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(Puma concolor coryi) Once common throughout the southeastern United States, fewer than 100 Florida panthers are estimated to live in the wilds of south Florida today. The current range of Florida panthers is less than five percent of their original range across Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and parts of Tennessee and South Carolina. Florida panthers were heavily hunted after 1832 when a bounty on panthers was created. Perceived as a threat to humans, livestock, and game animals, the species was nearly extinct by the mid-1950s.
Today, the primary threats to the remaining panther population are habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. Urban sprawl, the conversion of once-diversified agricultural lands into intensified industrial farming uses, and the loss of farmland to commercial development combine to reduce the amount of suitable panther habitat. Other factors include mortalities from collisions with automobiles, territorial disputes with other panthers, inbreeding, disease, and environmental toxins. All these other factors, however, also are related to habitat reduction.
Throughout northern New Jersey in mid-October, yellow-rumoed warblers invaded every tree with a berry at the end of ther long migration.
Oblong turtles (Chelodina colliei) live in Perth and throughout the south-west of Western Australia. They are also known as western long necked turtles or snake necked turtles. They are different from most turtles as their shell is not round.
Oblong turtles are dark brown to black, with a paler undershell. They live in rivers, lakes and swamps and prefer slow moving water.
Turtles may be famous for being slow and steady, but don’t be surprised if you see an Oblong turtle lunging from the shallows with the speed of a hungry crocodile, neck extended for the strike. Large females will prey on birds including Purple Swamphens. They need to build up their body fat when they are active to survive during less favourable conditions.
They locate their prey in low visibility water by echolocation, the same way that some bats and dolphins do. They emit a series of high frequency clicks and listen to the echoes that return from various objects near to them. They use these echoes to locate and identify the objects.
From September to January, you may see Oblong turtles trying to cross the road. Watch out for them near their habitats of permanent and seasonal freshwater bodies including rivers, lakes, farm dams, swamps, and natural and constructed wetlands. Females will be leaving the water during spring and summer in search of sandy soils in which to lay their eggs.
When she finds a safe spot, the female Oblong turtle digs a hole with her back feet and lays 2-16 leathery eggs. Depending on the temperature and the conditions, it can take 26 to 41 weeks for the eggs to hatch. Often the little turtles will try to get back across the road their mum came over to get back to water.
You have Oblong turtle hatchlings to thank for keeping down the number of mosquitoes. One tiny turtle can eat up to 70 mosquito larvae a day. The oval shaped black shell, also called the ‘carapace’, of a hatchling is about the size of a 20 cent piece.
Turtles don’t have teeth, and instead tear their food with their back claws, but they do have strong jaws so it’s best to avoid their heads if you pick one up to remove it from the road.
Hold the animal away from your body so that it won’t squirt on you. Be careful as the hind legs have small claws that may give you a scratch. Take the turtle to a safe spot in the direction it was travelling and put it down gently.
You can also lend a helping hand if you find a turtle that has become trapped in your yard. Place them in a position where they can make their own way back to the wetland or nearby water source unimpeded.
If you spot an injured turtle, and you’re in Western Australia, please call WildCare on (08) 9474 9055. This service is available 24-hours, 7 day a week. If you’re not in WA, so please call your nearest wildlife care group to help an injured turtle if you see one.
A turtle’s shell is made of live tissue and so it cannot be repaired with fibreglass or other material. If cracked, the shell must be cleaned surgically by a vet, while the turtle is under a general anaesthetic. Next, the turtle needs specialised care, antibiotics and pain relief so that it can heal its shell over time, free from infection and safe from predators.
Tip
If you’re doing some landscaping or gardening, stay away from muddy areas so that you don’t accidentally unearth a turtle.
When it’s too hot or cold for an Oblong Turtle, it will hide away in damp mud and enter a deep sleep called ‘aestivation’. This is similar to hibernation, but not as deep.
Turtles can’t convert the food they eat into body heat like we do, but instead they rely on the temperature of their environment and the sun to warm them enough for activity.
Harpa Concert hall in Reykjavik. The geometric facade mimics the basalt formations throughout Iceland.
Taken at Horn Mill Ospreys Trout Farm Rutland
Canon1DX-2 with 300mm 2.8 prime lens
This camera and lens are a phenomenal combination as you can see......there is very little grain in the picture and at f/5.6 the set up has managed to apply focus throughout the picture. This, in my opinion, is down to selecting, in camera AF point expansion in this case 9 points.
If you're wondering about the settings, why f/5.6, why ISO 6400 well this is because the light at that time was dull and to stop the subject in flight requires fast speed. In hindsight, the f-stop could have been 6.3 or even 7.1 or the ISO 5000 producing a shutter speed of around 1/3000 sec but you go with what feels right to you the button presser and hope for the best. One other thing to consider is exposure the bird has a large amount of white about it, so I have underexposed by 2/3rds of a stop.
Wolves of Grand Teton
Wolves can be found throughout Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks. Their reintroduction into Yellowstone in 1995 and 1996 was an amazing conservation success story. Within a few years wolves were being spotted in the Jackson Hole valley. The route they traveled to get here is still unknown, but it's possible that they went through the John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Memorial Parkway.
Wolves are highly social animals that live in packs. Wolf packs typically consist of a breeding pair (the alpha male and alpha female) and their offspring. Packs may also include a breeding pair, siblings, and subordinate wolves. Pack size ranges from three to over 20 individuals, and territory size fluctuates depending on pack size and prey availability. Wolf litters in Wyoming average five pups; some packs produce two litters a year. All pack members feed and rear the young. Wolves howl to attract mates, locate pack members and defend their territories against invading wolves or packs.
The first pack in Grand Teton was the Teton Pack, which formed when a female known as 24F - whose father was one of the original wolves transplanted from Canada - arrived and mated with 133M. These two wolves denned and produced five black pups in 1999 - the first wolf reproduction in Grand Teton in over 70 years. The offspring from this pair and other immigrants from Yellowstone National Park eventually helped repopulate Jackson Hole.
For more info: www.nps.gov/grte/blogs/wolves-countdown-19-days.htm
Hot air balloon festivals are held annually in many places throughout the year, allowing hot air balloons operators to gather- as well as for the general public- to participate in various activities. They can include races; evening "night glows", in which balloons are fired while remaining tethered to the ground; and rides.
Die Warsteiner Internationale Montgolfiade (WIM) ist ein international bedeutender und größter europäischer Heißluftballon-Wettbewerb, der seit 1986 von der Warsteiner Brauerei im sauerländischen Warstein veranstaltet wird. Nachdem sie in den Anfangsjahren im Zweijahresrhythmus ausgetragen wurde, findet sie seit 1996 jährlich am ersten September-Wochenende statt. 2005 nahmen über 300 Teams aus ganz Europa an den verschiedenen Titelkämpfen teil. Während der Veranstaltungswoche finden täglich zweimal, einmal morgens und einmal am Spätnachmittag, Starts statt. Weitere Attraktionen sind die Sonderformen, sogenannten Special Shapes, die an beiden Wochenenden zu betrachten sind und der Paraballooning-Wettbewerb, der bislang dreimal ausgetragen wurde. Gleichzeitig ist die Montgolfiade das zweitgrößte Volksfest der Region mit zwei- bis dreihunderttausend Zuschauern nach der Allerheiligenkirmes in Soest. Das Kirmes-Gelände im Süden der Stadt ist vor allem beim sogenannten Nightglow (Ballonglühen) und an den beiden Samstagen, an denen das Eröffnungs- und Abschlussfeuerwerk stattfindet, gut besucht.
This is perhaps my favorite astro photo to date. There is some much happening here, with really interesting details throughout most of the frame. Not to overpower this very bright object, I used 30 second frames, ultimately stacking 200 of them! I took darks just to be safe, but the raw light frames were reltatively free of noise.
This is a view of the core of the Orion Nebula, or M42. It's a massive star-forming region some 1,344 light years away. Within it, lies newer stars around which the Hubble Space Telescope has spotted the formation of new planets. these are all being formed as gas and dust within the nebula collapses.
There are three different kinds of shocks in the Orion Nebula. Many are featured in Herbig–Haro objects:
- Bow shocks are stationary and are formed when two particle streams collide with each other. They are present near the hottest stars in the nebula where the stellar wind speed is estimated to be thousands of kilometers per second and in the outer parts of the nebula where the speeds are tens of kilometers per second. Bow shocks can also form at the front end of stellar jets when the jet hits interstellar particles.
- Jet-driven shocks are formed from jets of material sprouting off newborn T Tauri stars. These narrow streams are traveling at hundreds of kilometers per second, and become shocks when they encounter relatively stationary gases.
- Warped shocks appear bow-like to an observer. They are produced when a jet-driven shock encounters gas moving in a cross-current.
The interaction of the stellar wind with the surrounding cloud also forms "waves" which are believed to be due to the hydrodynamical Kelvin-Helmholtz instability. (!)
Image Details:
- Imaging Scope: Celestron C8 SCT
- Imaging Camera: ZWO ASI183MC Color with ZWO IR cut filter
- Guider: Celestron Starsense Autoguider
- Mount: Celestron CGEM
- Acquisition Software: Sharpcap
- Guiding Software: Celestron
- Light Frames: 200*30 seconds @ 0 Gain, Temp -20C
- Dark Frames: 200*30 seconds
- Stacked in Deep Sky Stacker
- Processed in PixInsight, Adobe Lightroom, and Topaz Denoise A
A red-shouldered hawk has been visiting fairly regularly throughout the day. I know that there are several in the area so I am not sure if it is one that visits often or they all visit occasionally. They are magnificent birds of prey and I wish them well as they find snakes, lizards and frogs to fill their bellies. Those little treats are abundant here in Florida.
Yesterday, Elvis (red-shouldered hawk) arrived just before the afternoon songbird show, I saw him and snapped a couple of shots. The Carolina wrens saw him as well and cancelled the show as they alerted others to keep their distance. Elvis stayed for a while, watching and waiting to see if the commotion would subside. After all, he only came to enjoy the show and perhaps grab a little snack. Realizing this was not going to be the case, he left the yard.
Everything became calm and went back to normal in plenty of time for the next show to begin. So right on time the show started without a hitch. Birds were singing and enjoying treats from the different feeding stations as well as checking under leaves to see if they could find a treat there. Most of the gang was here, the wrens, cardinals, tufted titmice, bluebirds, house wrens, doves, hummingbirds and the little ones that I cannot ID that stay high in the trees. Phil (Red-bellied woodpecker) as well as Jay and Jane (Blue Jays) were running late as usual. They like to make a grand entrance.
As for myself, I was tending to caterpillars on the lanai as I listened to the songs and glanced occasionally towards the yard. Then suddenly, swoosh out of the corner of my eye I saw Elvis. He had returned to the yard. This time he flew in quickly and silently but did not land on a tree branch to watch the show. Instead he went straight for the ground behind a large potted plant to get a snack. I could not see him on the other side of the plant. The birds not realizing he had returned, continued their activities. I held my breath and watched to see if Elvis was successful in his endeavors to get a bite to eat. Successful he was, he took his lizard treat to my backyard neighbors tree to eat while he watched the remainder of show. To say the least, I was relieved.
