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Okies for Monarchs is reporting that newly released data show the eastern monarch butterfly population has grown for a second consecutive year, offering a hopeful sign for a species that has declined by approximately 85–90% since the mid-1990s.
The latest annual survey of overwintering monarchs in Mexico estimates the population at 2.93 hectares, according to the latest survey released by the World Wildlife Fund–Telmex Telcel Foundation Alliance (WWF) and Mexico’s National Commission of Protected Natural Areas (CONANP). This represents about a 64% increase compared to last year’s estimate of 1.79 hectares.
“While these gains are encouraging, monarch populations remain below historic levels. Scientists generally consider six hectares of overwintering monarchs the threshold for a resilient population capable of withstanding environmental pressures,” said Katie Hawk, Executive Director of the Oklahoma Monarch Society. “Two years of growth is promising and gives us hope that the population will reach that benchmark.”
Do your part for Monarch conservation, plant some milkweed. It's the only plant Monarchs will lay eggs on.
The land that would eventually become the village of Sleep Hollow started was first brought from Adriaen van der Donck a New Netherland patroon a landowner designated with manorial rights under the Charter of Freedoms and Exemptions established by the Dutch West India Company. In 1672 the land was purchased by Frederick Philipse who In 1693 and established a mill and a shipping post and became Lord of Philipsburg Manor. The land was eventually passed down to his grandson Frederick Philipse III when in 1779 he was declared a loyalist traitor by the colonial government and his land was seized and sold at public auction and divided among 287 buyers. The village gained notoriety when in 1820 Washington Irving wrote the very popular short story The legend of Sleepy Hollow which spawned some film adaptations and a short running TV series. Today the village outside of designated the historical landmarks buildings is an unassuming small suburban town built on small but steep rolling hills which made building any larger commercial developments not feasible and is mostly residential and small local businesses. However along the waterfront a long length of three-four story townhouse style luxury condos are now being built to increase residency and the tax base.
This is last night's moon rise over Selwick's Bay at Flamborough Head. The Spring tide was fully in to the bay giving the reflected moonlight so having the tripod i took this 30 second exposure. A full moon in March is called a Worm Moon as this is when in nature the earth worms show increased activity in response to the warming top soil.
Wishing a happy Weekend to all friends & followers :-)
Red Fox
The Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, is the largest of the true foxes and the most abundant wild member of the Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, North America and Eurasia. It is listed as least concern by the IUCN. Its range has increased alongside human expansion, having been introduced to Australia, where it is considered harmful to native mammals and bird populations. Due to its presence in Australia, it is included among the list of the "world's 100 worst invasive species".
For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_fox
My obsession with camera setting continue so today added a 14mm lens set the camera on complete auto a took a few shots in very familiar surroundings and this is the result. The camera was already set on raw but it also produced a JEPG and the comparison was interesting. With RAW the dynamic range increased giving you greater flexibility in editing. The 14mm lens is forgiving with regards to auto focus so that worked well. Where you may have a problem would be with a longer lens like the 45mm which may result in out of focus areas.
It's been a banner year in 2021... and, I must say. that my numbers have grown a lot more than I expected. The reason is that I've uncovered loads of people that used to interact with me but now have seemed to disappear from Flickr. I believe that the newer folks have been more active, hence the increase in numbers.
My numbers: I've been a member since 2008. In 2021, I've received 2,000,898 views, 179,122 favs and I gave 75,767 favs in return. Last year I also received 10,769 comments and wrote 6,181! I've also picked up 610 new followers.
Thanks to each and everyone of you for your support, encouragement, and friendship.
I have walked up this little canyon year after year, season after season. It is one if the first canyons I discovered when moving to Moab over 25 years ago. Bighorn sheep use its upper reaches for birthing and nurturing their young. Despite a significant increase in hikers, I can usually wander around and find a spot or two that reconstitutes and nurtures my vision.
Due to the increasing drought, lavender fields are also conquering the Winequarter more and more..!
Lower Austria, Austria.
Thanks a lot for visiting, favs and comments !
[polski opis niżej]
Exceptional presence of ST43 locomotives in passenger traffic service in summer 2004 around Jasło wasn't out of reason. If you read the story at this picture, you probably remember the sudden disappearance of all non-modernized SP32 class commencing on July 1, 2004. The impact of this fact on the locomotives inventory in the middle of summer season must have effected in increasing employment of other classes, mostly ST43s usually available in Jasło, and some SP42s, reassigned quite promptly to the Jasło depot. ST43s used to be employed mostly for heavier express trains then, usually mode demanding in terms of tractive effort requirement.
Here, ST43-345 with the express train 33501 from Gdynia Główna to Zagórz, moment after departed from Tarnowiec station. July 19, 2004.
