Unlike our Robins in the Uk the Robins in most of continental Europe are less tame and more shyer birds.

Unlike a hedgehog, Lesser Tenrecs use all their paws and claws to clamber and clutch at what they want or need. Whilst my little sweetheart, Boo here, didnt actually 'need' the strawberry, she very capably held it for me, long enough to take the shot. Then, like the quilled sport she is, she threw it at me! Boo has the sweetest face!

Unlike my much smaller Lesser Tenrecs, their lifespan is only up to 5 years.

Photographed with very low POV at British Wildlife Centre

SÜDAFRIKA (South-Africa), Blyde-Canyon - am Trauer-Freudenfluss, Bourkes Luck Potholes.

Der Blyde River Canyon ist ein 26 Kilometer langer, bis zu 800 Meter tiefer und hauptsächlich aus rotem Sandstein bestehender Canyon. Er befindet sich an der Panorama Route nordöstlich von Johannesburg und gilt als eines der großen Naturwunder Afrikas.

Durch den Blyde River Canyon, der an den Bourke’s Luck Potholes genannten Strudellöchern beginnt, fließt der Fluss Blyde River, der bei dem Thaba Chweu entspringt und in den Olifantsriver fließt.

The Blyde River Canyon is a 26km long Canyon located in Mpumalanga, South Africa. It is the one of the larger canyons on Earth but much smaller than those of Asia, the Grand Canyon and the Fish River Canyon. Unlike the Grand and Fish River Canyon, the Blyde River Canyon is a "green canyon" which is dominated by subtropical vegetation. The canyon forms part of the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve.

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus) is an incredibly striking bird: adults have brilliant crimson head, black back, large white wing patches, and white belly. These large patches of solid color are unlike other woodpeckers with more intricate patterns. Immatures have brownish heads.

Unlike most members of the cat family, tigers like water. They are good swimmers and often cool off in pools or streams. When a tiger wants to be heard, you’ll know about it, because their roar can be heard as far as three kilometres away. They may be big and heavy, but tigers are by no means slow movers. In fact, at full speed they can reach up to 65km/h!Today, there are five subspecies of tiger: Bengal, South China, Indochinese, Sumatran and Siberian. Sadly, three subspecies of tiger have become extinct – Caspian, Bali and Javan.

Unlike some other dragonfly species where males guard egg-laying females, Widow Skimmer males leave the female by herself, “widowing” her as she deposits her eggs just under the surface of the water.

Thank you very much for your kind comments and visit, much appreciated!

Unlike this morning which is dark & wet. Winter flowering jasmine in our garden.

but actually a trace of it. No painting or drawing, however naturalist, belongs to its subject in the way that a photograph does :-)

John Berger

HGGT! HFF! Justice Matters! No one is above the law!

prunus mums, japanese flowering apricot, 'Nicholas', j c raulston arboretum, ncsu, raleigh, north carolina

Very large, primarily ground-based cuckoo. Adults are streaked rusty brown in nonbreeding plumage. In breeding plumage the head and front are black. They can fly, but are more typically seen running/flapping across roads, or clumsily crashing into dense vegetation. Unlike many cuckoos this species builds its own nest and does not lay eggs in nests of other species. Voice is a familiar repeated ‘whoop,’ and a screeching cat-like hiss. (eBird)

-----------------

We heard coucals many times during our trip, but this was one of the very few times we actually saw one. It was in the midst of its morning ablutions and sun bath (hence the ruffled feathers on its back), when we came around the bend in the river. It stopped briefly to peer at us, determined we were not a threat (it was far away and very high), and went back to its bath.

Kakadu National Park, Northern Territory, Australia. October 2022.

Eagle-Eye Tours - Tropical Australia.

Yellow Waters Cruises.

A familiar bird of our wetlands, the Coot is often seen on park lakes, ponds and rivers. It spends more of its time on the water than its relative, the Moorhen, and will dive to catch small invertebrates. Unlike ducks, Coots will bring their catch to the surface before eating it, leading to squabbles over food. Coots breed in spring, laying between six and nine eggs in nests made among emergent vegetation. Coot chicks are black with orange fluff around the face and body; they are independent within two months of hatching.

