View allAll Photos Tagged Success
Don’t Quit! DO IT! - IMRAN®
“Perseverance Commands Success” - the timeless motto from Aitchison College, my alma mater in Lahore, Pakistan — in the late 1970s — is even truer today, almost half a century later.
Don’t Quit! Whatever the next needed action is, DO IT!
Click “Share” to inspire others too.
© 2025 IMRAN®
Pretty proud of this actually, took longer on this than I planned. :)
Iros Arms Co. received numerous requests from Spec Ops forces asking for a stronger and lighter mag for their G36's. Iros Arms delivered. They released their DLL mags and they were a huge success.
Notes:
Pastie is just mag, size = 100%
Scale to 50 for 200 scale. (Looks beautiful! ;D)
Scale to 25 for 100 scale.
Hope some of you guys use them. :)
Added you Xan because I mentioned it earlier, plus you love G36's. ;D
La Certosa del Mombracco o Monte Bracco (o talora Monbracco), detta più recentemente Convento della Trappa, sulla sommità del Montebracco, ebbe una storia complessa e travagliata.
Attualmente il confine tra i comuni di Barge e di Envie passa tra gli edifici della Certosa, che appartiene in parte ad entrambi.
Su terre donate dai signori di Barge tra il 1253 – 1257 venne edificata la prima chiesa, dedicata a San Salvatore (ora ridotta a pochi resti in mezzo alla boscaglia) e affidata ai benedettini: Tra il 1257 e il 1274 Sinibaldo Fieschi di Bagnaria (la cui effigie è riprodotta nel medaglione dipinto situato sulla chiesa di Santa Maria), forse perchè la chiesa di San Salvatore era già in rovina, fondò un’altra chiesa sul Mombracco, dedicata alla Madonna e la donò alle monache certosine di Belmonte, ponendo fine alla dipendenza dai benedettini.
Nel 1277 vi fu una contesa fra le monache di Belmonte e l’abbazia cistercense di Staffarda per il possesso delle chiese. Nel 1282 i signori di Barge fecero una consistente donazione nelle mani di Pietro Torre, sacerdote rettore delle chiese di San Salvatore e di Santa Maria per l’Ordine Certosino. In tale occasione, alle monache di Belmonte subentrò il Capitolo Generale Certosino, ma nel 1303 la certosa passò sotto il controllo di quella femminile di Buonluogo, presso Bricherasio. Le due chiese furono sottoposte, nello stesso mese, prima all’abbazia di Staffarda e poi a quella di Casanova (Carmagnola), anch’essa cistercense. Nel 1304 una sentenza arbitrale sottopose le due chiese di San Salvatore e Santa Maria alla giurisdizione spirituale e temporale di Staffarda. Nel corso del XIV secolo vari membri della casata di Saluzzo vi si ritirarono, vi vennero sepolti e lasciarono beni alla certosa. Nel 1416 il marchese Tommaso III di Saluzzo dispose che sul Mombracco vi fossero tre chiese (San Salvatore, Santa Croce, Santa Maria).
Ancora controversie nel 1507, quando i canonici della Pieve di Santa Maria di Saluzzo reclamano il pagamento delle decime dovute al capitolo, che i monaci si rifiutano di versare. La peste del 1630 provocò l’abbandono del convento che, nel 1642, fu incorporato dalla Certosa di Collegno. Nel 1794 re Vittorio Amedeo III fece acquistare alcuni fabbricati dalla Certosa di Collegno per donarli ai Trappisti e nel 1794 un piccolo gruppo di frati Trappisti francesi, sfuggiti alla Rivoluzione, giunse a Mombracco, da qui il nome ”trappa”.
Nel 1801 Napoleone soppresse il monastero e, l’anno successivo, gli ultimi 5 frati trappisti rimasti furono costretti ad abbandonare Mombracco. Il complesso venne ceduto a privati ed adattato ad abitazioni contadine.
Nel 1511 Leonardo da Vinci scrisse del Monte Bracco, citando le sue cave di quarzite
Fonte: www.archeocarta.org
“Success is counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed. To comprehend a nectar - Requires sorest need.”
Emily Dickinson
Textures thanks to JoesSistah for SGR19 and Kim Klassen for sweettreat :)
Explored July 31st :)
Yesterday, I saw this Great Blue Heron standing in the water about 200- 400 yards up the beach from me. So, I slowly made my way up towards it to hopefully get a shot or two. But I hadn't gone very far before I could tell it was about to go fishing, so I quickly grabbed a few shots as it came up with this fish. Looks like a perch of some kind. I took some shots of one fishing in this area a few years ago and it came up with an eel.
This is obviously a crop. If you want to see how much of one, check the next image. Lots of detail as you can see ... water drops, bill piercing the fish, etc. Certainly happy with the Sigma 150-600/ D810 combo.
I did get a little closer and the next shot after the original from this one is a crop from one of those closer images. Better, as you can see.
