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Radiohead - „There, There“
www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AQSLozK7aA
In pitch dark
I go walking in your landscape
Broken branches
Trip me as I speak
Just ′cause you feel it
Doesn't mean it′s there
Just 'cause you feel it
Doesn't mean it′s there
There′s always a siren
Singing you to shipwreck
(Don't reach out, don′t reach out)
(Don't reach out, don′t reach out)
Steer away from these rocks
We'd be a walking disaster
(Don′t reach out, don't reach out)
(Don't reach out, don′t reach out)
Just ′cause you feel it
Doesn't mean it′s there
(Someone on your shoulder)
(Someone on your shoulder)
Just 'cause you feel it
Doesn′t mean it's there
(Someone on your shoulder)
(Someone on your shoulder)
There, there
Why so green
And lonely, and lonely
And lonely
Heaven sent you
To me, to me
To me
We are accidents
Waiting, waiting
To happen
We are accidents
Waiting, waiting
To happen
"At not one point did I say I was innocent darling...."
Model: Stella Fiorani
Photographer: Stella Fiorani
Location: Sunny's Photo Studio
maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Sunny%20Photo%20Studio/128...
Backdrop "Devilish in Black"
Pose customized in Black Dragon
Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Cheers.
Yellow Thornbill
Acanthiza nana
Bird Overview: All thornbills are small birds, and the Yellow Thornbill is one of the smallest — it was once known as the ‘Little Thornbill’. They occur throughout open forests, woodlands and shrublands in eastern and south-eastern Australia, usually where the dominant plants are not eucalypts. They almost always occur in trees, gleaning small insects and other invertebrates among the leaves, twigs and small branches.
Identification: The Yellow Thornbill is a small to medium-sized thornbill and is the most yellow of the thornbill group. It is greenish-olive on the back, with white streaking on the cheeks and ears, and has pale to bright yellow underparts. There is a reddish brown tone on the chin and throat. The young birds are similar but duller.
Songs and Calls: Harsh, scratchy two-note calls: ‘tzid-id’ or ‘tzid-id, tis-tis’.
Location: The Yellow Thornbill is found along the eastern states of Australia from the bottom half of Queensland, through most of NSW and all of Victoria. Its distribution also extends into South Australia.
Habitat: The Yellow Thornbill is found in open forests, woodlands and shrublands which are dominated by Casuarinas, Acacias or paperbarks rather than eucalypts. Often seen in parks and gardens, preferring more established areas.
Behaviour: They build their domed nests in the leafy twigs or foliage of trees or shrubs, where they are often parasitised by bronze-cuckoos.
Feeding: The Yellow Thornbill feeds mainly on insects, but may sometimes eat seeds. They feed almost exclusively in the foliage of trees, most often Acacias, paperbarks, casuarinas and native pines.
Breeding: Breeding pairs of Yellow Thornbills may sometimes have helpers to assist them with feeding the young. Females build a rounded domed nest, with a narrow, hooded entrance near the top, out of grasses, bark and other materials, lining it with feathers, fur or soft plant down. The nest is usually in twigs of upper tree branches. The female incubates the eggs alone, but both parents (and possibly helpers) feed the young.
(Source: birdlife.org.au/bird-profiles/yellow-thornbill/?srsltid=A...)
Wilga - attracts a lot of honeyeaters in flower and red-tailed black cockatoos when the fruit comes - Geijera parviflora, commonly known as wilga, is a species of shrub or small tree in the family Rutaceae and is endemic to inland parts of eastern Australia. It has drooping branches, linear to narrow lance-shaped leaves, small white flowers in loose panicles and spherical fruit containing a shiny black seed. Cockatoos love the seed. (Source: Wikipedia)
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© Chris Burns 2025
All rights reserved.
This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.
Behaviour:
White-tailed eagles spend much of their day perched on trees or crags, and may often not move for hours. Perhaps up to 90% of a day may be spent perched, especially if weather is poor. Also, they will alternate periods of soaring with perching, especially flying over water or well-watered areas, but do considerably less soaring on average than do golden eagles. Pairs regularly roost together, often near to their nest, either on a crag or tree or crevices, overhung ledges or small isolated trees on a crag.
White-tailed Eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) Apetlon, Burgenland Austria_7512
The Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) is a fascinating bird known for its specialised brood parasitism and unique survival strategies. Unlike many other cuckoos, this species uses sophisticated, sometimes "vengeful" tactics to ensure its young are raised by unsuspecting foster parents, primarily Eurasian magpies.
If a magpie recognises the strange egg and removes it, the Great Spotted Cuckoo pair might destroy the host's nest in return. They have been observed returning to the scene to peck or destroy the magpie’s eggs, a "vengeful" behaviour rarely seen in other bird species.