The Coot can be distinguished from the similar-looking Moorhen by its larger size, entirely black body (with no white patches), and bright white bill. Coots spend much of their time away from the bankside, diving for food.

Chiffchaff - Phylloscopus collybita

The common chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita), or simply the chiffchaff, is a common and widespread leaf warbler which breeds in open woodlands throughout northern and temperate Europe and Asia.

It is a migratory passerine which winters in southern and western Europe, southern Asia and north Africa. Greenish-brown above and off-white below, it is named onomatopoeically for its simple chiff-chaff song. It has a number of subspecies, some of which are now treated as full species.

This warbler gets its name from its simple distinctive song, a repetitive cheerful chiff-chaff. This song is one of the first avian signs that spring has returned. Its call is a hweet, less disyllabic than the hooeet of the willow warbler or hu-it of the western Bonelli's warbler.

The common chiffchaff breeds across Europe and Asia east to eastern Siberia and north to about 70°N, with isolated populations in northwest Africa, northern and western Turkey and northwestern Iran. It is migratory, but it is one of the first passerine birds to return to its breeding areas in the spring and among the last to leave in late autumn. When breeding, it is a bird of open woodlands with some taller trees and ground cover for nesting purposes. These trees are typically at least 5 metres (16 ft) high, with undergrowth that is an open, poor to medium mix of grasses, bracken, nettles or similar plants. Its breeding habitat is quite specific, and even near relatives do not share it; for example, the willow warbler (P. trochilus) prefers younger trees, while the wood warbler (P. sibilatrix) prefers less undergrowth. In winter, the common chiffchaff uses a wider range of habitats including scrub, and is not so dependent on trees. It is often found near water, unlike the willow warbler which tolerates drier habitats. There is an increasing tendency to winter in western Europe well north of the traditional areas, especially in coastal southern England and the mild urban microclimate of London. These overwintering common chiffchaffs include some visitors of the eastern subspecies abietinus and tristis, so they are certainly not all birds which have bred locally, although some undoubtedly are.

Population:

UK breeding:

1,200,000 territories

UK wintering:

500-1,000 birds

Admirale sind anders als einige andere heimische Schmetterlingsarten keine Lebensraumspezialisten. Sie kommen in verschiedenen Habitaten vor und lassen sich beispielsweise in Wäldern ebenso antreffen wie auf Ackerflächen, Weiden und an Wegrändern. Darüber hinaus trifft man sie in Parkanlagen und Gärten sowie auf Friedhöfen an.

Eine der wichtigsten Futterpflanzen der Raupen des Admirals ist die Große Brennnessel (Urtica dioica). Doch auch andere verwandte Arten wie die Kleine Brennnessel (Urtica urens) werden von ihnen gefressen.

laut NaBu

Red Admiral,

Unlike some other native butterfly species, admirals are not habitat specialists. They occur in different habitats and can be found, for example, in forests as well as on arable land, pastures and on roadsides. They can also be found in parks and gardens as well as in cemeteries.

One of the most important forage crops for the admiral's caterpillars is the great nettle (Urtica dioica). But they also eat other related species such as the small nettle (Urtica urens).

The butterfly reach a wingspan of 22 to 27 millimeters. Unlike most other blues, both sexes are colored the same. Their fore wing tops are orange-red in color and have a wide, dark brown outer edge (margin band). Several dark cube spots are visible near this edge. The hind wings are dark brown in color and have an orange band just below the outer edge. The edge itself is wavy brown in color and, like the forewings, lightly fringed. The underside of the forewings is colored similarly to the upper side, but the brown is replaced by a grey-brown and their coloring is duller. The underside of the hind wings is brown-grey with small black spots and a fine orange-spotted band near the outer edge.[1]

The caterpillars are about 15 millimeters long. They are usually green in color, but sometimes reddish with a red dorsal line and similarly colored substigmatal lines. However, these can also be missing.[1] The caterpillar's head is brownish green and retracted into the body.[2].

