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Herring Gull with Starfish, Vancouver BC Canada
Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade
Activists for birds and wildlife
This is a preliminary sketch for an ink drawing for N.Kama National Park book.
The couple of eagles depicted live in Latvia, their names Sliters and Silva. They bild the nest right now on the high pine tree near the water. They come almost every day, bring material, place branches and make love. I observe them daily via webcam hoping this breeding season will be successful!
The baby loon is clapping for successful takeoff
Gavia stellata - Read throated loon family - Kaakkuriperhe
Espoo, Finland.
Lucrezia, my adorable niece, is just 16. She has won her shyness and posed successfully for me. I'm proud of her and dramatically happy that she loves these portraits!
See it in the Model Republic Elite group.
Nikon Z7 + Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G @ 1/400s f/2.2 64 ISO + triggered Nikon SB5000 in Walimex modifier + white bounce panel
Bellhaven Bay. Dunbar, Scotland.
After checking the every fine detail needed for this image to work successfully, we ventured out last night and headed all the way up to Bellhaven Bay near Dunbar in Scotland to shoot the bridge at night under the stars and the conditions were pretty spot on. We got their around 12:30am and stayed for a good few hours to get a good set of photos for our star trail sequence and this is the result of the nights shooting.
Canon 5dmk3
17-40mm L Lens
ISO 200
f4
141 x 30 second exposures to create the 'star trail' effect layered all manually in Photoshop CC.
Starlink G4-5 launched successfully at 21:49 UTC on 6th January
Captured 9th January at 4:34am local South Australia time
I had what was probably my most successful birding morning ever this week on my way to work. I stopped at a spot I have driven by many, many times. I had done drive by birding there but never stopped. There are lots of trees along a lake and I thought I would walk that line of trees. I started off with seeing a kestrel, then a flicker, then lots of yellow rumped warblers, lesser goldfinches, house finches, white crowned and song sparrows and heard a kingfisher. There were lots of gulls, ducks and grebes and a green heron in the lake as well. As I proceeded down the path scanning the trees I was overjoyed to spot a Great Horned Owl perched in a tree not far from the trail. The only bad thing was the dark stormy skies, windblown trees plus the early time of day meant photography was going to be difficult. Luckily I had my tripod in my car and was able to go back and get it to take some great shots. I proceeded down the trail, chasing some sparrows and other birds in the swamp grass. I could hear that the kingfisher had come back to my side of the lake and so I thought I would try to sneak up on it to get a picture. That is a bird for which I really want to get a good pic but have failed over and over again. I have seen a lot of them this year and they are always too wary. Well On my way back towards the kingfisher I decided to check out a little alcove that gave me a view to some willows across a small stream. I scanned the blowing willow branches hoping to see something interesting when Bam. Is that white thing what I think it is? It is, a barn owl! I have seen these many times at night but never during the day and I have really wanted to get a pic of one. I thought any pics I ended up getting would be in a shed or barn but this was better and totally unexpected. Here was a barn owl hiding in a blowing willow tree. I had to wonder if they ever visited the huge willow trees in my yard without me even knowing it.
That feeling of finally focusing in on something in the wild that you have been longing to see never gets old and keeps me returning to nature again and again.
As far as the kingfisher goes, he was too smart and wary for me. Despite my best efforts to crawl on the ground and hide behind bushes, he still flew off. I was left with shots at 800mm again under stormy skies where the bird was still very far off. Better than nothing and still cool to see but very frustrating never-the-less and barely post-worthy.
I also saw a red-tailed hawk and several other unknown hawks on the way to and from this location. I was amazed that this short stop produced so well for me. Unfortunately weekday mornings are the only time to hit it as it is packed with fishermen and scouts at all other times.
I had never successfully got a good shot of male Grey Wagtail and that was the priority for our week in Allenheads [I was meant to photographing polar bear in Svalbard but hey you take what you can get]
A couple of days reconnoitre and I found a pair feeding fledged young in small stream set a couple of metres below ground level. I worked out when the light would be right, sat in the stream with my waterproofs and camouflage gear and waited a couple of hours for this male to wander completely unconcerned past me.
