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This is what a visitor sees when exits from the other side of the upper Antelope Canyon. I've made this photo for the second time after seven years and the result is almost the same; but this time I was more prepared to capture its stunning textures details; then I underexposed a little in order to capture all blue and purple hues that the sensor was able to register, maintaining the strong light coming from the outside. The result is something that I printed on a metal surface like aluminium in a vertical, supersaturated composition.

A stunning looking species of damselfly that can be seen on the wing from May to September along slow flowing rivers and streams in the UK but rare in northern England and absent from Scotland. The female of this species can lay about 10 eggs per minute for up to 45 minutes and will often submerge her self when laying her eggs into a wide variety of emerging and floating plants. With an adult length off 45mm the Banded and Beautiful Demoiselle are the UK's largest species of Damselflies.

Wood Warbler - Phylloscopus sibilatrix

The wood warbler (Phylloscopus sibilatrix) is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds throughout northern and temperate Europe, and just into the extreme west of Asia in the southern Ural Mountains.

This warbler is strongly migratory and the entire population winters in tropical Africa.

It is a summer visitor to the United Kingdom, seen from April until August. It has declined there in recent years. It is now very rare in Ireland, where only one or two pairs are recorded breeding in most years, usually in County Wicklow.

Various factors associated with forest structure, including slope, forest cover, proportion of broad-leaf forest, canopy height and forest edge length, all influenced the occupancy rates of this declining forest species. Conservation measures are therefore required that provide and maintain the wood warblers preferred forest structure. There is also a preference for forest in the non-breeding season, however this habitat is declining in wintering areas such as Ghana. Despite the decline in forest habitats, there has been no change in number of wood warblers as it appears that this species can use degraded habitats, such as well-wooded farms. However, further loss of trees will likely have a negative impact on this species in the future

Tugboats Smit Seine and Smit Panther assist the Ro-Ro ship

WILHELMINE Ro-Ro Cargo

IMO: 9539080 - MMSI: 249239000 Call Sign: 9HA4165

Flag: Malta [MT]

AIS Type: Cargo

Gross Tonnage: 21020

Deadweight: 6374 t

Length Overall x Breadth Extreme: 152m × 24.4m

Year Built: 2012

More Vessel Details on: MarineTraffic

Thanks for your visit and comments, I appreciate that very much!

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © all rights reserved.

Regards, Bram (BraCom)

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Tenaya Lake, Tioga Pass

Yosemite National Park

Camera: Canon Eos 6D

Lens: EF24-105mmF/4L-USM

Aperture: f/11.0

Focal Length: 50 mm

Shutter Speed: 1/100 sec

ISO: 100

View of the Volga River through the arch on the open veranda in the hotel "Moscow". City Uglich. Russia.

The Volga is the largest river in Europe and one of the longest rivers in the world.

The length of the Volga before the creation of reservoirs and the construction of the Volga HPP cascade was 3,690 km, today it is 3,530 km, although some experts claim that the length of the Volga has decreased to 3,430 km. The Volga ranks 6th in length among the rivers of Russia and 16th in the rivers of the entire globe, but exceeds in length all the rivers of the world flowing into inland waters.

The area of ​​the Volga basin is 1 million 360 thousand km², which is about 1/3 of the European part of the Russian Federation. The system of the Volga basin includes 151 thousand rivers, streams and temporary streams with a total length of 574 thousand km. 200 tributaries flow into the Volga.

Something different today. Something dark and eerie:

Here, as always, is the MJ prompt.

The images are the result of refinement with the help of weighting "::2 and ::3". The chaos parameter c30 in combination with s1000 makes for a certain self-willedness of the AI.

..........

