Female Blackburnian Warbler. Smoky Mountains.

Nature does it again. Man couldn't come up with a better color scheme of complementary colors. I see this over and over again as I work with warblers. To me it points to a magnificent and artistic Creator God. Yes I was a biology major, and I took a course in evolution which I aced. That's why my professor for that course was receptive to me giving him a book on the science of creation. Evolution occurs of course, it's just where it started that folks differ on.

5/11/2018. My good friend David Cree and I had a stand-out day on 5/11/2018. It would be hard to imagine a better day with warblers than we had that day.

The morning sunrise catches St. Henry's Catholic Church located in the Rocky Mountain foothills near Waterton Lakes National Park, about a half hour from Pincher Creek, Alberta, Canada. This small building has serviced the Dry Wood community in southern Alberta for more than a century. Although religious ceremonies are no longer held on a routine basis under its roof, the cemetery is used regularly. Generations of families are interned inside the cemetery which is maintained by volunteers and is a well visited site. This strategic location, elevated and fully exposed, may have had spiritual significance to First Nations since it is on high ground and stands out in the region. Also, it is a very popular location for birders to view Rosy Finches (see e-Bird), Sandhill cranes, and is popular for photographers and those who enjoy its ambiance. A resident caretaker is very hospitable and receptive to visitors.

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

Morelia spilota, commonly referred to as the carpet python , is a large snake of the family Pythonidae found in Australia, New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea), Bismarck Archipelago, and the northern Solomon Islands.

M. spilota is a large species of python in the genus, reaching between 2 and 4 m (6.6 and 13.1 ft) in length and weighing up to 15 kg (33 lb). The average adult length is roughly 2 m (6.6 ft). Males are typically smaller than females; in some regions, females are up to four times heavier. The head is triangular with a conspicuous row of thermo-receptive labial pits.

The colouring of M. spilota is highly variable, ranging from olive to black with white or cream and gold markings. The patterning may be roughly diamond-shaped or have intricate markings made up of light and dark bands on a background of gray or a version of brown.

ready to enjoy ... being open and receptive

tulip in my garden

taken with my smartphone

Elephants are highly social animals and are known for their complex social behavior, which includes a variety of communication methods, social bonding, and cooperation. One of the most important aspects of elephant social behavior is their family structure, which is centered around a matriarchal society.

Female elephants, called cows, form close bonds with their female relatives, such as their mothers, sisters, and daughters, and often live in multi-generational family groups. These groups are led by the oldest and most experienced cow, known as the matriarch, who is responsible for making decisions for the group, such as where to feed and drink and when to move to new areas.

Male elephants, called bulls, are more solitary and typically leave their family group around the age of 12 to 14 to join bachelor herds or to live alone. However, bulls do interact with family groups during the mating season, when they seek out receptive females to mate with.

When elephants socialize, they use a variety of communication methods, including vocalizations, body language, and chemical signals. They also engage in tactile communication, such as touching trunks or rubbing against each other.

Elephants are highly intelligent and are capable of exhibiting empathy and compassion towards each other. They have been known to show affection towards other elephants, comfort each other in times of distress, and even mourn their dead. Overall, elephants are complex social animals with intricate social structures and behaviors.

Whenever I wake up and see hoarfrost, I leap into action. This phenomenon is uncommon, occurring only a few times each year. It transforms the ordinary into something breathtakingly beautiful.

We're looking at the border hills, in the remote southern part of Grasslands Park - as far south as the roads go. From here, the traveller is on foot, and it isn't far to the Montana border. Three miles? I'm guessing. Certainly not much more.

