View allAll Photos Tagged Panicum,
L'automne, Alphonse de Lamartine
A gauche :
Sion, Valais, Suisse
Canon EOS 5D 100mm
A droite
Panicum Fontaine
Canon EOS 5D 100mm
The painted bunting (Passerina ciris) is a species of bird in the cardinal family, Cardinalidae, that is native to North America. The bright plumage of the male only comes in the second year of life; in the first year they can only be distinguished from the female by close inspection.
The male painted bunting is often described as the most beautiful bird in North America and as such has been nicknamed nonpareil, or "without equal". Its colors, dark blue head, green back, red rump, and underparts, make it extremely easy to identify, but it can still be difficult to spot since it often skulks in foliage even when it is singing. The plumage of female and juvenile painted buntings is green and yellow-green, serving as camouflage. Once seen, the adult female is still distinctive, since it is a brighter, truer green than other similar songbirds. Adult painted buntings can measure 12–14 cm (4.7–5.5 in) in length, span 21–23 cm (8.3–9.1 in) across the wings and weigh 13–19 g (0.46–0.67 oz).
The juveniles have two inserted molts in their first autumn, each yielding plumage like an adult female. The first starts a few days after fledging, replacing the juvenile plumage with an auxiliary formative plumage; and the second a month or so later giving the formative plumage.
Painted buntings often feed by hopping along the ground, cautiously stopping every few moments to look around. The painted bunting regularly eats a large quantity of grass seeds, including; Panicum, Amaranthus, Oxalis, Euphorbia and Carex. Seeds are eaten almost exclusively during winter. While breeding, painted bunting and nestlings mainly eat small invertebrates, including; spiders, snails, grasshoppers, caterpillars and other insects. They have been known to regularly visit spider webs to pick off small insects caught in them.
I found this male hopping along the ground in my backyard. Polk County, Florida
in camera multi image x3
busy: hopefully more time for Flickr next week!
ODC " my favourite autumn combinations!
www.flickr.com/groups/ourdailychallenge/discuss/721576753...
Cornus alba Sibirica
Panicum Squaw
_X4A4679multix3
It rained all day, but the rain ended just before sunset and the sun came out to spotlight the water drops on panicum 'Heavy Metal'
Tumbleweed takes over the abandoned Farmers Home Hotel in Matong. Built in 1916 on the site of an existing pub, the building serviced the local area with general goods, liquor and short term accommodation. In 2007 the hotel experienced an internal fire that destroyed the first floor area along with damage to areas on ground floor. The grass, known as hairy panic grass (panicum effusum), becomes a tumbleweed under extremely dry conditions, in an effort to disperse its seeds, and can become a nuisance in outback residential areas. Matong has a population of less than 200 people and is located in the Riverina region of south western NSW, Australia.
www.robertdowniephotography.com
Love Life, Love Photography
Invented by a local man, Martin Quinn, this grass is a beautiful addition to the garden. I usually cut the grasses down in the fall but decided to leave this one to see how it behaves in the winter.
Proso Millet (Panicum miliaceum) is a grain crop with many common names, including broomcorn millet, common millet, hog millet, Kashfi millet, red millet, and white millet..
Proso millet is naturally gluten-free and a good source of dietary fiber, moderate protein, and various vitamins and minerals. It's widely cultivated in India, China, Japan, and other parts of the world.
The first detection of the plant in Hungary 2007. by Gergely Király, as a weed have found in a maize field around Mérk 2010.
Photographed in Kenya, Africa
=> Please click on the image to see the largest size. <=
I thoroughly enjoyed watching and photographing this young waterbuck as it wildly ran and played in close proximity to its mother. But I was also very taken with the sudden change in its behavior as it suddenly froze in place and gazed out across the large open space and into the distance...it was as if this young creature was sensing the vastness of its world for the first time.
==========================
From Wikipedia: The waterbuck (Kobus ellipsiprymnus) is a large antelope found widely in sub-Saharan Africa. It is placed in the genus Kobus of the family Bovidae.
Waterbucks are rather sedentary in nature. As gregarious animals, they may form herds consisting of six to 30 individuals. These groups are either nursery herds with females and their offspring or bachelor herds. Males start showing territorial behaviour from the age of 5 years, but are most dominant from the six to nine. The waterbuck cannot tolerate dehydration in hot weather, thus inhabits areas close to sources of water. Predominantly a grazer, the waterbuck is mostly found on grassland. In equatorial regions, breeding takes place throughout the year, but births are at their peak in the rainy season. The gestational period lasts 7-8 months, followed by the birth of a single calf.