IMAGE: a semi-transparent ghost::2 appears | GENRE: Horror | MOOD: Eerie, Disturbing | COLOR: Desaturated with a spectral blue tint | BACKGROUND: Decrepit room with peeling wallpaper and shattered furniture | SCENE: A distorted found footage image capturing a realm where the living and the dead::3 In the corner an antique mirror::2 | DETAILS: Dust-filled air, foggy::2 twisted and contorted shadows | RENDER: Disturbing and nightmarish | LIGHTING: Flickering, eerie light casting long, unnatural shadows | COMPOSITION: Disorienting and unsettling | FOCUS: In the corner, an antique mirror::2 reflects a twisted reflection::3 an apparition with hollow eyes that seem to penetrate the very essence of one's sanity | SHOT: Close-up shot | CAMERA: DSLR | LENS: Focal length 50mm | TAGS: Horror, found footage, paranormal::2, apparition, descent into darkness --ar 16:9 --s 1000 --c 30 --v 5.1 --style raw

Crimean bridge - suspension bridge in Moscow, passes across the Moscow River. The bridge was built during Stalin's reconstruction of the city and is open May 1, 1938 the length of the span of the river - 168 meters. The bridge has a span 3; its total length - 688 m, width 38.5 m.

From April to December 2001, work on the general reconstruction of the Crimean Bridge. During this time, builders repave the sidewalks and the roadway of the bridge. Prefabricated slabs of pavement have been replaced by a monolith. In addition, the waterproofing of the bridge, carried out anti-corrosion treatment of metal structures has been updated. It replaced as 5500 square meters of granite cladding.

For #Macro Mondays Group

Theme of the week: #Hand made

A little ornament from Peru (South America) in a shape of Llama, a serene animal which lives in the Andes. This ornament is completely made by hand and measures 1.18 inches in length by 2.36 inches of hight.

Comet C/2006 P1 (McNaught) at 300mm focal length (-1.3mag), Kollbach, Bavaria, Germany

KometMcNaught-12

Downy Woodpecker (male).

A sparrow-sized woodpecker at 6 inches in length. Black and white with the males only having a small red patch on the nape of the head. Similar to Hairy Woodpeckers but tamer and smaller and with a short stubby bill.

Its habitat includes woodlands, parks and gardens.

It resides from Alaska across Canada and south throughout the United States except the southwest.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

Newberry Volcano is a large active shield-shaped stratovolcano located about 20 miles (32 km) south of Bend, Oregon, United States, 35 miles (56 km) east of the major crest of the Cascade Range, within the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. Its highest point is Paulina Peak. The largest volcano in the Cascade Volcanic Arc, Newberry has an area of 1,200 square miles (3,100 km2) when its lava flows are taken into account. From north to south, the volcano has a length of 75 miles (121 km), with a width of 27 miles (43 km) and a total volume of approximately 120 cubic miles (500 km3). It was named for the geologist and surgeon John Strong Newberry, who explored central Oregon for the Pacific Railroad Surveys in 1855. The surrounding area has been inhabited by Native American populations for more than 10,000 years.

White-Breasted Nuthatch.

Sparrow-sized at between 5-6 inches in length. They are blue-gray above with white underparts and face and a black crown. They are usually seen creeping downward on tree trunks.

They can be found in deciduous and mixed forests.

They range from British Columbis to Nova Scotia and, with the exception of most of the Great Plains, can be found throughout the United States.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

Winter night falls soft in the warm Swedish homes where all the family gathers for Lucia. Lucia is an ancient mythical figure with an abiding role as a bearer of light in the dark Swedish winters The annual candlelit Lucia procession on 13 December is perhaps one of the more exotic-looking Swedish customs, with girls and boys clad in white full-length gowns singing songs together. (Yes, I did this with my family and we have the pics to prove)

Visit us at Winterset Hollow and join our Photo Contest for your chance to win 5000L ---> maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Pinewinds/88/128/37

Contest here ---> www.flickr.com/groups/14807465@N24/pool/

Lucia....♪

Helios 44M-4 58mm f/2.0 - M42 mount with MFT adapter - which gives FF 116 mm focal length, the photo was taken at f / 2.0.

