But a Christmas Eve snow

A day early this year...

___________

Even though we remain hovering right at the freezing point, early this morning big, fluffy, and wet snowflakes began to fall, continuing even now and providing a beautiful, fresh white accent to the landscape...the northwoods' annual celebration of the season. This shot, as with so many others over the years, taken from my deck.

[This is also the time of year at which I get confused as to whom I've wished Season's Greetings and to whom I have not. Forgive me if I repeat myself and, in the spirit of the holidays, be patient with an old man, accepting good wishes however often they may be repeated. It's the thought, not the memory, that counts. ;-))]

the Eurasian Wren is the only Wren species ( troglodytidae ) in Europe, Asia and Africa.

troglodytes troglodytes

winterkoning of winterkoninkje

Troglodyte mignon

Zaunkönig

Chochín Paleártico

Scricciolo

Carriça

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The Lesser Tenrec has strong, grasping toes with tiny hooked claws, enabling them to to keep a grip on all but the smoothest of surfaces. They can even hang by one foot or even a toe while climbing.

until Sunday there will be limited activity on my account

also called Goshawk

accipiter gentilis

havik

autour des palombes

Habicht

Nikon D850

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Lake Manyara National Park, Tanzania

a tiny kingfisher that can be found near water in many parts of sub Saharan Africa

Corythornis cristatus

kleine gekuifde ijsvogel

Martin-pêcheur huppé

Haubenzwergfischer

Martín pescador malaquita

Martin pescatore malachite

Pica-peixe-de-poupa

Nikon Z9

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I'm home for the weekend, but took this New Year day when I stopped by the house to grab a few things. The parking lot is where I stop when I have a trailer and only staying for a few hours. It's only a couple of miles from the house. Kmart was here, but closed a few months ago. Anyway, I was leaving but wanted to get a picture of the mountains and clouds, I noticed a father with his kids playing with a radio controlled car, this being one of the few places nearby with a little dry pavement, and competently empty... well, except for the big semi and trailer.

A cold but oh so beautiful day, lots of sunshine.

:-)

also called Eurasian Kingfisher

alcedo atthis

ijsvogel

martin-pêcheur d'Europe

Eisvogel

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But sometimes one can make a pretty good guess.....

We don't touch the foxes ever, but he likes to get close!! and he's very sociable and photogenic!! Captured at British Wildlife Centre, UK

today at the Baltic Sea -

Durch den steifen Ostwind vom Wasser her war es doch noch sehr kalt heute an der sonnigen Ostsee.

garrulus glandarius

gaai of Vlaamse gaai

geai des chênes

Eichelhäher

Nikon D850 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF + TC 1,4 III

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early morning this week in the Castro Verde plains in Portugal

The elusive Little Bustard was one of my main targets in this beautiful region

tetrax tetrax

kleine trap

outarde canepetière

Zwergtrappe

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Hurray! This photo made it to Explore's front page. It is not photoshopped or superimposed or anything. I used a little digital enhancement to bring out the detail in the clouds and color in the backgroud. The balloon was sharp and detailed in the untouched version. © all rights reserved

Today there were 3 balloons up. I had 10 passengers. It was a pefect flight and a perfect day. Just the right amount of clouds and wind and sun and hassle-free landing fields.

This photo shows the Remax Balloon flown by Bill Baker with Black Mountain (San Diego city park open space area) in the background, and way to the back left can be seen Mount Woodson, between Poway and Ramona, a popular rock climbing spot.

taken yesterday in a forest. i had hoped to see a Brambling among the Chaffinches but there was hardly any activity because of the stormy weather

also called Common Chaffinch

fringilla coelebs

vink

pinson des arbres

Buchfink

Nikon Z7 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF

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taken yesterday

rallus aquaticus

waterral

râle d'eau

Wasserralle

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in a clearing in a forest

Muscicapa striata

grauwe vliegenvanger

gobemouche gris

Grauschnäpper

Nikon Z7 with Nikkor 500mm f/5.6E PF

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A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort

female Puma in Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile

puma concolor

poema

Puma

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Created for the TMI's "Black in the Back" April contest. The flowers were photographed by me, but from a neighbor's yard. I've been trying to think how I could somehow transplant all of them to MY yard, but don't have a plan....yet.

FAMILIAR SPECIES, but still in heavy decline, familiar because of its affinity for human habitations, found in small groups, can become remarkably tame. A constant source of entertainment on the trees and feeders around the cottage!

CRAZY MILD WEATHER ! look at the buds on its perch in December !

++++++++++++++++++++++++

THANK YOU for your visit, and kind comments , much appreciated indeed. Enjoy the weekend my dear friends, Stay safe, God bless .................Tomx

in the woods that I regularly visit it is difficult to have sightings of the European Roe Deer during the day from a reasonable distance.

In this specific protected area I had several short sightings this year walking into the woods before dawn.

However, since about 10 days a Wolf ( canis lupus ), looking for a viable territory, has moved into this area .

This is an entirely new situation for the Roe Deer and their behavior is changing.....