This image is from Elvis's earlier appearance since I didn't have the camera during the second show. I don't know why I named him Elvis other than as he leaves the yard, I always say to myself "Elvis has left the building". From now on, all red-shouldered hawks that visit will be named Elvis. That is unless I can start telling them apart by little things such as the markings on this one's beak.
Have a wonderful day and happy snapping.
Common throughout northern and eastern Australia, the Bar-shouldered Dove inhabits a range of forests ad woodlands which support dense or grassy understorey, with nearby open areas and wetlands. Surprisingly, they also occur in mangroves, and are considered to be a mangrove specialist in some regions. Seldom seen far from cover, Bar-shouldered Doves usually forage by pecking seeds from bare ground or among short grass. They drink throughout the day, though especially during the afternoon, and shelter in the shade of dense trees or shrubs.
Our walk locations usually get second billing to yours truly, but today we give two of them the headlines in both of our Saturday photos because they are such a large part of Dad's photostream.
The Mer Bleue Bog Conservation Area is the remnants of the Ottawa River system that flowed through here about 7500 years ago, which has migrated about five kilometers north to it's present location.
The Area still holds a number of ponds that retain water throughout the year, and the peat bogs in some locations are a couple of meters deep.
We see lots of wildlife: beaver, heron, deer, moose, weasel, fox, coyote, coywolf, and even a pair of eastern wolves, which are a subspecies of gray wolf.
It's almost impossible to get me in photos with any of these creatures, as most are seen at a distance and they don't hang around for photos the way I do! But it's great to just be out there with them in the natural world, feeling like my ancestors did.
Mer Bleue Bog Conservation Area. Ottawa, Ontario
Saturday Morning Post, October 10 2016
235. Clancy, 3yrs 47wks
throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection. ~ Buddha 💫⭐️⭐️💫
Stock Credit:
Background by Samuele Errico Piccarini on Unsplash. Everything else is mine.
Throughout history, female nudes have been used in cemetery/memorial art. For a deeper examination, visit northstargallery.com/pages/Sensualilty.htm
Many images in this set were taken inside Forest Lawn Memorial Park's (California, USA) Great Mausoleum.
The general public is not allowed to enjoy these and many other works of art in the Great Mausoleum. Entry is granted only to those able to afford the high price of admission and their living family members.
Why?
I turned the door handle of the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn in Glendale, California, USA and as the heavy door opened, I entered another world.
The massive, cathedral-like structure houses not only the remains of thousands able to afford the lofty ticket price for admission, it houses beautiful works of art. Sculptures, stained glass windows and ceilings, elegant marble throughout and massive architecture...all are off limits to the general public.
I didn't know at the time I turned that door knob, that Forest Lawn is consumed about keeping this structure and its contents strictly away from public view. I was simply a guy trying to take photos I like who quickly realized the challenges posed in this setting. I was simply on quest that began at the cemetery where my Mom and brother were buried almost twenty years ago.
One can attend a viewing of a stained glass window, The Last Supper, but, I've since returned (hoping to share with my family the splendor within) asking to enter the mausoleum. We were turned away. Forest Lawn's policy strictly prohibits entry to the general public.
Why? One would think that Forest Lawn (and its founder Mr. Eaton and its longtime and current President and CEO, John Llewellyn, would want to share with the wider world, the beauty contained within given the frequent ugliness which hits us in daily life...providing a form of comfort which is their business.
Forest Lawn loves attention but only on their terms. It thrives being known as the Disneyland of death services (and I mean that in the most respectful way ...after all, Walt Disney himself chose Forest Lawn) and hundreds of the famous and infamous call Forest Lawn home.
It is obvious Forest Lawn takes its mission seriously and provides a needed service exhibiting the highest levels of excellence from its impeccable grounds, to fine facilities and attentive staff.
Forest Lawn's theatrical stagings for adults and school children, its public art, museum and grounds filled with celebrities and movers and shakers, convey a seemingly mixed message when it comes to excluding the public from the massive amounts of great art held within the Great Mausoleum.
Why the exclusion? Staffing its maze of halls isn't a concern; staff members are everywhere throughout the park. Security? Sure it's in a bad neighborhood. But, as I wandered unknowingly in this remarkable place from which I was supposed to be excluded, I never saw graffiti...even in the restroom.
In fact, I never saw another soul (sorry, no pun intended). And, that, to me, is sad.
As I wandered, I was challenged by low light, by my impulse to rush my hand held shots since I had a vague gut feeling I was alone, but not; that someone was about to find me taking photos in a place where I was the forbidden invader...the only one...alive...appreciating fine art. Certainly, those entombed can not enjoy it.
Mr. Llewellyn, please open the doors to the Great Mausoleum for the public and the profound and positive impact its will have on us.
Mr. Llewellyn, I extend this offer:
if you have looked at my photos and they have spoken to you, please contact me. I will offer my photographic services to Forest Lawn to use in ways upon which we can agree.
The possibilities are limitless:
I can photographically catalog all of Forest Lawn's art at all its properties; the images could be published in many forms...books, dvd sets, and more; guided tours; respectful events built around the art and the images; museum exhibits.
Again, the possibilities are limitless and all can be accomplished in good taste equal to your mission statement and still be respectful of your residents and their families and, serve to educate and benefit the larger public.
Thank you,
Casual Clicks
A BIT OF BACKGROUND:
Many years ago after burying my mother and brother within days of the other, I was wandering their cemetery pondering and was intrigued by the statues I saw.
I was taken by the artist's talent in being able to capture the female form (since that was all the cemetery had). The sculptor's manipulation of the viewer's perceptions...cloth and how it draped, creating muscle tone, emotions displayed in facial expressions, all created from stone, piqued my interest.
I began an informal quest to research and find as many sculptures and to photograph them which overwhelmingly depicted the female nude (or partially so) in the cemetery/memorial setting.
As my cemetery visits grew, I began to realize that many of the sculptures seemingly evoked a sensuality in this form of memorial art.
Here, then, is my photos...a project in evolution...the female form as portrayed in an often sensual manner in memorial art.
When examining advertising campaigns throughout history different political, economic, and social issues are very obvious. Advertising always seems to mirror not only what is occurring across mass society, but also the themes unique to a diverse group of sub cultures in society during a particular time period. After closely exploring fashion ads throughout history it was clear how the ideas about body image have changed over time. Gradually it has become acceptable to show more and more skin and advertising in general has become much more sexualized. In the book Adorned in Dreams, Elizabeth Wilson explained how people have used fashion as a way to represent themselves and their reactions to society across the decades. She says, “In all societies the body is ‘dressed’, and everywhere dress and adornment play symbolic, communicative and aesthetic roles. Dress is always ‘unspeakably meaningful’.” Wilson goes on to describe how in the twentieth century the integrity of dress has progressed to disassociate itself from the rigid behavioral codes that once sustained it. Fashion has been freed to become both an aesthetic vehicle for experiments in taste and political means of expression for dissidence, rebellion and social reform. In this book Elizabeth has set up an important foundation for further analysis into current fashion advertising. Many of the issues presented in contemporary advertising convey very similar messages about body images; however more distinctions can be made based on the market a particular ad is targeting.
As illustrated through the movie “Happiness Machines”, an important tool in advertising is the ability to create desire. The “desire”/ Consumer society was born after World War I as a response to the fears of the new industrial society that was a product in America from the war. Based on what Bernays had previously learned from his Uncle, Sigmund Freud, about the human mind and subconscious thinking, he realized this would require him to transform the way society thought about products and turn America from a needs based society into a desire culture. He had to create the new types of customers. Bernays began to create many of the techniques of mass consumer persuasion we still use today. He began to glamorize products by placing advertisements linking products with celebrities who used them. He used product placements in movies and dressed the stars for film premiers with the clothes and jewelry from other firms her represented. He told car companies they could sell cars as symbols of male sexuality. He also employed psychologists to claim a product was good for you and pretended they were independent studies. Finally he paid celebrities to repeat the new and essential message; you bought things not just out of need but to express your inner sense of yourself to others. “Wearing certain clothes will make you more attractive”. This caused a change in society called consumerism.
Today desire is still constructed through political, cultural, and economic conditions, but it is also invested with the power to authorize and normalize those conditions (Helstein, That’s Who I Want to be: The Politics and Production of Desire within Nike Advertising to Women). Susan Bordo described how ads play off of the female fear of food and desire to gain control. In Hunger as Ideology Susan Bordo explains the negative effects advertising has on womens’ body image. Throughout history advertising has played off of womens’ fear of food and desire to gain control and while doing so has embedded the idea that men are superior to women and food should be feared by women, as it is a sign of weakness. Marketers try to sell products by showing it as a tool to gain control over some aspect of their lives. Not only do advertisements play off of females’ struggle for control, they also must be considered as gender ideology- that is, as specifically servicing the cultural reproduction of gender differences and gender inequality, quite independent of marketing concerns. Although it is arguable, these desires seems to be an underlying theme in most advertisements. Different markets have unique desires that take precedence in their lives, thus the major distinctions between modern fashion ads lies in the specific market a brand is targeting.
One of the most dominant types of fashion advertising is that of high-end brands. The pages of fashion magazines are filled with ads for brands such as Gucci, Dolce and Gabbana, Fendi, Christian Dior, and Prada just to name a few. Although all the brands have unique ads with their distinct trademark on them, there is an eerie similarity between them all. Slender, blonde, Caucasian females seem to dominate the script for high-end fashion advertising. Although in the 21st century advertising seems to becoming more culturally diverse, even the “ethnic” models have very westernized features. The typical ad depicts this female adorned in the latest fashions by the designer and is preposterously posed in a glamorous setting. Often times sex appeal is created either from the way the model is posed or the ‘lack’ of clothing covering her body. Occasionally males are used in these ads as an accessory to the women. Although society in general has become immune to these imagines since they have become so common, the messages they enforce about body images are not acceptable.
According to The Beauty Myth, as found in the Naomi Wolf readings, a thin, white, blonde woman is considered the 'perfect woman' and the most beautiful woman to feature. The typical high-end fashion ad plays to that stereotype. In The Beauty Myth, Wolf argues that it is men that create this idea of what or whom is "beautiful". It is the men in society that deem white, thin, blonde woman as beautiful, not women. Men create these "beauties" so that culture can remain male and male dominated, as argued by Wolf. The idea of male dominance is very clear in the advertising industry. The readings from Fresh Lipstick by Scott support this idea of the male dominated gaze. Scott mentioned that a male point-of-view shot is just another way for men to continue to dominate society.
This first set of ads comes from the Fall/Winter 2007 fashion ad campaigns of some of the top high-end designers in the industry. Many of the models are either well known super models of famous celebrities. Ads like these are extremely common today in the fashion industry. They are neither innovative nor distinct and they only help to reinforce the body image crisis currently plaguing the general public.
