View allAll Photos Tagged INCREASING
Brant/Brent Goose - Branta bernicla
The brant, or brent goose (Branta bernicla), is a species of goose of the genus Branta. The black brant is a pacific North American subspecies.
It used to be a strictly coastal bird in winter, seldom leaving tidal estuaries, where it feeds on eel-grass (Zostera marina) and the seaweed, sea lettuce (Ulva). On the east coast of North America, the inclusion of sea lettuce is a recent change to their diet, brought about by a blight on eelgrass in 1931. This resulted in the near-extirpation of the brant. The few that survived changed their diet to include sea lettuce until the eelgrass eventually began to return. Brants have maintained this diet ever since as a survival strategy. In recent decades, it has started using agricultural land a short distance inland, feeding extensively on grass and winter-sown cereals. This may be behavior learned by following other species of geese. Food resource pressure may also be important in forcing this change, as the world population increased over 10-fold to 400,000-500,000 by the mid-1980s, possibly reaching the carrying capacity of the estuaries. In the breeding season, it uses low-lying wet coastal tundra for both breeding and feeding. The nest is bowl-shaped, lined with grass and down, in an elevated location, often near a small pond.
The brant goose is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds applies.
Thanks to all who take the time to Comment/fav etc...Always appreciated.
Female seen here depositing here eggs. Although when both male and female emerge into adults they are both pale green with brown markings with the male later taking on a sky blue abdomen and an green thorax with the female being mainly green. Can be seen on the wing from June to August and sometimes can go beyond September depending on the weather. Can be found widespread and fairly common in Britain and are increasing in numbers in Scotland and Ireland.
… and closer to the training pen. This look is very familiar to anyone who has horses. We see a beautiful morning fresh with new possibilities to up our horsemanship game, and our equine bestie sees his friends loafing around in the pasture and grieves the ever increasing distance between his destination and his oats! Not to worry, Roanie, I foresee carrots in your very near future!
Happy Friday, everyone! Wishing you happy trails and a weekend filled with all of the things you love the most! ♥
This is a view of an entrance to the dunes near Wassenaar. The sandy dunes start about 200 meter behind me. The combination of dark clouds and sun were typical for the last weeks. In LR I increased the black, the clarity and dehazed the image.
HSS! Happy sliders Sunday!
Spotted at Baron's Haugh nature reserve, Motherwell.
This melodic warbler is widely distributed across Britain & Ireland through the breeding season, and increasingly in winter too.
Blackcap breeding numbers have steadily increased in the UK since the late-1970s, and have also expanded their breeding range throughout northern Scotland and the island of Ireland during this time. They are now absent only on the highest Scottish peaks and farthest flung islands. In autumn, these breeding birds depart for southern Europe and are replaced by Blackcaps from central Europe. BTO research has helped show how garden bird feeding led to the evolution of this new migratory route and wintering strategy. Although widespread in winter, Blackcaps tend to be absent from the uplands at this time of year.
Blackcaps have a greyish overall appearance. The eponymous black cap is only found in the males; females and juveniles have a brown cap instead. The song is very similar to that of the Garden Warbler, but can be distinguished with practice. Blackcaps are found in parks, deciduous woodland and scrub, as well as at garden feeding stations.
Temperatures were increasing and the snow pack was beginning to melt, but this was the "Spring scene" at Grand Traverse Lighthouse State Park in mid March.
Thanks to its increasing acceptance of urban buildings the chances of seeing a Peregrine, the fastest bird in flight, are increasing. Their fate, however, has followed a mixed history. Prized for falconry they were protected by royal decree in medieval times prior to becoming the object of persecution when hunting with guns became the 'sport' of the day. During the Second World War around 600 were exterminated by the government in order to protect message-carrying homing pigeons. Further to this, during the 50's and 60's numbers suffered a massive decline due to the increased use of pesticides injested through prey eaten and causing breeding failure due to eggshell thinning. Fortunately the tables have turned and conservation efforts have resulted in increased numbers of this thrilling raptor of the sky.
Thank you all for your kind responses.
Greenfinch - Chloris chloris
The European greenfinch, or just greenfinch (Chloris chloris), is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.
This bird is widespread throughout Europe, north Africa and south west Asia. It is mainly resident, but some northernmost populations migrate further south. The greenfinch has also been introduced into both Australia and New Zealand. In Malta, it is considered a prestigious song bird, and it has been trapped for many years. It has been domesticated, and many Maltese people breed them.
