Beautiful Bloom
View allAll Photos Tagged Melatonin
la lumière en automne n’est que calme et confort !! parce que La lumière naturelle est de plus en plus rare en automne et sujette à de grandes variations de tons, amplifiées par la combustion des végétaux.
On se sent naturellement plus à l’aise et confortable avec les couleurs plus rouges, qui ont un effet physiologique sur votre corps qui libère davantage de mélatonine, ce qui vous aide à vous détendre.
Apprenez à respirer profondément devant ces moments……………………..
I use Pistachios on many Greek desserts,
the link bellow has some of my desserts.
www.flickr.com/search/?user_id=84477621%40N00&view_al...
Please read this information about the benefits of Melatonin in Pistachios,
americanpistachios.org/about-us/pistachio-power-unshelled...
One, two, melatonin is coming for you...
...Three, four, baby, won't you lock the door?
Hi babies, how you doing?
Melatonin is my new realease, available at mainstore for District 69
Comes with 4 pill colors (with 2 versions) and the medicine box (holdable R/L).
Fatpack only 160L$ ♥
I hope you like it and come try ♥
All my clothes are from Val'More ♥
Orden:Passeriformes
Familia:Tyrannidae
Género:Pyrocephalus
Nombres comunes:Cazamoscas Rojo, Churrinche, Mosquerito rojo, Mosquero cardenal, Mosqueta Sangre de Toro, Saca-tu-real, Titiribí Pechirrojo macho
Nombre cientifico:Pyrocephalus rubinus macho
Nombre Ingles: Vermilion Flycatcher male
LUGAR DE CAPTURA: RESERVA EL ENSUEÑO, Quindío, Colombia a unos 1,450 MSNM
Por: Cimarron mayor Panta
POR QUE LAS AVES CANTAN MAS EN PRIMAVERA??
Científicos de la Universidad de Oxford (Reino Unido) han identificado un gen en las aves que produce una molécula sensible a la luz en el hipotálamo, una región del cerebro vinculada a la regulación del hambre, el sueño y el deseo sexual. En primavera, esta molécula detecta que ha llegado el momento de buscar pareja y activa el sistema reproductivo de las aves. "Cuando escuchamos a los pájaros cantar en primavera, es porque una molécula sensible a la luz de su cerebro se ha activado", aclara Russell Foster, coautor del trabajo. Al hacer coincidir el apareamiento con el cambio de estación, "las aves se aseguran de que habrá más comida disponible para sus crías cuando nazcan", añade el investigador.
La molécula identificada pertenece a una familia de fotopigmentos llamados opsinas, que detectan cambios en la luz ambiental, como los que se producen durante el amanecer y el anochecer. Los investigadores también han encontrado estas opsinas en anfibios, reptiles y otras aves, pero no en los mamíferos.
No obstante, los mamíferos también son animales estacionales, incluido el ser humano. Concretamente, se ha demostrado los cambios de luz en las estaciones alteran la producción de melatonina. Por ejemplo, en las ovejas, cuando llega el otoño y se acortan los días, el aumento de la producción de melatonina estimula la reproducción, aumentando el número de espermatozoides en el semen de los machos a la vez que se incrementa la fertilidad de las hembras. Este mecanismo permite que los corderos nazcan coincidiendo con la llegada de la primavera.
FELIZ SABADO Y FELIZ PRIMAVERA!!
ᴍᴇʟᴀᴛᴏɴɪɴᴇ | ʜᴜɢᴏ ʜᴀɪʀʙᴀsᴇ - ᴘᴀᴄᴋ
* ғᴏʀ ᴍᴀɴʟʏ ᴡᴇᴇᴋᴇɴᴅ sᴀʟᴇ
ᴍᴇʟᴀᴛᴏɴɪɴᴇ | ᴍᴏᴜᴛʜ ᴄɪɢᴀʀᴇᴛᴛᴇ - ᴘᴀᴄᴋ
* ғᴏʀ ɢᴏᴀᴛ 66
ᴍᴇʟᴀᴛᴏɴɪɴᴇ | ᴇᴜᴘʜᴏʀɪᴀ ғᴜʟʟ ʙᴏᴅʏ ᴛᴀᴛᴛᴏᴏ
* ғᴏʀ 7 ᴅᴀʏs sᴀʟᴇ
ᴠᴏɢᴜᴇʟ | sᴛᴀʀᴋ sᴋɪɴ - ғᴀᴛᴘᴀᴄᴋ
ᴍᴀᴢᴢᴀʀᴏ| ᴅɪᴏɢᴏ sʜᴏʀᴛs - ғᴀᴛᴘᴀᴄᴋ
Ô sleep don't ever turn your back on me .. when I'll call you at night please don't hang up on me when I need you the most, I know a small rush of melatonin is not enough for you and never will be but I'm not the one to fake it by taking medicine, I wanna be faithful to you just by what my brain could release to have the perfect date for us .. okey that was such a piece of a speech I'll knock myself out
A silver fox on the road bank looks toward the camera with its mesmerizing eyes, Cariboo-Chilcotin, BC. His/her tense pose suggests imminent movement. They are found mostly in Canada where ~8% of red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) have the Agouti melatonin mutation (cross foxes are another melanistic variation). Unfortunately, their beautiful coats have resulted in decreases in frequency of this mutation by over-trapping, and they have pretty much disappeared from their former range in the northern US.
04/01/2023 www.allenfotowild.com
Spring Fever: a lazy or restless feeling often associated with the onset of spring
The head brakeman on Southern Appalachia Division First 256 has the cab window open with his right foot propped up on the sill and against the side as the train slowly climbs through Baum Hollow. His vehicle—SD40-2 3296—is actually running in reverse here, so the engineer is on the other side. The pleasant temperature of April 18, 1985 juxtaposed with the monotonous drone of the diesels pulling on the long grade might generate more melatonin than usual. Drowsiness can come easily under such conditions. The throttle will ease off about a quarter mile ahead at the sharp vertical curve through Jones’ Cut. Another quarter mile later, at Irondale, it’ll come back out to “Run 8” for the last few miles to the top at Oreton.
I can't believe I never noticed my heart before
I went running today.
It truly is a beautiful thing.
Our body, that is.
How we are made.
Our heart has valves and veins and arteries; all distributing blood to keep us alive.
Our brain captures every single thing we see, hear, feel, touch and taste, and stores it, so that we can retrieve it another time.
So that we can remember where we live, who our parents are, what our names are, what the color purple looks like, how to breathe, how to speak,..
Our nerves send impulses through our body so that we feel pain, or hot, or cold.
Our body automatically makes melatonin so that we know when to sleep, and it tells us when we are hungry.
Just listen. Listen to your heart beat.
If you think about it long enough, you will begin to realize the amazingness of your body.
You have this organ beating inside of you.
And it beats, constantly.
So that we may live.
His stopped beating, so that ours could begin beating.
This species is nocturnal but is sometimes seen in the day. When disturbed from their daytime site, they bob their head and stare at intruders. It can often be located by the small birds that mob it while it is perched in a tree. It hunts a variety of insects and small vertebrates. In Pakistan they have been found to take mostly insect prey.In the arid region of Jodhpur, they have been found to take more rodents (especially in the genus Mus and tend to avoid other rodents such as Tatera) prior to the breeding season. Bats, toads, small snakes such as Ramphotyphlops braminus have been noted. They may also take scorpions and molluscs.Nests near human habitations may show higher breeding success due to increased availability of rodents for feeding young.