As a comparison of the Sigma 150-600/Nikon D810 gear, compare it with a shot I took in much the same area in July of 2013 with the Sigma 150-500/NikonD300. That one is not a crop, by the way. Wish I could get that close now.
Andrew Barclay 0-4-0 saddle tank 'Success' (W/No.1167 built in 1909) and behind it, Hunslet 0-6-0 saddle tank 'Good Luck' (W/No.498 built in 1898) at Haunchwood colliery in the mid-1960s.
Both locos had been transferred there from Griff Colliery at Nuneaton but were not popular. 'Success' saw a very limited amount of use. They spent a long period dumped in the open until both were scrapped in June 1966 by John Cashmore Ltd of Great Bridge.
Thanks to Gordon Edgar for the information.
From a slide purchased recently.
Champaign, Illinois, 1987
this was on Green Street, before the apartment buildings had sprawled all the way up from Campustown to the Illinois Central tracks
Osprey flies with its prize over the 'Deep Hole' at Lower Myakka Lake, Myakka State Park, Florida (5 March, 2020) Almost got some eyeshine in the fish, which may be a white crappie.
I managed to get us both in the shot, but look at all the mud :P It was in my mouth too, with a reserve supply in my mustache.
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my favorite quote to live by
To laugh often and much, to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children, to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends, to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others, to leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded! ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Presumably having seen the success of 'Bridget's Tea Bus' Golden Tours have also got in on the act. I like the tropical windows and the flowers in the front window! Photographed on Southwark Bridge with the Tate Modern in the background.
Bald Eagle, Terrenceville, Newfoundland
A Bald Eagle soaring along the cliffs of Newfoundland after a successful morning catch.
**Feel free to comment, like and share with all your nature loving friends**http://art.newfoundlandcanvas.com/gallery/bradjames/
This woman was sitting at an outdoor table of a small restaurant/coffee-shop on the west side of Columbus Avenue at 73rd Street. It's the first time that I've seen anyone in this particular area (which is near a gym that I usually visit 2-3 times a week) with a laptop, and I was delighted to see that she had a Mac.... and not just any old Mac, but a Mac Powerbook. (But not a MacBook Air :) )
Note: this photo was published in a November 24, 2008 blog posting entitled "Mobile Tech Secrets for Getting Things Done On the Go." It was also published in a Dec 14, 2008 blog entitled "5 Fantastic Blogs To Improve Your Life." It was also published in a Jul 13, 2009 "Pimp Your Mac" blog titled "Pimp my Mail." And it was published in a Jul 24, 2009 blog titled "Step Away From the Computer." For some reason, it was also published as an illustration in an undated (Nov 2009) Mahalo blog titled "Macbook Air Battery" at www-dot-mahalo-dot-com-slash-macbook-air-battery. And it was published in a Nov 20, 2009 blog titled "Breng de klanten service naar de klant." It was also published in a Nov 23, 2009 blog titled "Customer Retention: How to Retain Existing Health Club Clients and Attract New Ones." And it was published in a Dec 4, 2009 blog titled "Every Mum Wrestles With Returning To Work."
More recently, it was published in a Jan 3, 2010 blog titled "Sunday Confessional: I Can't Stop Facebook Stalking My Ex." And it was published in a Jan 22, 2010 blog titled "Best Places with Free Wi-Fi in Metro Detroit." It was also published in a Feb 11, 2010 blog titled "How Healthcare Organizations Can Benefit From Video Campaigns." And it was published in a Feb 14, 2010 blog titled "The Most Useful Bloggers on the Web." It was also published in a Feb 16, 2010 blog titled "Unresolved Obstacles to the Credibility of Online Degrees," as well as a Feb 25, 2010 blog titled Running your "Fitness Business: Online Software vs Desktop Software." It was also published in an undated (Mar 2010) blog titled "8 Ways to Discover New Music." And it was published, sometime in Apr 2010, as an illustration in the "About Me" page of Sarita Li Johnson's blog. It was also published in an Apr 9, 2010 blog titled "Technology Vs. Human Eye: You Decide the Winner." And it was published in an Apr 17, 2010 blog titled "12 Hands-on tips to protect yourself online."
It was also published in an Apr 19, 2010 blog titled EMOBILEにUQ Flat、どれがいい？高速モバイルデータ通信サービスを比較 -- which I've been told means "Ed Yourdon is really an amazing photographer," but I'm not sure I believe it. And it was published in an Apr 22, 2010 blog titled "Gift ideas for working mums," as well as an Apr 22, 2010 blog titled "La intimidad en Internet: el pánico de los padres de la Generación M" (the English-language version of which is Internet privacy: Generation M parents panic." It was also published in an Apr 27, 2010 blog about Facebook's new privacy settings, titled "Facebook, cómo darse de baja," at www-dot-tuexperto-dot-com/2010/04/27/facebook-como-darse-de-baja/ . And on May 12, 2010 it showed up in a Web ad for the movie, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."