The Frenchman River runs through that big valley in the middle distance, flowing right to left (north to south). I can't see it in this shot, so perhaps the near ridges have blocked it from view. Last summer and fall I hiked along the river, on two occasions, through the wild prairie landscape that always uplifts me when I submit to its charm and stop worrying about whether I'm getting great photos. That concern, after all, is just another distraction. Push too hard and something unknown pushes back, as if to suggest there's a better way. Open yourself to simply being present, and images will stream toward you unbidden. This has been my experience, and why I usually do better work in a receptive - not aggressive - state of mind. Aggression works well for football photographers and paparazzi, but it will only carry you so far in nature. Btw, I photographed a lot of football back in my younger days...

This is still a "transition season" image; most of the snow melted away, and has since be replaced by new snow. It's obviously weighted toward the winter side of the transition. As I sit at my monitor, it's very cold outside and my furnace is going strong. Definitely winter. But I have a week of "transition season wildlife" to share before moving on to something else.

* The map is lying again. This is Canada. I am certain.

Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2022 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Flamingo

Ahh, could one not talk for hours and hours about one of the most beautiful bird's on earth?

Basics:

Here's some basic information:

The flamingo is a wading bird in the family Phoenicopteridae ,

There are four flamingo species in the Americas and two species in the Old World.

In this picture you see the American flamingo , in latin: Phoenicopterus ruber.

Like all flamingos, it lays a single chalky white egg on a mud mound, between May and August; incubation until hatching takes from 28 to 32 days; both parents brood the young for a period of up to 6 years when they reach sexual maturity. Their life expectancy of 40 years (!) is one of the longest in birds.

More info?

Mating? Yes, they do that!

And here are the details of their mating behavior: (I'll admit, I've found it on the internet, but it's a beautiful story)

Mating and bonding behaviors of "Phoenicopterus ruber" individuals have been extensively studied in captivity. The American flamingo is usually monogamous when selecting a nest site, incubating and raising young; however, extra-pair copulations are frequent. While males usually initiate courtship, females control the process. (just like humans)

If there is mutual interest, a female will walk by the male, and if the male is receptive he will walk with her. Both parties will make synchronized movements until one member aborts this process. For low-intensity courtships, males and females will walk in unison with their heads raised. In high-intensity courtships, males and females will walk at a quick pace with their heads dropped in a false feeding posture.

This high-intensity courtship will stop at any point if either bird turns and the other does not follow.

Mythology and religion ?

There is much to find about the Flamingo in mythology , here are just two examples:

In the Americas, the Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped nature. They placed emphasis on animals and often depicted flamingos in their art.

In the Old World flamingos were considered by the Ancient Egyptians to be the living representation of the god Ra.

And to be honest, I do'n't think it's so strange that people have seen this bird as the representation of God, I don't know how you feel when you look at them, but I feel in another world.

Oldest?

An 83-year-old greater flamingo, believed to be the oldest in the world, died at the Adelaide Zoo in Australia in January, 2014.

More?

Yep, more pictures are coming.

Thanks for the visits, faves and comments its greatly appreciated.

Family: Papilionidae

Subfamily: Papilioninae

Identification: Forewing with diagonal band of yellow spots. Tails are edged with black and filled with yellow.

Wing Span: 4 - 6 1/4 inches (10.2 - 16 cm).

Life History: Males patrol for receptive females. Females lay single eggs on host leaves and twigs. Caterpillars resemble bird droppings and eat leaves and young shoots. Chrysalids hibernate.

Flight: Two in the north from May-September; all year in Florida and the Deep South.

Caterpillar Hosts: Trees and herbs of the citrus family (Rutaceae) including Citrus species, prickly ash (Zanthoxylum americanum), hop tree (Ptelea trifoliata), and Common Rue (Ruta graveolens).

Adult Food: Nectar from lantana, azalea, bougainvilla, bouncing Bet, dame's rocket, goldenrod, Japanese honeysuckle, and swamp milkweed.

Habitat: Many locales including rocky and sandy hillsides near streams or gullies in the north; pine flats, towns, and citrus groves in the south.

Range: Throughout eastern North America west to the Rocky Mountains, south through the desert Southwest to South America. A rare stray to Quebec, North Dakota, and Bermuda.