The role the fashion industry plays on society is haunting. The westernized ideals and images of beauty are rapidly scattering through humanity. As discussed in Making the Body Beautiful by Gilman, aesthetic surgery is a growing industry. More and more people want to have western features and the age of the patients undergoing these surgeries keeps getting younger. Gilman said, “Patients seeking rhinoplasty…frequently show signs of guilt-tinged, second-generation rejection of their ethnic background masked by excuses, such as not photographing well.” When people are constantly bombarded with images of Caucasian females modeling the latest fashions and depicted as the “ideal beauty” it creates a desire to have those same features. “Happiness in our modern world is in part defined by the desire to vanish into the world beyond ourselves where there is no difference. We want to become happy like everyone else and thus be absolutely unique in our happiness. This contradiction is at the heart of the matter. The heart of the matter in aesthetic surgery is the common human desire to ‘pass’ (Gilman, 330).” By filling the fashion magazines with models that all share similar features it creates the idea that through plastic surgery one can achieve those same features and in doing so fit into society.
Another popular type of high-end fashion advertising is shock value. Certain brands choose to fulfill their consumer’s need for desire by use of shock value. These ads typically depict a fantasy world in which they illustrate deep desires that might not be considered proper to openly discuss. An example of this type of advertising is the Fall/Winter 2007 ad campaign by Dolce and Gabbana. According to Domenico Dolce the image is artistic and was meant to “recall an erotic dream, a sexual game.” Protesters complained that the ad depicted rape and was demeaning to women. Spain’s Labor and Social Affairs Ministry said in a statement, “One could infer from the advertisement that it is acceptable to use force as a way of imposing oneself on a woman, reinforced by the passive and complicit manner of the men looking on.”
This ad continues to be filled with Caucasian individuals all scantily clad and exposing extremely cut bodies. Naomi Wolf, in The Beauty Myth, explains how images such as this can have negative consequences on men as well as women. “So powerful is pornography, and so smoothly does it blend in with the advertising of products…that many women find their own fantasies and self-images distorted too…So rare is it to see sexual explicitness in the context of love and intimacy on screen that it seems our culture treats tender sexuality as if it were deviant or deprived, while embracing violent or degrading sex as right and healthy (Wolf, 140).” Men also face the stereotypic ideal of how they are supposed to look and act; men must be in shape, toned, tall, with good hair, teeth and eyes. Today, men make up one-third of all cosmetic surgeries. Images are damaging and may lead to inferiority and inadequacy, and can lead to cosmetic surgery. Men are finally understanding and feeling the affects that advertising and unrealistic expectations of beauty. However, women have been dealing with these issues throughout history.
Along with enforcing very negative messages about body images through the use of male positioning and facial expressions the ad creates a very negative message about male superiority. The men is this ad are holding the female down and forcing themselves upon her. She looks on with a very blank expression, implying that she is dazed and not enjoying herself. The men in the background are just looking on and not doing anything to help her or interfere with the act. In Fresh Lipstick Scott mentions the arguments Beauvior makes that women have an inbreed fear of being raped and becoming the sexual prey of men. Women learn to see themselves as an object viewed from the outside, thus she begins to dress in a way to attract a lover. This involves imagining how one might appear to the desired male (226). This ad perpetuates this fear and seems to allocate rape.
Although the ad campaigns for high-end fashion brands may seem innocent at first glance, upon further investigation it is obvious that they are enforcing negative messages about body image. If these brands clutter society with so many negative messages surrounding body images, how can they continue to remain so popular? It seems as though the designers of these ads knows that their main audience viewing their actual campaigns are not their actual clients purchasing the products. The majority of the people who wear these clothes have personal shoppers or stylists who buy their clothes for them. Rather, the images in these ads are designed to create a desire among a lower class of society to achieve this rich and luxurious lifestyle; however, the consequences resulting from the message of how to achieve this particular lifestyle is devastating.
In Self-Help, Inc. McGee describes how there is a growing interest in the self-help society. The movement can be traced all the way back to the Bible as the first example of a self-help book. Today there is a book to teach people how to help themselves succeed in just about every aspect of life. Advertising seems to foster self-anxieties and endless imperfections. It is important to acknowledge the growth of this trend in society since it seems to parallel a slow shift toward more conscious advertising. In the early 1990s sales of self help books went up 6% following the trends in society of unemployment and a bad economy. In the past ten years there has been a noticeable amount of ads produced in effort to portray positive messages about the body.
The ad campaign by the French brand Nolita is an attempt to create a more positive message about the body image. The author of the campaign is famous Italian photographer Oliviero Toscani. The campaign is designed toward young women who keep up with fashion and is called to draw public attention to such awful disease as anorexia. The ad billboards feature a 27 years old French woman named Isabella Caro who weighs a mere 68 pounds. She says that she has decided to show her body for people to know and to see how the disease impacts the body. It is common knowledge that there is a major problem with eating disorders in the fashion industry. As previously mentioned the typical model has an abnormally tall slender frame. Maintaining this body image is generally unnatural, but models will go to any length to ensure that they stay at a dangerously low body weight.
Women are continually bombarded with advertisements and commercials for weight-loss products and programs. This type of advertising has been around for a long time and continues to enforce negative views of food for women. The media starts targeting girls from a young age and over time the idea is cemented in girl’s heads that food is bad. Many of the advertisements show the power that food has over women. They illustrate how the female psyche is in a constant state of starvation through their efforts to sell products that can create a “cool” or casual relationship with food for women. The issues surrounding food are a lot deeper and more serious than advertisements are willing to admit. Most often women feel upset and depressed and unhappy when they discuss compulsive eating or over indulgence. Since the Victorian era it has been considered taboo to show women eating, particularly in sensuous surrender to rich, exciting food (Hunger as Ideology, Susan Bordo).
Naomi Wolf made a lot of important points about the gravity of eating disorders. She illustrated how it is a vicious cycle that can often lead to death. When people diet the body often feels as if it is starving and chemicals in the head get messed up. It is really hard to control and basically anyone who diets is at equal risk for becoming anorexic or bulimic. Female fat is a sign of sexuality and reproductive ability. There have never been any studies on females that indicate being over weight can lead to other health concerns or put them at higher risk for death. Every study that has been done on obesity has involved male subjects; yet, females are the ones put under constant pressure from society and the media to be thin. It is acceptable for men to be fat, and men should have hardy appetites. It is age old and universal that if there is ever a shortage of food the women are the first to do without. In reality women really need just about as many calories as men and women suffer more serious problems if they are malnourished. Eating disorders effect a significant population in society. It is really scary because it is such a psychological problem that is seems there is no real way to prevent any one person from getting it unless the entire mind set of basically the world is transformed (The Beauty Myth, 179-116).
This ad from Nolita is defiantly a step in the right direction; however it does not do enough. Rather than say how to help someone with an eating disorder it almost seems to criticize the individual with the problem. People with eating disorders already have very flawed and negative self-images. Although this image is not seen as sexualized at all, it is merely because of the condition the model is in. She is still naked and being shot from a male gaze. It seems like a more effective approach would be to illustrate ways to prevent the problem or find a path to recovery; however, it is nice to see the problem is finally being recognized in the fashion industry.
Although the fashion industry is filled with images that perpetuate negative body images in society there seems to be some hope for improvement in the new century. It is very difficult to find ads that do a really good job of portraying positive body images, but they do exist. Some brands do a really good job of producing campaigns that portray a positive body image. United Colors of Benetton has a really unique campaign. It is interesting to note that the photographer for this campaign is also Oliviero Toscani, who shot the pictures of Isabella Caro for the Nolita campaign. Benetton Group's advertising campaigns are not only a means of communication but an expression of our time. Through their universal impact, they have succeeded in attracting the attention of the public and in standing out amid the current clutter of images.
The latest campaign by the United Colors of Benetton depicts the faces of four different species of apes. The print reads, “If we don’t do anything to save them, in ten to 15 years the great apes could disappear from the majority of the areas where they now live.” There were about two million chimps in Africa one hundred years ago, now there are little more than 150,000. They are dying out as a result of the expanding human population, deforestation, the destruction of their habitat, hunting and traps. The situation of mountain gorillas and orang-utans is even worse. The number of wild apes is falling while the number of orphans in sanctuaries is rising. This campaign does a great job of bringing awareness to important social issues. Some of the other ads depict the problems with starvation, AIDS and heart disease to name a few. Several of the communication projects created by Fabrica, Benetton’s research center have also been developed in cooperation with prestigious associations (including FAO, UNV, WFP) obtaining important acknowledgements at an international level.
Although these ads do not show the clothes, it creates the desire to help fight these problems. Through the campaign people realize that United Colors of Benetton does a lot of work with different organizations and that through buying this brand they are helping to support a very good cause. In that sense it is effective in creating a desire and does not perpetuate the negative body images that the fashion industry has been continually associated with.
Another genre of fashion advertising that seems to do a good job of portraying positive body images is in campaigns for athletic apparel. Currently both Adidas and Nike are attempting to produce campaigns that generate positive body images and messages. Nike’s campaign is a good effort to demonstrate more positive messages about body image, but it has been causing a lot of controversy. Nike’s new ad campaign, “Big Butts, Thunder Thighs, and Tomboy Knees” has been criticized because they highlight the butt, thighs, and knees of women athletes who could hardly by any means be considered out of shape. The campaign seems to have back fired and while those butts, thighs and knees should be praised, the manner that the ad presents the body parts almost condemns them. As explained in The Beauty Myth by Naomi Wolf, in modern society women are expected to have split personalities and lifestyles. Women feel pulled in different directions, such as housewife, working women, athletic social, etc. It seemed that this would have been a great opportunity for Nike to reach the diverse desires of all women, but this campaign does not seem to be there quite yet.
While the campaign seems to have stayed away from the typical genre of fashion advertising, it is not very effective in creating a more positive body image. The images are black and white and shot in a way to eliminate the male gaze or cultural inequalities. However, the depiction of these well-oiled, muscle crunching body parts has sparked some questions. If the message is supposed to be about authenticity, hard work, and in-your-face reality, how about showing a little more sweat and a little less creatine? Furthermore, this ad seems to be appealing to current Nike customers while the whole point of advertising is to try and attract new consumers. Finally, the ad is a copy of the dove campaign which totally strips it of any creative or unique credit the campaign could have been given.
The Adidas campaign launches a new global basketball movement featuring NBA All-Stars Tracy McGrady, Kevin Garnett, Tim Duncan, Chauncey Billups and Gilbert Arenas. The movement of the “It Takes 5IVE” campaign is based on the idea of believing in something bigger than the individual-believing in five, believing in team. Adidas wanted to tap into the idea that there is more to the game then just individual achievement and focus on the value of being part of a team. That is the true spirit of the game of basketball. By bringing together five of the game’s most successful athletes and having them deliver the message that real success can only come from being part of a team, and that any individual achievements cannot measure to the success that five players on the court can achieve together shows that teamwork is the most essential aspect to a team sport.
