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Plage de Pietranera (France - Cap Corse)
Website : www.fluidr.com/photos/pat21
"Copyright © – Patrick Bouchenard
The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained here in for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved."
UNBELIEVABLE! The other night I went out to take some long exposures of the Rowena Curves outside of The Dalles, Oregon. To capture the unpredictable Rowena Curves, means waiting for a car to drive down the Old Historic Scenic Highway along the Columbia River. While fiddling with my camera settings in compete darkness, I ended up missing 3 car driving opportunities. Finally after waiting over another hour, I saw a car, and I heard a motor sound with bright lights streaming through the sky. I hit the shutter remote and this is what my lens captured. Spontaneity at it's BEST!
If you like this image, I invite you to please share and see more (without watermark) at www.landonspadyphotography.com
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© Copyright: The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained herein for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited.
"Khmer Fresco"
Temples d'Angkor (Siem Reap - Cambodge)
Website : www.fluidr.com/photos/pat21
www.flickriver.com/photos/pat21/sets/
"Copyright © – Patrick Bouchenard
The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained here in for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved."
Ville: Nice
Réseau: Lignes d'Azur
Exploitant: Régie Ligne d'Azur
Numéro de parc: 294
Ligne: 11 Square Daudet - Vallon des Fleurs - Bella Vista
The dutch wetlands , the grienden
In the Netherlands we have our own wetlands, looe a bit like a tropical swamp in the summer heat, while in spring time, one can enjoy the special shapes of the willow trees.
The grienden close to our home and in this serie are the Carnisse grienden.
The explanation below comes from: nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griend_(beplanting)
A griend or ham is a moist field on which willow wood is grown. Friends were exploited on a large scale until around 1960, after which the demand for griendhout fell sharply so that many friends were no longer maintained. Sometimes they got the status of nature reserve. The reintroduction of the beaver in the Netherlands was an attempt to achieve a natural management of the friends.
Because of the possibility to grow biofuels, they have been in the spotlight again since 2010.
Location
Friends often lay along the sea inlets on the dikes outside the dykes and in the rivers of South Holland and Noord-Brabant, especially the Biesbosch. Due to land reclamation, most of them have now often been located within the dykes, with the exception of, for example, the Rhoonse Grienden. The plantations outside the dykes are subject to tidal movement of the water level. That is why these friends were often provided with a friendly hill; a small mound with a griendkeet on it. This was a simple place where the griend workers could spend the night; they often stayed with the griend all week. Simple houseboats were also used for the same purpose.
Cultivation
The trees were planted and regularly dropped about 25 cm above the ground. New branches grew from the stumps. An annually disposed griend was called cut friend, doubtful or doubtful. The thin twigs were especially suitable for making baskets. Friends who were harvested every five years were called 'heel friends'. The heavier branches were suitable for many purposes, from stems for tools to the braiding of zinc pieces.
Rijksmuseum à Amsterdam (Pays-Bas)
Website : www.fluidr.com/photos/pat21
www.flickriver.com/photos/pat21/sets/
"Copyright © – Patrick Bouchenard
The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained here in for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved."
Est une espèce de passereaux de la famille des paridés. Facilement identifiable avec sa petite taille, sa forme un peu rondouillarde, ses fines pattes, son minuscule bec, et son joli plumage à dominante de bleu et jaune, cette mésange commune fait partie des espèces les plus emblématiques de l'avifaune européenne. Elle occupe préférentiellement les habitats pourvus de nombreux arbres et de verdure où elle trouve sa nourriture : les forêts de feuillus et les bocages sont ses milieux de prédilection, elle fréquente aussi les parcs et les jardins, jusqu'en ville. Elle partage son habitat avec d'autres espèces de mésanges (comme la mésange charbonnière) qui montrent des différences dans la distribution spatiale et dans la niche écologique exploitée. La monogamie sociale de cette espèce est associée à des niveaux élevés d'investissement parental avec la femelle immobilisée pour l'élevage des oisillons qui se spécialise dans la couvaison et le mâle dans le nourrissage de la couvée.
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Is a species of passerine birds in the family Paridae. Easily identifiable with its small size, its slightly plump form, its fine legs, its tiny beak, and its pretty plumage predominantly of blue and yellow, this common chickadee is one of the most emblematic species of the European birdlife. It preferentially occupies habitats provided with many trees and greenery where it finds its food: deciduous forests and hedgerows are its favorite environments, it also frequents parks and gardens, even to the city. It shares its habitat with other species of chickadees (such as the great tit) which show differences in spatial distribution and in the exploited ecological niche. The social monogamy of this species is associated with high levels of parental investment with the female immobilized for the breeding of young birds which specializes in brooding and the male in the feeding of the brood.
Lenka's story at the Venice Biennale 2024.
