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Mameda Town and its surroundings, which developed as a townspeople's land during the Tenryo period, retained a lot of land division at the time of residence, and traditional buildings remain well as a group, so the range of about 10.7 hectares was selected as a national important preservation district for groups of traditional buildings on December 10, 2004.
IMPORTANT: for non-pro users who read the info on a computer, just enlarge your screen to 120% (or more), then the full text will appear below the photo with a white background - which makes reading so much easier.
My best photos (mostly not on Flickr) are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi...
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO:
At a first glance, the photo above may appear to show the slightly gruesome scene of a flower crab spider (Misumena vatia) munchin' on a hairy scoliid wasp (Scolia hirta), but that's in fact not what is happening here.
To provide some context: I'd discovered this beautiful female M. vatia a few days prior to taking the photo. I love photographing spiders, and particularly when I find one of the crab variety - of which there are at least 4 different species present in my garden - I make sure to visit it regularly, always in the hope of catching it with prey (somewhat morbid of me, I know, but the way these arachnids hunt is just endlessly fascinating and makes for great photos).
They are pretty territorial; once a spider has settled on a flower where the harvest is plentiful - which is to say the plant gets visited often by insects and thus provides a steady stream of fresh victims - it will try to ride that "gravy train" for as long as possible and remain lurking inside (or just underneath) that flower, which will allow you to locate it again.
The individual in the photo had chosen my peppermint plants as her hunting grounds, which made sense, because even though she wasn't exactly well camouflaged in them (as you can see here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi... ), the flowers of this exquisitely fragrant herb attracted more insects than any other plant blooming at the same time in my garden.
But something was off in the land of mint: whenever I visited Mrs. Crab Spider over the course of several days, I never found her with prey. At first I thought she had chosen her hunting grounds poorly after all, because she was so easily visible the insects were probably thinking: "Nice try, but I know my peppermint flowers, and you sure don't look like one!"
Yet when I stuck around for a bit and closely observed her for a few minutes, this hypothesis quickly came undone, because there was certainly no shortage of potential victims landing right in front of the spider: one apparently suicidal honeybee even literally shoved its bum into the spider's face, and she didn't move a muscle! And the same was true for the hairy scoliid wasps, as you can see in the photo above.
This was very confusing behavior, because even if the spider hadn't been hungry when I first found her (maybe after just devouring a calorie-rich bumblebee), her appetite should have come back by now, and I witnessed no sign of it. It made no sense: was this perhaps a vegetarian spider? Had I come across the next step in arachnid evolution and found the first individual sticking to an exclusive diet of tofu and quinoa?
What I saw puzzled me, and I needed answers. If this crab spider was neither eating bees nor wasps (nor waiting for a flying soy bean to miraculously land on the peppermint flower) - what was going on here? Was this maybe a deeply spiritual spider on the path to enlightenment adhering to the ancient principle of nonviolence which applies to actions towards all living beings?
Indeed, when I leaned in closer to better observe her, I thought I caught a whiff of incense sticks (granted, it might have only been the fragrance of the peppermint, but I started to like the idea of a "hippy spider" in my garden 😉 ). The longer I thought about it, the more it made sense: the spider's motionless pose wasn't that of a lurking predator ready to strike as I foolishly had been assuming - this spider was in fact MEDITATING (or at the very least doing Yoga).
The next day I wanted to visit my enlightened friend again, but to my chagrin I couldn't find her in the peppermint plants. After a careful search of the area I was relieved when I finally spotted her; she had climbed up into the phlox and now resided approximately fifty centimeters above her previous location, in the midst of the bright pink blooming flowers (I wouldn't have been surprised to find her reading a tiny version of Herman Hesse's 'Siddhartha', holding it tight with all eight legs, but she was just doing her previous meditation/Yoga pose 😉 )
For what happened next, however, I was NOT prepared: as I was watching, a green bottle fly (Lucilia sericata) landed right in front of my hippy spider - who caught the poor bugger faster than you can say "tofu" and immediately started sucking the life out of him.
"And there goes the ancient principle of nonviolence right out the window...", I thought to myself as I went to get the camera. Either I had been wrong in my previous assessment, or Mrs. Crab Spider wasn't a strict ideologue (or just a good ole' hypocrite like the rest of us 😉 ); in any case, she obviously enjoyed her meal very much, even spinning the fly around like a corn cob (here's a photo, in case you're interested: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/western-green-lizard-lacerta-bi... )
What I eventually did realize though, and I'm not joking for once, was that I had indeed observed a very interesting behavior: this flower crab spider had specialized on a particular prey. Over the course of two weeks, I only ever saw her catch flies (who were omnipresent on the phlox, but rarely visited the peppermint), while she ignored any insect with a sting, regardless how close and easy to grab it might have been.
To my knowledge, this was very unusual. Misumena vatia is a notorious bee killer, and I myself had witnessed many a careless honey bee fall victim to this highly skilled predator in my garden over the years (here's just one example: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-... ).
Although I have zero proof for this, I suspect my choosy spider simply wanted to avoid the risk of getting stung; perhaps because she'd learned from past experience that the pointy end of bees and wasps can be quite painful - or maybe this was innate behavior that occurs in some individuals but not in others.