Woodland edges, farmland hedges and gardens with relatively thick vegetation are favoured for breeding. It nests in trees or bushes, laying 3 to 6 Eggs.
This species can form large flocks outside the breeding season, sometimes mixing with other finches and buntings. They feed largely on seeds, but also take berries.
The protozoal parasite Trichomonas gallinae was known to infect pigeons and raptors but beginning in Britain in 2005, carcases of dead European greenfinches and common chaffinches were found to be infected with the parasite. The disease spread and in 2008 infected carcases were found in Norway, Sweden and Finland and a year later in Germany. The spread of the disease is believed to have been mediated by chaffinches as large numbers of the birds breed in northern Europe and winter in Britain. In Britain the number of infected carcases recovered each year declined after a peak in 2006. There was a reduction in the number of greenfinches from around 4.3 million to around 2.8 million but no significant decline in the overall number of chaffinches. A similar pattern occurred in Finland where, after the arrival of the disease in 2008, there was a reduction in the number of greenfinches but only a small change in the number of chaffinches.
Greenfinch populations declined during the late 1970s and early 1980s, but increased dramatically during the 1990s. A recent decline in numbers has been linked to an outbreak of trichomonosis, a parasite-induced disease which prevents the birds from feeding properly.
Population:
UK breeding:
1,700,000 pairs
The ferry could not handle the strongly increased traffic in the 60’s anymore and the need for a good north-south connection grew. That’s why, in 1963, the province of Zeeland finalises the order for the Zeeland bridge between Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland to be built. With its 5 kilometres in length, the bridge – then still called the Oosterschelde bridge – becomes the longest in the Netherlands. The Zeeland bridge exists of 54 pillars with spans at intervals of 95 metres. There is also a passageway for ships by making part of the bridge, which is 40 metres wide, moveable.
The bridge is officially opened on 15 December 1965 by Queen Juliana. In April of 1967, the Oosterschelde bridge is renamed Zeeland bridge. Until 1993, users of the bridge had to pay toll, after then the bridge has been toll free. The opening of the Zeeland bridge makes Schouwen-Duiveland a lot more accessible. This leads to mass tourism to Schouwen-Duiveland. Especially the Westhoek with its dunes and 18 kilometres of beach profits from this.
Increased the ISO here to get the faster shutter speed in the low light with the light pollution shining on the clouds in night sky just outside Baltimore, Maryland.
Godafoss (The Waterfall Of The Gods) is Iceland’s most impressive and beautiful waterfall.
Its name is associated with the country’s history. Having been settled on the 9th and 10th centuries, the Norse pagan religion was dominant. With the growth of Christianity throughout Europe, the pressure to abandon Norse increased to the point that Iceland feared an invasion. In 1000 AD it adopted Christianity as the official religion and the decision maker made the symbolic gesture of throwing the pagan idols into the waterfall. Hence its name since then: The Waterfall Of the Gods.
************************
Iceland
© All rights reserved Rui Baptista. Please do not use this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission.
suitable for high bay warehouse and logistic center, such as an Amazon logistic center ...
due to more and more orders in the mail order business, truck traffic is increasing significantly and the space required for logistics centers will be enormous in the future, soil sealing by ugly rectangular buildings, which we can not afford environmentally, retail is destroyed and our beautiful city centers fall dead ...
;-) ...
anyway, this is a hall of a museum, which I like best ...
ƒ/8.0 24.0 mm 1/40 100
_MG_3535_pt2
Rhinoceros: since 1973 the population has recovered well and increased to 544 animals around the turn of the century. To ensure the survival of the endangered species in case of epidemics animals are translocated annually from Chitwan to the Bardia National Park and the Sukla Phanta Wildlife Reserve since 1986. However, the population has repeatedly been jeopardized by poaching: in 2002 alone, poachers killed 37 individuals in order to saw off and sell their valuable horns.[6] Chitwan has the largest population of Indian rhinoceros in Nepal, estimated at 605 individuals out of 645 in total in the country.
