View allAll Photos Tagged Eradicate
Red Squirrel - Scirius Vulgaris
Highlands, Scotland.
The red squirrel is found in both coniferous forest and temperate broadleaf woodlands. The squirrel makes a drey (nest) out of twigs in a branch-fork, forming a domed structure about 25 to 30 cm in diameter. This is lined with moss, leaves, grass and bark. Tree hollows and woodpecker holes are also used. The red squirrel is a solitary animal and is shy and reluctant to share food with others. However, outside the breeding season and particularly in winter, several red squirrels may share a drey to keep warm. Social organization is based on dominance hierarchies within and between sexes; although males are not necessarily dominant to females, the dominant animals tend to be larger and older than subordinate animals, and dominant males tend to have larger home ranges than subordinate males or females.
Red squirrels that survive their first winter have a life expectancy of 3 years. Individuals may reach 7 years of age, and 10 in captivity. Survival is positively related to availability of autumn–winter tree seeds; on average, 75–85% of juveniles die during their first winter, and mortality is approximately 50% for winters following the first.
Although not thought to be under any threat worldwide, the red squirrel has nevertheless drastically reduced in number in the United Kingdom; especially after the grey squirrels were introduced from North America in the 1870s. Fewer than 140,000 individuals are thought to be left in 2013; approximately 85% of which are in Scotland, with the Isle of Wight being the largest haven in England. A local charity, the Wight Squirrel Project, supports red squirrel conservation on the island, and islanders are actively recommended to report any invasive greys. The population decrease in Britain is often ascribed to the introduction of the eastern grey squirrel from North America, but the loss and fragmentation of its native woodland habitat has also played a role.
In January 1998, eradication of the non-native North American grey squirrel began on the North Wales island of Anglesey. This facilitated the natural recovery of the small remnant red squirrel population. It was followed by the successful reintroduction of the red squirrel into the pine stands of Newborough Forest. Subsequent reintroductions into broadleaved woodland followed and today the island has the single largest red squirrel population in Wales. Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour is also populated exclusively by red rather than grey squirrels (approximately 200 individuals).
Another resident of the Camargue wetlands, is the Coypu. This species are non-indigenous, originating from South America, but they now have a foothold & are positively thriving there.
We had our own UK population, which were inadvertently introduced into the East Anglian water ways, as a consequence of fur farming escapees. Ours have since been eradicated though, after being declared an invasive pest species.
French Camargue - August 2018.
Samburu National Reserve
Kenya
East Africa
Click On Image To Enlarge.
Taking a break from my Madagascar images, I will be uploading a few from my trip to Kenya in 2015. One thing I can say about Kenya, you cannot get as close to the animals as in Madagascar.
Wikipedia -The Somali ostrich (Struthio molybdophanes) also known as the blue-necked ostrich is a large flightless bird native to the Horn of Africa. It was previously considered a subspecies of the common ostrich, but was identified as a distinct species in 2014.
Found in the Horn of Africa, especially in north-eastern Ethiopia and across all of Somalia. Also seen in Kenya at Samburu National Reserve.
The Somali ostrich is differentiated ecologically from the Common ostrich, with which there is some range overlap, by preferring bushier, more thickly vegetated areas, where it feeds largely by browsing, whereas the latter is mainly a grazer on open savanna. There are also reports of interbreeding difficulties between the two taxa.
A report to the IUCN in 2006 suggests that the Somali ostrich was common in the central and southern regions of Somalia in the 1970s and 1980s. However, following the political disintegration of that country and the lack of any effective wildlife conservation, its range and numbers there have since been shrinking as a result of uncontrolled hunting for meat, medicinal products and eggs, with the bird facing eradication in the Horn of Africa.
I knew this night was coming, just didn't know when! Why isn't this the shot to get the EXPLODE!!!
Had a great storm pass by last Friday night with bolts aplenty! It was about 9:45 PM when I heard the first rumble. Looked on my lightning app and nothing spectacular was showing up so I figured it was a one off. Boy, was I wrong!
Something said to go out and take a look so that's what I did. Once I got outside I saw the sky was flashing to the North, South, and West so I ran in to grab my camera and let Niccy know I was headed out. She was stone asleep so I headed out to my usual spot, hoping for a couple of shots. That was close to 10 PM and I didn't pack it in until it started raining just after Midnight!
BTW, this is SOOC other than a crop in GIMP and the eradication of a couple of blatant hotspots.