In any case, I was half relieved and half disappointed by this outcome; on the one hand it was good to know this beautiful arachnid wouldn't starve to death in my garden for a lack of tofu - but on the other I had really liked the idea of a spider on the path to enlightenment and was now a bit saddened that there would probably never be a commune of tiny, eight-legged hippies in my garden. 😉
As always, many thanks for reading and commenting: have a great remaining week everyone! And on a very personal note, let me again express my gratitude for all the best wishes I got from you after my hand surgery (which thankfully went well: as you can see, I'm already able to bore you with my usual overlong photo descriptions again ;-) - thank you guys, so, so much!! ❤🙏😊
Market Street is an important thoroughfare in San Francisco, California. It begins at The Embarcadero in front of the Ferry Building at the northeastern edge of the city and runs southwest through downtown, passing the Civic Center and the Castro District, to the intersection with Corbett Avenue in the Twin Peaks neighborhood. Beyond this point, the roadway continues as Portola Drive into the southwestern quadrant of San Francisco. Portola Drive extends south to the intersection of St. Francis Boulevard and Sloat Boulevard, where it continues as Junipero Serra Boulevard.
Market Street is the boundary of two street grids. Streets on its southeast side are parallel or perpendicular to Market Street, while those on the northwest are nine degrees off from the cardinal directions.
Market Street is a major transit artery for the city of San Francisco, and has carried in turn horse-drawn streetcars, cable cars, electric streetcars, electric trolleybuses, and diesel buses. Today Muni's buses, trolleybuses, and heritage streetcars (on the F Market line) share the street, while below the street the two-level Market Street Subway carries Muni Metro and BART. While cable cars no longer operate on Market Street, the surviving cable car lines terminate to the side of the street at its intersections with California Street and Powell Street.
Construction
Market Street cuts across the city for three miles (5 km) from the waterfront to the hills of Twin Peaks. It was laid out originally by Jasper O'Farrell, a 26-year old trained civil engineer who emigrated to Yerba Buena, as the town was then known. The town was renamed San Francisco in 1847 after it was captured by Americans during the Mexican-American War. O'Farrell first repaired the original layout of the settlement around Portsmouth Square and then established Market Street as the widest street in town, 120 feet between property lines. (Van Ness now beats it with 125 feet.) It was described at the time as an arrow aimed straight at "Los Pechos de la Chola" (the Breasts of the Maiden), now called Twin Peaks. Writing in Forgotten Pioneers.
A fresh start (:
First most important, i want to apologize to everybody i may have let down, let wait or anything related to my absence.
A lot has happened in my life, good and bad, either way, it was busy!
I am a volunteer for shelters and take dogs into my home to find them a happy family, but i must train them etc, which is super fun but takes some time! :D
Then there is sl, well, i am not very social in game, i have amazing friends in real life, and sure i met awesome people in sl also, however, certain people think it is alright to say bad things about you. Or screw you over. Well, i will not let my guard down anymore!
It is hard to let people close, they make it even harder, if they lie.
I mean there is already so much bs going on in the world. Can we have and keep online as a safe space. Stop the gossip, stop the lying. Lets not go evil just because you are hiding behind screen.
Rant rant rant :p
Anyway i needed a break from all this. Now i am happy and refreshed! And ready for a new start. With this new beginning i wanted a new name.
Mori.
Hope ya`ll dig it!
With love,
Nalena. ♥
An uninhabited island in the Strait of Magellan in southern Chile. An important breeding area for the Magellanic penguin.
It is one of the spectacled penguins (Spheniscus) in the south of South America.
Its name comes from the fact that it occurs on the coasts of the “Terra Magellanica”, the Patagonian region.
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Eine unbewohnte Insel in der Magellanstraße im Süden Chiles. Ein wichtiges Brutgebiet für den Magellanpinguin.
Er gehört zu den Brillenpinguinen (Spheniscus), im Süden Südamerikas.
Sein Name da er an den Küsten der „Terra Magellanica“ vorkommt, dem Gebiet Patagoniens.
IMPORTANT: for non-pro users who read the info on a computer, just enlarge your screen to 120% (or more), then the full text will appear below the photo with a white background - which makes reading so much easier.
The color version of the photo above is here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO:
So far there's only been one photo in my gallery that hasn't been taken in my garden ('The Flame Rider', captured in the Maggia Valley: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/53563448847/in/datepo... ) - which makes the image above the second time I've "strayed from the path" (although not very far, since the photo was taken only approximately 500 meters from my house).
Overall, I'll stick to my "only-garden rule", but every once in a while I'll show you a little bit of the landscape around my village, because I think it will give you a better sense of just how fascinating this region is, and also of its history.
The title I chose for the photo may seem cheesy, and it's certainly not very original, but I couldn't think of another one, because it's an honest reflection of what I felt when I took it: a profound sense of peace - although if you make it to the end of this text you'll realize my relationship with that word is a bit more complicated.
I got up early that day; it was a beautiful spring morning, and there was still a bit of mist in the valley below my village which I hoped would make for a few nice mood shots, so I quickly grabbed my camera and went down there before the rising sun could dissolve the magical layer on the scenery.
Most human activity hadn't started yet, and I was engulfed in the sounds of the forest as I was walking the narrow trail along the horse pasture; it seemed every little creature around me wanted to make its presence known to potential mates (or rivals) in a myriad of sounds and voices and noises (in case you're interested, here's a taste of what I usually wake up to in spring, but you best use headphones: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfoCTqdAVCE )
Strolling through such an idyllic landscape next to grazing horses and surrounded by birdsong and beautiful trees, I guess it's kind of obvious one would feel the way I described above and choose the title I did, but as I looked at the old stone buildings - the cattle shelter you can see in the foreground and the stable further up ahead on the right - I also realized how fortunate I was.