It was also published in an undated (May 2010) HeartsForU blog , with the same title as the caption that I used on this Flickr page. And it was published in a Jun 7, 2010 blog titled "5 Questions to Ask Before Starting a Small Business Blog," as well as a Jun 8, 2010 blog titled "Zmiana IP na 10 sposobów." It was also published in a Jun 21, 2010 blog titled Is "Blogging for Your Small Business Dead?" And it was published in a Jul 1, 2010 blog titled "2 Things All Content Creators Can Do." It was also published in a Jul 13, 2010 blog titled "Top 15 Countries Where Most Active Bloggers Are Located." And a cropped, horizontally flipped version of the photo was published in a Jul 27, 2010 blog titled "Welcome to the Gig Economy." It was also published in an Aug 12, 2010 blog titled "Women Spend More Time Online," and it was published in an undated (late August 2010) blog titled "Why you need to write in advance (and I do to!)." It was also published in a Sep 14, 2010 blog titled "Cool Top Blogging Subjects Images." And in one of the more bizarre publication examples I've seen on the Internet, the photo was published in a Sep 30, 2010 blog titled " Gillette Venus Original Razor, 1 Razor 2 Cartridges, 1-count Package Reviews." It was also published in an Oct 10, 2010 blog titled "17 laptop computers-17.3″ 17″ LAPTOP BAG NOTEBOOK CASE COMPUTER CARRYING." And it was published in a Nov 14, 2010 COMPARE LAPTOP PCS TABLETS & SMARTPHONES blog, with the same title as the caption that I used on this Flickr page. It was also published in two Nov 18, 2010 blogs, titled 3 Steps To Getting The Ultimate Article Marketing Guide" and "Investing On Internet Marketing Software." And it was published in a Nov 23, 2010 blog titled "The Online Business Opportunity for the New Entrepreneur," as well as a Nov 26, 2010 blog titled "Why Now Is The Right Time To Compare Online Trading." It was also published in a Nov 29, 2010 blog titled "The Truth About What Is Article Marketing." And it was published in a Dec 9, 2010 blog titled "Internet Schools- A Time for Choosing," as well as a Dec 18, 2010 Lifehacker blog titled "Step Away From Your Desk For A More Focused Environment." Also in late Dec 2010, I found that the photo had been published in the "about" page of a site called CafeWorkr.
Moving into 2011, the photo was published in a Jan 6, 2011 Desktopize blog/, with the same title and detailed notes that I had written on this Flickr page. It was also published in a Jan 8, 2011 blog titled "How to Build Your Own Profitable Small Internet Business." And it was published in a Jan 17, 2011 blog titled "How can i get my camera to take pictures like this?" It was also published in a Jan 25, 2011 blog titled "JUSTICE DEPT. WANTS PROVIDERS TO RETAIN INTERNET DATA." It was also published in a Jan 28, 2011 blog titled "7 Blogging Tips for Increased Traffic."
The photo was also published in a Feb 1, 2011 blog titled "Traveling With Your Laptop," as well as a Feb 17, 2011 blog titled "How You Can Make Changes To Your Business Website, Your Way." And it was published in a Feb 27, 2011 blog titled "Best Places with Free Wi-Fi in Metro Detroit." It was also published in a Mar 4, 2011 blog titled "Hi… What would be on your personal software wish list?? and what features wld you want in each? :)?" And it was published in a Mar 24, 2011 blog titled "11 Dos and Don’ts for Dating Online." It was also published in a May 13, 2011 blog titled "What Are Your Prospects Looking for Online?" And it was published in a May 24, 2011 blog titled "How To Achieve Success From Stone Cold Steve Austin." It was also published in an undated (late May 2011) Cafeworkr website "about" page titled "Purpose of Cafeworkr." And it was published in a Jun 1, 2011 blog titled "Blogging Tips: Top 6 WordPress Plugins." It was also published in a Jun 21, 2011 blog titled "Consumerization of IT Challenges Device-Centric ITAM." And it was published in an undated (late Jun 2011) blog titled "Internet privacy: Generation M parents panic." It was also published in a Jul 31, 2011 Compare-online blog, with the same caption and detailed notes that I had written on this Flickr page, as well as an Aug 3, 2011 bog titled "How To Search For A Repeatable & Scaleable Business Model." And it was published in an Aug 28, 2011 blog titled "Facebook vi rende più disinvolte negli approcci?"
Moving into the fall of 2011, the photo was published in a Sep 8, 2011 blog titled "Entidade da UE descontente com a auto-regulamentação de publicidade comportamental on-line." And it was published in a Sep 14, 2011 blog titled "New Rules for Business in the Social Media Age." It was also published in an Oct 5, 2011 Tolle Crazy Computer blog and a Nov 7, 2011 Active-Internet-dot-de blog, with the same caption and detailed notes that I had written here on this Flickr page.