There were bolts everywhere, hard to pick a direction to shoot. I was lucky enough to catch a few which I'll be posting shortly.
PS:
For those in the Show Your EXIF group you should note that the actual lens used is a Tamron AF 18-200mm F/3.5-6.3 Di-II VC All-in-One Zoom for Canon APS-C Digital SLR. For some crazy reason it always shows up as a Canon TS-E 90mm f/2.8, a lens I've never owned or used!
Towering up by the towpath near Tiverton. Apparently, as an invasive and nasty plant, there is a responsibility laid on the landowner to eradicate it in the wild.
Seen during our walking in Rogoznica :)
Bluecrown passionflower (Passiflora caerulea) is a species of flowering plant native to South America (Argentina, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay and Brazil). It is a vigorous, deciduous or semi-evergreen tendril vine growing to 10 m (33 ft) or more. The ovoid orange fruit, growing to 6 cm (2 in), is edible but bland. Bluecrown passionflower is widely cultivated as a wall-climber or as groundcover. In milder temperate areas it can be grown outside, and can become invasive, the twining shoots constantly appearing unless eradicated. Though the fruit is edible, it is rather insipid when eaten raw. It can substitute for blackberries. A tea can be made of the flower which is said to alleviate stress and anxiety. The flower of the passion fruit is the national flower of Paraguay. The intricate structure of the flower has generated Christian symbolism, each part representing a different part of the Passion of Christ.
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Kwiat męczennicy pstryknięty podczas spaceru po uliczkach Rogoznicy :)
Męczennica błękitna (Passiflora caerulea), zwana również męczennicą – gatunek pnącza należącego do rodziny męczennicowatych. Pochodzi z lasów Brazylii i Argentyny. Jest często uprawiana w cieplejszych krajach. Również w Polsce jest uprawiana w mieszkaniach i szklarniach jako roślina ozdobna. Jest najważniejszym gatunkiem męczennicy uprawianym w mieszkaniach. Owocem jest dość duża, soczysta jagoda. Łacińska nazwa tej rośliny oznacza "kwiat męki pańskiej". Misjonarze, którzy dotarli do krajów Ameryki Południowej, doszukali się w ich budowie symboli męki Jezusa Chrystusa: 5 płatków i 5 działek kielicha to dziesięciu apostołów, 5 pręcików to pięć ran, 3 znamiona słupka to trzy gwoździe którymi przybito go do krzyża, przykoronek to korona cierniowa. Kwitnie przez całe lato, ale pojedynczy kwiat kwitnie tylko 24 h.
Cropduster spraying a cotton field. He will make several passes over the field before he's done. Part of the Texas A & M Boll Weevil Eradication Program.
Friday morning I cycled 48.5km roundrtip to Sidney-by-the-Sea to attend a gathering of people protesting the Sidney Island deer killing scheduled to start this month.
The mass killing of fallow deer by sharpshooters in helicopters and hunters on land with tracking dogs is expected to start between November 25 and December 15 on Sidney Island and continue for several days, according to Parks Canada.
That has prompted a rally today at Sidney’s Beacon Park protesting the “inhumane” tactics and $5.9-million cost to eradicate the invasive species from the tiny island just a few kilometres from Sidney’s shores.
No one knows how many deer are on the island but a conservative estimate is 400 and the costs will be $15,000.00 per deer.
Who are these at Parks Canada who have the right to waste taxpayers' dollars at such a rate?
Anyway, I was there to lend my support by our numbers.
Taken in Regents Park.
Ruddy ducks are small, stout freshwater diving ducks with broad, short wings and narrow, stiff tails. The male ruddy duck has a bright chestnut body, black crown, white cheeks and blue bill. They swim buoyantly, often with the tail cocked up, and can also gradually submerge without diving. They hardly ever leave the water, being very ungainly on land.
This species is subject to a Government-led eradication programme. As a result, the UK population of ruddy ducks now stands at fewer than 150 individuals.
Coal loads for Apache Generating Station in Cochise, Arizona, make their way through Larkspur behind a trio of Union Pacific GE's.
*Disclaimer* - Those of you who know this location will notice I eradicated the ugly fiber optic marker from the right hand side of the right of way. It really messed with my OCD.
August 2023
Larkspur, CO.
NS 9-1-1 leads grain shuttle train D01 back east toward Decatur after working the ADM grain terminal at Curran. Originally, this crew was supposed to go west to Hannibal, but they didn't have enough time to make the trip. As a result, I finally got an opportunity to catch the First Responders Unit on the head end of a train.