Der Park ist bekannt für die Population des Panzernashorns, die bis zur Jahrtausendwende auf 544 Tiere und bis zum Frühjahr 2015 auf 645 Nashörner[6] angewachsen war. Seit 1986 werden alljährlich Tiere von Chitwan in den Bardia-Nationalpark und in das Suklaphanta-Wildreservat übersiedelt. Die Population war aber immer wieder durch Wilderei stark gefährdet: allein im Jahre 2002 haben Wilderer 37 Tiere grausam getötet, um das kostbare Horn absägen und verkaufen zu können. Die letzte Zählung im Jahr 2011 ergab insgesamt 503 Nashörner im Park, im selben Zeitraum starben zwei Tiere durch Wilderer. Bei der Zählung im Frühjahr 2015 wurden 645 Tiere in Nepal gefunden[6], davon 605 im Chitwan-Nationalpark[8], während gleichzeitig in den letzten drei Jahren kein Tier durch Wilderer ums Leben kam.
Increase the ISO and opened the aperture to get the fast shutter speed so that the clouds would be keeping their shape versus being smoothed out with the longer exposure. Their definition in the sky was pretty against the far off Baltimore City lights.
The sharpness of the 14mm Sigma lens even at wider apertures to far edges is impressive.
The ferry could not handle the strongly increased traffic in the 60’s anymore and the need for a good north-south connection grew. That’s why, in 1963, the province of Zeeland finalises the order for the Zeeland bridge between Schouwen-Duiveland and Noord-Beveland to be built. With its 5 kilometres in length, the bridge – then still called the Oosterschelde bridge – becomes the longest in the Netherlands. The Zeeland bridge exists of 54 pillars with spans at intervals of 95 metres. There is also a passageway for ships by making part of the bridge, which is 40 metres wide, moveable.
The bridge is officially opened on 15 December 1965 by Queen Juliana. In April of 1967, the Oosterschelde bridge is renamed Zeeland bridge. Until 1993, users of the bridge had to pay toll, after then the bridge has been toll free. The opening of the Zeeland bridge makes Schouwen-Duiveland a lot more accessible. This leads to mass tourism to Schouwen-Duiveland. Especially the Westhoek with its dunes and 18 kilometres of beach profits from this.
Carrbridge - Scottish Highlands.
Carrbridge is a village in Badenoch and Strathspey in the Scottish Highlands. It forms a beautiful area of the Caingorms National Park, and in turn, provides a wonderful home to the Red Squirrel.
In Great Britain numbers have decreased drastically in recent years. This decline is associated with the introduction by humans of the eastern grey squirrel from North America. However, the population in Scotland is stabilising due to conservation efforts, awareness and the increasing population of the pine marten, a European predator that selectively controls grey squirrels.
Dartford Warbler - Sylvia Undata
The Dartford warbler (Sylvia undata) iDs a typical warbler from the warmer parts of western Europe and northwestern Africa. It is a small warbler with a long thin tail and a thin pointed bill. The adult male has grey-brown upperparts and is dull reddish-brown below except for the centre of the belly which has a dirty white patch. It has light speckles on the throat and a red eye-ring. The sexes are similar but the adult female is usually less grey above and paler below.
Its breeding range lies west of a line from southern England to the heel of Italy (southern Apulia). The Dartford warbler is usually resident all year in its breeding range, but there is some limited migration.
The Dartford warbler was first described by the Welsh naturalist Thomas Pennant from two specimens that were shot in April 1773 on Bexley Heath near Dartford in Kent.
The species is naturally rare. The largest European populations of Sylvia undata are in the Iberian peninsula, others in much of France, in Italy and southern England and south Wales. In Africa it can be found only in small areas in the north, wintering in northern Morocco and northern Algeria.
In southern England the birds breed on heathlands, sometimes near the coast, and nest in either common gorse (Ulex europaeus) or common heather (Calluna
Dartford warblers are named for Dartford Heath in north west Kent, where the population became extinct in the early twentieth century. They almost died out in the United Kingdom in the severe winter of 1962/1963 when the national population dropped to just ten pairs. Sylvia undata is also sensitive to drought affecting breeding success or producing heath fires, as occurred during 1975 and 1976 in England when virtually all juveniles failed to survive their first year.
However, this species can recover well in good quality habitat with favourable temperatures and rainfall, thanks to repeated nesting and a high survival rate for the young. Indeed, they recovered in some areas of the UK, but numbers are once again on the decline in other regions of their natural range.
The range of the Dartford warbler is restricted to western and southern Europe. The total population in 2012 was estimated at 1.1–2.5 million breeding pairs. The largest numbers occur in Spain where there were believed to be 983,000–1,750,000 pairs. For reasons that probably include loss of suitable habitat, the Spanish population appears to be declining. The species is therefore classed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being Near threatened.