The call is a harsh and loud churring and chuckling chirurr-chirurr-chirurr ending with a chirwak-chirwak and they call mainly during early dawn or just after sunset.
The breeding season is November to April. Courtship behaviour includes bill grasping, allopreening and ritual feeding. The female may call with the male, bob head and deflect its tail in invitation. The social organization of family groups is not clear and multiple males may copulate with a female and females may attempt pseudocopulation, possibly a kind of displacement behaviour. They nest in cavities often competing with other hole-nesters such as mynas. They may also nest in holes in vertical embankments. The nest may be lined with leaves and feathers or may use the existing lining from a prior occupant. The typical clutch is made up of three or four spherical white eggs (30.9mm long and 26.3 mm wide, 11.6g) and incubation begins with the first laid eggs leading to a wide variation in the size of the chicks. The young are fed initially on insects such as cockroaches and later fed small vertebrate prey such as mice (a toad Bufo stomaticus has been noted in Gujarat). The chicks gain weight during the early stages but lose weight before fledging. Only one or two chicks may fledge and they leave the nest in about 20–28 days.
The brain has a pineal gland, a feature formerly thought to be absent in the owls. Birds show variation in the melatonin concentration between day and night. A high melatonin level is associated with sleep and low levels are associated with high alertness and foraging activity. Spotted owlets, however, show only a slightly lower melatonin concentration at night with a slight increase in the early afternoon. Other owls such as the barn owl show little day-night variation.Seasonal changes in glandular activity have been associated with environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.
A coccidian parasites, Eimeria atheni, has been described from this species. An ectoparasitic mite, Neocheletiella athene, has been described from a specimen from the Antwerp zoo.Bird lice of the species Colpocephalum pectinatum are known to be ectoparasites.
This species is nocturnal but is sometimes seen in the day. When disturbed from their daytime site, they bob their head and stare at intruders. It can often be located by the small birds that mob it while it is perched in a tree. It hunts a variety of insects and small vertebrates. In Pakistan they have been found to take mostly insect prey.In the arid region of Jodhpur, they have been found to take more rodents (especially in the genus Mus and tend to avoid other rodents such as Tatera) prior to the breeding season. Bats, toads, small snakes such as Ramphotyphlops braminus have been noted. They may also take scorpions and molluscs.Nests near human habitations may show higher breeding success due to increased availability of rodents for feeding young.
The call is a harsh and loud churring and chuckling chirurr-chirurr-chirurr ending with a chirwak-chirwak and they call mainly during early dawn or just after sunset.
The breeding season is November to April. Courtship behaviour includes bill grasping, allopreening and ritual feeding. The female may call with the male, bob head and deflect its tail in invitation. The social organization of family groups is not clear and multiple males may copulate with a female and females may attempt pseudocopulation, possibly a kind of displacement behaviour. They nest in cavities often competing with other hole-nesters such as mynas. They may also nest in holes in vertical embankments. The nest may be lined with leaves and feathers or may use the existing lining from a prior occupant. The typical clutch is made up of three or four spherical white eggs (30.9mm long and 26.3 mm wide, 11.6g) and incubation begins with the first laid eggs leading to a wide variation in the size of the chicks. The young are fed initially on insects such as cockroaches and later fed small vertebrate prey such as mice (a toad Bufo stomaticus has been noted in Gujarat). The chicks gain weight during the early stages but lose weight before fledging. Only one or two chicks may fledge and they leave the nest in about 20–28 days.
The brain has a pineal gland, a feature formerly thought to be absent in the owls. Birds show variation in the melatonin concentration between day and night. A high melatonin level is associated with sleep and low levels are associated with high alertness and foraging activity. Spotted owlets, however, show only a slightly lower melatonin concentration at night with a slight increase in the early afternoon. Other owls such as the barn owl show little day-night variation.Seasonal changes in glandular activity have been associated with environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.
A coccidian parasites, Eimeria atheni, has been described from this species. An ectoparasitic mite, Neocheletiella athene, has been described from a specimen from the Antwerp zoo.Bird lice of the species Colpocephalum pectinatum are known to be ectoparasites.
it rained today
it was thundering and lightning. i was scared to death.
~~
i was tagged a bunch of times... so i'll start out with 10 things i love.
1. scott <3
2. fried pickles. yes that comes after scott.
3. melatonin + andrew johnson = the only way i can sleep.
4. pomegranates
5. creativity and originality- it means everything.
6. details in the fabric by jason mraz. it gets me through everything.
7. fruit ninja for kinect. you become the ninja. awwwwesomeee
8. photoshop and all the things it does to make me look semi attractive
9. my doggies and friends!
10. having a viewfinder at my eye.
if you werent tagged- don't be insulted. its my turn for kinect.
explored #115 #26 #5 #1
Cryo Unit: The Threat of Failure is Terrifying
The 'stop and revive' protocol had been a calculated risk, a desperate measure against the debilitating toll of the journey. We had acquired the cryo unit with the understanding that only one could fit at a time, a solitary refuge against the ravages of deep space. Now, the automated systems inside my metallic glass cocoon diligently delivered the de-radiation, de-adenosine, and prolactin/melatonin boost, a biochemical symphony designed to reset and restore. Yet, a disquieting sense of unease, a low thrum against the rising tide of artificial serenity, persisted.
Outside the reinforced unit, the light swirled, no longer a mere chaotic symphony but an unfolding narrative. Golden filaments, alive with an almost organic glow, intertwined and stretched, promising an impossible beauty. Fading crimson hues bled into this nascent tapestry, hints of an encroaching darkness. It was as if a Pre-Raphaelite dream, all ethereal beauty and romantic ideal, was transfiguring before my eyes into a dystopian reality, a horrifyingly beautiful landscape of cosmic decay. The revival, it seemed, was not to be a gentle awakening into a familiar world, but a re-entry into a realm that defied all logical expectation. My gut, that irrational oracle, tightened. The stop had offered no true reprieve; the revive, no true restoration. Only this terrifying, exquisite transformation.
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This species is nocturnal but is sometimes seen in the day. When disturbed from their daytime site, they bob their head and stare at intruders. It can often be located by the small birds that mob it while it is perched in a tree. It hunts a variety of insects and small vertebrates. In Pakistan they have been found to take mostly insect prey.In the arid region of Jodhpur, they have been found to take more rodents (especially in the genus Mus and tend to avoid other rodents such as Tatera) prior to the breeding season. Bats, toads, small snakes such as Ramphotyphlops braminus have been noted. They may also take scorpions and molluscs.Nests near human habitations may show higher breeding success due to increased availability of rodents for feeding young.
The call is a harsh and loud churring and chuckling chirurr-chirurr-chirurr ending with a chirwak-chirwak and they call mainly during early dawn or just after sunset.