Disclaimer: Some power lines and power poles were eradicated during the post-production of this digital photograph.
NS 911
NS 8862
900K Shot - 8/21/2016
Pieris brassicae, the large white, also called cabbage butterfly, cabbage white, cabbage moth (erroneously), or in India the large cabbage white, is a butterfly in the family Pieridae. It is a close relative of the small white, Pieris rapae.
The large white is common throughout Europe, North Africa and Asia.
The large white is common throughout Europe, north Africa, and Asia to the Himalayas often in agricultural areas, meadows and parkland. It has managed to establish a population in South Africa and in 1995 it was predicted to spread to Australia and New Zealand.
The large white is a strong flier and the British population is reinforced in most years by migrations from the continent. Scattered reports of the large white from the north-eastern United States (New York, Rhode Island and Maine) over the past century are of a dubious nature and indicate either accidental transport or intentional release. Such introductions threaten to establish this agricultural pest in North America.
In 2010 the butterfly was found in Nelson, New Zealand where it is known as the great white butterfly. It is classed as an unwanted pest due to the potential effect on crops. For a limited period in October 2013 the Department of Conservation offered a monetary reward for the capture of the butterfly. After two weeks, the public had captured 134 butterflies, netting $10 for each one handed in. As a result of this and other containment measures, such as over 263,000 searches in the upper South Island and the release of predatory wasps, the large white was officially declared to be eradicated from New Zealand as of December 2014.
The large whites are found throughout most of Eurasia, though there are some seasonal fluctuations present due to migration. The northern populations tend to be augmented during the summer migration season from butterflies from southern areas. The large whites fly starting early spring, and keep migrating until seasons shift to autumn and the resultant cold weather. This means the large whites typically take two to three flights per butterfly reproductive season.
Large white butterfly migration patterns are typically observed only when there is a disturbance. In general, the large white butterfly's migratory patterns are atypical; normally, butterflies fly towards the poles in the spring, and towards the more temperate Equator during the fall. However, they fly in random directions, excluding north, in the spring, and there is little return migration observed. However, it has been hard to track entire migratory paths, since these butterflies can migrate more than 800 kilometres; thus, individual butterflies may not migrate the 800 kilometres, but rather that other butterflies start their migrations from where the other butterflies ended.
For more information, please visit en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieris_brassicae
Dandelion, the first from this season, and look who is the one enjoying it too!
Without a doubt they are my favorite wild flower, even though they are so difficult to eradicate from the garden, and extend themselves as much as they want to. But they have a touch of fantasy in them. I've seen them drawn as the skirt of a fairy, as a crown of light, and so many other ways that I won't have time to write. The funny thing is that Imagine the little cricket holding one of the tiny "umbrellas" flying away...
If you want to know more about dandelions, here is a link:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandelions
I like this Alan Parsons song, a very Paul McCartney style I should add...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G0lg_aLtZ4
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My photography is mostly nature. I enjoy macro photography a lot, but it is difficult to decide what I like the most about this art.
EXPLORE:
A hundred and one of my photos have made it to Explore, one has appeared on the front page, and others at places 14, 25 and 52. If you’d like to see them, please go to my Explore set.
TO MY FRIENDS:
Flicker is giving me an opportunity to meet a group of wonderful people. Thanks for making me feel so proud of what I do and love.
ABOUT GROUPS:
I only submit my photos to groups whose pages are not private.
MY THANKS:
I appreciate your visit and your comments. Thank you!
Martha.
First Glasgow Volvo B10BLE/Wright Renown 61611 (SF51 YBB) has recently been painted into the new urban livery to help eradicate the barbie livery from the fleet. It is garaged at Dumbarton depot and is seen here on a 1A (Balloch-Glasgow) service at Renton.
On the streets of Pachuca.
The Painted Ladies:
In an unprecedented effort, a German Crew and the government of Mexico joined forces to rehabilitate and beautify the district of Palmitas in Pachuca.
This project englobes 20 thousand square meters of painted surfaces over 209 houses which directly benefited 452 families and 1808 people!
The design was led by Mibe, a Mexico City-based street artist, and the piece took two and a half months to complete in 2015.
On top of beautifying the neighbourhood, the project has been a tool of social transformation during the process as the area violence amongst younger people was largely eradicated and several jobs created.
