Elaborate Collaboration (SL)
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ELABORATE RITUAL DISPLAYS,, being performed in early springtime at Stodmarsh N.R in Kent. This Grebe is so elegant and graceful, love its long slender neck and dagger-like bill, It was pure joy seeing these, and made my trip worthwhile.
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THANK YOU for your visit, friendship, and comments. will look forward to seeing and commenting on your latest posting. Hope your weekend is Special, Enjoy, God, bless...
........................Tomx
The elaborate facade is all that remains (above ground) of St. Paul's Cathedral in the historic center of Macau. The cathedral was built in 1620-ies, mostly by Japanese Christians expelled from Japan. It was destroyed by fire during a typhoon in 1835 (at the first glance the typhoon should have brought enough water to quench the fire, but obviously it did not happen).
Elaborate architectural details of a typical Parisian building on Place Vendome, yes. But the interesting part of this shot is the mystery figure, half-hidden in the shadows, suspiciously watching the photographer. Clearly, security is top notch here.
of common columbines / Gewöhnliche Akelei (Aquilegia vulgaris)
in our garden - Frankfurt-Nordend
for a HBW!
"I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree." -- excerpt from Trees by Joyce Kilmer
An elaborately branched tree in Kyoto, Japan
With their elaborate headdresses, the crowned pigeons are probably the most beautiful pigeons. They look majestic and impressive - but can also be different as we see in this photo. Deep down inside, they're looking just as sweet as sugar!
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Elaborate stone masonry is a characteristic of the landscape in Hinohara and Okutama municipalities. It is needed to build houses, Shinto(u) shrines, play ground for children, car parking space etc. as the flat land is scarce.
This photo was taken at a settlement on the riverside of the Akigawa, a tributary of the Tamagawa.
One circular structure, which frames the Borrowdale Valley, is believed to have been made from local slate and created by a “very talented [and] patient individual”.
The artist has been compared to Banksy by the local village because it is unclear who is behind several structures. A number of hikers have shared images online after spotting them while out walking.
Elaborating on an early creation of mine
www.flickr.com/photos/miranda_murray/50950900968/in/album...
The elaborate ornate gateway entrance to the small wooden platform. Providing the space to sunbathe and swim from the lakeside of Lake Garda The owner clearly out to make an impression and keep the casual visitor away.
..."what if everything around you isn't quite what it seems?
what if all the world you think you know is an elaborate dream?
and if you look at your reflection, is that all you want to be?"...
Right Where It Belongs
-NIN
This palace, which means ‘Stone House’, contains Khiva’s most sumptuous interior decoration, dense with blue ceramic tiles, carved wooden pillars and elaborate ghanch. Built by Allakuli Khan between 1832 and 1841 as a more splendid alternative to the Kuhna Ark, it’s said to have more than 150 rooms off nine courtyards, with high ceilings designed to catch the slightest desert breeze. Allakuli was a man in a hurry – the Tosh-Hovli’s first architect was executed for failing to complete the job in two years.
Vessel (TKA) is a public structure and landmark that was built as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project in Manhattan, New York City, New York. Construction began in April 2017; it opened on March 15, 2019.
Designed by the British designer Thomas Heatherwick, the elaborate honeycomb-like structure rises 16 stories and consists of 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings for visitors to climb. Vessel is the main feature of the 5-acre (2.0 ha) Hudson Yards Public Square. Its final cost is expected to be $200 million.[2-]Wikipedia-
Elaborate frost shines in the first light of the morning, with delicate branches and elaborate platelets, especially in the lower right. I find photographing frost difficult, as it often has an overwhelming amount of intricate detail. In the right light with some magnification it begins to be manageable, as long as you don't bump into or breathe on your subject.