This campaign seems to do a much better job of creating a positive message; however the message creates a desire for team work to help you succeed. While this is a good message, it is not a positive message about body image. Since this campaign stays away from assisting the fashion industry in creating negative body images and more importantly negative overall messages, it is a pretty good campaign.
Finally there are a few campaigns from popular designers that do a rather good job of staying away from continuing the negative body images being produced by the fashion industry. Both Tommy Hilfigure and Old Navy have ads that completely stay away from the body and in that sense they are not effective at creating a positive body image either, rather they are neutral. In the Tommy Hilfigure ad a herd of sheep are standing in front of an American Flag and the tag line reads “follow the flock.” This ad is cute and creates the desire to fit in and then eludes to the idea that through buying Tommy Hilfigure clothing you will be like everyone else; however, as previously stated, people in society today desire control over their destination and the idea of being like everyone else seems to distract from the notion of controlling one’s destiny. The Old Navy ad also uses animals by creating ads depicting images of their icon dog. These ads are effective at getting the name of the brand to the public, but it creates no desire and is therefore not as effective as the Tommy Hilfigure ad.
Overall, fashion advertising is dominated by ads that encourage negative body image through highly sexualized poses, a majority of male gazes, and unrealistic body types. There is not enough cultural diversity in today’s fashion advertising. The ads are effective at creating desire; however, the desire is to achieve unrealistic and unhealthy goals. In the past few years some very significant changes have been made, but it isn’t enough right now. It is a gradual process so it will probably take some time before any major noticeable differences appear on the pages of the top fashion magazines. Hopefully the steps that are taking place now will have a lasting positive impact on the body images created through future fashion advertising.
From my set entitled ‘Sumac”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/sets/72157607186471302/
In my collection entitled “The Garden”
www.flickr.com/photos/21861018@N00/collections/7215760718...
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sumac (also spelled sumach) is any one of approximately 250 species of flowering plants in the genus Rhus and related genera, in the family Anacardiaceae. The dried berries of some species are ground to produce a tangy purple spice often used in juice.
Sumacs grow in subtropical and warm temperate regions throughout the world, especially in North America.
Sumacs are shrubs and small trees that can reach a height of 1-10 meters. The leaves are spirally arranged; they are usually pinnately compound, though some species have trifoliate or simple leaves. The flowers are in dense panicles or spikes 5-30 cm long, each flower very small, greenish, creamy white or red, with five petals. The fruits form dense clusters of reddish drupes called sumac bobs.
Sumacs propagate both by seed (spread by birds and other animals through their droppings), and by new sprouts from rhizomes, forming large clonal colonies.
The drupes of the genus Rhus are ground into a deep-red or purple powder used as a spice in Middle Eastern cuisine to add a lemony taste to salads or meat; in the Turkish cuisine e.g. added to salad-servings of kebabs and lahmacun. In North America, the smooth sumac (Rhus glabra), and the staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina), are sometimes used to make a beverage, termed "sumac-ade" or "Indian lemonade" or "rhus juice". This drink is made by soaking the drupes in cool water, rubbing them to extract the essence, straining the liquid through a cotton cloth and sweetening it. Native Americans also used the leaves and berries of the smooth and staghorn sumacs combined with tobacco in traditional smoking mixtures.
Species including the fragrant sumac (Rhus aromatica), the littleleaf sumac (R. microphylla), the skunkbush sumac (R. trilobata), the smooth sumac and the staghorn sumac are grown for ornament, either as the wild types or as cultivars.
The leaves of certain sumacs yield tannin (mostly pyrogallol), a substance used in vegetable tanning. Leather tanned with sumac is flexible, light in weight, and light in color, even bordering on being white.
Dried sumac wood is fluorescent under long-wave UV light. Mowing of sumac is not a good control measure as the wood is springy resulting in jagged, sharp pointed stumps when mowed. The plant will quickly recover with new growth after mowing. See Nebraska Extension Service publication G97-1319 for suggestions as to control.
At times Rhus has held over 250 species. Recent molecular phylogeny research suggests breaking Rhus sensu lata into Actinocheita, Baronia, Cotinus, Malosma, Searsia, Toxicodendron, and Rhus sensu stricta. If this is done, about 35 species would remain in Rhus. However, the data is not yet clear enough to settle the proper placement of all species into these genera.
The day trip up to the park ended with an unexpected finish. Throughout the day, snow flurries and heavy clouds came and went. By the end of the day, the light was totally flat with no sign of changing. Stopping at Valley View was a last second decision due to several parking places being available. While waiting for a possible change in the light on El Capitan, a ray of light started skimming the ridge on the far right and captured this image. The light did finally touch the top of El Capitan that I was consecrating on - posted next to this one.
Post: Luminar 4 was used for the processing.
After raining throughout the whole of Christmas Day, this stunning sunset was the best gift possible.
Things started very strangely with a gray band of cloud, meeting clear sky in a straight line all along the sky where the two areas met. Even before the sunset began the whole sky was wonderful.
When the sun went down it resulted in the cloudy part of the sky becoming a huge raging fire with a thin ribbon of yellow where the sun had just disappeared. It really was an impressive sight and the most perfect end to the day.
Copyright © 2008 f2 Photography
Please Note: This image may not be used for any purpose without written permission from F-2 Photography. You are NOT allowed to download, blog, print, broadcast, publish, use in a mosaic, use on a forum, distribute, change and/or manipulate this image for commercial, private or non-commercial reasons.
-Let There be Light –
42 Nights, over 28 Light Based Installations in 25 Locations throuhout Downtown Long Beach
Self Guided walking tour map and Cell Phone Audio Tour Guide available throughout Downtown and will be downloadable at
www.DowntownLongBeachArtWalk.com
Every Night is Art Walk Night this Holiday Season in Downtown Long Beach.
December 1 – January 10, 2010
Pedestrian Viewing 5pm - 1 am Nightly
Some exhibits are 24/7 Some Exhibits can only be viewed at night.
Pedestrian viewing Art Walk and Audio Tour throughout Downtown Long Beach.
Reception: December 19 5pm-9pm
"Let There Be Light"
Curated by Liza Simone
Richard Ankrom, Kent Anderson Butler, Laddie John Dill, Nancy Braver, Enrique Chiu, Susan Chorpenning, McLean Fahnestock, Candice Gawne, Richard Godfrey, Parichard Holm, Beth King, Helen Lessick, Karen Lofgren, Justin Lui, Joella March, Eric Medine, Uudam Nguyen, Rebecca Niederlander, Christina Pierson, Astra Price, Jeremy J Quinn, Deanne Sabeck, Ben Shaffer, Klutch Stanaway, David Svenson, Kazumi Svenson, Philip Vaughan, Meeson Pae Yang.
Experimental Video Project space at the Pike. Produced by Video Earth. VideoEarth.com
Call for projects. Equipment provided.
Phantom Galleries L.A. brightens up this holiday season by enlivening the streets of Downtown Long Beach with 28 light-based art exhibitions that illuminate 23-plus vacant storefront windows along Downtown Long Beach’s Pine Avenue, East 3rd Street, The Promenade and The Pike at Rainbow Harbor.
Each exhibition and site-specific installation is accompanied by a Guide by Cell Audio Tour, allowing viewers to listen to an illuminating description of the art on view.
Trifold map and of the exhibition sites are available at various Downtown Long Beach restaurants, vendors, hotels, as well as at exhibition locales. Maps may also be downloaded from PhantomGalleriesLA.com. The exhibitions are on view 24/7, yet it is recommended 5 pm- 1am order to see all the works turned on and at its best and brightest.
Deeane Sabeck, Beth King, Candice Gawne curated by Liza Mitchell. To make an appointment contact:
Parichard Holm curated by Ten Terrell.
Laddie John Dill, Candice Gawne, David and Kazumi Svenson recommended by the Museum of Neon Art.
New Site Specific work by Nancy Braver, Laddie John Dill, McLean Fahenstock, Helen Lessick, Christina Pierson, Ben Schaffer, Philip Vaughn, Meeson Pae Yang
Highlights (more info TBA)
Returning Phantom Galleries L.A. artist Richard Godfrey’s site-specific TwentyFourSeven installation is an exciting integration of light, space, and motion. His piece, TwentyFourSeven, is in constant rotation and infuses the storefront in a vibrant hue. (on view thru March 1, 2010)
Susan Chorpenning will present Fiat Lux IV, her most ambitious installment of her series Fiat Lux (“Let There Be Light,”), three in the series presented through Phantom Galleries L.A. The dazzling new work expands 11 ft x 35 ft, and will invigorate the space with the joyous commingling of numerous brightly-colored twinkle lights, lava lamps, collored bulb and light based works, both wall-bound and strung.
Known for his iconic neon sculpture set atop the Hayward Gallery in London, Philip Vaughn will present the West Coast debut of “Color Chart 1” featuring a colorful cascade of neon tubes.
Nancy Braver will display an enchanting mobile-like piece comprised of die-cut luminous butterflies, made of mirror that float, swirl, and cast a warm glow.
Laddie John Dill, a Los Angeles native, who was born in Long Beach creates a new site speicifc work utilizing silica sand mix and neon. (more info tba)
Seven days a week, from dusk till dawn, Long Beach locals and visitors, holiday shoppers, and art-minded and art-curious alike can embark on a self-guided Art Walk and Audio Tour of Let There be Light. At each storefront, viewers can connect via cell phone with a personalized message from the exhibiting artist or curator through the Guide by Cell Audio Tour, presented in partnership with The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency.
Trifold map and of the exhibition sites are available at various Downtown Long Beach restaurants, vendors, hotels, as well as at various exhibition locales. Maps may also be downloaded from PhantomGalleriesLA.com. The exhibitions are on view 24/7, yet it is recomended 5 pm- 1am order to see all the works turned on and at its best and brightest.
Partners "The Long Beach Redevelopment Agency is proud to partner with Phantom Galleries LA, not only to revive empty storefronts along our major corridors, but also to showcase the arts and build a sense of community and culture in our Downtown," said Craig Beck, Executive Director of the Long Beach Redevelopment Agency. LongBeachRDA.org
www.DowntownLongBeachArtWalk.com
Richard Ankrom
Kent Anderson Butler
Nancy Braver
Susan Chorpenning
www.phantomgalleriesla.com/gallery0168.htm
www.phantomgalleriesla.com/gallery0047.htm
SusanChor.com
Laddie John Dill
LaddieJohnDill.com
Refferred to by Kim Koga of the Museum of Neon Art
Enrique Chiu
enriquechiu.webs.com/
McLean Fahnestock
Richard Godfrey
Candice Gawne curated by Liza Mitchell
Parichard Holm
ParichardHolm.com
Helen Lessick
Karen Lofgren
Justin Lui
Joella March
Eric Medine
EricMedine.com
Rebecca Niederlander
UuDam Nguyen
Christina Pierson
ChristinaPierson.com
Astra Price
dwapproductions.com
Jeremy J Quinn
Deanne Sabeck
www.deannesabeck.com/index.htm
Ben Shaffer
Foreverever.com
KlutchStanaway.com
SolowayJonesGallery.com
Kazumi Kobayashi Svenson
David Svenson
Recommended by Kim Koga of The Neon Art Museum
Philip Vaughan
www.philipvaughan.net/sculpture.html
Meeson Pae Yang
Experimental Video Project Space
Various Artists TBA
Made Possible by VideoEarth.com
During early spring throughout Somerset, Frogs wake from hibernation and make the journey to a suitable pond to spawn.