Sudbury Street - factories subsequently eradicated and replaced by residential condo high-rises
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Street,_Toronto#Bathurst_to_D...
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Nikon D50 + Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor ED 55-200mm 1:4-5.6G
www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond50
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_D50
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nikon_AF-S_DX_Zoom-Nikkor_55-200mm_...
www.imaging-resource.com/lenses/nikon/55-200mm-f4-5.6g-ed...
_DSC3905 Anx2 Q90 1200h f25
While shooting down at Shorncliffe, enjoying the peace and tranquility, the sound of a helicopter filled the air. Here it is. A spur of the moment capture, but well done to the company for the good job they do.
As per their Website ...
With the risk of Mosquito-borne diseases seemly more widespread, it has become necessary to control the Mosquito larvae to reduce the severity and try to mitigate excessive occurrence of mosquito borne disease. On this day, they were spraying in the Wetland areas.
What kind of people would want to eradicate all love, joy, tenderness, happiness, fun and everything beautiful from our world?
The spotted knapweed is so annoying that it's scientific name employs that of the revolting pop singer (Centaurea biebersteinii ...and I'm not making this up) to very effectively emphasize the point. I personally feel invaded every time I see or hear this unhappy individual. But I digress. I had included a view of the large field of which this was a very small part in comments, but it was so tiny it made no sense whatsoever. You will have to accept my word that it was big.
As a non-native invader, it's eradication is recommended, but it adds a rather pleasant purple to the landscape, the rudbeckias and asters here putting up a brave resistance to the takeover while providing a nice accent to the whole.
[Significantly better large...and, yes, this is my first attempt at lensbaby...]
Prejudices, it is well known, are most difficult to eradicate from the heart whose soil has never been loosened or fertilized by education; they grow there, firm as weeds among rocks.
We need to be more tolerant...we need to be more human...we are all so different...
faces
pleading
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"The day that hunger is eradicated from the earth, there will be the greatest spiritual explosion the world has ever known. Humanity cannot imagine the joy that will burst into the world on the day of that great revolution.
~ Federico Garcia Lorca, Spanish poet and dramatist
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in
Delhi
Photography’s new conscience
I have both cultivated Geraniums and the wild variety in my garden. This is the wild variety, which is taking over a lot of the garden, and will be hard to eradicate, pretty though they are.
Standing before this ruin of a house filled me with a sense of utter hopelessness. It was as if Mother Nature was intent on crushing every last ounce of memory from this place. To eradicate it once and for all from the landscape. It wasn't just the deterioration that got to me. I've visited penalty of old houses in various stages of decay. Here it was the manner in which the house appeared as if being pulled into the ground by an unseen fist reaching up from beneath. You sense that there is simply no longer any structural support with only a pair of chimneys still standing in a near normal position. This didn't happen overnight. I've been watching this place slip away for years now. Very gradual at first. In fact in the early years you could imagine someone still living here. But the pace of destruction really began to accelerate once the roof gave way. And now habitation is quite unimaginable. I visited here in late March before the trees began to bud. The lot is so overgrown now that it's difficult to even approach the structure on account of numerous tree trunks. And even now the house is virtually invisible from the highway even though it sits back just a few dozen feet. I figured this might be my last opportunity to photograph the place, even though I've told myself the same thing every spring for the past ten years. Funny thing about 'last times' is you often really don't realize when you experienced once until after the fact. So you have to be proactive when photographing abandonments. Otherwise you come back with wonderful stories, but only photos of empty lots. Standing here at point blank range, it's difficult to believe what you're seeing. You can drive past a place like this a million times, but that will never provide the same impact of standing a few feet away, outside of the comfort and safety of a moving car. Being here, you absorb details, context, and most of all the energy of decay. Sounds like my imagination I know, but it's very real. The energy of families that lived here, lives that played out, good or bad, when people called this home. When people drive home from a hard day or night, and this was their destination, their sanctuary. I wonder if any of these people still live in the area. If so, I wonder what they think as they pass by. I would imagine it's something like a recurring gut punch. An awful thing to contemplate.
The ingredients that go into the creation of outstanding images are subject emphasis, the eradication of time, and universal themes. That is, a readily identified subject in a timeless setting that is universally recognized by people everywhere. Such an image is not only the hallmark of a truly remarkable photograph; it is achieved by very few photographers.
