sicker." hot dayumn!!! timeless truths right there!
More info available here: spooderkitty8.wixsite.com/my-site/post/destructively-cute
Includes: Full information on ~Mythril~ Mythic Unicorn Hair
Inspired in West
________________________
aaaah
não gosto mais das minhas edições ;s
achei essa tão simples e sem graça ...
espero que essa 'fase' passe logo,
meu pior momento como editor ate hoje ;'(
I was inspired by deforestation, specifically the ones caused by the destructive and illegal logging, which is now happening all over the world, including in this country I am living. This might be a further outlook of what is going to happen one day in the future.
Shooting this, I painted myself in dark coloured acrylic paints because I thought that I could make myself looking like a tree without doing much editing. In my opinion, I thought I was close of getting myself into real tree, but I was wrong. Yet I am glad I did try!
Facebook Page and Instagram.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rufous_treepie
The rufous treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda) is a treepie, native to the Indian Subcontinent and adjoining parts of Southeast Asia. It is a member of the crow family, Corvidae. It is long tailed and has loud musical calls making it very conspicuous. It is found commonly in open scrub, agricultural areas, forests as well as urban gardens. Like other corvids it is very adaptable, omnivorous and opportunistic in feeding.
Description
The sexes are alike and the main colour of the body is cinnamon with a black head and the long graduated tail is bluish grey and is tipped in black. The wing has a white patch. The only confusable species is the grey treepie which however lacks the bright rufous mantle. The bill is stout with a hooked tip. The underparts and lower back are a warm tawny-brown to orange-brown in colour with white wing coverts and black primaries. The bill, legs and feet are black.[2]
The widespread populations show variations and several subspecies are recognized. The nominate subspecies is found in the northeastern part of peninsular India south to Hyderabad. The desert form is paler and called pallida, vernayi of the Eastern Ghats is brighter while parvula of the Western Ghats is smaller in size.[2] The form in Afghanistan and Pakistan is bristoli while the form in southern Thailand is saturatior. E C Stuart Baker describes sclateri from the upper Chindwin to the Chin Hills and kinneari from southern Myanmar and northwest Thailand.[3] The population in eastern Thailand an Indochina is sakeratensis.[4]
Distribution
The range of this species is quite large, covering all of mainland India up to the Himalayas, Pakistan and southeasterly in a broad band into Bangladesh, Burma (Myanmar), Laos, and Thailand in open forest consisting of scrub, plantations and gardens.
Behaviour and ecology
The rufous treepie is an arboreal omnivore feeding almost completely in trees on fruits, seeds,[5] invertebrates, small reptiles and the eggs and young of birds;[6] it has also been known to take flesh from recently killed carcasses. It is an agile forager, clinging and clambering through the branches and sometimes joining mixed hunting parties along with species such as drongos and babblers. It has been observed feeding on ecto-parasites of wild deer.[7] Like many other corvids they are known to cache food.[8] They have been considered to be beneficial to palm cultivation in southern India due to their foraging on the grubs of the destructive weevil Rhynchophorus ferrugineus.[9] They are known to feed on the fruits of Trichosanthes tricuspidata which are toxic to mammals.[10]
The breeding season in India is April to June. The nest is built in trees and bushes and is usually a shallow platform. There are usually 3-5 eggs laid.[11][12]
This species has a wide repertoire of calls, but a bob-o-link or ko-tree call is most common.[2] A local name for this bird kotri is derived from the typical call while other names include Handi Chancha and taka chor (="coin thief").[10][13]
A blood parasitic protozoan Trypanosoma corvi has been described from this species[14] and Babesia has been reported from this species.[15] Trematode parasites, Haplorchis vagabundi, have been found in their intestines.[16] A species of quill mite Syringophiloidus dendrocittae has been described from this species.[17]
Regional Names
Assamese - কোকলোঙা, Bengali - খয়েরি হাঁড়িচাচা, Gujarati - ખેરખટ્ટો, Hindi - महालत, Kannada - ಮಟಪಕ್ಷಿ, Malayalam - ഓലഞ്ഞാലി, Marathi - टकाचोर, Tamil - வால் காக்கை.
342. The present time as a modern time, that is, an antitraditional time in the extreme, is the time of negative dominances. And it holds true even on the level of the most base profanities: for example, a young and healthy man feels bad much more often than good, he is much rather depressive, sad and gloomy than luminous, happy and joyous.
343. The present age - as René Guénon put it - »is the crisis of the modern world«. Yet, the modern world without any inner crises is ab ovo the crisis of the world itself. When the crisis itself gets into crisis, it will not come about in the sense as if a traditional world were to take the place of the modern world but in the sense that the modern world as one built on materialism - that is on a view representing lifelessness, destruction and even active forces of death - reached a phase when the destructive and necrotising forces let loose by materialism are starting to disintegrate modern world itself.