Die Falter erreichen eine Flügelspannweite von 22 bis 27 Millimetern. Im Gegensatz zu den meisten anderen Blautönen sind beide Geschlechter gleich gefärbt. Ihre Vorderflügeloberseiten sind orangerot gefärbt und haben einen breiten, dunkelbraunen Außenrand (Saumband). In der Nähe dieses Randes sind mehrere dunkle Würfelflecken sichtbar. Die Hinterflügel sind dunkelbraun gefärbt und haben knapp unterhalb des Außenrandes ein orangefarbenes Band. Der Rand selbst ist wellig braun gefärbt und wie die Vorderflügel leicht gesäumt. Die Unterseite der Vorderflügel ist ähnlich gefärbt wie die Oberseite, allerdings ist das Braun durch ein Graubraun ersetzt und ihre Färbung ist stumpfer. Die Unterseite der Hinterflügel ist braungrau mit kleinen schwarzen Flecken und einem feinen orangefarbenen Fleckband am äußeren Rand.[1]

Die Raupen sind etwa 15 Millimeter lang. Sie haben normalerweise eine grüne Farbe, manchmal aber auch eine rötliche Farbe mit einer roten Rückenlinie und ähnlich gefärbten Substigmatallinien. Diese können jedoch auch fehlen.[1] Der Kopf der Raupe ist bräunlichgrün und in den Körper eingezogen.[2]

Unlike monks of other orders, who live in common, the Carthusians—to this day—live as hermits, each occupying his own cell (more like a small house), and coming together only for the nocturnal liturgical hours, and on Sundays and feast-days, in the chapel; the other hours are sung by each monk separately in his cell. Except for the singing of the liturgy and conversation "on grave subjects" during a weekly three-hour exercise walk, Carthusians are silent, and their diet is strictly vegetarian.

The monks at Mount Grace were very conscious of hygiene and sanitation; included in the reconstructed cell is a reconstructed latrine and visitors are able to investigate the ditches used as sewage systems.

"The way it functioned was very interesting. However, no one knew quite why it did this because it invariably delivered a cupful of liquid that was almost, but not quite, entirely unlike tea."

— Douglas Adams

Welcome to my nearsighted, close-sighted world ;-)

About 3.5 cm/ 1.3 inches horizontally using manual focus and the Laowa 2x magnification 60mm lens.

Unlike the morning, I had the arch pretty much to myself during the night. To get this shot I had to lay down with the camera at an acute angle skyward. Great fun.

Unlike its parents, this juvenile red-headed woodpecker blends right into the bark on a tree trunk, making it a more difficult target for predators like the Cooper's hawk.

Tonight was unlike any other. Our tired band of shore walkers met once more on the boneyard. As the sky grew dim, the stars came alive as a long heavenly veil opened into the splitting sky. Colors cut across the sky and lit up like clouds of fire. As foretold, the beasts soon crawled out from the shadows of deep dark waters. Some even emerged from the cold wet sand. Huddled together, the beasts gazed into the heavens. A melody of soothing rhythms and murmurs soon filled my mind as weariness threatened me with sleep. However, tonight, there would be no sleep as our band had traveled from lands far and wide. All for a chance to capture a glimpse of this magic under the stars.

Getting back out to the boneyard on Driftwood Beach, Jekyll Island. I met with a number of fellow adventurers that night. We all had a wonderful time together and came away with a bit of magic for our Boneyard Journeys.

Wishing everyone a wonderful day ahead!

Unlike some reservoir footpaths, Entwistle is good underfoot. The reflections in this light were amazing. Well worth the hike.

A pretty small beautiful babbler mostly found foraging in the underbush. Unlike its larger cousins, these birds much quieter and the calls are of low volume, and pleasant to hear as well.

They are resident birds of the state seen throughout the year, but they prefer thicker bush and hence sometimes difficult to spot. I was lucky to have spotted several of them on the edge of an embankment road.

Thanks in advance for the views and feedback if any.

From my son's personal collection - believe it or not ;D

Κομπολόι - Worry beads or kombolói - is a string of beads manipulated with one or two hands and used to pass time in Greek and Cypriot culture. Unlike the similar prayer beads used in many religious traditions, including the Greek Orthodox komboskini, worry beads have no religious or ceremonial purpose. (source: wikipedia)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worry_beads

For the Macro Monday theme: Time

HMM and happy new week everyone :)))