On this, the 10th day of our successful 16-day trek to the K2 North Base Camp and the North Gasherbrum Glacier in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, we trekked some 20 km (12.4 mi.) up the Shaksgam River from our campsite at Kulquin Bulak (elevation 4,037 m, 13,245 ft.) to a campsite near the North Gasherbrum Glacier (elevation 4,222 m, 13,852 ft.). We began the day by crossing a tributary just 1.5 km (0.9 mi.) from Kulquin Bulak on foot, followed by a crossing of a shallow channel of the Shaksgam on foot. We made two river crossings on our camels, one across a channel of the Shaksgam and finally across the East Skyang Lungpa River, 1 km (0.6 mi.) northwest of our North Gasherbrum Camp. In this view looking south-southwest from our camp, Gasherbrum II, the 13th highest mountain on earth (elevation 8,035 m, 26,362 ft.) is the pyramidal peak in sun at center some 19 km (12 mi.) distant on the China-Pakistan border. The high peak beyond the ridge just to the right of Gasherbrum II is Gasherbrum III (7,952 m, 26,089 ft.), which lies in Pakistan.
After an successful and well-choreographed hunt, these lions set about the next task...making sure the 1600+ lb. guest of honor would not be jumping up and making a vengeance scene over dinner.
Buffalo hides are incredibly thick and tough - not easily perforated even by lion claws and jaws. Also, a bloodied and ripped-up kill only invites other predators to interrupt the hunt, making the kill even more dangerous and less productive for the pride.
The large male lion on left had the job of firmly clamping his jaws over the muzzle of the downed-buffalo; to asphyxiate the creature.
He continued to do so even as the rest of the pride began the overtures, then actual “carving” of dinner via the softer tissues in the “rear car”, so to speak; ensuring that there would be no surprises, like a 1600 pound buffalo coming to, jumping up and killing/maiming any number of them!
We watched in the background during this entire drama and observed movement of other creatures that would be dining on the kill after the lions were sated; hyenas, smaller carnivores, unique scavenging birds, etc. began moving in early as the pride sprang their strategic trap...and first in line for the lion leftovers. 😉
Returning to the scene early next morning, a few well-picked vertebrae were the only visible leftovers... in less than 24 hours.
1600+ pounds of Cape Buffalo!
In the wild on the crater floor @ Ngorongoro Crater, Tanzania
Phillip Mould:
This image, and those generated around it, represent one of the most successful sovereign statements of English history. It was painted under the aegis of the Queen’s own official Serjeant painter, George Gower, in the late 1580s, the decade in which she finally defeated the Spanish threat, and assured her place as one of England’s most successful and popular monarchs. The portrait was owned by Edward Drewe MP, one of Elizabeth’s ablest lawyers, and has remained in his family ever since. A family legend suggests that the portrait was the gift of Elizabeth herself. It is in part through such portraits that the mystique and power of Elizabeth I was conveyed in her day. As such it is not merely a portrait of a monarch, but a symbolic statement of national supremacy.
George Gower was Elizabeth’s Serjeant Painter from 1581 until his death in 1596. He was also a ‘gentleman’, being the grandson of Sir John Gower of Stettenham, Yorkshire. This was not only unusual for the time (hitherto, artists were effectively ranked as servants), but reveals the increasing status – and importance – of portraiture in sixteenth century England. There is little documentary evidence on Gower’s career, but there is no doubt that he was one of the leading English artists of his generation. His documented portraits, such as those of Sir Thomas and Lady Kytson (1573 Tate Gallery, London) show that he commanded the patronage of the important and wealthy from an early age, while his self-portrait (1579, the first known example by an English artist on such a scale) gives a clear indication of the bold characterization with which he depicted his subjects.
Gower’s technique and style is distinct, and perfectly suited to the display of power, and conspicuous monarchical grandeur seen here. His use of strong light on the head enables his subject’s face to stand out from the rest of the painting, and was perfectly suited to Elizabeth’s personal wish to avoid any shadows across her face. His reluctance to rely too heavily on drawing is made up by strong flesh tones and subtle shadows, so that the face is rendered with precision and power, aided by bold features such as the well-delineated eyes. The unmistakably warm and dry palette has the happy effect of seeming to depict the Queen in the heavy make-up on which she increasingly came to rely. In this example, the overall effect is one of power rather than beauty – but such is Gower’s skill that our focus is held unmistakably by Elizabeth’s face and strong gaze, despite the rich and bright details of her luxurious costume.
There are elsewhere in the portrait signs of a master’s touch. The subtle but noticeable pink tones in the ruff under Elizabeth’s chin skillfully illustrates the reflection of her face in the white lace, giving the ruff a three-dimensional effect so often lacking in sixteenth century portraiture. The deft modeling (with even the hint of veins) in the long and elegant hands of which Elizabeth was so proud is superb, while the folds and lace on the golden silk of her sleeves is redolent of Holbein’s supreme skill in depicting the rich quality of Royal costumes.