It's hard to imagine now, because Switzerland is one of the wealthiest countries in the world today, but the men and women who had carried these stones and constructed the walls of these buildings were among the poorest in Europe. The hardships the people in some of the remote and little developed valleys in Ticino endured only a few generations ago are unimaginable to most folks living in my country today.
It wasn't uncommon that people had to sell their own kids as child slaves - the girls had to work in factories or in rice fields, the boys as "living chimney brushes" in northern Italy - just because there wasn't enough food to support the whole family through the harsh Ticino winters.
If you wonder why contemporary Swiss historians speak of "slaves" as opposed to child laborers, it's because that's what many of them actually were: auctioned off for a negotiable prize at the local market, once sold, these kids were not payed and in many cases not even fed by their masters (they had to beg for food in the streets or steal it).
Translated from German Wikipedia: ...The Piazza grande in Locarno, where the Locarno Film Festival is held today, was one of the places where orphans, foundlings and children from poor families were auctioned off. The boys were sold as chimney sweeps, the girls ended up in the textile industry, in tobacco processing in Brissago or in the rice fields of Novara, which was also extremely hard work: the girls had to stand bent over in the water for twelve to fourteen hours in all weathers. The last verse of the Italian folk song 'Amore mio non piangere' reads: “Mamma, papà, non piangere, se sono consumata, è stata la risaia che mi ha rovinata” (Mom, dad, don't cry when I'm used up, it was the rice field that destroyed me.)... de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaminfegerkinder
The conditions for the chimney sweeps - usually boys between the age of 8 and 12 (or younger, because they had to be small enough to be able to crawl into the chimneys) - were so catastrophic that many of them didn't survive; they died of starvation, cold or soot in their lungs - as well as of work-related accidents like breaking their necks when they fell, or suffocatig if they got stuck in inside a chimney. This practice of "child slavery" went on as late as the 1950s (there's a very short article in English on the topic here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spazzacamini and a more in depth account for German speakers in this brief clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=gda8vZp_zsc ).
Now I don't know if the people who built the old stone houses along my path had to sell any of their kids, but looking at the remnants of their (not so distant) era I felt an immense sense of gratitude that I was born at a time of prosperity - and peace - in my region, my country and my home. Because none of it was my doing: it was simple luck that decided when and where I came into this world.
It also made me think of my own family. Both of my grandparents on my father's side grew up in Ticino (they were both born in 1900), but while they eventually left Switzerland's poorest region to live in its richest, the Kanton of Zurich, my grandfather's parents relocated to northern Italy in the 1920s and unfortunately were still there when WWII broke out.
They lost everything during the war, and it was their youngest daughter - whom I only knew as "Zia" which means "aunt" in Italian - who earned a little money to support herself and my great-grandparents by giving piano lessons to high-ranking Nazi officers and their kids (this was towards the end of the war when German forces had occupied Italy).
I never knew that about her; Zia only very rarely spoke of the war, but one time when I visited her when she was already over a 100 years old (she died at close to 104), I asked her how they had managed to survive, and she told me that she went to the local prefecture nearly every day to teach piano. "And on the way there would be the dangling ones" she said, with a shudder.
I didn't get what she meant, so she explained. Visiting the city center where the high ranking military resided meant she had to walk underneath the executed men and women who were hanging from the lantern posts along the road (these executions - often of civilians - were the Germans' retaliations for attacks by the Italian partisans).
I never forgot her words - nor could I shake the look on her face as she re-lived this memory. And I still can't grasp it; my house in Ticino is only 60 meters from the Italian border, and the idea that there was a brutal war going on three houses down the road from where I live now in Zia's lifetime strikes me as completely surreal.
So, back to my title for the photo above. "Peace". It's such a simple, short word, isn't it? And we use it - or its cousin "peaceful" - quite often when we mean nice and quiet or stress-free. But if I'm honest I don't think I know what it means. My grandaunt Zia did, but I can't know. And I honestly hope I never will.
I'm sorry I led you down such a dark road; I usually intend to make people smile with the anecdotes that go with my photos, but this one demanded a different approach (I guess with this latest image I've strayed from the path in more than one sense, and I hope you'll forgive me).
Ticino today is the region with the second highest average life expectancy in Europe (85.2 years), and "The Human Development Index" of 0.961 in 2021 was one of the highest found anywhere in the world, and northern Italy isn't far behind. But my neighbors, many of whom are now in their 90s, remember well it wasn't always so.
That a region so poor it must have felt like purgatory to many of its inhabitants could turn into something as close to paradise on Earth as I can imagine in a person's lifetime should make us all very hopeful. But, and this is the sad part, it also works the other way 'round. And I believe we'd do well to remember that, too.
To all of you - with my usual tardiness but from the bottom of my heart - a happy, healthy, hopeful 2025 and beyond.
© Important notice: do not use my images without my written permission, even for a non commercial use. If you're interested in any of my photos you must contact me first. All my images are under full copyright.
© All rights reserved.
Windows are an important part of street photography for me. On the one hand, there are the interesting reflections, but also the confusion that sometimes arises and has to be resolved first. I love it. I would be delighted if you would take a look at the pictures in my album. Only if you feel like it, of course :-) Best regards MarioM.