The breeding season is November to April. Courtship behaviour includes bill grasping, allopreening and ritual feeding. The female may call with the male, bob head and deflect its tail in invitation. The social organization of family groups is not clear and multiple males may copulate with a female and females may attempt pseudocopulation, possibly a kind of displacement behaviour. They nest in cavities often competing with other hole-nesters such as mynas. They may also nest in holes in vertical embankments. The nest may be lined with leaves and feathers or may use the existing lining from a prior occupant. The typical clutch is made up of three or four spherical white eggs (30.9mm long and 26.3 mm wide, 11.6g) and incubation begins with the first laid eggs leading to a wide variation in the size of the chicks. The young are fed initially on insects such as cockroaches and later fed small vertebrate prey such as mice (a toad Bufo stomaticus has been noted in Gujarat). The chicks gain weight during the early stages but lose weight before fledging. Only one or two chicks may fledge and they leave the nest in about 20–28 days.
The brain has a pineal gland, a feature formerly thought to be absent in the owls. Birds show variation in the melatonin concentration between day and night. A high melatonin level is associated with sleep and low levels are associated with high alertness and foraging activity. Spotted owlets, however, show only a slightly lower melatonin concentration at night with a slight increase in the early afternoon. Other owls such as the barn owl show little day-night variation.Seasonal changes in glandular activity have been associated with environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.
A coccidian parasites, Eimeria atheni, has been described from this species. An ectoparasitic mite, Neocheletiella athene, has been described from a specimen from the Antwerp zoo.Bird lice of the species Colpocephalum pectinatum are known to be ectoparasites.
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Moonlight, even during the day, can have an intoxicating power over human beings.
It can calm, relax and reduce stress and anxiety. It can also inspire creativity and imagination.
Moonlight has a calming and relaxing effect on the human body.
This is because the blue light from the moon suppresses the production of melatonin, a hormone that regulates sleep.
Melatonin makes us feel sleepy and tired, so when melatonin levels are low, we feel more awake and energetic.
Moonlight can also help reduce stress and anxiety.
This is because the blue light from the moon can help reduce levels of cortisol, a hormone that is linked to stress.
Cortisol can cause a range of health problems, including anxiety, depression and heart problems.
Moonlight can also be a source of inspiration for creativity and imagination.
This is because moonlight can help relax the mind and allow creative thoughts to flow freely.
Moonlight can also be associated with dreams and fantasies, which can stimulate creativity.
In conclusion, moonlight, even during the day, can have an intoxicating power over human beings.
It can calm, relax, reduce stress and anxiety, and inspire creativity and imagination.
In the photograph, moonlight is visible through the branches of a tree.
The moonlight is soft and diffused, which creates a feeling of calm and peace.
Trees can also symbolize growth, strength and stability.
Considering the elements of the image and the effects of the moonlight, we can interpret the image as a representation of the intoxicating power of nature.
Nature can have a calming and relaxing effect on us, and can inspire us to be more creative and imaginative.
Some people may see moonlight as a symbol of hope or faith.
Others may see the tree as a symbol of protection or security.
Ultimately, image interpretation is personal and depends on each individual.
Additional facts about moonlight:
- Moonlight is a reflection of sunlight.
- The moon takes about 29.5 days to orbit the Earth.
- The moon is closest to Earth at perigee and furthest away at apogee.
- The phases of the moon are caused by the change in the position of the moon in relation to the Earth and the sun.
- The moon has a huge impact on Earth, including tides and weather.
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Text & Photography: ©MárioSilva
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Everyone is used to living with smarter devices. But imagine living in a smart city where everything from public transport to city lamps are efficient and sustainable. This seemingly simple image of northern Italy from Earth orbit is one of the ways space is paving the way for cities to get smarter.
Doorbells, refrigerators and toothbrushes are everyday devices that are now controllable, customisable and designed to make your life run more efficiently by collecting and relaying data using telecommunications satellites.
Other space technology is helping to collect valuable data that can result in larger scale changes for cities.
Take one of humankind’s greatest achievement in space so far, the International Space Station.
Astronauts routinely snap photos of Earth from the orbital outpost, and not just for the likes and retweets. Photographs like this one of northern Italy, taken by ESA astronaut Luca Parmitano during his 2013 mission, provide vital data about city efficiency and sustainability.
Researchers have devised a method to assess the environmental impact of artificial light on humans, animals, and the surrounding environment using one of the few sources of publicly-accessible night images of Earth in colour: pictures taken by the astronauts from the International Space Station.
City lights are disruptive not only for the lives of nocturnal animals, who suffer from disorientation and behavioural and physiological changes, but also for people. An excess of artificial light before bedtime reduces melatonin production, a hormone linked to sleep. This suppression can lead to negative effects on our health, including breast and prostate cancer.
In addition, streetlights account for a large chunk of a country’s energy consumption. As the world grapples with climate change and cleaner sources of energy, how that energy is put to use is a bright topic.
Cities at Night is an online platform that invites citizens to flip through the half a million photographs of Earth at night taken so far by astronauts from the Space Station to identify cities. The end result of Cities at Night will be map of Earth that is accessible to anyone.
Researchers want to use the map to locate energy inefficiencies in urban cities to urge dimming of the lights. A case in point is the city of Milan. The city replaced their orange sodium lamps with white LEDs. Comparisons of Milan from night as seen from space before and after the change has shown that the white light is worse for the local environment.
The data retrieved from these images is vital to drawing risk maps for artificial lighting that can help guide city officials in these types of decisions. And that’s just smart.
Credits: ESA/NASA
The spotted owlet is a small and stocky bird, barely 21 centimetres (8.3 in) in size. The upperparts are grey-brown, heavily spotted with white. The underparts are white, streaked with brown. The facial disc is pale and the iris is yellow. There is a white neckband and supercilium. Sexes are similar. The flight is deeply undulating. The nominate form is darker than the paler forms such as indica of drier regions.
This species is nocturnal but is sometimes seen in the day. When disturbed from their daytime site, they bob their head and stare at intruders.[9] It can often be located by the small birds that mob it while it is perched in a tree. It hunts a variety of insects and small vertebrates. In Pakistan they have been found to take mostly insect prey.[10][11][12] In the arid region of Jodhpur, they have been found to take more rodents (especially in the genus Mus and tend to avoid other rodents such as Tatera) prior to the breeding season.[13] Bats, toads, small snakes such as Ramphotyphlops braminus have been noted.[14][15] They may also take scorpions and molluscs.[16] Nests near human habitations may show higher breeding success due to increased availability of rodents for feeding young.[17]
The call is a harsh and loud churring and chuckling chirurr-chirurr-chirurr ending with a chirwak-chirwak and they call mainly during early dawn or just after sunset.[2][18]
The breeding season is November to April.[2] Courtship behaviour includes bill grasping, allopreening and ritual feeding. The female may call with the male, bob head and deflect its tail in invitation.[19] The social organization of family groups is not clear and multiple males may copulate with a female and females may attempt pseudocopulation,[20] possibly a kind of displacement behaviour.[21][22] They nest in cavities often competing with other hole-nesters such as mynas, rollers and parakeets. They may also nest in holes in vertical embankments.[23] The nest may be lined with leaves and feathers or may use the existing lining from a prior occupant. The typical clutch is made up of three or four spherical white eggs (30.9mm long and 26.3 mm wide, 11.6g) and incubation begins with the first laid eggs leading to a wide variation in the size of the chicks. The young are fed initially on insects such as cockroaches and later fed small vertebrate prey such as mice (a toad Bufo stomaticus has been noted in Gujarat). The chicks gain weight during the early stages but lose weight before fledging.[24] Only one or two chicks may fledge and they leave the nest in about a month.[14]
The brain has a pineal gland, formerly thought to be absent in the owls.[25] Birds show variation in the melatonin concentration between day and night. A high melatonin level is associated with sleep and low levels are associated with high alertness and foraging activity. Spotted owlets, however, show only a slightly lower melatonin concentration at night with a slight increase in the early afternoon. Other owls such as the barn owl show little day-night variation.[26][27] Seasonal changes in glandular activity have been associated with environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.[28]
A coccidian parasites, Eimeria atheni, has been described from this species.[29] An ectoparasitic mite, Neocheletiella athene, has been described from a specimen from the Antwerp zoo.[30] Bird lice of the species Colpocephalum pectinatum are known to be ectoparasites.[31] The Acanthocephalan parasite Apororhynchus chauhani was discovered in the intestine of the spotted owlet.[32]
There are many aspects of our sense of self and many fragments that lead up to a whole. When you drop a delicate glass and it shatters, you see all of the pieces that make up that simple structure that holds liquid. Just imagine how many pieces are inside of each of us, just as fragile and susceptible to damage.
