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Merlin (Falco columbarius) has a blue-grey back, ranging from almost black to silver-grey in different subspecies. Its underparts are buff- to orange-tinted and more or less heavily streaked with black to reddish brown. The female and immature are brownish-grey to dark brown above, and whitish buff spotted with brown below. Besides a weak whitish supercilium and the faint dark malar stripe—which are barely recognizable in both the palest and the darkest birds—the face of the merlin is less strongly patterned than in most other falcons
The Ural owl (Strix uralensis) is a fairly large nocturnal owl. It is a member of the true owl family, Strigidae. Both its common name and scientific name refer to the Ural Mountains of Russia where the type specimen was collected. However, this species has an extremely broad distribution that extends as far west as much of Scandinavia, montane eastern Europe, and, sporadically, central Europe across the Palearctic broadly through Russia to as far east as Sakhalin and throughout Japan. The Ural owl may include up to 15 subspecies, but most likely the number may be slightly fewer if accounting for clinal variations.
This forest owl is typical associated with the vast taiga forest in Eurosiberia, although it ranges to other forest types, including mixed forests and temperate deciduous forest. Ural owls tend to vigorously protect a set territory on which they have historically nested on a variety of natural nest sites, including tree cavities and stumps and nests originally built by other birds but now, in many parts of the range are adapted to nest boxes made by biologists and conservationists.
S. u. hondoensis (Clark 1907)- This race may include S. u. japonica. If it includes japonica, this race is found throughout Hokkaido down through northern and central Honshu. Quite to the contrary of Bergmann's rule, northern owls in Hokkaido are the smallest ones, and indeed the smallest known in the entire Ural owl species, while southerly owls are slightly larger. Otherwise birds from the different islands are similar in appearance.
There is a moment on the slopes of Sulphur Mountain where the dense subalpine forest parts just enough to offer a glimpse of something entirely unexpected. Behind you, the gondola cables hum; ahead, the world drops away into a massive, glacially carved trough.
Framed tightly by the rugged, deep-green silhouettes of native evergreens, the Bow Valley opens up below. The composition is built on contrasts—the deep, rich shadows of the foreground trees force your eyes straight through the natural window toward the sunlit valley floor. Far below, tracing the winding contours of the Bow River, lies the emerald ribbon of the Banff Springs Golf Course. From this altitude, the manicured fairways and pristine greens look like an intricate miniature model, a brief patch of human design neatly tucked into an otherwise unapologetic wilderness.
But the true scale hits you when you lift your gaze beyond the valley floor. Rising sharply against a deep, intensely saturated blue sky is the snow-dusted grandeur of the Fairholme Range. The harsh alpine light catches the jagged, glacier-scoured peaks, highlighting every ridge and crevasse in stark, high-contrast relief. Towering cumulus clouds drift lazily over the summits, casting dramatic, moving shadows that sweep across the valley, constantly shifting the mood of the landscape.
It’s a scene that demands a pause. The sheer verticality of the Canadian Rockies is laid bare here—from the meticulously placed pins on the greens thousands of feet below, straight up to the timeless, frozen peaks that scrape the sky.
Rufous Treepie (Dendrocitta vagabunda) 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.
©2025 Tony Virgil-Fawcett, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or any other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.
©2025 Tony Virgil-Fawcett, Todos los derechos reservados
Esta imagen no está disponible para su uso en sitios web, blogs o cualquier otro medio sin la autorización expresa y por escrito del fotógrafo.
#EarthCapture #nationalgeographic #nikon #nikonphotography #nikonusa #nikonphotographer #eastwindsornj #EarthCapture #BBCEarth #newjersey #tractor #farm #tractorlove #farmer
This young male lion, caked in mud after a night of chasing and clashing with a buffalo, sits in the Mara with a piercing, unflinching gaze. His mane may still be growing, but his spirit already carries the weight of survival, resilience, and the untamed battles of Africa’s wilderness.
<-winterliche Kohlmeise->
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Sony Alpha 9
Sony 200-600 mm
F 7.1
1/400 sek
2500 ISO
600mm
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Größte und häufigste Meise in Mitteleuropa. Männchen mit einem breiten und dunklen Bruststreifen sind gegenüber Tieren mit einem schmalen und hellen Streifen im Vorteil. Diese dominanten Tiere haben die besseren Reviere, den größeren Bruterfolg und verjagen auch an der Winterfutterstelle die untergeordneten Tiere.
📷
Crested Lark (Galerida cristata) is species of lark by the crest of feathers that rise up in territorial or courtship displays and when singing. It is a non-migratory bird.It is roughly the same size as a Eurasian skylark, but shorter overall and bulkier around the head and body, and very similar in appearance,with a height of 17 cm and a wingspan of 29 to 38 cm , weighing between 37 and 55 g .It is a small, brown bird which has a short tail with light brown outer feathers. Male and females have no real differences, but young crested larks have more spots on their back than their older counterparts. Its plumage is downy but sparse and appears whitish.