Fenster sind für mich in der Streetphotographie ein wichtiger Bestandteil. Zum einen sind da die interessanten Spiegelungen aber auch Verwirrungen, die es manchmal gibt und die erst einmal aufgelöst werden muss. I liebe es. Es würde mich freuen, wenn du dir die Bilder in meinem Album ansehen würdest. Natürlich nur wenn du Lust hast :-) Liebe Grüsse MarioM.
Important
"It's important to keep your feelings and your self-worth in different places because when feelings get hurt it shouldn't change how you view yourself." - Kaci Diane
.... and no, you can't have any of my fries.
Újezd is an important traffic junction as it serves both automotive and tramway traffic. Here you will also find the funicular to the famous Petřín Hill and many cool pubs and bars that are worth a visit. More importantly, there is a memorial to the victims of Communism located at the base of Petřín Hill - it is a rather disturbing series of statues dedicated to the victims of the Communist era between 1948-1989.
© Important notice: Do not use my images without my written permission, even for a non commercial use. If you're interested in any of my photos you must contact me first. All my images are under full copyright.
© All rights reserved.
Saint Louis des Invalides– Eglise du dôme - Paris 7°
Mille mercis à mon adorable ami Guyscoop qui a gentiment et magnifiquement post-traité ma petite photo. On forme une association fructueuse, Guy, tu ne trouves pas ? ;-))
J’essaie de répondre à tous les commentaires que j’ai reçus depuis deux mois et de visiter les streams de mes amis. Ca va prendre « un peu » (lol) de temps et j’espère que vous comprendrez :-)
Thousands of thanks to my sweet friend Guyscoop who kindly and greatly processed my little shot. We have a very fruitful partnership Guy, don’t you think so ;-))
I’m now trying to answer all the comments I received since two months, and to visit my friends streams. It will take a “little” (lol) time and I hope you’ll understand :-)
OBSERVE Collective
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The important thing is to strive towards a goal which is not immediately visible.
That goal is not the concern of the mind, but of the spirit.
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
IMPORTANT:
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© Derechos Reservados
© TUTTI I DIRITTI RISERVATI
Please dont use my images without my permission.
One of the most important Baroque pilgrimage churches in Germany is the Basilica of the Vierzehnheiligen in Bad Staffelstein, Upper Franconia.
Construction of the church began in 1743, but wasn't completed until 1772.
The planning process until construction could finally begin was confusing and complicated.
The origins of the pilgrimage lie in the Middle Ages: in 1445, the shepherd of the monastery (Langheim Monastery) saw a crying child in a field, which disappeared as he approached. This child appeared to the shepherd three times, and on July 2, 1446, he and a woman witnessed two burning candles descending from heaven at this spot. Shortly thereafter, a miraculous healing occurred at exactly the same spot. The miraculous healing was then recognized by the nearby Langheim Monastery (this monastery no longer exists). A pilgrimage quickly gained momentum, and the first church was built. A pilgrimage brings in revenue, and, as so often happens, a dispute erupts over this revenue. The dispute was between Langheim Monastery and Staffelstein, which was the responsible parish. An arbitration court ruled that the church and the offerings should remain in Langheim, but that a third of the revenue must be paid to the Bishop of Bamberg. In return, the bishop must bear a share of the construction costs, provided he knows the plans and agrees. In other words, no construction can take place without the bishop's consent.
In 1693, the Bishop of Bamberg demanded the third of the pilgrimage revenue he was entitled to from Langheim Monastery. The abbot countered by reminding the bishop that the diocese had long since failed to fulfill its proportional construction obligations, and he presented the bishop with an expert opinion on the necessity of a new building. The dispute fizzled out; the diocese was not expected to pay.
The planning confusion began. The protagonists were the Abbot of Langheim, Stephan Mösinger, and Bishop Friedrich Carl von Schönborn. They now negotiate who will pay what. The bishop succeeds in getting Langheim Abbey to bear the costs alone, but in return the pilgrimage fees are reduced. However, the building plans still have to be signed off by the bishop.
Since his abbey now has to bear the costs, the abbot wants to keep them as low as possible. He commissions the Weimar court architect Gottfried Heinrich Krohne to redesign the church. Krohne, himself a Protestant, has no sympathy for a rural pilgrimage. This is reflected in his plans. The bishop rejects Krohne's plans. The plans for the pilgrimage church are abandoned. The abbot turns to the redesign and construction of the monastery church. He hires Balthasar Neumann for this task. His plans for the new monastery church overshadow all other Baroque church plans. The project is abandoned, and the abbot has to turn his attention back to Vierzehnheiligen. In the meantime, the bishop has commissioned his court architect, Jakob Michael Küchel, to design the pilgrimage church. However, the bishop rejects these plans, deeming them too expensive. At the same time, the abbot commissioned Balthasar Neumann to draw up plans. These plans were approved, but secretly the abbot wanted to forgo the brick vaults for cost reasons. The abbot's master builder Krohne was to begin construction based on Neumann's plans, but as a cost-effective version. On April 23, 1743, the foundation stone was laid, and by December the walls in the choir and transept area were three meters high. Becoming suspicious, the bishop sent Balthasar Neumann and Küchel to Vierzehnheiligen for an inspection. Neumann was shocked; Krohne deviated significantly from Neumann's plans, surely on the abbot's instructions. The bishop blamed Krohne solely, and the abbot dismissed the master builder. Bamberg now took control, and the road was clear for Neumann. And Neumann now showed why he was one of the leading Baroque architects; he was at his best. In 1744, he presented his plans for the new building, incorporating the walls that had already been built. He completely redesigned the building, with the vault being the greatest challenge. Neumann died in 1753 and did not live to see its completion. His master mason, Thomas Nissler, continued the work in Neumann's spirit. The church was consecrated in 1772.