Each year, I make some changes to my life. I wouldn't call them New Year's Resolutions (though I do try to make a couple of those) because they don't always happen on the new year. I yearn to be a flawless person and I've always realized how finite our time spans on Earth are...and so, I don't like to waste any time that I'm given, either when trying to make the world a better place or in terms of trying to make myself into a better person, someone I can respect and love when I Iook in the mirror. 2015 was a year filled with changes for me and, instead of doing a top 10 or 20 or 25 live shows, I thought maybe I would do something different this year instead.
1. Photography:
I have many identities, if you must know. Some call these roles but when your roles in life define you, it seems to become a little more than that. In other words, if you lose one role, like your role as an artist, you will probably have something along the lines of a nervous breakdown, where you question who you are and want to jump out of the window. That's how strongly I identify with myself as a photographer. I've been doing this for 20 years now and I started in the dark room with film and a ton of time and creative youthful energy.
I really haven't changed yet in terms of my yearning to be a part of the collective consciousness that defines us as human beings and wanting to redeem it. There are so many harmful things that bring us all down...we have allowed the rich to get stronger and the poor to become many. We have turned our backs on our sisters and brothers. We no longer recognize them in the street.
More importantly, photography is a sort of art therapy for me. I've been going to a very helpful Sleep Therapist recently to help with my insomnia. He has me rate the stress in my life on a 0-5 scale. 5 is the highest and 0 is literally no stress. After about 5 visits, on our last visit in December, my sleep therapist pointed out to me how he thought it was interesting that I never rated my stress level for each day a 5 even though I often reported that my job was the cause of much dismay. I explained, "That's because, no matter how stressed I am, I realize I have to keep perspective. 5 is genocide. 5 is I am raped and nearly murdered and my family is murdered in front of me. 5 is someone opens their door on me while bicycling and I'm in the hospital and am told I will never walk again or breathe without a machine. If 5 is the worst thing that can happen to a person, I hope I never see it." Did I mention I'm intense?
Anyway, I digress...photography helps me cope with all of the sadness I feel when I think that we're all doomed and uniquely flawed in a way that doesn't allow us to change our mistakes, to make ourselves better, to find redemption. I don't mean religious redemption, either. I just mean that we realize we were each given a unique potential and the failure to live up to this is a black mark upon all of us.
I've made some changes regarding photography and my identity this year. When I started photographing with digital over film in 2006, it opened up some previously unexplored possibilities for me. I've always loved music and concerts and so, increasingly more, I started photographing my favorite bands. I still do so and continue to love it but I feel a sadness in the thought that I'll be be pigeonholed as merely a "concert photographer" when the day is done. More than anything, I have always yearned to capture life at the end of the day. I'm a searcher and I'm searching for the qualities that show us as overcoming all of our past atrocities, as better than all that. There is something in a gesture that Milan Kundera understood...a gesture can be linked to identity and can be it's own greatest art form. I'm a huge fan of animals but the gestures that humans make can actually take my breath away.
I see more views, favorites, comments, etc. when I post a concert photo and I appreciate those but, at the end of the day, I am part of Flickr because I want to grow as a photographer and I don't want to die with people thinking all I ever did was stand alongside 15 other people taking photos of the same musicians at the exact same time. I think that's why I haven't really missed scaling back on shows and festivals overall this year. I still love Levitation/Austin Psych Fest the very best (it's my type of music!) and I still enjoy live shows...but if I am photographing bands, I want to be doing so to promote their creativity and their presence in the world so not necessarily the bands everyone has already heard of in other words.
I realize I'm not the best street or portrait photographer in the world but it takes time to develop and, just like it took time for me to develop as a concert photographer, I have made more of a commitment to devoting time and energy to this endeavor. It's painful to me when I try to be part of a community of street photographers and I feel rejected or condescended to. I have music within me and I sing in my own way. Right now, this is where my heart is leading me.
2. Vegan
When I was 13, it finally occurred to me that it was perhaps more than a little hypocritical to identify myself as an animal lover and then eat them. Back then, I pretty much lived on vegetarian vegetable cans of Progresso soup and it was a challenge to live as a vegetarian in upstate NY not because I enjoyed the taste of meat but because I had a lack of options for my own nutrition. I also had to learn the hard way about taking B vitamin and iron supplements or I'd be feeling weak and/or faint all day long. Pretty soon, though, being a vegetarian became a part of the very fabric of my being and was one of the first things I mentioned. It definitely made me more healthy but it also made me feel like I was a person with integrity.
Of course, not as much was known in 1992 about the environmental implications of being vegetarian and, even more so, vegan. When you're facing food scarcities, using all fertile land in the most optimal way to feed the approaching 7 billion people on this planet seems less like radical ideology and more just like plain common sense.
At least in America, vegan cheeses, yogurts, sorbets, milks, butters, and even egg substitutes have seen remarkable growth. Not so long ago, vegan cheese tasted like play-doh and was absolutely disgusting. We've come a long way, especially in the last three years. I've never been a fan of Daiya, though I appreciate their history in the market, but I am a fan of Heidi-Ho vegan cheese made from chia seeds. Kite Hill, Punk Rawk cheese, Treeline cheese and Mykononos cheese are all fantastic vegan options. In addition, each city (even my own small home town city of Rochester, NY with the amazing vegan restaurant Vive) seems to be developing it's own artisan vegan cheeses. To be clear, these are "cheeses" I wouldn't even realize were vegan. In Chicago, we have Feed Your Head, Teese, Chicago Raw, and Soul Veg. which are amazing-as well as several restaurant options.
When I think about the process in America of separating the young calves from their mothers and killing male chickens, I think about the stress hormones that get transferred from animal to your food. I also think about the rise in quite a few life threatening allergies...some of this may be related to pollution but maybe some of it is related to animals. I became a vegetarian way before epidemics like "Mad Cow Disease" but this disease isn't exactly a compelling argument to continue to eat any animal products for me.