As with all portraits of the Queen, there comes the question of the level of her personal involvement. Of course, she did not sit for the many contemporary portraits of her that survive. Instead, artists would have followed patterns of her face, and then either have imagined her costume, or in some cases have painted the actual garment itself. The patterns would have been widely-circulated, and the Queen’s likeness then either traced onto a panel or drawn freehand. Surviving examples of patterns are rare, but those of Bishop John Fisher and Sir Henry Sidney can be found in the National Portrait Gallery, as can one previously believed to show Elizabeth herself.
Which ‘pattern’, therefore, is the Drewe portrait based on? Sir Roy Strong’s catalogue of 1963, Portraits of Queen Elizabeth I, and subsequent Gloriana, The Portraits of Elizabeth I were vital works in dating and attributing the many (invariably unsigned) portraits. According to Strong’s categorization, the Drewe portrait is based on the ‘Darnley’ face pattern, after a painting dated c. 1575 once owned by the Earls of Darnley, and now in the National Portrait Gallery attributed to Federico Zuccaro, an Italian landscape and religious painter to whom the Queen sat for a drawing in May 1575.[1] The Darnley pattern, Strong points out, does not change until the ‘Armada pattern’ is developed, apparently by Gower, c.1588.
And yet, such categorization carries with it the disappointing notion that all portraits of the Queen between c.1575 and 1588 are derivatives, completed at a distance from Elizabeth herself. This clearly cannot be the case with the Drewe portrait. Though Elizabeth is shown in a similar (if reversed) profile, she is unquestionably a different woman to that in the Darnley portrait: noticeably hierarchical, sepulchral in characterization, perhaps reflecting the progression of her historical achievements. It seems implausible that Gower, the Queen’s Serjeant Painter, would have been content to follow a pattern. Rather, he may instead have felt constrained by the dictates of Royal iconography to follow an approved pose – just as Henry VIII was invariably portrayed full-face.
It is to the Queen herself that we should seek an explanation for the repetitive nature of her portraits. From the note of her conversation with Nicholas Hilliard in c.1572 it seems she resolved that her portraits should have no “shadowe at all”[2]. After all, Royal portraits were primarily symbols of power combined with obsequious flattery, not simple likenesses. Considerations of deference (and by the 1580s her fading beauty) further forbade any attempt at realism. And artist’s had to operate within an accepted Royal iconography that began in the fifteenth century. It is certain, however, that Gower’s official position, and the fact that he was a gentleman by birth, would have guaranteed him access to the Queen. The Drewe portrait, with its delicately observed facial contours and expressive, piercing eyes, is a world away from the pallid and formulaic pattern portraits of Elizabeth, reflecting an authority derived from one who had access to the royal presence.
The provenance of this portrait is of interest, and helps confirm the attribution to George Gower. It has traditionally hung in the Grange, the Devon seat of the Drewe family, since its construction by Edward Drewe in the 1590s. Drewe was one of the ablest lawyers of the 16th Century. After a spell at Oxford (while apparently a teenager) he began to practice law at the Inner Temple in 1560. He was called to the Bar in 1574. From then he rose rapidly through the legal ranks; a Justice of the Peace in 1579, and a Member of Parliament (for Lyme Regis) in 1584. He must then have been well-known to the Queen and Privy Council, for in 1588 he was amongst those sharp legal minds, along with Francis Bacon, called to draft Government legislation. The letter makes flattering reading;
“Her Majestie… hath made especiall choice of you, upon knowledge of your sinceritie and sufficiencie in that behalfe, to proceede to the consideracion what statutes in your opinion were requisite to be either established or perfected for the better…
We bid you very hertely farewll.”[3]
In 1589 he was appointed a Serjeant-at-law, and became more familiar to the key members of Elizabeth’s Government. Perhaps his most powerful ally was Francis Russell, the second Earl of Bedford. He corresponded regularly with William Cecil, Lord Burghley. And in 1593 he is recorded as making a speech before the Queen when introducing the Lord Mayor of London to Court. Drewe’s correspondence with the Privy Council typically revolved around interrogations of suspects such as Jesuit spies, often in the Tower of London, and he became an important part of the security apparatus first set-up by Francis Walsingham. One case involved the hapless Yorke and Williams, who, “when confronted together, Yorke swore that they took the sacrament to kill the Queen, and that Williams had wished his sword in her belly.”[4] By 1593 Drewe held the prestigious parliamentary seat of the City of London, and in 1596 he was made a Queen’s Serjeant, and a judge on the Northern circuit. He died suddenly, of ‘gaol fever’, in 1598.