It was our usual walk, for which I took my camera and tripod, in the hope that I would find Sasanki. Unfortunately, this year, in the place where they grew, I did not find them - nothing is lost, maybe tomorrow in another place. My wife and I took a slightly different route than usual, behind the castle towards Zychorzyn i Rusinów. There, a small river Brzuśnia flows out of the forest (the right tributary of the Drzewiczka). There is usually a pool in front of the bridge and a small clearing next to it strewn with yellow spring flowers with butterflies bending over them. We went down there, and there were real wonders, in the comfort and warm spring sun. This is the first photo from here. In this case, focusing is the key to taking full advantage of this lens.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker (male).

10 inches in length. Barred black and white above, pale buff below and on face. Sexes similar except that male has red crown and nape while female has red nape only. Reddish patch on lower abdomen seldom visible in the field.

Its habitat includes open and swampy woodlands. It also comes into parks during migration and feeders in winter.

It breeds from South Dakota, Great Lakes and southern New England south to the Gulf Coast and Florida. Northern most birds sometimes migrate south for the winter.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

Also known as a Grizzly. This healthy boar was seen and admired in the Tetons with good friends Debbie Tubridy, Jen Hall and Rodney Lange.

"Meriwether Lewis and William Clark first described it as grisley, which could be interpreted as either "grizzly" (i.e., "grizzled"—that is, with golden and grey tips of the hair) or "grisly" ("fear-inspiring", now usually "gruesome"). The modern spelling supposes the former meaning; even so, naturalist George Ord formally classified it in 1815 as U. horribilis, not for its hair, but for its character.

Occasionally a huge male grizzly has been recorded, whose size greatly exceeds ordinary, with weights reported up to 680 kg (1,500 lb). A large coastal male of this size may stand up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) tall on its hind legs and be up to 1.5 metres (4.9 ft) at the shoulder.

A grizzly bear can also be identified by its rump, which is lower than its shoulders; a black bear's rump is higher than its shoulders. A grizzly bear's front claws measure about 2–4 inches in length; a black bear's claws measure about 1–2 inches in length." Wikipedia

Was a treat to safely enjoy the scavenging, digging and hunting for more food before his time to hibernate.

Have a wonderful weekend!

White-Breasted Nuthatch.

Sparrow-sized at between 5-6 inches in length. Blue-gray above with white underparts and face and a black crown. Usually seen creeping downward on tree trunks.

They can be found in deciduous and mixed forests.

Their range is from British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia south to southern California, Arizona, the Gulf Coast and central Florida. They are absent from most of the Great Plains.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

The long-eared owl is a medium-sized owl, 31–40 cm (12–16 in) in length with an 86–100 cm (34–39 in) wingspan and a body mass of 178–435 g (6.3–15.3 oz).[3][4] It has erect blackish ear-tufts, which are positioned in the centre of the head. The ear-tufts are used to make the owl appear larger to other owls while perched. The female is larger in size and darker in colouration than the male. The long-eared owl's brownish feathers are vertically streaked. Tarsus and toes are entirely feathered. Eye disks are also characteristic in this species. However, the eye disks of A. otus are darker in colour or rusty-orange. This nocturnal species is perhaps most easily seen perched in a tree in its daytime roost, sometimes in small groups during the winter months. There are about six thousand long eared owls in the United States, and fifty thousand in the whole world.

hey guys... just wana say that i wont be posting pix for a while... due to some changes i am planning to do... hmm ow bas... lol enjoy this pic and wait for updates...

Eastern Chipmunk.

Between 8 1/2 to 11 3/4 inches in length. Reddish brown above with a white belly. 1 white stripe bordered by 2 black stripes on sides ending at the rump. 2 white stripes on back much thinner than side stripes. Dark center stripe down the back. Pale facial stripes above and below the eyes. Tail brown on tip and edged with black. Prominent ears.