A period of climatic warming since 1963 has seen the UK population increase to "more than 2,500 pairs in 2006 (Wotton et al. 2009). Expansion into patches of structurally suitable habitat (up to an altitude of 400m), more northerly areas and away from the core of the range, from Dorset and Hampshire to Derbyshire and Suffolk, is likely to have been facilitated by milder winter weather (Wotton et al. 2009, Bradbury et al. 2011)... The Dartford warbler population in the UK is expected to continue to increase. However, future climate-based projections for the European range indicate that by 2080, more than 60% of the current European range may no longer be suitable (Huntley et al 2007). There is evidence that this is happening already, with severe declines in Spain and France (Green 2017). For this reason, the species is classified as Near Threatened on the IUCN Global Red List. If the declines in southern Europe continue, the UK will become increasingly important for global conservation of this species".
Population:
UK breeding:
3,200 pairs
For increasing my own immune system, I decided to hike to the Phoenix Mountain last Sunday where is full of
Pythoncide. :-) It happened to be a rainy day.
Xitou Nature Education Area or Xitou Bamboo Forest is a forest park in Lugu Village, Lugu Township, Nantou County, Taiwan. Xitou is derived from a Chinese word with the meaning of the origin of river. During the Japanese rule of Taiwan, the forest was used as an experimental forest for University of Tokyo students. Later after the handover of Taiwan from Japan to the Republic of China in 1945, the forest was declared a nature reserve and named Xitou Nature Education Area in 1970. On 11 September 2016, a 2,800-year old giant tree fell after long heavy rain, injuring three visitors.
Increased the ISO here to get the shutter speed faster to get more of the pattern in the water falling over the rocks.
Captured with just the CPL filter.
By the time I took this shot near Tomahawk Point the wind was really starting to increase in speed. As you'll see here, the trawler has dropped anchor to keep from drifting towards the shoreline and dangerous rocks. The sky from this angle was bereft of clouds and is already taking on an interesting complexion - a combination of the salt air and the sand being whipped up in the foreground. But as far as the composition was concerned, that sky provides some interesting negative space to balance the trawler. Too much water here would have been, well, too much.
P.S. Those dark smudges in the air behind the boat are not spots on my sensor, but sea birds.
Atlas Air, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, is a cargo airline, passenger charter airline, and aircraft lessor based in Purchase in Harrison, New York. The airline was named after Atlas, a Titan in Greek mythology. The symbol on the tail of their aircraft is a golden man carrying a golden world. With a total combined fleet of 55 Boeing 747 aircraft, Atlas is the world's largest operator of this fleet type. In 2019, the airline had 3,587 employees and operates across 425 destinations in 119 countries.
Qantas Airways Limited is the flag carrier of Australia and its largest airline by fleet size, international flights and international destinations. It is the third oldest airline in the world, after KLM and Avianca, having been founded in November 1920. The airline is based in the Sydney suburb of Mascot, adjacent to its main hub at Sydney Airport. As of March 2014, Qantas had a 65% share of the Australian domestic market and carried 14.9% of all passengers travelling in and out of Australia. R_5178
The Robin's red breast and habit of living close to humankind makes it one of our most familiar birds.
Robins are widely distributed in Britain & Ireland throughout the year, from Shetland to the Channel Islands, apart from on the highest mountain tops. Robin breeding numbers increased through the last part of the 20th century and have been fairly stable since, albeit with some fluctuations.
The Robin is both a resident and also a migrant visitor to Britain during the winter months, when birds from northern and eastern Europe help to swell numbers. During particularly cold weather this pugnacious little bird can be seen sharing bird tables with several other Robins, all of them trying to defend the food source they have found.
Gulf Of Mexico
Southwest Florida
USA
Photographed in the Gulf of Mexico from a pier.
The brown pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is a North American bird of the pelican family, Pelecanidae. It is one of three pelican species found in the Americas and one of two that feed by diving in water. It is found on the Atlantic Coast from Nova Scotia to the mouth of the Amazon River, and along the Pacific Coast from British Columbia to northern Chile, including the Galapagos Islands.
The brown pelican mainly feeds on fish, but occasionally eats amphibians, crustaceans, and the eggs and nestlings of birds. It nests in colonies in secluded areas, often on islands, vegetated land among sand dunes, thickets of shrubs and trees, and mangroves.