Drewe’s central role in the legal apparatus of the Government helps confirm an attribution to George Gower as the artist of this portrait. Gower had been appointed, in 1581, as the Queen’s Serjeant Painter. In 1584 an attempt was made to make Gower solely responsible for portraits of the Queen, a move that reinforced the government’s wish to maintain control of the Queen’s image. Some twenty years earlier, the Privy Council, at the Queen’s behest, had also attempted a similar measure in reaction to the increasing number of debased images of Elizabeth in circulation. And in 1596, the Privy Council ordered that public officers should aid Gower in seeking out and destroying those unofficial images which caused the Queen “great offence”[5].
The Council’s failure, and that of Gower in the 1580s, is belied by the profusion of awkward and unsatisfactory images of the Queen which survive to this day. Nevertheless, a man of Drewe’s public position would have been the most unlikely person to either commission or own in the 1580s and 90s a portrait of the Queen that did not come from the Serjeant Painter’s ‘official’ workshop. Furthermore, in 1593 Drewe made a speech in Parliament against foreign workers in London, advocating support for “our countrymen” over charity to “strangers”, which sentiments would appear to rule out his patronage of any Flemish or Italian artist.[6] Finally, it may also be worth noting the connection between Drewe and the Bedford family, who commissioned the Armada portrait from Gower in 1588.
The Queen’s jewelry is worth noting here, and may assist in the precise dating of this portrait. Here, the jewelry worn by the Queen (aside from that embroidered into her costume) is surprisingly simple – only a double row of pearls. This is identical to the jewelry worn in the Darnley portrait dated c.1575, as is the chain of pearls and jewels around her waist. And such a combination can again be found in other portraits by Gower of the 1580s, Cornelius Ketel’s ‘Sieve’ portrait c.1580-3, and Marcus Gheerearts the Elder’s c.1585 full length. Furthermore, the lack of certain jewelry again suggests a date in the 1580s, for when Leicester died in 1588 he bequeathed to his 2most dear and gracious Sovereign whose creature under God I have been”[7] an extraordinarily large and elaborate jewel of emeralds, with a rope of 600 pearls. Elizabeth, who locked herself in her room on hearing Leicester’s demise, is shown wearing his gift in the Armada portraits of post c.1588, and other later variants – but not here.
Notes;
[1] Zuccaro had traveled to England apparently at the behest of Lord Leicester. Though some have assumed his purpose was to paint the Queen, it is possible that he had been summoned by Leicester to decorate the interior of Kenilworth Castle (now ruined), before the Queen was due to stay there in July 1575. The exquisite chalk and pencil drawing of the Queen by Zuccaro survives (British Museum), along with a pendant of Leicester. However, there seems little connection between the drawing, either in likeness or style, to the ‘Darnley’ portrait in the NPG.
[2] Strong, loc.cit., p16
[3] Letter from Privy Council to Drewe 27th December 1588, in Acts of the Privy Council of England 1588. Official Publications 1897 Vol XVI
[4] Calendar of State Papers (Domestic) Elizabeth I, 1591-94, August 28th 1594
[5] Strong, loc.cit., p14
[6] Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, citing House of Commons Journal
[7] In Public and Private, Elizabeth I and her world, Susan Watkins, London 1998
Karina Bradley already has an extensive diva resume. After all she is a seasoned supermodel, business mogul who owns three successful companies, and a music video queen with two hot songs and a debut album on the horizon. But now you can add celebrity ring girl to her long list of credentials. Because the Puerto Rican Barbie was featured on Celebrity Boxing during their September11th Event as their TOP MODEL! These hot photos were taken during the promo shoot for the event; and featured the likes of Top Amateur Boxer Paul “The Machine” Koon, and former Michael Jackson Bodyguard Scott Cummings. The pop star diva is currently getting ready to return to the ring for Celebrity Boxing in January!
Karina Bradley has a lot of other upcoming things to look forward to. She is currently getting ready to perform at Philadelphia’s Club Recess in early January. The Music Video for her song “Dance Floor Diva” which was directed by Caesar Augustus of Augustus Films, is also set to be released soon. The Singer has also spent a lot of time in the studio recording some hot new tracks!