Photo by Jarek / Chester
Wyjątkowo liczne występowwanie lokomotyw ST43 na spalinowych obiegach jasielskich w lecie 2004 to nie przypadek. W opisie do tego zdjęcia przedstawiłem krótką historię końca serii niezmodernizowanych lokomotyw SP32 w Polsce. I ponieważ, zgodnie z tą historią, 1 lipca 2004 roku w zasadzie seria SP32 zniknęła ze szlaków, czymś trzeba ją było zastąpić, w szczególności w sezonie wzmożonych przewozów w rejony turystyczne, w tym okołobieszczadzkie. Oprócz sprowadzenia ilu się dało lokomotyw SP42, do pracy intensywnie wykorzystano "rumuny", głównie do prowadzenia pociągów pospiesznych, na ogół cięższych i bardziej wymagających trakcyjnie.
Na zdjęciu ST43-345 w obsłudzie pociągu pospiesznego 33501 z Gdyni Głównej do Zagórza (grupa wagonów od pociągu 35501 do Krynicy), kawałek za stacją w Tarnowcu. 19 lipca 2004 roku.
Fot. Jarek / Chester
The increased activity of a pair of Blue Jays in Janice's yard has been a delightful addition to my visits, lately...before, they were rather standoffish, only occasionally stopping to grab a snack!
One of at least 17 Great White Egrets around one of the fishing ponds at Burton Mere Wetlands. How times have changes - once a rarity now an increasing visitor even as far as the North of England.
They were made to increase rank thu soul count and to be drained, their blood sold, so common among Bloodlines players.
They look real. but they stand in groups - around 40 of them - on a platform. After serving their Bloodlines purpose, they are now bots. Forever standing, empty, fake, silent (but for JayrodDrew, who has a talking script if you write on local).
40 bots day and night have increased traffic there to 36,000++.
When I saw them, vacant pixel corpses, some 6 months old, I wished they were real, alive people 'behind' them, with a happy soul.
The frigate (Q-2) ARA Libertad, built in the Rio Santiago Shipyard, is a sailing vessel with double topsails (five yards per pole that can be braced up to 45°) and three crossed masts (ratchet, major and mizzen), belonging to the Argentine Navy. The mission of the "Libertad" Frigate is to complete the professional training of the midshipmen of the Argentine Navy, contributing to the increase of their maritime knowledge and integrating them to life at sea. Likewise, it contributes to the foreign policy by representing the Argentine Republic in the ports where it comes to, where it disseminates the geographical, cultural and productive reality of its country. On the other hand, it fosters international naval relations, strengthening professional ties and friendship with the armies of other countries. In more than thirty-five instructional trips he has made, he visited 58 countries and more than 400 foreign ports.
Since its delivery, the frigate has traveled more than 800,000 nautical miles around the world and outside of its station has spent the equivalent of 17 years at sea. Around 11,000 Argentine sailors and friendly countries have passed through its covers and have been formed.
Portillo is a ski resort in Central Chile. It is located close to the Argentine border (Aduana Chilena border crossing station situated on Ruta 60 only 2km from Portillo). Portillo was put on the map in 1966 when it became the first South American resort to host the World Skiing Championships. The notoriety further increased when the 200km per hour speed barrier was broken in 1978 at Portillo, and the ski resort continues to be famous amongst expert skiers who visit Portillo for the amazingly steep slopes – Portillo, Andes mountains, Valparaíso Region, Chile
Numbers have increased in a big way in my area !
Everyone have a safe and Happy New Year !
Morris County, NJ
After a week when temperatures across the UK have hovered above a sweltering 30C/85F, I found myself longing for the chill and fog of early spring, and revisited a shot which I captured at the centre of Richmond Park in early April. On many mornings I'd hoped for calm conditions that would bring heavier fog, and before this particular sunrise the low wind speed and near-freezing temperature near the Pen Ponds created fog so dense that, for a couple of hours, visibility dropped to about 20 metres. As the sun finally crept above the woodland and created various shades of orange and pink on the horizon, I came across the bare branches of an oak tree, and next to it the remains of a broken tree trunk, part of which now lay on the ground. Something about this scene captivated me, so I stopped to capture it.
The image is a blend of seven bracketed exposures, and proved to be a fun editing project because of the contrast between intense foggy light around the sun and deep shadows covering the trees and foreground. I began by blending my exposures using luminosity masks, bringing up visibility of the tree trunks while toning down brightness around the sun. I then refined my own masks in order to select and intensify the fog in the background. This was achieved by duplicating the blue channel in the Channels Panel and using a Levels adjustment to increase the channel's contrast between Darks and Midtones, effectively removing the trees and grass from the selection. After extracting the highlights around the sun using a selection from my Brights luminosity masks, I was left with a selection of just the foggy background, where I blended in my brightest exposures using a combination of linear and reflective gradient masks.