In the last week there have been regular daytime sightings just like my encounter last Tuesday deep in these woods.

capreolus capreolus

ree

chevreuil

Reh

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but what i feel that matters

today it's nostalgia

knowing this will be the last summer

i will enjoy this beautiful, rural scenery

... but I love you, I love you a hundred times stronger

a hundred times stronger than you don't love me... (c)

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Everlong/74/195/25

but the never needing to say is what counts :-)

Margaret Lee Runbeck

HPPS!! stay safe my friends, take care :-)

butterfly on waterlily, sarah p duke gardens, duke university, durham, north carolina

Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough

www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZf_8_0bAGg

these Wildebeest had spent the night in the woodlands and were heading towards the Ndutu Marsh area (in the south east of the Serengeti, Tanzania )

The south east of the Serengeti is the most southern part of the annual Great Migration . It is the area where most of the Wildebeest calves are born.

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On a road on the eastern side of Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming, USA.

while it was still dark we had gone to a simple bird hide to be there before the flocks of Meyer's parrots and African green pigeons arrive at the clay eating site at sunrise.

While we were waiting we heard some noise behind us and after a while we knew these were warthogs ( definitely safer than some other possibilities...)

The family of warthogs came closer and had picked up our scent but they had no clue where we were.

The huge male in this image was walking in front and stopped nearby to look in our direction.

You can clearly see both set of tusks of which the very sharp small ones are used for fighting other warthogs or for defense against predators. The larger ones are used for digging etc.

Kafue National Park, Zambia

phacochoerus africanus

common warthog

knobbelzwijn

phacochère

Warzenschwein

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Well, and after the creation of the island, people came to it and started building houses and villages with their churches.

The sea was their friend, but at the same time their enemy because on the one hand they provided a source of income through fishing, but on the other hand the sea had its terrible quirks and she could rage like a raging rage and devourded houses, villages in short everything what got in her way and therefore also people.

And in order to avoid the seething desolation of the sea, dikes were always built higher, higher and higher, so that you no longer see the villages from the sea side, except for a small part of the church tower........

Bronze-tailed plumeleteer (Chalybura urochrysia)

Region of Arenal, Costa Rica

BUT IT`S NOT MY FAULT !!!!!!!

If you don't know who the loreley was just listen to the song :-)

Dschinghis Kahn - Loreley www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx1pPJZQ9OE

Hard to believe, but: yes! Those pretty multicolored, variegated Tulips are degenerating species of that flower. The first to note this (in 1576) is the eminent botanist Carolus Clusius (1516-1609). However, he didn't know the cause of that phenomenon. Today much study has been made of the so-called 'Tulip-breaking Virus' (TBV), that, once a bulb has been infected with it, gives rise to those strikingly colored flowers. One of those Viruses is named after Rembrandt, the ReTBV. The photo is of an affected flower in the Hortus Botanicus here in Amsterdam.

1941 Classic Cadillac

… but luckily my garden is flooded

Challenge sur Flickr : 154 : Fire & wide angle

But they are very hot when you eat them.

Not sure, but this little one could be Grisu we've been missing for a while now (Squirrels-2020-4471.jpg)

Old Doors Don't Open just a barrier between an alley and a parking place on the other side, but a charming alternative to concrete, shot in North Carolina.

deep in the rainforest in a hilly area of the Atherton Tablelands (Queensland, Australia).

Fantastic sighting but not the greatest shot as this male bird was located in a tree on a steep slope.

Golden Bowerbirds, although the smallest bowerbirds of Australia at 23-25 cm, build impressive bowers that can be up to 2m ( >6.5 ft) high.

Their names in the different languages refer to their exceptional building and "gardening" capabilities

prionodura newtoniana

meiboombouwer

jardinier de Newton

Säulengärtner

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Uprooted but strongly we hold. The spring that washed away our soil still quenches our thirst. Watch us grow.

in a stream in the ground water forest at Lake Manyara NP, Tanzania

A large true Buzzard with broad wings and a short rounded tail which makes it easy to recognize in flight. It lives in mountain areas and in hilly country in woodland and savanna regions.

Its regular plumage shows a dark back, white below and a rufous tail. There is also a dark morph.

Besides Eastern Africa it can also be found in south western Africa.

It has a close relative in Southern Africa, the Jackal Buzzard

The prey of the Augur Buzzard mostly consists of small reptiles and mammals but it will also take large insects, small birds and will feed on road kills.

buteo augur

Augurbuizerd

Buse augure

Augurbussard

Busardo Augur Oriental

Poiana augure

Bútio-augur

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the very first of these pretty finches are now arriving from their northern breeding grounds.

This image was taken in March when the last birds had not yet left

sometimes called Mountain Finch

fringilla montifringilla

keep

pinson du nord

Bergfink

Pinzón Real

Peppola

Tentilhão-montês

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he longs to go forth into the fields, to feel its steady stream, to scent its fragrance; to stand under some heavy-foliaged chestnut-tree, and hear the rushing music on the crowded leaves :-)

John Richard Vernon, "The Beauty of Rain," 1863

HMM!! HPPT! we have had a very wet winter...fortunately most of the precipitation has not been frozen ;-)

camellia, 'Nuccio's Cameo', our yard, cary, north carolina

Frail but still standing, the Hundred Guinea Oak is now over 600 years old. William John Chute who owned The Vyne in the late Georgian period was offered a hundred pounds and later a hundred guineas for the timber.

He flatly refused to sell the oak which you can see for yourself at the top of the lime avenue.

Siwash Rock in Vancouver

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The Eurasian whimbrel (numenius phaeopus) is a migratory species that may be seen in many parts of the world. It breeds in the sub-arctic, as far south as Scotland, but winters in Africa, Southern Asia and as far south as Australasia. I photographed this one near Belle Mare, on the island of Mauritius.