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Brujas (en flamenco Brugge, en francés Bruges) - BÉLGICA
El mayor atractivo de Brujas es su casco histórico declarado Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco en el año 2000. Aunque en gran parte reconstruido, dicho centro urbano es uno de los más grandes atractivos europeos, ya que mantiene intactas las estructuras arquitectónicas medievales.
Al igual que Ámsterdam y Estocolmo, entre otras, Brujas es conocida como la Venecia del norte debido a la gran cantidad de canales que atraviesan la ciudad, y a la belleza de los mismos.
Bruges (Brugge in Flemish, Bruges in French) - BELGIUM
The biggest attraction is its historic Bruges Heritage Site by Unesco in 2000. Although largely rebuilt, the city center is one of the biggest attractions in Europe, as it keeps intact the medieval architectural structures.
Like Amsterdam and Stockholm, among others, Bruges is known as the Venice of the north because of the many canals running through the city and the beauty of them.
It is a largely terrestrial bird the size of a small domestic chicken, with mainly brown upperparts, finely banded black and white underparts, a white eyebrow, chestnut band running from the bill round the nape, with a buff band on the breast.
It utilises a range of moist or wetland habitats with low, dense vegetation for cover. It is usually quite shy but may become very tame and bold in some circumstances, such as in island resorts within the Great Barrier Reef region.
This image was taken at Otehei Bay, in the Bay of Islands, on the North Island of New Zealand
Back from a very wet few days in Malta, largely devoid of wildlife encounters. However a brief spell of sunshine and being in the right place at the right time resulted in the find of the holiday, a Mediterranean Chameleon, albeit a rather off-colour individual, found in a green space in the capital, Valetta.
La Ceja, Colombia; Central Andes; 2.300 meters above sea level.
Piranga olivacea
(Scarlet tanager / Tángara rojinegra migratoria)
The smallest of the four species of the genus Piranga that breed north of Mexico, it is a long-distance Neotropical migrant, annually making the journey between northwestern South America and the eastern United States and southern Canada.
This tanager is monogamous and aggressively territorial throughout its range. It is largely insectivorous, foraging heavily on the larvae of Lepidoptera and a variety of adult insects by hovering and gleaning.
A lovely, rambling and laid-back sort of place, the perfect old market town pub.
The date of 1794 on the gable is misleading. That was the date it changed its name to the Chequers from - rather bizarrely for a hilltop top town in landlocked Oxfordshire - The Anchor.
The building is largely 17th century and there maybe a medieval core.
The end of my walk from Great Rollright. A pint and a 35 minute bouncy rural bus journey back home.
It may help to have had a drink or two before sitting on that bench on the right.
Another shot of the urban east end of Montana Rail Link that is largely eschewed by most visiting railfans....but that we wanted to at least say ww sampled.
Thanks to a tip we found the noon Billings yard crew switching switching out Boise Cascade at the end of the 0.6 mile long spur that leaves the First Subdivision main out by MP 4.9 by True North Steel. This is one of several cool industry tracks that has a clearance restriction and is limited by timetable instruction to nothing larger than a GP9.
MRL 131 seen here on the South 29th Street West crossing is a Livingston rebuilt GP9R that began life as a GP7 blt. Mar. 1952 as QNSL 108. Later sold to the Chicago and Northwestern where it wore number 4355 it's called MRL hoke for more than three decades and only time will tell if it will stay around Billings and get a new coat of orange paint.
Countless articles have been written about the MRL over the past 35 years of its existence and if you care to learn more download this great set courtesy of Trains Magazine:
www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/05/TRN-MRL.pdf
Billings, Montana
Wednesday September 7, 2022
Photographed in the Pantanal, Brazil - From a vehicle, no cover
Please click twice on the image to view at the largest size
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From Wikipedia: The cocoi heron (Ardea cocoi) is a species of long-legged wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae found across South America. It has predominantly pale grey plumage with a darker grey crest. A carnivore, it hunts fish and crustaceans in shallow water.
Feeding: This heron feeds primarily on fish over 20 cm (8 in) long; with mammals, amphibians and sometimes insects also being consumed. Fish species consumed include whitemouth croaker, wolf fish, various Leporinus species up to 200 mm long and streaked prochilod. This heron has also been observed to feed on carrion and Callinectes blue crabs. In Colombia, chicks have also been observed being fed predominantly fish and less frequently with amphibians and crustaceans.
The cocoi heron catches prey by striking its head into the water and thrusting its bill to stab downwards. It may also tilt its head downward above the water so that only its bill is immersed. During feeding, the head and neck move rapidly while the body remains immobile. Feeding is usually diurnal and solitary, especially in Argentina, although in Chile, it is considered to be a largely nocturnal feeder, with diurnal roosting taking place in trees overlooking the water. In Venezuela, it has also been seen foraging in large groups. Where feeding is diurnal, there appears to be a peak in feeding activity at noon and a reduction at dusk.
The cocoi heron appears able to use alternative food sources by exploring foraging sites distant from its breeding colonies, since terrestrial rodents and reptiles and marine organisms have been found in the diet of individuals from freshwater colonies. Some colonies also reside near to estuarine coastland and individuals from these colonies are more reliant on marine prey. Foraging individuals often stay near to colonies and colony site choice has been found to be strongly linked to proximity to high-quality foraging habitats. The heron may also sometimes exploit dead whitemouth croaker discarded by recreational fisheries
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I suppose photography is largely about luck and being in the right place at the right time, but moments like this don't come along that often so it was awesome to be there. After a massive down pour where I got soaked, a brief break of light produced this wonderful scene and after about 30 seconds it was gone.
Exposure was difficult due to the forest gloom and early morning light. The sloth bear is a unique species of bear found in the forests of the Indian subcontinent, including Sri Lanka. Their distinctive appearance and behaviour sets them apart from other bears.
They have shaggy, black fur, which often appears matted and untidy. The fur is longer around the neck, giving them a scruffy, mane-like look. They have a shambolic gait. There is a white chest patch, often V-shaped. Sloth bears have large, powerful jaws, but they do not primarily take larger animal prey. They use their claws for digging and pulling apart rotting logs to find insects, especially termites and ants.
Sloth bears are generally solitary and are largely nocturnal, foraging at night when they can find more insect activity. They are shy and avoid human contact. They are not aggressive unless provoked.
The species is currently classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN. Populations are declining due to habitat loss, human-wildlife conflict and poaching for their body parts.
Sloth bears are known for their loud vocalisations, which include grunts, growls and roars. They are also adept climbers.
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Lippenbär
Губач
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Dungeness is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness is also the name of the power station and a few other nearby buildings near the beach, and of an important ecological site at the same location.
Dungeness is one of the largest expanses of shingle in the world. It is of international conservation importance for its geomorphology, plant and invertebrate communities and birdlife. This is recognised and protected mostly through its conservation designations as a National Nature Reserve (NNR), a Special Protection Area (SPA), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) of Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay.
There is a remarkable variety of wildlife living at Dungeness, with over 600 different types of plant: a third of all those found in Britain. It is one of the best places in Britain to find insects such as moths, bees and beetles, and spiders; many of these are very rare, some found nowhere else in Britain.