It has been rated as a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. It was listed under the United States Endangered Species Act from 1970 to 2009, as pesticides such as dieldrin and DDT threatened its future in the Southeastern United States and California. In 1972, the use of DDT was banned in Florida, followed by the rest of the United States. Since then, the brown pelican's population has increased. – Wikipedia
It is completely modifiable.
You can change the "Text Color" you wish, adjust the size into bigger/smaller size
and you can also increase/decrease the "Glow" effect as well.
Available at CheekyWow Event
Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius)
My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
More TICINO/TESSIN Wildlife Photos (all taken in my garden in Monteggio/Ti, Switzerland): it.lacerta-bilineata.com/ramarro-occidentale-lacerta-bili...
If you're interested, you'll find a more detailed closeup here (it's the 8th photo from the top): www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi...
My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (it's very brief but pretty unusual: a tiny wall lizard attacks two young great tits): www.youtube.com/watch?v=FQqkSsyrm7E
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO: MY LONG AND ARDUOUS JOURNEY TO BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY
If you've set yourself the challenge of exclusively shooting the wildlife in your own back yard, you might find - as I did - that bird photography is really, really hard.
It's not that reptiles are easy to photograph either, mind - but at least the ones in my garden stay (for the most part) on the ground, and one can learn how to carefully approach them with a camera. They're also clearly egoists, which from a photographer's point of view is is a great character trait: if a lizard detects a human in its vicinity, it's only interested in saving its own skin, and it won't alarm its buddies.
But birds... oh man. Over the years, my feathered friends and I have developed a lovely routine that now defines our peaceful co-existence. As soon as I as much as open a window (let alone the door), I'm instantly greeted by an eruption of panicky fluttering and hysterical shouts from my garden: "SAVE YOUR WOMEN AND CHILDREN AND FLY FOR YOUR LIVES: THE HAIRLESS, PINK MONSTER IS COMING!!! (Yes, I speak bird, and I know that this is exactly what they are shouting 😉).
Needless to say, with the exception of the redstart I already showed here, all my efforts to get the kind of detailed shots I usually strive for with my nature photography ended in complete failure and utter disillusionment. I was ready to give up on stalking the winged misanthropes in my garden altogether, but then winter came - and changed everything.
One day this past January I observed my neighbor Signora P - a kind, elderly Italian lady - putting something on the low garden wall in front of my house. At first I thought she was just putting some treat there for her cat Romeo; the young tom patrols that wall constantly (it's his favorite spot in the garden, and during the warmer months he usually lurks in the thick foliage next to it to prey on lizards).
But once I detected a lot of movement on that wall through my window, I understood she had put a little pile of bread crumbs there; she was feeding the birds who soon arrived in flocks. This was certainly well-intended on my neighbor's part, but her noble action came with a catch, and I'm afraid quite literally.
When I took a stroll through my garden the next day I discovered a suspicious amount of feathers on the ground next to the wall. Romeo had apparently switched from his low-calorie summer diet (lizard) to more energy-rich meals consisting of "fowl" (it was winter after all, so from a nutritionist's point of view this made sense).
I would find fresh traces of Romeo's victims (mostly feathers, but also the odd wing) in my garden over the following days; so my first intuition that my neighbor was feeding her cat hadn't been that far off after all, as Romeo was now clearly being "served" fresh birds on a daily basis. And although the hungry visitors seemed to be aware of the danger and became slightly more prudent, they just couldn't resist the tasty snacks Signora P put on that wall - and neither could Romeo.
It was obvious that I had to act, but talking to my neighbor - who is as stubborn as she is kind - would have been futile, I knew that much. I pondered the matter long and hard - until a light bulb went off in my head. The idea was genius. If successful, what I had in mind would not only increase the birds' chances of surviving Romeo's appetite, but also greatly benefit my own photographic endeavors.
I started to enact my master plan the very next day by buying a giant bag of bird feed (consisting mainly of sunflower seeds) from the store. Then I dragged a huge piece of a tree trunk (approx. 120 cm in height) that we normally chop firewood on in the shed out into the garden and emptied almost half of the bag's content on top of it. Signora P's buffet for birds (and cats) was about to get some serious competition 😊.
My reasoning was as follows: not only would the birds be lured away from the fatally low garden wall to a place where they were safe from the cat - there was nothing around that tree trunk that provided cover for a predator, and the birds had a nice 360° view around it at all times - but I was also able to photograph them while hiding in the shed.