There is going to come a time when we can no longer be dependent on animals for any food source. I don't know when that exact year is...if I had to guess, it will probably be well before I reach old age (if I do reach it). Let's say 2040. Animal products will be unreliable and even toxic. If you'd like for some reasonable substitutes and would, in the meantime, like to become a healthier and more productive human, I would recommend becoming vegan sooner than later. Again, I'm not a radical. I'm not a trend setter. However, I am a person who likes to think I can see trends and has some common sense. Many thanks to my friend and photographer Lindsey Best for opening my eyes and giving me a needed push in the right direction. I hope my words here find you well and you are open minded enough to consider them for yourself and for the future of the world.
Check out her work:
3. Sleep
Being an insomniac started to usurp my identity or components of it for a couple of decades. Ever since I became addicted to Nyquil in high school after a cold, I have struggled on and off with insomnia. My most recent dependency as an adult was 3 Ibuprofen PM AND 3 Melatonin. I have a great deal of anxiety and stress related to work and I found I couldn't sleep without this combination. But then, I had an even more of a problem which was that even this combination wasn't doing the trick. Your body habituates over time and you feel extremely abnormal. You start to really worry about the damage you might be doing to your kidneys, for instance, and start to feel helpless. There are only so many times I can have a panic attack in the middle of the night before I realize I probably need to gather some gumption and actually see a medical professional about it.
This summer/August, I started to see a sleep therapist in Chicago. It was a big change for me because it finally spoke to the idea that I wanted to truly change my life. I've gone through phases of extreme struggle because, like my mother, I feel more creative in the wee hours of the night. I've also gone through phases where I truly viewed being an insomniac as "cool." But, at 3am, when you're sweating profusely, wondering how you're going to get through the next day at work, and wondering if you're racing heart signifies that you'll soon be having a heart attack, you realize this is anything but "cool." While it's true it's helpful to have deep experiences to become a better artist and feel connected to all aspects of the world, it's also very true that you're not helpful to anyone on Earth as a creative entity or otherwise if you're dead.
Fast forward 6 months later. I now sleep at least 6 hours most nights without any sleep aids...this is a big deal for me! When I say a "big deal" what I mean specifically is that if you had told me in August that I would be here in January, I would have thought you were suggesting the impossible. And yet, this is my new reality and, instead of identifying myself based on the sleep I did or didn't get the night before, I have begun to identify myself as the person who can do more with a little more sleep and feeling proud of myself for the progress I have made. Again, I am nowhere near the perfect and flawless human being I would like to be but this is a huge part of becoming better and doing more in the world each day I'm alive.
4. Neuroscience
I've always liked nonfiction in moderation but 2015 especially saw me struggling with some new cases at work where I felt I needed to learn more to become better and, what this inevitably boiled down to is learning more about the human brain and the capacity for change. Even when I was going to university for my degree back in NY in 2001, it was a widespread belief that the human brain was plastic only to a certain point following an injury like a stroke and that if progress didn't occur within the first 6months or so afterwards, the idea that the patient could grow was probably just a little too optimistic.
What neuroscientists have found most recently is that this is actually really false and, even more so, could be obviously damaging to the patient's progress when the doctors and therapists embrace this line of thinking. Neuroscientists have also learned so much more about mental illness, physical disabilities, Autism and other sensory disorders. This is one of the most exciting adventures you can have-realizing even how much potential we have to change and being inspired to change because of it. I've tried to make myself more trilingual, more of an optimist, and more filled with the kindness and empathy related to the struggles people have.
I would highly recommend checking out the following authors/works:
The Tell-Tale Brain: A Neuroscientist's Quest for What Makes Us Human
by V.S. Ramachandran
www.goodreads.com/book/show/8574712-the-tell-tale-brain
Rainy Brain, Sunny Brain: How to Retrain Your Brain to Overcome Pessimism and Achieve a More Positive Outlook
by Elaine Fox
(It sounds kind of hokey and middle of the road but very interesting neuroscience behind optimism):
www.goodreads.com/book/show/13237701-rainy-brain-sunny-br...
The Brain's Way of Healing: Remarkable Discoveries and Recoveries from the Frontiers of Neuroplasticity
by Norman Doidge
www.goodreads.com/book/show/22522293-the-brain-s-way-of-h...
Thinking in Pictures: My Life with Autism
by Temple Grandin
www.goodreads.com/book/show/103408.Thinking_in_Pictures?f...
And recently my mom has encouraged me to watch youtube clips from this neuroscientist and read his work:
David Eagleman:
Thanks for reading, all. Good luck on your own journeys.
One of the strangest habits of middle-aged men is that they need caffeine to stay awake during the day, otherwise they tend to feel sleepy and want to sleep; On the other hand they need melatonin or alcohol to help them sleep at night, otherwise they can't fall asleep.
And, I am one of them. T_T
总是在半梦半醒之间
My neighbors' backyard faces my bedroom. They are party people who love music and (shudder) karaoke! They started their Memorial Day celebrating yesterday afternoon, and now, at 6:54 a.m. the next day, they've finally lowered the music. Now they're just talking--in very LOUD voices.
So, after two melatonin pills, and dozing here and there, this is what my brain feels like.
As if it were wrapped in bubble wrap. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Happy Monochrome Monday
This species is nocturnal but is sometimes seen in the day. When disturbed from their daytime site, they bob their head and stare at intruders. It can often be located by the small birds that mob it while it is perched in a tree. It hunts a variety of insects and small vertebrates. In Pakistan they have been found to take mostly insect prey. In the arid region of Jodhpur, they have been found to take more rodents (especially in the genus Mus and tend to avoid other rodents such as Tatera) prior to the breeding season. Bats, toads, small snakes such as Ramphotyphlops braminus have been noted. They may also take scorpions and molluscs.Nests near human habitations may show higher breeding success due to increased availability of rodents for feeding young.
The call is a harsh and loud churring and chuckling chirurr-chirurr-chirurr ending with a chirwak-chirwak and they call mainly during early dawn or just after sunset.
The breeding season is November to April. Courtship behaviour includes bill grasping, allopreening and ritual feeding. The female may call with the male, bob head and deflect its tail in invitation. The social organization of family groups is not clear and multiple males may copulate with a female and females may attempt pseudocopulation,possibly a kind of displacement behaviour. They nest in cavities often competing with other hole-nesters such as mynas, rollers and parakeets. They may also nest in holes in vertical embankments. The nest may be lined with leaves and feathers or may use the existing lining from a prior occupant. The typical clutch is made up of three or four spherical white eggs (30.9mm long and 26.3 mm wide, 11.6g) and incubation begins with the first laid eggs leading to a wide variation in the size of the chicks. The young are fed initially on insects such as cockroaches and later fed small vertebrate prey such as mice (a toad Bufo stomaticus has been noted in Gujarat). The chicks gain weight during the early stages but lose weight before fledging.Only one or two chicks may fledge and they leave the nest in about a month.
The brain has a pineal gland, formerly thought to be absent in the owls. Birds show variation in the melatonin concentration between day and night. A high melatonin level is associated with sleep and low levels are associated with high alertness and foraging activity. Spotted owlets, however, show only a slightly lower melatonin concentration at night with a slight increase in the early afternoon. Other owls such as the barn owl show little day-night variation. Seasonal changes in glandular activity have been associated with environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.