Openness, patience, receptivity, solitude is everything...

--Rainer Maria Rilke

This is actually the third bout of aggression between two Pigeon Guillemots. I first noticed what I felt to be a female Guillemot that seemed to be receptive. The head was first held high and then the head was close to the water with butt raised. This Guillemot was with two other Guillemots. These two faced each other while swimming and then the aggression began.

Fort Point, Presidio, San Francisco, CA.

When we least expect it, life sets us a challenge to test our courage and willingness to change; at such a moment, there is no point in pretending that nothing has happened or in saying that we are not yet ready. The challenge will not wait. Life does not look back. Fortunate are those who take the first steps.

-- Paulo Coelho

__________________________

Contrary to what we usually believe, moments like these, the best moments in our lives, are not the passive, receptive, relaxing times — although such experiences can also be enjoyable, if we have worked hard to attain them. The best moments usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. Optimal experience is thus something that we make happen. For each person there are thousands of opportunities, challenges to expand ourselves.

-- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

[Challenges often better larger...look and see]

It was quite the ordeal for this fellow to finely get into position. The female was definitely receptive and flew to different leaves until a suitable one was found.

A very commonly sighted species close to slow moving streams, ponds, marshes, ditches and swamps from B.C. all the way to New Brunswick and throughout much of the U.S. Males like this one pictured pick perches along the edges of the water where they will aggressively protect their territory from other males by displaying their bluish abdomen and actively charging any intruding male or to snatch insect prey. When one manages to find a perch well suited for both foraging and finding receptive females he will return to the same perch after each sortie.

Both genders commonly pose in what is called the "obelisk position" which is with the abdomen pointed up in the air. They are considered a voracious predator preying on up to 300 insects per day ranging from mosquitos to moths and flies.

Olympus OM System F-Zuiko Auto-T 200mm F1:5

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That will block you from being receptive to something new and exciting :-)

Mason Resnick

Shasta daisy, 'Becky', sarah p duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina

this bull was fairly close to a female White Rhino in an undisclosed area of Kruger NP, South Africa. He wanted to find out is she was receptive to mating but she was not as she still had a fairly young calf .

The Flehmen response (also called the Flehmen position, Flehmen reaction, flehming, or flehmening) is a behaviour whereby an animal curls back its upper lips exposing its front teeth, inhales with the nostrils usually closed and then often holds this position for several seconds.

It may be performed over a site or a substance of particular interest to the animal (e.g. urine or faeces) or may be performed with the neck stretched and the head held high in the air.

Flehmen is performed by a wide range of mammals including ungulates and felids.

The behaviour facilitates the transfer of pheromones and other scents into the vomeronasal organ located above the roof of the mouth via a duct which exits just behind the front teeth of the animal.

For more images of this interesting behaviour you can view the album Flehmen Response

Square-lipped Rhinoceros, also called White Rhinoceros

IUCN RED LIST STATUS: NEAR THREATENED

ceratotherium simum

witte neushoorn

rhinocéros blanc

Breitmaulnashorn

Many thanks for your views, favorites and supportive comments.

All rights reserved. ButsF©2016

A male Indian peafowl (pavo cristatus) about to display its magnificent tail feathers. Initially, a female was nearby - but she didn't seem very receptive and wandered off even before the display got going. Photographed in Yala National Park, Sri Lanka.

This is the previous post printed on handmade paper.

Brown Acres – Jackson County – Oregon – USA

Wing Span: 2 3/4 - 4 inches (7 - 10 cm).

Life History: Males patrol canyons or hilltops for receptive females. Females lay eggs singly on surface of host plant leaves. Caterpillars feed on leaves and rest on silken mats in shelters of curled leaves. Chrysalids hibernate.

Flight: One flight from June-July.

Caterpillar Hosts: Leaves of cottonwood and aspen (Populus), willows (Salix), wild cherry (Prunus), and ash (Fraxinus).