Waterbucks inhabit scrub and savanna areas along rivers, lakes, and valleys. Due to their requirement for grasslands and water, waterbucks have a sparse ecotone distribution. The IUCN lists the waterbuck as being of least concern. More specifically, the common waterbuck is listed as of least concern. while the defassa waterbuck is near threatened. The population trend for both is downwards, especially that of the defassa, with large populations being eliminated from certain habitats because of poaching and human disturbance.
Diet:
The waterbuck exhibits great dependence on water. It can not tolerate dehydration in hot weather, and thus inhabits areas close to sources of water. However, it has been observed that unlike the other members of its genus (such as the kob and puku), the waterbuck ranges farther into the woodlands while maintaining its proximity to water. With grasses constituting a substantial 70 to 95 percent of the diet, the waterbuck is predominantly a grazer frequenting grasslands. Reeds and rushes like Typha and Phragmites may also be preferred. A study found regular consumption of three grass species round the year: Panicum anabaptistum, Echinochloa stagnina and Andropogon gayanus. Hyparrhenia involucrata, Acroceras amplectens and Oryza barthii along with annual species were the main preference in the early rainy season, while long life grasses and forage from trees constituted three-fourths of the diet in the dry season.
6D6A7486-Flkr2
'Panicum virgatum' grass is all beautiful in Autumn - the colours are real, no manipulation here, just boosted up a bit etc. Developed in Lightroom 3 from a RAW file. Taken on a really windy day, so maybe a notch too dishevelled :)
Wishing you a lovely Sunday and thanks for stopping by!
Growing from the seeds we put out for the birds. Very pretty too.
For Monochrome Bokeh Thursday.
SOOC, except for the conversion to black and white.
HMBT!
Proso is well adapted to many soil and climatic conditions; it has a short growing season, and needs little water as it's highly drought-resistant. It is an excellent crop for dryland and no-till farming. Proso millet is an annual grass whose plants reach an average height of 100 cm (4 feet.). The seedheads grow in bunches. The seeds are small (2–3 mm or 0.1 inch). highly drought-resistant
Baya weavers are social and gregarious birds. They forage in flocks for seeds, both on the plants and on the ground. Flocks fly in close formations, often performing complicated manoeuvres. They are known to glean paddy and other grain in harvested fields, and occasionally damage ripening crops and are therefore sometimes considered as pests. They roost in reed-beds bordering waterbodies. They depend on wild grasses such as Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) as well as crops like rice for both their food (feeding on seedlings in the germination stage as well as on early stages of grain) and nesting material. They also feed on insects (including butterflies), sometimes taking small frogs, geckos and molluscs, especially to feed their young. Their seasonal movements are governed by food availability. Their calls are a continuous chit-chit-... sometimes ending in a wheezy cheee-eee-ee that is produced by males in a chorus. A lower intensity call is produced in the non-breeding season.
They are occasionally known to descend to the ground and indulge in dust bathing
The nest construction pattern at different stages of nest and variations in the nest microclimate, i.e., temperature and light intensity were assessed in different nests of Baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus) between November 2002 and March 2003 in Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur District of Tamil Nadu, India. The Baya weaver constructed nests in palm (Borassus flabellifer), coconut (Cocos nucifera) and date palm trees (Phoneix psuilla) and majority of the nests were found in the solitary palm. The male bird only involved in the construction and took 18 days to construct a single nest. The birds spent different amount of working hours (in terms of days) for completing various stages of nests viz., wad, ring and helmet stage and in which the 'helmet stage took a maximum of eight days. Furthermore, totally eight active nests were selected and once in a week the variations in the nest microclimate was investigated with reference to atmospheric temperature and light intensity (two active nests) across day throughout the study period. The mean temperature of the nests ranged from 25 degrees C to 29 degrees C and light intensity varied between 25 Lux and 625 Lux. The analysis of variance (ANOVA and ANCOVA) indicated that the nest microclimate varied among the nests in different hr of a day.
A widespread folk belief in India is that the baya sticks fireflies with mud to the nest walls to light up the interior of the nest at night. Clay, however is known to be used in the nests of baya weavers. Males alone have been seen to add blobs of mud and dung to the nest chamber prior to pairing with a female. It has been suggested that the clay may help to stabilise the nest in strong winds.
