View allAll Photos Tagged deserts
A couple shots taken this evening about 15 minutes from each other. This one with an 70-200mm before the sun dipped below the Sierra's.
A giant salt lake in southern Bolvia. No polarising filter uesd - the contrast in the sky made it that dark!
The Sonoran Desert National Monument contains magnificent examples of untrammeled Sonoran Desert landscape. This National Monument is the most biologically diverse of the North American deserts, and the monument captures a significant portion of that diversity. The most striking aspect of the plant community within the monument is the extensive saguaro cactus forest. The monument contains three distinct mountain ranges, the Maricopa, Sand Tank and Table Top Mountains, as well as the Booth and White Hills, all separated by wide valleys. The monument also contains three Congressionally designated wilderness areas and many significant archaeological and historic sites, and remnants of several important historic trails.
Visits to the Sand Tank Mountains, located south of Interstate 8, requires a Barry M Goldwater Range permit. The permit is free, but requires the recipient to watch a 13 minute safety video. Permits are valid for one year, from July 1 through June 30 of the following year. Permits can be obtained in person at BLM's Arizona State Office and Lower Sonoran Field Office.
www.blm.gov/visit/sonoran-desert
Photo by Bob Wick/Bureau of Land Management.
ROYAL MARINES GREEN DAGGER USA 2019
IMAGE SHOWS: A Royal Marine from Alpha Company 40 Commando radios up a situation report during a firefight. Taken in California at 29 Palms on Ex Green Dagger 2019.
40 Commando Battle Group take on their US Marine Corps counterpart in a peer-on-peer scenario in the deserts of California. Their training took place in the excellent, and truly vast, range complex at Twentynine Palms (near the border of Mexico).
The Royal Marines have been invited by the Commandant General of the US Marine Corps to compete in a peer-on-peer warfighting scenario: “we must train the way we intend to fight. Training must reflect how we would fight a thinking adversary who can compete in all domains”. 40 Commando Battle Group have partnered with 7th Marine Regiment USMC as the adversary for; providing a commando force to be the lethal tip-of-the-spear to take on 2nd Marine Division (2nd MARDIV).
The Egyptian goose was formally described in 1766 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the twelfth edition of his Systema Naturae under the binomial name Anas aegyptiaca. Linnaeus partly based his account on the "L'oye d'Egypte" that had been described and illustrated in 1760 by the French ornithologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in his Ornithologie. Brisson used the Latin name Anser Egyptiatiacus but although he coined Latin names for species, these do not conform to the binomial system and are not recognised by the International Commission on Zoological Nomenclature. The Egyptian goose is now placed with the extinct Mauritius sheldgoose and the extinct Reunion sheldgoose in the genus Alopochen that was introduced in 1885 by the Norwegian born zoologist Leonhard Stejneger. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised. The generic name Alopochen (literally, fox-goose) is based on Greek ἀλωπός (alōpós, also ἀλώπηξ alōpēx), "fox", and χήν (chēn) "goose", referring to the ruddy colour of its back. The word χήν : chēn is grammatically of either masculine or feminine gender. The species name aegyptiacus (or aegyptiaca) is from the Latin Aegyptiacus, "Egyptian". It is believed to be most closely related to the shelducks (genus Tadorna) and their relatives, and is placed with them in the subfamily Tadorninae. It is the only extant member of the genus Alopochen, which also contains closely related prehistoric and recently extinct species. mtDNA cytochrome b sequence data suggest that the relationships of Alopochen to Tadorna need further investigation. It swims well and appears heavy in flight, more like a goose than a duck, hence the English name. On average, they are 63–73 cm (25–29 in) tall. The sexes of this species are identical in plumage but the males are usually somewhat larger. They vary greatly in plumage tone, with some birds greyer and others browner, but this variation has not been observed to be sex- or age-related. A large part of the wings of mature birds is white, but the white is hidden by the wing coverts when at rest. When it is aroused, either in alarm or aggression, the white is displayed. Egyptian geese in the wild can live for up to 15 years, while captive individuals