View allAll Photos Tagged LIKELY
Likely the most filthy road locomotive I ever photographed is Rio Grande EMD SD40T-2 No. 5392 leading a coal empty past milepost 178 at the old station of Park between Edna and Sidney, Colorado on the Craig Branch on September 9, 1992. If it’s not the filthiest, it’s up there anyway. I’ve seen Montana Rail Link and Rio Grande helper sets this dirty—I can only assume that No. 5390, along with the two trailing Rio Grande units, are blackened from being in helper service through all those tunnels. Maybe the wash rack at Burnham is broken. Or maybe it’s just Southern Pacific influence on Rio Grande power. Either way, the train didn’t shine in the morning sun.
Jasper Georgia. 4/19/2016. This species arrives by the middle of April to this special location some distance from the city itself. Here it breeds in good numbers at 3000 feet elevation. This is likely the the furthest south that this species breeds. I heard at least 15 males singing along a 4 mile drive. I saw 3 sets of males dueling it out as these recently arrived migrants are actively establishing territories. My senses were tantalized by the cool crisp mountain air, the gorgeous song of the recently arrived migrants, and the amazing spectacle of these gorgeous birds.
Likely it is the female Osprey returning without anything for the chicks. Other photos with both adults in similar positions indicate that it is the larger female Osprey with the wings open.
And here is another example of plastic contamination in the environment. But the use of a strip of cloth on the left side does add a nice touch to the nest.
Cambridge, Maryland.
Most likely, this is the Lake Pend Oreille River in the beautiful state of Idaho... All of the pictures taken on this day during a four month overlanding adventure were shot around that area... although I have not yet confirmed the exact location where this picture was taken.
_DSC2695
© Stephen L. Frazier - All Rights Reserved. Duplication, printing, publication, or other use of these images without written permission is prohibited.
This bald eagle is sitting over an open riffle on the frozen Turkey River. It's more likely to find a roaming muskrat or mink for dinner rather than a fish at this particular spot.
A bit of a miracle getting so close to this species as they are extremely shy and wary. Normally they spot you and hide. However, on passage migration they appear to be much more confiding. They are usually found on desolate moorland and mountain sides but on passage migration they have been recorded on the coast and even in peoples gardens. They will stay if you have berries!
www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/b...
Slightly smaller and slimmer than a blackbird - male ring ouzels are particularly distinctive with their black plumage with a pale wing panel and striking white breast band. The ring ouzel is primarily a bird of the uplands, where it breeds mainly in steep sided valleys, crags and gullies, from near sea level in the far north of Scotland up to 1,200m in the Cairngorms.
Breeding begins in mid-April and continues through to mid-July, with two broods common, and nests are located on or close to the ground in vegetation (typically in heather), in a crevice, or rarely in a tree. The young are fed a diet consisting mainly of earthworms and beetles.
Overview
Latin name
Turdus torquatus
Family
Chats and thrushes (Turdidae)
Where to see them
Ring ouzels can be found in upland areas of Scotland, northern England, north west Wales and Dartmoor. When on spring and autumn migration they may be seen away from their breeding areas, often on the east and south coasts of the UK where they favour short grassy areas.
When to see them
Ring ouzels arrive in March and April and leave again in September.
What they eat
Insects and berries
UK Breeding:-
6,200-7,500 pairs
Conservation
22 July 2011
The first national survey in 1999 estimated the UK ring ouzel population at 6,157-7,549 pairs, with further range contractions and a likely 58 per cent decline in population size since 1988-91.
Recent studies aimed at understanding these declines suggest that low first-year, and possibly adult, survival may be the main demographic mechanisms driving the population decline. The large population decline qualifies the ring ouzel for inclusion on the red list of birds of conservation concern.
PRLX 9564 likely feels right at home in the farmland of the Cumberland Valley. Having been repainted just before its return to Progress Rail, this SD70MAC sports a sharp BNSF "H3" scheme. 15T races past Wenger Feeds outside Shippensburg on Norfolk Southern's Lurgan Branch
Photographed at Snow Mountain Ranch near Cowiche, Washington. This and other Cowiche Conservancy property is a spring wildflower paradise. The early native plants are blooming now but not yet at peak bloom.