Colour-grading the image was very straightforward, as the mixture of early-morning blues across the landscape and intense warm tones in the sky only needed a little emphasis. Using Colour Balance adjustments with Apply Image as a layer mask, I gave the midtones and shadows a colder finish, and targeted the brighter area around the sun to increase the reds and magentas in the highlights. Setting two low-opacity Colour Lookup adjustments to Soft Light, I then used the Foggy Night preset for the foreground and the Soft Warming preset for the sky.
Using Nik's Colour Efex Pro, I brought out a little of the tree trunks' texture using the Detail Extractor filter, and at the same time softened the detail in the sky using the Sunlight filter, which helped to bring out the hazy glow across the scene when I'd captured it. While I thought that viewers' eyes would gravitate to the sun emerging between the tree's branches, the tree and the trunks among the fog were what drew me to the scene, and I felt it was important to try to emphasise their weathered texture and, ultimately, their "character". There was something hopeful about the colour spreading across the horizon as the sun rose, but at the same time something poignant about a scene that seemed to tell a story of nature's brutality and illustrate how certain things, once broken, can't easily be healed or repaired.
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The (former) ING house in Amsterdam. Photograph taken with my approach of the maximum point of perspective to increase the dynamics in the photo using a tilt-shift lens with maximum shift, and processed with the Artisan Pro X panel. More info on my panel on my website.
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Decided to take the shutter a little quicker here to 1/4 second versus 1 to seconds as I was capturing with the 6 Stop ND. To save time taking off the 6 Stop and placing the 4 Stop ND on, figured it was easier to increase the ISO to 400 and reduce the shutter speed to 1/4 second.
Liked the patterns in the rushing water here at this shutter speed.
Scottish Borders / Dumfries and Galloway, South Scotland
2019-06-20-8172_P_FRAMED_S
Edited in Canon DPP 4, framed in Photoshop 6.0
Not cropped, increased contrast and bit increased colors
Red Fox
The Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes, is the largest of the true foxes and the most abundant wild member of the Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere from the Arctic Circle to North Africa, North America and Eurasia. It is listed as least concern by the IUCN. Its range has increased alongside human expansion, having been introduced to Australia, where it is considered harmful to native mammals and bird populations. Due to its presence in Australia, it is included among the list of the "world's 100 worst invasive species".
For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_fox
For my video; youtu.be/q9cvAtCwKOc?si=AEWq0YtCkzQ48rUQ,
Meadowbrook, Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada,
Downtown Port Coquitlam, Car Show, 2024
The Plymouth Road Runner (or Roadrunner) is a mid-size car with a focus on performance built by Plymouth in the United States between 1968 and 1980. By 1968, some of the original muscle cars were moving away from their roots as relatively cheap, fast cars as they gained features and increased in price. Plymouth developed the Road Runner to market a lower-priced, basic trim model to its upscale GTX.
360 cu in (5.9 L) V8
In 1919, Edith Rockefeller McCormick donated land she had received from her father as a wedding gift to the Cook County Forest Preserve District for development as a zoological garden. The district added 98 acres to that plot and in 1921, the Chicago Zoological Society was established. Serious construction did not begin until 1926, after a zoo tax was approved. Construction slowed during the Great Depression, but regained momentum by late 1931. Construction went on at an increased pace and the zoo opened on July 1, 1934.
The 1950s saw the addition of a veterinary hospital, a children's zoo, and the famous central fountain. The zoo went through a decline in the 1960s until a large bond issue from the Forest Preserve District, close attention to zoo governance, and visitor services saw the zoo recreate itself as one of the nation's best.
Tropic World, the then-largest indoor zoo exhibit in the world, was designed by French architect Pierre Venoa and opened in three phases (Africa, Asia, and South America) between 1982 and 1984.
In the early 21st century, the zoo has undergone significant capital upgrades, constructing the Regenstein Wolf Woods, the Hamill Family Play Zoo, butterfly tent, sheltered group catering pavilions, and the largest non-restored, hand-carved, wooden carousel in the United States. Great Bear Wilderness, a new, sprawling habitat, opened in 2010. The interiors of several existing buildings were reconfigured into immersion exhibits, based upon ecosystems.
Se prendre pour Moïse, l’espace d’un instant, et fendre l’eau à pied ou à vélo. Incongrue, l’expérience est pourtant possible, à Bokrijk, dans le Limbourg. Inaugurée en avril 2016, « Traverser l’Eau à vélo » est une expérience cycliste unique qui permet de parcourir la distance 212 mètres à travers un étang de la réserve de Wijers, dans « le pays des 1.001 étangs ». D’une rive à l’autre. Au milieu du parcours, l’eau est au niveau des yeux offrant une vue magnifique et unique sur la nature. Parfois, les yeux dans les yeux avec un cygne ou un canard. Le plus amusant est de voir les têtes des cyclistes passer à la surface de l’eau. Bien sûr, la piste cyclable est également accessible aux marcheurs et aux joggeurs.