119 182-4 with a freight ready to leave Thale station in East Germany.
The 119's were diesel hydraulics built for the DR in Romania. In total 200 were built from 1976 to 1985. Upon unification the class became 219 with DB. They were not hugely successful. 20 of them were completely rebuilt to class 229. These too were not very successful. Most of the 219's had been withdrawn by the late 1990's and all 219's and 229's had gone by 2006.
Sierra Nevada Corp.’s Dream Chaser spacecraft underwent a successful free-flight test on November 11, 2017 at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, California. The test verified and validated the performance of the Dream Chaser in the critical final approach and landing phase of flight, meeting expected models for a future return from the International Space Station.
Image credit: NASA
To follow NASA astronauts on twitter, click here.
The European Robotic Arm (ERA) successfully made its first moves in orbit during the 250 spacewalk to upgrade the International Space Station.
Two spacewalkers worked outside the orbiting lab for 7 hours and 42 minutes on 28 April 2022. Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev removed thermal blankets and then unlocked the robotic arm.
The duo released the launch locks that held the arm in its folded configuration for the journey to space last year. Inside the Space Station, crewmate Sergey Korsakov monitored the first commanded movements of the robotic arm.
One of the robotic arm’s end effectors moved for the first time shortly after 20:00 CEST (18:00 GMT). The European Robotic Arm translated to another base point in a “walkoff” manoeuvre.
The robotic arm brings new ways of operating automated machines to the orbital complex. ERA has the ability to perform many tasks automatically or semi-automatically, can be directed either from inside or outside the Station, and it can be controlled in real time or preprogrammed.
The International Space Station already has two robotic arms – Canadian and Japanese robots play a crucial role in berthing spacecraft and transferring payloads and astronauts.
ERA is the first robot capable of ‘walking’ around the Russian parts of the orbital complex. It can handle components up to 8000 kg with 5 mm precision, and it will transport astronauts from one working site to another.
Additional spacewalks are planned to continue outfitting the European Robotic Arm.
More information about the European Robotic Arm
Credits: ESA/NASA-M. Maurer CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/birdg...
Smaller than blackbirds, with a short tail, pointed head, triangular wings, starlings look black at a distance but when seen closer they are very glossy with a sheen of purples and greens. Their flight is fast and direct and they walk and run confidently on the ground. Noisy and gregarious, starlings spend a lot of the year in flocks. Still one of the commonest of garden birds, its decline elsewhere makes it a Red List species.
Overview
Latin name
Sturnus vulgaris
Family
Starlings (Sturnidae)
Where to see them
Conspicuous and widespread in the UK, occurring everywhere except for the highest parts of the Scottish Highlands. They are most abundant in southern England and are more thinly distributed in upland areas with moorland. Still one of the UK's commonest garden birds. Huge roosts are found in plantations, reed beds and city centres.
When to see them
All year round. Large numbers arrive in autumn to spend the winter here.
What they eat
Insects and fruit.
Population
UK Breeding:- 804,000 territories
Breeding
Starlings nest in holes and cavities, especially in trees, but often use holes in buildings, including occupied houses, and nestboxes.
They nest in loose colonies and do not establish and defend a proper territory - only the immediate area around the nesting cavity is defended. The whole colony feeds communally in what is termed a home range.
To attract a mate, the male builds the base of the nest from dry grass and leaves in a hole and sings from perches close to the nest entrance. The female completes the nest by making a nest cup and lining it with fine grasses, moss and feathers.
Starlings usually lay 4-6 eggs in mid-April. All birds within a colony start to lay eggs within a few days. The female does the majority of the incubation; the chicks hatch 12 days later.
Only the female broods the chicks, although both parents feed them. They are fed entirely on insects and their larvae, spiders and earthworms for 12 days, after which the diet is more varied.
The young fledge when about three weeks old and are fed for a week or two until they are independent. Because the nests are in holes, they are protected from predators and many other dangers. As a result, over 70% of eggs laid produce fledged young.
Most failures are caused by infertility, and at the chick stage by starvation. Normally, only one brood is raised in a year, but if the first clutch is laid early and is successful, a second clutch may follow.
Feathers and moulting
All birds change their feathers every so often.
They get dull and worn out, so to look good, keep warm and stay airborne, they need to be replaced.
This is called 'the moult' or 'moulting'.