In earlier times, the baya weaver was trained by street performers in India for entertainment. They could pick up objects at the command of their trainers. They were trained to fire toy cannons, string beads, pick up coins and other objects. According to Edward Blyth "the truth is, that the feats performed by trained Bayas are really very wonderful, and must be witnessed to be fully credited. Exhibitors carry them about, we believe, to all parts of the country; and the usual procedure is, when ladies are present, for the bird, on a sign from its master, to take a sweetmeat in its bill, and deposit it between a lady's lips, and repeat this offering to every lady present, the bird following the look and gesture of its master. A miniature cannon is then brought, which the bird loads with coarse grains of powder...." Robert Tytler noted demonstrations where the bird would twirl a thin stick with fires at the ends over its head. These uses have been noted from the time of Akbar.
Familia : Hesperidae
En un lugar de matorral seco cerca de una charca en el humedal de la Charca de Suárez. Alas cerradas: gris claro o crema claro, sin dibujos, solo a la hembra le trasluce del interior de las alas delanteras una pequeñas manchas blancas, no siempre apreciables.
Nuestra amiga Gegenes nostrodamus es un hespérido que vive en la región costera del Mediterráneo, TurquÃa, Irán, Afganistán, Pakistán, Irak y el noroeste de India, por lo que podemos deducir que le gusta el calor y la sequedad del ambiente, no en vano las orugas aguantan muy mal la humedad y el frÃo.
En la PenÃnsula Ibérica Gegenes nostrodamus es una mariposa escasa, muy local, que vive en la zona costera mediterránea y de forma esporádica se puede encontrar en concretos enclaves del sur de Madrid, Toledo, Teruel, Soria y alguna otra provincia.
Las orugas tienen como planta nutricia especies de gramÃneas del género Aelurupus y Panicum.
Su principal hábitat son los tramos bajos de rÃos y arroyos que mantengan secos su cauce buena parte del año, y también sus terrazas fluviales. En menor medida, en las cada vez más escasas dunas y arenales costeros y marismas litorales.
www.malaga.es/.../veloz-rieras-gegenes...
Motril
P1460507
Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Cheers.
It's that time of year again...Magpie geese are at Sandy Camp Road wetlands in their hundreds.
Magpie Goose
Scientific Name: Anseranas semipalmata
Description: The Magpie Goose has a black neck and head, with a characteristic knob on the crown (larger in males), which increases in size with age. The underparts are white, with contrasting black edges on the underwing. The bill, legs and feet are orange. The Magpie Goose differs from most waterfowl in having strongly clawed toes that are webbed only on their basal halves (i.e. only partly webbed). Females are slightly smaller than males.
Distribution: The Magpie Goose is widespread throughout coastal northern and eastern Australia. It can be seen from Fitzroy River, Western Australia, through northern Australia to Rockhampton, Queensland, and has been extending its range into coastal New South Wales to the Clarence River and further south.
Habitat: The Magpie Goose is seen in floodplains and wet grasslands. Some individuals, mostly younger birds, may be seen at quite long distances inland.
Feeding: Large, noisy flocks of up to a few thousand birds congregate to feed on aquatic vegetation. The Magpie Goose is a specialized feeder with wild rice, Oryza, Paspalum, Panicum and spike-rush, Eleocharis, forming the bulk of its diet.
Breeding: During the breeding season, Magpie Geese build nests in secluded places, usually close to wetlands. The nest is almost single-handedly constructed by the male. It usually consists of a simple unlined cup placed either in a floating platform of trampled reeds or built in tree-tops. Pairs of geese mate for life, but a male may have two females. Two females may occasionally use the same nest to lay the large, oval, off-white coloured eggs. All adults share incubation and care for the young.
Minimum Size: 71cm
Maximum Size: 89cm
Average size: 82cm
Breeding season: February to June
Clutch Size: Up to 16 eggs for 2 females, but 8 more common
(Source: birdsinbackyards.net)
© Chris Burns 2018
__________________________________________
All rights reserved.
This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.