Colonialism, exploitation of plant and animal resources, anthropocentrism and speciesism: a denunciation at the Venice Biennale.
La storia di Lenka alla Biennale di Venezia 2024.
Colonialismo, sfruttamento delle risorse vegetali e animali, antropocentrismo e specismo: una denuncia alla Biennale di Venezia.
www.ilgiornaledellarte.com/Articolo/Diario-da-Venezia-qua...
"The war in Ukraine reminds us how unjust and painful the construction of a people's identity, the affirmation of national independence and the reclamation of one's roots can be. Repairing serious and profound wounds inflicted throughout history is a slow, complex and difficult process. A metaphor and monument of a similar condition is Lenka, in the Czech Pavilion. The famous giraffe captured in Kenya in 1954, transported to the Prague zoo, survived in captivity for only two years, then taxidermied and preserved in the museum, after having thrown its organs into the city sewers. Eva Kotakova's work, «The heart of a giraffe in captivity is twelve kilos lighter», is a walkable environmental installation that reproduces the inside of the long dissected neck of the animal arranged in a circle. In the center of the room there is a blackboard and a space for meeting and reflection to learn about its history, its meaning and its cultural implications. On the floor, Lenka's skeleton is reproduced and as a sound that pervades the Pavilion the hymns of the countries that the giraffe crossed on its long journey to Prague, many of which no longer exist today."
"La guerra in Ucraina ci ricorda quanto ingiuste e dolorose possano rivelarsi la costruzione di un’identità di un popolo, l’affermazione dell’indipendenza nazionale e la rivendicazione delle proprie radici. Risarcire gravi e profonde ferite inflitte nel corso della storia è un processo lento, complesso e difficile. Metafora e monumento di simile condizione è Lenka, nel Padiglione della Cecoslovacchia. La celebre giraffa catturata in Kenya nel 1954, trasportata allo zoo di Praga, sopravvissuta in cattività solo due anni, poi tassidermizzata e conservata nel museo, dopo aver gettato gli organi nelle fogne cittadine. L’opera di Eva Kotakova, «Il cuore di una giraffa in cattività è dodici chili più leggero», è un’installazione ambientale percorribile che riproduce l’interno del lungo collo sezionato dell’animale disposto a cerchio. Al centro della sala una lavagna e uno spazio di incontro e riflessione per conoscerne la storia, il suo significato e le sue implicazioni culturali. Sul pavimento lo scheletro di Lenka riprodotto e come suono che pervade il Padiglione gli inni dei Paesi che la giraffa attraversò nel suo lungo viaggio verso Praga, molti oggi non più esistenti."
labiennale.ngprague.cz/it-2024-eva-kotkov
milano.czechcentres.cz/it/blog/2023/08/eva-kotatkova-bude...
Bing Image Creator
Some birds aren't meant to be caged, their feathers are just too bright and beautiful.
If you really like to enjoy this picture press f11 on your keyboard them press Here
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16-January-2025
Northeast of Stara (old) Baška, after passing a rocky ridge, the large bay of Baška opens up (without "Nova"/new, it is not used in croatian, only for the old names in Italian it is Bescanuova as opposed to Bescavecchia, precisely Stara Baška) whose over 2 kilometers long gravel beach separates the sea from the lower part of the consistent furrow (draga), first narrow, fluvial, V-shaped, then wide, detrital, U-shaped.
Baška is larger than Stara Baška, and more touristy due to the imposing resort that exploits the large white gravel beach.
In winter, however, it is very quiet and sparsely inhabited.
Unfortunately, (also) this winter does not offer much snow in the Alps (I hate photographing the barren Alps in the middle of winter...) and so I dedicate myself to the winter sea which is always fascinating.
All photographs in this portfolio are copyrighted and owned by me, Amy Weiss. Any reproduction, modification, publication, transmission, transfer, or exploitation of any of the content, for personal or commercial use, whether in whole or in part, without written permission is prohibited. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Heavenxxx89 2012 You may not, except with my express written permission, copy, reproduce, download,
distribute or exploit In any way Thank you
view my photostream here portfotolio.net/heavenxxx23
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pond arctic-stock.deviantart.com/art/Sea-pond-sky-1-57776115
flowers eirian-stock.deviantart.com/art/Zinnias-251658379
sunflowers fairiegoodmother.deviantart.com/
other flowers www.sxc.hu/
the rest my own resources
Exploitant : Transdev TVO
Réseau : R'Bus (Argenteuil)
Ligne : 1
Lieu : Gare d'Argenteuil (Argenteuil, F-95)
Lien TC Infos : tc-infos.fr/id/27741
www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a...
Key information
Noisy and gregarious, these cheerful exploiters of man's rubbish and wastefulness have managed to colonise most of the world. The ultimate avian opportunist perhaps. Monitoring suggests a severe decline in the UK house sparrow population, recently estimated as dropping by 71 per cent between 1977 and 2008 with substantial declines in both rural and urban populations. While the decline in England continues, Breeding Bird Survey data indicate recent population increases in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
What they eat:
Seeds and scraps.