have been recorded reaching an age of 35. The voices and vocalisations of the sexes differ, the male having a hoarse, subdued duck-like quack which seldom sounds unless it is aroused, as well as a louder, breathy call which is performed in a rapid sequence, sounding somewhat like a steam engine. The female has a far noisier raucous quack that frequently sounds in aggression when tending her young. The male Egyptian goose attracts its mate with an elaborate, noisy courtship display that includes honking, neck stretching and feather displays. Native to Sub-Saharan Africa and the Nile Valley, where it is widespread and common to abundant, though it has become scarce in the northern Nile Valley. It is found in open or semi-open habitats, typically near fresh water, ranging from lowlands to 4,000 m (13,000 ft) above sea level in the Ethiopian Highlands, and largely absent from dense forests and deserts. While not breeding, it disperses somewhat, sometimes making longer migrations northwards into the arid regions of the Sahel, and occasionally even reaching the North African nations of Algeria and Tunisia, historically a more frequent part of its range. It was found in southeastern Europe (up to the lower Danube Valley and southern Hungary) until the early 1700s, and in parts of Turkey and the western Middle East until the early 1900s (and has since re-established through escaped captives), but its historical ranges in these places is incompletely known and the reason for the disappearances is also unknown. The British populations of the Egyptian goose date back to the 17th century when it was introduced to estates and parks, though the species was only formally added to the British bird list in 1971. The British introductions were the first outside its native range; however, these individuals did not spread widely and are not known to have expanded into other countries. In Great Britain, it is found mainly in East Anglia, and in various locations along the River Thames, where it breeds at sites with open water, short grass and suitable nesting locations (either islands, holes in old trees or amongst epicormic shoots on old trees). During the winter, they are widely dispersed within river valleys, where they feed on short grass and cereals. In the United Kingdom in 2009, it was officially declared a non-native species. Accordingly, Egyptian geese in Great Britain may be shot without special permission if they cause problems. The Egyptian goose was first introduced to the Netherlands in 1967 and to Belgium in 1982, and these formed the basis for the population in mainland Europe, likely supplemented by some captive escapees from other European countries. From these two countries, the species has experienced a relatively fast range expansion into adjacent countries, first spreading into Germany and France (where possibly supplemented by local escapees) in the mid-1980s, and then to the Czech Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg and Switzerland in the early 2000s. Further observations, sometimes also involving isolated cases of breeding, have been made in Austria, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden and elsewhere in mainland Europe, but it is not yet known to have become established in those countries. Because of its aggressiveness towards other birds, it may reduce or displace native species, and since 2017 the Egyptian goose has been listed as an invasive species in the European Union. Therefore this species cannot be imported, bred, transported, commercialized, used, exchanged or intentionally released into the environment and member states are obliged to try to eradicate the species.
In addition to Europe, the Egyptian goose has been introduced and established breeding populations in Mauritius, Israel, the United Arab Emirates and the United States. In the US, breeding populations are found in Arkansas, California, Florida, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas, with occasional reports of the species elsewhere. Although the Egyptian goose was introduced to Australia and New Zealand, it did not become established in these countries.
Extracts from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Today was the start of our D.S.T. which means we lost an hour's sleep last night and it was dark until 7 a.m. This was the sight when I went outside to get the newspaper - it looks like the sky is on fire and it's warm! It's called a Santa Ana condition, where hot winds blow off the deserts and out to sea. Here, near the coast we don't get much of the wind, but it's hot and dry, dry, dry. Today will get to 84F. or 28.8 C.