Adult Food: Nectar from many flowers including thistles, abelia, California buckeye, zinnia, and yerba santa.

Habitat: Woodlands near rivers and streams, wooded suburbs, canyons, parks, roadsides, and oases.

Range: Western North America from British Columbia south to southern New Mexico and Baja California; east to western South Dakota and southeast Colorado. A rare stray to central Nebraska.

Conservation: Not usually required.

A very receptive state of mind... not unlike a sheet of film itself, seemingly inert, yet so sensitive that a fraction of a second's exposure conceives a life in it.

[Minor White]

Anole displays consist of conspicuous behaviors that are known to be used in multiple contexts, such as exhibiting territory ownership and territory defense, mate attraction and female receptivity, species recognition, and even predator deterrence.

8358 8359

As with many grasshoppers in various families, the males are smaller than the females and ride on them long before copulation. They remain there during the period in which the female achieves sexual receptiveness. Similar strategies are common in vertebrates such as some amphibians, as well as various invertebrates, where the males attempt to keep rivals from mating with the female. (From Wikipedia)

Please see the former photograph on Oct./01/15 at: www.flickr.com/photos/42868587@N00/21870200595/in/datepos...

Male Grizzly Bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) stopping to smell the flowers on his daily trek in search of a prospective female along the shores of the K'tzim-a-deen Grizzly Bear Sanctuary north of Prince Rupert along the maritime coast of British Columbia, Canada.

It is breeding season for these bears and the males wander the shoreline in search of receptive females. They sometime encounter males in a similar mode and fights do ensue. This bear has the wounds of an old encounter with another male.

28 May, 2015.

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on this last night of the old year, let us honor and celebrate with gratitude our past and prepare for the future. love, blessings, impossible things await if we are open.

Wild Turkey (Meleagris gallopavo)

...the tom continued to follow the receptive hen for several minutes. Every time she would stop walking, he would bump her in an attempt to push her to the ground...

Emigrant Lake - Jackson County - Oregon - USA

Habitat : Open Woodlands

Food : Omnivore

Nesting : Ground

Behavior : Ground Forager

Concervation : Low Concern

The Ragdoll is a breed of cat with a distinct colorpoint coat and blue eyes. Its morphology is large and weighty, and it has a semi-long and silky soft coat. American breeder Ann Baker developed Ragdolls in the 1960s. They are best known for their docile, placid temperament and affectionate nature. The name Ragdoll is derived from the tendency of individuals from the original breeding stock to go limp and relaxed when picked up. The breed is particularly popular in both the United Kingdom and the United States.

Ragdolls are often known as "dog-like cats" or "puppy-like cats", due to their tendency to follow people around, their receptiveness to handling, and their relative lack of aggression towards other pets.

Ragdolls are distinguishable by their pointed coloration (where the body is lighter than the face, ears, legs, and tail), large round blue eyes, soft, thick coats, thick limbs, long tails, and soft bodies. Their color rings are commonly tricolor or bicolor.

Johnny is a rescued Ragdoll he is 9 years old. I have him since he was 2 months old. He is my sweet giant!

Los Angeles. California.

Estaba enfocando a la hembra cuando un macho cayó sobre ella tratando de agarrarla para el apareamiento.

Nunca lo había visto así. Sabía que el macho la sujeta con los cercos por debajo del pronoto, hasta ahí llegaba.

Pues bien, si siempre sucede así, el macho para sujetarla (lo podemos ver) sujeta su cabeza con las mandíbulas lo que la inmoviliza y con las patas la "abraza". Podemos observar también que ella no estaba receptiva, lo demuestra con esa curva que hace el final de su abdomen.

Mañana la segunda parte .......

Fotograma recortado un 6% y adaptado a panorámica.

En el Coto. Villena (Alicante) España

She was focusing on the female when a male fell on her trying to grab her for mating.