Measurements:
Length:14-15cm
Wingspan:21-25.5cm
Weight:24-38g
Population:
UK breeding:5,300,000 pairs
Where and when to see them
House sparrows can be found from the centre of cities to the farmland of the countryside, they feed and breed near to people. It is a species vanishing from the centre of many cities, but is not uncommon in most towns and villages. It is absent from parts of the Scottish Highlands and is thinly distributed in most upland areas.
Breeding
House sparrows usually nest in loose colonies and since they don't defend a proper territory, nests can be as little as 20-30 cm apart.
How house sparrows nest
Nests are often placed in holes and crevices within buildings and they will readily use nestboxes. Free-standing nests are also frequently built, in creepers against walls and in thick hedges or conifers.
Pairs often remain faithful to their nest site and to each other for life, although a lost mate of either sex is normally replaced within days. A hole is filled with dry grass or straw with a nesting chamber lined with feathers, hairs, string and paper. Feathers may be plucked from a live pigeon!
The main nesting season is from April to August, although nesting has been recorded in all months. Most birds lay two or three clutches, but in a good year fourth attempts are not uncommon.
About house sparrow chicks
The female lays two to five eggs at daily intervals and often starts to incubate part way through egg-laying. Both sexes incubate, and the chicks hatch after 11-14 days. The parents share nesting duties equally. Chicks are brooded for 6-8 days, but can control their own body temperature only when 10 or 11 days old.
The youngsters are fed on a variety of invertebrates, including aphids, caterpillars, beetles and grasshoppers. Seeds and vegetable matter are also given, particularly during periods when invertebrates are scarce (e.g. cold weather) and become more important after the chicks leave the nest.
The young fledge 14-16 days after hatching. They are unable to feed themselves for about a week after leaving the nest and are cared for by their parents for around a fortnight. Post-fledging care is frequently left to the male as the hen prepares for the next brood. She can begin laying her next clutch of eggs within days of the previous brood leaving the nest.
Newly independent young often gather in large flocks, anywhere there is an abundance of seed, invertebrates and other suitable foods. These may be areas of wasteland or around garden feeding sites. Later, rural flocks may move on to grainfields to feed on the ripening grain, often joined by adult birds, once they have finished nesting. Flocks tend to break up through the autumn and birds return to their nesting colony sites.
Population trends
The house sparrow is common through most of its world range, and can tolerate a wide variety of climates.
The recent decline of house sparrows
UK house sparrow populations have fluctuated greatly over the centuries, with a gradual decline during the last 100 years.
Causes for the rapid recent declines, particularly in urban and suburban environments, remain largely undetermined, although research is underway that aims to establish the cause(s), and develop conservation solutions.
Declines in rural house sparrow populations are thought to be linked to changes in agricultural practices, particularly the loss of winter stubbles and improved hygiene measures around grain stores.
House sparrow numbers were not monitored adequately before the mid-1970s. Since then, numbers in rural England have nearly halved while numbers in towns and cities have declined by 60 per cent. Because of these large population declines, the house sparrow is now red-listed as a species of high conservation concern.
Relations with humans and other animals
People have a love-hate relationship with the house sparrow. However, control attempts have failed to limit the sparrows numbers and range.
Their relationship with humans
People have a love-hate relationship with the house sparrow. For many they are the most familiar of wild animals, bringing life to city centres and other man-made places, bereft of wildlife.
The house sparrows partiality to grain crops and the damage and destruction this caused resulted in attempts to control their numbers. From the mid-18th century most parishes had sparrow clubs with the sole objective to destroy as many sparrows as possible. Bounties were paid for sparrows until the late 19th century, when it was accepted that the control measures did not work. Similar failures were recorded in a number of other European countries.
Ironically, as people in Europe were paid to kill sparrows as pests, others deliberately introduced them to places as far apart as Australia and New York. Initially they were welcomed, although later appreciation turned to serious concern for the impact on crops. By then sparrows had become well established and control attempts have failed to limit the sparrows numbers and range.
How sparrows behave with other animals
Sparrows are aggressive tend to dominate feeders in gardens and prevent other birds from getting to the food. They harass other birds and steal their food and take over their nests, particularly house martins. The eviction and interference often results in a reduction in breeding success and can cause desertion of even large martin colonies.
Sparrows frequently tear to pieces the nests of martins and swallows and eject any eggs or chicks therein. The owners are unable to stop them.
Sparrows are very resilient and for their size have remarkably few serious predators. Main predators are domestic cats, owls (especially tawny) and sparrowhawks, but none are capable of affecting the size of the sparrow population, with the possible exception of localised effects by cats.