Indian Blue Robin (Larvivora brunnea) is similar in size to the bluethroat at 15 cm long. The adult male has blue upperparts and rufous underparts. A bright white supercilium contrasts with a black mask that continues down the neck. The lower belly and undertail are also whitish. The female is olive brown above and buff below with a light eye-ring and rufescent rump. The breast and flanks are buffy. Young birds are dark brown with buff spots. They winter in the hill forests of the Western Ghats of India and in Sri Lanka.
A Little Owl (Athene noctua) perched on a lichen-covered branch, carefully observing its surroundings. This small owl, recognizable by its bright yellow eyes and spotted brown plumage, is commonly found in rural landscapes across Europe.
Patient and alert, the Little Owl often hunts insects, small rodents, and other prey from low perches such as fence posts, trees, or old farm structures. Captured in soft natural light, this moment highlights the quiet beauty of European wildlife.
Cumberland Falls, the crown jewel of Cumberland Falls State Resort Park, sits deep within the rugged landscape of Daniel Boone National Forest in southeastern Kentucky. Located southwest of Corbin, this powerful waterfall sends the Cumberland River over a wide stone ledge into a dramatic Appalachian gorge, creating rising mist and refracted light.
This Cinematic Blue version highlights the cooler tones, deep shadows, and atmospheric mist that shape the mood of the falls. As the spray lifts, sunlight often creates a brilliant daytime rainbow — and on clear full-moon nights, this location becomes one of the few places in the world where you can witness a natural moonbow.
A dramatic scene, a powerful river, and a landscape filled with Appalachian history and character. This is one of the most unforgettable places in the Southeast, rendered here in a bold and atmospheric color tone.
Cinereous Tit ( Parus cinereus ) has a broad black ventral line and has no crest. The underparts are white with the black central stripe running along the length. The female has a narrower ventral line and is slightly duller.The upper tail coverts are ashy while the tail is black with the central 4 pairs of feathers ashy on the outer webs and all but the central pair are tipped white. The fifth pair is white with a black rachis and a band of black on the inner web. The outermost pair of tail feathers are all white with a black shaft. The undertail coverts are black towards the centre but white on the sides. This tit is part of a confusing group of species but is distinct in having a grey-back, black hood, white cheek patch and a white wing-bar.
Spring in the Linville gorge atop Hawksbill Mountain near Jonas Ridge, North Carolina
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©2023 Tony Virgil-Fawcett, All Rights Reserved
This image is not available for use on websites, blogs or any other media without the explicit written permission of the photographer.
©2023 Tony Virgil-Fawcett, Todos los derechos reservados
Esta imagen no está disponible para su uso en sitios web, blogs o cualquier otro medio sin la autorización expresa y por escrito del fotógrafo.
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Bec ouvert Indien observé dans le sanctuaire d'oiseaux de Kalametiya, Sri Lanka.
Description (français)
Le Bec ouvert Indien (Anastomus oscitans) est une cigogne emblématique des zones humides d'Asie. Cette photographie a été réalisée dans le Kalametiya Bird Sanctuary, au sud du Sri Lanka, un site réputé pour sa richesse ornithologique et ses paysages de marais où de nombreuses espèces d'oiseaux trouvent refuge.
Simple caption (English)
Asian Openbill photographed at Kalametiya Bird Sanctuary, Sri Lanka.
Description (English)
The Asian Openbill (Anastomus oscitans) is an iconic wetland stork of South Asia. This photograph was taken at Kalametiya Bird Sanctuary in southern Sri Lanka, a renowned birdwatching destination where wetlands provide an ideal habitat for a remarkable diversity of bird species.
Bueno pues ahora silencio. Fijaos bien y puede que veamos algún ciervo debajo de un árbol.
Y si. Alguno vimos😁
En realidad no hacía falta nada. Es una finca enoooorme que rodea un viejo castillo en Inglaterra y los ciervos son muy sencillos de ver.
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Japanese Pygmy Woodpecker
The Japanese pygmy woodpecker or pygmy woodpecker (Yungipicus kizuki) is a species of woodpecker. It is found in coniferous and deciduous forests in Russia, China, North Korea, South Korea and Japan. This species has also been placed in the genus Dendrocopos or Picoides. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has assessed it as a least-concern species.
This woodpecker is found in Korea, northeastern China, southeastern Siberia, Sakhalin, Japan and the Ryukyu Islands. It occurs up to 2,100 m (6,900 ft) in elevation, and its habitat consists of many types of coniferous and deciduous forests, including lowland, upland and riverine forests, and also parks and gardens.
The Japanese pygmy woodpecker occurs in pairs and mixed-species foraging flocks, eating invertebrates and berries. Its calls are khit and kzz notes, and it drums weakly in short bursts. Breeding starts in March in southern Japan and in late May in northern Japan. A nest hole is excavated in a dead branch. The eggs are white, measuring about 19 mm (0.75 in) by 15 mm (0.59 in). Five to seven white eggs are laid and then incubated for 12 to 14 days. Fledgling occurs after three weeks.
Face-to-face with the elegance of the plains. Every zebra carries a pattern as unique as a fingerprint — nature’s perfect design, carved in black and white.
High above the golden plains, Ruka the cheetah pauses to survey her kingdom. Her sharp eyes sweep across the savannah, every movement measured, every breath part of the silent rhythm of the hunt.