I've never seen her like this. She knew that the male holds her with the fences below the pronotum, up to there it went.

Well, if it always happens like this, the male to hold her (we can see it) holds her head with his jaws, which immobilizes her and "hugs" her with his legs. We can also observe that she was not receptive, it shows with that curve that makes the end of her abdomen.

Tomorrow the second part .......

Frame cut 6% and adapted to panoramic.

In the Coto. Villena (Alicante) Spain

People resist the effects and the movements of the Spirit. In a crisis, however, when all confidence in oneself has been shaken, they are sometimes more receptive to the movements of the Spirit. But no attitude is as suitable for this experience as the peace that comes from fidelity to the meaning of the world.

-In This Hour Heschel’s Writings in Nazi Germany and London Exile Abraham Joshua Heschel Foreword by Susannah Heschel, (The idea of Jewish Education)

Sometimes we forget that we can get our point across just as well by speaking softly and tenderly -- even more so than speaking harshly. Try it for a week and see what kind of benefits you reap. Those around you will be more receptive to listening to what you have to say, they will want to please you more often than not, and YOU will be moreoptimistic and at peace by speaking softly and tenderly. Remember, you can catch more bees with honey......and the same is true with soft and tender words!

NOTE: Thanks so much for your many visits, kind comments, and acts of friendship! I hope you're enjoying a wonderful day today!

Merely receptive

Rough equivalent

Noumenal concepts

While we enter in the primary forest, we get the impression to rediscover feeling that had been sleeping inside us for a long time. All these noises, flavours, this green. All the senses are awoken! You never know what kind of animal you will see at next step, a snake, a monkey, a bird. Whatever it is always amazing to meet them. If you are receptive to Nature energy, it strikes strong when it comes !

I just released a new galery on my website, with high quality 👉 Pictures of Colombia 🇨🇴i 👈

If you need a photo for your blog or magazine, please write me here : Editorial Use Request 📰

Hand painted wooden owl and it's mirrored reflection.

A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (length). They are usually voiced and are closely involved in prosodic variation such as tone, intonation and stress.

The word vowel comes from the Latin word vocalis, meaning "vocal". In English, the word vowel is commonly used to refer both to vowel sounds and to the written symbols that represent them (a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y).

Eunoia is the shortest English word containing all five main vowel graphemes.

In rhetoric, eunoia, in ancient Greek 'well mind; beautiful thinking' is the goodwill a speaker cultivates between themselves and their audience, a condition of receptivity. In Book VIII of the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle uses the term to refer to the kind and benevolent feelings of goodwill a spouse has which form the basis for the ethical foundation of human life. Cicero translates εὔνοιᾰ with the Latin word benevolentia.

It is also a rarely used medical term referring to a state of normal mental health.

Euouae, at six letters long, is the longest English word consisting only of vowels, and, also, the word with the most consecutive vowels. Euouae : medieval musical term which indicates the vowels of the syllables of "seculorum Amen," which ends the "Gloria Patri."

Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers adapted for silent flight. Exceptions include the diurnal northern hawk-owl and the gregarious burrowing owl.

Owls hunt mostly small mammals, insects, and other birds, although a few species specialize in hunting fish. They are found in all regions of the Earth except the polar ice caps and some remote islands.

Owls are divided into two families: the true (or typical) owl family, Strigidae, and the barn-owl family, Tytonidae.

Source Wikipedia.