1978 SEAB Flipper Model 1 (1978-1980)
- plastic-bodied and acrylic-windowed body assembled by Societe d'Exploitation et d'Application des Brevet (SEAB), Villejuif - France
- air-cooled 47cc single cylinder Sachs Adlx 2-stroke engine
- 3 bhp
- 2-speed Sachs automatic transmission
- top speed 35 km/h
- beige, brown, or a combination of the two were the only colors available
- available options: ungainly add-on fiberglass "humps" front and rear for traffic protection, extra carrying capacity, and "fins" at the rear to protect from parking lot mishaps
La maison Bordevieille est une exploitation familiale artisanale située dans les collines près des bastides du Val d’Adour dans le sud ouest de la France.
Maison Bordevieille is a traditional family business located in the hills near the bastides of Val d'Adour in the south west of France.
~~Le moulin Renard sur la Sarthe, le Mans.
~~Ce moulin à blé est construit sur un barrage formant la barrière des Moulins d'Enfer en amont de la Sarthe dans la traversée du Mans. IL est exploité vers 1850 par le Sieur Buon Lhermite. Celui-ci garde une roue pour la farine et utilise ensuite la seconde roue pour la fabrique de couvertures de laine.
~~Vers 1868, le moulin et la filature sont détruits par un incendie et le moulin reconstruit va être dévolu au chanvre. Cette exploitation appartient à Casimir Boulay puis à son fils et petit-fils jusqu'en 1935. Pendant la seconde Guerre, on remet le moulin en service pour entraîner un groupe électrique. Les habitants du quartier profitent ainsi de l'électricité obtenue.
~~Depuis 1964, le moulin sert d'habitation avec maison et jardin à un propriétaire privé.
www.72dpi.com/gallery/j-marieboyer.
Site Web - www.fidjlin.com/jmboyer/
"Copyright © – Jean-marie Boyer
The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained herein for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved."A
"Belly dance"
Colibri - Sarapiqui (COSTA RICA 2019)
Website : www.fluidr.com/photos/pat21
"Copyright © – Patrick Bouchenard
The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained here in for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved.
I'm still exploiting the little plant I bought about 6 weeks ago. I believe that these are my favorite flower to light and photograph because of the elegant shapes. Some of the black and white photos I've seen that were done a long time ago by famous photographers are amazing works of art.
Lighting stuff: I placed a YN560 in a Rogue grid behind the flower and slightly to the right at 1 o'clock for backlighting, and used a YN560-III in an 8.6 inch Lastolite softbox in front and slightly to the left of center for fill. Both flashes, in manual mode, were triggered by a Yongnuo RF-603N.
Other Calla Lily pictures are in my Calla Lilly album. www.flickr.com/photos/9422878@N08/sets/72157626082181550/...
Other plants, flowers, fruit or thingys that I've photographed using strobes can be seen in my Strobe Lit Plant set. In the description for that set, I list resources that I've used to learn how to light with off camera flash. www.flickr.com/photos/9422
1/10 sec handheld.
This photo is a part of a journey through a wood, made with relatively long exposure times and handheld camera. The movements of the camera are mainly vertical, and the photos are in portrait orientation to exploit and emphasize the shape of the trees.
Rennes-les-Bains est une station thermale consacrée au traitement des rhumatismes. L'exploitation des eaux thermales est connue depuis l'antiquité. On peut toujours y admirer les vestiges des thermes romains.
La commune est traversée par la Sals, une rivière dont la source est salée (60g/l deux fois plus que l'eau de mer) mais arrivée à Rennes les bains, elle n'en contient plus que 2 g/l du fait des apports d'eau douce de ses différents affluents.
C'est un village-rue de 200 habitants dont la traversée est difficile du fait de la fréquentation touristique. J'ai profité de la plus faible affluence de la fin d'année pour m'arrêter et prendre quelques clichés de cette station thermale au charme désuet.
Rennes-les-Bains is a spa dedicated to the treatment of rheumatism. The exploitation of thermal waters has been known since antiquity. You can still admire the remains of the Roman baths.
The town is crossed by Sals, a river whose source is salty (60g / l twice as much as sea water) but arrived in Rennes les Bains, it contains only 2 g / l because of the freshwater inflows from its tributary rivers.
It is a street village of 200 inhabitants whose crossing is difficult due to tourist frequentation. I took advantage of the least crowds at the end of the year to stop and take a few pictures of this quaint spa resort.
Nikon FE, Nikkor ai 50mm F2.0
Film Kodacolor 200,
Développement en kit Tetenal C41
"Break in the shade"
Lausanne (Canton de Vaud - Suisse)
Website : www.fluidr.com/photos/pat21
www.flickriver.com/photos/pat21/sets/
"Copyright © – Patrick Bouchenard
The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained here in for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved."