Santa Anas are called "devil winds" for a good reason - they bring heat, dryness and fires. SOOC
male monastery
These frames were made of Kodak Flash 27 Exp - Disposable Camera, the film has expired. Develop before: 09/2007
Death Valley National Park is an American national park that straddles the California–Nevada border, east of the Sierra Nevada. The park boundaries include Death Valley, the northern section of Panamint Valley, the southern section of Eureka Valley, and most of Saline Valley. The park occupies an interface zone between the arid Great Basin and Mojave deserts, protecting the northwest corner of the Mojave Desert and its diverse environment of salt-flats, sand dunes, badlands, valleys, canyons, and mountains. Death Valley is the largest national park in the contiguous United States, and the hottest, driest and lowest of all the national parks in the United States. The second-lowest point in the Western Hemisphere is in Badwater Basin, which is 282 feet (86 m) below sea level. Approximately 91% of the park is a designated wilderness area. The park is home to many species of plants and animals that have adapted to this harsh desert environment. Some examples include creosote bush, bighorn sheep, coyote, and the Death Valley pupfish, a survivor from much wetter times. UNESCO included Death Valley as the principal feature of its Mojave and Colorado Deserts Biosphere Reserve in 1984.
A series of Native American groups inhabited the area from as early as 7000 BC, most recently the Timbisha around 1000 AD who migrated between winter camps in the valleys and summer grounds in the mountains. A group of European Americans, trapped in the valley in 1849 while looking for a shortcut to the gold fields of California, gave the valley its name, even though only one of their group died there. Several short-lived boom towns sprang up during the late 19th and early 20th centuries to mine gold and silver. The only long-term profitable ore to be mined was borax, which was transported out of the valley with twenty-mule teams. The valley later became the subject of books, radio programs, television series, and movies. Tourism expanded in the 1920s when resorts were built around Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek. Death Valley National Monument was declared in 1933 and the park was substantially expanded and became a national park in 1994.
The natural environment of the area has been shaped largely by its geology. The valley is actually a graben with the oldest rocks being extensively metamorphosed and at least 1.7 billion years old. Ancient, warm, shallow seas deposited marine sediments until rifting opened the Pacific Ocean. Additional sedimentation occurred until a subduction zone formed off the coast. The subduction uplifted the region out of the sea and created a line of volcanoes. Later the crust started to pull apart, creating the current Basin and Range landform. Valleys filled with sediment and, during the wet times of glacial periods, with lakes, such as Lake Manly.
Source: Wikipedia
Photo & Edit: by me
place: in the middle of the desert in mexico
i was surprised when i saw these cactus plants for the first time
they look really great,,
deserts of mexico have huge amounts of them standing together in large groups
this is just a small group that i found after we got out of gonzaga bay
hope you like it =)
Just near Winslow, AZ is the Little Painted Deserts state park which is a treasure for abstract patters. One can easily spend days exploring this location and during sunset and sunrise , the colors just pop out
Title: Ore smelters
Creator: Beach, Albert L.
Date: ca. 1900-1910
Part Of: Albert L. Beach photographs of Mexico
Physical Description: 1 photographic print: gelatin silver; 14 x 23 cm.
File: ag1999_1270_09c_ore_opt.jpg
Rights: Please cite DeGolyer Library, Southern Methodist University when using this file. A high-resolution version of this file may be obtained for a fee. For details see the sites.smu.edu/cul/degolyer/research/permissions/ web page. For other information, contact degolyer@smu.edu.
For more information, see: digitalcollections.smu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/mex/id/1446
View Mexico: Photographs, Manuscripts, and Imprints digitalcollections.smu.edu/all/cul/mex/
Yankee Comics / Heft-Reihe
> Sergeant Steele / "The husky leatherneck Sergeant Steele deserts his post long enough..."
Script: ?
art: Ernie Hart
Chesler / Dynamic / USA 1942
Reprint / Comic-Club NK 2010
ex libris MTP
Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak A ground-based RTS prequel to the classic Homeworld games. Assemble your fleet and lead them to victory on the shifting sands of Kharak in this compelling strategy game. Crafted by Blackbird Interactive, a studio founded by veterans of Homeworld and Company of Heroes, Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak takes players to the ...
The post Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak appeared first on Direct Download Stuffs.
via Download Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak here : www.ddstuffs.com/homeworld-deserts-kharak-pc-game-iso-dir...