Baya weavers are social and gregarious birds. They forage in flocks for seeds, both on the plants and on the ground. Flocks fly in close formations, often performing complicated manoeuvres. They are known to glean paddy and other grain in harvested fields, and occasionally damage ripening crops and are therefore sometimes considered as pests. They roost in reed-beds bordering waterbodies. They depend on wild grasses such as Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) as well as crops like rice for both their food (feeding on seedlings in the germination stage as well as on early stages of grain) and nesting material. They also feed on insects (including butterflies), sometimes taking small frogs, geckos and molluscs, especially to feed their young. Their seasonal movements are governed by food availability. Their calls are a continuous chit-chit-... sometimes ending in a wheezy cheee-eee-ee that is produced by males in a chorus. A lower intensity call is produced in the non-breeding season.
They are occasionally known to descend to the ground and indulge in dust bathing
The nest construction pattern at different stages of nest and variations in the nest microclimate, i.e., temperature and light intensity were assessed in different nests of Baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus) between November 2002 and March 2003 in Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur District of Tamil Nadu, India. The Baya weaver constructed nests in palm (Borassus flabellifer), coconut (Cocos nucifera) and date palm trees (Phoneix psuilla) and majority of the nests were found in the solitary palm. The male bird only involved in the construction and took 18 days to construct a single nest. The birds spent different amount of working hours (in terms of days) for completing various stages of nests viz., wad, ring and helmet stage and in which the 'helmet stage took a maximum of eight days. Furthermore, totally eight active nests were selected and once in a week the variations in the nest microclimate was investigated with reference to atmospheric temperature and light intensity (two active nests) across day throughout the study period. The mean temperature of the nests ranged from 25 degrees C to 29 degrees C and light intensity varied between 25 Lux and 625 Lux. The analysis of variance (ANOVA and ANCOVA) indicated that the nest microclimate varied among the nests in different hr of a day.
A widespread folk belief in India is that the baya sticks fireflies with mud to the nest walls to light up the interior of the nest at night. Clay, however is known to be used in the nests of baya weavers. Males alone have been seen to add blobs of mud and dung to the nest chamber prior to pairing with a female. It has been suggested that the clay may help to stabilise the nest in strong winds.
In earlier times, the baya weaver was trained by street performers in India for entertainment. They could pick up objects at the command of their trainers. They were trained to fire toy cannons, string beads, pick up coins and other objects. According to Edward Blyth "the truth is, that the feats performed by trained Bayas are really very wonderful, and must be witnessed to be fully credited. Exhibitors carry them about, we believe, to all parts of the country; and the usual procedure is, when ladies are present, for the bird, on a sign from its master, to take a sweetmeat in its bill, and deposit it between a lady's lips, and repeat this offering to every lady present, the bird following the look and gesture of its master. A miniature cannon is then brought, which the bird loads with coarse grains of powder...." Robert Tytler noted demonstrations where the bird would twirl a thin stick with fires at the ends over its head. These uses have been noted from the time of Akbar.
Baya weavers are social and gregarious birds. They forage in flocks for seeds, both on the plants and on the ground. Flocks fly in close formations, often performing complicated manoeuvres. They are known to glean paddy and other grain in harvested fields, and occasionally damage ripening crops and are therefore sometimes considered as pests. They roost in reed-beds bordering waterbodies. They depend on wild grasses such as Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) as well as crops like rice for both their food (feeding on seedlings in the germination stage as well as on early stages of grain) and nesting material. They also feed on insects (including butterflies), sometimes taking small frogs, geckos and molluscs, especially to feed their young. Their seasonal movements are governed by food availability. Their calls are a continuous chit-chit-... sometimes ending in a wheezy cheee-eee-ee that is produced by males in a chorus. A lower intensity call is produced in the non-breeding season.
They are occasionally known to descend to the ground and indulge in dust bathing
The nest construction pattern at different stages of nest and variations in the nest microclimate, i.e., temperature and light intensity were assessed in different nests of Baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus) between November 2002 and March 2003 in Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur District of Tamil Nadu, India. The Baya weaver constructed nests in palm (Borassus flabellifer), coconut (Cocos nucifera) and date palm trees (Phoneix psuilla) and majority of the nests were found in the solitary palm. The male bird only involved in the construction and took 18 days to construct a single nest. The birds spent different amount of working hours (in terms of days) for completing various stages of nests viz., wad, ring and helmet stage and in which the 'helmet stage took a maximum of eight days. Furthermore, totally eight active nests were selected and once in a week the variations in the nest microclimate was investigated with reference to atmospheric temperature and light intensity (two active nests) across day throughout the study period. The mean temperature of the nests ranged from 25 degrees C to 29 degrees C and light intensity varied between 25 Lux and 625 Lux. The analysis of variance (ANOVA and ANCOVA) indicated that the nest microclimate varied among the nests in different hr of a day.