Because of the different coloured feathers they grow, it's really easy to spot in starlings.
Starling flocks: a wild spectacle
A murmuration of starlings is an amazing sight - a swooping mass of thousands of birds whirling in the sky above your head.
What's going on?
It's basically a mass aerial stunt - thousands of birds all swooping and diving in unison. It's completely breathtaking to witness.
We think that starlings do it for many reasons. Grouping together offers safety in numbers – predators such as peregrine falcons find it hard to target one bird in the middle of a hypnotising flock of thousands.
They also gather to keep warm at night and to exchange information, such as good feeding areas.
They gather over their roosting site, and perform their wheeling stunts before they roost for the night.
When and where?
Autumn roosts usually begin to form in November, though this varies from site to site and some can begin as early as September.
More and more birds will flock together as the weeks go on, and the number of starlings in a roost can swell to around 100,000 in some places.
Early evening, just before dusk, is the best time to see them across the UK. You don't need any special equipment as it's all visible by just looking to the skies.
They roost in places that are sheltered from harsh weather and predators, such as woodlands, but reedbeds, cliffs, buildings and industrial structures are also used. During the day, however, they form daytime roosts at exposed places such as treetops, where the birds have good all-round visibility.
Several of our reserves make great viewing spots for murmurations. Other popular sites to see starlings include Gretna Green in Dumfries and Galloway, and Brighton Pier, Sussex.
Watch them swoop the loop
Don't just take our word for it, check out this amazing video of a starling murmuration.
Don't be fooled by big flocks
Despite the incredible size of the flocks, starling numbers are just a fraction of what they used to be. Huge starling flocks used to gather over Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Belfast, but today you have a much better chance of seeing the birds in rural areas.
The starling population has fallen by over 80% in recent years, meaning they are now on the critical list of UK birds most at risk.
The decline is believed to be due to the loss of permanent pasture, increased use of farm chemicals and a shortage of food and nesting sites in many parts of the UK.
Legal status
Starlings are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take a starling, or to take, damage or destroy an active nest or its contents.
Preventing the birds from gaining access to their nests may also be viewed as illegal by the courts. It is therefore important to check for active nests before any repairs to roofs and soffits are carried out during the breeding season.
The provision to control starlings under a general licence was removed from the Act in England and Wales, making the species fully protected in England and Wales.
Starlings are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981
However, general licences issued under the Act are still in place in Scotland, and under the Wildlife Order in Northern Ireland. These allow an authorised person to control starlings to prevent serious damage to agriculture or preserve public health and safety. The RSPB believes that this should only be done if there is no alternative solution.
An 'authorised person' is usually the landowner or occupier or his/her agent. Do note that nuisance or damage to property are not legitimate reasons for control, and as such a roof nest cannot legally be removed in the RSPB's opinion, unless it can be demonstrated that removal was undertaken under the terms of one of the government licences.
Population trends and conservation
Starlings are taken by a wide variety of predators.
In the past, one third of juveniles survived their first year of life, but this has reduced to only 15 per cent. Birds that survive to breeding age can expect to live a further two or three years. The oldest known wild individual was 21 years old.
Starlings are very tenacious and adaptable birds. Over the centuries they have expanded their numbers and range in the wake of farmers, wherever suitable conditions became available. They used to be uncommon birds in the UK.
Starling numbers have declined markedly across much of northern Europe and the UK. The decline in the UK started during the early 1980s and has continued ever since. Recent data from the Breeding Bird Survey suggest continuing population declines affecting starlings in England and Wales since 1995. The cause of the starling decline in the UK is unknown.
Starlings are heavily dependent on soil invertebrates like earthworms and leatherjackets, and it is possible this food supply has either declined or perhaps become less available during dry summers.
Long-term monitoring by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) shows that starling numbers have fallen by 66 per cent in Britain since the mid-1970s. Because of this decline in numbers, the starling is red listed as a bird of high conservation concern.
Relations with man
The fortunes of starlings are closely linked to human activities.
By converting other habitats such as woodland into open farmland, and erecting buildings, people have provided them with food and nest sites. People have, therefore, been instrumental in creating the present high population in Europe and Asia.
Starlings eat large numbers of invertebrates, many of which are crop pests. Therefore, in many countries starlings are considered to be beneficial and encouraged with nest boxes. The preference for crops during the autumn and winter months brings the starling into conflict with people.