Moving into 2012, the photo wa published in a Jan 12, 2012 Romanian blog titled "Mămici fără griji la service ." And it was published in a Jan 29, 2012 blog titled "Nice Online Dating Secrets of Success Photos." It was also published in an undated (early Feb 2012) blog titled "WIEDEN + KENNEDY TECH INCUBATOR PICKS ITS STARTUP CLASS OF 2011", as well as a Feb 17, 2012 blog titled "Internett og WiFi i Amsterdam." And it was published in a Mar 7, 2012 blog titled "Somebody's Tracking You," as well as a Mar 3, 2012 blog titled "5 Things You Should Never Share on Social Networking Sites." It was also published in a Mar 15, 2012 blog titled "Elo7 faz parceria com editora Globo e lança portal de conteúdo." And it was published in a Mar 21, 2012 blog titled "Internet to rank as 6th-largest economy by 2016." It was also published in an Apr 19, 2012 blog titled "Facebook for eCommerce: It’s About Customer Retention, Not Acquisition." And it was published in an Apr 30, 2012 blog titled "Ask LH: Do I Really Need To Be That Worried About Security When I’m Using Public Wi-Fi?", as well as a May 1, 2012 blog titled "Be in the Office Without Being in the Office." It was also published in a May 3, 2012 I Music News Radio blog, with the same caption and detailed notes that I had written on this Flickr page. It was also published in a May 4, 2012 blog titled "Kaspersky Lab ha elaborado un pasaporte 3.0 para mamás en el que presentan cómo utilizar herramientas de control parental." And it was published in a May 23, 2012 blog titled "Less professor time doesn’t hurt: study." It was also published in a Jun 18, 2012 blog titled "Nikon COOLPIX AW100 16 MP CMOS Waterproof Digital Camera."
Moving into the 2nd half of 2012, the photo was published in a Jul 6, 2012 blog titled "Jobs for Shy People: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly," as well as a Jul 7, 2012 blog titled BUILD YOUR BUSINESS WITH QUALITY ARTICLE MARKETING." It was also published in a Jul 31, 2012 blog titled "22 Top Blogging Tools Loved by the Pros." And it was published in an Aug 28, 2012 blog titled El 51% de los argentinos utiliza Internet como su principal fuente de información." It was also published in a Sep 3, 2012 blog titled "Cool Best Ecommerce Websites images." And it was published in a Sep 21, 2012 blog titled "この先、生き残れるノウハウはこれだ," as well as a Sep 22, 2012 blog titled "Top 5 Blogs for Teachers, You Must Need To Know." It was also published in an Oct 1, 2012 blog titled "How to transfer computer files safely," as well as an undated (early Oct 2012) blog titled "11 Dos and Don’ts for Dating Online." And it was published in a Nov 2, 2012 blog titled "El fenómeno de las madres blogger y otras noticias en nuestro Flash Digital de octubre." And it was published in a Nov 9, 2012 blog titled "Sites de rencontres: La bonne rencontre en ligne, possible?" It was also published in a Nov 14, 2012 blog titled "The New Geography of Jobs." And it was published in a Nov 15, 2012 blog titled "MyGift 15 inch Fascinating Peacock Notebook Laptop Sleeve Bag Carrying Case for most of MacBook, Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Sony, Toshiba," with the same detailed notes and comments I had written on this Flickr page. It was also published in a Nov 20, 2012 blog titled "How to write a feature that connects." And it was published in a Dec 3, 2012 blog titled "Do I Really Need to Worry About Security When I’m Using Public Wi-Fi?" It was also published in a Dec 4, 2012 blog titled "Your Employees & Their Online Presence: How Will It Effect Your Brand in 2013?" And it was published in a Dec 14, 2012 blog titled "Nice Do It Yourself Calendar 2013 Photos," along with the same detailed notes I had written on this Flickr page.