Obviously many 'western' images of African people are directly connected to exploitation and slavery. But it is often forgotten that there's also an idealist ideology that sees non-Europeans as good and free and noble, indeed as exemplary. This photo is part of the latter tradition. The insets provide some background.
In 1610 one Barthelomeus Moor (1573-1636) bought a piece of land on what is now the Rokin in Amsterdam and built a house there; the pictured decorative statement was probably added later in the style of Louis XIV. He'd been born in Antwerp and was one of many merchants, often Calvinist, who fled the southern Low Countries in the wake of their fall to the Catholic Habsburgs and the onset of religious persecution. They found religious freedom and independence from monarchy in the Dutch Republic. Around 1600 Antwerp's population had diminshed from about 100,000 to a mere 42,000, and something like 30% of the population of Amsterdam was made up of Flemish Dutchmen. Many of these immigrants were merchant families soon to become wealthy in the prospering northern Low Countries.
No doubt, the choice of Moor or his family for this sculpture was motivated by the meaning of his family name. But added to that are the connotations of freedom, independence and desire for trade imputed to non-Europeans exemplified by that self-conscious, proud 'Moor'. He could well be a Carib or else maybe a Guinean. The inset top right is after a drawing by John Gabriël Stedman (1744-1797) of a Carib family. The one on the left is in the first book on African Guinea (more or less present-day Ghana) by Pieter de Maarees around 1602. It depicts Dutch (?) and African merchants and traders. Note the similarity in head dresses of the 'Guineans', the Carib and our 'Moor'.
Website : www.fluidr.com/photos/pat21
"Copyright © – Patrick Bouchenard
The reproduction, publication, modification, transmission or exploitation of any work contained here in for any use, personal or commercial, without my prior written permission is strictly prohibited. All rights reserved
Balades tout autour de Port-Vendres, chemins de randonnée, sentier du littoral, sentier d'exploitation des vignes ou simplement buissons et fleurs des jardins méditerranéens... avec les chaussures adéquates et même si le terrain est un peu pentu quelque fois, cela en vaut la peine!
Immortelle commune, ou Helichrysum stoechas
Quelques mots sur ces vertus médicinales: ... en fait elle pâtit de sa comparaison avec sa cousine italienne plus performante! toutefois elle possède aussi des pouvoirs cicatrisants ou veinotoniques et elle peut être un bon soutien pour les soins des hématomes ou des plaies. Mais attention à ne pas la cueillir sans scrupule... c'est une espèce protégée!
Une proposition de blog à consulter:
Thank you for your friendly messages.
Merci pour vos commentaires très sympathiques.
Obrigado por seus comentários muito agradáveis.
Thank you very much to administrators of the groups.
Catch up with my recent birding exploits at my blog page - stonefactionbirding2014.blogspot.co.uk/
Greylags and Barnacle Geese in flight at Gaddon Loch, Fife. Second from left is a hybrid Barnacle x Greylag.
As featured in the latest exploits of the Owen family in the Channel 4 TV series "Our Farm Next Door" The building was previously called "Smithy Holme".
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cattle_Egret
The Cattle Egret (Bubulcus ibis) is a cosmopolitan species of heron (family Ardeidae) found in the tropics, subtropics and warm temperate zones. It is the only member of the monotypic genus Bubulcus, although some authorities regard its two subspecies as full species, the Western Cattle Egret and the Eastern Cattle Egret. Despite the similarities in plumage to the egrets of the genus Egretta, it is more closely related to the herons of Ardea. Originally native to parts of Asia, Africa and Europe, it has undergone a rapid expansion in its distribution and successfully colonised much of the rest of the world.
It is a white bird adorned with buff plumes in the breeding season. It nests in colonies, usually near bodies of water and often with other wading birds. The nest is a platform of sticks in trees or shrubs. Cattle Egrets exploit drier and open habitats more than other heron species. Their feeding habitats include seasonally inundated grasslands, pastures, farmlands, wetlands and rice paddies. They often accompany cattle or other large mammals, catching insect and small vertebrate prey disturbed by these animals. Some populations of the Cattle Egret are migratory and others show post-breeding dispersal.
The adult Cattle Egret has few predators, but birds or mammals may raid its nests, and chicks may be lost to starvation, calcium deficiency or disturbance from other large birds. This species maintains a special relationship with cattle, which extends to other large grazing mammals. The cattle egret removes ticks and flies from cattle and consumes them. This benefits both species, but it has been implicated in the spread of tick-borne animal diseases.