A coccidian parasites, Eimeria atheni, has been described from this species.An ectoparasitic mite, Neocheletiella athene, has been described from a specimen from the Antwerp zoo. Bird lice of the species Colpocephalum pectinatum are known to be ectoparasites. The Acanthocephalan parasite Apororhynchus chauhani was discovered in the intestine of the spotted owlet.
clicked at Bharatpur NP
Moon in PiscesPisces:
Moon in Pisces has the greatest sensitivity and perceptiveness of surroundings. You can experience feelings of insecurity, be passive and only wait and see what happens in your life. If you engage in creative or spiritual search, you will benefit from great imagination of Pisces.
Organs influenced by PiscesPisces Moon Sign:
Organs: Feet, toes, hypophysis, pineal gland, endorphin, melatonin.
These organs are now more sensitive so provide them with extra care.
Surgical operations:
Surgical operations are not recommended during the Waxing Moon.
While aimlessly lying about in airport lounge armchairs, waiting for our delayed flight, we got to enjoy some “circadian adaptive lighting”, designed to keep the “hostages” from rioting, I suppose...
MUY INTERSANTE:
Uno de los aspectos más sorprendentes de la biología del corzo (Capreolus capreolus) es su actividad reproductiva, que se concentra durante los meses más calurosos del año, principalmente julio y agosto. Su intensidad y duración dependerá de dos factores principales, las CONDICIONES AMBIENTALES y las HORAS DE LUZ, puesto que se relaciona de forma directa con la melatonina.
Por este motivo, mientras que los ejemplares ibéricos cuentan con celos más largos, que pueden superar las cuatro a seis semanas, en el caso de los del centro y norte de Europa el celo se lleva a cabo en no más de 20 días. Además, resulta llamativo comprobar cómo, dentro de nuestra propia Península, los ejemplares del sur concentran su actividad reproductiva principalmente al inicio del verano, mientras que los del norte la prolongan hasta incluso llegar al mes de septiembre, lo que demuestra su elevada capacidad de adaptación.
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VERY INTERESTING:
One of the most surprising aspects of the biology of the roe deer (Capreolus capreolus) is its reproductive activity, which is concentrated during the hottest months of the year, mainly July and August. Its intensity and duration will depend on two main factors, ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS and HOURS OF LIGHT, since it is directly related to melatonin.
For this reason, while Iberian specimens have longer heats, which can exceed four to six weeks, in the case of those from central and northern Europe the heat takes place in no more than 20 days. Furthermore, it is striking to see how, within our own Peninsula, the specimens from the south concentrate their reproductive activity mainly at the beginning of summer, while those from the north extend it until reaching the month of September, which demonstrates their high capacity for adaptation.
Europe shines brightly at night, as seen in this mosaic created from over 7000 pictures taken by astronauts on the International Space Station. This is the first nighttime mosaic of Europe in colour ever produced with calibrated space images.
The composition uses images from 2017 with a resolution of around 100 metres per pixel. Until 2021, the International Space Station was the only spacecraft suitable for capturing colour images of Earth at night. Resolution is equally important: astronauts were able to capture images at five metres per pixel, exceeding the capabilities that most satellites can currently offer.
Astronaut photography has emerged as the best source for scientists to map artificial light. All space agencies and their crews contribute to the effort, with ESA astronauts playing a vital role since Paolo Nespoli became one of the pioneers of nighttime photography from space in 2010.
“Most of the images that you see of Europe at night are artistic interpretations of black and white images, not real colour,” explains Alejandro Sánchez de Miguel from the Complutense University of Madrid and the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia in Spain.
By combining citizen science with artificial intelligence, the Cities at Night project created the mosaic by processing thousands of images and time-lapses, and correcting distortions in them. The missing patches at the bottom (north of Africa) and top (Scotland in the UK) of this mosaic are filled with data from NASA’s weather satellite Suomi NPP.
Different colours represent different lighting technologies, with warmer, redder tones generally indicating sodium light sources. The whiter and bluer emissions belong to light-emitting diode lamps, or LED technology, in our streets. The whitening of artificial light can be seen in this comparison between 2017 and 2022.
According to scientists, the transition towards white and blue-rich light radiation is eroding the natural nighttime cycles across the continent. Excessive lighting disrupts the circadian day-and-night rhythm of living organisms, including humans, with negative health effects on species and whole ecosystems.
A scientific study identified three major negative impacts: the suppression of melatonin, the response of insects and bats towards or away from light, and the visibility of stars in the night sky.
“Astronaut photography allows us to look back in time at global light pollution during periods when no colour-sensitive satellites existed,” adds Alejandro.
As part of the Plan-B project to protect our biodiversity and ecosystems, Cities at Night will release an app in 2026 that will allow Europeans to check how light pollution has evolved over time where they live.
Credits: ESA/NASA/Cities at Night
The shortening days of Fall cause a buck's pineal gland to secrete melatonin which in turn produces a massive amount of testosterone. It seems like pencil-necked bucks suddenly look like a cervid Dick Butkus. Muscled up, fired up, and a little crazy, they are ready for a fight and to breed as many does as possible. The ritual of the Fall rut. Our beautiful world, pass it on.
#AbFavFood
CHERRY HEALTH: GET THE FACTS
Cherries are fat-, cholesterol- and sodium-free.
One cup of cherries is less than 90 calories.
That same cup of cherries has 3 grams of fiber, which aids in digestion, lowers cholesterol, controls blood sugar and can help with weight loss.
Cherries are a good source of vitamin C, with 16% of the daily recommended value in one cup.
Cherries also contain vitamin A, calcium, protein and iron.
Potassium in cherries keeps the body functioning and plays a key role in muscle, heart, kidney and nerve cell functions. One cup of cherries has 260 mg of potassium.
Cherries are one of the top antioxidant-rich foods and may prevent the onset of several chronic diseases.
Anthocyanin in cherries give the fruit its red color and help protect the heart and surrounding tissues.
Boron in cherries helps maintain calcium balance and promotes bone health. Boron may also prevent osteoporosis.
Research has found that eating cherries reduces pain and inflammation associated wit harthritis and gout.
Cherries contain melatonin (which regulates sleep cycles) and may be a helpful food for fighting jet lag and insomnia.
Thank you for your time and comments, greatly appreciated, M, (*_*)
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Have you noticed that sleeping on an empty stomach is much calmer? And what an incredible lightness 😌 from this in the morning…
As you know, the last meal should be no later than 2-3 hours before bedtime, or even better, 5 hours before bedtime!!!
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Night is the time when the body slows down 😴 metabolism, and if you want to keep your figure and not get better, you need to approach the choice of evening meals consciously.
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So, a light snack involves low-calorie foods. Namely:
✅ Low-fat cottage cheese or yogurt without additives and sugar;
✅ Low-fat white fish;
✅ Herbal Tea;
✅ Citrus fruits (pineapple, grapefruit, tangerine, orange, kiwi; 📢 do not abuse those who have stomach problems);
✅ Blueberries;
✅ Apples.
⠀
No 🙅♂ cakes, sweets, fried, meat and other things! Instead of resting, producing melatonin and restoring resources, your body will be forced to work in an enhanced mode!
⠀
Think about it, and take care of yourself! Switch to the correct 👍 power mode!
⠀
#blue #christmastree #comfort #fashiondesign #humanleg #knee #pink #red #thigh #window #NikonD850 #safronoviv_photo
Sour cherries are full of vitamin A, vitamin C, fiber, manganese, and copper. Sweet cherries contain vitamin C, anthocyanin antioxidants, and melatonin, an antioxidant that fights insomnia and jet lag.