However, in order for my plan to work there was one little extra measure I had to take, and it was one that risked lowering my own life expectancy considerably once the owner of the property - my mom - discovered it. You see, our shed is completely windowless, so if I wanted to use it as a blind, I had no choice but to cut a hole into one of its wooden walls... which I promptly did (I figured all's fair in love - and photography 😉).
Granted, I have absolutely zero carpentering skills, and it showed. That hole was an ugly mess: the shed's wall seemed to have had an encounter with Jack Nicholson's ax-wielding lunatic character from the film 'The Shining'. Needless to say, I was incredibly proud of my work (I mean, come on: there now was a hole where before there wasn't a hole, and it was big enough for the lens of my camera to peek through, so it was mission accomplished as far as I was concerned).
Now all I had to do was wait for the birds to discover the tree trunk. In the meantime I started to mentally prepare myself for the inevitable confrontation with my mom and go through possible explanations for that splintering hole in the wall (it was either gonna be a rabid woodpecker attack or an emergency rescue mission with a feeding tube for a little kid that had accidentally locked himself inside the shed - both seemed valid options, though I slightly preferred the locked-in kid due to the involved drama and heroism 😉).
A whole day went by, and not a single bird visited the sunflower seeds. I had expected that it might take a few hours until the first of the ever curious great tits or blue tits would show up, but given how tiny my garden is, an entire day seemed excessive. Then another day came and went: the birds kept flocking to the bread crumbs on the wall, and my tree trunk kept collecting dust. To add injury to insult, a few fresh feathers on the ground were proof that Romeo was still feasting.
It was incredibly frustrating: I provided my winged guests with a much better view - plus a higher chance of surviving the cuisine - than Signora P's place; I risked (almost) certain death at the hands of my own mother (OK, the act of vandalism on the shed I had committed for my own benefit, but still), yet the birds kept ignoring me.
Then, after three days, just before sunset, I spotted a single blue tit on the tree trunk picking away at the sunflower seeds.
When I got up the next morning I immediately realized that the loud noise that accompanies each and every tit activity had shifted from the wall to the shed. At last the dam had broken: there was a flurry of movement around the tree trunk, and I counted at least 5 different species of birds feasting on the sunflower seeds.
From day 4 onward my plan worked beautifully: the birds now indeed mostly ignored Romeo's "snack wall" and kept to the tree trunk. And yes, I was able to play peeping tom from behind the shed's wall and photograph them!! 😊
Thus, dear readers, I finally managed to produce some acceptable bird photos, and I had even saved my feathered friends from a deadly foe in the process. All through winter and spring I took advantage of my new bird hide, and in late May I started mixing some cherries with the sunflower seeds. The idea was to attract a Eurasian jay (Garrulus glandarius), and as you can see, it worked!
It took me almost three weeks and more than a few tricks to capture that clever fella, but given how long I've been rambling here already, that's a story for another day. As for my mom, she still doesn't know about the hole in the wall, so please don't snitch! 😉.
I hope you like the photo and wish you all a wonderful weekend! Many greetings from Switzerland, and as always: let me know what you think in the comments 🙏 😊 ❤!
P.S. if anyone has their own funny tale about the obstacles we photographers are prepared to overcome for a desired photo, please write it in the comments: I love such stories 😊
I walked down by the local creek the other afternoon. The recent rains have increased flow rates and the water in Cherry Creek is tea like from all the fallen leaves. Downstream about 75 feet I notice a disturbance in the water but don't see anything. Then I see something moving upstream on the surface of the water like a big fish. It gets a little closer then I realize it must be an otter swimming vigorously in my direction! It wasn't an otter but an American Mink (Mustela vision). It's in the weasel family and is almost as aquatic as an otter and a nocturnal hunter. They eat voles, frogs, crayfish, waterfowl and their eggs, mice, rabbits, snakes, and aquatic invertebrates.
It got to within about 6 feet of where I stood backlit with camera on the monopod, it looked up at me then swam a little circle around a rock then scurried out of the water on the opposite bank and darted under a fallen log! Wow, glad I had the long lens! Pinch me and I do believe in luck. Mendocino County, North California U.S.A.
This late sunset at about 8:30 p.m. bounced onto the eastern clouds surprised me and brought me joy.
No increased saturation. Only had time to take the D810 and 105mm f/2.8 prime outside to capture that light on the trees.
Many thanks for looking! Please, no advice. There are many who take skilled landscape shots. I am not one of them ;)
Another shot of this male Redstart a bird that has increased in numbers on Exmoor and Dartmoor over the last few years.