A widespread folk belief in India is that the baya sticks fireflies with mud to the nest walls to light up the interior of the nest at night. Clay, however is known to be used in the nests of baya weavers. Males alone have been seen to add blobs of mud and dung to the nest chamber prior to pairing with a female. It has been suggested that the clay may help to stabilise the nest in strong winds.
In earlier times, the baya weaver was trained by street performers in India for entertainment. They could pick up objects at the command of their trainers. They were trained to fire toy cannons, string beads, pick up coins and other objects. According to Edward Blyth "the truth is, that the feats performed by trained Bayas are really very wonderful, and must be witnessed to be fully credited. Exhibitors carry them about, we believe, to all parts of the country; and the usual procedure is, when ladies are present, for the bird, on a sign from its master, to take a sweetmeat in its bill, and deposit it between a lady's lips, and repeat this offering to every lady present, the bird following the look and gesture of its master. A miniature cannon is then brought, which the bird loads with coarse grains of powder...." Robert Tytler noted demonstrations where the bird would twirl a thin stick with fires at the ends over its head. These uses have been noted from the time of Akbar.
Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Cheers.
Magpie Goose
Scientific Name: Anseranas semipalmata
Description: The Magpie Goose has a black neck and head, with a characteristic knob on the crown (larger in males), which increases in size with age. The underparts are white, with contrasting black edges on the underwing. The bill, legs and feet are orange. The Magpie Goose differs from most waterfowl in having strongly clawed toes that are webbed only on their basal halves (i.e. only partly webbed). Females are slightly smaller than males.
Distribution: The Magpie Goose is widespread throughout coastal northern and eastern Australia. It can be seen from Fitzroy River, Western Australia, through northern Australia to Rockhampton, Queensland, and has been extending its range into coastal New South Wales to the Clarence River and further south.
Habitat: The Magpie Goose is seen in floodplains and wet grasslands. Some individuals, mostly younger birds, may be seen at quite long distances inland.
Feeding: Large, noisy flocks of up to a few thousand birds congregate to feed on aquatic vegetation. The Magpie Goose is a specialized feeder with wild rice, Oryza, Paspalum, Panicum and spike-rush, Eleocharis, forming the bulk of its diet.
Breeding: During the breeding season, Magpie Geese build nests in secluded places, usually close to wetlands. The nest is almost single-handedly constructed by the male. It usually consists of a simple unlined cup placed either in a floating platform of trampled reeds or built in tree-tops. Pairs of geese mate for life, but a male may have two females. Two females may occasionally use the same nest to lay the large, oval, off-white coloured eggs. All adults share incubation and care for the young.
Minimum Size: 71cm
Maximum Size: 89cm
Average size: 82cm
Breeding season: February to June
Clutch Size: Up to 16 eggs for 2 females, but 8 more common
(Source: birdsinbackyards.net)
© Chris Burns 2018
__________________________________________
All rights reserved.
This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.
Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Cheers.
It's that time of year again...Magpie geese are at Sandy Camp Road wetlands in their hundreds.
Magpie Goose
Scientific Name: Anseranas semipalmata
Description: The Magpie Goose has a black neck and head, with a characteristic knob on the crown (larger in males), which increases in size with age. The underparts are white, with contrasting black edges on the underwing. The bill, legs and feet are orange. The Magpie Goose differs from most waterfowl in having strongly clawed toes that are webbed only on their basal halves (i.e. only partly webbed). Females are slightly smaller than males.
Distribution: The Magpie Goose is widespread throughout coastal northern and eastern Australia. It can be seen from Fitzroy River, Western Australia, through northern Australia to Rockhampton, Queensland, and has been extending its range into coastal New South Wales to the Clarence River and further south.
Habitat: The Magpie Goose is seen in floodplains and wet grasslands. Some individuals, mostly younger birds, may be seen at quite long distances inland.
Feeding: Large, noisy flocks of up to a few thousand birds congregate to feed on aquatic vegetation. The Magpie Goose is a specialized feeder with wild rice, Oryza, Paspalum, Panicum and spike-rush, Eleocharis, forming the bulk of its diet.