TD : 0.4" f/8 ISO 100 @50mm

What I read is that they are probably young osprey, Her tail is down so she isn't receptive and probably knows she isn't ready but he is practicing behaviour. The male rolls his talons so as not to hurt the female. By next spring they should have it down pat... :::))))

Grevillea is a genus in the family Proteaceae. Most Grevilleas are endemic to Australia. The flowers are coiled and curled and are sometimes referred to as spider flowers. The style expands and bursts out of the side of the corolla as the stigma remains in the end, where it is coated with pollen from anthers. What comes next is not seen in this photo: the stigma is released from the corolla as the tepals fold back and springs up with its coating of pollen. It is an example of secondary pollen presentation, a floral mechanism where pollen is presented to pollinators on structures other than the anthers, the typical pollen-bearing organs. After a day or two, pollen on the stigma dies and a receptive surface emerges to be pollinated by pollen from other plants. This link shows the stages clearly: www.researchgate.net/profile/Byron-Lamont/publication/276... florabase.dbca.wa.gov.au/browse/profile/1949

“The marsh, to him who enters it in a receptive mood, holds, besides mosquitoes and stagnation, melody, the mystery of unknown waters, and the sweetness of Nature undisturbed by man.” ~William Beene~ Salt water marshland near Brunswick, Georgia as seen from the window of our RV driving down I-95...

Cuando ya la tiene sujeta, curva más el abdomen hasta llegar con los cercos al pronoto. Ella sigue dando señales de no estar receptiva o es su movimiento de defensa.

Consiguió llevársela ......

Fotograma recortado un 10% y adaptado a panorámica.

En el Coto. Villena (Alicante) España

When it is already attached, it curves the abdomen further until it reaches the pronotum with the fences. She continues to show signs of not being receptive or is her defense move.

He managed to take her away ......

Frame cut 10% and adapted to panoramic.

In the Preserve. Villena (Alicante) Spain

This species is the only black-winged damselfly and is commonplace resting on green vegetation, stones or driftwood in or near slow moving water in streams or ponds.

Their flight pattern is similar to butterflies and males are usually fluttering about guarding their territories and watching for receptive females to mate with. The two genders communicate their locations to each other by snapping their wings open and closed while perched as this male is doing while perched on an old dried broken branch.

“I think we will steadily become more receptive

to what love really means. There will be a

collective understanding of where we came from,

where we are, and where we are going.

I feel that we will increasingly sense a greater

interconnection and unity with the whole of existence,

and so we will become more gentle, more intuitive,

more caring, more giving, more loving as a result."

--Robert Lax to Steve Georgiou (p. 242, The Way of the Dreamcatcher)

“It’s true that grace is the free gift of God but in order to put yourself in the way of being receptive to it, you have to practice self-denial.”

-Flannery O’Connor

All those memories, the ones we dare not face and the ones that hold us captive, can be laid on the altar at the offertory and left there, so that at the end of the Eucharist we step out freely.

-Timothy Radcliffe, Alive in God: A Christian Imagination

Winter Wonderland

During the full moon, the subconscious mind becomes more receptive, sensitive, and attuned to unseen energies. The moon’s gravitational pull not only affects the tides but also stirs the depths of the human psyche, bringing emotions, dreams, and intuition to the surface. This heightened state makes it an ideal time for deep introspection, manifestation, and spiritual work. Ancient traditions recognize the full moon as a portal for psychic awareness, lucid dreaming, and emotional release, as the mind is more open to subtle influences and revelations. Whether through meditation, rituals, or dreamwork, this lunar phase enhances the connection between the conscious and subconscious, allowing hidden truths to emerge with clarity and power.

This is not your typical dining experience.

You may not eat at all.

At first, you’ll feel vulnerable.

That’s necessary to become full.

You have to be receptive to the world. To people and experiences.

You must be ready to change yourself. To feast on possibilities.

The minutes add up.

For some, it is easier than others.

A few come back for seconds.

Yet, if you decide you can’t finish,

You’ll be more miserable than ever.

All your future food will taste like dust. The people you love most will dessert you while Your constant craving for companionship

Will fill your remaining days.

Sometimes, it is grueling to be alive

Just knowing we will die

Even more difficult, to love others.

Knowing they may die first.

***All photos and rambles are copyrighted***

Some call this bright orange butterfly "the flame," and it's easy to see why. Most call it Julia, or Julia heliconian. In any case, it's Dryas iulia, scientifically speaking.