Ezinge (Gronings: Aisen of Aizing) is een wierdedorp aan het Oldehoofsch kanaal in de gemeente Westerkwartier in de Nederlandse provincie Groningen. Ezinge is het hoofddorp van het voormalige schiereiland Middag. Het dorp heeft een beschermd dorpsgezicht met een kerk uit begin 13e eeuw. Deze kerk met losstaande toren staat op de rand van de afgegraven wierde. Een wierde of terp is een kunstmatige heuvel, opgeworpen om bij hoogwater een droge plek te hebben. (Wikipedia) ||||| Ezinge (Gronings: Aisen or Aizing) is a village in the Dutch province of Groningen. It is located in the municipality of Westerkwartier, about 15 km northwest of the city of Groningen. Ezinge is the oldest, constantly inhabited village in The Netherlands and is in archeological context referred to as "the Pompeii of the North". Ezinge was a separate municipality until 1990, when it was merged with Winsum. The village is a legally protected heritage district within the Middag- Humsterland region which itself enjoys the status of Dutch National Landscape and can be found on the tentative list of UNESCO World Heritage. The main sight of the village is the early 13th century church which stands separated from its tower. The tower is connected to an old schoolbuilding. The three buildings are located on an artificial dwelling hill, known as a terp, with the village and pastures around it, covering a quarter and three quarters, respectively, of the slopes. According to the Dutch Museum of National History, Tacitus has been to Ezinge. Whether true or not, both Tacitus and Pliny the Elder wrote elaborately about the terps and the Frisii and Chauci, the people dwelling upon them. (wikipedia)
Great Crested Grebe - Podiceps Cristatus
The great crested grebe has an elaborate mating display. Like all grebes, it nests on the water's edge, since its legs are set relatively far back and it is thus unable to walk very well. Usually two eggs are laid, and the fluffy, striped young grebes are often carried on the adult's back. In a clutch of two or more hatchlings, male and female grebes will each identify their 'favourites', which they alone will care for and teach
Unusually, young grebes are capable of swimming and diving almost at hatching. The adults teach these skills to their young by carrying them on their back and diving, leaving the chicks to float on the surface; they then re-emerge a few feet away so that the chicks may swim back onto them.
The great crested grebe feeds mainly on fish, but also small crustaceans, insects small frogs and newts.
This species was hunted almost to extinction in the United Kingdom in the 19th century for its head plumes, which were used to decorate hats and ladies' undergarments. The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds was set up to help protect this species, which is again a common sight.
The great crested grebe and its behaviour was the subject of one of the landmark publications in avian ethology: Julian Huxley's 1914 paper on The Courtship‐habits of the Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus).
Population:
UK breeding:
4,600 pairs
UK wintering:
19,000 individuals
Elaborately carved Zanzibar doors manifest the cultural roots of the Swahili coast in Eastern Africa. The clash of Swahili, Arab, and Indian traditions is most notable in the design of Zanzibar doors. These giant teak masterpieces tell stories of the residents’ social status, religion, and profession.
These elaborate eroded pockets in the Navajo Sandstone wall of the San Rafael River canyon are called tafoni. Their origin is debated among geomorphologists. Possible explanations include the leaching of minerals that cement some parts of the rock making it more resistant to erosion, variation in the velocity of wind currents blowing across the rock, or differential patterns of rock breakdown (weathering) due to temperature variations. This is yet another clear failing of science, despite squandering tens of dollars of taxpayer money on research to study geomorphological processes.
Using intuition and creative thinking as guides, I have an alternate explanation which works just as well as “science” to explain these formations. I believe that tafoni are constructed by a species of small humanoid creatures, who etched these pockets into the stone as places to escape the elements. They were contemporaries of the ancient Greeks, and were impressed with the architecture and stonework at Petra, thus producing aesthetically appealing arches such as the ones shown here. Although no remnants of these microhumans remain (they were probably consumed by packrats around 2000 years ago), their excavations (tafoni) can be found throughout the world, a testament to their diligence and perseverance.