What would Vierzehnheiligen be without its fantastic stucco decorations and frescoes (unfortunately, since a fire caused by lightning in 1835, water damage because the temporary roof was built too late, and whitewashing in the late 19th century, the frescoes have suffered greatly today).
Johann Michael Feichtmayr and his workshop, together with Johann Georg Üblhör, all masters of their craft, were responsible for the magnificent stucco and the freestanding altar of grace. Feichtmayr also designed the high altar.
In 1862, silver and gold were discovered in the southern Baja California Sur mountains, leading miners from Mexico and the United States to rush to settle in El Triunfo in a gold rush.[4] Many of the miners had participated in the 1849 California gold rush.[4] In 1878, the mine was taken over by the British El Progreso Mining Company and became more successful. Once the largest city in Baja California Sur, it was home to more than 10,000 miners.[2] In its heyday the town was a cultural center, where Francisca Mendoza taught and performed.[5] El Triunfo was the first town in the region to install electricity and telephones.[6] Pianos and other instruments were brought to El Triunfo from around the world and a piano museum still exists.[7] When mines shut down in 1926, most of the townspeople left to look for work elsewhere.[2] The 2010 census reported a population of 327 inhabitants.[1] El Triunfo is one of the best preserved 19th and 20th century mining communities in North America and remains an important site for archaeological research.[8 - Wikipedia
... because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.
(Thich Nhat Hanh)
Came across this beautiful flowering bauhinia tree on my daily neighbourhood walk. It's apparently also called Hong Kong orchid tree.
~~~ Thank you all for viewing, kind comments, favs and awards - much appreciated! ~~~
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IMPORTANT NEWS
Hello friends, UF! Where do I start...my RL life is getting so much complicated, the laptop I use to edit and take pics died and this one I'm sharing with you is the last one I took some time ago.
I'm really sorry friends here and creators abut disappearing like that, but I need to fix some personal things like getting a new computer to edit and share my pictures haha (hope I can get it soon).
I send you loooots of love and hope you had an amazing Christmas Day and a happy New Year 2025. ILY <3
Sponsored by: YOMI - PALETO - Utopia - Eerie
More info here D E A D's blog
This Long-billed Curlew was seen busily preening its plumage. Preening is important - you can tell from the length of time a bird spends preening ! Birds preen to keep their feathers in good condition. It smoothes feather surfaces and also repairs small separations in feathers by linking the individual strands in a feather together. Preening also cleans parasites and debris out of the feathers.
A Golden-crowned Sparrow ( Zonotrichia atricapilla) was picking seed off a frozen birdbath. Looked like it was learning to skate!
PS Our main birdbath has a heater. Providing bird with water in the winter is very important.
Mameda Town and its surroundings, which developed as a townspeople's land during the Tenryo period, retained a lot of land division at the time of residence, and traditional buildings remain well as a group, so the range of about 10.7 hectares was selected as a national important preservation district for groups of traditional buildings on December 10, 2004.
Sicilia es archiconocida por sus mercantes con vagones H y hasta hace poco 656 en cabeza. Desde papel hasta agua llegan en estos fléxibles vagones marrones o verdes.
Ese día, viendo el panorama nublado, decidí hacer una foto imposible con sol, en la salida norte de Acireale, y superlativa fue mi sorpresa al ver un antiguo vagón Gabs en cabeza de la composición, probablemente una de las últimas veces que se vieron este tipo de vagones en Sicilia
IMPORTANT: for non-pro users who read the anecdote on a computer, just enlarge your screen to 120% (or more), then the full text will appear below the photo with a white background - which makes reading so much easier.
My best photos (mostly not on Flickr) are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...
THE STORY BEHIND THE PHOTO:
The photo above is far from perfect - believe me, I'm aware. But I'm still very proud of the shot: because getting it was such an excruciatingly long process that it drove me to the brink of insanity. I'm afraid the anecdote that follows is equally long (though hopefully only half as excruciating 😉), but especially for birders it might be interesting.
To provide some context: In the winter of '23 I started feeding the birds in my garden on a huge tree trunk which I'd dragged underneath the fig tree right opposite my wooden shed. And it was through a small hole in that shed's wall that I was then able to photograph my unsuspecting avian guests from a distance of not even two meters (that's a story in and of itself, you can read all about here: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/52994208987/in/datepo... )
Using the shed as a blind was a game-changer for me; I hadn't managed to produce more than a single usable bird photo in the years before, and now within only a few weeks I succeeded in capturing most of the regular visitors to my garden (nuthatch, blue tit, great tit, marsh tit, dunnock, Italian sparrow and many more) up close and in great detail - yet I wasn't satisfied.
The reason for that was simple: the most beautiful bird in the neighborhood - a Eurasian jay - had so far eluded my camera. I was hell-bent on capturing that fella, but he stubbornly and consistently refused to play along. I'm aware not all jays of the species Garrulus glandarius are that difficult to photograph, but unlucky for me, mine was a regular diva and obvious VIB (that's short for Very Important Bird - in case you wondered 😉), and he behaved as such.