For those interested in what is likely almost a complete photo list of wildflower that grow in the Cowiche Conservancy properties see: perr.com/wordpress/?page_id=788 At one time this gentleman has a complete list of all or almost all wildflowers, with photos of plants the flower at Snow Mountain Ranch but I he may have changed the way he organized his photos. IMG_6084
Cappadocia, Turkey.
I have always wanted to take a balloon flight. Where else would be more thrilling and wonderful than Cappadocia in Turkey?
So I booked the balloon flight and got up at 4.30am to be ready for my 5.15am mini bus departure to be taken to the sight where the balloons are inflated. The early morning flight has the spectacular advantage of traveling over Cappadocia as the sun rises. Cool.
However on arrival the balloons were not inflated and we were told we had to wait half an hour for the wind speed to lessen. Some 45 minutes later there was a cheer as all of the balloons simultaneously started to be inflated. A wonderful buzz of happy excitement and cheers echoed round Cappadocia .
People took photographs of themselves and friends next to the inflating balloons. A wonderful sight and moment.
Then quite suddenly it stopped. All of the balloons started to deflate. So did our spirits. The wind speed was 10 knots and over 8 knots is considered not to be safe for a balloon venture.
Perhaps the 1st of April was not the best day to choose. An April fool I will likely not forget. Still, better safe than sorry. Hopefully I may secure another opportunity in the future.
Or, more likely, it's a car behind a mail truck going at a slow speed over the 100-year-old Big Eddy Bridge that spans the Columbia River in Revelstoke. Big Eddy is named after the bend in the river with that name.
This rare one off 1954 Aston Martin DB2/4 by Bertone is one of seven built by Bertone, and is the only coupe of the seven. Powered by a modified 2.9L, 140hp engine, and seen and photographed at the 2024 Greenwich Concours Show. Here is it's story by Sotheby's:
The tale of Stanley H. “Wacky” Arnolt II is well-known to sports car enthusiasts, but bears a rapid repeating: The Warsaw, Indiana businessman made his first fortune as a manufacturer of marine engines, then branched into the selling of British automobiles in Chicago in late 1950. In 1952 he commissioned Italian coachbuilder Bertone to build a limited run of custom-bodied MG TDs, known as Arnolt-MGs, for sale through his showroom. This relationship soon expanded, with Bertone collaborating with “Wacky” on, most famously, the Arnolt-Bristol, as well as Bertone-bodied Alfa Romeos, Bentleys, Ferraris, and other fabulous coachbuilt creations.
There were seven Aston Martins dressed by Bertone under Arnolt’s auspices, or, as the relentlessly self-promoting Arnolt would have preferred they be known, Arnolt-Aston Martins. Their designs differed from series to series and car to car, but DB2/4 chassis number LML/765 is the only coupe. It was and remains a thing of beauty, with lines that are more crisp and elegant than some of the other Bertone creations, arguably more finely tailored and cohesive and especially striking as a coupe. As noted by historian Stanley Nowak in his article on the Bertone Astons in Automobile Quarterly, Vol. 26 No. 4, the car’s dramatic creases in its flanks and a pronounced wraparound rear window were both signature touches of Bertone’s Franco Scaglione.
Build records at Aston Martin Dorset indicate that LML/765 was commissioned by Arnolt on 20 August 1954 for “Monsieur Henrey Pagezy” of Paris and delivered on 7 January 1955. Given the somewhat mangled spelling, it is believed that this client was actually Henri Pigozzi, founder of Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carrosserie Automobile, better-known as Simca. This is likely, as a few features on LML/765, most notably the taillights, were borrowed from Simca automobiles—an impressive signature.
According to Nowak, Arnolt’s Bertone representative claimed that the coupe was intended to have been the first in a small run of cars, but by the time it appeared Aston Martin had refused to supply any more chassis to the effort. Supporting this statement, the car was shown, well after its completion, at both the 1957 and 1958 Turin Motor Shows—finished in white and then in blue, respectively—each time on the Bertone stand. It is believed that the coachbuilder borrowed the car back both years in an effort to entice Aston Martin to consider them as a new firm to develop the upcoming DB4, a role that eventually went to another Italian coachbuilder, Touring of Milan.