"Little Island at Pier 55 (stylized as Little Island @Pier55) is an artificial island park in the Hudson River west of Manhattan in New York City, adjoining Hudson River Park. Designed by Heatherwick Studio, it is near the intersection of West Street and 13th Street in the Meatpacking District and Chelsea neighborhoods of Manhattan. It is located slightly west of the Manhattan shoreline atop Hudson River Pier 55, connected to Hudson River Park in Manhattan by footbridges at 13th and 14th Streets.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Little Island, a new, free public park pier within the larger Hudson River Park, opened to the public on May 21, 2021, providing New Yorkers and visitors from around the world with a unique green space unlike any other in New York City. Planned in partnership with the Hudson River Park Trust, Little Island was funded primarily through Barry Diller and the Diller-Von Furstenberg Family Foundation through an extraordinary philanthropic gift to the Hudson River Park.

Components of the pier, nestled among more than 350 species of flowers, trees and shrubs, include a 687-seat amphitheater and an intimate stage and lawn space, along with dazzling views of other portions of Hudson River Park, New York City and the Hudson River.

Little Island was designed by Thomas Heatherwick of Heatherwick Studio, with landscape design by Signe Nielsen of MNLA.

Little Island’s distinct exterior is supported by concrete piles. On top of the piles, 132 concrete “tulips” make up the structure of the park. Each tulip’s shape is unique and has a different weight load capacity to hold the soil, lawns, overlooks and trees. The original Pier 54 piles remain to provide habitat for aquatic life."

--- hudsonriverpark.org

Note: I finally visited here yesterday. It's something to explore when visiting NYC. Here you can see the WTC (World Trade Center) and Witney Museum in distance. BOY! even it's only in mid-80'sF yesterday, but, the humidly was unbearable. Was planning to visit "Witney Museum" nearby, it was closed (on Tuesdays). Here is close to the "High Line" and "Hudson Yards", so that you can also visit.

The best time to visit here is at dusk, you'd see the sunset in wide open view. My daughter & I were there around 3pm, when it was too sunny and humid.

Le guêpier est un oiseau très coloré : son dos est de couleur brune et jaune et son ventre ainsi que sa queue tirent sur le vert et le bleu. Sa gorge est jaune vif et se décolore en blanc jusqu'à ses joues et son front. Un masque noir entoure ses deux yeux rouges et prolonge son bec noir légèrement incurvé. Sa taille est à peu près celle d'un merle, soit 28 centimètres environ. C'est en général au mâle d'arborer les couleurs les plus vives, surtout en plumage nuptial, contrairement à la femelle et aux juvéniles. Cet oiseau, assez craintif, vient nicher en France en été où il se reproduit avant de repartir pour l'Afrique vers la fin août / début septembre. Grâce à l'augmentation des températures, sa niche tend à non plus se limiter au sud de la France, mais à remonter vers le nord. Grégaire, les colonies atteignent le plus souvent la vingtaine ou trentaine d'individus et les familles restent solidaires et se préviennent mutuellement en cas de danger. En France, le guêpier s'installe à proximité des cours d'eau dans des milieux assez ouverts mais contrairement à nombre d'oiseaux, il niche au sol, dans des talus de terre meuble ou artificielle. Il y creuse alors son nid avec son bec, progressivement usé, de sorte à offrir une cavité de 1 à 2 mètres de long. Près de 10kg de terre sont évacués du nid pour sa construction !

Image prise en milieu naturel et depuis la portière de la voiture équipée du filet de camouflage .

*******************************************************************

The bee-eater is a very colorful bird: its back is brown and yellow in color and its belly and tail are green and blue. Her throat is bright yellow and fades white down to her cheeks and forehead. A black mask surrounds its two red eyes and extends its slightly curved black beak. Its size is about that of a blackbird, about 28 centimeters. It is generally the male to display the brightest colors, especially in breeding plumage, unlike the female and juveniles. This rather fearful bird comes to nest in France in summer where it reproduces before leaving for Africa towards the end of August / beginning of September. Thanks to the increase in temperatures, its niche tends not to be limited to the south of France, but to move up towards the north. Gregarious, the colonies usually reach about twenty or thirty individuals and families remain united and warn each other in case of danger. In France, the bee-eater settles near watercourses in fairly open environments, but unlike many birds, it nests on the ground, in banks of loose or artificial soil. It then digs its nest there with its beak, gradually worn out, so as to offer a cavity 1 to 2 meters long. Almost 10kg of soil are evacuated from the nest for its construction!