～ Robert Devere
P.S. Non-HDR-processed / Non-GND-filtered ● Black Card Technique 黑卡作品
Changing Images of Man is a 1974 report (revised in 1982) by the Stanford Research Institute (SRI International). This report can be summed up like this:
You have two options: your future can either be 1984 or the Brave New World.
“We have met the enemy and he is us!” We must reform the way we conceptualize the nature of mankind. Indeed, the mind (and body) is a human biocomputer, with programs and coding that can be analyzed, hacked, and altered. Our concepts of free will, freedom, and consciousness must be cast off for man to attain a peaceful, rational, and humane society in the future.
Changing images of man has a double meaning: man’s image has changed throughout history, and man’s image can be changed (manipulated). If we apply this idea to the present, what would be man’s image? Today, man’s image is one of transition. Since we are in the digital age, man’s image would reflect the digital world. Man looks into his screen, and his screen reflects back his digital world. Man’s image is being tokenized into the digital world. His image is becoming digitalized. His image is going to transition into transhumanism (merging man with the digital world). So man’s future image will be one of transhumanism. He will be a techno-slave. Indeed, the image of man is currently being manipulated toward the goals of the elite.
This report warns that our society is heading towards friendly fascism. This form of fascism “will come under the slogans of democracy.” It will be a “techno-urban fascism,” a “friendly sort of totalitarianism.” This is what this friendly fascism will look like: they will use military surveillance technologies to aid the police; they will use behavior-changing drugs and indoctrination in schools; they will attempt to manage the news; they will use personality screening and maintain files on pre-delinquent children, via coordination with school administrations and local, state, and federal authorities; they will use interconnected computer systems to collect peoples personal data like: employment records, criminal records, tax status, credit, insurance, and information about education.
What is their solution to this friendly fascism? They want, instead, to introduce a friendly fascism that has a shiny spiritual veneer. They want man to “evolve” to a higher consciousness, a super consciousness, which lies at the boundary between the conscious and unconscious parts of the mind. This evolution of consciousness will be a personal, spiritual, social, and cultural evolution. They want people to tap into this consciousness through their dream states. They want them to evolve into a hivemind, where they can telepathically communicate with one another. This could possibly be achieved through mystical experiences, psychic phenomena, esoteric ideas, occult practices, hypnotism, self-hypnotism, meditation, yoga, psychotherapy, psychology, psychochemical drugs, electrocranial stimulation, and cybernetics. “I think that cybernetics is the biggest bite out of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge that mankind has taken in the last 2000 years.”
This evolved man will see the inequality of the poorer nations. He will willingly give up his comfortable lifestyle. He will lower his living standards. He will share his wealth with the rest of the world. Men will collectively work together to accomplish equality (communism). And if they refuse to give up their wealth, they will be forced to give it up. This evolution is Gnostic in nature; it reminds me of Karl Marx, with his idea of man evolving into the socialist man/communist man. Out of this evolution will come a new system, a “new socialism,” which will be influenced by Freemasonry. “In ‘true Freemasonry’ there is one lodge, the universe-and one brotherhood, everything that exists. Each person has the ‘privilege of labor,’ of joining with the ‘Great Architect’ in building more noble structures and thus serving in the divine plan.”
The architects of this scheme must convince the masses that the earth has limited resources, which they term the “new scarcity.” They must convince the people that the earth is being overpopulated (today, climate change is the big scare they are pushing). With these supposed problems, man must be convinced that he needs to collectively band together. The architects of this scam must bring in a new economic and ecological system (known today as stakeholder capitalism and the green economy). To introduce this alternative way of life, they will introduce “behavior controls that would deprive the individual of freedoms” (which is known today as a social credit score system).
“Thanks to this initiative (the Green Economy Initiative) and the work of other agencies, ‘green economy in the context of sustainable development and poverty eradication’ was placed on the 2012 Rio+20 agenda and was acknowledged as a tool for achieving sustainable development.” – United Nations
“A crisis is often the catalyst for the redrawing of one’s preferred map.” A “crisis-oriented transformation” is likely to transform a culture rapidly. We saw some of this during COVID, which greatly affected our society and economy. People accepted a soft form of authoritarianism and the loss of freedoms. During COVID, they pushed vaccine passports. This mimicked Digital IDs. The unvaccinated could not go to certain places, because they didn’t have vaccine passports. The Canadian truckers had their bank accounts frozen. Those with alternative views were censored. These things mimicked a social credit score system with rewards and punishments. Society failed to think critically, thus proving that it was ready for the next step of the plan. Therefore, politicians touted the start of the Great Reset—a plan to build back better. So now we are in a transition period, a transition into a new economic order. As a result, we are being steered towards a major economic crisis. This “crisis-oriented transformation” will bring us into their new system. This system will use digital biometric IDs, CBDCs, and social credit scores.