The Eastern Chipmunk's habitat includes open deciduous woodlands, forest edges, brushy areas, bushes and stone walls in cemeteries and around houses.

They range from southeastern Canada and the north-eastern U.S. east from North Dakota and eastern Oklahoma and south to Missisippi, northwest Carolina and Virginia.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

A great blue heron in flight at the Kerr Dam near Boydton in Southside Virginia. Used a 1.4x extender on this for a 700mm focal length. ©2021 John M. Hudson | jmhudson1.com

Eastern Chipmunk.

Between 8 1/2 to 11 3/4 inches in length. Reddish brown above with a white belly. 1 white stripe bordered by 2 black stripes on sides ending at the rump. 2 white stripes on back much thinner than side stripes. Dark center stripe down the back. Pale facial stripes above and below the eyes. Tail brown on tip and edged with black. Prominent ears.

The Eastern Chipmunk's habitat includes open deciduous woodlands, forest edges, brushy areas, bushes and stone walls in cemeteries and around houses.

They range from southeastern Canada and the north-eastern U.S. east from North Dakota and eastern Oklahoma and south to Missisippi, northwest Carolina and Virginia.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

Sandhill Crane.

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 browner with no red on head. 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 east across arctic Canada to the Hudson Bay and south to western Ontario. There are isolated populations in the Rocky Mountians, northern prairies, and the Great Lakes region along with in Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. They winter in California's Central Valley and across the southern states from Arizona to Florida. They can also be found in Cuba.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

English Counties

This is another collection of images which have been photographed over a long period of time. These are photographs taken mostly on holidays throughout our great English Counties. In the day we have travelled the length and breadth of Great Britain, with many coastal and country walks and a lot of photography.

This selection has been chosen from the many Northampton photographs I have taken. Northamptonshire is a wonderful county to visit.

More counties coming up ….

Eastern Chipmunk.

Between 8 1/2 to 11 3/4 inches in length. Reddish brown above with a white belly. 1 white stripe bordered by 2 black stripes on sides ending at the rump. 2 white stripes on back nuch thinner than side stripes. Dark center stripe down the back. Pale facial stripes above and below the eyes. Tail brown on tip and edged with black. Prominent ears.

The Eastern Chipmunk's habitat includes open deciduous woodlands, forest edges, brushy areas, bushes and stone walls in cemeteries and around houses.

They range from southeastern Canada and the north-eastern U.S. east from North Dakota and eastern Oklahoma and south to Missisippi, northwest Carolina and Virginia.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

Many viewers have commented that The Guardian Building (originally The Union Trust Company Building) reminded them of a church.

This picture shows approximately half of the bank lobby on the main floor. Imagine the original bank building with 60-90 bank teller cages lining the entire length of both sides of this "nave". The ceiling was composed of a 3/4 inch (1.9cm) of horsehair and coated with a layer of plaster cement. Then, a canvas layer was applied, and painted with designs reminiscent of the patterns of Navajo rugs. This was a sound-deadening system.

The "altar piece" ( I suppose) was the three-story mural of the map of the lower peninsula of Michigan. Highlighted were the major Michigan moneymakers of the1890s to 1920s: mining, manufacturing, lumber, fishing, commerce, and agriculture. It was completed in 1929, unfortunately the year of the beginning of "The Great Depression".

This superbly decorated Art-Deco bank building was nicknamed "The Cathedral of Finance." So, if the earlier pictures reminded you of a church (reprised in the first comment below) --you were very observant : -)

