View allAll Photos Tagged Substrate
Military Orchids / orchis militaris. Homefield Wood, Buckinghamshire. 01/06/18.
'ANTHROPOMORPHISING AT ITS BEST!'
Rather a stately group of Military Orchids and in fine, fresh condition. I would guess that the three larger spikes were at least 40cms tall.
Each of the flowers is likened to a small soldier complete with arms, short stumpy legs and rows of tunic buttons running up his chest. Three sepals above the 'body' hide the petals below and create the soldiers helmet. This is wider and rounded at the back and narrower, with points at the front. The exterior is noticeably paler - either white or a very delicate pink with few, if any, markings. By contrast, the interior of the helmet is darker with striking purple stripes.
(When the image is viewed large, the contrasts show up more clearly.)
BEST VIEWED LARGE.
Large ice crystals on frozen smooth substrate. The recent artic blast is almost over for the time being.
A common wrasse here in Guam and other locales - often looking to benefit from stirred up substrate by diver's fins and such, uncovering various foodstuffs. Nikkor 60mm macro lens.
Call Me Swirly!
9" x 10" - a variety of glass, mirror and dinnerware on a hand built, cementitious substrate.
Substrate: Picea abies.
Eesti punase nimestiku liik, ohualdis (VU).
Uljaste, Lääne-Virumaa, Estonia.
Lake Clark National Park
Duck Island
Cook's Inlet, Alaska
USA
Best Viewed Large Size
A different type of puffin found on Duck Island in Cook's Inlet, Alaska, nesting along side horned puffins but higher on the cliffs in burrows. It is hard to blur the background when they nest within inches of the cliff wall.
' Wikipedia -The tufted puffin (Fratercula cirrhata) also known as crested puffin, is a relatively abundant medium-sized pelagic seabird in the auk (Alcidae) family found throughout the North Pacific Ocean. It is one of three species of puffin that make up the Fratercula genus and is easily recognizable by its thick red bill and yellow tufts.
Tufted puffins form dense breeding colonies during the summer reproductive season from British Columbia, throughout southeastern Alaska and the Aleutian Islands, Kamchatka, the Kuril Islands and throughout the Sea of Okhotsk. While they share some habitat with horned puffins (F. corniculata), the range of the tufted puffin is generally more eastern. They have been known to nest in small numbers as far south as the northern Channel Islands, off southern California. However, the last confirmed sighting at the Channel Islands occurred in 1997.
Tufted puffins typically select islands or cliffs that are relatively inaccessible to predators, close to productive waters, and high enough that they can take to the air successfully. Ideal habitat is steep but with a relatively soft soil substrate and grass for the creation of burrows.
During the winter feeding season, they spend their time almost exclusively at sea, extending their range throughout the North Pacific and south to Japan and California.