The Bertone coupe later made its way to the United States in 1976, into the hands of John G. Gyann. It was subsequently owned by Dr. Jim Pavlatos of Palos Heights, Illinois, and restored under his care, then passed through the hands of Chicago-based sportscar dealer Bill Jacobs and the Blackhawk Collection. In 1987, it was acquired from Blackhawk by Roger Karlson of California, who would own the car for eleven years and spent much time and spared no expense meticulously sorting the mechanicals of the largely cosmetic restoration that had been undertaken prior to his ownership. The car was shown later in 1987 at Pebble Beach while under Mr. Karlson’s ownership.
In 2019, the special Bertone Aston was acquired by the current owner, who commissioned Aston Martin specialists Kevin Kay Restorations in Redding, California to undertake a full concours restoration. As part of this work, the car was faithfully returned to its “show stand-correct” metallic blue shade, matched to traces of the original finish located below the headlight bezels and in the trunk area. In addition, the correct front bumper and taillights, which had been modified over the years, were fabricated to replicate the original 1955 units, as was the bonnet trim, sun visors, and much of the interior trim hardware. Down to the original red exhaust tip, visible in a surviving 1958 color photograph, no small detail was overlooked during this extensive restoration, which cost over $800,000 and was completed just in time for the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in 2023. The restored car retains its original numbers-matching drivetrain, per its build documentation, with the original engine having been rebuilt to a high-output specification with elevated compression, DB MK III-style valves and camshafts, and an uprated oiling system.
At completion of the work, the car was debuted at the 2023 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, where it was honored with First in Class, a remarkable achievement. It has yet to be shown publicly since, leaving the door open for the next caretaker to enjoy participation in virtually any top-level concours event on the planet. In fact, the Bertone Aston has already been invited to be displayed and compete at the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este. Accompanying the sale is a document file featuring restoration photographs and invoices, as well as a copy of the Automobile Quarterly article and other historical information, including a detailed letter account by dedicated former owner Roger Karlson.
This unique Aston Martin DB2/4 is a singular and exquisite automobile, representing the epitome of English sporting heritage, but inspired by American ingenuity, passion, and ambition, and styled and built by Bertone and Italy’s finest artisans. In so many ways, the Bertone Aston represents the ultimate iteration of company owner David Brown’s “gentleman’s express.” A lively, smooth performer, it is a consummate English gentleman indeed, but clothed in a bespoke Italian suit.
This is likely the last Mono Lake photo I will post from our January impromptu visit. Mono Lake is a case of successful environmental battle against excessive human water usage.
Check out a full write up of this visit and more interesting information on Mono Lake at my blog.
Its April 1985 i was very fortunate to have a friend of mine that worked at Proviso hump yard for a few weeks and got me inside the tower for this view with SD-38's .Today this view most likely is not possible as the U.P closed the former CNW hump yard a few years ago and is building a intermodal yard in its place
We need more rain, but Roma sure isn't complaining about the sunshine. These shots were taken in our back yard on a 63° day in February. And today, in honor of a little local event that is taking place nearby - the Super Bowl - the well above average temperature is going to be in the 70s. With upwards of a hundred million people watching the game and seeing this balmy California weather, we'll likely be overrun by folks fleeing the frigid north and east (as we did 48 years ago), in hopes of grabbing a piece of it. But please, if you come, please bring some rain with you...
HSS!
2020 is very likely to be the last winter for the Sandouling open cast coal pit in China and thus the use of steam traction at this facility will cease.
With reserves nearly depleted the future of the mine will be reviewed in April/May.
Here we see stalwart traction for the coal trains in the form of Class JS 2-8-2 locomotive No 8190. She was built in the mid 80s and is still going strong today.
The area is on the edge of the Gobi desert and is largely featureless and expansive. This man made hole facilitates the removal of the coal from the mine at Xikang to the washery at Xuanmechang. From there it is transferred for onward transportation by diesel locomotive being loaded in the Nanzhen freight yards.
Temperatures during my visit ranged from -7 to -23.
Unusually for the area there was some prolonged snowfall. The area is usually bone dry the last light covering of snow being in 2012.
This is likely the same juvenile (female) Peregrine Falcon that was released from the roof of my building a couple of weeks ago. I say "likely" because I was up on the roof photographing a juvie on the cupola across the street. Finally it decided to flop over and take a nap. I turned around and saw this juvie right on the edge of the roof of my tower, just 20 feet above me. She was unconcerned with my movements and photography. She snacked on a large bird (probably pigeon) for about 20 minutes, preened, then flew past me to her sibling on the cupola across the street.
Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade
Activists for birds and wildlife
I've been in Los Angeles now for almost 11 months and with Winter just around the corner, this will likely end up being my first year without snow (unless it starts soon in the mountains) and without an Autumn. People out here insist there is an Autumn though they also think perfect weather is hot, hazy, clear skies. If there was an Autumn, I think I missed it, or at least what I became used to on the East Coast.
To me, Autumn is when the leaves start to change colors and then fall, when damp, crisp overcast days become something you wake up to and the air just feels cleaner. I think it's the best season of the year and while I've seen some more interesting skies and a slight dip in temperatures lately, that's about it. All I see around me and the locations I visit are palm trees and other vegetation that require little to no water. I'm still waiting on some rain without the accompanying winds of last winter but so far it's been dry.
This time last year, I had just decided to pack up and head to California but still was a month or so away from actually leaving. During the end of October through the beginning of December, I spent nearly all my days driving around the countryside with Scotch, searching for streams and waterfalls to shoot. The first place I became very obsessed with and returned to quite often was a waterfall just over the Maryland border in Cumberland Township near Barlow, Pennsylvania. In fact the day I found this place by accident (hoping that Natural Dam Road on my GPS would lead to water), it was just after a storm and the colorful autumn leaves were filling the trees and beginning to fall into the creek below.
While I can't discount how great it was to discover this place initially and the feeling that I had this perfect spot to practice long exposure all to myself, I got bolder and better with each trip back. I got closer and closer to the water with every return and eventually began setting up almost at water level on a little piece of land that jutted out from the shore. Most of the time, I parked my car in a ditch up the embankment to the road and Scotch would hang out in the car while I shot. I was never out of his sight and since it was already getting cold, he didn't mind at all. He was still happy just to go anywhere I'd take him and I generally didn't stay long when he was with me. On the trips I came here alone, I spent a considerable amount of time standing in a few inches of water and taking hundreds of shots as the light faded away. This place also became my main shooting location when the sky was clear since I didn't expect a nice sunset anyway.
For this shot, I was only a foot or so above the water and despite a storm mostly washing away all the colorful autumn leaves, a few stuck around on that giant rock. I guess I didn't get an Autumn this year but that's really one of only a few things I miss about the Washington, DC area. It's been amazing out here so far and I can skip a season, even if it is my favorite one. I spent a few years living in the snow belt in Western Pennsylvania and anytime I feel the need to complain about the sunny, clear, warm days in Southern California, I should think back to the most depressing weather I've ever experienced and be even more fortunate for where I am now :)
WHEN & WHERE
Cumberland Township
Barlow, Pennsylvania
November 1st, 2015
SETTINGS
Canon T4i
EF-S 18-135mm IS STM
@81mm
ISO 100
f/19
13 second
ND6 + CPL
As I came across this scene, several options to immortalize it sprang to mind. I could invert myself and the camera and thus obtain the right-side-up version of this White-breasted Nuthatch. Intriguing, but given my advanced age and continually decreasing agility, I decided against this. Another, equally important, reason against this approach was that I did not want anybody to get the idea that it would be a good thing to come up with a new helmet law for photographers out in the field. Yes, you are welcome. The other option, naturally, was to just take the shot and then invert the image in Lightroom or similar software. Much more appealing. Well, I did end up using this option but decided to leave things in their natural state, mostly for documentation purposes. The advantage here would be that if I ever decided to join a group, the image would be less likely to be rejected due to my obsessively fiddling with the settings in Lightroom. This just recently happened to a bird photographer Down Under and has been weighing heavily on my mind ever since :-)
Grey squirrel on the run with its food, most likely stolen from my bird table! #11 'Black and white' for 121 pictures in 2021.
More than likely this was a resettlement house for mountain folks displaced in the late 1930s from the newly established Shenandoah National Park. Electric but no plumbing, one room, fireplace, and a long since disintegrated wooden front porch that spanned end to end. This is the back; the front is just too ugly for pictures: cinder block, one window, no door. The entrance is on the RHS end. (Previous photo) An unlucky family for sure if it passed from generation to generation. Sometime in the 60s or 70s it was "purchased" by the Commonwealth of Virginia for the widening of Route 29. By purchased I mean that the owner was forced out at rock bottom prices for the sake of the highway. It sits on a hill literally 50 feet from the road, but can only be seen in winter.