The Siq (Arabic: السيق, transliterated al-Sīq, transcribed as-Sīq,[a] literally 'the Shaft') is the main entrance to the ancient Nabatean city of Petra in southern Jordan. Also known as Siqit, the main entrance in Petra is a dim, narrow gorge (in some points no more than 3 metres (10 ft) wide) winds its way approximately 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) and ends at Petra's most elaborate ruin, Al Khazneh (the Treasury). A wide valley outside leading to the Siq is known as the Bab as-Sīq (Gateway to the Siq).
The elaborate auditorium of the theatre is designed according to the atmospheric style which was popular in movie houses built in the 1920s. This style simulates an outdoor theater-going experience. The Coronado's auditorium walls are decorated with the facades of gilded Spanish and Italian-style buildings, and the ceiling looks like a deep blue sky filled with twinkling stars and floating clouds. The auditorium is full of gilded detail.
“I felt that I was in the sanctuary of the arts and sciences…Never did the labour of man show me the human race in such a splendid point of view. In the ruins of Tentyra [ Roman for Dendera] the Egyptians appeared to me giants.”
-Vivant Denon, French writer, artist and leading Savant of the Napoleonic Mission to Egypt, 1798-1801
When Denon and his team arrived at Dendera in 1802 – Middle Egypt, about 450 km south of Cairo, he was spellbound by what he saw. The partially buried temple still shrouded in sand, captured his imagination and revealed a treasure trove of ancient artifacts preserved to this day. Denon’s pioneering spirit, early account, and unwavering dedication to uncovering the mysteries of the past inspired countless who followed in his footsteps.
With its spectacular blue ceilings bedecked with the goddess Nut and astronomical scenes, those gorgeous Hathoric columns, the many rooms and chambers dedicated to Hathor’s attributes: the Menat necklace and sistrum rattle. All elaborately decorated with ancient Egyptian scenes, from pillar to ceiling, from decorated crypt to rooftop shrine.
The breathtaking highlight of the temple is the elaborately decorated hypostyle hall supported by 24 Hathor sistrum columns. Among Denderah’s unique features are fourteen small crypts (sacred storerooms under the temple foundations) one traditionally opened for visitors to explore.
Shot from the Dendera Temple Complex, approximately 60 kilometres north of Luxor, in the Qena Governorate of Egypt.
western spinebill (Acanthorhynchus superciliosus), male
The spinebill feeds on the nectar of tube-like flowers. Yellow pollens can be seen on the base of its bill. It intermittently sticks out its tongue as if it has to practise its art of gathering nectar.
Grey-headed swamphen (Porphyrio poliocephalus) is a species of swamphen occurring from the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent to southern China and northern Thailand. It used to be considered a subspecies of the purple swamphen, but was elevated to full species status in 2015; today the purple swamphen is considered a superspecies and each of its six races are designated full species.
The male has an elaborate courtship display, holding water weeds in his bill and bowing to the female with loud chuckles.
The grey-headed swamphen was introduced to North America in the late 1990s due to avicultural escapes in the Pembroke Pines, Florida area. State wildlife biologists attempted to eradicate the birds, but they have multiplied and can now be found in many areas of southern Florida. Ornithological authorities consider it likely that the swamphen will become an established part of Florida's avifauna. It was added to the American Birding Association checklist in February 2013.
Vitebsky railway station.
The elaborate Art Nouveau interior.
better on black (press "L")
better on zoom (press "Z")
Berlin rühmt sich, mehr Brücken zu haben als Venedig. Tatsächlich hat die Spreestadt fast 1000 Brückenbauwerke aus den unterschiedlichsten Stilepochen. Die Oberbaumbrücke, die seit 1896 Friedrichshain und Kreuzberg über die Spree miteinander verbindet – hier befand sich einst der Oberbaum, an dem Zölle eingetrieben wurden –, ist am aufwendigsten gestaltet.
Seit dem 9. November 1994 ist die restaurierte Brücke eine wichtige Verbindung für den Auto- und U-Bahnverkehr. Von 1961 bis 1989 war sie „Grenzübergangsstelle“ und durfte nur von Fußgängern benutzt werden.