The short-haired bumblebee, Bombus subterraneus, was last found in the UK in 1988, but has survived in New Zealand after being shipped there more than 100 years ago. It is to be reintroduced at Dungeness. It is planned that the first bees will be introduced in the spring of 2010.
The flooded gravel pits on Denge Beach, both brackish and fresh water, provide an important refuge for many migratory and coastal bird species. The RSPB has a bird sanctuary there and every year thousands of bird watchers descend on the peninsula to catch a glimpse of a rare bird from the bird observatory.
One of the most remarkable features of the site is an area known as 'the patch' or, by anglers, as 'the boil'. The waste hot water and sewage from the Dungeness nuclear power stations are pumped into the sea through two outfall pipes, enriching the biological productivity of the sea bed and attracting seabirds from miles around.
Beach fishing is popular at Dungeness, with the area being a nationally recognised cod fishing venue in the winter.
The name Dungeness derives from Old Norse nes: "headland", with the first part probably connected with the nearby Denge Marsh. Popular etymology ascribes a French origin to the toponym, giving an interpretation as "dangerous nose".
In the arid outskirts of the Atacama Desert, SPC DILOTOQ snakes through the loops as KM119 Desvio as a radiant sunset forms above. Bursts of smoke emit from the EMD trio as they notch out of a long climb to a temporary respite at the summit of the loops. We believed the middle section of the SPC to be largely inaccessible after discovering the only mapped road had largely been reclaimed by the rocky earth. However, fortune granted us favor on our final day as we found a long access road that spit out at the center of the railroad's grueling climb. Roads, access roads, dried up riverbeds, and marks created by wind patterns can be quite indicernable at a bird's eye view. We made it just in time for the day's pair of trains to begin winding through the loops.
But fortune cometh and fortune leaveth as the same access road that granted us a brief peek at the wonder's of SPC's Middle Section became the trap that would foil our trip 8 months later.
It was not far from this location that we would first encounter the security escorts, who, needless to say, were not particularly happy about us being so far away from the main highway. If only I had discovered this road at the beginning of our first trip—might have conquered the spectacular instead of idling on what ifs.
Dungeness is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness is also the name of the power station, of the hamlet within the location, and of an important ecological site at the same location.
The name Dungeness derives from Old Norse nes: "headland", with the first part probably connected with the nearby Denge Marsh. Popular etymology ascribes a French origin to the toponym, giving an interpretation as "dangerous nose".
Ecology
Dungeness is one of the largest expanses of shingle in Europe and is classified as Britain's only desert by the Met Office. It is of international conservation importance for its geomorphology, plant and invertebrate communities and birdlife. This is recognised and protected mostly through its conservation designations as a national nature reserve (NNR), a Special Protection Area (SPA), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) of Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay.
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"Syvota town is a well-developed resort, owing largely to the numerous pristine beaches with clear waters located on several islets immediately offshore." (Wikipedia)
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"Comme un contrepoint aux rudes terres montagnardes de l'arrière-pays, la côté Ionienne offre une variante adoucie de l'Epire, dédiée au soleil et aux plaisirs balnéaires. Vertigineuses falaises plongeant dans la mer, petites criques baignées d'eaux turquoises, PORTS DE PÊCHE nichés au creux d'admirables abris naturels... le littoral occidental n'a rien à envier aux îles de la mer Egée. Et malgré l'afflux touristique, on y dénichera toujours une station à taille humaine et une plage loin de la foule où poser sa serviette." (Le Guide Vert / Grèce Continentale)
Sunset from Killiney Beach, Dublin, Ireland with Bray Head in Background.
It was a largely clear calm day. I arrived at this location shortly before Sunset. The sky looked promising for an interesting sunset so I waited. I wasnt disappointed. The fabulous light display lasted about fifteen minutes
The path up Glen Dee is getting difficult for cycling now, so it's time to drop the bikes off and start hiking to our first summit of the day, Beinn Bhrotain (mine is the black one closest to the fence).
Beinn Bhrotain (pronounced Bane Vrottan meaning Hill of the Hound) stands at 1157 meters (3796 feet) and is the first of our Munros today. Monadh Mor (pronounced Monnagh Mor meaning The Big Hill) is our second and final destination and stands at 1113 meters (3651 feet). A short 5 mile cycle up Glen Dee gets us to the foot of the climb, then it's an 11 mile hike across rough and boggy ground to get there. An epic 8.5 hours, largely un-pathed, time in the hills gets us back to the cars just before full dark falls!
I found myself on this largely abandoned dirt road, now used only for field access by local farmers and perhaps occasionally as a "shortcut" to the paved road about a mile ahead.
I first titled this "Lonely" but then decided that wasn't at all the feeling I had. It was very much a feeling of peacefulness as I stood there with nothing or nobody close by. It is wonderful to have family and friends but sometimes it is good to just be alone.
The Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) belongs to the genus Branta of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species.
The Barnacle Goose is a medium-sized goose, 55 - 70 cm long, with a wingspan of 130 - 145 cm and a weight of 1.2 - 2.2 kg. It has a white face and black head, neck, and upper breast. Its belly is white. The wings and its back are silver-gray with black-and-white bars that look like they are shining when the light reflects on it. It flies in packs and long lines, with a noisy chorus of barking or yapping sounds. Barnacle geese feed on grasses and coastal plants found in salt marshes, grasslands near river estuaries or tidal mud flats.
The wintering population (130.000 birds) in the Netherlands breeds in Arctic Russia and the Baltic.
This picture was taken at the Lauwersmeer, a man-made lake in the north of the Netherlands, on the border of the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. The lake was formed on 1969, when the dike between the bay called Lauwerssea" and the Waddensea was closed. The Lauwersmeer is now one of the famoust birding areas in Western Europe. The area is famous for the huge numbers of birds. During the winter months the Lauwersmeer is famous for the huge numbers of geese. You will see thousands of Barnacle Geese, White Fronted Geese, Greylag Geese and also good numbers of Bean Geese, Brant, Tundra Swan and Whooper Swan.
De brandgans (Branta leucopsis) is een sterke ongeveer 60 cm grote gans, die weinig of geen last ondervindt van vriesweer, met geelachtige witte kop, waarvan de achterzijde zwart is, met een zwarte nek en bovenborst. Als deze gans tijdens de winter aan de Nederlandse kust opduikt, worden ze al vlug verraden door het wit van hun wangen dat fel afsteekt op het zwart van de kop en hals.
Hun broedgebied is het noordelijk deel van de Atlantische Oceaan, van de oostkust van Groenland tot Spitsbergen en het zuiden van Nova Zembla. Het wintergebied bevindt zich vooral aan de kusten van Ierland, de westkust van Schotland en de Noordzeekust van Duitsland en Nederland.
De Nederlandse overwinteraars komen vooral van Nova Zembla.
De laatste jaren blijven grote groepen brandganzen in Nederland en zijn dus het hele jaar door op Nederlandse graslanden te vinden.
Deze foto is genomen bij het Lauwersmeer, op de grens van Groningen en Friesland bij de Waddenzee. Jaarlijks met meer dan 100.000 vogels een van de grootste en belangrijkste overwinterengebieden voor brandganzen in Nederland.
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All rights reserved. Copyright © Martien Uiterweerd (Foto Martien).
All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.