On the few occasions that Mr. Jay did grace my garden with his presence - and I could observe this through a window from the house - he would fly onto a branch of the fig tree right above my buffet for birds, sit there for maybe twenty seconds contemplating what was on display below, only to then fly away again (and I swear I could see him wrinkle his nose - or rather beak - before he took off 😉).
To be fair, it probably wasn't just the menu that didn't convince him; I'm pretty sure this jay knew something fishy (or worse: human) was going on in the shed, and my sunflower seeds and peanuts - which he could probably also get from birdhouses nearby where no paparazzi were lurking - just weren't good enough for him to be willing to take a risk.
Naturally I also tried other delicacies, ranging from fresh apples to grapes to raisins and other dried fruit, but nothing worked; Mr. VIB remained suspicious, which was more than a little frustrating.
Now at this point it might be worth mentioning what probably every birder already knows, namely that Eurasian jays are incredibly clever. If they don't want to have their picture taken and you insist, well, then it becomes a battle of wills between you and the smartest guy in the woods.
It becomes a game of chess, but one where you're up against a grandmaster: only you don't know it yet (unbeknownst to many, every insane asylum comes with a special wing that is reserved for wildlife photographers who tried to get a jay photo - the so called "Jay Wing" - where only the toughest and most experienced psychiatrists are allowed to treat the poor souls 😉).
I had no luck with the jay all winter, but I wasn't ready to give up (nor was I ready to have myself admitted to the "Jay Wing" - yet 😉). Once spring arrived, I hoped to attract Mr. Bluewings with a special treat. Growing up near a fruit orchard, I knew how much Eurasian jays loved cherries, and in May I could finally get the first fresh ones - still imports - from the store.
That timing was crucial, because the cherry trees around my village didn't bear any ripe fruit yet that could have competed with mine - though they would be soon. So there was now this very small window of time where I was able to offer our local "star" the kind of exclusive VIB-treatment that he clearly demanded.
And it worked... almost. It took a few days, during which the jay probably observed the tree trunk from afar (I imagined him with binoculars, in a trench-coat and with a fedora hat like a private eye from the 1940s 😉 ), but eventually he couldn't resist the juicy bribe, and he indeed came to collect the cherries.
The only problem was: the clever devil timed his raids on the buffet so perfectly that I was never in the shed when he did it. It was crazy, but I never even saw him from the house; once the cherries started disappearing, I just assumed it had to be him, because the other birds showed zero interest in anything other than the nuts and the seeds.
For almost a week the same story kept repeating itself (with slight variations): sometime during the day - and never at the same time - the cherries were being collected. The thief never took more than four or five, and it always happened within a time frame of around ten minutes (this I deducted because I checked the tree trunk at pretty close intervals) - and without exception during a moment when I wasn't there to witness it.
By now it was obvious that the jay had the house and the shed under constant surveillance, probably from a high vantage point up in the trees outside my garden where he could even see me through the windows, while I couldn't see him. It drove me nuts: the meticulousness and stealth with which this fella went about his cherry-thieving business were simply unreal!
He might have been a diva, but he showed incredible discipline: once he'd had his fill, he didn't come back, and the rest of the cherries remained untouched until the evening. It was hopeless: if I wasn't willing to observe the tree trunk non-stop or hire a private detective (and I admit I considered the latter for a moment 😉), it was clear I wouldn't see as much as a tail feather. But then I had an idea.
You have to know that I didn't want the bird food to be visible in my photos, so right from the start, I had put three somewhat photogenic looking logs of firewood in a little triangle on the tree trunk, and I'd always "hidden" the bird food in their midst (a bit of a cheat, I know, but all's fair in love and photography 😁).
This meant that while I could see those logs through the window from my house, I couldn't see the cherries and thus never had a visual clue when they started to go missing. The next day I put a single cherry on one of the logs, the remaining ones I put in the space between, like I had done before.
I went back into the house and made myself comfortable with my laptop on the sofa next to the window. Every once in a while I would turn my head to see whether the cherry was still there. After maybe two hours, it finally happened: A moment before I had still seen its silhouette clearly, and now the cherry had disappeared.
I jumped up and quickly (but silently) snuck into the shed where my camera was already mounted on the tripod and ready. The adrenaline started to kick in: I had no idea if my plan would work. The logic behind my idea was: if the jay went for the most exposed cherry first and was then busy for a minute or so eating it somewhere, maybe he wouldn't notice me sneak into the shed.
The suspense was nearly unbearable; sweat was dripping from my brow into my eye, and I didn't dare to move, for fear the slightest noise (like my clothes rustling) would give my position away to the jay. I looked through the viewfinder, eyes squinted, frozen like a statue, for what felt like eternity (but in reality couldn't have been more than a minute or two), when out of nowhere he appeared: the master thief materialized on one of the logs like some sort of magic trick.
And yes: it was the jay - and he looked magnificent. He made a quick movement with his head, and then he was gone. I was stunned. It all had happened so fast that I hadn't even tried to get him in focus - I just stood there, almost shocked. I had never had a chance to get a shot. A minute later, while I was still silently cursing myself, my prized bird appeared again. I fumbled on my camera - he was gone before I could do so much as adjust the direction of the lens.