Nordwestlich des Grenzübergangs ist an der Mühlenstraße zwischen Oberbaumbrücke und Ost-Bahnhof ein 1990 bemaltes Stück der hinteren Sperrmauer erhalten. Der als „East Side Gallery“ bekannte Mauerabschnitt steht unter Denkmalschutz
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Berlin boasts of having more bridges than Venice. In fact, the Spreestadt has almost 1000 bridge structures from different styles. The Oberbaum Bridge, which has connected Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg via the Spree since 1896 - here the Oberbaum, where customs duties were levied, is the most elaborate one.
Since November 9, 1994, the restored bridge is an important connection for the car and subway traffic. From 1961 to 1989 it was "border crossing point" and could only be used by pedestrians.
Northwest of the border crossing on the mill road between Oberbaumbrücke and Ost-Bahnhof a 1990 painted piece of the rear barrier wall is obtained. The wall section known as the "East Side Gallery" is a listed building
วัดแสนเมืองมาหลวง (วัดหัวข่วง)
The sweeping multi-tiered roof, chofa and hang hong of Wat Saen Muang Ma Luang. Chiang Mai.
Koke'e State Park, Kauai, Hawaii
You are aware of chickens on Kauai from 3:30 a.m. until darkness falls, every day. Especially the roosters.
It was turning into one of those indecisive mornings. “Shall we go and lounge by the pool and read until lunchtime, and then head down to the beach? Or will we get in the car and head off for the day?” Neither of us could make our minds up. It’s often like this, and until we close the front door, we could be heading anywhere between fifty yards away and the other end of the island. It’s part of what makes us so fascinating, and no doubt would drive anyone else unfortunate enough to end up in a long term relationship with either of us to the edge of their senses. All things considered, it’s a good job Ali and I found each other. Neither of us seems to mind when one asks the other what we’re going to do today, only to draw a distant gaze and a blank response.
If anything, I’m a little more driven than she is, and so I made the call. “Right, we’ll go back to that place in Femes for lunch, then we’ll go and visit one of the bodegas at La Geria, and after that I want to go and walk up the red mountain for sunset” – that’s Montana Colorada by the way. “Ok,” came the predictable response. And so we had a plan; a nice simple one that didn’t require too much thought or too much driving. We’d drive up the mountain pass from Playa Blanca to the village of Femes that sits on the saddle, and the rest of the day would follow as planned.
Except that it didn’t. 12:30 we agreed was a bit early for lunch, and so we drove in the other direction and headed for a menu del dia at the place we’d stumbled across in Teguise a few days earlier. And just to make things interesting, we decided to go along the main road rather than the wine route, just to have a bit of a test run for that inevitable drive to the airport just over a week later. “It’ll be faster” I reasoned. It wasn’t, especially after a couple of wrong turns, one of which almost had us heading into the jams of Arrecife, the island capital. Eventually, we arrived at a dinner table to be served by a very harassed looking waiter, whom it seemed was working solo through the busy lunch hour. As he unceremoniously thumped our drinks onto the table and feigned no interest whatsoever in our opposing views on the inclusion of tuna in our ensaladas mixtas, we wondered who’d thrown a sickie and left him in the lurch. After the meal I was too frightened to ask for coffee as well, and spent the next twenty-five minutes looking for another establishment to replenish the caffeine deficit. The first such attempt found us hastily evacuating our seats, scarpering around a corner and tracing an elaborate circuit of the town after Ali had seen the price list. Six euros for a scoop of ice cream? Not on your Nellie!