Nymphoides crenata, commonly known as wavy marshwort, is an aquatic perennial herb of the family Menyanthaceae endemic to Australia, found in all mainland states and the Northern Territory. It is a stoloniferous, floating, perennial with stems up to 3 m long. The petioles of the basal leaves are from 8–42 cm long. The leaf lamina are ovate to circular, and deeply cordate and vary from 3 to 15 cm in length. The stem leaves are smaller, and sometimes kidney-shaped. The flowers heterostylous, (see the gallery) and there can be from 8 to14 in clusters subtended by 1–4 stem leaves, or sometimes in spaced pairs along a short inflorescence. The calyx is from 5.5 to 16 mm long and the corolla from 20 to 50 mm in diameter. There are usually 4 lobes (sometimes 4 or 6) and there are usually 5 stigmas (but from 2-5). It grows on floodplains, in swamps, lagoons, irrigation channels, and also in temporarily inundated depressions, and in slow-flowing streams where the depth of the water is up to about 1.5 m deep, usually on mud, and it will persist on drying mud. 13171

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my written permission. © All rights reserved.

bigger is better

Exposure: 1.6 sec

Aperture: f/5.6

Focal Length: 50 mm

This is the South end of Tunnel #2 on the Elroy / Sparta Bike Trail. It is 1/4 mile long.

Sandhill Crane.

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 browner with no red on head. 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 east across arctic Canada to the Hudson Bay and south to western Ontario. There are isolated populations in the Rocky Mountians, northern prairies, and the Great Lakes region along with in Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. They winter in California's Central Valley and across the southern states from Arizona to Florida. They can also be found in Cuba.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

Northern Cardinal (female).

8 to 9 inches in length. The male is bright red with crest, black face and a stout red bill. The female is buff-brown tinged with red on crest, wings and tail.

They habitat woodland edges, thickets, brushy swamps and gardens.

They are resident in the eastern United States and southern Canada south to the Gulf Coast and from southern California, Arizona, and southern Texas southward.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

Professional fishing boat

Motor type

inboard

Length

11.3 m (37'00")

Passenger capacity

4 unit

High Speed, High Capacity & High Quality! The Cleopatra 38 is probably the most capable vessel in it's class. The Cleopatra 38 is a high speed, high quality workboat, designed to meet the exacting standards of professional fisherman working in the harsh conditions of the North Atlantic Ocean. Like her smaller sister, it is built according to the regulations set by the Nordic Boat Standard. Giving stability, comfort, speed, huge weight carrying capacity and superb seaworthiness!

Moored on the Fraser River

British Columbia,

Canada

FRPD CENTENNIAL BUDDY CRANE BARGE TUG

Width:7.0 m

Length:12.0 m

The Mission Railway Bridge is a Canadian Pacific Railway bridge spanning the Fraser River between Mission, and Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.

Replacing an earlier bridge built in 1891, which was the first and only bridge crossing of the Fraser below Siska in the Fraser Canyon until the construction of the New Westminster rail bridge in 1904, it was constructed in 1909 by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). The Mission Railway Bridge is supported by 13 concrete piers and is approximately 533 metres in length. Before completion of the Mission highway bridge, highway traffic to and from Matsqui and Abbotsford with Mission used the bridge as a one-way alternating route, with traffic lights at either end to control direction. Rail traffic often held up car crossings, causing long and often very lengthy waits, which were a part of daily life in the Central Valley until the new bridge was completed.

Beneath the bridge's north abutment is an important river-level gauge monitored during the annual Fraser freshet. The bridge is also the location of the end of the Fraser's tidal bore - downstream from the bridge the river is increasingly influenced by tidal influences from the Georgia Strait.

Swing span

The Mission Railway Bridge has a swing span which has a vertical clearance of 4.9 metres above the water when closed. The swing span is fitted atop a circular concrete pier, the 10th from the north bank of the river. The 10th pier is protected from shipping traffic by two 46 metre wood piers extending upstream and downstream respectively perpendicular to the bridge which are tapered at both ends. The navigation channel past the bridge is 30 metres in width. At night a fixed white light is displayed on piers 9 and 11 as well as at the up-river and down-river ends of the protection pier.

The majority of marine traffic consists of log tows and gravel barges, which are permitted to use the navigation channel beneath the fixed span between piers 5 and 6. The swing span is used for wood chip barges and other vessels which cannot navigate beneath the span between piers 5 and 6.

