Микрофото с объективом Yashica Yashinon 32mm f/3.5 High Quality Microfiche Lens, HDR

This dragonfly landed on a tree branch just ahead of me at Koll. I often see them on reeds and tall grass, but haven't seen tree

branches, 6 feet off the ground!

Any time I shoot dragonflies, my ultimate goal is to see the compound eyes, and a few of the shots of this one did reveal them (enlarge for detail)

Manhattan

Cycads are seed plants with a very long fossil history that were formerly more abundant and more diverse than they are today.They have a cylindrical trunk which usually does not branch. Leaves grow directly from the trunk, and typically fall when older, leaving a crown of leaves at the top. The leaves grow in a rosette form, with new foliage emerging from the top and center of the crown. The trunk may be buried, so the leaves appear to be emerging from the ground, so the plant appears to be a basal rosette. The leaves are generally large in proportion to the trunk size, and sometimes even larger than the trunk. The leaves are pinnate (in the form of bird feathers, pinnae), with a central leaf stalk from which parallel ribs emerge from each side of the stalk, perpendicular to it. The leaves are typically either compound (the leaf stalk has leaflets emerging from it as ribs, or have edges (margins) so deeply cut (incised) so as to appear compound. Some species have leaves that are bipinnate, which means the leaflets each have their own subleaflets, growing in the same form on the leaflet as the leaflets grow on the stalk of the leaf (self-similar geometry). 26357

Goldcrest - Regulus regulus

The goldcrest (Regulus regulus) is a very small passerine bird in the kinglet family. Its colourful golden crest feathers gives rise to its English and scientific names, and possibly to it being called the king of the birds in European folklore. Several subspecies are recognised across the very large distribution range that includes much of Eurasia and the islands of Macaronesia. Birds from the north and east of its breeding range migrate to winter further south.

The goldcrest is the smallest European bird, 8.5–9.5 cm (3.3–3.7 in) in length,[2] with a 13.5–15.5 cm (5.3–6.1 in) wingspan and a weight of 4.5–7.0 g (0.16–0.25 oz).

Several small passerine species survive freezing winter nights by inducing a lower metabolic rate and hypothermia, of a maximum of 10 °C (18 °F) below normal body temperature, in order to reduce energy consumption overnight. However, in freezing conditions, it may be that for very small birds, including the tiny goldcrest, the energy economies of induced hypothermia may be insufficient to counterbalance the negative effects of hypothermia including the energy required to raise body temperature back to normal at dawn. Observations of five well-fed birds suggest that they maintain normal body temperatures during cold nights by metabolising fat laid down during the day, and that they actually use behavioural thermoregulation strategies, such as collective roosting in dense foliage or snow holes to survive winter nights. Two birds roosting together reduce their heat loss by a quarter, and three birds by a third. During an 18‑hour winter night, with temperatures as low as −25 °C (−13 °F) in the north of its range, goldcrests huddled together can each burn off fat equivalent to 20% of body weight to keep warm.

Until the severe winter of 1916–17 the Goldcrest was abundant and widespread, nesting in all the wooded portions of our islands; in 1920 it could have little more than an obituary notice, for the nesting stock was practically wiped out. ... and for some years, even as a winter visitor, the Goldcrest remained rare, absent from most of its nesting haunts. It is, however, now fully re-established.

Conversely, populations can expand rapidly after a series of mild winters. In lowland Britain, there was an increase of 48% following the 1970/71 winter, with many pairs spreading into deciduous woodlands where they would not normally breed.

In culture

Aristotle (384–322 BC) and Pliny (23–79 AD) both wrote about the legend of a contest among the birds to see who should be their king, the title to be awarded to the one that could fly highest. Initially, it looked as though the eagle would win easily, but as he began to tire, a small bird that had hidden under the eagle's tail feathers emerged to fly even higher and claimed the title. Following from this legend, in much European folklore the wren has been described as the king of the birds or as a flame bearer. However, these terms were also applied to the Regulus species, the fiery crowns of the goldcrest and firecrest making them more likely to be the original bearers of these titles, and, because of the legend's reference to the smallest of birds becoming king, the title was probably transferred to the equally tiny wren. The confusion was probably compounded by the similarity and consequent interchangeability of the Greek words for the wren (βασιλεύς basileus, and the crests (βασιλισκος basiliskos, In English, the association between the goldcrest and Eurasian wren may have been reinforced by the kinglet's old name of gold-crested wren.

This tiny woodland bird has had little other impact on literature, although it is the subject of Charles Tennyson Turner's short poem, The Gold-crested Wren first published in 1868. An old English name for the goldcrest is the woodcock pilot, since migrating birds preceded the arrival of Eurasian woodcocks by a couple of days. There are unfounded legends that the goldcrest would hitch a ride in the feathers of the larger bird, and similar stories claimed that owls provided the transport. Suffolk fishermen called this bird herring spink or tot o'er seas because migrating goldcrests often landed on the rigging of herring boats out in the North Sea.

I believe when these tree trunks felled out years ago remain a bit on the wayside, then they will eventually rush and fall into compost. Due to the dryness and, along the excessive bark beetle infestation of the trees, many trees had to be pleased and the wooden offer is just too big.

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None of my work is Ai assisted and is copyright Rg Sanders aka Ronald George Sanders.

Abandoned power plant compound

Macro Mondays - Curves

5" Alloy Steel pliers with knurled grip. Speedlight with grid, behind and right.