Great Spotted Cuckoo chicks are highly unique because they release a foul-smelling, noxious liquid from their cloaca when threatened by predators. This chemical acts as a repellent, protecting not only the cuckoo chick but also the host's own chicks in the nest.
Great Spotted Cuckoo (Clamator glandarius) adult Spring Spain_1678
Walking through the busy streets in Chichester town centre, I came across this canine character. A good tip on dog behaviour, don't stare at them unless you want them to bark and scare the living day lights out of you.
Think it was a Hungarian Vizsla. Gorgeous dog which had to be photographed.
A group of visitors momentarily framed as the exhibit, pressed up against glass that inverts the usual roles of observer and observed. The image plays on the quiet absurdity of the zoo experience, where containment and curiosity work both ways. For a moment, the animals are elsewhere.
...after you smell your own bottom.
Little Africa was grooming herself and was at the bathroom end when she got a whiff of, well herself.
"The flehmen response is an animal behavior in which the animal curls back the upper lip. This exposes the front teeth and gums of the animal. This is actually a means through which the pheromones and certain scents are transferred into the vomeronasal organ."
Another shot of rut behaviour, as the big Mule Deer buck (see yesterday's post) senses an opportunity, and the other deer scatter. The two foreground deer are fawns; not sure about the one near the top left - possibly a small doe. Viewing them was like watching a chess match where all the pieces were moving simultaneously. Chaos!
I have probably grouped too many deer shots here, but there's one more to come - tomorrow - before I move on to some different prairie critters.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission © 2017 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Pictured at the Inner Farne Islands in Northumberland, England is the Cormorant seabird.
The Cormorant is a long-bodied, quite large-tailed bird, with broad wings and long necks, and a general shape somewhere between divers and geese. They have short, thick legs, showing a relationship to gannets by the fact that webs join all four toes. Their bills are thick and hooked at the tip, helping to grasp fish, which they catch by diving under water. Characteristic behaviour includes standing with wings held half open.
The African wild dog (Lycaon pictus), also known as the painted dog or Cape hunting dog, is a wild canine native to sub-Saharan Africa. The African wild dog is an endangered species, with only four remaining populations in Africa, one of which is Kruger. Their survival is dependent on the pack. A wild dog by itself is not that much of a threat to other animals, but a pack is a different story.In this image the mother had just got back from the hunt with the pack and the pups go frantic trying to feed off her as well as eat the regurgitated remains of the kill - normally an impala. Challenging focus as they never stop moving!
Many thanks for your visits, faves and comments. Cheers.
Pacific Black Duck
Scientific Name: Anas superciliosa
Description: The Pacific Black Duck is mostly mid-brown in colour, with each feather edged buff. The head pattern is characteristic, with a dark brown line through the eye, bordered with cream above and below and a dark brown crown. The upper wing colour is the same as the back, with a bright glossy green patch in the secondary flight feathers. The white underwing is conspicuous in flight. Young Pacific Black Ducks are similar to the adults in plumage.
Similar species: The Pacific Black Duck is closely related to the Mallard, A. platyrhynchos, introduced into Australia from the Northern Hemisphere. The two species are very similar in habits and occupy the same niche in the two regions. The two species will interbreed in situations where Mallards have been released.
Distribution: The Pacific Black Duck is found in all but the most arid regions of Australia. Outside Australia, its range extends throughout the Pacific region.
Habitat: The Pacific Black Duck is one of the most versatile of the Australian ducks. It frequents all types of water, from isolated forest pools to tidal mudflats. Pacific Black Ducks are usually seen in pairs or small flocks and readily mix with other ducks. In the wild, birds are often very wary of humans and seldom allow close approach. Birds in urban ponds become quite tame, however.
Feeding: The Pacific Black Duck is mainly vegetarian, feeding on seeds of aquatic plants. This diet is supplemented with small crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic insects. Food is obtained by 'dabbling', where the bird plunges its head and neck underwater and upends, raising its rear end vertically out of the water. Occasionally, food is sought on land in damp grassy areas.
Breeding: Mating in Pacific Black Ducks coincides with availability of sufficient food and water, and often with the onset of heavy rains or when waterways are at their peaks. Courtship is accompanied by ritualised displays including preening, bobbing and wing-flapping. This behaviour is often initiated by the female, and, other than copulation, the male helps little in the breeding process. Often, two broods will be raised in a year. The number of offspring produced may seem quite high, but only 20% of these will survive past two years of age.
Minimum Size: 50cm
Maximum Size: 60cm
Average size: 55cm
Breeding season: Highly variable
Clutch Size: 16
(Source: www.birdsinbackyards.net)
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© Chris Burns 2019
All rights reserved.