The Cattle Egret was first described in 1758 by Linnaeus in his Systema naturae as Ardea ibis,[2] but was moved to its current genus by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1855.[3] Its genus name Bubulcus is Latin for herdsman, referring, like the English name, to this species' association with cattle.[4] Ibis is a Latin and Greek word which originally referred to another white wading bird, the Sacred Ibis.[5]
The Cattle Egret has two geographical races which are sometimes classified as full species, the Western Cattle Egret, B. ibis, and Eastern Cattle Egret, B. coromandus. The two forms were split by McAllan and Bruce,[6] but were regarded as conspecific by almost all other recent authors until the publication of the influential Birds of South Asia.[7] The eastern subspecies B. (i.) coromandus, described by Pieter Boddaert in 1783, breeds in Asia and Australasia, and the western nominate form occupies the rest of the species range, including the Americas.[8] Some authorities recognise a third Seychelles subspecies, B. i. seychellarum, which was first described by Finn Salomonsen in 1934.[9]
Despite superficial similarities in appearance, the Cattle Egret is more closely related to the genus Ardea, which comprises the great or typical herons and the Great Egret (A. alba), than to the majority of species termed egrets in the genus Egretta.[10] Rare cases of hybridization with Little Blue Heron Egretta caerulea, Little Egret Egretta garzetta and Snowy Egret Egretta thula have been recorded.
Description
The Cattle Egret is a stocky heron with a 88–96 cm (35–38 in) wingspan; it is 46–56 centimetres (18–22 in) long and weighs 270–512 grams (9.5–18.1 oz).[12] It has a relatively short thick neck, sturdy bill, and a hunched posture. The non-breeding adult has mainly white plumage, a yellow bill and greyish-yellow legs. During the breeding season, adults of the nominate western subspecies develop orange-buff plumes on the back, breast and crown, and the bill, legs and irises become bright red for a brief period prior to pairing.[13] The sexes are similar, but the male is marginally larger and has slightly longer breeding plumes than the female; juvenile birds lack coloured plumes and have a black bill.[12][14]
B. i. coromandus differs from the nominate subspecies in breeding plumage, when the buff colour on its head extends to the cheeks and throat, and the plumes are more golden in colour. This subspecies' bill and tarsus are longer on average than in B. i. ibis.[15] B. i. seychellarum is smaller and shorter-winged than the other forms. It has white cheeks and throat, like B. i. ibis, but the nuptial plumes are golden, as with B. i. coromandus.[9]
The positioning of the egret's eyes allows for binocular vision during feeding,[16] and physiological studies suggest that the species may be capable of crepuscular or nocturnal activity.[17] Adapted to foraging on land, they have lost the ability possessed by their wetland relatives to accurately correct for light refraction by water.[18]
This species gives a quiet, throaty "rick-rack" call at the breeding colony, but is otherwise largely silent.
Distribution and habitat
The Cattle Egret has undergone one of the most rapid and wide reaching natural expansions of any bird species.[19] It was originally native to parts of Southern Spain and Portugal, tropical and subtropical Africa and humid tropical and subtropical Asia. In the end of the 19th century it began expanding its range into southern Africa, first breeding in the Cape Province in 1908.[20] Cattle Egrets were first sighted in the Americas on the boundary of Guiana and Suriname in 1877, having apparently flown across the Atlantic Ocean.[8][12] It was not until the 1930s that the species is thought to have become established in that area.[21]
The species first arrived in North America in 1941 (these early sightings were originally dismissed as escapees), bred in Florida in 1953, and spread rapidly, breeding for the first time in Canada in 1962.[20] It is now commonly seen as far west as California. It was first recorded breeding in Cuba in 1957, in Costa Rica in 1958, and in Mexico in 1963, although it was probably established before that.[21] In Europe the species had historically declined in Spain and Portugal, but in the latter part of the 20th century it expanded back through the Iberian Peninsula, and then began to colonise other parts of Europe; southern France in 1958, northern France in 1981 and Italy in 1985.[20] Breeding in the United Kingdom was recorded for the first time in 2008 only a year after an influx seen in the previous year.[22][23] In 2008 cattle egrets were also reported as having moved into Ireland for the first time.[24]
In Australia the colonisation began in the 1940s, with the species establishing itself in the north and east of the continent.[25] It began to regularly visit New Zealand in the 1960s. Since 1948 the Cattle Egret has been permanently resident in Israel. Prior to 1948 it was only a winter visitor. [26]
The massive and rapid expansion of the Cattle Egret's range is due to its relationship with humans and their domesticated animals. Originally adapted to a commensal relationship with large browsing animals, it was easily able to switch to domesticated cattle and horses. As the keeping of livestock spread throughout the world, the Cattle Egret was able to occupy otherwise empty niches.[27] Many populations of Cattle Egrets are highly migratory and dispersive,[19] and this has helped the species' range expansion. The species has been seen as a vagrant in various sub-Antarctic islands, including South Georgia, Marion Island, the South Sandwich Islands and the South Orkney Islands.[28] A small flock of eight birds was also seen in Fiji in 2008.[29]
In addition to the natural expansion of its range, Cattle Egrets have been introduced into a few areas. The species was introduced to Hawaii in 1959, and to the Chagos Archipelago in 1955. Successful releases were also made in the Seychelles and Rodrigues, but attempts to introduce the species to Mauritius failed. Numerous birds were also released by Whipsnade Zoo in England, but the species was never established.[30]
Although the Cattle Egret sometimes feeds in shallow water, unlike most herons it is typically found in fields and dry grassy habitats, reflecting its greater dietary reliance on terrestrial insects rather than aquatic prey.