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The Black & Yellow bedroom
Burghley House is a grand 16th-century English country house near Stamford on the Cambrigeshire/Lincolnshire border, built by William Cecil. The estate features magnificent State Rooms, art collections and grounds designed by Capability Brown.
William Cecil (later the 1st Baron Burghley) began building the house as a demonstration of his wealth and power and to establish a dynastic family seat, contruction began in 1555 and the house mostly comple by 1587. He was heavily involved in its design, which was intended to impress the Queen (Elizabeth I) and her court.
While the exterior largely retains its original Elizabethan look, the interiors were extensively remodeled in the Baroque style by the 5th Earl of Exeter in the late 17th century. This included commissioning the famous "Heaven Room" and "Hell Staircase" ceiling paintings by the Italian artist Antonio Verrio.
In the 18th century, the renowned landscape architect Lancelot 'Capability' Brown was employed by the 9th Earl to redesign the gardens and parkland. Brown created the sweeping vistas, the lake, and the Lion Bridge, even altering the house's structure to enhance the views.
The 6th Marquess of Exeter, a gold-medal-winning Olympic athlete immortalized in the film Chariots of Fire, oversaw significant modernization of the house, including the introduction of electricity. In 1961, he established the Burghley House Preservation Trust, a charitable trust that now owns and maintains the house, its contents, and the surrounding estate for the public's enjoyment.
Collage composed of 2 photos
The Barnacle Goose (Branta leucopsis) belongs to the genus Branta of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species.
The Barnacle Goose is a medium-sized goose, 55 - 70 cm long, with a wingspan of 130 - 145 cm and a weight of 1.2 - 2.2 kg. It has a white face and black head, neck, and upper breast. Its belly is white. The wings and its back are silver-gray with black-and-white bars that look like they are shining when the light reflects on it. It flies in packs and long lines, with a noisy chorus of barking or yapping sounds.
Barnacle geese feed on grasses and coastal plants found in salt marshes, grasslands near river estuaries or tidal mud flats.
The wintering population (130.000 birds) in the Netherlands breeds in Arctic Russia and the Baltic.
This picture was taken at the Lauwersmeer, a man-made lake in the north of the Netherlands, on the border of the provinces of Groningen and Friesland. The lake was formed on 1969, when the dike between the bay called Lauwerssea" and the Waddensea was closed. The Lauwersmeer is now one of the famoust birding areas in Western Europe. The area is famous for the huge numbers of birds. During the winter months the Lauwersmeer is famous for the huge numbers of geese. You will see thousands of Barnacle Geese, White Fronted Geese, Greylag Geese and also good numbers of Bean Geese, Brant, Tundra Swan and Whooper Swan.
De brandgans (Branta leucopsis) is een sterke ongeveer 60 cm grote gans, die weinig of geen last ondervindt van vriesweer, met geelachtige witte kop, waarvan de achterzijde zwart is, met een zwarte nek en bovenborst. Als deze gans tijdens de winter aan de Nederlandse kust opduikt, worden ze al vlug verraden door het wit van hun wangen dat fel afsteekt op het zwart van de kop en hals.
Hun broedgebied is het noordelijk deel van de Atlantische Oceaan, van de oostkust van Groenland tot Spitsbergen en het zuiden van Nova Zembla. Het wintergebied bevindt zich vooral aan de kusten van Ierland, de westkust van Schotland en de Noordzeekust van Duitsland en Nederland.
De Nederlandse overwinteraars komen vooral van Nova Zembla.
De laatste jaren blijven grote groepen brandganzen in Nederland en zijn dus het hele jaar door op Nederlandse graslanden te vinden.
Deze foto is genomen bij het Lauwersmeer, op de grens van Groningen en Friesland bij de Waddenzee. Jaarlijks met meer dan 100.000 vogels een van de grootste en belangrijkste overwinterengebieden voor brandganzen in Nederland.
___________________________
All rights reserved. Copyright © Martien Uiterweerd (Foto Martien).
All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.
___________________________
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.
The photo is largely black and blue but this Tree Squirrel is melanistic and could be either an Eastern Gray Squirrel or Fox Squirrel with an usual black coat. However, I'm fortunate to live in an area where they thrive and I and the dogs love watching them in our trees ...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_squirrel
www.coloradovirtuallibrary.org/resource-sharing/state-pub...
Colorado Springs, CO
They are largely resident in the same woodland area throughout the year, the search for food does oblige them to become somewhat nomadic during the winter months. At such times they often join mixed feeding flocks of other small woodland birds................
Thank you for your visit, any comments are always appreciated, God bless.....Tomx.
Although Exeter Cathedral was largely rebuilt in the late 13th century in the Decorated Gothic style, it retained two Norman towers from an earlier building which dated from 1133. This is one of them. The cathedral is in the heart of the city of Exeter, and is surrounded by a large green with a variety of attractive buildings. This makes up the Cathedral Close. In medieval times this area was walled and there were seven gates which provided access.
Dungeness is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness spans Dungeness Nuclear Power Station, the hamlet of Dungeness, and an ecological site at the same location. It lies within the civil parish of Lydd.
“Life does not consist mainly, or even largely, of facts and happenings. It consists mainly of the storm of thought that is forever flowing through one’s head.”
– Mark Twain (pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer)
This photo was taken in 2013 during my previous Project 365…please visit my album for this “REMASTERED” Project 365 as I revisit each day of 2013 for additional photos to share!!
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D5200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/
The Drawing Room
Audley End House is a largely early 17th century country house just outside the town of Saffron Walden in Essex.
The site was originally Walden Abbey, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1139. In 1538, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII granted the abbey and lands to his Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley.
Sir Thomas Audley converted the abbey buildings into a mansion. His great-grandson, Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, demolished most of the earlier house and built the current magnificent mansion between 1605 and 1614. It was intended to be grand enough to host King James I, a feat it achieved, but its immense cost led to the Earl's financial ruin and conviction for embezzlement.
Throughout the 18th century, successive owners, including the Countess of Portsmouth, reduced the house to a more manageable size by demolishing large sections, saving it from total dereliction.
In the 1820s, the 3rd Lord Braybrooke remodelled the house to recover its original Jacobean character, a style that largely prevails in the house's interiors today.
After the second world war, due to heavy death duties, the 9th Lord Braybrooke sold the house to the Ministry of Works (the predecessor of English Heritage) in 1948. The house and gardens are now open to the public, offering a glimpse into centuries of English history.
Yorke Peninsula, South Australia
It's been such a long time since I've posted here, largely because I haven't been out shooting much at all (like most people!). Just before we went into isolation, we managed to celebrate Mum's birthday before not being able to visit for the next little while. Since then covid has passed through South Australia and we are now allowed out again. This image is a reminder of a great weekend away that is a stark memory for when the world changed. Hope to be out and about next weekend shooting again :)
Gray langurs, sacred langurs, Indian langurs or Hanuman langurs are a group of Old World monkeys native to the Indian subcontinent constituting the entirety of the genus Semnopithecus.