To the south of the Salar de Uyuni, the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa shelters an enormous diversity of plant life, geysers, geothermic wells, and extraordinary, colored lakes.
Researchers have recorded 102 plant species, and it is estimated that there are approximately 200 species of higher plants. The ecology of the zone is characterized by extensive, frozen deserts and the semi-desert grasslands of the high Andes. Glaciers feed a number of salt-water lakes, bogs and swamps.
There are 96 registered animal species in the reserve, including such species as the vicuña (Vicugna vicugna), the Andean cat or titi (Felis jacobita), the Darwin’s Rhea (Pterocnemia pennata), the horned coot (Fulica cornuta), the chocka (Fulica gigantea) and three species of flamingos (Phoenicoparrus andinus, Phoenicoparrus jamesi and Phoenicopterus chilensis), which nest in enormous colonies.
In addition, there are species of small birds, such as the Upucerthia validirostris, Phegornis mitchelli and other migratory species that arrive from the northern hemisphere.
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We took the backward route from Tupiza northwards to the Reserva Nacional de Fauna Andina Eduardo Avaroa and further to Salar de Uyuni salt plain; snow-covered volcanoes at the horizon line, salt plains, red-coloured rocks and sand, colourful lagunas full of flamingos, and slow 4WD journey through the land of thin air - that's Bolivia southern part of Altiplano...
A text, in english, from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
The Burrowing Owl (Speotyto cunicularia) (ex-Athene cunicularia) is a small, long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other dry, open area with low vegetation (Lewis 2005). They nest and roost in burrows, such as those abandoned by prairie dogs. Unlike most owls, burrowing owls are often active during the day. However, most hunting is done at dusk or at night.
Burrowing owls are able to live for at least 9 years in the wild and over 10 years in captivity.[citation needed] They are often killed by vehicles when crossing roads, and have many natural enemies, including badgers, coyotes, and snakes. They are also killed by both feral and domestic cats and dogs.
Burrowing owls have bright yellow eyes. The bill can be yellow or greenish depending on the subspecies. The legs are incompletely feathered, and the toes are grayish in color. They lack ear tufts and have a flattened facial disc. The owls have prominent white eyebrows and a white "chin" patch which they expand and display during certain behaviors.
Adult owls have brown upperparts with white spotting. The breast and belly are white with variable brown spotting or barring. Juvenile owls are similar in appearance, but they lack most of the white spotting above and brown barring below. Also, the young owls have a buff bar across the upper wing and their breast may be buffy rather than white.
Males and females are similar in size and appearance. However, adult males sometimes appear lighter in color because they spend more time outside the burrow during daylight, and their feathers become sun-bleached. The average adult is slightly larger than an American Robin, at 25 cm (10 inches) length, 53 cm (21 inches) wingspan, and 170g (6 oz) weight (Lewis 2005).
The typical "who who" call of a burrowing owl is associated with territory defense and breeding, often given by adult males to attract a female to a promising burrow. They also make other sounds, which are described as chucks, chattering, and screams. These sounds are usually accompanied by an up and down bobbing of the head. When alarmed, young birds will give a hissing call - a case of acoustic Batesian mimicry - that sounds like a rattlesnake (Haug et al. 1993).
Before European colonization, burrowing owls probably inhabited every suitable area of the New World, but they have experienced some restrictions in distribution since. They range from the southern portions of the western Canadian provinces through southern Mexico and western Central America. They are also found in Florida and many Caribbean islands. In South America, they are patchy in the northwest and through the Andes, but widely distributed from southern Brazil to Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego.
Burrowing owls are year-round residents in most of their range. Birds that breed in Canada and northern USA usually migrate south to Mexico and southern USA during winter months.
The burrowing owl is endangered in Canada[1], threatened in Mexico, and a species of special concern in Florida and most of the western USA. It is common and widespread in open regions of many Neotropical countries, where they sometimes even inhabit fields and parks in cities. In regions bordering the Amazon Rainforest they are spreading with deforestation. It is therefore listed as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List.