Image taken in a natural environment and from the car door fitted with the camouflage net.

Dark woodpecker, inconspicuous and uncommon. Found in coniferous forests, often in recently burned areas or bogs with many dead trees. Distinctive habit of flaking bark off trees in search of grubs; behavior shared only with American Three-toed Woodpecker. Back entirely glossy black with faint white markings only on flight feathers. Head mostly black with white mustache stripe and throat. Barred flanks. Males show yellow cap; sexes otherwise alike. "Pick" call is short and has unique clicking tone unlike other woodpeckers. Drum is slow, speeding up at end. Does not visit bird feeders. (eBird)

-------------

Usually, we travel north to Algonquin Park to try and find our yearly Black-backed Woodpecker. They can be incredibly difficult to find. This year, this female decided to make Ottawa her home and has visited many of the trails within the Stony Swamp Conservation Area We finally caught up with her today.

Funny story - just as we were starting to be interested in birds, we saw a strange dark woodpecker with a little yellow cap. After chasing it around a tree with the bird guide, we id'd it as a Black-backed Woodpecker. it wasn't until years later that we realized it had a been a rare bird in Ottawa. Alas, no photos to prove our sighting.

Jack Pine Trail, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. March 2023.

Angkor Wat ("Capital Temple") is a temple complex in Cambodia and the largest religious monument in the world measuring 162.6 hectares. It was originally constructed in early 12th century by King Suryavarman II as a Hindu temple dedicated to the god Vishnu for the Khmer Empire and gradually transforming into a Buddhist temple towards the end of the 12th century. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious center since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia (national flag) and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Angkor Wat combines two basic plans of Khmer temple architecture: the temple-mountain and the later galleried temple. It is designed to represent Mount Meru. Within the moat is the outer wall 3.6 kilometers long and there are three rectangular galleries, each raised above the next. At the center of the temple stands a quincunx of towers. Unlike most Angkorian temples, Angkor Wat is oriented to the west; scholars are divided as to the significance of this. The temple is admired for the grandeur and harmony of the architecture, its extensive bas-reliefs, and for the numerous devatas (deity) adorning its walls.

Unlike the former Bijenkorf ('Beehive') designed by Dudok but later demolished in the aftermath of the wartime bombing raid, this post-war version of the department store was executed as an almost completely sealed box. A column grid of 12 metres ensures an optimum subdivision of the sales area. Front and rear elevations have a honeycomb cladding of hexagonal travertine panels with horizontal and vertical fluting and slits of fenestration. The restaurant and offices have larger windows. As Breuer refused to conform to the double building line of Coolsingel, a monumental sculpture by Naum Gabo was placed in front of the Bijenkorf to compensate.

Source: www.architectureguide.nl/project/list_projects_of_archite...

Unlike the orange-crowned warbler that can easily hide its orange crown, the golden-crowned kinglet's golden crown is always on full display. This golden-crowned kinglet is catching gnats and no-see-ums in the wooded grove that acts like a little oasis for migrating songbirds in the open prairie habitat around here. After spending the summer in Canada's vast boreal forest, these hardy golden-crowned kinglets sometimes winter right here in Winneshiek County since they can survive temperatures to -40 F even though they are barely bigger than a hummingbird.

Unlike many other Japanese castles, it was never destroyed by war, earthquake or fire and survives to this day as one of the country's twelve original castles.

The tree in the foreground helped me hide a scaffold that was placed there for reconstruction ;-)

Unlike most other terns that eat primarily fish, the Gull-billed Tern has a more varied diet.

Unlike other bookstores, this bookstore is dedicated to branding, Previously it is open 24 hours. In this department store, The bookstore downstairs, there is a layer of the same size of the business space.

我最喜歡的視角 - 台中大型書店

和其它書店不同的是，這一家書店致力於品牌的推廣，以前它是24小時營業。在這棟百貨商場，這家書店的樓下，還有一層相同大小的營業空間。

Another case of accidental angle makes a picture again. I'm pretty sure people just think I'm nuts when I start spontaneously dropping stuff around them in the middle of a conversation at this point. Or maybe they just expect it.