344. Modernity is not a stiffened, static reality, but a dynamic process, which is continuously working to make itself darker and darker.
345. Descent is not merely a monotonous descent. Phases of sudden halts, sharp falls and slow descents are changing - but these take place in the process of a monotonous descent.
346. Exactly as in the demential phase of paralysis progressiva there are lucida intervalla, but they come about more and more raerly and are less and less luminous, in just the same way in the last phase of the Kali-yuga there can be lucida intervalla, but those who examine processes in their total coherence cannot be deceived by these.
347. Modernity is maximal just now.
348. Once darkening could be perceived in fifty or a hundred years. Now it is perceivable every five years.
Four days after the destructive storm of 21 May 2022 that destroyed life and did damage to buildings and nature it wrecked this beautiful old apple tree with blossoms in the old orchard on the waterfront trail of lake Ontario with a blue sky in Squires beach , Martin’s photographs , Ajax , Ontario , Canada , May 24. 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
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
Learn how to work non-destructively, how to protect the parts of an image that you don't want to warp, and how to use different brushes and brush sizes to get super smooth lines and curves.
Ready for more tutorials? Flickr Pro members get a free month of PHLEARN classes. Visit your Flickr account settings page to redeem your free month of the best Photoshop and Lightroom tutorials available, and 35% off monthly/annual plans after your month ends.
model: jagged-eye.deviantart.com/gallery/23925277?offset=120#/d3...
car: www.mediaindonesia.com/public/gallery/large/2010_06_16_03...
Building 1: www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=189776
Building 2: www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=715651
sparks: www.sxc.hu/browse.phtml?f=view&id=120523
From ancient times to the present, philosophers have repeatedly emphasized the importance of living a frugal or minimalist life. The ancient Greek philosopher Diogenes said, “True wealth is not in increasing possessions, but in reducing one’s needs.” Mahatma Gandhi pointed to the destructive side of human greed, stating, “The Earth has enough for everyone’s needs, but not enough for everyone’s greed.” From the Buddha to Karl Marx, across the passage of time, many have expressed similar ideas. This minimalist concept in philosophy has greatly influenced the photographer, and its mark is clearly visible in his vision and framing.
The absence of color or the use of minimal composition in framing reflects the photographer’s inclination toward a minimalist approach. The fog, wrapped like a thick winter blanket, creates a serene atmosphere. In this calm and pure dramatic setting, human presence becomes secondary. Before nature, even humanity’s vast achievements become insignificant. That is why the photographer has kept humans and their architectural achievements in the background, framing the scene in a minimalist style. Here, nature is the primary subject—not humans or their constructions.
According to nihilism, or the philosophy of pessimism, human life does not has inherent purpose. Evolutionary theory has shown that humans are an unintended outcome of nature’s evolutionary process. Yet human beings, regarded as the finest of creations, continue to exploit all their knowledge and effort into seeking meaning in life. They establish ever-greater architectural structures upon the heart of nature. In proving their superiority, they seem to challenge nature itself. Viewing nature as an adversary, humanity gradually distances itself further and further from it.
Storms...it can be violent, destructive, and frightening. However, just like life, there are two sides to just about everything. The beauty of storms is undeniable. Dark, towering clouds rolling in, often tinged with hues of gray, blue, and even green, create a mesmerizing sky. Lightning bolts slicing through the darkness, illuminating the clouds and the landscape in brief, brilliant flashes, add to the dramatic scene. The sight of rain falling in sheets, sometimes backlit by the sun, is both soothing and awe-inspiring. And after you have braced yourself, the cleasening nature of storms renews you!
In Japan we are witnessing the destructive power of nature... Everybody out there should somehow show their compassion for the victims of this disaster.
The horror we are seeing is the result of our naive belief that we can do with this planet whatever we want. But we can't. If we keep on living this way the rest of the world will suffer just the way Japan is right now. Stand up for the earth!
Pholiota populnea
- destructive pholiota
- pholiote destructrice
- Pappel-Schüppling
- wollige bundelzwam
Location: Voornes Duin, The Netherlands.
Date taken: 9 November 2025.
Mind, of destructive taste
I choose...to stroll amongst the waste
That was your heart
Lost in the dark
Call off the chase
You opened fire, and your mark was true
You opened fire, aim my smilin' skull at you
You opened fire...