These langurs are largely gray (some more yellowish), with a black face and ears. Externally, the various species mainly differ in the darkness of the hands and feet, the overall color and the presence or absence of a crest. Typically all north Indian gray langurs have their tail tips looping towards their head during a casual walk whereas all south Indian and Sri Lankan gray langurs have an inverted "U" shape or a "S" tail carriage pattern. There are also significant variations in the size depending on the sex, with the male always larger than the female. The head-and-body length is from 51 to 79 cm (20 to 31 in). Their tails, at 69 to 102 cm (27 to 40 in) are never longer than their bodies. Langurs from the southern part of their range are smaller than those from the north. At 26.5 kg (58 lb), the heaviest langur ever recorded was a male Nepal gray langur. The larger gray langurs are rivals for the largest species of monkey found in Asia. The average weight of gray langurs is 18 kg (40 lb) in the males and 11 kg (24 lb) in the females.
Langurs mostly walk quadrupedally and spend half their time on the ground and the other half in the trees. They will also make bipedal hops, climbing and descending supports with the body upright, and leaps. Langurs can leap 3.6–4.7 m (12–15 ft) horizontally and 10.7–12.2 m (35–40 ft) in descending.
The entire distribution of all gray langur species stretches from the Himalayas in the north to Sri Lanka in the south, and from Bangladesh in the east to Pakistan in the west. They possibly occur in Afghanistan. The bulk of the gray langur distribution is within India, and all seven currently recognized species have at least a part of their range in this country.
Gray langurs can adapt to a variety of habitats.They inhabit arid habitats like deserts, tropical habitats like tropical rainforests and temperate habitats like coniferous forests, deciduous habitats and mountains habitats. They are found at sea level to altitudes up to 4,000 m (13,000 ft). They can adapt well to human settlements, and are found in villages, towns and areas with housing or agriculture.They live in densely populated cities like Jodhpur, which has a population numbering up to a million.
Gray langurs are diurnal. They sleep during the night in trees but also on man-made structures like towers and electric poles when in human settlements. When resting in trees, they generally prefer the highest branches.
Ungulates like bovine and deer will eat food dropped by foraging langurs.Langurs are preyed upon by leopards, dholes and tigers.Wolves, jackals, Asian black bears and pythons may also prey on them
Gray langurs are primarily herbivores. However, unlike some other colobines they do not depend on leaves and leaf buds of herbs, but will also eat coniferous needles and cones, fruits and fruit buds, evergreen petioles, shoots and roots, seeds, grass, bamboo, fern rhizomes, mosses, and lichens. Leaves of trees and shrubs rank at the top of preferred food, followed by herbs and grasses. Non-plant material consumed include spider webs, termite mounds and insect larvae.They forage on agricultural crops and other human foods, and even accept handouts. Although they occasionally drink, langurs get most of their water from the moisture in their food.
In one-male groups, the resident male is usually the sole breeder of the females and sires all the young. In multiple-male groups, the highest-ranking male fathers most of the offspring, followed by the next-ranking males and even outside males will father young. Higher-ranking females are more reproductively successful than lower-ranking ones.
Female gray langurs do not make it obvious that they are in estrous. However, males are still somehow able to reduce the reproduction state of females.Females signal that they are ready to mate by shuddering the head, lowering the tail, and presenting their anogenital regions. Such solicitations do not always lead to copulation. When langurs mate, they are sometimes disrupted by other group members. Females have even been recorded mounting other females.
The gestation period of gray langur lasts around 200 days, at least at Jodhpur, India. In some areas, reproduction is year-around. Year-round reproduction appears to occur in populations that capitalize on human-made foods. Other populations have seasonal reproduction.
Infanticide is common among gray langurs. Most infanticidal langurs are males that have recently immigrated to a group and driven out the prior male. These males only kill infants that are not their own.Infanticide is more commonly reported in one-male groups, perhaps because one male monopolizing matings drives the evolution of this trait. In multiple-male groups, the costs for infanticidal males are likely to be high as the other males may protect the infants and they can't ensure that they'll sire young with other males around. Nevertheless, infanticide does occur in these groups, and is suggested that such practices serve to return a female to estrous and gain the opportunity to mate.
Females usually give birth to a single infant, although twins do occur. Most births occur during the night. Infants are born with thin, dark brown or black hair and pale skin. Infants spend their first week attach themselves to their mothers' chests and mostly just suckle or sleep. They do not move much in terms of locomotion for the first two weeks of their life. As they approach their sixth week of life, infants vocalize more.They use squeaks and shrieks to communicate stress. In the following months, the infants are capable of quadrupedal locomotion and can walk, run and jump by the second and third months. Alloparenting occurs among langurs, starting when the infants reach two years of age. The infant will be given to the other females of the group. However, if the mother dies, the infant usually follows.Langurs are weaned by 13 months.
Hoog Catharijne is a largely covered shopping center, office and residential complex, partly falling in the city center of the Dutch city of Utrecht. It runs from Stationsplein, to Vredenburg and houses hundreds of shops, halls, offices and homes.
Hoog Catharijne was officially opened on 24 September 1973.
In 2012, the renovation of Hoog Catharijnen started because the shopping center was considerably outdated and, if all goes well, will be ready in 2020.
Here you see a part that is already finished with the decorations for the holidays.
☛ Please see here more from; the Netherlands.
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Northamptonshire, where we live, is a largely rural county comprising mainly rich farmland. There are just five large towns plus a couple of very important roads that go through the county - the M1 and the A14. For many years I regularly drove up and down the M1 from London without realising what attractive countryside there is if you take the trouble to get off the motorway. Pictured is the farmland just to the north of Brixworth. This is a gently rolling landscape with the village of Hanging Houghton on the ridge in the distance.
However, this could start to change as the government in its wisdom has decreed that Northamptonshire must have a large number of new houses, presumably for the benefit of the increasing population who cannot find anywhere else affordable to live within reach of the south-east. At present this development is mainly affecting the large towns, where it is doubtful whether we have the social infrastructure to handle the expansion. "Joined up government"??
As its name implies, the fishing cat (Prionailurus viverrinus) predominantly preys on fish. Largely active at night, fishing cats are good swimmers and have been observed diving for fish, as well as scooping them out of the water with their paws. These cats will also prey on small mammals, snakes, snails and birds.
This is a heavily built, medium-sized cat with an elongated head, rather short legs and a short tail. Head-body length ranges from 60 to 85 cm, tail length from 20 to 33 cm, height at shoulder about 40 cm. Body weight varies from 5 to 15 kg. Females are smaller than males. Males are about twice the size of a domestic cat.
Their olive-gray fur has black or dark brown stripes and rows of spots in horizontal streaks running along the length of the body.
When swimming, the fishing cat may use its short, flattened tail like a rudder, helping control its direction in the water.
Fishing cats live an average of 12 years, but have been known to live more than 15 years in captivity.
The fishing cat is distributed throughout southern and southeast Asia, found in northeastern India, the foot of the Himalayas in Nepal and India, and a few scattered areas in Bangladesh, Indus Valley Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma and in the Indonesian Islands of Sumatra and Java. However, these cats are not found all throughout this broad area because of their habitat preferences. They are strongly tied to densely vegetated areas near water, in marshes, mangroves, rivers, and streams.
This picture was taken in Zoo Duisburg, Germany.
Zoals de naam al aangeeft, is vis de belangrijkste prooi voor de vissende kat of viskat (Prionailurus viverrinus). De vissende kat is een wilde middelgrote katachtige uit Zuid- en Zuidoost-Azië.