Moving into 2013, the photo was published in a Jan 6, 2013 blog titled "Tips And Strategies On How To Be Successful In Article Promotion." And it was published in a Jan 9, 2013 blog titled "Take This Advice And Succeed With Article Advertising." It was also published in a Jan 15, 2013 blog titled "Capital Ideas Digest: 01.15.13." And it was published in a Jan 23, 2013 blog titled "Amazon Prime Is Worth the Price." It was also published in a Jan 28, 2013 blog titled "Nice Social Media Marketing Tips For Small Business photos," as well as a Feb 3, 2013 blog titled "Nice Online Trading Tips photos" and a Feb 3, 2013 blog titled "The Following Steps Can Help You To Market Any Article." And it was published in a Feb 20, 2013 blog titled "Guest Post via PostJoint: Write Drunk; Edit Sober." It was also published in a Feb 26, 2013 blog titled "퓨처워커에게 사업 멘토링 받는 방법#1." And it was published in a Mar 2, 2013 blog titled "Como manter um namoro online." It was also published in a Mar 6, 2013 blog titled "The Price of Nasty by Erica Brown," as well as a Mar 11, 2013 blog titled "Noise vs. Quiet: Which Is Better for Productivity?" I also found the photo in a Mar 11, 2013 blog titled "4 Steps to your Best Travel Insurance Purchase Every Time.," as well as a Mar 18, 2013 blog titled " Online College: Valuable Tool Or Waste Of Your time?", and a Mar 19, 2013 blog titled "Here’s Why Blogging is Not Your Cup of Tea, Wanna Leave? or Stick to it?" and a Mar 19, 2013 blog titled "Finally, Feds say cops’ access to your e-mail shouldn’t be time-dependent." It was also published in a Mar 23, 2013 blog titled "Dating Advice for PlentyOfFish-dot-com., as well as a Mar 27, 2013 blog titled "Online Dating: Yes or No?" And it was published in a Mar 31, 2013 Mashable blog titled "How Vizify Gives Recruiters Context for Your Digital Identity," as well as an Apr 4, 2013 blog titled "The most likely buyer of Nokia or BlackBerry now in talks to acquire NEC’s handset unit." And it was published in a May 1, 2013 blog titled "RESOURCES TO HELP FIND A TRAVEL COMPANION." It was also published in an undated (late May 2013) blog titled "Come trovare lavoro con i social network: cinque consigli utili per cambiare," as well as a May 21, 2013 blog titled "Consumers Can Now Upload Profile Photos for Unclaimed Place Pages." It was also published in a Jun 6, 2013 blog titled "El Consejo De Ministros Aprueba El Proyecto "Emprende En 3"," as well as an undated (mid-June 2013) blog titled "Sites de rencontres: La bonne rencontre en ligne, possible?" And it was published in a Jun 10, 2013 blog titled "10 Rules to Optimize Online Dating." It was also published in a Jun 19, 2013 blog titled "What Is ReMarketing?", as well as a Jul 1, 2013 blog titled "This is why you’re single. The top 3 reasons why your relationship fails." And it was published in a Jul 25, 2013 blog titled "The dangers of dating," as well as an Aug 1, 2013 blog titled "Higher Ed: 7 Things to Consider as You Prepare for the Year." It was also published in an undated (late Aug 2013) blog titled "Protecting Yourself From Identity Theft."
Moving into 2014, the photo was published in a Jan 13, 2014 blog titled "Be More Productive On Social Media With 10 Easy Tips." It was also published in a Feb 25, 2014 blog titled "Guía para el Periodista Freelance (I): Los primeros pasos legales, con Remo." And it was published in an undated (mid-September 2014) blog titled "12 MUST-HAVE BUSINESS APPS FOR THE MOBILE WORKER."
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This is part of an evolving photo-project, which will probably continue throughout the summer of 2008, and perhaps beyond: a random collection of "interesting" people in a broad stretch of the Upper West Side of Manhattan -- between 72nd Street and 104th Street, especially along Broadway and Amsterdam Avenue.
I don't like to intrude on people's privacy, so I normally use a telephoto lens in order to photograph them while they're still 50-100 feet away from me; but that means I have to continue focusing my attention on the people and activities half a block away, rather than on what's right in front of me.
I've also learned that, in many cases, the opportunities for an interesting picture are very fleeting -- literally a matter of a couple of seconds, before the person(s) in question move on, turn away, or stop doing whatever was interesting. So I've learned to keep the camera switched on (which contradicts my traditional urge to conserve battery power), and not worry so much about zooming in for a perfectly-framed picture ... after all, once the digital image is uploaded to my computer, it's pretty trivial to crop out the parts unrelated to the main subject.
For the most part, I've deliberately avoided photographing bums, drunks, drunks, and crazy people. There are a few of them around, and they would certainly create some dramatic pictures; but they generally don't want to be photographed, and I don't want to feel like I'm taking advantage of them. I'm still looking for opportunities to take some "sympathetic" pictures of such people, which might inspire others to reach out and help them. We'll see how it goes ...
The only other thing I've noticed, thus far, is that while there are lots of interesting people to photograph, there are far, far, *far* more people who are *not* so interesting. They're probably fine people, and they might even be more interesting than the ones I've photographed ... but there was just nothing memorable about them. It was also published in a Jun 19, 2013 blog titled What Is Re-Marketing?", as well as a Jun 25, 2013 blog titled "言明してしまうことで自分を規定してしまうこと."
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The Bratty Bimbo: How to Always Get What You Want
Confession: I’m a brat. I know I am. I’m proud of my brattiness. I get what I want and I’m direct about it. There’s a stigma attached to brattiness. But I say, brats are under-rated. Embrace your inner brat and stop settling for less than you deserve!
© Dan McCabe
This is an exercise in Progressive Sharpening as described in Jeff Schewe's book "The Digital Negative". I'm not sure it is a success.
PS Maybe it did work. Maybe I was too critical.
The third attempt to get the RHTT and the 6F22 ,being loaded, almost side by side.
The first one had the 66 near to the loader, and the second had the 66 behind the station wall.