I live tomorrow, you'll not follow
As you wallow in a sea of sorrow
Split in two half’s broken tree trunk on Duffins trail in Discovery bay , Martin’s photographs , Ajax , Ontario , Canada , June 29. 2022
American Larch trees with beautiful small cones
Tamarack trees with beautiful small cones
Cones
Blooming Dogwood
flowering white dead nettles
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
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
Shrubs
Oak tree
Trees with blossoms
Trees
Stones
Reflections
Reflection
Dogwood
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
Autumn
Shadows
Reflections
Large mushroom
Bird houses
Autumn
Duffins creek
Discovery bay
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
On our hike this afternoon, we witnessed the aftermath of the very destructive May 2022 derecho.
A derecho is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system.
Derechos can cause hurricane-force winds, tornadoes, heavy rains, and flash floods. In many cases, convection-induced winds take on a bow echo (backward "C") form of squall line, often forming beneath an area of diverging upper tropospheric winds, and in a region of both rich low-level moisture and warm-air advection. Derechos move rapidly in the direction of movement of their associated storms, similar to an outflow boundary (gust front), except that the wind remains sustained for a greater period of time (often increasing in strength after onset), and may exceed hurricane-force. A derecho-producing convective system may remain active for many hours and, occasionally, over multiple days.
Surrealism is destructive, but it destroys only what it considers to be shackles limiting our vision.
-Salvador Dali
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A SERIES ON THE EASTERN GRAY/EASTERN GREY SQUIRREL (SCIURUS CAROLINENSIS)
By Paul Williams
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
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.
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 reintroction 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).
Photograph taken at an altitude of Seventy four metres at 08:24am on a showery morning on Wednesday 12th May 2021, off Chessington Avenue in Bexleyheath, Kent.
Here we see, Sciurus Carolinensis (Eastern Gray Squirrel or Grey Squirrel), a tree squirrel native to North America and first introduced to the UK in the 1870's. Though it was largely responsible for the decimation of our own native red squirrel population, those are now on the increase and found in certain parts of the UK including Scotland. The Greys are still an ecologically essential natural forester regenerator.
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Nikon D850 Focal length 500mm Shutter speed: 1/640s Aperture f/8.0 iso500 Tripod mounted with Tamron VC Vibration Control set to position 3. Image area FX (36 x 24) NEF RAW L (8256 x 5504). NEF RAW L (14 bit uncompressed) AF-C Priority Selection: Release. Nikon Back button focusing enabled. AF-S Priority selection: Focus. 3D Tracking watch area: Normal 55 Tracking points Exposure mode: Manual mode Metering mode: Spot metering White balance on: Auto1 (4570k) 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.Manfrotto MT057C3-G Carbon fiber Geared tripod 3 sections. Neewer Carbon Fiber Gimble tripod head 10088736 with Arca Swiss standard quick release plate. Neewer 9996 Arca Swiss release plate P860 x2.Jessops Tripod bag. 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 28m 28.28s
LONGITUDE: E 0d 8m 10.44s
ALTITUDE: 74.0m
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PROCESSED (JPeg) FILE: 48.30MB
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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.
The Castillo de San Marcos is the oldest masonry fort in the continental United States. Located on the western shore of Matanzas Bay in the city of St. Augustine, Florida, the fort was designed by the Spanish engineer Ignacio Daza.
Construction began in 1672, 107 years after the city's founding by Spanish Admiral and conquistador Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, when Florida was part of the Spanish Empire. The fort's construction was ordered by Governor Francisco de la Guerra y de la Vega after the destructive raid by the English privateer Robert Searles in 1668. Work proceeded under the administration of Guerra's successor, Manuel de Cendoya in 1671,[6] and the first coquina stones were laid in 1672. The construction of the core of the current fortress was completed in 1695, though it would undergo many alterations and renovations over the centuries.
When Britain gained control of Florida in 1763 pursuant to the Treaty of Paris, St. Augustine became the capital of British East Florida, and the fort was renamed Fort St. Mark[ until the Peace of Paris (1783) when Florida was transferred back to Spain. In 1819 Spain signed the Adams–Onís Treaty which ceded Florida to the United States in 1821; consequently the fort was designated a United States Army base and renamed Fort Marion, in honor of American Revolutionary War hero Francis Marion. The fort was declared a National Monument in 1924, and after 251 years of continuous military possession, was deactivated in 1933. The 20.48-acre (8.29 ha) site was subsequently turned over to the United States National Park Service. In 1942 the original name Castillo de San Marcos, was restored by an Act of Congress.
Castillo de San Marcos was twice besieged: first by English colonial forces led by Carolina Colony Governor James Moore in 1702, and then by Georgia colonial Governor James Oglethorpe in 1740. Possession of the fort has changed six times, all peaceful, amongst four different governments: the Spanish Empire, the Kingdom of Great Britain, the Confederate States of America and the United States of America (Spain and the United States having possession two times each).