I knew of a woodland location near a very active pond so I decided one night to grab my touch and search the area just as the light was fading.
On the way to this woodland I spotted multiple frog moving in the direction of this pond so I decided to head into the wood with my touch and see if I could spot a frog or two. Woodland areas are sheltered so they make idea locations for toads and frogs to hibernation and live.
It took around an hour and I spotted a frog hopping near a path in the woods. This is an image from that evening.
I will be adding a couple portfolios on my Wild Projects site soon when I get a spare moment.
Throughout their entire range, the Southern Hognose resides within the range of the congeneric Eastern Hognose (H. platirhinos). They both can be found within same microhabitat. Eastern Hognose, though, have a much more widespread range and are able to inhabit a broader range of habitats.
These two species are frog and toad specialists and contain several adaptations to aid in feeding on this prey item. An upturned and spade shaped rostral (nose) scale is used for digging in the loose sand and soil for burrowing toads and their enlarged rear fangs can be used to deflate these toads, which inflate themselves with air in an effort to make themselves more difficult to eat. Also, they seem to be immune to the bufotoxin which is secreted by certain toads they feed upon. All this said, both species have been known to eat rodents, salamanders and even eggs on occasion.
Lakhta .This small village on the northern shore of the Gulf of Finland, about 15 km northwest of the city, is home to human settlements on the banks of the Neva. It was on the territory of Lakhta that the remains of a man’s parking site of three thousand years ago were found.
In official documents, a settlement named Lakhta dates back to 1500. The name is derived from the Finnish-speaking word lahti - "bay". This is one of the few settlements that has not changed its name throughout its 500-year history. Also known as Laches, Lahes-by, Lahes and was originally inhabited by Izhora. In the last decades of the 15th century, Lakhta was a village (which indicates a significant population) and was the center of the eponymous grand-parish volost, which was part of the Spassko-Gorodensky graveyard of the Orekhovsky district of the Vodskaya Pyatina. In the village, there were 10 courtyards with 20 people (married men). In Lakhta, on average, there were 2 families per yard, and the total population of the village probably reached 75 people.
From the notes on the margins of the Swedish scribe book of the Spassky graveyard of 1640, it follows that the lands along the lower reaches of the Neva River and parts of the Gulf of Finland, including Lakhta Karelskaya, Perekulya (from the Finnish “back village”, probably because of its position relative to Lakhti) and Konduy Lakhtinsky, were royal by letter of honor on January 15, 1638 transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickschulz general Bernhard Sten von Stenhausen, a Dutchman by birth. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted these lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). With the arrival of the Swedes in Prievye, Lakhta was settled by the Finns, who until the middle of the 20th century made up the vast majority of the villagers.
On December 22, 1766, Catherine 2 granted Lakhta Manor, which was then in the Office of the Chancellery from the buildings of palaces and gardens, "in which and in her villages with courtyards 208 souls," her favorite Count Orlov. Not later than 1768, Count J.A. Bruce took over the estate. In 1788, Lakhta Manor was listed behind him with wooden services on a dry land (high place) and the villages Lakhta, Dubki, Lisiy Nos and Konnaya belonging to it also on dry land, in those villages of male peasants 238 souls. On May 1, 1813, Lakhta passed into the possession of the landowners of the Yakovlevs. On October 5, 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered into the possession of the Lakhtinsky estate, which then had 255 male souls. This clan was the owner of the estate until 1912, when its last representative got into debt and noble custody was established over the estate. On October 4, 1913, in order to pay off his debts, he was forced to go for corporatization, and the Lakhta estate passed into the ownership of the Joint Stock Company “Lakhta” of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co.
After the revolution, Lakhta was left on its own for a while, here on the former estate of the counts Stenbock-Fermorov on May 19, 1919, the Lakhta excursion station was opened, which existed there until 1932. In the early 1920s, sand mining began on Lakhta beaches, and the abandoned and dilapidated peat plant of the Lakhta estate in 1922 took over the Oblzemotdel and put it into operation after major repairs. In 1963, the village of Lakhta was included in the Zhdanovsky (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
At the beginning of Lakhtinsky Prospekt, on the banks of the Lakhtinsky spill, there was the village of Rakhilax (Rahilax-hof, Rahila, Rokhnovo). Most likely, under this name only one or several courtyards are designated. There is an assumption that the name of the village was formed from the Finnish raahata - “drag, drag,” because there could be a place for transportation through the isthmus of the Lakhtinsky spill (we should not forget that not only the bridge over the channel connecting the spill with the Gulf of Finland was not yet here, the duct itself was many times wider than the current one). The search book of the Spassko-Gorodensky graveyard of 1573, describing the Lakhta lands, mentions that there were 2 lodges in the “Rovgunov” village, from which we can conclude that we are talking about the village of Rohilaks, which the Russian scribes remade into a more understandable to them Rovgunovo. The village was empty in Swedish time and was counted as a wasteland of the village of Lahta.
On the banks of the Lakhtinsky spill, near the confluence of the Yuntolovka River, from the 17th century there existed the village of Bobylka (Bobylskaya), which merged into the village of Olgino only at the beginning of the 20th century, but was found on maps until the 1930s. It is probably the Search Book that mentions it Spassko-Gorodensky churchyard in 1573 as a village "in Lakhta in Perekui", behind which there was 1 obzh. With the arrival of the Swedes by royal letter on January 15, 1638, the village was transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickshaw General Bernhard Sten von Stenhausen, a Dutchman by birth. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted Lahti lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). On the Swedish map of the 1670s, in the place of the village of Bobylsky, the village of Lahakeülä is marked (küla - the village (Fin.)). The village could subsequently be called Bobyl from the Russian word "bobyl."
The owners of Bobylskaya were both Count Orlov, and Count Y. A. Bruce, and the landowners Yakovlev. In 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered into the possession of the Lakhtinsky estate (which included the village of Bobyl). This family was the owner of the estate until 1913, when the owners, in order to pay off their debts, had to go for corporatization, and the Lakhta estate was transferred to the ownership of the Lakhta Joint-Stock Company of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co. By the middle of the 20th century, the village merged with the village of Lakhta.
The name Konnaya Lakhta (Konnaya) has been known since the 16th century, although earlier it sounded like Konduya (Konduya Lakhtinskaya) or just Kondu (from the Finnish kontu - courtyard, manor). Subsequently, this name was replaced by the more familiar Russian ear with the word "Horse". In the Search Book of the Spassko-Gorodensky Pogost in 1573, it is mentioned as the village "on Kovdui", where 1 obzh was listed, which indicates that there most likely was one yard. On January 15, 1638, together with neighboring villages, it was transferred to the possession of the Stockholm dignitary, Rickschulz General Bernhard Steen von Stenhausen, of Dutch origin. On October 31, 1648, the Swedish government granted these lands to the city of Nyuen (Nyenschanz). In a deed of gift, Konduya Lakhtinskaya is called a village, which indicates a noticeable increase in its population. Later, on the Swedish map of the 1670s, on the site of the present Horse Lahti, the village of Konda-bai is marked (by - village (sv)).
The owners of Konnaya Lakhta, as well as the villages of Bobylskaya and Lakhta, were in turn Count Orlov, Count Ya. A. Bruce, and the landowners Yakovlev. In 1844, Count A.I. Stenbok-Fermor entered the possession of the Lakhta estate (which included Konnaya Lakhta. This family was the owner of the estate until 1913, when the owners had to go to corporations to pay off their debts, and the Lakhta estate became the property of Lakhta Joint Stock Company of Count Stenbock-Fermor and Co. In 1963, Horse Lahta was included in the Zhdanov (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
As the dacha village of Olgino appeared at the end of the 19th century and initially consisted of both Olgin itself and the villages of Vladimirovka (now part of Lisiy Nos) and Aleksandrovka. In the first half of the 18th century, this territory was part of the Verpelev palace estate, which in the second half of the 18th century was granted to Count G. G. Orlov, then it was owned by the family of landowners the Yakovlevs, in the middle of the 19th century the estate was transferred to the counts of Stenbock-Fermor. In 1905 A.V. Stenbok-Fermor, the then owner of Lakhta lands, divided the lands around Lakhta into separate plots with the intention of selling them profitably for dachas. So there were the villages of Olgino (named after the wife of Olga Platonovna), Vladimirovka (in honor of the father of the owner; the coastal part of the modern village of Lisy Nos) and Alexandrov or Aleksandrovskaya (in honor of Alexander Vladimirovich himself). It is likely that on the site of the village was the village of Olushino (Olushino odhe) - a search book of the Spassko-Gorodensky churchyard in 1573 mentions that there were 1 obzh in the village of Olushkov’s, which suggests that at least one residential the yard. On behalf of Olushka (Olpherius). Most likely, the village was deserted in Swedish time and then was already listed as a wasteland belonging to the village of Lahta. Thus, the name of the village could be given in harmony with the name of the mistress and the old name of the village.
The villages were planned among a sparse pine forest (the layout was preserved almost unchanged), so there were more amenities for living and spending time there than in Lakhta. A park was set up here, a summer theater, a sports ("gymnastic") playground, a tennis court, and a yacht club were arranged.
In the 1910s about 150 winter cottages were built in Olgino, many of which are striking monuments of "summer cottage" architecture. In 1963, the village of Olgino was included in the Zhdanovsky (Primorsky) district of Leningrad (St. Petersburg).
Near Olgino, in the area of the Dubki park, there was a small village Verpeleva (Verpelevo), which consisted of only a few yards. In the first half of the XVIII century. this territory was part of the palace estate "Verpeleva", which in the second half of the XVIII century. It was granted to Count G. G. Orlov, then passed to the Counts of Stenbock-Fermor. The village has not existed for a long time, but the entire reed-covered peninsula (barely protruding above the water of the Verpier-Luda peninsula (Verper Luda (from the Finnish luoto - “small rocky island”)) still existed, and there was another spelling the name of this island is Var Pala Ludo).