The elites see multinational corporations as the “most effective mechanisms for husbanding the earth’s resources and optimizing their use for human benefit.” Giving multinational corporations the earth’s resources will supposedly lead to an “equitable sharing of the earth’s resources.” They will pressure corporations to help with the social engineering of society. The methods they will use to get corporations on board resemble those of a corporate social credit score system like ESGs. They will prod corporations, particularly multinational corporations, to shift their goals to line up with those of the (hijacked) public institutions. Indeed, the public institutions will be tools of indoctrination (today, these institutions promote things like DEI). They plan to use “corporations, foundations, political agencies, and voluntary associations” to help with the implementation of their plans. Today, this is called public–private partnerships. They will use networks at the local, regional, national, and world levels. This way, it will be quicker and easier for them to implement their new world order goals. They expect rapid social change, economic decline, and social disruption as they implement their new technocratic socialist order.
“We would thus hope not for a handful, but for a thousand heroes, ten thousand heroes-who will create a future image of what humankind can be.” They need an army of social(ist) justice warriors to bring about change. “The needed transformation cannot occur without both personal and institutional change.” This correlates with the left’s “long march through the institutions.”
They also want to experiment with a variety of family structures. They want to turn the family into “an extended unit,” which will provide “a larger source of meaning and significance.” So basically, the collective (government, schools, neighbors, and society) will raise your children in this new collectivist utopia. This extended family will be a “source of education,” and “a unit for work.” They want to “foster a period of experimentation and tolerance for diverse alternatives, both in life styles and in social institutions.” They also want to use “new experimental curricula.” Today, we have new experimental curricula such as critical race theory and queer theory.
They want the world’s population to embrace this new order. Their end goal is the Brave New World. In reality, those who refuse this new order will live out 1984, and those who accept it will live out the Brave New World. Though, as they admit, no transition will go smoothly. Everyone is going to feel some pain, and in a worst-case scenario, a lot of pain.
The Bible warns us about the Antichrist. Those who refuse the Mark of the Beast won’t be able to buy or sell, and they will be tracked down by the authorities. These people will experience the hell of 1984. But those who take the Mark of the Beast will evolve into transhumans, and they will experience the bliss of the Brave New World. They will be on a high, stimulated by soma frequencies. Thus, they will blissfully worship the Beast. They will evolve to a super consciousness; they will become one with the Beast.
God created man with a soul and free will. Those who accept the Mark of the Beast will lose their free will, because technology will control their allegiance and love for the Beast. Their free will is gonna be controlled by the Beast system. Never again will they have the free will to repent and turn to Jesus Christ. They will give up their free will; they will forfeit their own souls.
Revelation 14:9-11 “A third angel followed the first two, declaring in a loud voice: ‘If anyone worships the Beast and his Image, and takes the Mark on his forehead or his hand, that person will also drink of the wine of God’s anger that has been mixed undiluted in the cup of His wrath, and he will be tortured with fire and sulfur in front of the holy angels and in front of the Lamb. And the smoke from their torture will go up forever and ever, and those who worship the Beast and his Image will have no rest day or night, along with anyone who receives the Mark of his name.’”
Mark 8:36 “For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?”
The conservation potential of Kapiti island was seen as early as 1870. It was reserved as a bird sanctuary in 1897 but it was not until 1987 that the New Zealand Department of Conservation took over the island. In the 1980s and 1990s efforts were made to return the island to a natural state; first sheep and possums were removed. In an action few thought possible for an island of its size, rats were eradicated in 1998.
(Wikipedia)
Following an excellent 'Zoom Presentation' from my local camera club's recent guest speaker on 'Architectural Photography (mainly in Mono) and Post Processing', this inspired me to create this further 'Experimental Mono Collage' of the Grade 1 listed Menai Suspension Bridge which crosses the Menai Strait - linking the Isle of Anglesey (Welsh - Yns Mon) to the North Wales Coast Mainland near Bangor.