On9 is opening today, and you can grab this nifty orbit/decoration from Zibska! Severn is available there now, and comes with both 4 set colour options available there now, or you can get the HUD version for 30 options with multiple ways to set the colours!

Also, I really, really love the V-Tech gacha set over at FGC right now. I believe it is their first whack at a gacha, and I recommend you check it out! It looks lovely, and of course works with both regular and boi chest maitreya bodies.

Credits: Blog!

Unlike our other native gentians that like to live in low prairie remnants where the peat soils stay moist most of the year, the downy gentian delights in blooming on dry sandy or rocky prairies.Those vivid deep blue petals put a pretty exclamation point on the final prairie flower color for the year.

Unlike Cleo and Fynn, Tofu is an early riser even when he was active during the night. He happily welcomes the new day, devours his breakfast and heads outside to greet THE BIRDS. Later during the morning he joins me in my home office where he usually falls asleep quite quickly.

Squirrel Monkeys are Costa Rica’s smallest monkey. Kenneth and I were driving along a river looking for birds and stopped to talk to a bicyclist to see what he had been seeing in the area. He said he rides that road daily and usually sees monkeys. Sure enough, a few minutes later we were treated to a few minutes with these cuties. Unlike the Spider Monkeys, which not only paid attention to us but seemed to perform for our benefit, the Squirrel Monkeys watched us but didn’t seem to alter their behavior. There were eating fruit from the trees and remained high in the canopy, traveling and a good speed through the forest. (Central American Squirrel Monkey - Saimiri oerstedii) (Sony a1, 400mm f/2.8 @ f/4, 1/2500 second, ISO 3200)

Unlike the African mainland, Cape Verde was uninhabited until 1461 when the Portuguese arrived, most of the other islands were first inhabited after the end of the 15th century. Its architecture was introduced in the 1460s and has its first origins from Portuguese settlers from the Madeira Islands, after the first arrival of mainland Africans, a bit of African architecture would be elements mainly in rural areas.

Unlike some other folks in the area we've not had them in huge numbers this year, but we've seen 4 to 6 Siskins once a week or so for a bit over a month now. They are one of the cooler winter birds we get. Glendale, Missouri

Unlike the unfortunate owlet, this Least Bittern is ideally suited for launch from within the reeds and marsh grasses of Horsepen Bayou.

The Sparrowhawk is a raptor well-adapted for hunting small birds in wooded areas. As such, it has rather short rounded wings and a long square-ended tail, both of which help it to manoeuvre through woodland in pursuit of its favoured prey. The plumage is grey or brown above and the underside has horizontal barring. Unlike the Kestrel, the Sparrowhawk does not hover but prefers instead to use the available cover as it comes dashing through the garden after small birds.

Sparrowhawks feed on other birds. This brought them into conflict with people rearing gamebirds, particularly where large numbers of pheasants were released into a wood, and Sparrowhawks were controlled. They were also hit by the effects of organochlorine pesticides. Since these were banned (and since legal protection has been better enforced in the countryside), the population has begun to recover (Courtesy BTO).

Thanks for viewing my photos and for any favourites and comments, it’s much appreciated.

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Unlike the more rugged eastern side, the west bank of the Meuse north of Verdun has open ground and rolling hills, like the Mort-Homme and the Côte 304.

Chattancourt, Meuse, France.

© 2023 Marc Haegeman. All Rights Reserved

Unlike rolling stones.

Copyright © Bennie. All rights reserved.

© Please don't use this photo on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission. A breach of copyright has legal consequences.

Unlike most terns, the Gull-billed Tern has a broad diet and does not depend on fish. Instead it commonly feeds on insects, small crabs, and other prey snatched from the ground, air, or even bushes. It is also known to eat small chicks of other tern species.

Unlike his cousins Fynn and Tofu, Filou doesn't climb on furniture very often. He mainly uses the sofa but occasionally likes to sit on the dining room table too as it offers a lovely view into the garden and is located near the backdoor, a fact which is important because Filou doesn't have a cat flap and always needs someone who opens that door for him.

Frogs are not unlike humans in that individuals have very different personalities. Some are terrified of people, screeching and diving under water at the first hint of proximity. With others, one can gradually forge a relationship of trust.

Wild frogs of the right temperament can be slowly approached by gently talking to them with a musical voice. They may not understand words but can sense intent within tonalities and over time become familiar with certain notes.