I started cursing loudly now - I just couldn't help it - but the jay didn't seem to mind. Within the next three minutes he came back two more times, and all I had to show for in the end was a perfectly focused - albeit entirely birdless - photo of the logs on the tree trunk (well, that and some very nice clumps of my own hair in my hands 😆). I hoped against hope he would appear one more time, but he didn't; he'd taken his usual five cherries, and the raid was over for the day.
I have to say that despite my anger (mostly at myself), I was impressed: the speed with which my adversary acted was incredible - no wonder I had never seen him. But there was simply no way I could shoot this lightning fast creature the way I usually do, which is by selecting the smallest focus and then only aiming for the eye. If I wanted to capture Mr. Bluewings at all, I had to switch to auto and continuous shooting mode, hoping one of the photos would end up being in focus.
I enacted my new strategy the next day, and thankfully the trick with the single exposed cherry on the log worked again: the jay went for it first, and I was again able to quickly sneak into the shed, apparently undetected. As had happened the day before, Master Garrulus glandarius appeared out of nowhere - and again was gone before I could even think of pressing the trigger.
But after the third attempt, my timing was finally right; I aimed and shuttered in rapid fire as if I were working a machine gun; the camera went "trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!" (yes, that's my best imitation of that sound 😂 ), and I could see immediately how that noise irritated the jay. Weirdly enough, he seemed to be much more bothered by the camera noise than he was by my constant muttering and swearing.
This time, he didn't come back for a fifth and final cherry. But I couldn't have cared less (and as a nature lover it embarrasses me to admit this); I was in a reckless, almost feverish "hunter mode", and the only thing that mattered now was my photographic prize.
I was euphoric, because I knew I had captured the jay. Still in the shed, I immediately went through the photos, fingers trembling with excitement (I know this must sound exaggerated and very ridiculous to most people, but I bet you photographers out there know exactly what I'm talking about 😄).
My euphoria dissipated quicker than you could utter the words "Jay Wing". Even on the small camera screen it became instantly apparent the pictures were unusable. They were out of focus at best and a total blur at worst. I scanned my surroundings for a suitable object or surface where I could bash my head in. I wanted to scream (and maybe I did - my neighbors looked at me funny later that day, but then they often do that 😂).
So far it was 3:0 for the bird. I had failed at every attempt, and he had outplayed me on every level. To make matters worse, I didn't dare to apply the continuous shooting mode again: the noise was just too loud, and I was afraid I would scare the jay away for good (plus the results - due to my ineptitude - weren't likely to improve).
I was used to photographing reptiles, insects and roe deer, and none of them moved as fast as the Eurasian jay: I needed more time. Just a few seconds would have been enough, but I realized the clever bird would never give me those. The situation seemed hopeless - until I had an unexpected Eureka moment. All of a sudden I knew how I might get an extra second (or two) with Mr. VIB (provided he did come back after my loud shuttering).
The following morning I went to the tree trunk once more, and again I put a single cherry on one of the logs, but the rest - you know: the ones that I always put into the middle of this log triangle - I covered with some thin twigs. Not too many - after all, the bait had to remain visible underneath the twigs - but enough that a single picking motion wouldn't be enough to snatch a cherry.
"Your move, Mr. Jay," I thought as I went into the house. I lay down on the sofa, then I waited. The jay didn't come. All day long I regularly peered out the window: the silhouette of the lone cherry on the log remained in place, like some weird little statue, mocking me.
I became convinced the intense camera noise the previous day had disgruntled the jay to the point where he'd had enough of my shenanigans. Hard as it was, I had to get ready to accept the fact that my trophy shot of this beautiful bird just wasn't gonna happen. Then, sometime during the late afternoon, I suddenly noticed the cherry was gone. Ten seconds later I was in the shed - and ready.
The look on the jay's face when he landed on one of the logs was almost comical. He apparently hadn't noticed the twigs before, and his short moment of hesitation was all I needed to get a first shot. He heard the noise and looked right at me - click! - and that was my second shot, which nicely captured the bewildered look on his face (you can see that photo here: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/52994208987/in/datepo... ).
It only took Mr. Bluewings two seconds to adjust to the new situation; he quickly threw out a few twigs with his beak, picked up a cherry - click! (my third shot, that you can see above) - and off he flew. But it was clear the jay knew exactly he was being photographed, and he didn't like it one bit. The annoyed expression on his face had been unmistakable: he looked like Sean Penn when he's confronted with a paparazzo.
Meanwhile I was over the moon: it had worked (and a quick check on the tiny camera screen confirmed this); I had at least two acceptable photos. The few extra seconds the twigs bought me had done the trick.
All's well that ends well, as the saying goes, and if the 'Tale Of The Jay' were to conclude here (and it could), this would indeed be a happy ending. After all, I had eventually outsmarted the clever bird and gotten my desired photos. But there is a short epilogue to the story, and I believe it's worth telling (and if you made it to this point, you might as well continue reading 😉).
You see, I was only able to pull off the "single-cherry/twigs strategy" one more time (the very next day, and you can see those photos here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/post/eurasian-jay-garrulus-glan... ) - and then never again. Two days later, the single cherry was still visible on the log at nightfall, and so I assumed the jay hadn't come. But when I went to check - big surprise! - five of the other cherries were gone.
"Well," I thought, "That's pure coincidence." In my mind there was no way the jay could have realized the exposed cherry on the log disappearing was my visual clue that his stealth "attack" had started: no animal was that smart. And yet I have no other explanation, because believe it or not: he never went for the single cherry again. Ever.