De vissende kat heeft een korte, lichtbruine tot groenig grijze vacht met donkerbruine tot zwarte vlekken, die op de nek en het voorhoofd overgaan in donkere strepen. De flanken en de buik zijn lichter gekleurd. De poten zijn vrij kort. De klauwen hebben kleine, slecht ontwikkelde zwemvliezen. De vissende kat kan zijn tenen spreiden, waardoor hij zich makkelijker kan voortbewegen over drassige grond. De vissende kat is een stevige katachtige met een lang lichaam en een korte staart. Het dier wordt 60 à 85 centimeter lang en 5 à 15 kg zwaar. De staart is ongeveer 40 cm. Mannetjes worden groter dan vrouwtjes: vrouwtjes worden gemiddeld 5 à 8 kg zwaar, mannetjes 11 à 15 kg.
De vissende kat is afhankelijk van water, en komt voornamelijk voor in waterrijke gebieden met dichtbegroeide oevers, als moerassen, meren, rivieren, traagstromende beken en rivierdelta's grenzend aan bossen, rietvelden en mangrovebossen. De vissende kat is een solitaire jager, die 's avonds en 's nachts op jacht gaat.
Deze kat eet vooral waterdieren als vissen, kikkers, schelpdieren, kreeftachtigen, waterinsecten, watervogels, en op het land, slangen, vogels en kleine zoogdieren.
Overdag verblijft hij in dicht struikgewas of in een holle boomstam.
Deze foto is gemaakt in Zoo Duisburg, Duitsland.
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All rights reserved. Copyright © Martien Uiterweerd. All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.
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Edinburgh Castle is a historic fortress which dominates the skyline of the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, from its position on the Castle Rock. Archaeologists have established human occupation of the rock since at least the Iron Age (2nd century AD), although the nature of the early settlement is unclear. There has been a royal castle on the rock since at least the reign of David I in the 12th century, and the site continued to be a royal residence until 1633. From the 15th century the castle's residential role declined, and by the 17th century it was principally used as military barracks with a large garrison. Its importance as a part of Scotland's national heritage was recognised increasingly from the early 19th century onwards, and various restoration programmes have been carried out over the past century and a half. As one of the most important strongholds in the Kingdom of Scotland, Edinburgh Castle was involved in many historical conflicts from the Wars of Scottish Independence in the 14th century to the Jacobite Rising of 1745. Research undertaken in 2014 identified 26 sieges in its 1100-year-old history, giving it a claim to having been "the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world".
Few of the present buildings pre-date the Lang Siege of the 16th century, when the medieval defences were largely destroyed by artillery bombardment. The most notable exceptions are St Margaret's Chapel from the early 12th century, which is regarded as the oldest building in Edinburgh, the Royal Palace and the early-16th-century Great Hall, although the interiors have been much altered from the mid-Victorian period onwards. The castle also houses the Scottish regalia, known as the Honours of Scotland and is the site of the Scottish National War Memorial and the National War Museum of Scotland. The British Army is still responsible for some parts of the castle, although its presence is now largely ceremonial and administrative. Some of the castle buildings house regimental museums which contribute to its presentation as a tourist attraction.
The castle, in the care of Historic Scotland, is Scotland's most-visited paid tourist attraction, with over 1.4 million visitors in 2013.
As the backdrop to the Edinburgh Military Tattoo during the annual Edinburgh International Festival the castle has become a recognisable symbol of Edinburgh and of Scotland and indeed, it is Edinburgh's most frequently visited visitor attraction—according to the Edinburgh Visitor Survey, more than 70% of leisure visitors to Edinburgh visited the castle.
Ever since I've heard about Iceland I wanted to visit its wild and largely untouched highlands. They are one of the few true wilderness areas which can still be found in Europe. The Landmannalagaur region which its famous colorful rhyolite mountains is probably one of the most spectacular landscapes inside the highlands. However, during my first two visits of Iceland I didn't have a change to go there. Since it's off the popular ring road and you can't find any paved roads going there, you'll need an offroad vehicle to drive to it. If you've ever been Iceland you know how expensive these cars can be but on the third visit to the island I finally pulled the plug and rented a small SUV for our whole trip.
Well, actually we did only rent a Suzuki Jimny which is the smallest four-wheel SUV which you can find in Iceland. But when we arrived at the car rental we couldn't see any of them. Instead we were handed keys to a Mercedes -- as a free upgrade. So while I expected to drive with a small car through the rugged landscape, we sat in a big Merced GLK instead with all the convenience inside which you can imagine. It almost felt out of place. But I guess you cannot complain when you get a car which is worth twice as much as the one you originally rented.
Anyway, after driving all the way to the Landmannalaugar base camp through many lava fields the car and how we got there quickly faded back in my memory. Instead I was in absolutely awe with the landscape around me. It's hard to do it justice with pictures but it looked like an incredible beautiful oasis in a sea of rocks. The colors of the mountains are just spectacular and even though I've been to many places around the world already, it was definitely one of the most extraordinary. Unfortunately we only spent half a day hiking through these strange lands. If I knew how great it looked in reality, I would definitely have spent a couple of days there hiking. I think it's one of the big natural wonders of this world.
Largely unnoticed (despite very large size) public space decorative art - but it probably works on a subliminal level. Life is sure better with colours :)
2010. Cap Sante Park.
Snow and ice-covered Mount Baker, located in northern Washington, is the highest peak in the North Cascades (3,286 m or 10,781 ft) and the northernmost volcano in the conterminous United States. It is the only U.S. volcano in the Cascade Range that has been affected by both alpine and continental glaciation. The stratovolcano is composed mainly of andesite lava flows and breccias and was largely formed prior to the most recent major glaciation (Fraser Glaciation), which occurred between about 25,000 and 10,000 years ago.
The most recent major eruption at Mount Baker, about 6,700 years ago, was accompanied by a major flank-collapse event that caused lahars to rush down the Nooksack River and then eastward into Baker Lake. In 1975-76, Sherman Crater, immediately south of the summit, exhibited signs of renewed volcanic activity as a result of magma intruding into the volcano but not erupting. This activity resulted in monitoring that was more intense than previously applied at any other Cascade Range volcano and produced important baseline data against which recent research has been compared. Sherman Crater has been the site of increased steam emission since 1975.
Although monitoring was increased as a result to the 1975-76 activity, much of it has been dismantled and monitoring at Mount Baker is now insufficient due to the threat that renewed activity would pose to nearby communities and regional infrastructure. Mount Baker is one of several Cascade volcanoes that are high priority to have their monitoring systems enhanced in the coming years.
Location: Washington, Whatcom County
Latitude: 48.777° N
Longitude: 121.813° W
Elevation: 3,286 (m) 10,781 (f)
Volcano type: Stratovolcano
Composition: Andesite
Most recent eruption: 6,700 years ago
Threat Potential: High
The Carthaginian Empire is largely known for having a naval based empire throughout the Western Mediterranean region and for its conflicts with Rome. It was based out of the city of Carthage in what is now Tunisia that was founded by Phoenician settlers from modern day Lebanon around the 9th century B.C. The city was one of the largest and wealthiest cities of the ancient world with a large circular port and six story buildings with indoor plumbing. In order to protect the city, Carthage needed a strong military and defensive system to secure its interests and prosperity.