Likely a new dryad's saddle, Polyporus squamosus
Thank you to everyone who visits, faves, and comments.
The wings of angels are often found on the backs of the least likely people. ~ Eric Honeycutt
I was reminded yesterday on facebook, with it’s wonderful little addition pop-up of “see your memories”, that I spent New Year 2014 on the North Shore Of Lake Superior It was a glorious -40 degrees with the windchill. It also reminded me that I put myself in a polar plunge predicament, when the ice gave way and I fell waist high into the frigid waters of Gitchee Gumee. My camera and I escaped unscathed, perhaps a bruised ego, but nonetheless safe.
The winter of 2013-2014 was brutally cold, but the polar conditions, made the landscape a magical photographers playground, full of ice, (lots of ice), snow, sea smoke and amazing color. Thanks to my little facebook reminder, I revisited some of my images from that weekend and ran across a series of the “ghost ship”, which is without a doubt one of my favorite images I have captured to date. I would like to share with you a little back story from that day.
After staying at Camp 61 in Beaver Bay I spent 3 days capturing the icy winter wonderland from the Canadian border to Stoney Point. I decided my last evening there, to rise early and make the hour drive into Duluth to capture the sunrise and make the 3 hour drive from there home, When I arrived in the harbor I was greeted with a beautiful wall of sea smoke, with the sun rising behind. It was beautiful, but it was cold, extremely cold. -40 degrees. I shot hundreds of frames of the lighthouses in the harbor and decided to head a little north of the harbor to capture the stacks of blue ice gathering around Brighton Beach. After snapping a few hundred more images, I was cold and ready to head home.
With absolutely no logic, I made a last minute decision to stop back in the harbor one last time for more images. The sea smoke was so thick, I could barely see the lighthouses less than a hundred yards out, and I decided to call it a day. As I was packing up my camera gear I was approached by a friendly older gentleman, who was definitely not dressed for the frigid conditions, I rememeber he had on a light jacket and was holding a small camera. He said to me, ” Your’e not leaving are you? There is a ship coming in” an pointed out to the lake. The smoke was so thick it was now close to the shore and thought to myself, “yeah right”. Just as I was closing my tripod the alarms, on the liftbridge went off, the bridge was going up and there was a ship coming in. I turned in amazement to thank my new friend and he was gone. Nowhere. Vanished. Befuddled, I went to the rails of the harbor to capture, what turned out to be my absolute favorite image of all time. The North Dakota tug was guiding the Baie Comeau through the thick wall of smoke. The ship had been stuck several times in the ice and delayed her arrival by a few weeks. The sea smoke was so thick it was hard to see her coming into port, but I remember that amazing feeling, looking through my view finder as I was clicking away capturing this magnificent scene,
I think often about my angel that day, that didn’t let me miss out on this once in a lifetime image. The Ghost Ship.
CN L537 has just crossed the Rock Island at 16th Street behind an IC SD70 duo heading west towards Glenn as a line of thunderstorms approaches.
The 2015 Weekend at the Asylum which is likely the largest and longest running Steampunk Festival in the World. It is held in the historic uphill district of Lincoln, Lincolnshire.
Since 2009, the festival (or convivial in Steampunk parlance) has been held each year in Lincoln and currently stretches over multiple venues in the historic cathedral quarter of Lincoln town, Lincoln Castle and Bishop Grosseteste University. It is run as a not-for-profit event organised by the Victorian Steampunk Society.
For four glorious days the historic streets of Lincoln are thronged with thousands of splendidly dressed steampunks enjoying a festival which strives to combine art, literature, music, fashion, comedy and simple good fun.
The event contains programmes of features and entertainment, such as the Empire Ball, Majors Review (The Major's Soiree) and the National Tea Duelling final, along with lots of live music and comedy and the largest steampunk market in the World, the Bazaar Eclectica.
Information Source:
Karel lives with his partner Pepijn de Korte... at Archeon in Holland.
His name will most likely be Charles, if Karel was an English ox.