CPR maintains a bridge tender 24 hours per day at an office on the north bank of the bridge. Vessels requesting passage through the swing span contact the bridge tender on marine VHF radio, whereby the tender walks the bridge to a control booth situated on the swing span. Wikipedia

Stay healthy

Happy Clicks,

~Christie (happiest) by the River

** Images best experienced in full screen

La Ceja, Colombia; 2.300 meters above sea level.

Diglossa cyanea (Masked Flowerpiercer / Picaflor enmascarado)

The masked flowerpiercer grows to a length of about 15 cm (6 in). The adult male is deep ultramarine blue with a dark mask. The beak is large, black, and upturned, with a characteristic hook on the tip of the upper mandible. The iris is bright red. The female is similar in appearance but altogether duller.

The masked flowerpiercer is endemic to the Andes in South America where its range extends from Venezuela and Colombia, through Ecuador and Peru to Bolivia. It inhabits montane forest, cloud forest, secondary forest, scrubby woodland and forest edges, at altitudes between about 2,000 and 3,500 m (6,600 and 11,500 ft).

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masked_flowerpiercer

Length 15-25 mm. Brownish, but the colour varies, striped and mottled forms occur with parts of the body varying from buff through orange to purple. Sharply incurved pronotal side-keels. The dark wedges on the pronotum don't reach the base. Underside of body is distinctively hairy in both sexes. The species is winged, flies well and has been known to swarm.

Long season with nymphs hatching from late March. Adults appear from June and may survive until early December.

Herbivorous, feeding mainly on grasses. Eggs are laid into the soil.

One of the commoner grasshoppers, found throughout most of Britain.

Red-Bellied Woodpecker.

10 inches in length. Barred black and white above, pale buff below and on face. Sexes similar except that male has red crown and nape while female has red nape only. Reddish patch on lower abdomen seldom visible in the field.

Its habitat includes open and swampy woodlands. It also comes into parks during migration and feeders in winter.

It breeds from South Dakota, Great Lakes and southern New England south to the Gulf Coast and Florida. Northern most birds sometimes migrate south for the winter.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.

Description du lièvre européen

C'est en quelque sorte un gros lapin , plus grand, plus mince, ayant de plus grandes pattes et de plus grandes oreilles. Sa taille varie entre 50 et 70 cm de longueur pour un poids de 2,5 à 6,5 kg. Les pattes mesurent entre 12 et 15 cm ce qui lui permet d'atteindre des vitesses de pointes supérieures à 60 km/h. Il a une petite queue légèrement touffue mesurant 7 et 11 cm et de couleur noire sur le dessus et blanc sur le dessous. Ses oreilles, plus longues que la tête, sont grises avec les pointes noires.

Son pelage est épais et de couleur généralement brun foncé avec la partie ventrale blanche ou beige. On note que certains spécimens prennent parfois une teinte légèrement gris foncé à noire sur la croupe. Enfin le lièvre mue l'automne pour prendre un pelage plus épais pour l'hiver et au printemps des poils vont tomber pour un pelage plus court et plus clair.

Le lièvre a 28 dents donc 16 sur la partie supérieure de la mâchoire et 12 sur la partie inférieure.

****************************************************************

Description of the European hare

It's kind of a big bunny, bigger, thinner, with bigger paws and bigger ears. Its size varies between 50 and 70 cm in length for a weight of 2.5 to 6.5 kg. The legs measure between 12 and 15 cm which allows it to reach speeds of peaks greater than 60 km / h. It has a small, slightly bushy tail measuring 7-11 cm and black on the top and white on the underside. His ears, longer than the head, are gray with black tips.

Its coat is thick and generally dark brown in color with the white or beige ventral part. It is noted that some specimens sometimes take a slightly dark gray to black hue on the rump. Finally the hare moults in the fall to take a thicker coat for the winter and in spring the hairs will fall for a shorter and lighter coat.