Migration and movements
Some populations of Cattle Egrets are migratory, others are dispersive, and distinguishing between the two can be difficult for this species.[19] In many areas populations can be both sedentary and migratory. In the northern hemisphere migration is from cooler climes to warmer areas, but Cattle Egrets nesting in Australia migrate to cooler Tasmania and New Zealand in the winter and return in the spring.[25] Migration in western Africa is in response to rainfall, and in South America migrating birds travel south of their breeding range in the non breeding season.[19] Populations in southern India appear to show local migrations in response to the monsoons. They move north from Kerala after September.[32][33] During winter, many birds have been seen flying at night with flocks of Indian Pond Herons (Ardeola grayii) on the southeastern coast of India[34] and a winter influx has also been noted in Sri Lanka.[7]
Young birds are known to disperse up to 5,000 km (3,100 mi) from their breeding area. Flocks may fly vast distances and have been seen over seas and oceans including in the middle of the Atlantic.
Status
This species has a large range, with an estimated global extent of occurrence of 10 million square kilometres (3.8 million square miles). Its global population estimated to be 3.8–6.7 million individuals. For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern.[1] On the other hand the expansion and establishment of the species over large ranges has led it to be classed as an invasive species (although little, if any impact has been noted yet).[
Behaviour
Breeding
The Cattle Egret nests in colonies, which are often, but not always, found around bodies of water.[19] The colonies are usually found in woodlands near lakes or rivers, in swamps, or on small inland or coastal islands, and are sometimes shared with other wetland birds, such as herons, egrets, ibises and cormorants. The breeding season varies within South Asia.[7] Nesting in northern India begins with the onset of monsoons in May.[37] The breeding season in Australia is November to early January, with one brood laid per season.[38] The North American breeding season lasts from April to October.[19] In the Seychelles, the breeding season of the subspecies B.i. seychellarum is April to October.[39]
The male displays in a tree in the colony, using a range of ritualised behaviours such as shaking a twig and sky-pointing (raising bill vertically upwards),[40] and the pair forms over three or four days. A new mate is chosen in each season and when re-nesting following nest failure.[41] The nest is a small untidy platform of sticks in a tree or shrub constructed by both parents. Sticks are collected by the male and arranged by the female, and stick-stealing is rife.[14] The clutch size can be anywhere from one to five eggs, although three or four is most common. The pale bluish-white eggs are oval-shaped and measure 45 mm × 53 mm. (1.8–2.1 in)[38] Incubation lasts around 23 days, with both sexes sharing incubation duties.[19] The chicks are partly covered with down at hatching, but are not capable of fending for themselves; they become capable of regulating their temperature at 9–12 days and are fully feathered in 13–21 days.[42] They begin to leave the nest and climb around at 2 weeks, fledge at 30 days and become independent at around the 45th day.[41]
The Cattle Egret engages in low levels of brood parasitism, and there are a few instances of Cattle Egret eggs being laid in the nests of Snowy Egrets and Little Blue Herons, although these eggs seldom hatch.[19] There is also evidence of low levels of intraspecific brood parasitism, with females laying eggs in the nests of other Cattle Egrets. As much as 30% extra-pair copulations have been noted.[43][44]
The dominant factor in nesting mortality is starvation. Sibling rivalry can be intense, and in South Africa third and fourth chicks inevitably starve.[41] In the dryer habitats with fewer amphibians the diet may lack sufficient vertebrate content and may cause bone abnormalities in growing chicks due to calcium deficiency.[45] In Barbados, nests were sometimes raided by vervet monkeys,[8] and a study in Florida reported the Fish Crow and black rat as other possible nest raiders. The same study attributed some nestling mortality to Brown Pelicans nesting in the vicinity, which accidentally, but frequently, dislodged nests or caused nestlings to fall.[46] In Australia, Torresian Crows, Wedge-tailed Eagles and White-bellied Sea Eagles take eggs or young, and tick infestation and viral infections may also be causes of mortality.