But he isn’t. Eventhough his ancestors came from Scotland a long long time ago .
Archeon is a open air museum with many historical sites. There you can meet Roman soldiers, knights, vikings, basketmakers from the Middle Ages and many many more.
And yes… they all are alive! We call them re-enactors and they do a wonderful job
to show us, people from the 21st century, how life must have been in those days.
Karel is a giant, furry, deep dark brown animal with funny but gentle eyes and
together with Pepijn, he often works hard to pull the hay wagon.
In his free time he does nothing but sleep, eat and watching the many visitors of Archeon.
When you see Karel for the first time, you might like to run away, but… believe me,
he is the one of the sweetest creatures hanging around.
Whatever you like to do when meeting Karel… don’t ever try to annoy
this sweet guy and he will turn into a roaring beast very quickly!
Today, Karel has found a little yellow friend to trust his little secrets to.
Ofcourse… the dandelion is not too happy about the huge snout in front of her
all the time.
What do you think?
Will Karel ever kiss his little yellow friend or not?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Texture: CGtextures, okkibox
Brushes: obsidiandawn.com
Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media
without my explicit permission.
© All rights reserved
This is most likely the last of my Autumn Dreams series, the extreme wind my area has experienced is certain to have wrecked the last remnants of colored leaves. I'm a sucker for a red tree in fall, this was my last photo on the way out of the highlands Saturday. The pristine look of winter had fallen away in this location, would have been quite the sight a few hours earlier I'm sure. I'm using a black canvas on my snow photos, the bright white border dulls it all down I think.
I have been well satisfied this year with the autumn photos I got staying within 50 or 60 miles from my home. It has helped me find the smaller scenes and I've been blessed to stumble into quite a few gems in a wide variety of circumstances.
Most likely, the gate and the rock wall/fence are not the original.
Als leuchtendes Beispiel für nachhaltigen Güterverkehr im Auftrage der Natur - so stellt sich die für TXLogistik fahrende 193 283 von ELL dar. Am 27. Januar 2024 bespannte sie den DGS 40559 von Waalhaven Zuid nach Verona Q.E., der sich gut und bunt beladen zeigte. Diesen Vectron bekommt man im Brenner-Verkehr recht selten zu sehen, nach meinen Beobachtungen kommt dieser eher vor KLV-Zügen zum Einsatz, die den Weg über das Rheintal und den Gotthard nehmen. Jedenfalls habe ich den Auslöser gerne betätigt, als der Zug bei Fahlenbach an mir vorbeifuhr.
ELL's 193 283, which operates for TXLogistik, is a shining example of sustainable freight transport on behalf of nature. On January 27, 2024, it hauled DGS 40559 from Waalhaven Zuid to Verona Q.E., which was well and colorfully loaded. This Vectron is rarely seen in Brenner traffic, according to my observations it is more likely to be used in front of intermodal trains that take the route via the Rhine Valley and the Gotthard. In any case, I was happy to press the shutter release when the train passed me at Fahlenbach.
Diminutive and enchanting little mushrooms growing just under tree bark.
Likely Flammulina, perhaps species velutipes.
© All rights reserved.
Last of this series, though I'm likely to play around with fauxpan some more soon.
fauxpan -- X-Pro3 with XF 18mm cropped to Xpan ratio
Our Safari truck had a flat tire, so our guide took us out on foot in South Africa for a bit. We came upon this Rhino with the bird on his back and I got some pretty good photos with my telephoto lens. Horns were removed from most of the Rhinos and this one likely had his removed not long after this photo to prevent the poachers from killing the Rhinos.
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A farmer's small house in Rockingham, Ontario, Canada.
As small as it is, it does have class in my humble opinion. I've never seen anyone there, but it is clearly well maintained and likely used as a cottage.
I have to assume that the building on the right is an outhouse.
Other than this humble home, there's only a small barn on this lot.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_moorhen
The common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) (also known as the swamp chicken[2]) is a bird species in the family Rallidae. It is distributed across many parts of the Old World.[3]
The common moorhen lives around well-vegetated marshes, ponds, canals and other wetlands. The species is not found in the polar regions or many tropical rainforests. Elsewhere it is likely the most common rail species, except for the Eurasian coot in some regions.