It's a fairly large butterfly, and a common sight in South Florida foraging for nectar along the edges of woods, in fields and openings within hammocks. Its wingspan can exceed 3.5 inches.

Julias have elongated wings, similar to Florida's state butterfly, the zebra longwing, also called by some the zebra heliconian. Both in fact are members of the same subfamily, Heliconius.

Males are bright orange above and below, and have a narrow black band along the outer edges of their wings; females are duller and tend to have more black markings on the upper side of their wings.

The guys spend their time patrolling for dates — receptive females, who will lay eggs singly on new growth of the species's favorite host plants — passion vines. Julias are active year round throughout their normal range.

Julia adults have a wider list of flowers from which they like to nectar. The list includes lantana and Spanish needles aka shepherd's needles.

South Texas and the Florida peninsula are the northern limits of Julia's normal range, although they will wander occasionally to higher latitudes, as far north as Nebraska, during the warmer months. Brazil, Central America and Mexico are also part of its range, as is the Caribbean.

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Yin (the receptive, feminine, dark, passive force) and yang (the creative, masculine, bright, active force) are descriptions of complementary opposites rather than absolutes

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

Morelia spilota, commonly referred to as the carpet python , is a large snake of the family Pythonidae found in Australia, New Guinea (Indonesia and Papua New Guinea), Bismarck Archipelago, and the northern Solomon Islands.

M. spilota is a large species of python in the genus, reaching between 2 and 4 m (6.6 and 13.1 ft) in length and weighing up to 15 kg (33 lb). The average adult length is roughly 2 m (6.6 ft). Males are typically smaller than females; in some regions, females are up to four times heavier. The head is triangular with a conspicuous row of thermo-receptive labial pits.

The colouring of M. spilota is highly variable, ranging from olive to black with white or cream and gold markings. The patterning may be roughly diamond-shaped or have intricate markings made up of light and dark bands on a background of gray or a version of brown.

Here, I think, is a central Jewish insight, which Christian theology has too often obscured: God asks, God invites, God needs our participation in the indwelling drama of love. We encounter that same flash of incarnate presence in Etty Hillesum. The realization of God’s own hope for the worlds, what Jesus calls the reign of God, hinges on our inner receptiveness, our fiat, our participation…

… She smiles, for though they have bound her, she cannot be a prisoner. Not that she is strong, or clever, but simply that she does not understand imprisonment.

-Christopher Pramuk, At Play in Creation

/*******

This is the best definition of liturgy that I have read…the unbound source…a push from the heart…spilling outward…

-rc

Heschel could lead receptive students to religious insights. One day he walked into class and said, "Something very great happened today." "What?" asked Plotkin. Heschel responded, "The sun rose." "So what?" asked Plotkin. Heschel said, "Did you ever see the sun rise?" "No," Plotkin replied. Heschel suggested that the next morning they take a walk. He was demonstrating to the future rabbi how the most mundane event could evoke awe and radical amazement, the fountain of sacred sensitivity.

-Edward K. Kaplan, Spiritual Radical: Abraham Joshua Heschel in America, 1940-1972

Last shot in the series of photos made one day in June by sitting on a riverbank and seeing what may happen.

Eventually i got up. A few scattered raindrops had begun falling. I started walking back toward my car - not far - but I was still in that state of calm receptiveness, so I made a slight detour and kept looking. Up a hillside to its rounded top; down a little draw, a wet place.

And there I came upon a beautiful stand of Showy Milkweed in its first stages of flowering. I have photos of this species showing the entire cluster of star-shaped flowers open; some were at that stage. But this was different. and I liked it a lot.

Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2025 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Thanks for the visits, faves and comments its greatly appreciated.

Markham park

Family: Lycaenidae

Subfamily: Polyommatinae

Identification: Upperside of male light blue with a darker narrow border; female dark brown, often with wing bases blue. Underside gray; both wings with a row of dark postmedian dashes. Florida butterflies have one submarginal eyespot on hindwing; Southwest butterflies have two.