All images were shot in colour just before sunset on Wednesday 29th September 2021 using a Polarising Filter. Despite using one of the bridge's stone arches as a shield for the bottom right hand image, the suns' brightness above the 1 mile distant Britannia Rail and Road Bridge, still resulted in a 'Blown Out' sky. This 'Kick Started' my mono conversions. Post processing included 'Over Exposing' the sky to totally eradicate 'Blow Out', with colour and tone adjustments. Minimal work was needed on the other two.
From an ongoing learning perspective, I'd very much welcome your feedback. Thanks.
Now for some detail regarding this 'Iconic Bridge'...
It was designed by Thomas Telford in 1819 - opening in 1826. At the time, it was the world's first major suspension bridge. The original wooden decking was replaced by steel in 1893 and its wrought iron chains similarly between 1938/1940. It's 417m (1,368ft) long, 12m (39ft) wide, with its longest span 176m (577ft), with a clearance of 31m (102ft). When built the site chosen and its construction had to be high enough to allow the safe passage of sailing ships.
Today it still carries the two carriageway A5 Major Road (London to Holyhead). Most traffic now crosses the Menai Strait via the twin carriageway road platform built above the Britannia Rail Bridge.
Happy Fence Friday everyone - have a great weekend as well Continue to stay safe and well too!
Speckled warbler female.
These little birds tend to hug low dense thickets. They actually thrive in the feral blackberry bushes. Because much of the native vegetation that would have been home to these birds has been destroyed by grazing and land clearing, now the feral weeds are providing them with suitable habitat.
To this end, control of blackberries, rather than eradication is necessary to ensure their survival in previously grazed woodlands.
This photo was taken well after sunrise, at right angles to the sun. Hence the harsh shadows and chromatic abberation.
Callum Brae, Australian Capital Territory, April, 2016.
From Wikipedia:
"Grey-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus) is a species of swamphen occurring from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to southern China and northern Thailand. It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, but was elevated to full species status in 2015; today the purple swamphen is considered a superspecies and each of its six races are designated full species.
The male has an elaborate courtship display, holding water weeds in his bill and bowing to the female with loud chuckles.
The grey-headed swamphen was introduced to North America in the late 1990s due to avicultural escapes in the Pembroke Pines, Florida area. State wildlife biologists attempted to eradicate the birds, but they have multiplied and can now be found in many areas of southern Florida. Ornithological authorities consider it likely that the swamphen will become an established part of Florida's avifauna. It was added to the American Birding Association checklist in February 2013."
Gray-headed Swamphen -3935
Once believed to number in the tens of millions, bison once were found in all the current U.S. states, except Hawaii, and also throughout Canada.
Bison were nearly extinct by 1890, having been part of a Federal government sponsored program of eradication during the Indian Wars, thereby removing a vital food source from the Plains Indians diet, and ensuring easier relocation onto Indian reservations.
Bison were also considered to be a less desirable food source than domesticated cattle because of their wild nature. They were also viewed as competition for prime grazing lands that could be used by cattle.
~ Carolyn Brown, The Ladies' Room ~
So lets sit down and eat and forget all the shit going on in the world. Don't mind me, I'm on the chocolate cake roll!
I don't think this will pass the MOT.
As detailed in my second-to-previous post, CX09 BFZ (688) had its life cut short after its presumably dangerously overheated engine spectacularly combusted on the summit of the Great Orme. There was little to salvage from the gutted framework that remained, though remarkably the front wasn't eradicated and its identification was present for all to see. The intensity of the fire melted the tarmac underneath its wheels and shut off this tourist spot for the remainder of the day.
After the fire engine was pressed into action to tackle the blaze, a specialist rescue vehicle was summoned to ever so gently haul the destroyed Optare back down to ground level, weaving through the narrow passages and right angle corners, and on to the scrapheap. By the time the recovery move had begun, the bus had stood at this spot, its resting place, for nearly four hours.
10th July 2019.
Artist Don Li-Leger and three volunteers built this house out of thousands of used, discarded and otherwise unwanted reference books – most of them donated to, and collected by, the Rotary club in South Surrey.
The art installation will stand for the month of October in the forested public space outside Newton rec centre.
His formal description of “Encyclopedia House” calls for “an unusual art project” to make use of a plethora of no-longer-used encyclopedia sets, textbooks and other reference books that exist in the age of digital information.
the art project will address topics such as housing and fundamental needs, neighbourhood development, changing sources of knowledge, and recycling.
The books are affixed to each other with screws, making the structure sturdy enough to satisfy city officials.