Non seulement la création de cette piste a boosté la popularité de l’industrie du cyclo dans le Limbourg, mais elle a également eu un impact environnemental positif sur la réserve De Wijers. La qualité de l’eau dans la région s’est améliorée. Comme les digues ont été ouvertes, les étangs restent propres plus longtemps ce qui est une bonne chose pour le biotope des amphibiens dont le nombre a considérablement augmenté. De son côté, la croissance du tourisme a entraîné un financement accru pour les projets de conservation de la nature dans la réserve.
Take yourself for Moses, for a moment, and go through the water on foot or by bicycle. Incongruously, the experience is nevertheless possible, in Bokrijk, in Limburg. Inaugurated in April 2016, "Crossing the Water by bike" is a unique cycling experience that allows you to cover the distance of 212 meters through a pond in the Wijers reserve, in "the land of 1.001 ponds". From one bank to the other. In the middle of the course, the water is at eye level offering a magnificent and unique view of nature. Sometimes eye to eye with a swan or a duck. The funniest part is watching the heads of the cyclists pass over the surface of the water. Of course, the cycle path is also accessible to walkers and joggers.
Not only did the creation of this track boost the popularity of the Limburg cyclo industry, it also had a positive environmental impact on the De Wijers reserve. The quality of water in the region has improved. As the dikes have been opened, the ponds stay clean longer which is a good thing for the amphibian habitat, which has increased in number considerably. For its part, the growth of tourism has resulted in increased funding for nature conservation projects in the reserve.
I posted a frame-filler of the male Black-winged Stilt, so here's a frame-filler of the female. The first fully documented breeding was in 1945 when three pairs were at Nottingham Sewage Works, raising four young. Breeding attempts since then have been sporadic, but with increasing frequency. This year there have been about half a dozen breeding attempts. But generally speaking they are still only a scarce visitor to Britain, and vary in numbers from year to year. Occasional birds stay for long periods, such as "Sammy the Stilt" frequented the Titchwell area of North Norfolk for more than a decade (Aug 1993 - May 2005) and provided many bird listers with a welcome year tick. This pair have moved around various wetland sites in South and West Yorkshire and I photographed them at Adwick Washlands.
In 1846 the first railway bridge over the Leie was built in Grammene for the connection of the Ghent to Tielt line.
That bridge was the first all-metal truss bridge ever.
The spans had a distance of about thirty meters, this bridge was replaced in 1912, it was still in good condition but became insufficient given the increase in the weight of locomotives and trains.
The first Vierendeel bridge in Grammene was built in 1922 and opened on December 1, 1923.
It had a span of 56.16m and weighed 360 tons, this bridge was blown up in WWII.
Shortly after the war, the bridge was restored to its former glory.
In 1992 they wanted to demolish the bridge and replace it with a concrete bridge.
An action group led by Laurent "Lorenzo" Vanhaesebrouck provided the necessary opposition.
And with results! Ultimately, the rail giant reversed its decision and the plans were scrapped.
Since then it has been popularly referred to as the "Lorenzo Bridge" (In 2016, that recognition was immortalized on a sign).
The bridge was completely renovated in 2001 and is one of the last Vierendeel bridges in Flanders.
After the straightening of the Leie, there was also some discussion of filling in the old Leie arm and converting it into agricultural land.
Again, this resulted in opposition from the Grammense camp, also Leie artist Roger Raveel, among others, supported the proponents of the beautiful "river green".
This idea, too, eventually became nothing more than a bundle in the filing cabinet.
The 1st Cedar River job is on their way to Waterloo with cars out of mainly St. Ansgar. The job passes this windmill on the south side of Orchard, about 50 miles from Waterloo. A pair of SD60s is somewhat unusual, but increased IANR grain loading might have this job stuck with 2 units a lot more. The Osage Sub is booming with traffic, keeping both jobs and extra crews busy.
Brazil
Cuiaba River
The Pantanal
South America
This image celebrates International Jaguar Day.
International Jaguar Day was created to raise awareness about the increasing threats facing the jaguar and the critical conservation efforts ensuring its survival from Mexico to Argentina.
Observed annually on November 29, International Jaguar Day celebrates the Americas’ largest wild cat as an umbrella species for biodiversity conservation and an icon for sustainable development and the centuries-old cultural heritage of Central and South America.
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a large felid species and the only extant member of the genus Panthera native to the Americas. The jaguar's present range extends from Southwestern United States and Mexico in North America, across much of Central America, and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina in South America.
It is listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List; and its numbers are declining. Threats include loss and fragmentation of habitat.