It has been wonderful to photograph this male and his mate and the young were very close to being fledged when I checked on them a couple of days ago.
Fingers crossed that they will survive and return to breed again next year.
Taken on Exmoor.
Henån is a locality and the seat of Orust Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden with 1,816 inhabitants in 2010
Henån is home to approximately 2,000 permanent year-round residents with a significant increase of summer residents who come from the nearby towns and cities to stay in their summer cottages, which frequently are passed down for generations.
Need to click and increase the image size to see the rest of the processing.
over-processed with Photoscape X
Ontario (Algonquin Park) - 20191005-02
Established in 1893, it is the oldest provincial park in Canada. Additions since its creation have increased the park to its current size of about 7,653 km2 (2,955 sq mi).
Its size, combined with its proximity to the major urban centres of Toronto and Ottawa, makes Algonquin one of the most popular provincial parks in the province and the country. Highway 60 runs through the south end of the park, while the Trans-Canada Highway bypasses it to the north. Over 2,400 lakes and 1,200 kilometres of streams and rivers are located within the park. Some notable examples include Canoe Lake and the Petawawa, Nipissing, Amable du Fond, Madawaska, and Tim rivers. These were formed by the retreat of the glaciers during the last ice age.
The park is considered part of the "border" between Northern Ontario and Southern Ontario. The park is in an area of transition between northern coniferous forest and southern deciduous forest. This unique mixture of forest types, and the wide variety of environments in the park, allows the park to support an uncommon diversity of plant and animal species. It is also an important site for wildlife research. (Wikipedia)
----------------
We made the trek to Algonquin Park for fall colours a couple of years ago. It seemed that half of the population of Toronto and Ottawa was also there, with hundreds of cars and people filling the parking areas and roadsides as we all tried for the best views of the fall colours. I love this park, but not when it is so full of people. I'll look for less obstructed views of leaves in the future.
Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada. October 2019.
Increased the ISO some to see if it provided better overall results ... I think the version at ISO 2500 was better. But then that could have also been because the wind was gusting more or less.
The winds were around 20 to 30 MPH last evening ... and bitter cold with temperatures heading towards 15 degrees F.
Had to have the gloves off to manually focus the lens ... brrrrr.
to report a sharp increase in circles completed :-)
Robert Brault
HBW!! best viewed large :-)
www.flickr.com/photos/itucker/30387137693/in/photostream/...
orange twig littleleaf linden, 'Winter Orange', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, Raleigh, north carolina
One major tip to increase to chances of warbler is patience. If you glipse at some warblers in a particular area and they go away, chances are that they are patrolling that area and will end up coming back. Chassing after them will probably not give any good result. I think that waiting in one particular spot is better. It can take several minutes before the birds accept that you are kind of partof the scenary. Many time I have seen birds coming back and ended up very near and sometime too close to even focus on them. This is also the case with this one. This warbler patroler repeatedly the same area of a small creek.which gave me ample opportunities to get a shot.
Colț Citadel (Cetatea Colț). The citadel was built in the 14th century by the Cândea family. Because of the appearance of the citadel and toponymy of the places, it is assumed that these would have inspired the novel "The Castle in the Carpathians" by Jules Verne. The citadel is in a state of increased degradation, being practically a ruin.
Robin (Erithacus rubecula)..The robin might seem cute, but it is actually a highly territorial bird and will aggressively defend its domain against others. These much-loved birds are on the rise as the UK robin population continues to increase
1956 the increase in living standards and the focus on education helped to fuel the increase in college education with 1 in 3 high school graduates now going off to college. TV shows included "As The World Turns" and "The Price is Right". Mothers could now buy disposable diapers and tefal non stick Frying Pans. Elvis Presley appears on the Ed Sullivan show and enters the music charts for the first time, with "Heartbreak Hotel".
Oban, “Gateway to the Western Isles” in Argyll and Bute is the main exit port for Caledonian MacBrayne ferries sailing to both the Inner and Outer Hebrides of Scotland. The town itself can get very busy in the summer tourist season with an increase in population of some 24.000 visitors. The town is dominated by John Stuart McCaig’s Grade B listed historic monument of McCaig's Tower which sits prominent on Battery Hill overlooking the town, and was built around 1898 of Bonawe granite taken from Airds Bay on Loch Etive, to provide work for local stonemasons during the winter months.