Feeding
The Cattle Egret feeds on a wide range of prey, particularly insects, especially grasshoppers, crickets, flies (adults and maggots [47]), and moths, as well as spiders, frogs, and earthworms.[48][49] In a rare instance they have been observed foraging along the branches of a Banyan tree for ripe figs.[50] The species is usually found with cattle and other large grazing and browsing animals, and catches small creatures disturbed by the mammals. Studies have shown that Cattle Egret foraging success is much higher when foraging near a large animal than when feeding singly.[51] When foraging with cattle, it has been shown to be 3.6 times more successful in capturing prey than when foraging alone. Its performance is similar when it follows farm machinery, but it is forced to move more.[52]
A Cattle Egret will weakly defend the area around a grazing animal against others of the same species, but if the area is swamped by egrets it will give up and continue foraging elsewhere. Where numerous large animals are present, Cattle Egrets selectively forage around species that move at around 5–15 steps per minute, avoiding faster and slower moving herds; in Africa, Cattle Egrets selectively forage behind Plains Zebras, Waterbuck, Blue Wildebeest and Cape Buffalo.[53] Dominant birds feed nearest to the host, and obtain more food.[14]
The Cattle Egret may also show versatility in its diet. On islands with seabird colonies, it will prey on the eggs and chicks of terns and other seabirds.[30] During migration it has also been reported to eat exhausted migrating landbirds.[54] Birds of the Seychelles race also indulge in some kleptoparasitism, chasing the chicks of Sooty Terns and forcing them to disgorge food.[
Relationship with humans
A conspicuous species, the Cattle Egret has attracted many common names. These mostly relate to its habit of following cattle and other large animals, and it is known variously as cow crane, cow bird or cow heron, or even elephant bird, rhinoceros egret.[19] Its Arabic name, abu qerdan, means "father of ticks", a name derived from the huge number of parasites such as avian ticks found in its breeding colonies.[19][56]
The Cattle Egret is a popular bird with cattle ranchers for its perceived role as a biocontrol of cattle parasites such as ticks and flies.[19] A study in Australia found that Cattle Egrets reduced the number of flies that bothered cattle by pecking them directly off the skin.[57] It was the benefit to stock that prompted ranchers and the Hawaiian Board of Agriculture and Forestry to release the species in Hawaii.[30][58]
Not all interactions between humans and Cattle Egrets are beneficial. The Cattle Egret can be a safety hazard to aircraft due to its habit of feeding in large groups in the grassy verges of airports,[59] and it has been implicated in the spread of animal infections such as heartwater, infectious bursal disease[60] and possibly Newcastle disease
C’est l’arrivée de Mathieu Van Roggen, venu de Hollande, qui a dynamisé vers 1880 les CARRIÈRES DE SPRIMONT. Il les a rendues pleinement performantes par la rationalisation de l’exploitation et la modernisation de l’outil. La grande centrale électrique de 1904, devenue “Musée de la pierre”, en est le remarquable témoin. Par la suite, le groupe Merbes-Sprimont gère les propriétés jusqu’à la reprise en 1984 par la famille Brancaleoni.
Plusieurs sites sont actuellement en exploitation. La réputation de qualité de ces gisements est depuis longtemps établie et
les références de prestige en sont fort nombreuses, depuis la Grand’ Poste de Liège et le pont de Fragnée vers 1900, jusqu’au
nouveau pont haubané du Val-Benoît en 2000.
Importante capacité de production et souplesse de gestion sont les atouts premiers de l’entreprise sprimontoise.
Cette carrière de petit granit consiste en une excavation allongée, partiellement occupée par la 'décharge de classe III du Fond de Correux'. L'activité extractive a encore lieu dans la partie médiane et un grand atelier de taille est installé vers la route. Le secteur occidental, actuellement désaffecté, et les abords supérieurs de la fosse présentent toutefois un intérêt biologique: reproduction du crapaud accoucheur et du lézard des murailles; flanc nord incliné colonisé par une végétation des substrats calcaires (e.a. Catapodium rigidum, Crepis foetida, Teucrium botrys); présence de la fougère Gymnocarpium robertianum.
It was the arrival of Mathieu Van Roggen, from Holland, who revitalised the CARRIÈRES DE SPRIMONT around 1880. He made them fully efficient by rationalising the operation and modernising the tool. The large power station of 1904, which became the “Stone Museum”, is a remarkable example of this. Subsequently, the Merbes-Sprimont group managed the properties until the Brancaleoni family took them over in 1984.
Several sites are currently in operation. The reputation for quality of these deposits has long been established and
their prestigious references are numerous, from the Grand’ Poste in Liège and the Fragnée bridge around 1900, to the
new cable-stayed bridge at Val-Benoît in 2000.
Significant production capacity and management flexibility are the primary assets of the Sprimont company.
This small granite quarry consists of an elongated excavation, partially occupied by the 'class III dump of Fond de Correux'. Extractive activity still takes place in the middle part and a large cutting workshop is installed towards the road. The western sector, currently disused, and the upper edges of the pit are nevertheless of biological interest: reproduction of the midwife toad and the wall lizard; inclined northern flank colonized by vegetation of calcareous substrates (e.g. Catapodium rigidum, Crepis foetida, Teucrium botrys); presence of the fern Gymnocarpium robertianum.