Overall, the jaguar is the largest native cat species of the New World and the third largest in the world. This spotted cat closely resembles the leopard, but is usually larger and sturdier. It ranges across a variety of forested and open terrains, but its preferred habitat is tropical and subtropical moist broadleaf forest, swamps and wooded regions.
The jaguar enjoys swimming and is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush predator at the top of the food chain. As a keystone species it plays an important role in stabilizing ecosystems and regulating prey populations.
Ein Gradierwerk (auch Leckwerk) ist eine Anlage zur Salzgewinnung. Sie besteht aus einem Holzgerüst, das mit Reisigbündeln (vorwiegend Schwarzdorn) verfüllt ist. Das Verb gradieren bedeutet „einen Stoff in einem Medium konzentrieren“. Im Falle eines Gradierwerks wird der Salzgehalt im Wasser erhöht, indem Sole durch das Reisig hindurchgeleitet wird, wobei auf natürliche Weise Wasser verdunstet. Außerdem lagern sich Verunreinigungen der Sole an den Dornen ab; dadurch wird die Qualität des erzeugten Salzes erhöht.
Textquelle de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gradierwerk
A graduation tower (occasionally referred to as a thorn house is a structure used in the production of salt which removes water from a saline solution by evaporation, increasing its concentration of mineral salts. The tower consists of a wooden wall-like frame stuffed with bundles of brushwood (typically blackthorn) which have to be changed about every 5 to 10 years as they become encrusted with mineral deposits over time. The salt water runs down the tower and partly evaporates; at the same time some minerals from the solution are left behind on the brushwood twigs.
Freshly repainted into DB "Verkehrsrot" following attention at Toton TMD, the ex-works 66653 'Barry Needham' heads through the snowy landscape at Red Bank with 6E26 1051 Knowsley Freight Terminal to Wilton.
Formerly 66194, conversion to 66653 entailed an increase in haulage capacity and reduction in maximum speed to 60mph. Supposedly due to the success of the project, another batch has been authorised to take the number series up to 66665.
(photoshop note, GSMR mast removed)
lpfw.org/forest-service-to-expedite-logging-and-habitat-c...
The Forest Service recently announced plans to selectively log old-growth forest and chaparral across 755 acres deep in the Ventura County backcountry. The agency quietly released the proposal in late May amid a pandemic, economic crisis, and period of civil unrest, offering the public a single 30-day period to submit comments. Officials indicated that they hope to use a loophole to approve the project without an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement.
The project would allow the logging of centuries-old trees, up to five feet in diameter, and the clearance of rare old-growth chaparral along six miles of the prominent ridge known as Pine Mountain stretching from Highway 33 to Reyes Peak. The area is a popular recreation destination beloved by hikers and climbers.
Despite the project’s massive scale, the Forest Service intends to use two controversial loopholes to bypass requirements under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) to conduct a detailed study of potential impacts to the area’s unique ecosystems. These loopholes would also limit the public’s ability to voice their concerns while eliminating the official objection process that helps reduce the potential for litigation.
“Once again, the Trump administration has shown its willingness and desire to avoid conducting the level of environmental review needed to ensure that places like Pine Mountain are protected from damaging and unnecessary projects such as this one,” said Los Padres ForestWatch conservation director Bryant Baker. “To make matters worse, the Forest Service’s use of loopholes for this project has diminished the public’s ability to participate in the decision-making process—and they made their announcement at a time when citizens are focused on the COVID-19 crisis and fighting racial injustice.”
The ridge is home to some of the most diverse and unique habitats in the Los Padres National Forest. Pine Mountain hosts the greatest diversity of coniferous tree species in Ventura County, which occur next to large expanses of rare old-growth chaparral. Altogether, the ridge is home to over 400 species of native plants, including dozens that are rare or sensitive. As a biodiversity hotspot, the area is also home to several species of wildlife that depend on the mountain’s unique ecosystems. Mountain lions, black bears, bobcats, and numerous species of birds and small mammals can be found in and around the project area.
The agency has not confirmed whether this project will involve the selling of cut trees, but the Forest Service often uses agreements known as “stewardship contracts” for similar projects that allow private logging companies to profit from the timber harvest in exchange for services. Regardless, the agency has stated that trees and chaparral will be removed using mechanical equipment which can cause significant damage to soil, water, and plants that are not being targeted.
“The Trump administration is trying to hand over our southern California national forests to the logging industry, at taxpayer expense,” said Dr. Chad Hanson, forest ecologist with the John Muir Project, based in Big Bear City, California. “This destructive logging proposal would degrade wildlife habitat and make climate change worse, and would increase threats to human communities from wildland fire; we need Congress to protect our National Forests from logging once and for all,” he added.