Breeding: During the breeding season, Magpie Geese build nests in secluded places, usually close to wetlands. The nest is almost single-handedly constructed by the male. It usually consists of a simple unlined cup placed either in a floating platform of trampled reeds or built in tree-tops. Pairs of geese mate for life, but a male may have two females. Two females may occasionally use the same nest to lay the large, oval, off-white coloured eggs. All adults share incubation and care for the young.
Minimum Size: 71cm
Maximum Size: 89cm
Average size: 82cm
Breeding season: February to June
Clutch Size: Up to 16 eggs for 2 females, but 8 more common
(Source: birdsinbackyards.net)
© Chris Burns 2018
__________________________________________
All rights reserved.
This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.
Baya weavers are social and gregarious birds. They forage in flocks for seeds, both on the plants and on the ground. Flocks fly in close formations, often performing complicated manoeuvres. They are known to glean paddy and other grain in harvested fields, and occasionally damage ripening crops and are therefore sometimes considered as pests. They roost in reed-beds bordering waterbodies. They depend on wild grasses such as Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) as well as crops like rice for both their food (feeding on seedlings in the germination stage as well as on early stages of grain) and nesting material. They also feed on insects (including butterflies), sometimes taking small frogs, geckos and molluscs, especially to feed their young. Their seasonal movements are governed by food availability. Their calls are a continuous chit-chit-... sometimes ending in a wheezy cheee-eee-ee that is produced by males in a chorus. A lower intensity call is produced in the non-breeding season.
They are occasionally known to descend to the ground and indulge in dust bathing
The nest construction pattern at different stages of nest and variations in the nest microclimate, i.e., temperature and light intensity were assessed in different nests of Baya weaver (Ploceus philippinus) between November 2002 and March 2003 in Nagapattinam and Tiruvarur District of Tamil Nadu, India. The Baya weaver constructed nests in palm (Borassus flabellifer), coconut (Cocos nucifera) and date palm trees (Phoneix psuilla) and majority of the nests were found in the solitary palm. The male bird only involved in the construction and took 18 days to construct a single nest. The birds spent different amount of working hours (in terms of days) for completing various stages of nests viz., wad, ring and helmet stage and in which the 'helmet stage took a maximum of eight days. Furthermore, totally eight active nests were selected and once in a week the variations in the nest microclimate was investigated with reference to atmospheric temperature and light intensity (two active nests) across day throughout the study period. The mean temperature of the nests ranged from 25 degrees C to 29 degrees C and light intensity varied between 25 Lux and 625 Lux. The analysis of variance (ANOVA and ANCOVA) indicated that the nest microclimate varied among the nests in different hr of a day.
A widespread folk belief in India is that the baya sticks fireflies with mud to the nest walls to light up the interior of the nest at night. Clay, however is known to be used in the nests of baya weavers. Males alone have been seen to add blobs of mud and dung to the nest chamber prior to pairing with a female. It has been suggested that the clay may help to stabilise the nest in strong winds.
In earlier times, the baya weaver was trained by street performers in India for entertainment. They could pick up objects at the command of their trainers. They were trained to fire toy cannons, string beads, pick up coins and other objects. According to Edward Blyth "the truth is, that the feats performed by trained Bayas are really very wonderful, and must be witnessed to be fully credited. Exhibitors carry them about, we believe, to all parts of the country; and the usual procedure is, when ladies are present, for the bird, on a sign from its master, to take a sweetmeat in its bill, and deposit it between a lady's lips, and repeat this offering to every lady present, the bird following the look and gesture of its master. A miniature cannon is then brought, which the bird loads with coarse grains of powder...." Robert Tytler noted demonstrations where the bird would twirl a thin stick with fires at the ends over its head. These uses have been noted from the time of Akbar.
Larval host plants: Tylophora indica, Cnyptolepis dubia, Cryptolepis sinensis, Hemidesmus indicus (Apocynaceae), Ficus benghalensis, F racemosa, Freligiosa, Streblus mutica, Panicum spp., Sorghum spp., Zea spp., Axonopus compressus, Miscanthus sp.(Poaceae)
Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Cheers.
Magpie Goose
Scientific Name: Anseranas semipalmata
Description: The Magpie Goose has a black neck and head, with a characteristic knob on the crown (larger in males), which increases in size with age. The underparts are white, with contrasting black edges on the underwing. The bill, legs and feet are orange. The Magpie Goose differs from most waterfowl in having strongly clawed toes that are webbed only on their basal halves (i.e. only partly webbed). Females are slightly smaller than males.