66769 'Prostate Cancer' on the
6F22, while 56105 on the rear of the 3S71 which nearly caught me out as it was on time today,
after 2 days of late running.
Local News ! The Menai Suspension Bridge was closed today because of structural weakness. It could take up to 16 weeks to repair ! Not even cyclists or pedestrians to cross as well as vehicles.The Britannia
Bridge which gets queues at peak times anyway has become a nightmare on steroids !
Note: It has reopened for walkers and cyclists who push their bikes with monitors in attendance.
A giant tortoise at the Charles Darwin Research Station on Santa Cruz
Galapagos Giant Tortoise
The Galápagos tortoise or Galápagos giant tortoise (Geochelone nigra) is the largest living tortoise, native to seven islands of the Galápagos archipelago. The Galápagos tortoise is unique to the Galápagos Islands. Fully grown adults can weigh over 300 kilograms (661 lb) and measure 1.2 meters (4 ft) long. They are long-lived with a life expectancy in the wild estimated to be 100-150 years. Populations fell dramatically because of hunting and the introduction of predators and grazers by humans since the seventeenth century. Now only ten subspecies of the original twelve exist in the wild. However, conservation efforts since the establishment of the Galápagos National Park and the Charles Darwin Foundation have met with success, and hundreds of captive-bred juveniles have been released back onto their home islands. They have become one of the most symbolic animals of the fauna of the Galápagos Islands. The tortoises have very large shells (carapace) made of bone. The bony plates of the shell are integral to the skeleton, fused with the ribs in a rigid protective structure. Naturalist Charles Darwin remarked "These animals grow to an immense size ... several so large that it required six or eight men to lift them from the ground.". This is due to the phenomenon of island gigantism whereby in the absence of natural predation, the largest tortoises had a survival advantage and no disadvantage in fleeing or fending off predators. When threatened, it can withdraw its head, neck and all forelimbs into its shell for protection, presenting a protected shield to a would-be predator. The legs have hard scales that also provide armour when withdrawn. Tortoises keep a characteristic scute pattern on their shell throughout life. These have annual growth bands but are not useful for aging as the outer layers are worn off. There is little variation in the dull-brown colour of the shell or scales. Physical features (including shape of the shell) relate to the habitat of each of the subspecies. These differences were noted by Captain Porter even before Charles Darwin. Larger islands with more wet highlands such as Santa Cruz and the Alcedo Volcano on Isabela have lush vegetation near the ground. Tortoises here tend to have 'dome-back' shells. These animals have restricted upward head movement due to shorter necks, and also have shorter limbs. These are the heaviest and largest of the subspecies.Smaller, drier islands such as Española and Pinta are inhabited by tortoises with 'saddleback' shells comprising a flatter carapace which is elevated above the neck and flared above the hind feet. Along with longer neck and limbs, this allows them to browse taller vegetation. On these drier islands the Galápagos Opuntia cactus (a major source of their fluids) has evolved a taller, tree-like form. This is evidence of an evolutionary arms race between progressively taller tortoises and correspondingly taller cacti. Saddlebacks are smaller in size than domebacks. They tend to have a yellowish color on lower mandible and throat. At one extreme, the Sierra Negra volcano population that inhabits southern Isabela Island has a very flattened "tabletop" shell. However, there is no saddleback/domeback dualism; tortoises can also be of 'intermediate' type with characteristics of both. The tortoises are slow-moving reptiles with an average long-distance walking speed of 0.3 km/h (0.18 mph). Although feeding giant tortoises browse with no apparent direction, when moving to water-holes or nesting grounds, they can move at surprising speeds for their size. Marked individuals have been reported to have traveled 13 km in two days. Being cold-blooded, the tortoises bask for two hours after dawn, absorbing the energy through their shells, then becoming active for 8–9 hours a day. They may sleep for about sixteen hours in a mud wallow partially or submerged in rain-formed pools (sometimes dew ponds formed by garua-moisture dripping off trees). This may be both a thermoregulatory response and a protection from parasites such as mosquitoes and ticks. Some rest in a 'pallet'- a snug depression in soft ground or dense brush- which probably helps to conserve heat and may aid digestion. On the Alcedo Volcano, repeated use of the same sites by the large resident population has resulted in the formation of small sandy pits. Darwin observed that: "The inhabitants believe that these animals are absolutely deaf; certainly they do not overhear a person walking near behind them. I was always amused, when overtaking one of these great monsters as it was quietly pacing along, to see how suddenly, the instant I passed, it would draw in its head and legs, and uttering a deep hiss fall to the ground with a heavy sound, as if struck dead." The tortoises can vocalise in aggressive encounters, whilst righting themselves if turned upside down and, in males, during mating. The latter is described as "rhythmic groans". The tortoises are herbivorous animals with a diet comprising cactus, grasses, leaves, vines, and fruit. Fresh young grass is a favorite food of the tortoises, and others are the 'poison apple' (Hippomane mancinella) (toxic to humans), the endemic guava (Psidium galapageium), the water fern (Azolla microphylla), and the