winged beasts
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During sunset, a cloud flew in in an amazing shape (a bird, a dragon, and maybe an angel ...)
A little understanding of the physics of cloud formation underscores the complexity of the atmosphere and sheds light on why predicting weather for more than a few days is such a challenge.
Six types of clouds you can see and how they can help you understand the weather.
1) Cumulus clouds - On a sunny day, rays warm the earth, which heats the air located directly above it. The heated air rises upward due to convection and forms cumulus clouds. These “good weather” clouds are like cotton wool. If you look at the sky filled with cumulus clouds, you can see that they have a flat bottom, located at the same level for all clouds. At this altitude, air rising from ground level cools down to the dew point. It usually doesn't rain from cumulus clouds, which means the weather will be good.
2) Cumulonimbus clouds.
Small cumulus clouds do not rain, but if they grow and grow in height, it is a sign that heavy rain is coming soon. This often happens in summer when morning cumulus clouds turn into cumulonimbus during the day. Cumulonimbus clouds often have a flat top. Air convection occurs inside such a cloud, and it gradually cools until it reaches the temperature of the surrounding atmosphere. At this moment, it loses its buoyancy and can no longer rise higher. Instead, it spreads out to the sides, forming the characteristic anvil shape.
3) Cirrus clouds form in very high layers of the atmosphere. They are smoky because they are composed entirely of ice crystals falling in the atmosphere. When cirrus clouds are carried by winds moving at different speeds, they take on a characteristic curved shape. And only at very high altitudes or at high latitudes, cirrus clouds give out rain that reaches the ground.
4) Stratus Clouds - A low-lying, continuous cloud sheet that covers the sky. Stratus clouds are formed by slowly rising air or gentle winds that cover the cold land or sea surface with moist air. Stratus clouds are thin, therefore, despite the gloomy picture, it is unlikely to rain from them, a little drizzle at most. Stratus clouds are identical to fog, so if you've ever walked in a mountainous area on a foggy day, you've been inside a cloud.
5) Lenticular clouds. Smooth and lenticular lenticular clouds form when air is blown up and over a mountain range, and as it travels over a mountain, the air descends to its previous level. At this time, it heats up and the cloud evaporates. But it can slip further, as a result of which the air rises again and forms another lenticular cloud. This can result in a chain of clouds extending far beyond the mountain range. The interaction of wind with mountains and other surface features is one of the many details that must be taken into account in computer simulations to obtain accurate weather predictions.
6) Kelvin - Helmholtz like a breaking ocean wave. When air masses at different heights move horizontally at different speeds, their state becomes unstable. The boundary between the air masses begins to ripple and form large waves, such clouds are quite rare.
The photo was taken in the city of Konakovo. Russia. On the banks of the Volga River.
This green-winged teal was one of several in a very small pond - almost a large puddle. Kept it close for this portrait!
My under-wing pose and the last for now in this series folks.
Thank you all so very much for everything.
La Ceja, Colombia; Central Andes; 2.300 meters above sea level.
Saltator atripennis
(Black-winged Saltator / Saltador de alas negras)
The Black-winged Saltator is a fairly common resident of humid montane forest on the west slope of the Andes from southern Ecuador to northern Colombia. It is more difficult to see than some other species of saltator, perhaps due to its preference for the canopy and its avoidance of clearings.
neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/...
Wikipedia: The blue-winged pitta (Pitta moluccensis) is a passerine bird in the family Pittidae and Southeast Asia. It forms a superspecies with three other pittas, the Indian pitta (P. brachyura), the fairy pitta (P. nympha) and the mangrove pitta (P. megarhyncha). A colorful bird, it has a black head with a buff stripe above the eye, a white collar, greenish upper parts, blue wings, buff underparts and a reddish vent area. Its range extends from India to Malaysia, Indonesia, southern China and the Philippines. Its habitat is moist woodland, parks and gardens and it avoids dense forest. It feeds mainly on insects and worms. It breeds in the spring, building an untidy spherical nest on the ground, often near water and between tree roots. A clutch of about five eggs is laid and incubated by both parents, hatching after about sixteen days.
Conservation status: Least Concern
I visited a butterfly glass house last month with family and was thrilled to see one of these amazing creatures which I've marvelled at in photos on here.
I'm always a little anxious when visiting animals in captivity, but the owner seemed knowledgeable and breeds for reputable places like Kew Gardens and Wisley.
On looking closely it seemed that this beauty had lost its two front legs and I worried that it had been trodden on or damaged in some other way, but apparently glass winged butterflies have two very short front legs which are used only for smelling and tasting!
This female Red-winged Blackbird was busy moving between the cattails in the morning sunlight. Seen in the Hendrie Valley Sanctuary, part of the Royal Botanical Gardens in Burlington, Ontario.
(Agelaius phoeniceus)
Brightly colored but easily overlooked. A bird of shrubland and old fields, the Blue-winged Warbler expanded its breeding grounds northward throughout the 20th century.
Red-winged Blackbirds are ubiquitous in Florida wetland areas. They have a lot of interesting behaviors. They chase raptors from their territories, and both males and females share the burden of feeding their young. This one is a male, often calling and displaying their red shoulders. Females are as beautiful but not as striking, having more subtle coloration. (Agelaius phoeniceus)
A male Blue-winged Teal (Anas discors) is busy preening and in the process displays its wing thus showing how it was named. This bird was on a small marsh west of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
7 June, 2022.
Slide # GWB_20220607_9476.CR2
Use of this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission is not permitted.
© Gerard W. Beyersbergen - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use.
La Ceja, Colombia; Central Andes; 2.300 meters above sea level.
Saltator atripennis
(Black-winged Saltator / Saltador de alas negras)
The Black-winged Saltator is a fairly common resident of humid montane forest on the west slope of the Andes from southern Ecuador to northern Colombia. It is more difficult to see than some other species of saltator, perhaps due to its preference for the canopy and its avoidance of clearings.
neotropical.birds.cornell.edu/Species-Account/nb/species/...
I took this photo inside the US Southwest Soaring Museum in Moriarty, New Mexico on May 31, 2019. It is a great place to visit and learn about soaring.
A Golden-winged Warbler near Colchester, Vermont
"The Golden-winged Warbler is a sharply declining songbird that lives in shrubby, young forest habitats in the Great Lakes and Appalachian Mountains regions. They have one of the smallest populations of any songbird not on the Endangered Species List and are listed as Near Threatened by the IUCN. An estimated 400,000 breeding adults remain—a drop of 66% since the 1960s. In the Appalachian Mountains the situation is even worse: the regional population has fallen by 98%."
www.birds.cornell.edu/home/golden-winged-warbler-conserva...
Great Egret heads towards a roosting area at the end of a long day of fishing.
Fort DeSoto
Some history from Audubon:
Nearly wiped out in the United States in the late 1800s, when its plumes were sought for use in fashion, the Great Egret made a comeback after early conservationists put a stop to the slaughter and protected its colonies; as a result, this bird became the symbol of the National Audubon Society.
This species will likely gain habitable areas as the earth warms - you can see the predictions here:
A male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) in full display trying to attract a mate in a cattail marsh east of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
10 May, 2022.
Slide # GWB_20220510_0218.CR2
Use of this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission is not permitted.
© Gerard W. Beyersbergen - All Rights Reserved Worldwide In Perpetuity - No Unauthorized Use.