Unlike looking directly at the sun, moon gazing is considered by some to be beneficial. Apparently the moon gently energizes, in contrast with the sun's sharp brightness. Moonlight exposure is thought to also relieve anxiety and stress and improve relaxation by prompting the natural release of melatonin.
The moon was big and bright the evening this photo was taken. I can't give the moon full credit, but sitting here in the middle of a city with over 700,000 residents was welcome serenity.
Always,
Nora
Photo by Linda Roberts
Dress by Leota
MU by Elizabeth Taylor
Pine cones. Fun fact: The pineal gland, which produces melatonin & serotonin in the human body, is so named because it's shape was thought to resemble that of pine cones.
en réponse à une demande de Ptitmoranne …
Tout d'abord pour lutter contre le stress et l'insomnie, il est important d'avoir une vie saine et équilibrée :
- une activité physique modérée
- une alimentation pauvre en sel et en graisses,
- des dîners légers
- des rythmes réguliers.
- Bannir l’alcool, le café, la nicotine et toute autre substance pouvant abîmer les tissus et stimuler l’agitation.
Puis des remèdes naturels telles que les tisanes, ou l'aromathérapie peuvent aider à retrouver le calme et le sommeil.
Par exemple deux plantes médicinales aux effets calmants avérés : le tilleul et la camomille, en tisanes à prendre avant d’aller dormir. pensez à sucrer avec du miel qui a aussi un léger effet sédatif.
Plus performantes encore passiflore et valériane sont deux herbes médicinales très utilisées en herboristerie et en phytothérapie pour lutter contre l’anxiété, l’insomnie, ainsi que contre tous les états pathologiques qui empoisonnent le système nerveux central.
La passiflore en particulier est un remède naturel bien connu pour ses propriétés calmantes et sédatives.
Parmi les remèdes très efficaces en cas de crises de panique, d’agitation ou d’angoisse, se trouvent le millepertuis et l’aubépine, antidépresseurs naturels. Le millepertuis est reconnu pour ses effets antidépresseurs, et même était autrefois considéré comme une plante magique.
Le millepertuis favorise la sécrétion de mélatonine, tandis que l’aubépine a une action calmante avérée sur le système cardio-circulatoire. On la préconise en effet en cas de palpitations et de tachycardie.
Le sérieux inconvénient du Millepertuis est d’interagir avec de très nombreux médicaments, dont certains antidépresseurs (inhibiteurs de la recapture de la sérotonine). Il est donc très important d’informer le médecin de l’utilisation éventuelle de ce produit.
Il faut trouver ces tisanes chez son herboriste ou son pharmacien afin d'en connaitre le bon dosage pour votre cas et les interactions possibles avec d'autres médicaments !
En aromathérapie, les huiles essentielles les plus conseillées pour lutter contre les états anxieux et les insomnies sont celles de :
- petit grain
- camomille romaine
- lavande
- orange douce
- verveine
- géranium
- mélisse
- jasmin
- bois de ho
Pour diffuser les HE il est préférable de le faire avec un diffuseur adapté ... suivez les indications de votre diffuseur. Avec le mien, je mets 5 gouttes du mélange dans l'eau, on diffuse dans la chambre 1/2 heure avant de se coucher une HE ou plusieurs en synergie et on stoppe la diffusion lorsque on se couche !
Si vous n'avez pas de diffuseur, vous pouvez tout simplement mettre une coupelle d'eau sur un radiateur et mettre 8 gouttes du mélange dedans !
Au coucher, vous pouvez aussi appliquer trois à quatre gouttes d’huile essentielle sur les poignets et le plexus solaire (au centre de l’abdomen, entre le sternum et le nombril). Ou appliquer deux gouttes sur le revers d'une veste de pyjama ou sur un mouchoir ou un coton que vous garderez près de vous pendant le sommeil
Mangez aussi des bananes. Elles contiennent du potassium. C’est bon contre le stress :-))
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About The Milky Way:
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Earth. This name derives from its appearance as a dim "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky, in which the naked eye cannot distinguish individual stars. The term "Milky Way" is a translation of the Classical Latin via lactea, from the Hellenistic Greek γαλαξίας κύκλος (pr. galaxías kýklos, "milky circle").
The Galaxy has this appearance because it is a disk-shaped structure that is being viewed from inside. Earth is located within the Galactic plane of this disk, around two thirds of the way out from the center, on the inner edge of a spiral-shaped concentration of gas and dust called the Orion–Cygnus Arm. The concept of this faint band of light being made up of stars was proven in 1610 when Galileo Galilei used his telescope to resolve it into individual stars. In the 1920s observations by astronomer Edwin Hubble showed that the Milky Way was just one of around 200 billion galaxies in the observable universe.
The Milky Way is a barred spiral galaxy 100,000–120,000 light-years in diameter containing 200–400 billion stars. It may contain at least as many planets, with 10 billion of those orbiting in the habitable zone of their parent stars.[14] The rotational rate of the Galaxy is once every 15 to 50 million years. The Galaxy as a whole is moving at a velocity of 552 to 630 km per second, depending on the relative frame of reference. It is estimated to be about 13.2 billion years old, nearly as old as the Universe. The Milky Way is part of the Local Group of galaxies, which forms a subcomponent of the Virgo Supercluster.
Interesting facts about Light Pollution:
Light pollution has caused one-fifth of the world's population – mostly in mainland Europe, Britain and the U.S. – to lose their ability to see the Milky Way in the night sky.
"The arc of the Milky Way seen from a truly dark location is part of our planet's natural heritage," said Connie Walker, and astronomer from the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory in Tucson, Arizona.
Yet "more than one fifth of the world population, two thirds of the U.S. population and one half of the European Union population have already lost naked eye visibility of the Milky Way."
Star-free night
The phenomenon, caused by the reflection of manmade light by the Earth's atmosphere, impacts astronomical research and can even affect human health, warned Walker, who will present her research on Wednesday at a meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Pasadena, California.
The effects of light pollution on human health can be as mild as the disruption of the circadian rhythm leading to problems sleeping, but it can also be serious, she said.
One study of 147 Israeli communities, published in 2008 in the journal Chronobiology International, found some evidence for an increased risk of breast cancer for women living in areas with the most light pollution. This is thought to be due to unnatural light at night affecting levels of hormones such as melatonin and estrogen.
Light pollution comes in a variety of forms such as 'over illumination', 'light trespass' and 'sky glow' – the orange glow that hangs over cities and is produced by upwards directed light.
Walker's research has found that cities using light fixtures that direct just 3% of their light upwards can almost double the sky glow experienced by astronomical observatories 100 km away. "Allowing 10% direct uplight increases this figure to 570%," said Walker, who is chair of the U.S. Dark Skies Working Group, part of the Dark Skies Awareness program, a global citizen science effort to raise awareness of light pollution.
Esta y la foto "Un Momentazo", son de la Cala Es Niu de S´Águila, en la zona de Es Cubells, en Ibiza. La verdad es que disfruté mucho haciendo las fotos, y me encontré un fósil súper guapo que después regalé. Recuerdo esa tarde con un aire de "misterio"... el misterio del silencio quizá, o la conexión con la Naturaleza...