Kamenka. The Novgorod scribal book mentions two villages in the Lakhta region with a similar name, referring to the possessions of Selivan Zakharov, son of Okhten, with his son and 5 other co-owners. On the lands of this small patrimony, which, unlike the estate was inherited, peasants lived in 3 villages, including: the village "Kamenka in Lakhta near the sea" in 5 yards with 5 people and arable land in 1,5 obzhi, the village "on Kamenka "in 2 courtyards with 2 people and arable land in 1 obzhu. For the use of land, the peasants paid the owners of the patrimony 16 money and gave 1/3 of the rye harvest. Thus, in the 16th century on the Kamenka River (another name for the Kiviyoki River, which is the literal translation of kivi - "stone", joki - "river") there was one large village of Kamenka near its confluence with the Lakhtinsky spill and the second, smaller, somewhere upstream. On the drawing of Izhora land in 1705, a village under this name is depicted in the area of the modern village of Kamenka. The village of Kamennaya in the middle reaches of Kamenka and on the map of 1792 is designated. Other name options are Kaumenkka, Kiviaja.
In the second half of the 18th century, Kamenka became a vacation spot for Russian Germans. Here in 1865, German colonists founded their "daughter" colony on leased land. Since then, the village has received the name Kamenka Colony (so called until the 1930s). In 1892, a colony near the village of Volkovo "budded" from it. The inhabitants of both colonies belonged to the Novo-Saratov parish and since 1871 had a prayer house in Kamenka, which was visited by 250 people. He maintained a school for 40 students. The house was closed in 1935 and later demolished.
Currently, Kamenka exists as a holiday village, located along the road to Levashovo. Since 1961 - in the city, part of the planning area in the North-West, from the mid-1990s. built up with multi-storey residential buildings and cottages.
Volkovo. The settlement is about southeast of the village of Kamenka - on the old road to Kamenka, on the bank of a stream that flows into Kamenka between the village of Kamenka and the Shuvalovsky quarry. In 1892, a German colony emerged on the territory of the village, "budding" from a nearby colony in the village of Kamenka. The origin of Volkovo is not clear, the village is found only on maps of 1912, 1930, 1939, 1943. and probably appeared no earlier than the 19th century.
Kolomyagi. Scribe books of the XV — XVI centuries and Swedish plans testify that small settlements already existed on the site of Kolomyag. Most likely, these were first Izhora or Karelian, then Finnish farms, which were empty during the hostilities of the late XVII century.
The name "Kolomyag" connoisseurs decipher in different ways. Some say that it came from the "colo" - in Finnish cave and "pulp" - a hill, a hill. The village is located on the hills, and such an interpretation is quite acceptable. Others look for the root of the name in the Finnish word "koaa" - bark - and believe that trees were processed here after felling. Another version of the origin of the name from the Finnish "kello" is the bell, and it is associated not with the feature of the mountain, but with the "bell on the mountain" - a tower with a signal bell standing on a hill.
The owners of Kolomyazhsky lands were Admiral General A.I. Osterman, Count A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, a family of Volkonsky. In 1789, the Volkonskys sold these lands to retired colonel Sergei Savvich Yakovlev. On his estate S. S. Yakovlev built a manor and lived in it with his wife and seven daughters. The once-Finnish population of Kolomyag was “Russified” by that time - it was made up of descendants of serfs resettled by Osterman and Bestuzhev-Rumin from their villages in Central Russia (natives of the Volga and Galich) and Ukraine. Then the name "Kellomyaki" began to sound in Russian fashion - "Kolomyagi", although later the old name also existed, especially among local Finns. And not without reason the indigenous Kolomozhites associate their origin with the Volga places, and the southern half of the village is now called “Galician”.
Yakovlev died in 1818. Five years after his death, a division of the territory of the manor was made. The village of Kolomyagi was divided in half between two of his daughters. The border was the Bezymyanny stream. The southeastern part of the village of Kolomyagi beyond Bezymyanny creek and a plot on the banks of the Bolshaya Nevka passed to the daughter Ekaterina Sergeevna Avdulina.
Daughter Yakovleva Elena Sergeevna - the wife of General Alexei Petrovich Nikitin, a hero of the Patriotic War of 1812, who was awarded the highest military orders and twice a gold sword with the inscription "For courage", died early, leaving her daughter Elizabeth. The northwestern part of Kolomyag inherited the young Elizabeth, so this part of Kolomyag was practically inherited by the father of Yakovlev’s granddaughter, Count A.P. Nikitin, who in 1832 became the owner of the entire village. It is his name that is stored in the names of the streets - 1st and 2nd Nikitinsky and Novo-Nikitinsky. The new owner built a stone mansion on the estate’s estate - an excellent example of classicism of the first third of the 19th century, which became his country house and has survived to this day and has been occupied until recently by the Nursing Home. It is believed that this mansion was built according to the project of the famous architect A.I. Melnikov. The severity and modesty of the architectural appearance of the facades and residential chambers of the Nikitin mansion was opposed by the splendor of ceremonial interiors, in particular the two-light dance hall with choirs for musicians. Unfortunately, with repeated alterations and repairs, many details of the decor and stucco emblems of the owners disappeared. Only two photographs of the 1920s and preserved fragments of ornamental molding and paintings on the walls and ceiling show the past richness of the decorative decoration of this architectural monument. The mansion was surrounded by a small park. In it stood a stone pagan woman brought from the southern steppes of Russia (transferred to the Hermitage), and a pond with a plakun waterfall was built. Near the pond there was a "walk of love" from the "paradise" apple trees - it was called so because the bride and groom passed through it after the wedding. Here, in the shadow of these apple trees, young lovers made appointments.
Under the Orlov-Denisov opposite the mansion (now Main Street, 29), the structures of an agricultural farm were erected, partially preserved to this day, and the greenhouse. Behind the farm were the master's fields. On them, as the New Time newspaper reported in August 1880, they tested the reaping and shearing machines brought from America.
In the 19th century, the provincial surveyor Zaitsev submitted for approval the highway called the Kolomyagskoye Shosse. The route was supposed to connect the village, gradually gaining fame as a summer residence of the "middle arm", with St. Petersburg. The construction of the road ended in the 1840s, and then horse-drawn and country-house crafts became the most important articles of peasant income. In addition, peasants either built small dachas in their yards, or rented their huts for the summer. Located away from the roads, surrounded by fields, the village was chosen by multi-family citizens.
The income from the summer cottage industry increased from year to year, which was facilitated by the summer movement of omnibuses that opened on the new highway from the City Council building. They walked four times a day, each accommodated 16 people, the fare cost 15 kopecks. Even when the Finnish Railway with the nearest Udelnaya station came into operation in 1870, the highway remained the main access road through which public carriages pulled by a trio of horses ran from the Stroganov (now Ushakovsky) bridge.
It’s finally come to the end of the Squiddles Charity Exhibition in the memory of my beautiful girlfriend, Emma Wilkinson. It’s been a tough few months, from the passing of Emma to organising the event and now it’s come to a close.
I just wanted to do some thank you’s and to let everybody know how successful we were raising money for terminally ill children and their families to make the final few months/years together that extra bit more special. We’ve done SO well raising nearly £2,000 in such a short amount of time, I’m truly overwhelmed by the response to the exhibition and to Emma passing away.
I’d like to thank the following people for all there help and support throughout everything.
I have a lot of thank you’s but these are the main few to do with the Exhibition.
Linn Froding from Walrus bar, letting us use the bar to host the exhibition, she even fed us yummy food on the night and over all did a cracking job at helping me pull the show together!
Chris Thornley (Source Creative) for donating every penny for the prints which you all purchased over the past few months!
Rik Penny from Ripe Digital for printing such super, amazing prints which everyone has commented on due to how brilliant they are! Superb work!
Mark from One69A Screen printers who donated the screen printed T-Shirts for the exhibition night and for the web store!
Jenny Woodworth from Oh Crumbs Cupcakes who provided truly amazing, tasty cupcakes for the exhibition! They went down super well!
Fran Pearce for all the PR work, advertising and help with Emma passing away! A lovely lady indeed and cracking at what she does!
Vinyl Abuse for the smashing write up about the exhibition, so many people have contacted me because they saw the exhibition on the website, so a huge thank you!
Gavin Hoffman who created the superb Squiddles website and the support throughout everything! As well as battling 1&1 for me! Ha!
Every single fantastic illustrator involved with the exhibition!
The Tree House Press
Gavin Strange
Katari
Peskimo
TADO
Ben The Illustrator
MEGA MUNDEN
Tokipo
ILoveEdna
Matt Taylor
Aaron Miller
Yema Yema
Jellybox
They all did a super amazing job on each piece they created! I couldn’t have asked more from such a great bunch of illustrators and a cracking set of friends.
A special thank you to Jake Ivill (ILoveEdna) and his parents/family for their support throughout everything, not only did Jake create a brilliant piece of work but he’s helped set up the exhibition, take my mind off the shit times but also kept me sane! A huge thanks to Jake & his family!
TADO for all their help and support through Emma being in hospital, they were so kind as to send her gifts for her to wake up too! Signed postcards, doodles and lots of love! They’re super kind, awesome people, thanks guys!
Another special thank you to Aaron Miller who helped out a lot during the exhibition, but also during the horrible times of Emma being in hospital and throughout her passing away. He’s such a lovely guy and helped out a lot, thank you!
Again, another very special thank you to Sarah Miskelly (Lunabee) for her help throughout, her very kind messages as well as the superb custom toy she painted originally for Emma which sits proudly by a photo of myself and Emma. She’s been a huge help and a great friend, thank you!
There are a ton of people to thank but I know a lot of people won’t read all of this blog post, but you all know who you are who made this happen, you’ve all been wonderful people and I’ve made some cracking friends over the past few months.
A big thanks to Emma’s Family and friends for their support throughout everything, they’ve become a second family to me now, Emma’s parents and sister are all amazing people and really didn’t deserve what has happened but through this exhibition, we’ve all remembered the good times with Emma and how special she was to us all.
Also a thank you to my family, who’s been the best family in the world, I can’t put into words how special they all are and how much they’ve been their for me.
As my mum said, their has been too many tears throughout this, the exhibition was a night to remember how great Emma was and to remember the good times.
I’m gonna close now on this final note. Again, a thank you to every single one of you, whether you’ve sent me a message saying you’re sorry to hear about Emma passing, you’ve bought a print, you’ve sent me gifts, you’ve been there for me or you’ve just been a shoulder to cry on, thank you. I’m so sorry if I missed somebody off from the list! Theirs too many of you! You’ve all been fantastic, I can’t thank you enough.
Look out for the new Squiddles Brand which will be released soon which will be in the memory of Emma and each year we shall be holding a charity exhibition for the Francis House Hospice to keep Emma going through the brand.
Thank you all, Good night x
Long-tailed Tit - Aegithalos Caudatus
The long-tailed tit is globally widespread throughout temperate northern Europe and Asia, into boreal Scandinavia and south into the Mediterranean zone. It inhabits deciduous and mixed woodland with a well-developed shrub layer, favouring edge habitats. It can also be found in scrub, heathland with scattered trees, bushes and hedges, in farmland and riverine woodland, parks and gardens. The bird's year-round diet of insects and social foraging bias habitat choice in winter towards deciduous woodland, typically of oak, ash and locally sycamore species. For nesting, strong preference is shown towards scrub areas. The nest is often built in thorny bushes less than 3 metres above the ground.