Under United States control the fort was used as a military prison to incarcerate members of Native American tribes starting with the Seminole—including the famous war chief, Osceola, in the Second Seminole War—and members of western tribes, including Geronimo's band of Chiricahua Apache. The Native American art form known as Ledger Art had its origins at the fort during the imprisonment of members of the Plains tribes such as Howling Wolf of the southern Cheyenne.
Credit for the data above is given to the following website:
At Wat Xieng Thong in Luang Prabang we arranged to meet a boatman. Through the palm trees and down the riverbank, we could see the muddy Mekong over branches and stones. We arranged a boat trip to the famous Pak Ou Caves. A trip down the Mekong River on a longtail boat will glide past limestone cliffs and terrace farms, fisherman wading with nets, and boats streaming from China laden with motorcycles. We traveled about 25 kilometers up the river as it snaked through vine covered hills. A swirling Mekong river. The brown color indicates the destructive land use systems on its watersheds. Women washed clothes along the banks. Naked boys swam and splashed. We passed houseboats, speed boats and slow meandering boats. The biodiversity of the Mekong mountains is one of the richest in the world. More than 1200 species of fish have been identified and there could be possibly as many as 1700. Fishing is a very important part of the economic activities in the area and a vital source of protein in the local diet. Even the rare species of freshwater dolphin, the Irrawaddy dolphin can be seen at the Lower Mekong. Irrawaddy dolphins have been documented participating in cooperative fishing with humans using cast nets by driving the fish towards these fisherman in response to acoustic signals from them.
Photo taken during our longtail boat trip 25km to the Pak Ou Caves down the Mekong River. The boy is jumping from a tree into the Mekong while our boat was passing by. I took multiple shots to capture his jump.
Luang Prabang ligt op een heuvel die wordt omarmd door de Mekong en zijn zijrivier Nam Khan. De beroemde Pak Ou caves liggen een kleine 25 kilometer buiten de stad, bereikbaar per boot over de Mekong. De tocht hier naartoe is geweldig want de omgeving is werkelijk adembenemend. Na twee uur varen kom je uiteindelijk aan bij deze grot waar duizenden pelgrims sinds de 16e eeuw Boeddha- beelden hebben neergezet. In totaal vind je er nu zo’n 2500. Onderweg passeren we typische Laos-dorpjes, nauwelijks zichtbaar door de rijke begroeiing. We stoppen onderweg bij Ban Xanghai, het dorp dat bekend staat om zijn rijstwhisky ;-) De biodiversiteit van de Mekong bergen is één van rijkst aan de wereld. Meer dan 1200 soorten vis zijn geïdentificeerde en misschien nog wel meer. De visserij is economisch zeer belangrijk en een essentiële bron van proteïne in het lokale dieet. In het lage gedeelte bij de Mekong-delta komen zelfs nog de bezondere irrawaddydolfijnen voor. In sommige gebieden werken de twee samen: de dolfijnen drijven vissen de netten van de vissers in, en de vissers belonen de dolfijnen met een klein deel van de vangst. In deze gebieden worden deze dieren vereerd.
Trees , wildflowers and weeds on a trail in Darlington Provincial park , Martin’s photographs , Courtice , Ontario , Canada , July 14. 2022
American Larch trees with beautiful small cones
Tamarack trees with beautiful small cones
Cones
Blooming Dogwood
flowering white dead nettles
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
July 2022
Blossoms
Flowering trees
apple trees with blossoms
old orchard on the waterfront trail
Old orchard
Trees with blossoms
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
Shrubs
Oak tree
Trees with blossoms
Trees
Stones
Reflections
Reflection
Dogwood
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
Autumn
Shadows
Reflections
Large mushroom
Bird houses
Autumn
Duffins creek
Discovery bay
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
We got about four inches of snow in Virginia today. It was beautiful and unusual and (unfortunately) destructive. So many trees in the Shenandoah Valley still have leaves, so there were lots of split trees, branches down and powerlines taken out. We lost power for a while, but all is well now.
My most excellent husband drove me around this morning (even though he has a cold) so I could take a few photos of the fall foliage covered with snow. My most excellent husband also invented something to help me get out into the snow despite a defective foot. You see, last Sunday we went hiking and I somehow obtained the mother of all blisters on my left heel. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I wore dress shoes and did my normal workouts. By Thursday, I could no longer walk and ended up at the doctor's office - for a flipping blister. Anyhow... to make a long story short, I can't wear any shoes that put pressure on my heel for a few more days. Ever try walking in the snow in open shoes? It's not fun. So Adam invented 'Ghetto Gaiters'. Basically, they're socks with plastic grocery bags over them shoved inside the neon green crocs that I (typically) only wear as 'camp shoes' when we're backpacking. They weren't pretty. They weren't particularly warm. But my feet stayed dry and my blister continues to heal... and I got the shots I wanted.
I wish the snow hadn't been falling so hard when I was shooting, but oh well...