The hare has 28 teeth so 16 on the upper part of the jaw and 12 on the lower part.

Butterfly

VARYING FOCAL LENGTH DURING LONGISH EXPOSURE-WHICH SUCKS IN THE LIGHT

PRESS L

Akeley Hall of African Mammals.

The gemsbok, gemsbuck or South African oryx (Oryx gazella) is a large antelope in the genus Oryx. It is native to the arid regions of Southern Africa, such as the Kalahari Desert. Some authorities formerly included the East African oryx as a subspecies.

The gemsbok is depicted on the coat of arms of Namibia, where the current population of the species is estimated at 373,000 individuals.

Gemsbok are the largest species in the genus Oryx. They stand about 1.2 m (3.9 ft) at the shoulder. The body length can vary from 190 to 240 cm (75 to 94 in) and the tail measures 45 to 90 cm (18 to 35 in). Male gemsbok can weigh between 180 and 240 kg (400 and 530 lb), while females weigh 100–210 kg (220–460 lb).

Gemsbok are widely hunted for their spectacular horns that average 85 cm (33 in) in length.

***

In 1969, the New Mexico State Department of Game and Fish decided to introduce gemsbok to the Tularosa Basin in the United States. Ninety-three were released from 1969 to 1977, with the current population estimated to be around 3,000 specimens. They thrive because their natural predators, including the lion, are not present.

Snowy Egret and Reflection

Length 9 to 11 mm. One of the soldier beetles with grey-black elytra and a yellow-orange pronotum which may have a central darker mark. The black on the orange hind legs extends above the 'knee'. Habitat Hedgerows and flower meadows where they visit blossom and flowers such as Hogweed.

Peaking May to July

Cantharidae larvae live on the ground and are carnivorous, feeding on smaller insects. The adults are also carnivorous, but are greatly attracted to flowers where they hunt other flower-visiting insects.

Widespread and quite common in Britain.

Autumn, also known as Fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March (Southern Hemisphere). Autumn is the season when the duration of daylight becomes noticeably shorter and the temperature cools considerably. Day length decreases and night length increases as the season progresses until the Winter Solstice in December (Northern Hemisphere) and June (Southern Hemisphere). One of its main features in temperate climates is the striking change in colour for the leaves of deciduous trees as they prepare to shed.

Thank you for visits, comments and favs!

Vielen Dank für Eure Besuche, Kommentare und Sternchen!

Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. © All rights reserved

Flickr app doesn't support sRGB color. For best viewing use your browser.

Focal Length (35mm format) - 485 mm

At El Ensueño, Quindío, Colombia.

Here is a male Black-throated Mango (Anthracothorax nigricollis) calmly perched and enjoying the rain. It was an enjoyable morning to photograph. No wind and gentle rain created conditions for several bird species to remain motionless while it rained upon them. I captured the falling rain with slow shutter speed, in this case, 1/13 sec.

The Black-throated Mango is about 10.2 cm (4 inches) in length, and its dark iridescent plumage with tones of black, blue, green, and gold make it an attractive bird. It breeds year-round in an extensive range at altitudes below 1750 meters (5700 feet) from Panama to northern Argentina.

Camera: Olympus SP590UZ

Aperture: f/5.6

Focal length: 4,6 mm

Shutter speed: 1/100

ISO: 64

Train passing through Hannibal, MO along the waterfront. I was fascinated with the length of the trains in TX, NE and the ones passing through Hannibal. Hundreds of cars in length. You can count the number of cars on a train in FL on 2 hands it seems.

Happy Telegraph Tuesday

Sandhill Crane.

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 browner with no red on head. 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 east across arctic Canada to the Hudson Bay and south to western Ontario. There are isolated populations in the Rocky Mountians, northern prairies, and the Great Lakes region along with in Mississippi, Georgia and Florida. They winter in California's Central Valley and across the southern states from Arizona to Florida. They can also be found in Cuba.

Kensington Metropark, Livingston County, Michigan.