The Forest Service has proposed the project under the guise of community protection from wildfire despite countless scientific studies that demonstrate that remote vegetation treatments, such as the Pine Mountain project, are ineffective against the fires that cause the majority of damage to communities each year. Pine Mountain is several miles away from any community, and the agency itself admits that the project will not help mitigate fire spread under extreme weather conditions. In fact, the Forest Service’s own assessment of existing and potential vegetation removal projects in the Los Padres National Forest ranks the one on Pine Mountain as only 118 out 163 in terms of priority for community protection and other factors.
In 2017 and 2018, just six fires out of 16,600 throughout California caused nearly 90% of the total damage to communities. All six fires burned under conditions that render vegetation removal projects, such as the one proposed on Pine Mountain, useless for suppression purposes. Moreover, vegetation clearance projects can increase wildfire risk by removing fire-resistant trees, increasing heating and drying of the forest floor, and spreading non-native invasive grasses and weeds that ignite more easily and spread wildfire more quickly.
Scientists and conservation organizations have long advocated that funding should be directed instead to creating defensible space directly next to homes, retrofitting and building structures with fire-safe materials, and reducing development in the wildland-urban interface.
“The Los Padres National Forest administration has a record of not only ignoring the science,” Richard Halsey, director of the California Chaparral Institute, said, “but also of violating agreements to collaborate with scientists and community members to manage the public’s land. Los Padres officials are well aware that the science does not support this project to clear fragile habitat far from communities at risk. This project is about obtaining taxpayer dollars to support the agency, not protecting citizens from fire.”
Over 30% of the project is within two proposed additions to the Sespe Wilderness approved by the House of Representatives with the passage of the Central Coast Heritage Protection Act earlier this year. The legislation would designate an area along part of the western portion of the ridge and an area that includes Reyes Peak. The bill is currently awaiting a vote in the Senate.
The proposal comes at a time when the Trump administration is attempting massive rollbacks of regulations under NEPA and similar laws. Earlier this month, the president issued an executive order that would waive requirements under these bedrock environmental laws for a wide variety of projects on federal lands. The Forest Service has also been directed to ramp up vegetation removal projects across the country, especially those that involve timber harvesting. Last year, Los Padres National Forest approved two commercial logging projects near Mt. Pinos under loopholes that similarly allowed the agency to avoid conducting the level of environmental review that is normal for such projects.
The public comment period is open until June 30 and may be the only chance the public has to weigh in with concerns about the Pine Mountain project. To submit a comment online or learn more about the project, visit p2a.co/IASAFIf
I found this spot during my ride 2 mornings prior, along route US 28, known as Moonshiner, just past the Fontana Dam in North Carolina. Instantly I knew I had to come back. Only early in the morning, it seems, there is this amazing low fog that hugs the river as it winds in between the forest covered mountains. I knew I had to capture it.
When I got to this spot for my shoot, I was greeted with such a dense low fog that I couldn't even see the mountains in the near distance. As the fog cleared, it became a thinly veiled mist gently glazing the low mountains and river. With blue skies and yet still many clouds below the hilltops, I knew I had my shot.
The final component, after firing off several long exposure shots, came when some fishermen dropped their boat into the lake and took off towards the bridge that is obscured by fog in this photo.
As their wake settled, I decided to increase my shutter speed to 1/4s (and open up my aperture to compensate) and ended up with the beautiful paint-like water surface you see here.
This image invites me and evokes feelings of being in nature and in the mountains. I hope it conveys something magical for you, as well. Enjoy!
Edit:
Woo-hoo, my first Explore! :)
( Explored 8/18/2015 # 247 )
www.flickr.com/photos/davidkhaykin/20062869774/in/explore...
Description 📄:
The concept of ‘Retica 30’ aims to increase train connections between Landquart and Davos Platz to every half hour. To make this possible, it was decided to combine the two lines RE1 (Landquart-Filisur) and RE3 (Lanquart-St. Moritz) up to Kloster Platz, where they separate and continue individually. In addition, the existing RE4 (Landquart-Scuol Tarasp) line was taken and joined up to Kloster Platz with a new RE2 line running to Davos Platz. By combining these lines, it was possible to achieve half-hourly connections between Lanquart and Davos Platz by creating just one new line.
However, it was now necessary to have vehicles capable of putting this project into practice. The Rhaetian Railway needed trains that were up to date and in step with the times. They had to be able to couple and uncouple automatically and quickly, which was not possible with the old ‘Allegra’ trains, which still have a traditional coupling system with a hook and tensioner. So the first 27 trains were ordered from Stadler, which six months later became 36. Later on, the Canton of Graubünden gave the go-ahead to order another 20 units, bringing the total to 56. In 2024, the last six trains were ordered, bringing the current total of the ABe 4/16 fleet to 62.