I built such a bond of trust with the tree frog in this photo during the summer of 2023. With dew lap throbbing in response to my greetings, it remained comfortable as I got very close with my camera.

Unlike these flowers, we humans must practice "Social Distancing" (please) ;)

#PhotographyIsArt

#ArtIsMyTherapy

A pretty small beautiful babbler mostly found foraging in the underbush. Unlike its larger cousins, these birds much quieter and the calls are of low volume, and pleasant to hear as well.

They are resident birds of the state seen throughout the year, but they prefer thicker bush and hence sometimes difficult to spot. I was lucky to have spotted three of them on the edge of an embankment road.

Thanks in advance for the views and feedback if any.

Unlike the herons and terns that see their target and snare it with a lightning strike of their open beak, Black Skimmers feel for their prey as their lower mandible slices through the water, and instantly clamp down when they make contact. It seems like a much less efficient way to feed and I have rarely observed one with a catch, but they were having great success on this morning around the ponds of Brazoria National Wildlife Refuge near Oyster Creek, Texas.

Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus (Juv)

Double click

The common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In Britain, where no other kestrel species occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".

This species occurs over a large range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America.

Kestrels can hover in still air, even indoors in barns. Because they face towards any slight wind when hovering, the common kestrel is called a "windhover" in some areas.

Unusual for falcons, plumage often differs between male and female, although as is usual with monogamous raptors the female is slightly larger than the male. This allows a pair to fill different feeding niches over their home range. Kestrels are bold and have adapted well to human encroachment, nesting in buildings and hunting by major roads. Kestrels do not build their own nests, but use nests built by other species.

Their plumage is mainly light chestnut brown with blackish spots on the upperside and buff with narrow blackish streaks on the underside; the remiges are also blackish. Unlike most raptors, they display sexual colour dimorphism with the male having fewer black spots and streaks, as well as a blue-grey cap and tail. The tail is brown with black bars in females, and has a black tip with a narrow white rim in both sexes. All common kestrels have a prominent black malar stripe like their closest relatives.

The cere, feet, and a narrow ring around the eye are bright yellow; the toenails, bill and iris are dark. Juveniles look like adult females, but the underside streaks are wider; the yellow of their bare parts is paler. Hatchlings are covered in white down feathers, changing to a buff-grey second down coat before they grow their first true plumage.

Data from Britain shows nesting pairs bringing up about 2–3 chicks on average, though this includes a considerable rate of total brood failures; actually, few pairs that do manage to fledge offspring raise less than 3 or 4. Compared to their siblings, first-hatched chicks have greater survival and recruitment probability, thought to be due to the first-hatched chicks obtaining a higher body condition when in the nest. Population cycles of prey, particularly voles, have a considerable influence on breeding success. Most common kestrels die before they reach 2 years of age; mortality up until the first birthday may be as high as 70%. At least females generally breed at one year of age; possibly, some males take a year longer to maturity as they do in related species. The biological lifespan to death from senescence can be 16 years or more, however; one was recorded to have lived almost 24 years.

Population:

UK breeding:

46,000 pairs

Der sogenannte Sonnenkönig Ludwig XIV., der Bauherr des Versailler Schlosses, war das große Idol des bayerischen Königs Ludwig II, der als Märchenkönig in die Geschichte einging. Und so ließ er das neue Schloss auf der Insel Herrenchiemsee im Chiemsee, im neubarocken Stil von 1878 - 1886 nach dem architektonischen Vorbild des Schlosses in Versaille erbauen. Im Unterschied zu Versailles sollte das Schloss jedoch nie als Regierungssitz dienen oder einen Hofstaat aufnehmen. Es war lediglich als private Residenz des zurück gezogenen lebenden Königs gedacht.

The so-called Sun King Louis XIV, the builder of the Palace of Versailles, was the great idol of the Bavarian King Ludwig II, who went down in history as the fairytale king. And so he had the new palace on the island of Herrenchiemsee in Lake Chiemsee built in the neo-baroque style between 1878 and 1886 based on the architectural model of the palace in Versailles. Unlike Versailles, however, the palace was never intended to serve as a seat of government or to house a court. It was only intended as a private residence for the king who lived in seclusion.