The nest of the long-tailed tit is constructed from four materials - lichen, feathers, spider egg cocoons and moss, with over 6,000 pieces used for a typical nest. The nest is a flexible sac with a small, round entrance on top, suspended either low in a gorse or bramble bush or high up in the forks of tree branches. The structural stability of the nest is provided by a mesh of moss and spider silk. The tiny leaves of the moss act as hooks and the spider silk of egg cocoons provides the loops; thus forming a natural form of velcro. The tit lines the outside with hundreds of flakes of pale lichens - this provides camouflage. Inside, it lines the nest with more than 2,000 downy feathers to insulate the nest. Nests suffer a high rate of predation with only 17% success.
Outside the breeding season they form compact flocks of 6 to 17 birds, composed of family parties (parents and offspring) from the previous breeding season, together with any extra adults that helped to raise a brood. These flocks will occupy and defend territories against neighbouring flocks. The driving force behind the flocking behaviour is thought to be that of winter roosting, being susceptible to cold; huddling increases survival through cold nights.
From July to February, the non-breeding season, long-tailed tits form flocks of relatives and non-relatives, roosting communally. When the breeding season begins, the flocks break up, and the birds attempt to breed in monogamous pairs. Males remain within the winter territory, while females have a tendency to wander to neighbouring territories.
Pairs whose nests fail have three choices: try again, abandon nesting for the season or help at a neighbouring nest. It has been shown that failed pairs split and help at the nests of male relatives, recognition being established vocally. The helped nests have greater success due to higher provisioning rates and better nest defence. At the end of the breeding season, in June–July, the birds reform the winter flocks in their winter territory.
Population:
UK breeding:
340,000 territories
Throughout the countless travels to the Netherlands, Jack the Flipper used different cameras and lenses with professional equipment, to rise the level of our landscape/seascape photographies.
In Jack the Flipper's Galleries you can recognize the evolution of our works. From the past years in the beginning to the the next level of shooting and developing images.
Nature is our Mainspring!
If you appreciate our work, follow us;)!
Massive crops throughout, for any shots in this, the favoured Ash tree. A bit brighter than the last few days, but some blue sky would have been nice. I think I missed that next day (Saturday), too tired to go down there thanks to the M.E.; and looking at the RSPB twitter feed, it was predictably heaving.
font: Agnieszka handwriting
Red campion (Silene dioica, syn. Melandrium rubrum) is a flowering plant in the family Caryophyllaceae, native throughout central, western and northern Europe, and locally in southern Europe.
It is an herbaceous biennial or perennial plant, with dark pink to red flowers, each 1.8-2.5 cm across. The flowers are unscented. There are five petals which are deeply notched at the end, narrowed at the base and all go into an urn-shaped calyx. It flowers from May to October
It is common throughout sub-Saharan Africa and southern Asia from Turkey to India to China. This kingfisher feeds mainly on fish, although it will take crustaceans and large aquatic insects such as dragonfly larvae. It usually hunts by hovering over the water to detect prey, before diving vertically bill-first to capture fish. When not foraging, it has a straight rapid flight and have been observed flying at speeds approaching 50 km/h. This is a medium-sized kingfisher, about 25 cm long with a white with a black mask, a white supercilium and black breast bands. The crest is neat and the upperparts are barred in black.
Gambia, Kotu
Please don't use my images without my permission. All images © Aivar Mikko.
Throughout the Balkans, this scene is a classic, older men sitting around drinking tea, coffee, and / or raki. Coffee shops are equally abundant!
Geckos are ubiquitous throughout the Hawaiian Islands today, but that was not always the case. Though lizards can colonize islands by clinging to drifting trees and plant material, the Hawaiian archipelago’s extreme isolation in the middle of the Pacific Ocean likely prevented any terrestrial reptiles from reaching our shores. It was only after humans arrived in Hawaiʻi that reptiles and amphibians found passage aboard canoes, ships, and eventually planes. Thus began the waves of introduced geckos, skinks, frogs, and chameleons that came and spread throughout the Islands.
The first lizards stowed away with Polynesians in large oceangoing canoes. Mourning geckos, stump-toed geckos, tree geckos, Indo-Pacific geckos, snake-eyed skinks, moth skinks, copper-tailed skinks, and the now-extinct azure-tailed skinks were already established in Hawaiʻi when Captain Cook arrived.
Though it may be impossible to measure the impact these small lizards had, the arrival of voracious, insect-eaters in an ecosystem that evolved over millennia without lizards or amphibians would inevitably result in a decline in native insects. This is problematic for Hawaiʻi, which has tens of thousands of unique invertebrates—many of which exist nowhere else on Earth and have yet to be described by science.
The giant Madagascar day gecko was illegally introduced to the state. Any sightings of the large 12 inch long moʻo should be immediately reported to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture at 634-PEST (7378). Photo by MrTinDC, Flikr.
The giant Madagascar day gecko was illegally introduced to the state. Any sightings of the large 12 inch long moʻo should be immediately reported to the Hawaii Department of Agriculture at 643-PEST (7378). Photo by MrTinDC, Flikr.
The eight Polynesian-introduced geckos and skinks are still present in Hawaiʻi, but a few recent introductions have stolen the spotlight. Common house geckos only showed up in the last 60 years or so. They most likely hitchhiked to Hawaiʻi in the 1940s in cargo moved around the Pacific. Aggressive and territorial, they’ve outcompeted mourning geckos and others for the prized perch near the porch light
Throughout our beloved Flickr Community, it is quite evident and apparent that 'raptors' are the main bird of choice, particularly bald eagles and hawks in-flight. But for me, in South Florida, it is the Great Blue Heron. I will never get tired of seeing them; fly, walk, stroll, strut, fish, hunt, love, talk, and care for their young in the nest. They are not raptors, but their beauty, demeanor, elegance, long bills and five-foot wingspans in-flight are always impressive to see.
*[Love her black head-stripe. She's a Cool Bird!]
Great Blue Heron ~ Florida Everglades
South Florida ~ Palm Beach County, FL
In The Wild ~ Winter ~ Boynton Beach, FL
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Blue_Heron
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everglades
"You're So Vain" - Carly Simon
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j13oJajXx0M
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clouds_in_My_Coffee
*[Bought a new camera this week! Love it! Canon
EOS RP with a 24-240mm Lens, 24 megapixels
with nice full frame images. Seems easy to use
with nice sharp pics, and it's mirrorless! Fun!]
© 2010 Jerry T Patterson
Driving throughout Jackson Hole, WY and Yellowstone one can see many falls. One that comes to mind are the cascading falls from Taggart Lake which you cross over within 10 minutes from the parking lot. And there are many others.
So here's one upon my first approach I could see the first shot instantly and immediatlely set up the tripod and took the shot. My guess is that overall this waterfall is about 70 feet. As I came closer to the falls I noticed the little waters jets streaming out and in additional comps of this they are much more visible.
No HDR here ... just 3 photos shot 1EV apart and blended within Photoshop so in effect I have more natural realism in the wide dynamic range of light among the 3 photos without any of the associated grunge effect seen in a lot of hdr rendered photos.
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Happy Wednesday everyone!! These are one of my favorite Florida Birds!! Florida has two populations of Sandhill Cranes, one that is migratory that visits us in the winter and a non-migratory population that is resident throughout most of the peninsula!! This pair of Sandhill Cares is part of the non-migratory population and decided to sit in the shade of an Oak Tree right next to my blind!! What a treat to be that close up to these wonderful birds!! The black dots around the birds are small biting insects!! On a side note, Florida receives its migratory Sandhill Cranes from the Eastern and Central Flyways and they come to Florida from as far way as the Arctic!! A sad fact for those of us that are not fans of Sandhill Crane hunting is that approximately 45,000 Sandhill Cranes were hunted and killed last year in North America (Still protected In Florida) per USFW !!
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Victorian Mallee.
A very rare species throughout the far east of its range. So much so that it remained undetected for two decades in the mallee region of western Victoria, despite thorough survey effort by some of the most experienced mallee herpetologists. Extensive and inappropriate 'planned burning' regimes are the cause for the species demise throughout most of its former Victorian distribution. Surveys re-started in 2017 and, incredibly, one individual (deceased) was discovered in a long-unburnt patch of mallee heathlands. Fast forward to 2023, with funding backed by Zoos Victoria's Fighting Extinction project, intensive surveys we have uncovered 5 of these small, elusive elapids. A population genetics study is now underway and surveys will continue to search for new populations.
Throughout the region, you'll find landscapes of desert areas including arid, semi-desert, hoodoos, sagebrush, rolling hills, dried golden grasses, clay cliffs, box canyons, gullies and prickly pear cacti. The grasslands between Merritt and Kamloops are made up of prairie-like rolling grasslands.
British Columbia Canada
My Emotional Prison
Throughout my life I had always felt alone, different. I struggled to understand and communicate with others; constantly being told I wasn't listening, I don't try hard enough, I am stupid. In actual fact I was trying harder than everyone else. I knew the answers (once I could understand the questions) but organising my thoughts and ideas in order to articulate them was extremely difficult.
My time at school was an immense struggle. In order to do well I realised that I would have to teach myself. My efforts were not in vain and I got myself into all the top sets but I was living with a constant conflict of emotions; struggling to understand why I was different to everyone else and why I felt so alone.
In 2010, after 15 years in the education system, I was diagnosed with severe dyslexia. The relief washed over me; I finally understood.
Whilst I may struggle to communicate verbally I find the ability to communicate using a visual language is as natural to me as speaking is to others. I have now fully embraced what I see as my gift of creativity, I love it! It makes me who I am today and gives me this wonderful imagination where I can express myself naturally, freely and easily.
This body of work is created through the gifts of my dyslexia and explores the place I existed before my diagnosis: my emotional prison
www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/b...
Also known as the peewit in imitation of its display calls, its proper name describes its wavering flight. Its black and white appearance and round-winged shape in flight make it distinctive, even without its splendid crest. This familiar farmland bird has suffered significant declines recently and is now an Red List species.
Overview
Latin name
Vanellus vanellus
Family
Plovers and lapwings (Charadriidae)
Where to see them
Lapwings are found on farmland throughout the UK particularly in lowland areas of northern England, the Borders and eastern Scotland. In the breeding season prefer spring sown cereals, root crops, permanent unimproved pasture, meadows and fallow fields. They can also be found on wetlands with short vegetation. In winter they flock on pasture and ploughed fields. The highest known winter concentrations of lapwings are found at the Somerset Levels, Humber and Ribble estuaries, Breydon Water/Berney Marshes, the Wash, and Morecambe Bay.
When to see them
All year round. Leaves upland areas after the breeding season and moves to lowland fields for the winter. Large numbers of N European birds arrive in autumn for the winter.
What they eat
Worms and insects
Population
UK Breeding:- 140,000 pairs
UK Wintering:- 650,000 birds
Breeding
The winter flocks begin to break up in February, when the birds will start to return to their breeding grounds.