The Carthaginians were largely a mercantile people who had no interest in military affairs, with a few notable exceptions. Instead, they would use their vast wealth to recruit other people to do the fighting for them. They would largely recruit men from the countryside who were largely of Libyan or mixed Libyan and Phoenician origin. As the empire grew, they would start to recruit more specialized units such as Numidian cavalry, Balearic slingers, and Celtic warriors. The most famous Carthaginian unit, the war elephant, would not be in use until the 3rd century B.C. after their war against Pyrrhus of Epirus in 278-276 B.C. when they encountered them in Sicily. They would use the now extinct North African Elephant, which was not as big as the Asian Elephant but was still effective. They would then recruit Indian mahouts who knew how to train elephants for warfare.
At some point during the 3rd century B.C., Carthage built a large defensive system consisting of three walls, an outer wall, middle wall, and the inner wall. The inner wall seen here was the largest of these walls and would function as the barracks of Carthage. It could house 300 elephants, 4,000 horses, and 20,000 men. Unfortunately for the Carthaginians, the wall, like much of the city, would be destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C. Today there is very little trace of it, which is impressive considering how big it once was.
Featured on Flickr Explore #3 on 2017-06-12
The malachite kingfisher (Corythornis cristatus) is a river kingfisher which is widely distributed in Africa south of the Sahara. It is largely resident except for seasonal climate-related movements.
This is a small kingfisher, 13 cm (5.1 in) in length. The general colour of the upper parts of the adult bird is bright metallic blue. The head has a short crest of black and blue feathers, which gives rise to the scientific name. The face, cheeks, and underparts are rufous and white patches are on the throat and rear neck sides.
The bill is black in young birds and reddish-orange in adults; the legs are bright red. Sexes are similar, but juveniles are a duller version of the adult.
This species is common to reeds and aquatic vegetation near slow-moving water or ponds. The flight of the malachite kingfisher is rapid, with the short, rounded wings whirring until they appear a mere blur. It usually flies low over water.
This Malachite Kingfisher was photographed on a boat ride on Lake Naivasha, Kenya.
Savernake Forest | Marlborough | Wiltshire
Today was my first outing with the camera in several months, largely due to work and family commitments. I was delighted to make the most of the misty conditions at Savernake Forest in Wiltshire this morning. This time of year is my absolute favourite for the fantastic array of colours on show. It's particularly beautiful in our woodlands and forests, none more so than at Savernake Forest.
Taking The Shot:
As with any type of subject matter, mood, timing and light can alter everything, and manipulating these to our advantage can produce tremendous results. A typical British woodland or forest scene can often be a little chaotic. However a touch of morning mist can really help add atmosphere and depth. I got lucky with this morning’s conditions.
I setup my tripod and composed the shot, using the large tree trunk on the right as a focal point and the footpath as a leading line into the mist. I opted for a 16:9 wide-panoramic crop and set my aperture to f/5.6 to soften the background a little. I’ve recently learned that Not all landscape photography needs to be shot at f/16 with endless depth of field. Using my trusty 24-70mm f/2.8 Nikkor lens, I zoomed right in to 66mm which helped keep all the verticals (ie the trees) in a straight line and prevents them from looking distorted. I also find that the closer I zoom in the flatter the perspective is and the background appears closer, enhancing the mist and creating a dramatic effect.
Background:
Savernake Forest, lying between Marlborough and Hungerford, is privately-owned by the Earl of Cardigan and his family Trustees. Extending to some 4,500 acres, The forest is a surviving remnant of one of Wiltshire's ancient 'Royal Forests' much beloved by Norman kings. It is the only privately owned forest in Britain. Today the forest is leased to the Forestry Commission and access is via many footpaths and tracks. It remains a place of mystery and imagination and an important habitat for a number of wild birds, plants and animals.
History:
No-one can say for sure just how old Savernake Forest is. However, it cannot be less than 1,000 years old, as it is referred to in a Saxon Charter from King Athelstan in 934AD, being called "Safernoc”. It is certainly older than the other great Forest of southern England, which was only planted over a century later by the Normans, and whose name reminds us that it is younger than ancient Savernake - “The New Forest”.
Since it was put into the care of one of the victorious knights who fought at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, Savernake Forest has passed down from father to son (or daughter, on 4 occasions) in an unbroken line for 31 generations, never once being bought or sold in a thousand years, and today it is the only Forest in Britain still in private hands.
The high-water mark of the Savernake Estate's fortunes was undoubtedly in Elisabethan times. The head of the family (Sir John Seymour) was used to welcoming King Henry VIII to the Forest, where the King was very keen on his deer-hunting. King Henry stayed at Savernake shortly after the execution of Queen Anne Boleyn in 1536, and his eye was then taken by his host's daughter, Jane. They were subsequently married, and Jane Seymour was crowned Queen just months later, causing the head of the family at Savernake to suddenly find himself father-in-law to Henry VIII.
Jane's great claim to fame is that of all his 6 wives she was the only one to give the King what he so badly wanted - a son - the future Edward VI. Sadly Jane died in childbirth, and after marrying again, Henry himself died a few years later. So it fell to Jane's brother Edward to leave his estate of Savernake Forest in 1547 and to go up to Hampton Court, where for the next 5 years with the title 'Lord Protector' he was King of England in all but name, while his late sister's young child Edward VI grew old enough to reign alone.
The other high-water mark was in the 1740s. The head of the family at that time (Lord Thomas Bruce) made a great success of himself, and had risen at Court to be Governor to the young King George IV. He employed Lancelot 'Capability' Brown to plant great beech Avenues in Savernake Forest, which was then some 40,000 acres, nearly 10 times its present size. These included the Grand Avenue, running through the heart of the Forest, and which at 3.9 miles (dead straight) stands in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest Avenue in Britain.
Directions:
There’s multiple entry points into Savernake Forest. But this morning, I parked up at Postern Hill Campsite (Post Code SN8 4ND). It’s a short journey out of the Wiltshire market town of Marlborough and can be easily found on Google Maps.
On Explore on 22nd March 2023, #172
The palace was built in the mid-15th century by King Sejong. Many structures were destroyed during Japan's multiple late 15th to 16th (1592) century attempts to conquer Korea and invade China. It was rebuilt by successive Joseon Kings but was once again largely destroyed by the Japanese in the early 20th century. During the Japanese colonial period, the Japanese built a zoo, botanical garden, and museum on the site.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Changgyeonggung
Scanned slide, image taken October 1999
Sandhill Crane (Juvenile).
Between 34 to 48 inches in length with a wingspan of nearly 7 feet. They are very tall with a long neck and long legs. Largely gray with a red forehead. Juveniles are browner and have no red on head. Their plumage often appears a rusty color because of iron stains from water of ponds or marshes.
They inhabit large freshwater marshes, prairie ponds and marshy tundra. They are also on prairies and grain fields during migration and in winter.
They range from Siberia and Alaska to the Hudson Bay and south into western Ontario. There are isolated populations in: the Rocky Mountains, the northern prairies, the Great Lakes, Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. They winter in California's Central Valley and across the southern states from Arizona to Florida.
Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan
Well I am falling behind in my posting lately (not to mention the viewing and commenting of others' photos), largely because I've been very active out shooting pics. Now nearly done with that for a few weeks, so I've built up a good backlog to work through. After a short string of lava pictures, I have to switch material slightly to avoid boring you all to death. I have 3 or 4 other lava shots which I will come back to in due course. Staying with the volcanic theme of Hawaii though, here's a shot from the summit of Mt Haleakala on the island of Maui at sunrise. A good sized crowd gathers every morning to watch the sun rise in spectacular fashion over the crater rim. I decided to wander around handheld for a bit and thought the shot of the sun rising over the watching crowd at crater's edge looked kinda cool cropped in a more panoramic format. Also sunstar :-) The Pentax 15-30mm produces a pretty nice one. Shot handheld because I had made the big mistake of packing my tripod in my checked clothing bag, which didn't make it to Maui until after our visit to Haleakala. I did improvise some other stabilized shots here with the good ol' "natural tripod" (aka, "pile of rock").
As I was researching the title for this photo, I discovered that Maui is the name of a Polynesian/Hawaiian hero/demigod who is considered sort of a "god of the sun". Also, of course, the name of the Hawaiian Island on which one can find Mt Haleakala rising just over 10,000 ft high. Haleakala itself means "house of the sun" (at least according to wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Māui_(Hawaiian_mythology). The crater at the summit of Haleakala was (is?) the home of Maui's grandmother. "House of the Rising Sun" happens to be the title of a great blues-y classic rock song by The Animals. For those who know it, I'd better make clear that the theme of that song has little to do with this shot (or my visit to Hawaii overall), but the title could not be a better fit.
Shot handheld f11, 1/30 sec with Pentax K-3ii and the very excellent Pentax 15-30mm f2.8 lens (which is in fact a rebranded Tamron 15-30). On recent visit to Hawaii and Maui with Kevin Benedict. Check out Kevin's great shot of the crater: flic.kr/p/HivCzS.
Aloha!
España - Lugo - Muralla romana - Puerta de San Pedro
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ENGLISH:
The Roman walls of Lugo were constructed in the 3rd century and are still largely intact, stretching over 2 kilometers around the historic centre of Lugo in Galicia (Spain). The fortifications were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in late 2000 and are a popular tourist attraction.
The city walls were built between 263 and 276 A.D. to defend the Roman town of Lucus Augusti (present-day Lugo) against local tribesmen and Germanic invaders. The walls formed part of a complex of fortifications which also included a moat and an intervallum (the clearing between the walls and the city). The entire length of the walls is around 2,120 metres (6,960 ft), enclosing an area of 34.4 hectares. Not all of the town was enclosed by walls: much of the southeastern part of the town remained unprotected, while in other places unused areas were enclosed by walls.
The width of the walls is around 4.2 metres (14 ft) and their height varies between 8 metres (26 ft) and 12 metres (39 ft). The walls consist of internal and external stone facing with a core of earth mixed with gravel, pebbles and worked Roman stone recycled from demolished buildings, cemented with water.
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ESPAÑOL:
La muralla romana de Lugo rodea el casco histórico de la ciudad gallega de Lugo en la provincia del mismo nombre en España. La antigua ciudad romana de Lucus Augusti, fundada por Paulo Fabio Máximo en nombre del emperador Augusto en el año 13 a. C. con la finalidad de anexionar, definitivamente, el noroeste de la península ibérica al Imperio romano fue dotada en el Bajo Imperio de un muro de defensa que ha perdurado, con escasas reformas, hasta la actualidad.
La muralla, con una longitud de 2266 metros, coronada por 85 poderosas torres, delimita el casco histórico de la urbe gallega y ha pasado de ser un obstáculo para su evolución y crecimiento a ser un monumento integrado en la estructura urbana y fuente de riqueza turística.
Construida como separación y defensa se ha transformado en un elemento integrador entre la antigua Lucus y la que se ha desarrollado a su alrededor. Sus diez puertas realizan la función de unir una parte de la ciudad con la otra y su paseo de ronda, adarve, se ha tornado en una calle más que es recorrida por los viandantes autóctonos y visitantes.
La muralla romana de Lugo fue declarada Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco en el año 2000.
España - Lugo - Muralla romana
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ENGLISH:
The Roman walls of Lugo were constructed in the 3rd century and are still largely intact, stretching over 2 kilometers around the historic centre of Lugo in Galicia (Spain). The fortifications were added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in late 2000 and are a popular tourist attraction.
The city walls were built between 263 and 276 A.D. to defend the Roman town of Lucus Augusti (present-day Lugo) against local tribesmen and Germanic invaders. The walls formed part of a complex of fortifications which also included a moat and an intervallum (the clearing between the walls and the city). The entire length of the walls is around 2,120 metres (6,960 ft), enclosing an area of 34.4 hectares. Not all of the town was enclosed by walls: much of the southeastern part of the town remained unprotected, while in other places unused areas were enclosed by walls.
The width of the walls is around 4.2 metres (14 ft) and their height varies between 8 metres (26 ft) and 12 metres (39 ft). The walls consist of internal and external stone facing with a core of earth mixed with gravel, pebbles and worked Roman stone recycled from demolished buildings, cemented with water.
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ESPAÑOL:
La muralla romana de Lugo rodea el casco histórico de la ciudad gallega de Lugo en la provincia del mismo nombre en España. La antigua ciudad romana de Lucus Augusti, fundada por Paulo Fabio Máximo en nombre del emperador Augusto en el año 13 a. C. con la finalidad de anexionar, definitivamente, el noroeste de la península ibérica al Imperio romano fue dotada en el Bajo Imperio de un muro de defensa que ha perdurado, con escasas reformas, hasta la actualidad.
La muralla, con una longitud de 2266 metros, coronada por 85 poderosas torres, delimita el casco histórico de la urbe gallega y ha pasado de ser un obstáculo para su evolución y crecimiento a ser un monumento integrado en la estructura urbana y fuente de riqueza turística.
Construida como separación y defensa se ha transformado en un elemento integrador entre la antigua Lucus y la que se ha desarrollado a su alrededor. Sus diez puertas realizan la función de unir una parte de la ciudad con la otra y su paseo de ronda, adarve, se ha tornado en una calle más que es recorrida por los viandantes autóctonos y visitantes.
La muralla romana de Lugo fue declarada Patrimonio de la Humanidad por la Unesco en el año 2000.
Rosslyn Chapel is a 15th-century Episcopal chapel located in the village of Roslin in Midlothian, Scotland. The chapel was founded by William Sinclair, 1st Earl of Caithness with a ground-breaking ceremony in 1456. After the Scottish Reformation in 1560, it was largely abandoned but, following a visit by Queen Victoria, it was rededicated in 1862. It was the target of a bombing in 1914 during the suffragette bombing and arson campaign. The interior contains some fine carvings which many historians have sought to interpret.
The original plans for Rosslyn have never been found or recorded, so it is open to speculation whether or not the chapel was intended to be built in its current layout. Its architecture is considered to be among the finest in Scotland.
Construction of the chapel began on 20 September 1456, although it has often been recorded as 1446. The confusion over the building date comes from the chapel's receiving its founding charter to build a collegiate chapel in 1446 from Rome.