Hidden among tangled branches and quiet reflections . . .
a Great Crested Grebe rests carefully on its floating nest at Østensjøvannet in Oslo, Norway.
For a few brief moments, the surrounding world seemed to disappear into silence — only the soft movement of water and the watchful presence of this elegant bird remained.
Captured in natural light during the nesting season.
A Mariña, #Galiza
- #nature #naturephotography #birdwatching
[SGO] | [achave.gal]
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Desert Wheatear (Oenanthe deserti) are a pale sandy-grey colour with the feathers tipped grey. The rump and upper tail-coverts are pale buff. A curved stripe over the eye is pale buff and extends backwards. The feathers of the chin, throat, lores and ear-coverts are black tipped with white. The breast and flanks are sandy-buff and the belly and under tail-coverts are creamy-white tinged with buff. The axillaries and under wing-coverts are black tipped with white. The primaries have black outer webs, tipped and edged with white and inner webs pale brown edged with white. The secondaries are similar but have broader white edges to both webs. Its length is about 15 cm and it weighs between 15 and 34 gm.
The dancing tanchōzuru:
With wings slightly raised and heads held high, a pair of red-crowned cranes begin to march, their broad, three-toed feet puncturing the snow as they trumpet loudly and steam rises from their beaks. The male calls first, followed closely by the female—several notes in quick succession, strengthening their bond. But this vocal parade is just the prelude.
Now the pair begin to dance, bowing heads, flapping wings, leaping up and down and spinning around, sometimes picking up sticks and leaves and tossing them in the air. Their momentum triggers other couples to do the same, then the juveniles join in, until the whole flock is in motion—mesmerising flashes of red, black and white, flickering across the snowfields. It’s a sight worth going a long way to see.
is a tiny bird, 8 cm long, and is one of the smallest birds occurring in most parts of southern India and Sri Lanka. The bird is plain brownish to olive green.The bird is common especially in urban gardens with berry bearing trees. They have a rapid chipping call and the pinkish curved beak separates it from other species in the region. The underside is buff olive and does not contrast greatly with the upperparts and not whitish as in the Nilgiri flowerpecker of the Western Ghats and Nilgiri hills nor is it streaked as in the thick-billed flowerpecker. The Nilgiri flowerpecker has a pale supercilium unlike this species which has no marking on the head.
The Ural owl (Strix uralensis) is a fairly large nocturnal owl. It is a member of the true owl family, Strigidae. Both its common name and scientific name refer to the Ural Mountains of Russia where the type specimen was collected. However, this species has an extremely broad distribution that extends as far west as much of Scandinavia, montane eastern Europe, and, sporadically, central Europe across the Palearctic broadly through Russia to as far east as Sakhalin and throughout Japan. The Ural owl may include up to 15 subspecies, but most likely the number may be slightly fewer if accounting for clinal variations.
This forest owl is typical associated with the vast taiga forest in Eurosiberia, although it ranges to other forest types, including mixed forests and temperate deciduous forest. Ural owls tend to vigorously protect a set territory on which they have historically nested on a variety of natural nest sites, including tree cavities and stumps and nests originally built by other birds but now, in many parts of the range are adapted to nest boxes made by biologists and conservationists.
S. u. hondoensis (Clark 1907)- This race may include S. u. japonica. If it includes japonica, this race is found throughout Hokkaido down through northern and central Honshu. Quite to the contrary of Bergmann's rule, northern owls in Hokkaido are the smallest ones, and indeed the smallest known in the entire Ural owl species, while southerly owls are slightly larger. Otherwise birds from the different islands are similar in appearance.
Pangolins are among the most unique and endangered animals on Earth. Covered in protective scales, these shy, nocturnal mammals live quietly in the wild, searching for ants and termites.
Tragically, pangolins are also the most trafficked mammals in the world, threatened by poaching and habitat loss. Every encounter with them is rare and deeply humbling.
This photo was taken during my visit to the Pangolin Rescue Center Uganda, where dedicated conservationists work tirelessly to protect, rehabilitate, and give these gentle creatures a chance to survive. Their work is a lifeline for pangolins — and a reminder of why conservation matters💚
Would you have guessed this isn’t a reptile, but a mammal?
Red-rumped Swallow (Cecropis daurica) are darker below and have pale or reddish rumps, face and neck collar. They lack a breast band, but have black undertails. They are fast fliers and they swoop on insects while airborne. They have broad but pointed wings. They build quarter-sphere nests with a tunnel entrance lined with mud collected in their beaks, and lay 3 to 6 eggs. They normally nest under cliff overhangs in their mountain homes, but will readily adapt to buildings such as mosques and bridges.
A peaceful and warm spring evening over Lake Norman, North Carolina
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White-eyed Buzzard (Butastur teesa) have a rufous tail, a distinctive white iris, and a white throat bearing a dark mesial stripe bordered. The head is brown and the median coverts of the upper wing are pale. They lack the typical carpal patches on the underside of the wings seen in true buzzards, but the entire wing lining appears dark in contrast to the flight feathers. They sit upright on perches for prolonged periods and soar on thermals in search of insect and small vertebrate prey.