The lapwing has a spectacular songflight. The male wobbles, zigzags, rolls and dives while calling to advertise his presence to rival males and potential mates. The birds tend to nest in loose groups. Individual territories are small about 0.4-0.8 ha and are only held until the chicks hatch.
In the breeding season, lapwings need a mosaic of habitats, because they need different conditions for nesting and for chick rearing.
The nest is a scrape in the ground, lined with a variable amount of plant material. The birds need a good all round view from the nest to spot predators, and nest either on bare ground or in short vegetation. They often choose rough or broken ground to aid concealment of the nest. Spring sown crops and rough grazing are ideal.
They lay clutches of four cryptically coloured eggs from late March to early June, and chicks hatch 3-4 weeks later. They are covered in down when they hatch, and are able to walk about and feed within hours.
Soon after hatching, the parents will lead them to suitable feeding areas, where the supply of surface invertebrates is good and the vegetation low. They particularly need to have nearby grassland, especially if it contains flood pools and damp patches.
The transfer between the nesting and chick-rearing habitats can be hazardous, and chick survival often depends on how far they have to travel. The families stay in the chick-rearing habitat until the young are ready to fly at 5-6 weeks old. Lapwings only rear one brood a year, but may lay up to four replacement clutches if the eggs are lost.
Legal status
The lapwing is fully protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981; it an offence to kill, injure or take an adult lapwing, or to take, damage or destroy an active nest or its contents.
The only exception is legitimate farming practices that cannot be reasonably delayed, although farming methods can often be modified to reduce the impact on the lapwings.
Population trends
Lapwing numbers have decreased in Britain since the middle of the 19th century. The early declines were caused by large scale collection of eggs for food. Introduction of the Lapwing Act in 1926 prohibited this, and was followed by a considerable recovery in bird numbers.
Since the 1940s lapwing declines have been driven by large-scale changes to farming. Large areas of grassland were converted to arable, marginal land was drained and improved, and chemicals were introduced for fertilisers and pest control with increasing reliance on them. By 1960 the lapwing population had stabilised at a lower level.
Another sharp and sustained decline started in the mid-1980s, with range contractions in south-west England and in parts of Wales. This followed further intensification and specialisation - abandonment of rotations, switch from spring to autumn sown crops, increased drainage, increased use of agrochemicals. Such changes have resulted in much of the arable land becoming unsuitable for nesting by April because the crop grows too high. Tillage, drainage and pesticides have also caused a reduction in food availability.
As pasture land is improved, the resulting increased risk of trampling by livestock, earlier cutting for silage and lower food availability have affected lapwings adversely. Phasing out of rotational farming and shift of arable to the east of England and pastureland to the west of England has removed the habitat mosaic that is essential for successful chick rearing.
Mosaic where grass and spring tillage fields are close together has declined significantly in recent years, and the loss of this prime habitat has resulted in a decline in lapwing numbers.
Nest failures on arable land come from egg losses during cultivation and from predation, and poor chick survival due to crop growth. Crop growth can also shorten the laying season.
The declines in lapwing population have been greatest in southern England and Wales, where the farming changes have been greatest and farmland is the only suitable habitat for the lapwing. Between 1987 and 1998 lapwing numbers dropped by 49% in England and Wales. Since 1960 the numbers dropped by 80%.
The birds have fared better in Scotland, where the crucial changes to farming were introduced later than in England and Wales. However, even there the numbers have dropped by 29% since 1987.
Lapwings have to fledge at least 0.6 young per pair each year to maintain the population. They usually can achieve this in rough grazing and unimproved pastures, but often not on arable land or improved grassland. Since the birds cannot produce enough chicks to offset the natural mortality of adults, population declines.
It is possible to halt and reverse the decline in lapwing numbers with sympathetic farming methods, which include creation of a mosaic of spring sown crops and grassland, managing grazing pressure and maintaining damp areas on unimproved grassland. Agri-environment schemes in each part of the UK provide grants to help land-owners manage their land to help lapwings.
Survival
Egg survival and hatching success varies depending on the habitat, and appears to have declined in some habitats over the past decade.
Main causes of nest failure are predation, agricultural activity and desertion. While the birds often re-lay, changes in cropping practices often result in the habitat being unsuitable for replacement clutches because the vegetation has grown too tall, thus shortening the potential breeding season.
Only about 25-40% of chicks survive to fledging. Most of the chick mortality occurs in the first few days after hatching, when chicks are most vulnerable to cold or wet weather, and when they may be undertaking hazardous journeys from nesting to feeding areas. The further chicks have to go, the lower their survival.
Once the birds have reached adulthood, they can expect to live a further 4-5 years. The oldest known individual was about 20 years. Lapwings normally breed one year after fledging.
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The most powerful weapon on earth is the human soul on fire
Thanks for selecting this picture as 10/10/10 -throughout-the-day
160910
People were protesting Proposition 8 all throughout LA today. I took these photos in Westwood at a protest at the giant Mormon temple on Santa Monica Blvd at Overland that followed a 2 p.m. press conference where LA Gay & Lesbian Center CEO Lorri L. Jean announced the launch of a new website, invalidateprop8.org/ People were protesting here because of the millions of dollars the Mormons' Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints donated to pro-Prop 8 TV and radio ads.
Long-tailed Tit - Aegithalos Caudatus
The long-tailed tit is globally widespread throughout temperate northern Europe and Asia, into boreal Scandinavia and south into the Mediterranean zone. It inhabits deciduous and mixed woodland with a well-developed shrub layer, favouring edge habitats. It can also be found in scrub, heathland with scattered trees, bushes and hedges, in farmland and riverine woodland, parks and gardens. The bird's year-round diet of insects and social foraging bias habitat choice in winter towards deciduous woodland, typically of oak, ash and locally sycamore species. For nesting, strong preference is shown towards scrub areas. The nest is often built in thorny bushes less than 3 metres above the ground.
The nest of the long-tailed tit is constructed from four materials - lichen, feathers, spider egg cocoons and moss, with over 6,000 pieces used for a typical nest. The nest is a flexible sac with a small, round entrance on top, suspended either low in a gorse or bramble bush or high up in the forks of tree branches. The structural stability of the nest is provided by a mesh of moss and spider silk. The tiny leaves of the moss act as hooks and the spider silk of egg cocoons provides the loops; thus forming a natural form of velcro. The tit lines the outside with hundreds of flakes of pale lichens - this provides camouflage. Inside, it lines the nest with more than 2,000 downy feathers to insulate the nest. Nests suffer a high rate of predation with only 17% success.
Social behaviour
Outside the breeding season they form compact flocks of 6 to 17 birds, composed of family parties (parents and offspring) from the previous breeding season, together with any extra adults that helped to raise a brood. These flocks will occupy and defend territories against neighbouring flocks. The driving force behind the flocking behaviour is thought to be that of winter roosting, being susceptible to cold; huddling increases survival through cold nights.
From July to February, the non-breeding season, long-tailed tits form flocks of relatives and non-relatives, roosting communally. When the breeding season begins, the flocks break up, and the birds attempt to breed in monogamous pairs. Males remain within the winter territory, while females have a tendency to wander to neighbouring territories.
Pairs whose nests fail have three choices: try again, abandon nesting for the season or help at a neighbouring nest. It has been shown that failed pairs split and help at the nests of male relatives, recognition being established vocally.] The helped nests have greater success due to higher provisioning rates and better nest defence. At the end of the breeding season, in June–July, the birds reform the winter flocks in their winter territory.
Population:
UK breeding:
340,000 territories
Throughout our lives we are faced with hard times and joyous times. When the hard times last too long we are tested and must fight to rise above. Despite the scars of the battle, those moments of triumph are like a bird taking flight; we acquire beauty, strength and freedom to continue rising above.
I recently had the privilege to visit Aruba and create art with the beautiful friends I made there. Thank you Niko and Johnathan for bringing me to Aruba and the amazing Dana Wong for modeling with grace and poise!
I will be traveling to many countries this year teaching photography; check out www.robwoodcox.com/workshops to learn more and sign up for a workshop!
Finally got the chance to catch the Central of Georgia Heritage Unit as leader (there's several of it trailing throughout my stream) and it was a nice sunny day! One problem was that NS 224 was heading west out of St. Louis...in the morning.
But, I didn't really have anything to do, so I was in it for the long-run. Starting at Ferguson, I pursued all the way until (ultimately) Wakenda, 204 (railroad) miles west of St. Louis. At some point, I predicted that the shot of the last (going west) Searchlight remaining on the St. Louis District would be the "money shot" of the day. I think I was pretty right about that.
Thanks to EA for the headsup on the unit being in the area!
-NS ES44AC #8101(Central of Georgia Heritage), NS AC44C6M #4484 leading power
-NS Train #224
-NS (ex-Wabash) St. Louis District, MP S113.3
-Audrain Rd 929 Crossing, West of Mexico, MO
-May 7, 2022
TT1_1121_edited-1
The Rainbow Bee-eater is found throughout mainland Australia, as well as eastern Indonesia, New Guinea and, rarely, the Solomon Islands. In Australia it is widespread, except in desert areas, and breeds throughout most of its range, although southern birds move north to winter over.
Habitat
The Rainbow Bee-eater is most often found in open forests, woodlands and shrublands, and cleared areas, usually near water. It will be found on farmland with remnant vegetation and in orchards and vineyards. It will use disturbed sites such as quarries, cuttings and mines to build its nesting tunnels.
Behaviour
Feeding
Rainbow Bee-eaters eat insects, mainly catching bees and wasps, as well as dragonflies, beetles, butterflies and moths. They catch flying insects on the wing and carry them back to a perch to beat them against it before swallowing them. Bees and wasps are rubbed against the perch to remove the stings and venom glands.
Breeding
Rainbow Bee-eaters gather in small flocks before returning to summer breeding areas after over-wintering in the north (apart from the resident northern populations). Both males and females select a suitable nesting site in a sandy bank and dig a long tunnel (average length: 89.4 cm) leading to a nesting chamber, which is often lined with grasses. Both parents incubate the eggs and both feed the young, sometimes with the assistance of auxiliaries (helpers).
(thanks- www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/rainbow-bee-eater)
Burrowing Owl
The Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated by prairie dogs. Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day, although they tend to avoid the midday heat. Like many other kinds of owls, though, burrowing owls do most of their hunting from dusk until dawn, when they can use their night vision and hearing to their advantage. Living in open grasslands as opposed to forests, the burrowing owl has developed longer legs that enable it to sprint, as well as fly, when hunting.
Burrowing owls have bright eyes; their beaks can be dark yellow or gray depending on the subspecies. They lack ear tufts and have a flattened facial disc. The owls have prominent white eyebrows and a white "chin" patch which they expand and display during certain behaviors, such as a bobbing of the head when agitated.
For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burrowing_owl
From the Cornell Lab: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Burrowing_Owl/overview