De ver cómo todo permanece aparentemente igual, y de cómo cada momento desaparece para siempre, al mismo tiempo. Luego más silencio aún, y la noche quiere entrar en escena, inexorable. Modificando cada partícula del aire, el yin y el yang... sin embargo parece que todo sigue en su sitio. Cambian las luces, cambia el ritmo, y el pulso sanguíneo. Somos animales, que al fin y al cabo, formamos parte la Tierra y de esta dualidad tan hermosa y emocionante. De este ciclo circadiano de 24 horas tan inevitable. Estarán de acuerdo conmigo, quienes lo vivan, de que el anochecer es un momento siempre "peculiar" de vivir en la Naturaleza, y más en solitario, sea cual sea el rincón del mundo, pero ahí fuera!
Pd: Creo que ese cambio emocional "siempre peculiar" que decía, puede ser debido en parte a la supresión de la melatonina en la glándula pineal, por la ausencia de luz.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spotted_Owlet
The Spotted Owlet (Athene brama) is a small owl which breeds in tropical Asia from India to Southeast Asia. A common resident of open habitats including farmland and human habitation, it has adapted to living in cities. They roost in small groups in the hollows of trees or in cavities in rocks or buildings. It nests in a hole in a tree or building, laying 3-5 eggs. The species is absent from Sri Lanka, although the birds are found across the Palk Straits, just 30 kilometres away at Rameshwaram. Nests near human habitations may show higher breeding success due to increased availability of rodents for feeding young.[3] The species shows a lot of variation including clinal variation in size and forms a superspecies with the very similar Little Owl.
Description
The Spotted Owlet is small (21 cm) and stocky. The upperparts are grey-brown, heavily spotted with white. The underparts are white, streaked with brown. The facial disc is pale and the iris is yellow. There is a white neckband and supercilium. Sexes are similar. The flight is deeply undulating. In Baluchistan it overlaps with the Little Owl from which it can be separated by the unstreaked crown and narrow tail bands. The nominate form is darker than the paler forms such as indica of drier regions
Subspecies
Early workers sometimes treated members of this species group as subspecies of Athene noctua. The two have been separated but they are considered to form a superspecies complex. Several subspecies have been described and about four or five are widely accepted (the race poikila[5] is invalid and refers to Aegolius funereus[6] A. b. fryi of southern India described by Stuart Baker and A. b. mayri described by Deignan from northern Thailand[7] are not usually recognized.[8]). The five widely recognized subspecies are albida Koelz, 1950 of western Asia in Iran and Pakistan; indica (Franklin, 1831) of northern India; brama (Temminck, 1821) of southern India which is darker than indica; ultra Ripley, 1948 (not always recognized) of northeastern India is said to have the white spots on mantle much and "higher pitched calls"; and pulchra Hume, 1873 of Southeast Asia from Myanmar and Thailand extending into Cambodia and Vietnam. The northern and southern Indian populations intergrade and there is no dividing boundary. The northern indica populations have the upperparts brownish. Size decreases from North to South. The species is not found in Sri Lanka, although birds on the Indian mainland are found even at the tip of Rameshwaram
Behaviour and ecology
Peering from a roost cavity [Kolkata)This species is nocturnal but is sometimes seen in the day. When disturbed from their daytime site, they bob their head and stare at intruders.[11] It can often be located by the small birds that mob it while it is perched in a tree. It hunts a variety of insects and small vertebrates. In Pakistan they have been found to take mostly insect prey.[12][13][14] [15] In the arid region of Jodhpur, they have been found to take more rodents (especially in the genus Mus and tend to avoid other rodents such as Tatera) prior to the breeding season.[16] Bats, toads, small snakes such as Ramphotyphlops braminus have been noted.[17] They may also take scorpions and molluscs.[18]
The call is a harsh and loud churring and chuckling chirurr-chirurr-chirurr ending with a chirwak-chirwak and they call mainly during early dawn or just after sunset.[4][19]
The breeding season is November to April.[4] Courtship behaviour includes bill grasping, allopreening and ritual feeding. The female may call with the male, bob head and deflect its tail in invitation.[20] The social organization of family groups is not clear and multiple males may copulate with a female and females may attempt pseudocopulation,[21] possibly a kind of displacement behaviour.[22][23] They nest in cavities often competing with other hole-nesters such as mynas. They may also nest in holes in vertical embankments.[24] The nest may be lined with leaves and feathers or may use the existing lining from a prior occupant. The typical clutch is made up of three or four spherical white eggs (30.9mm long and 26.3 mm wide, 11.6g) and incubation begins with the first laid eggs leading to a wide variation in the size of the chicks. The young are fed initially on insects such as cockroaches and later fed small vertebrate prey such as mice(a toad Bufo stomaticus has been noted in Gujarat). Only one or two chicks may fledge and they leave the nest in about 20 days.[17]
The brain has a pineal gland, a feature formerly thought to be absent in the owls.[25] Birds show variation in the melatonin concentration between day and night. A high melatonin level is associated with sleep and low levels are associated with high alertness and foraging activity. Spotted Owlets however show only a slightly lower melatonin concentration at night with a slight increase in the early afternoon. Other owls such as the Barn Owl show little day-night variation.[26][27] Seasonal changes in glandular activity have been associated with environmental factors such as temperature and humidity.[28]
A Coccidian parasites, Eimeria atheni has been described from this species.[29] An ectoparasitic mite, Neocheletiella athene has been described from a specimen from the Antwerp zoo.[30] Bird lice of the species Colpocephalum pectinatum are known to be ectoparasites.
In culture
These birds being very familiar to humans especially with their loud calling have been associated with bad omens.[32] The species name brama is from the French name Chouette brame and indirectly refers to this owl's Indian habitat by way of homage to Brahma, the Hindu supreme spirit. In Hindu mythology the owl is a vahan (mode of transport) of Lakshmi, goddess of wealth.
Hibiscus flowers are such eye catching blooms! They come in a variety of lovely colors. Many people like me enjoy its refreshing tea. It contains melatonin which helps with sleep. Also lowers systolic blood pressure according to the (Journal of Nutrition) publication. It contains health stimulating antioxidants as well! ☺☺
Sunlight and darkness trigger the release of hormones in your brain. Exposure to sunlight is thought to increase the brain’s release of a hormone called serotonin. Serotonin is associated with boosting mood and helping a person feel calm and focused. At night, darker lighting triggers the brain to make another hormone called melatonin. This hormone is responsible for helping you sleep.
Without enough sun exposure, your serotonin levels can dip. Low levels of serotonin are associated with a higher risk of major depression with seasonal pattern (formerly known as seasonal affective disorder or SAD). This is a form of depression triggered by the changing seasons.
A mood boost isn’t the only reason to get increased amounts of sunlight. There are several health benefits associated with catching moderate amounts of rays.
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Candid seaside shot, Sidmouth Devon.
(Yes the sun does sometimes shine in the UK).
And he's just a baby! So tiny I couldn't even hear his little buzztail rattling! =D
I *think* this is a juvenile Crotalus Oreganus (Northern Pacific Rattlesnake), but the colorations seem a bit too light. I know he's a male due to the placid attitude and fat tail behind his anal scoot. More so, I REALLY wish I would have gotten a better pic of him but seriously....does anyone have any melatonin for this guy? He would NOT stop moving! LOL