The major reasons for declining populations in North America are control programs for prairie dogs and loss of habitat, although burrowing owls readily inhabit some anthropogenic landscapes, such as airport grasslands or golf courses (Korfanta et al. 2005).
Burrowing owls are protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act in Canada, the United States, and Mexico. They are also included in CITES Appendix II.
Genetic analysis of the two North American subspecies indicates that inbreeding is not a problem within those populations (Korfanta et al. 2005).
The nesting season begins in late March or April in North America. Burrowing owls are usually monogamous, but occasionally a male will have two mates (Lewis 2005). Pairs of owls will sometimes nest in loose colonies. Their typical breeding habitat is open grassland or prairie, but they can occasionally adapt to other open areas like airports, golf courses, and agricultural fields. Burrowing owls are slightly tolerant of human presence, often nesting near roads, farms, homes, and regularly maintained irrigation canals.
The owls nest in an underground burrow, hence the name Burrowing Owl. They use burrows created by other burrowing animals such as prairie dogs, ground squirrels, or badgers (Holt et al. 1999). If burrows are unavailable and the soil is not hard or rocky, the owls may excavate their own. Burrowing owls will also nest in shallow, underground, man-made structures that have easy access to the surface.
The female will lay as many as 8-12 eggs over a two week period. She will then incubate the eggs for three to four weeks while the male brings her food. After the eggs hatch both parents will feed the chicks. Four weeks after hatching, the chicks are able to make short flights and begin leaving the nest burrow. The parents will still help feed the chicks for 1 to 3 months. While most of the eggs will hatch, only four to five chicks usually survive to leave the nest.
During the nesting season, burrowing owls will line the burrow with mammal dung, usually from cattle. The dung helps to control the microclimate inside the burrow and to attract insects, which the owls may eat (Levey et al. 2004).
Site fidelity rates appear to vary among populations. In some locations, owls will frequently reuse a nest several years in a row. Owls in migratory northern populations are less likely to return to the same burrow every year. Also, as with many other birds, the female owls are more likely to disperse to a different site than are male owls (Lutz & Plumpton 1999).
The highly variable diet includes small mammals, small birds, snakes, lizards, frogs, insects, and scorpions. But the owls mainly eat large insects and small rodents. Although burrowing owls often live in close proximity to ground squirrels, they rarely prey upon them. Unlike other owls, they also eat fruits and seeds, especially the fruit of tasajillo (Cylindropuntia leptocaulis) and other prickly pear and cholla cacti. When hunting they wait on a perch until they spot prey. Then they swoop down on prey or fly up to catch insects in flight. Sometimes they chase prey on foot across the ground.
The burrowing owl is sometimes separated in the monotypic genus Speotyto. This is based on an overall different morphology and karyotype. On the other hand, osteology and DNA sequence data suggests that the Burrowing Owl is just a terrestrial version of the Athene little owls, and it is today placed in that genus by most authorities.
A considerable number of subspecies have been described, but they differ little in appearance and the taxonomy of several needs to be validated (Holt et al. 1999). Most subspecies are found in the Andes and the Antilles. Only A. c. hypugaea and A. c. floridana are found in North America. Although distinct from each other, the relationship of the Floridan subspecies to (and its distinctness from) the Caribbean birds is not quite clear (Korfanta et al. 2005).
Um texto em português:
Coruja-buraqueira (Speotyto cunicularia).
Veja um vídeo clicando no endereço a seguir:
br.youtube.com/watch?v=BhCP0YqJDnY
Ficha Técnica
Nome comum: coruja-buraqueira, coruja-martelo, coruja-do-campo, caburé-de-cupim, caburé-do-campo, coruja-barata, coruja-buraqueira, coruja-do-campo, coruja-mineira, corujinha-buraqueira, corujinha-do-buraco, corujinha-do-campo, guedé, urucuera, urucuréia e urucuriá.