Three inches in greatest dimension.

What to do on a rainy morning !!. Why not focus stack an unexpected visitor. This image was created using 10 photographs composited together using Zerene Stacker.

I used a bank of LED lights on the right hand side and a white card to the rear to bounce the light.

I used TriggerTrap to fire the camera to avoid camera shake.

les brumes and cgt are responsible for the wonderful textures.

He who dares enters here.

Wespe

Nachdem die Wespe fast ertrunken war, blieb sie einige Zeit still in dieser Position. Das gab mir Gelegenheit für viele Makroaufnahmen. Die Augen dieser Tiere sind faszinierend.

The compound eyes are discernible in this view, the wings less so.

We now have an ID thanks to David Nice:

It is a Day Flying Hawk Moth - Cephonodes kingii

Scan of a Kodacolor Print. Taken the week of July 3, 1950. Celebrating July 4th.

This is a photo taken by my grandfather and pharmacist, A.C. Sneed, of his drugstore on Clinton Drive....Sneed's Galena Park Pharmacy.

Built in the 1940s, it was a full compounding pharmacy complete with a soda fountain - lunch counter....breakfast was served all day. (His favorite meal of the day.)

A.C. believed that every customer deserved to have their prescriptions filled regardless of their race, color or religious beliefs. If they didn't have money to pay for their medicine....he would barter with them for goods or services.

On the far left of the drugstore you can see the office of Dr. Frank A. Mack. My grandfather leased the space to Dr. Mack for years.

A plant from the neighborhood.

Film

Compound of Kenchouji as seen from the Sanmon gate. Kenchouji was originally built in 1253 but has been rebuilt several times.

The architecture in the right is Butsuden (仏殿), in which the statue of Ksitigarbha is housed. Since it was moved from a Tokugawa mausoleum, its architectural style is different from other architectures in the compound.

The one in the middle is Hattou (法堂) that is installed with the fasting Buddha and the painting of the dragon in the cloud. It is the largest wooden architecture in Kamakura completed in 1825.

Karamon (唐門) or Chinese Gate in the left is the gate of Houjou (方丈) that is the main building of the temple. The gate was moved from the same mausoleum as Butsuden. Houjou was moved from the same temple as the Soumon gate, i.e. Hanjuuzanmai'in (般舟三昧院) in Kyoto.

The building behind Hattou is Shoin (書院) or Study.

San Diego Botanic Garden

Encinitas, California

A Sympetrum striolatum from a while back. This one was a recently emerged individual, it seems that the ommatidia of the compound eye are much more apparent in teneral individuals, I still wonder what Dragon vision would be like, that's not just the compound eyes, you would have to factor in the 3 ocelli as well. I reckon a real case of sensory overload.

This was a natural light focus stack of a Darters noggin :o)

VIEW LARGE

Krutitsy Compound (Krutitsy Patriarchal Compound, Krutitsy Bishop's House, Krutitsy) is the former residence of the bishops of Sarsky and Podonsky, founded in the 13th century as a monastery. The name of the compound comes from the word "krutitsy", denoting the elevated left banks of the Moscow River below the mouth of the Yauza River. In 1991, it became part of the Russian Orthodox Church as a compound of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Rus'. Since 2001, the buildings have housed the Synodal Department for Youth Affairs.

13th-17th centuries

In the 9th-11th centuries, the princely village of Krutitsy was located on the territory of the modern compound. Busy trade routes leading to Kolomna and Ryazan passed near the village.

In 1262, a monastery for men was founded in Krutitsy, built in honor of Saints Peter and Paul. Historians put forward two main versions of its origin. According to the first, the decree on the establishment of the monastery was issued by Prince Daniil of Moscow. According to legend, he liked the picturesque nature of those places so much that he decided to found a house on the river bank. However, the ascetic Podon, who lived in one of the huts, warned him about the need to build a church and an archbishop's house in Krutitsy. For this reason, the prince gave up his own chambers and founded a monastery. At the turn of the 13th and 14th centuries, the Greek bishop Varlaam the Greek settled in it, later becoming the first Krutitsy bishop. After Varlaam's death, the monastery was transformed into a courtyard of the Sarai diocese, created in the 13th century after part of the population found itself under the Horde yoke and Prince Alexander Nevsky issued a decree on the creation of a separate diocese for the church care of Russians in the capital of the Golden Horde, Sarai-Batu.

A faded ad of a soap powder no longer in production on a wall on Second and 72nd Street in Manhattan. A new building will soon rise and cover the ad forever. You can learn more about the product here:

www.google.com/search?q=pearline+washing+compound&oq=...

"Compound is clear sir."

Photography By David Hixon

Picked some colorful leaves from the park yesterday. Most were withering and with decaying spots. Couldn't come up with a good shot with those but they made colorful background for this back lit image of southern shield fern.

Macro Mondays

theme: Leaf

Western Maryland 1309 does a Saturday morning runby at the famous Helmstetter’s Curve.

Winding upgrade toward the summit at Sand Patch on 16 July 2004 is CSX eastbound intermodal train Q-148, ducking under the US 219 expressway extension at Meyersdale PA with SD50 No. 8581 leading leased HLCX (ex-BNSF) SD40-2 No. 7167.

An extreme macro shot of this interesting orange fly in my backyard that shows off it's wonderfully complex compound eyes.

Taken 6 June 2023 near Wasilla, Alaska.

Sympetrum fonscolombii ♀