This image may not be copied, reproduced, distributed, republished, downloaded, displayed, posted or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic, mechanical, photocopying and recording without my written consent.
Mallotus villosus, know in eastern Canada as capelin, breed on the stony beaches of Newfoundland each summer. They 'roll' up onto the beaches on the incoming waves in massive numbers to lay their eggs, after which they catch the next wave back into the ocean.
However, some do get stranded too high on the beach. The fish will then flip and flop to try getting back down to where the water is. Some fail. There are three basic techniques they seem to use. Some will twist/roll. Others employ a 'moonwalk' technique where they undulate their bodies, tail first, down the beach. They will also pivot on their nose, as shown in this image.
The fish prefer to breed on beaches with smaller gravel, like this one. All the little whitish/brownish balls you see, that looks almost like sand, are eggs, but the individual in the photo is a male so it only contributed the milk that contains the spermatozoa that fertilizes the eggs. The males develop stronger colours on their back and enlarged pelvic fins. Females are more silver/white on the sides and will have a swollen abdomen due to all the eggs. If conditions are not right, they will also breed off-shore.
The photo isn't the best, but does illustrate most of the points noted above.
When we see eye to eye......
The masked lapwing (Vanellus miles) is a large, common and conspicuous bird native to Australia (particularly the northern and eastern parts of the continent), New Zealand and New Guinea. It spends most of its time on the ground searching for food such as insects and worms, and has several distinctive calls. It is common in Australian fields and open land, and is known for its defensive swooping behaviour during the nesting season.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Striolated_bunting
The striolated bunting (Emberiza striolata) is a passerine bird in the bunting family Emberizidae, a group now separated by most modern authors from the finches, Fringillidae.
Distribution and habitat
It is a resident breeder of dry country from the Canary Islands, east through south-west Asia to north-western India.[2]
It breeds in remote wadis (not around human habitation like the related house bunting), usually close to streams, laying two to four eggs in a nest on the ground or in a hole in the ground.[2] Its natural food consists of seeds, or when feeding young, insects.
Description
It is 14 cm long, similar in size to the house bunting and smaller than the similarly plumaged rock bunting. The breeding male has a chestnut body, and grey head with darker streaking and a white supercilium and moustachial streak. The female's head has a brown tint to the grey, and more diffused streaking.
The striolated bunting has stronger facial striping and a paler belly than the north African house bunting, which used to be considered conspecific as the subspecies E. striolata sahari.[3][4] Birds in eastern Chad (E. striolata jebelmarrae) show some evidence of intergradation with the house bunting.[2]
The song, given from a perch, is similar, but weaker than, that of the common chaffinch.
Behaviour
Breeding
The breeding range of the bird in India has been noted in recent times to include more southerly locations such as near Saswad near Pune. The incubation period of the clutch of three eggs is 14 days.
I've no idea what's going on in this pic, other than the awesome behaviour of nature and what's going on inside the camera — particularly the strobe-like artefacts, but mostly the bounce!
a drop of rainwater from a drainpipe into a water butt outside Rob's
This Arctic Tern in flight with a fish was one of a pair engaged in courtship behaviour — see this image www.flickr.com/photos/luminouscompositions/54524503244/in...
This was at a small pebbly beach in the town of Húsavík on the north coast of Iceland, in the region of Norðurland eystra.
This was one of the more intense moments of last year's bear pilgrimage to the swamp forest on Finland's Russian border. Even though the hide seemed robust, a huge brown bear approaching within a few feet was alarming. Too easy to imagine the door splintering apart under the determined strength of those massive forepaws, and a slavering muzzle questing through...
But in fact, apart from one individual that seemed screwy, they were all very calm and deliberate in their behaviour, and only became animated when they sensed another bear approaching. Which was a relief!
They were too far away for a good picture however, I took this shot anyway because of the male's behaviour charging females at several occasions while I was there. Females either ignored him or pushed him away. I have never seen this before even though I observed them a lot in the past. I don't think it is courting time in mid-January. It was just bizarre.
One large mammal you can pretty much see on every visit to Jasper National Park is the elk. Another name for this large member of the deer family is wapiti (Cree for white rump).
The female pictured here is laying down, chewing her cud. Very relaxed, as the elk hanging out in this area are very used to people and camera toting photographers. Because of their generally gentle demeanor, many people will encroach on their 'personal' space with cell phones held out. Very illegal. BTW, the background here is a area that was lightly burned over in the 2024 fire. Not far from here, the devastation was massive, and tourist facilities burned to the ground.
Wapiti breed in the fall and give birth in late spring or early summer. This cow looks pregnant, so soon there will be little elk enticing park visitors with their cuteness.