In all my subsequent attempts, my visual clue remained untouched, while the jay cheekily collected the other cherries. And soon after, the cherry trees around the village were starting to bear ripe fruit, and the jay's visits to my garden stopped. In fact for the entire remainder of the year, there were no more photos for me of Mr. Garrulus glandarius.
So in the end - who REALLY won this game of chess between me and the jay? If you ask me, I'd have to call it a draw (and that's probably still being generous to myself) - but you be the judge. 😉
P.S. This year I photographed and filmed a Eurasian jay in my garden (I have no idea if it was the same fella as last year), and this clip here might give you an idea just how quick these guys are: www.youtube.com/watch?v=OA9s_bciA-Y - I timed the cherry theft: it takes the jay not even two seconds to land, snatch his prize and take off again (you can also watch it in slow-mo), so I guess I shouldn't be too hard on myself. 😂
Many thanks for looking and reading, and have a wonderful weekend everyone 🙏 😊 ❤ - and as always, let me know what you think in the comments (I'd be particularly interested if anyone had similar experiences with jays or other clever corvids - or was outsmarted by any other wild animal the way I was).
In response to the entirely unfair, children's Christmas parody of Jingle Bells.
"Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, Robin Laid an Egg, The Batmobile Lost a Wheel and the Joker Got Awaaaaaaaa-ay!"
Regno Unito, Cambridgeshire, Cambridge, Autunno 2022
Cambridge è una città universitaria nel Cambridgeshire, nel Regno Unito. Si trova sul fiume Cam. Divenne un importante centro commerciale durante l'epoca romana e vichinga. È la sede dell'Università di Cambridge, fondata nel 1209. Lo skyline della città è dominato da diversi edifici universitari. Tra gli ex studenti più importanti dell'università ci sono 47 capi di stato, 14 primi ministri britannici, 194 atleti vincitori di medaglie olimpiche e alcune delle figure più trasformative e iconiche della storia mondiale in tutte le discipline, tra cui Francis Bacon, Lord Byron, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, John Maynard Keynes, John Milton, Isaac Newton, Alan Turing e altri. Alunni e docenti di Cambridge hanno vinto 121 premi Nobel, più di qualsiasi università del mondo.
Cambridge is a university city in Cambridgeshire, United Kingdom. It is located on the River Cam. It became an important trading centre during the Roman and Viking ages. It is the home of the University of Cambridge, which was founded in 1209. The city's skyline is dominated by several college buildings. Among the university's most notable alumni are 47 heads of state, 14 British prime ministers, 194 Olympic medal-winning athletes, and some of world history's most transformational and iconic figures across disciplines, including Francis Bacon, Lord Byron, Oliver Cromwell, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, John Maynard Keynes, John Milton, Isaac Newton, Alan Turing and others. Cambridge alumni and faculty have won 121 Nobel Prizes, the most of any university in the world.
"It seems to me that this war is currently the most important conflict taking place in the world.
Perhaps this is the end of the Cold War. Because it calls into question all these basic, fundamental values and norms of world order, world order. It's like a school situation where there's some bully terrorizing the whole school, and everyone else stands by and watches to see if that bully can win against the normal, good students. And the same is happening all over the world.
If Putin is allowed to win, we will see more "Putins" in South America, in Asia, and so on. If, on the other hand, this bully is stopped and punished, then it will become clear that you cannot be a bully, you cannot be this bully, you will rely on the rules. And this is the idea of democracy, peace, international law and world order."
/Yuval Harari is an Israeli historian, a specialist in the field of military and universal history, the author of numerous books on the history of mankind./
“Мені здається, що війна в Україні наразі є найважливішим конфліктом, що відбувається у світі.
Можливо, це закінчення Холодної війни. Тому що вона ставить під сумнів всі ці базові, засадничі цінності і норми світопорядку, світового ладу. Це ситуація, як у школі, коли є якийсь хуліган, який тероризує всю школу, а всі решта стоять і дивляться, чи цей хуліган зможе перемогти у протистоянні з нормальними, хорошими учнями. І так само відбувається по всьому світі.
Якщо дозволять Путіну перемогти, то ми побачимо більше «путіних» у Південній Америці, в Азії і так далі. Якщо ж з іншого боку, цього хулігана зупинять і покарають, то тоді стане зрозуміло, що ви не можете бути гопником, ви не можете бути цим буллером, ви будете покладатися на правила. І в цьому і полягає ідея демократії, миру, міжнародного права і світового порядку.”
/Юваль Харарі - ізраїльський історик, фахівець в області військової та універсальної історії, автор численних книг з історії людства./
© Important notice: do not use my images without my written permission, even for a non commercial use. If you're interested in any of my photos you must contact me first. All my images are under full copyright.
© All rights reserved.
© Important notice: do not use my images without my written permission, even for a non commercial use. If you're interested in any of my photos you must contact me first. All my images are under full copyright.
© All rights reserved.
© Important notice: do not use my images without my written permission, even for a non commercial use. If you're interested in any of my photos you must contact me first. All my images are under full copyright.
© All rights reserved.
© Important notice: do not use my images without my written permission, even for a non commercial use. If you're interested in any of my photos you must contact me first. All my images are under full copyright.
© All rights reserved.
As this new year, the trail could be darker or enlightened, but it doesn't matter, only the travel is important...