Some time later, happily refuelled with coffee and ice cream we sat at a bench in the church square. By now it was some time after 4pm, and with less than two hours until sunset we considered the options. At the far end of the island, just another twelve miles or so away lay the Mirador del Rio, offering a classic view of the three small islands that fan away from the northeast corner of Lanzarote, while retracing our tyre treads down to the coast would bring us to the wreck of the Telamon, a long exposure magnet that lies a few yards out to see between Costa Teguise and Arrecife. Tentatively, we set course for the former, where the road rides up to its highest point on the island between Los Valles and Haria. And still several miles short of our target, as we sat at a layby gazing down at the white coastal villages of Punta Mujeres and Arrieta far below, we changed our minds again – and then furthered the endless mystery of our final destination by missing the turn without signpost that was supposed to take us to the Mirador del Risco de Famara.
As you can see, the error turned into what Bob Ross would call a happy accident. Finally, somewhere around five, we ended up here, at the lonely and altitudinous Ermita de las Nieves. Quite how often there’s ever been snow here, even at this distance above sea level I’m not sure, although I did need to put my long sleeved top on over my tee shirt to brave the last hour of daylight on this late November afternoon, as a fellow visitor from France told me his wife was very jealous of my telephoto lens. The view across the volcanoes that dominate the landscape over to the west from where we’d come was, well you can see for yourself can’t you? Even before the golden hour, it seemed evident that we were going to be in for a show, as layers of cloud allowed sunbeams to filter through and light up the spaces in between the distant cones. For an hour I watched from behind the long lens transfixed, as the colours deepened and the sunbeams bounced and weaved their way into ever more epic frames. As the sunbeams moved, I continually followed the drama, recomposing and focussing as quickly as I could keep up. It’s not often that I get to spend time in a landscape like this, and certainly I’d never seen a sunset sky such as the one we were witnessing now in the mountains. Eventually, the sun having disappeared for the day and the magic leaving centre stage almost instantaneously, I headed back to the car with an enormous grin on my face. The day of sliding door decisions had given us the best possible outcome with a sunset we’d never forget. It’s a good job we’re not that great at making our minds up, or we’d have probably missed it.
Ruff (male) in full breeding plumage
The ruff (Calidris pugnax) is a medium-sized wading bird that breeds in marshes and wet meadows across northern Eurasia. This highly gregarious sandpiper is migratory and sometimes forms huge flocks in its winter grounds, which include southern and western Europe, Africa, southern Asia and Australia.
The ruff is a long-necked, pot-bellied bird. This species shows marked sexual dimorphism; the male is much larger than the female (the reeve), and has a breeding plumage that includes brightly coloured head tufts, bare orange facial skin, extensive black on the breast, and the large collar of ornamental feathers that inspired this bird's English name. The female and the non-breeding male have grey-brown upperparts and mainly white underparts. Three differently plumaged types of male, including a rare form that mimics the female, use a variety of strategies to obtain mating opportunities at a lek, and the colourful head and neck feathers are erected as part of the elaborate main courting display. The female has one brood per year and lays four eggs in a well-hidden ground nest, incubating the eggs and rearing the chicks, which are mobile soon after hatching, on her own. Predators of wader chicks and eggs include mammals such as foxes, feral cats and stoats, and birds such as large gulls, corvids and skuas.
The ruff forages in wet grassland and soft mud, probing or searching by sight for edible items. It primarily feeds on insects, especially in the breeding season, but it will consume plant material, including rice and maize, on migration and in winter.
There’s something quietly beautiful about companionship—the kind that doesn’t need grand gestures or elaborate plans, just the simple presence of another soul. Whether it's sitting side by side in comfortable silence, sharing a laugh over an inside joke, or swapping stories deep into the night, there’s a warmth in knowing someone is there with you, without expectation or demand.
Companionship can be found in the everyday—watching the world go by together, listening to music or watching a movie with someone, or simply existing in each other’s space. It’s the ease of unspoken understanding, the familiarity of a well-worn bond, and the reassurance that even in quiet moments, connection is alive.
It doesn’t always need words; sometimes, a shared glance, a hand resting beside yours, or just the awareness of someone being near are enough to remind you that you’re not alone. And that is a gift in itself.