The house will be a focal point for several events this month, including Sources’ homelessness march on Oct. 16, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on Oct. 17 and some reading groups with local children.
I will pretty much do anything to eradicate this dreadful virus that has taken over our lives. Christmas has all but been cancelled here and that's OK. I can manage without the festivities, the gatherings and the parties if it is going to save lives. I don't like it but I will refrain from seeing my friends, which will be hard, and my family, even harder. I don't need to be running to the shops for all the frivolous extras one buys at this time of year. But I draw the line at not having Klejner with my coffee on Christmas morning! So today a batch was made. They have been sampled, approved and are now tucked away until the 25th.
❝If a person lacks vairagya, but intensely serves a great Sant, and obediently perseveres in his observance of injuctions of God, then God will look upon him with an eye of compassion, and feel, "This poor fellow lacks vairagya, & lust, anger, etc are harassing him very much. So now, may all those vicious natures be eradicated." As a result they will be immediately eradicated. In comparision, if he were to endeavour in other ways, those swabhavs may be eradicated, but after a great deal of time and effort - either in this life or in later lives. If such rooted vicious natures are eradicated instantly, then it should be known that they have been eradicated by the Grace of God.❞
- Lord Swaminarayan, Vachnamrut Gadhada II-7, Shravan Sudi 11, Samvat 1878 (9 August 1821)
ગઢડા મઘ્ય ૭: દરિદ્રીનું
સંવત ૧૮૭૮ના શ્રાવણ સુદિ ૧૧ એકાદશીને દિવસ રાત્રિને સમે સ્વામી શ્રીસહજાનંદજી મહારાજ શ્રીગઢડા મઘ્યે દાદાખાચરના દરબારમાં શ્રીવાસુદેવ નારાયણના મંદિર આગળ વિરાજમાન હતા અને સર્વ શ્વેત વસ્ત્ર ધારણ કર્યાં હતાં, અને પોતાના મુખારવિંદની આગળ પરમહંસ તથા દેશદેશના હરિભક્તની સભા ભરાઇને બેઠી હતી.
પછી મુકતાનંદ સ્વામીએ શ્રીજીમહારાજને પ્રશ્ર્ન પૂછયો જે, “ભગવાનનો ભક્ત હોય તેના મનમાં તો એમ હોય જે, ભગવાનના ભજનમાં અંતરાય કરે એવો એકે સ્વભાવ રાખવો નથી, તોય પણ અયોગ્ય સ્વભાવ રહી જાય છે તેનું શું કારણ છે ?”
પછી શ્રીજીમહારાજ બોલ્યા જે, “જેને વૈરાગ્યની દુર્બળતા હોય તેને ટાળ્યાની શ્રદ્ધા હોય તોય સ્વભાવ ટળે નહિ. જેમ દરિદ્રી હોય તે ધણાં સારાં સારાં ભોજન ને સારાં સારાં વસ્ત્રને ઇચ્છે પણ તે કયાંથી મળે ? તેમ વૈરાગ્યહીન હોય તેના હૃદયમાં ઇચ્છા તો હોય, પણ સાધુતાના ગુણ આવવા ઘણા દુર્લભ છે.”
પછી વળી મુકતાનંદ સ્વામીએ પ્રશ્ર્ન પૂછયો જે, “જેને વૈરાગ્ય ન હોય તે શો ઉપાય કરે ત્યારે વિકાર ટળે ?” પછી શ્રીજીમહારાજ બોલ્યા જે, “વૈરાગ્યહીન હોય તે તો કોઇ મોટા સંત હોય, તેની અતિશય સેવા કરે અને પરમેશ્વરની આજ્ઞામાં જેમ કહે તેમ મંડયો રહે. પછી પરમેશ્વર તેને કૃપાદૃષ્ટિએ કરીને જુવે જે, આ બિચારો વૈરાગ્યરહિત છે, તેને કામ--ક્રોધાદિક બહુ પીડે છે; માટે એના એ સર્વે વિકાર ટળો. તો તત્કાળ ટળી જાય અને સાધને કરીને તો બહુકાળ મહેનત કરતાં કરતાં આ જન્મે ટળે અથવા બીજે જન્મે ટળે. અને તરત જે વિકારમાત્ર ટળે તે તો પરમેશ્વરની કૃપાએ કરીને ટળે.”
।। ઇતિ વચનામૃતમ્ ગઢડા મઘ્યનું ।। ૭ ।। ।। ૧૪૦ ।।