Although the original building was to be cruciform, it was never completed. Only the choir was constructed, with the retro-chapel, otherwise called the Lady chapel, built on the much earlier crypt (Lower Chapel) believed to form part of an earlier castle. The foundations of the unbuilt nave and transepts stretching to a distance of 90 feet were recorded in the 19th century. Construction of the planned nave and transepts was abandoned.
The Lower Chapel (also known as the crypt or sacristy) should not be confused with the burial vaults that lie underneath Rosslyn Chapel.
The chapel stands on fourteen pillars, which form an arcade of twelve pointed arches on three sides of the nave. At the east end, a fourteenth pillar between the penultimate pair form a three-pillared division between the nave and the Lady chapel. The three pillars at the east end of the chapel are named, from north to south: the Master Pillar, the Journeyman Pillar and, most famously, the Apprentice Pillar.
Carvings
Among Rosslyn's many intricate carvings are a sequence of 213 cubes or "boxes" protruding from pillars and arches with a selection of patterns on them. It is unknown if these patterns have any particular meaning attached to them. Many people have attempted to find information coded into them, but no interpretation has yet proven conclusive. Unfortunately, many of these 'boxes' are not original, having been replaced in the 19th century after erosion damage.
One recent attempt to make sense of the boxes has been to interpret them as a musical score. The motifs on the boxes somewhat resemble geometric patterns seen in the study of cymatics. The patterns are formed by placing powder upon a flat surface and vibrating the surface at different frequencies. By matching these Chladni patterns with musical notes corresponding to the same frequencies, the father-and-son team of Thomas and Stuart Mitchell produced a tune which Stuart calls the Rosslyn Motet.
There are more than 110 carvings of "Green Men" in and around the chapel. Green Men are carvings of human faces with greenery all around them, often growing out of their mouths. They are found in all areas of the chapel, with one example in the Lady chapel, between the two middle altars.
Other carvings represent plants, including depictions of wheat, strawberries or lilies. The authors Robert Lomas and Christopher Knight have hypothesised that some carvings in the chapel represent ears of new world corn or maize, a plant which was unknown in Europe at the time of the chapel's construction.[35] In their book they discuss meeting with the wife of botanist Adrian Dyer, and that Dyer's wife told him that Dyer agreed that the image thought to be maize was accurate. In fact, Dyer found only one identifiable plant among the botanical carvings and suggested that the "maize" and "aloe" were stylised wooden patterns, only coincidentally looking like real plants.
Audley End House is a largely early 17th century country house just outside the town of Saffron Walden in Essex.
The site was originally Walden Abbey, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1139. In 1538, during the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII granted the abbey and lands to his Lord Chancellor, Sir Thomas Audley.
Sir Thomas Audley converted the abbey buildings into a mansion. His great-grandson, Thomas Howard, 1st Earl of Suffolk, demolished most of the earlier house and built the current magnificent mansion between 1605 and 1614. It was intended to be grand enough to host King James I, a feat it achieved, but its immense cost led to the Earl's financial ruin and conviction for embezzlement.
Throughout the 18th century, successive owners, including the Countess of Portsmouth, reduced the house to a more manageable size by demolishing large sections, saving it from total dereliction.
In the 1820s, the 3rd Lord Braybrooke remodelled the house to recover its original Jacobean character, a style that largely prevails in the house's interiors today.
After the second world war, due to heavy death duties, the 9th Lord Braybrooke sold the house to the Ministry of Works (the predecessor of English Heritage) in 1948. The house and gardens are now open to the public, offering a glimpse into centuries of English history.
This car belonged to Dutch rally driver and inventor Maus Gatsonides (1911-1998). He bought the car in 1992.
Today, Gatsonides' fame largely results from inventing the Gatso speed camera, a speed measuring device used today by many police forces to catch speeding drivers. He originally invented the Gatso speed camera to measure his cornering speed in an attempt to improve his driving.
Gatsonides is primarily known for inventing the speed camera, but his primary interest was in motor racing. He was passionate about racing and raced in many events.
In 1949, he built his own car. It was nicknamed the "Platje" (English: "Little Flat One or Pubic Lice (Pthirus pubis)") because of its aerodynamic shape. The car caused a sensation at the Dutch Zandvoort Racetrack, passing all of the opponents including MG's. Maurice was forced to sell the Flatty to pay creditors after trying to put his own V8 sportscar into production. The Flatty however, survived. It was found abandoned in the 1970s and has now been restored by Joop Bruggeman. It is the last-known surviving Gatso car.
Gatsonides won the Monte Carlo Rally in 1953 driving a Ford Zephyr.
Source: Wikipedia
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Dutch entrepreneur Frans van Haren has a classic car collection that has won prizes at prestigious national and international competitions. Since 2017, he has been presenting his impressive car collection to a wider audience in the futuristic-looking, former furniture showroom 'Metropole' in Druten, the Netherlands.
The collection includes some four hundred cars, trucks and motorcycles, making it almost the largest car museum in the Netherlands.
Metropole Museum
Druten, the Netherlands.
When Southern Ontario was largely cleared of its forests in 1800's, the value of timber was very low and much of it was simply burned. Eastern White Cedar (Thuja occidentalis), however, was prized as a rot-resistant raw material for fence building, being easily split into long straight 'rails'. These fences were of a self-supporting zig-zag design, but in time, as rails broke and as steel wire became cheap and ubiquitous, these 'snake' fences were frequently reworked in a straight line, using only about two-thirds as many rails to cover the same length. More recently, this style of fencing has become popular as a primarily decorative landscaping feature, as we see here.
I stumbled upon this scene back in autumn. Feels like weeks but it's been months now. But looking at the photo brings back all of the emotion I felt in the moment. The brightness of the sky was dampened by thick cloud cover. But a break in the overcast allowed the sun to peek out momentarily. The suns; brilliance seemed channeled into a narrow beam that was largely blocked by the canopy of autumn leaves that were layered above me. I found that standing in this exact spot allowed the sun to reach my upturned face. The backlighting on the maple leaves was pure magic. But the illusion vanished with just a couple of steps in any direction. This moment was all about place and time, and the sheer happenstance (or subconscious guidance) of finding myself here to observe it.
I got to thinking about this image earlier today when reading about the conjunction of planets Pluto and Mars that comes to a peak today (February 14). It's an astronomical event, but one with astrological implications. The alignment creates a sort of flashpoint for potentially dramatic events here on earth. Much like the way the sunlight impacted me way down on the forest floor, four months ago, it's all about alignment and perspective.
Dungeness is a headland on the coast of Kent, England, formed largely of a shingle beach in the form of a cuspate foreland. It shelters a large area of low-lying land, Romney Marsh. Dungeness is also the name of the power station, of the hamlet within the location, and of an important ecological site at the same location.
The name Dungeness derives from Old Norse nes: "headland", with the first part probably connected with the nearby Denge Marsh. Popular etymology ascribes a French origin to the toponym, giving an interpretation as "dangerous nose".
Ecology
Dungeness is one of the largest expanses of shingle in Europe and is classified as Britain's only desert by the Met Office. It is of international conservation importance for its geomorphology, plant and invertebrate communities and birdlife. This is recognised and protected mostly through its conservation designations as a national nature reserve (NNR), a Special Protection Area (SPA), a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) of Dungeness, Romney Marsh and Rye Bay.
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