bromeliad (Tillandsia insularis). Tortoises eat a large quantity of food when it is available at the expense of incomplete digestion. Its favorite food is grasses. The tortoise normally eat an average of 70 to 80 pounds a day. Tortoises have a classic example of a mutualistic symbiotic relationship with some species of Galápagos finch. The finch hops in front of the tortoise to show that it is ready and the tortoise then raises itself up high on its legs and stretches out its neck so that the bird can pick off ticks that are hidden in the folds of the skin (especially on the rear legs, cloacal opening, neck, and skin between plastron and carapace), thus freeing the tortoise from harmful parasites and providing the finch with an easy meal. Other birds, including Galápagos Hawk and flycatchers, use tortoises as observation posts from which to sight their prey. Mating occurs at any time of the year, although it does have seasonal peaks between January and August. When two mature males meet in the mating season they will face each other, rise up on their legs and stretch up their necks with their mouths open to assess dominance. Occasionally, head-biting occurs, but usually the shorter loser tortoise will back off, leaving the other to mate with the female. In groups of tortoises from mixed island populations, saddleback males have an advantage over domebacks. Frustrated non-dominant males have been observed attempting to mate with other males and boulders. The male sniffs the air when seeking a female, bellows loudly, and bobs his head. The male then rams the female with the front of his shell and bites her exposed legs until she withdraws them, immobilizing her. Copulation can last several hours with roaring vocalisations from the males. Their concave shell base allows males to mount the females from behind. It brings its tail which houses the penis into the female's cloaca. After mating (June-December), the females journey up to several kilometres to reach nesting areas of dry, sandy ground (often near the coast). Nest digging can last from hours to days and is elaborate and exhausting. It is carried out blindly using only the hind legs to dig a 30 cm deep hole, into which she lays up to sixteen hard-shelled eggs the size of tennis balls. The female makes a muddy plug for the nest hole out of soil mixed with urine and leaves the eggs to incubate. In rocky areas, the eggs are deposited randomly into cracks. The young emerge from the nest after 120 to 140 days gestation later (December-April) and may weigh only 80 grams (2.8 oz) and measure 6 centimetres (2.4 in). Temperature plays a role in the sex of the hatchling: if the nest temperature is lower, more males will hatch; if it is high, more females will hatch. When the young tortoises emerge from their shells, they must dig their way to the surface, which can take up to a month. All have domed carapaces, and subspecies are indistinguishable. Galápagos Hawk used to be the only native predator of the tortoise hatchlings, as Darwin remarked: "The young tortoises, as soon as they are hatched, fall prey in great numbers to buzzards". Sex can be determined only when the tortoise is 15 years old, and sexual maturity is reached at 20 to 25 years old. The tortoises grow slowly for about 40 years until they reach their full size. Reproductive prime is considered to be from the ages of 60–90. The shape of the carapace of some subspecies of the tortoises is said to have reminded the early Spanish explorers of a kind of saddle they called a "galápago," and for these saddle-shaped tortoises they named the archipelago. Up to 250,000 tortoises inhabited the islands when they were discovered. Today only about 15,000 are left.
The inhabitants...state that they can distinguish the tortoise from different islands; and that they differ not only in size, but in other characters. Captain Porter has described those from Charles and from the nearest island to it, namely Hood Island, as having their shells in front thick and turned up like a Spanish saddle, whilst the tortoises from James Island are rounder, blacker, and have a better taste when cooked.---Charles Darwin 1845
There were probably twelve subspecies of Geochelone nigra in the Galápagos Islands, although some recognise up to 15 subspecies. Now only 11 subspecies remain, five on Isabela Island, and the other six on Santiago, Santa Cruz, San Cristóbal, Pinzón, Española and Pinta. Of these, the Pinta Island subspecies is extinct in the wild and is represented by a single individual (Lonesome George). In the past, zoos took animals without knowing their island of origin. Production of fertile offspring from various pairings of tortoises largely confirmed that they are subspecies and not different species. All the subspecies of giant tortoise evolved in Galápagos from a common ancestor that arrived from the mainland, floating on the ocean currents (the tortoises can drift for long periods of time as they are buoyant and can stretch head upwards to breathe). Only a single pregnant female or breeding pair needed to arrive in this way, and then survive, for Galápagos to be colonised. In the seventeenth century, pirates started to use the Galápagos islands as a base for resupply, restocking on food, water and repairing vessels before attacking Spanish colonies on the South American mainland. The tortoises were collected and stored live on board ships where they could survive for at least a year without food or water, providing valuable fresh meat, whilst their diluted urine and water stored in their neck bags could also be used as drinking water. Of the meat, Darwin wrote: "the breast-plate roasted (as the Gauchos do 'carne con cuero'), with the flesh on it, is very good; and the young tortoises make excellent soup; but otherwise the meat to my taste is indifferent." In the nineteenth century, whaling ships and