Nome científico: Speotyto cunicularia
Reino: Animal
Filo: Vertebrado
Classe: Aves
Ordem: Strigiformes
Família: Strigidae
Ave muito interessante e com características peculiares é tida pelo povo grego como a ave da sabedoria. Outros povos porém, acham que causa azar e arrepios seu canto quando rasga o silêncio noturno. Dizem ainda que é sinal de mal agouro e que o seu canto está pressagiando alguma tragédia, o que é pura crendice popular, pois o que se sabe é que as corujas são muito úteis ao homem predando pragas nas lavouras e controlando a população de ratos ao redor das cidades e no campo.
Pode girar seu pecoço em 270º
Características:
A coruja-buraqueira é muito comum pelos campos do Brasil.
Mede em torno de 20-30 cm com envergadura de 50-61cm e pesando em média 170g.
Com peito branco e plumagem amarelada o macho é ligeiramente maior que a fêmea, possuem cabeça arredondada e são aves muito tímidas.
Com olhos grandes e amarelos, a coruja-buraqueira tem a visão 100 vezes mais aguçada que a do homem e seus olhos estão dispostos frontalmente, como os do ser humano.
Quando necessita olhar algum objeto ao seu redor gira o pescoço em um ângulo de até 270 graus, aumentando assim o seu campo visual.
Essa disposição frontal, proporciona à coruja uma visão binocular (enxerga um objeto com ambos os olhos e ao mesmo tempo), isso significa que a coruja pode ver objetos em três dimensões, ou seja, altura, largura e profundidade.
Pode julgar distâncias similares ao ser humano e seu campo visual é de 110 graus, sendo 70 graus de visão binocular.
Os olhos da coruja-buraqueira são bem grandes, em algumas espécies de corujas até maiores que o próprio cérebro, a fim de melhorar sua eficiência em condições de baixa luminosidade, captando e processando melhor a luz disponível.
Além de sua privilegiada visão, a coruja-buraqueira é dona de uma audição potentíssima, conseguindo localizar e abater sua presa com apenas este sentido.
Abate preferencialmente pequenos roedores, insetos, anfíbios e pássaros. A coruja é uma ave de rapina, portanto mata para se alimentar. A tradução da palavra rapina é "roubo", o que caracteriza o fato de tais aves retirarem a vida de suas presas.
Rapineira e atenta à tudo
A coruja como a grande maioria dos animais possue território de caça. São ""equipadas "" com adaptações especiais que as tornam predadoras eficientes, sendo uma delas o vôo.
Sempre muito silenciosa e sorrateira, isso devido às penas especiais de sua asa, muito macias e em grande quantidade, conseguem cortar o ar e planar por muito tempo sendo muito discretas e imperceptíveis às suas presas.
A observação das presas se dá no alto de árvores ou em mourões de cercas nos pastos e até durante o vôo silencioso, quando fazem uma varredura na área de caça. Quando um alvo é avistado a coruja voa silenciosamente até ele, mantendo sua cabeça em linha reta ao alvo, quando então a joga para trás e empurra suas garras para frente a fim de prender seguramente sua presa. A força do impacto é violenta e certeira não dando chances à presa. Posteriormente a vítima é morta pela pressão do bico, num processo de abatimento de presas no solo.
O período reprodutivo da coruja-buraqueira começa nos meses de março e abril, os ninhos são feitos no solo, aproveitando antigas tocas de tatus ou simplesmente promovem a abertura de novos ninhos, num trabalho revezado entre o casal.
Os ninhos são escavados com os pés e bicos, formando uma galeria horizontal de até 3 m de profundidade por 30cm-60cm de largura.
Em média botam de 6 a 12 ovos, que são incubados por 28 dias pela fêmea; fica por conta do macho proteger o ninho e procurar alimento para toda a prole.
Com 14 dias os filhotes já ficam empoleirados na saída da cova, aos 44 dias saem do ninho e com 60 dias estão caçando pequenos insetos.
Informações do site: www.cuestajardins.com.br/?id=149&codigo=426&PHPSE...