Wing Span: 3/4 - 1 1/8 inches (2 - 3 cm).

Life History: Males patrol during warm hours of the day for receptive females. Eggs are laid singly on flower buds or leaves of host plant; caterpillars feed on flowers and seedpods.

Flight: Throughout the year in Texas and south Florida, late summer in other parts of its range.

Caterpillar Hosts: A variety of woody legumes including partridge pea (Cassia brachiata), mesquite (Prosopis species), and rosary pea (Abrus precatorius).

Adult Food: Flower nectar.

Habitat: Open woodland, desert scrub, dunes, pastures, road edges, and vacant lots.

Range: U. S. Southwest, South Texas, Florida and the Keys south through the West Indies, Mexico, and Central America to South America. Strays to North Carolina, Missouri, Kansas, and Nevada.

Cervus elaphus

Studley Royal, North Yorkshire

From about mid-September until the end of October, the 'rutting' season takes place, when the herds split up and the mature stags try to collect a harem of hinds together.

The most successful stags manage to collect up to forty hinds in their harems and they spend most of their time endlessly patrolling a circle of ground around the hinds, chasing away any challengers, trying to prevent the hinds from straying and mating with each one as she becomes receptive.

Scots pine, Pinus sylvestris L.,

is a conifer from the Pine family that occurs naturally in the northwestern part of Europe since the last ice age. It occurs in our coniferous forests and has also been planted a lot since the nineteenth century for timber extraction, especially for the so-called mine timber.

The leaves of conifers are needle-shaped and are often in bundles together. In the Scots pine you always find two semi-circular needles that stand with their flat side against each other on a so-called short shoot of about 2 mm long. These short shoots are on a twig, the so-called long shoot.

The inflorescences of conifers and therefore also of the Scots pine differ greatly from what we are used to from flowering plants. The gymnosperms, to which the conifers belong, do not have egg cells that are stored in a pistil as in the angiosperms. But they do have ovules that are on one of the sides of scales that are arranged in a cone. The female cones, which emerge at the tops of a long shoot, are pinkish red in colour and are then receptive to pollen. The ovules secrete a drop of fluid in which they hope to catch a pollen grain from the passing air. After some time, the seed is then created in the lignified cone.

Info taken from an article in "Flora van Nederland"

Grove den, Pinus sylvestris L.,

is een naaldboom uit de Dennenfamilie die van nature in het noordwestelijk deel van Europa voorkomt sedert de laatste ijstijd. Hij komt voor in onze naaldbossen en is sedert de negentiende eeuw ook veel aangeplant voor de houtwinning, met name voor het zogenaamde mijnhout.

De bladeren van naaldbomen zijn naaldvormig en staan vaak in bundels bij elkaar. Bij de Grove den vind je steeds twee halfronde naalden die met hun vlakke kant tegen elkaar op een zogenaamd kortlot van zo'n 2 mm lang staan. Die kortloten staan op een twijg, het zogenaamde langlot.

De bloeiwijzen van naaldbomen en dus ook van de Grove den wijken sterk af van wat we gewend zijn van de bloemplanten. De naaktzadigen, waartoe de naaldbomen horen, kennen geen eicellen die in een stamper opgeborgen zitten zoals bij de bedektzadigen. Maar ze hebben zaadknoppen die op een van de kanten van schubben zitten die in een kegel zijn gerangschikt. De vrouwelijke kegeltjes, die aan de toppen van een langlot tevoorschijn komen zijn rozerood van kleur en dan ontvankelijk voor pollen. De zaadknoppen scheiden een druppel vocht af waarin ze een stuifmeelkorrel of pollenkorrel hopen te vangen uit de langswaaiende lucht. Na verloop van tijd ontstaat dan het zaad in de verhoute kegel.

Info ontleent aan een artikel in " Flora van Nederland "