Distribution: The Magpie Goose is widespread throughout coastal northern and eastern Australia. It can be seen from Fitzroy River, Western Australia, through northern Australia to Rockhampton, Queensland, and has been extending its range into coastal New South Wales to the Clarence River and further south.
Habitat: The Magpie Goose is seen in floodplains and wet grasslands. Some individuals, mostly younger birds, may be seen at quite long distances inland.
Feeding: Large, noisy flocks of up to a few thousand birds congregate to feed on aquatic vegetation. The Magpie Goose is a specialized feeder with wild rice, Oryza, Paspalum, Panicum and spike-rush, Eleocharis, forming the bulk of its diet.
Breeding: During the breeding season, Magpie Geese build nests in secluded places, usually close to wetlands. The nest is almost single-handedly constructed by the male. It usually consists of a simple unlined cup placed either in a floating platform of trampled reeds or built in tree-tops. Pairs of geese mate for life, but a male may have two females. Two females may occasionally use the same nest to lay the large, oval, off-white coloured eggs. All adults share incubation and care for the young.
Minimum Size: 71cm
Maximum Size: 89cm
Average size: 82cm
Breeding season: February to June
Clutch Size: Up to 16 eggs for 2 females, but 8 more common
(Source: birdsinbackyards.net)
© Chris Burns 2018
__________________________________________
All rights reserved.
This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.
Identifying Texas plants. This grass was collected north of Decatur, Texas at the edge of the Lyndon B. Johnson National Grassland
Schizachyrium scoparium in Brazoria County, Texas - October 2025.
S. scoparium is the third of the "big four" tallgrass prairie grasses posted in this set. This species is a familiar grass throughout most of the country. It's more than just a prairie grass, and in east Texas can be found in longleaf pine savannas, post oak savannas, and a multitude of other communities.
The fourth of the "big four" tallgrass prairie grasses is switchgrass (Panicum virgatum). Unfortunately I don't have an image to share of this species, but the "early fall on the coastal prairie" set will continue tomorrow with some beautiful flowering forbs!
Photographed while walking the shoreline at the Palo Alto Badlands in Palo Alto, California
Canon 7D Mark II 1/1000 sec f/9 700mm ISO 400
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From Wikipedia: The green-winged teal (Anas carolinensis or Anas crecca carolinensis) is a common and widespread duck that breeds in the northern areas of North America except on the Aleutian Islands.
This dabbling duck is strongly migratory and winters far south of its breeding range. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks. In flight, the fast, twisting flocks resemble waders.
This is the smallest North American dabbling duck. The breeding male has grey flanks and back, with a yellow rear end and a white-edged green speculum, obvious in flight or at rest. It has a chestnut head with a green eye patch. It is distinguished from drake common teals (the Eurasian relative of this bird) by a vertical white stripe on side of breast, the lack of both a horizontal white scapular stripe and the lack of thin buff lines on its head.
The females are light brown, with plumage much like a female mallard. They can be distinguished from most ducks on size, shape, and the speculum. Separation from female common teal is problematic.
In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female.
This is a noisy species. The male has a clear whistle, whereas the female has a feeble quack.
Green-winged teal, more than any other species of duck, prefer to seek food on mud flats. Where mud flats are lacking, they prefer shallow marshes or temporarily flooded agricultural lands. They usually eat vegetative matter consisting of seeds, stems, and leaves of aquatic and emergent vegetation. Green-winged teal appear to prefer the small seeds of nutgrasses (Cyperus spp.), millets (Panicum spp.), and sedges to larger seeds, but they also consume corn, wheat, barley, and buttonbush (Cephalanthus spp.) seeds. In marshes, sloughs, and ponds, green-winged teal select the seeds of bulrushes, pondweeds, and spikerushes (Eleocharis spp.). To a lesser extent they feed upon the vegetative parts of muskgrass (Chara spp.), pondweeds, widgeongrass (Ruppia maritima), and duckweeds (Lemna spp.). They will occasionally eat insects, mollusks, and crustaceans.
AB2A2491-1_fCAFlkr
'Heavy Metal' switchgrass! Who knew?
Wild grasses just ending their winter hibernation, at the...
Trailhead Community Park, of...
Decatur (Winnona Park), Georgia, USA.
25 March 2020.
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"Heavy Metal Switchback
Panicum virgatum
Uses at the Greenway: Breaks down pollutants in water.
East Decatur Greenway: Certified Wildlife Habitat "
— Trailhead Park placard
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