The trains, named “Capricorn”, consist of four carriages and 16 axles, including four powered axles. The innovation of these trains for the Rhaetian Railway is the “Schwaab” automatic coupling, which allows up to four trains to be coupled together during periods of high demand.
This type of train, in service since 2019, has already broken two world records. The first record was set by the Capricorn 3113, which reached a maximum speed of 163.02 km/h during tests in July 2022. This became the world record for speed on narrow-gauge railways. Just three months later, another record was broken, namely that of “the world's longest narrow-gauge passenger train”. Twenty-five Capricorn units were coupled together and travelled 25 km, reaching a total length of 1,906 metres.
Information ℹ️:
Date 📅: 18.10.2025, 11:35
Place 📍: La Punt-Chamues-ch, Switzerland
Train 🚄: ABe 4/16 3138 "Muttler"
Train Company 🏢: RhB
Line 🔢: R15 1929
Start 🚩: Scuol-Tarasp
Destination 🏁: Pontresina
©️The photo was taken and edited by Nathan Urriani. Use of the image by others is only allowed with my permission.
The work by sculptor Carlos Correia, is on a real life scale and made of washers and steel.
the initiative aims to “increase the sense of place, imagination and interest of the population”.
Best seen large by clicking on the photo.
I try to spend either the morning or evening on the last day of Daylight Savings Time out photographing for a bit. I hate the time change and the increasing darkness deep into my soul. However, I was happy for a pretty morning today.
Patapsco River, Daniels Area, Howard County, MD
HAPPY SLIDERS SUNDAY !!
I always try to upload something unusual for Sliders Sunday.
IMO October light is special, and it gave me this image in my living room.
To me the light pattern looks like a watering can.
It reminded me that my houseplants needed their weekly watering.
Post processing included cropping to square and substantially increasing
saturation, contrast and sharpness. The result is what my brain remembered.
As usual, IMO, the camera needed my help to do the subject justice.
Location: Home, Riehen BS Switzerland
In my album: Dan's Patterns: Nature-Made
►►► Explore the world of HDR with me at farbspiel-photo.com - View. Learn. Connect.
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About | HDR Cookbook | Before-and-After | Making-of | Pics to play with
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(Hit 'f' to fave this image)
The story of this photo:
I am revisiting the shots I took in Thailand earlier this year. Unfortunately, many of the exterior shots suffer from a very misty and dull sky. So I processed this interior shot of Wat Phratat Doi Suthep. What bothers me about his shot though, is that it is not perfectly symmetrical. I did not pay enough attention when shooting - an illness from which I suffer quite often. But it is getting better slowly. LOL
This scene had a very high contrast, and I only had a monopod with me. So no chance to do more than 3 exposures. Also, I had to step up the ISO quite heavily. Thus, there was quite some noise in the final tonemapped image. I decided to turn this bug into a feature and cleaned up the noise quite aggressively with different tools. Afterwards I merged the outcome with a charcoal-like version of the image to get more of a painting-like look.
I hope it works for you!
Take a look at my "HDR Cookbook"! It contains some more information on my techniques.
How it was shot:
> Taken with a monopod
> Three exposures (0, -2, +2 ev) autobracketed and merged to get and HDR
> Camera: Nikon D90
> Lens: Sigma 10-20mm F3,5 EX DC HSM
> Details can be found here
How it was tonemapped:
> Preparation: developed the raw files with ACR mainly in order to reduce the CA [details]
> Photomatix version 3.1 (Detail Enhancer)
How it was post-processed:
> Post-processing was done in Photoshop
> Topaz Adjust on the entire image to get back the colors and the details [details]
> Topaz Denoise [details]
> Topaz Clean to clean regions of excessive noise
> Topaz Simplify on a copy of the original image layer to create a charcoal drawing look
> Blended the charcoal drawing layer with the original image to enhance that painting-like look
> Selective masking of the charcoal layer where it did not produce a good look
> Saturaton layer on the golden elements (yellows)
> Levels layer on the ivory (increased brightness)
> Global saturation and levels layer to tune the colors, contrast and brightness
> Vignette effect using a masked fill layer [details]
> Sharpening using the high-pass filter [details]
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Learn these techniques at farbspiel-photo.com - View. Learn. Connect.
- Thanks for viewing!
Larry's Creek near Salladasburg, Pennsylvania
I couldn't tell if these shots were turning out okay until I got home and put them on the computer, and increased the light. Then, wow! I'm so glad I didn't get discouraged by my dark display on my camera.
This is the best year we've had for colorful leaves for quite some time...at least since I discovered photography and was gifted with such wonderful equipment.
Thank you, Guardian Angel! :D
Lake Batur, Bali, Indonesia.
This is not an HDR. I took 5 exposures, but HDR was not an option here because the boat was slightly moving between the shots. Therefore I blended 3 exposures manually using Photoshop. Please check my Digital Blending Set.