Within their winter range there have been many failed efforts to reduce starling numbers to protect crops. The main conflict areas are cherry orchards (and on the continent also vineyards), autumn sown cereal, and cattle feeding troughs. The droppings produced at the roost can make a large roost unwelcome, whether it is in a woodland or in a town centre.
This Robin was searching the area near the birdbath, scurrying back and forth, pausing here and there, long enough to hone in on those tell tale sings of anything lurking just beneath the surface.
I tried to grab a few shots - but this was one fast Robin. I managed this shot of a successful hunt as one (not so big) juicy treat was plucked from the ground. It was so fast I didn't even realize what had happened until looking at my shots later.
Not as clear as I'd like, but a victorious moment for this Robin none-the-less.
Great Egret - - - - - - ( Ardea alba, aka Casmerodius albus )
I tossed a stale dinner roll to deep water as bait for both bird and fish.
( I knew that the bird would know that the bread would attract fish, and would fly out to hover over it.)
She did, and successfully caught one.
Lake Emerald, in Oakland Park, Florida -US- near Fort Lauderdale.
Shot from my balcony over the lake, early Wednesday afternoon, September 5, 2007.
See her LARGER, if you wish.
See WHERE. ( When map appears, click "Hybrid" and "+" sign for best map view.)
During my last Los Angeles layover, I wanted to photograph a Space X Falcon 9 launch from this ridge in the Los Padres National Forest. By late afternoon, after I had already reached the site, I learned that the launch had been rescheduled for July 12, which means it became the first failed Falcon 9 launch since 2016.
To avoid completely failing my own "mission", I decided to stay overnight and try to capture some Milky Way nightscapes. Since I was about halfway between Vandenberg Space Force Base and Los Angeles, I expected heavy light pollution. I chose a vantage point below the mountaintop where there were no trees in the way and where I hoped the ascending ridge would block out some of the light pollution. I wasn't sure if the whole endeavor was worth the effort, but you can't win if you don't try...
After dark, I was happy to see the Milky Way with the naked eyes and my test shots proved that it was possible to tame the light dome from the nearby megacity. The real surprise, however, came in post-processing, when I realized how much detail I had actually captured in the sky.
After all, I call this a pretty successful failure and I am quite sure that I will revisit the area, be it with or without the added bonus of a possible rocket launch.
EXIF
Canon EOS-R, astro-modified by Richard Galli from EOS 4Astro
Sigma 28mm f/1.4 ART
IDAS NBZ filter
iOptron SkyTracker Pro
Sky:
Vertical panorama of 2 panels, each a stack of 10x 45s @ ISO800, unfiltered & 5x 105s @ ISO3200, filtered
Foreground:
Focus stacked vertical panorama of 2 panels, each 6x 3.2s @ ISO200 during blue hour.
Successful Stunt.
قوة الجوهر الصبر رجل مجنون مجهولة رؤى الأشياء الغنية استسلم الأعداء نمت الإيمان إشراف النفاق,
frères anxieux sœurs nerveuses ordres exprimés portes indésirables alternance de mensonges transpiration échappements amers revers souffrance poésie,
interpretaties blues uitspreken van overbereik regels speculeren sonnetten belangrijke suggesties dure rebellies impliceerde hevige wedstrijden,
رینگتی ہوئی بگاڑ نثر کی نظمیں بے نقاب کرنے والی بدکاری کو بھڑکا رہی ہیں بدعنوانیوں کو جواز پیش کرتی ہے لاطینی دھواں غلیظ آراء سیاہ سورج جنگلی کام,
symudiadau technegol cyfarwyddo gweithrediadau delwyr sgyrsiau ffotograffig anialwch dogfennau deliriwm yn pacio dagrau oer eu hunain yn disgleirio adlewyrchiadau poenau sensitif,
regole crescenti pugnali sostengono notti di ignoranza sogni sfortunati cose malvagie .
華麗な勝利の労働者のまぶしさ収集されたベールスケルトン人形花のような笑い子守完成笑う子守子守の完成
Steve.D.Hammond.
Taken from the hide at Horn Mill trout farm. The conditions were rather unpromising initially - drizzly and poor light. The osprey obviously agreed as he made half a dozen passes over the pond without catching anything before he finally got successful. Thankfully by this time the light had improved enough for a fast shutter speed to freeze the action.
This fox put on a dazzling display of hunting expertise. He captured three lemmings in a period of five minutes. This was his last kill. The other two were dispatched and buried for later retrieval.