fur-sealers collected tortoises for food and many more were killed for high grade 'turtle oil' from the late 1800s onward. Darwin described this process thus: "beautifully clear oil is prepared from the fat. When a tortoise is caught, the man makes a slit in the skin near its tail, so as to see inside its body, whether the fat under the dorsal plate is thick. If it is not, the animal is liberated and it is said to recover soon from this strange operation." A total of over 15,000 tortoises is recorded in the logs of 105 whaling ships between 1811 and 1844. As hunters found it easiest to collect the tortoises living round the coastal zones, the least decimated populations tended to be those in the highlands. Population decline accelerated with the early settlement of the islands, when they were hunted for meat, their habitat was cleared for agriculture and alien mammal species were introduced. Feral pigs, dogs, cats and black rats are effective predators of eggs and young tortoises, whilst goats, donkeys and cattle compete for grazing. In the twentieth century, increasing human settlement and urbanisation and collection of tortoises for zoo and museum specimens depleted numbers even more. The Galápagos giant tortoise is now strictly protected. Young tortoises are raised in a programme by the Charles Darwin Research Station in order to bolster the numbers of the extant subspecies. Eggs are collected from places on the islands where they are threatened and when the tortoises hatch they are kept in captivity until they have reached a size that ensures a good chance of survival and are returned to their original ranges. The Galápagos National Park Service systematically culls feral predators and competitors where necessary such as the complete eradication of goats from Pinta. The conservation project begun in the 1970s successfully brought 10 of the 11 endangered subspecies up to guarded population levels. The most significant recovery was that of the Española Tortoise, whose breeding stock comprised 2 males and 11 females brought to the Darwin Station. Fortuitously, a third male was discovered at the San Diego Zoo and joined the others in a captive breeding program. These 13 tortoises gave rise to over 1000 tortoises now released into their home island. In all, 2500 individuals of all breeds have been reintroduced to the islands. However, persecution still continues on a much smaller scale; more than 120 tortoises have been killed by poachers since 1990 and they have been taken hostage as political leverage by local fishermen.
Santa Cruz
With the largest human population in the Galapagos archipelago, Isla Santa Cruz is the most important of the Galapagos Islands. Meaning Holy Cross in Spanish, this island is also known as Indefatigable, after the HMS Indefatigable landed here long ago. The second largest island terms of land area at 986 sq km, Isla Santa Cruz is home to the key town of Puerto Ayora, the Charles Darwin Research Station and the headquarters of the Galapagos National Park Service. With its own airport on Isla Baltra a few miles away, Isla Santa Cruz is where most visitors who come to the Galapagos Islands usually stay. With a number of bars, hotels, restaurants and shops in Puerto Ayora, most tours of the Archipelago also usually begin from here.
Galapagos Islands
The Galápagos Islands (official name: Archipiélago de Colón; other Spanish names: Islas de Colón or Islas Galápagos) are an archipelago of volcanic islands distributed around the equator in the Pacific Ocean, some 900 km west of Ecuador. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site: wildlife is its most notable feature. Because of the only very recent arrival of man the majority of the wildlife has no fear of humans and will allow visitors to walk right up them, often having to step over Iguanas or Sea Lions.The Galápagos islands and its surrounding waters are part of a province, a national park, and a biological marine reserve. The principal language on the islands is Spanish. The islands have a population of around 40,000, which is a 40-fold expansion in 50 years. The islands are geologically young and famed for their vast number of endemic species, which were studied by Charles Darwin during the voyage of the Beagle. His observations and collections contributed to the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.
"To comprehend a nectar
Requires sorest need." --Emily Dickinson
(For Poetography Theme 82--Success; Literary Reference in Pictures)
A bee searches for nectar in a globe thistle (I think that's what it's called) at the Michigan State University arboretum. I asked him to hold still, but he refused. I didn't argue.
Seeking nectar is a bee's sorest need, but it's we humans Dickinson speaks of in her poem. For us, we understand how sorely we seek triumph, success, but like the defeated, dying soldier who hears "The distant strains of triumph/Burst agonized and clear," we don't define its value until we can't have it.
This Garden Party outfit is a perfect way to celebrate every country’s success in the Olympic Games, as it contains elements of gold (the shoes), silver (my diamante earrings and choker), and bronze (the dress itself)! I have had two visits to Olympic events here in London, and I have enjoyed every moment. Congratulations to the athletes from all over the world, who are making the games here in London a success – and to the organizers, officials, coaches, and everyone else concerned. Not to mention the ultra-enthusiastic crowds of fans! It’s great to be here in London right now!!
Lots more to come soon, but bye bye for now. Kisses to all my friends all over the world!
xxxxxxx
Rebecca
... im Fembachtal
At dusk. While four wind turbines try hard to make Germanys "Energiewende" a success, a family returns home from a small fair in Raindorf
(Puschendorf, Bavaria, Germany, October 2014)