The whole Bali Photoset can be viewed here.
with apologies to anyone who doesn't share my kingfisher obsession ; ) - I have increased the blurred background on this one in post in the image labelled e I haven't
And sharp as a knife...
Macro Monday: #Danger
Width of the frame: 3 cm / 1,18 inches
Oh, how much I hate to accidentally cut myself on paper. And how much more often has that happenend compared to a knive accident in the kitchen. We are surrounded by potentially dangerous things, aren't we? And one of those things is the inconspicious paper, evil in the guise of the daily newspaper, a book, a white, empty sheet of paper, the information leaflet... Admittedly, I've slightely exaggerated the consequences here, because a "paper cut" is never that bloody, but it bloody well hurts anyway ;-)
Simple ingredients used: strip of paper (of course), placed on my semi-glossy white tile and fixated with a small piece of modelling clay (which I forgot to remove with the healing [healing!] brush, *sigh*), because the droplet of "blood" always made it fall over. The "blood" consists of water and glycerol, tinted with red watercolour. Glycerol increases the water's surface tension and helps to stabilise the droplets (thank you very much for the advice, Bine&Minka2007!). A 50-50 mixture is recommended, but you should experiment with the mixing ratio, I used a 40 (water) to 60 (glycerol) mixing ratio for this. You can also use glycerol only. Since it is a fairly greasy substance, I'd recommend to have a bottle of make-up remover at hand which works really well to clean the surfaces you've used the glycerol on.
Other uses for glycerol? On the bottle I got from my local chemist it says that fir branches and Christmas trees last longer when you add a little glycerol to the water (4 tablespoons of glycerol in 1 l of water), and it is also recommended as a frost protection agent for rubber seals of, for instance, fridge or car doors. Speaking of frost protection agent... I vaguely remember the 1985 diethylene glycol wine scandal, where Austrian wineries adulterated their wines with diethylene glycerol... but that's an altogether different matter... ;-)
A Happy Macro Monday, Everyone!
Nicht von Pappe...
...sondern scharf wie ein Messer kann Papier sein. Papier war sogar das erste, das mir einfiel, als ich das neue MM-Thema erfuhr. Denn wie oft habe ich mich schon versehentlich an Papier geschnitten. Sicherlich öfter als am Küchenmesser, das man ja auch mit entsprechender Sorgfalt handhabt. Papier hingegen, das harmlose Zettelchen, Blatt, der Beipackzettel... ein unachtsamer Moment und... Autsch! Natürlich habe ich hier etwas übertrieben, denn so "blutig" ist ein Papier-Schnitt selten, aber er tut schon ziemlich gemein weh... ;-)
Den schmalen Streifen aus etwas dickerem Papier habe ich mit einem kleinen Kügelchen Knete (das ich auch noch wegzustempeln vergessen habe...) auf der matt-glänzenden Fliese befestigt, weil der "Blutstropfen" das Röllchen immer zum Überkippen brachte. Das "Blut" ist eine Mischung aus Wasser und Glycerin, gefärbt mit roter Wasserfarbe aus dem Tuschkasten. Vielen Dank übrigens an Bine&Minka2007 für den Tipp mit dem Glycerin. Christa macht ja immer die schönsten Tropfenfotos und ich hatte vor einiger Zeit mal nachgefragt, wie sie ihre Tröpfchen stabilisiert. Das recht ölige Glycerin erhöht die Oberflächenspannung des Wassers, sodass die Tropfen fester werden und länger halten. Ich habe gelesen, dass allgemein ein 50-50-Mischverhältnis empfohlen wird, aber man sollte ruhig damit experimentieren, ich hatte z.B. eine 40(Wasser)-zu-60(Glycerin)-Mischung angerührt. Man kann auch das reine Glycerin nehmen. Make-up-Entferner eignet sich übrigens vorzüglich, um das Zeug auch wieder rückstandslos zu entfernen.
Und wofür kann man Glycerin noch verwenden? Auf meinem Fläschchen aus der Apotheke las ich mit Interesse, dass Tannenzweige und der Weihnachtsbaum länger halten, wenn man 4 Esslöffel davon auf einen Liter ihres "Trink"wassers gibt. Außerdem soll es ein hervorragendes Frostschutzmittel für Gummidichtungen z.B. an Kühlschrank- oder Autotüren sein. Apropos Frostschutzmittel... Da gab es doch vor ewiger Zeit (1985, ich musste gleich mal nachschauen) diesen Weinpanscher-Skandal... aber das ist ein anderes Thema ;-)
Ich wünsche Euch eine angenehme Woche, liebe Flickr-Freunde!
A yellow summer sunlight illuminated the grass and this lonely pink wildflower.
Ultra short depth of field to increase a dreamy blurred environment.
On 500px 500px.com/photo/165094185
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