The closely related common gallinule of the New World has been recognized as a separate species by most authorities,[3] starting with the American Ornithologists' Union and the International Ornithological Committee in 2011.
Name
The name mor-hen has been recorded in English since the 13th century.[5] The word moor here is an old sense meaning marsh;[5] the species is not usually found in moorland. An older name, common waterhen, is more descriptive of the bird's habitat.
A "watercock" is not a male "waterhen" but the rail species Gallicrex cinerea, not closely related to the common moorhen. "Water rail" usually refers to Rallus aquaticus, again not closely related.
The scientific name Gallinula chloropus comes from the Latin Gallinula (a small hen or chicken) and the Greek chloropus (khloros χλωρός green or yellow, pous πούς foot).
Description and ecology
The moorhen is a distinctive species, with dark plumage apart from the white undertail, yellow legs and a red frontal shield. The young are browner and lack the red shield. The frontal shield of the adult has a rounded top and fairly parallel sides; the tailward margin of the red unfeathered area is a smooth waving line. In the related common gallinule of the Americas, the frontal shield has a fairly straight top and is less wide towards the bill, giving a marked indentation to the back margin of the red area.
The common moorhen gives a wide range of gargling calls and will emit loud hisses when threatened.[7] A midsized to large rail, it can range from 30 to 38 cm (12 to 15 in) in length and span 50 to 62 cm (20 to 24 in) across the wings. The body mass of this species can range from 192 to 500 g (6.8 to 17.6 oz).[8][9]
This is a common breeding bird in marsh environments and well-vegetated lakes. Populations in areas where the waters freeze, such as eastern Europe, will migrate to more temperate climes. This species will consume a wide variety of vegetable material and small aquatic creatures. They forage beside or in the water, sometimes walking on lilypads or upending in the water to feed. They are often secretive, but can become tame in some areas. Despite loss of habitat in parts of its range, the common moorhen remains plentiful and widespread.
The birds are territorial during breeding season. The nest is a basket built on the ground in dense vegetation. Laying starts in spring, between mid-March and mid-May in Northern hemisphere temperate regions. About 8 eggs are usually laid per female early in the season; a brood later in the year usually has only 5–8 or fewer eggs. Nests may be re-used by different females. Incubation lasts about three weeks. Both parents incubate and feed the young. These fledge after 40–50 days, become independent usually a few weeks thereafter, and may raise their first brood the next spring. When threatened, the young may cling to the parents' body, after which the adult birds fly away to safety, carrying their offspring with them.[7][10]
On a global scale – all subspecies taken together – the common moorhen is as abundant as its vernacular name implies. It is therefore considered a species of Least Concern by the IUCN.[1] However, small populations may be prone to extinction. The population of Palau, belonging to the widespread subspecies G. c. orientalis and locally known as debar (a generic term also used for ducks and meaning roughly "waterfowl"), is very rare, and apparently the birds are hunted by locals. Most of the population on the archipelago occurs on Angaur and Peleliu, while the species is probably already gone from Koror. In the Lake Ngardok wetlands of Babeldaob, a few dozen still occur, but the total number of common moorhens on Palau is about in the same region as the Guam population: fewer than 100 adult birds (usually fewer than 50) have been encountered in any survey.[11]
The common moorhen is one of the birds (the other is the Eurasian coot, Fulica atra) from which the cyclocoelid flatworm parasite Cyclocoelum mutabile was first described.[12] The bird is also parasitised by the moorhen flea, Dasypsyllus gallinulae.[13]
Subspecies
Five subspecies are today considered valid; several more have been described that are now considered junior synonyms. Most are not very readily recognizable, as differences are rather subtle and often clinal. Usually, the location of a sighting is the most reliable indication as to subspecies identification, but the migratory tendencies of this species make identifications based on location not completely reliable. In addition to the extant subspecies listed below, an undescribed form from the Early Pleistocene is recorded from Dursunlu in Turkey.
"Bayou Dreaming"
Likely my favorite shoot all year!
A 230-second exposure during twilight.
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3 times I've gone out here for a walk this month. It used to feel like an escape from the city. Almost therapeutic. All I've felt recently is the sense of being rushed to get out there, disappointment and cold wet feet. The best part of each has been the quiet walk back in the dark.
I'm not giving up on Iona Beach, it's not her fault. I think I just need to correct my reasons for going.