Week 1 in 52 Weeks for Dogs and the start of my 14th year in the group.
Here is Tasku, this afternoon, still calm after her 'chill pills' that she had before her visit to the vet earlier in the day. She was getting increasingly panicky and distressed with each visit that required an internal examination and her vet suggested that doing this 'chill protocol' might help. The difference in Tasku's behaviour is amazing, she remains fairly calm throughout the appointment, no screaming, no panting or scrabbling - such a relief for me and the vet.
The news is good too, there is no discernible difference in her lump since the previous appointment three months ago.
ANSH 121 (7) calm
I revisited the sharp-tailed sandpipers a bit later, and there were still some males exhibiting breeding behavior. They must have been quite well-rested and nourished.
(Calidris acuminata)
Taken on a great workshop with Paul Miguel, where I learnt loads. It was my first, and hopefully not my last, trip to Bempton.
The jaguar (Panthera onca) is the largest cat in tropical America and in the world the third largest cat after the tiger and lion.
The jaguar's present range extends from the U.S.-Mexico border across much of Central America and south to Paraguay and northern Argentina, particularly in the Amazon basin.
This spotted cat most closely resembles the leopard physically, although it is usually larger and of sturdier build and its behavioural and habitat characteristics are closer to those of the tiger.
The rosettes on a jaguar's coat are larger, fewer in number, usually darker, and have thicker lines and small spots in the middle that the leopard lacks.
While dense rainforest is its preferred habitat, the jaguar will range across a variety of forested and open terrains. It is strongly associated with the presence of water and is notable, along with the tiger, as a feline that enjoys swimming.
The jaguar is largely a solitary, opportunistic, stalk-and-ambush predator at the top of the food chain. Jaguars are powerfully built, with large, square jaws. Jaguars have lean bodies and muscular limbs. They are built for power, not speed, although they can run briefly. Height at the shoulder may be up to 75 cm. Body length is 130 to 190 cm long with a tail of 45 to 75 cm. Jaguars weigh between 65 and 125 kg. Base coat colors range from pale yellow to reddish brown, with black, rosette-shaped spots.
They may also be black (a melanistic form), but then, despite being the same species, are often called panthers. These jaguars have a base coat color of black with black spots that are usually dimly visible against the black background. Black jaguars are more common in forested habitats.
De grootste kat van het Amerikaanse continent is de jaguar (Panthera onca). Na de tijger en de leeuw is deze kat de derde grootste van de wereld.
De jaguar heeft een groot leefgebied dat zich uitstrekt van de Amerikaans-Mexicaanse grens via Midden-Amerika tot in Paraguay en Noord-Argentinië in Zuid-Amerika.
In het Amazonegebied komen de meeste jaguars voor.
De jaguar lijkt oppervlakkig sterk op de luipaard of panter, maar is meestal groter en zwaarder gebouwd. De vlekken (rozetten) op de vacht van een jaguar zijn ook groter, minder in aantal, meestal donkerder, en hebben dikkere lijnen en kleine vlekjes in het midden, die bij de luipaarden ontbreken.
Het gedrag en de leefgebieden van jaguars zijn dichter bij die van tijgers. Jaguars leven vooral in tropische bossen, maar ook in meer open terreinen, mits er genoeg dekking is van gras en rotsen tijdens het jagen. Ze hebben net als tijgers een voorkeur voor waterrijke gebieden. Ze zijn ook niet bang voor water en kunnen goed zwemmen. Vrijwel ieder dier dat in het leefgebied van de jaguar voorkomt, vormt een potentiële prooi voor dit roofdier. De solitair levende jaguar is vooral in de ochtend- en avondschemering actief.
Jaguars zijn krachtig gebouwd met grote sterke kaken. De poten zijn relatief kort, maar erg sterk. De staart zorgt voor evenwicht bij het springen. De vacht is lichtgeel tot roodbruin met zwarte rozetten, ronde of ovale vlekken met daarin één of twee donkere stippen. Midden op de rug verandert de rij zwarte vlekken soms in een doorlopende lijn. De hoogte bij de schouder kan oplopen tot 75 cm. De lichaamslengte is 130 à 190 cm met een staart van 50 à 75 cm. Jaguars wegen tussen de 65 en 125 kg.
Naast de hiervoor beschreven lichtgeel tot roodbruin kleur is er ook een melanistische (zwarte) variant, waarbij de vlekken wel te zien zijn in de zon. Ondanks dat het dezelfde soort betreft, worden de zwarte jaguars vaak onjuist panters genoemd. Zwarte jaguars komen wat meer voor in bosrijke gebieden.
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All rights reserved. Copyright © Martien Uiterweerd. All my images are protected under international authors copyright laws and may not be downloaded, reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without my written explicit permission.
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