View allAll Photos Tagged encroachment
With the harvesting of the Dodderham Wood conifer plantation in this area last year the railway south of Rise Hill Tunnel now runs through an open vista devoid of serious lineside vegetation encroachment. It's the first time I have walked to here since the clearance took place and it changes the view to the point you wouldn't think its the same place.
66 080 is seen heading south with a lengthy consist of empty MBA 'monster box' open wagons. The train being 6E97 10.44 Kirkby Thore BG Works to Tees Dock.
Elands have experienced population decline due to hunting:
Their rich milk, tasty meat, and useful hides have made them popular ranch animals and hunting targets. Their meat is highly prized, especially by illegal hunters, because each animal provides a large quantity of meat.
The world’s largest antelope is becoming widely domesticated due to their high yield of nutritious ‘long life’ antibacterial milk — which also has much higher protein content and milk fat than cow’s milk — in Zimbabwe, South Africa, and Kenya.
They are an important part of the Kenyan culture, where they bleed the animals with a sharp dart and drink the blood.
Human and livestock expansion destroy Eland habitats:
As human populations are growing and expanding settlements and agriculture, they are encroaching on Eland's living spaces and destroying habitats and food sources.
They have been eliminated from more than 50 percent of their historic range due to human encroachment, and since the 1970s, their population decreased dramatically because of civil wars and its aftermath in countries such as Uganda, Rwanda, Angola, and Mozambique. (Source: African Wildlife Foundation)
The Urak Lawoi are one of several Austronesian ethnicities referred to as "Sea Gypsies" (chao leh in Thai). The local way of life has been changing rapidly in recent years, due to the rapid encroachment of the market economy.
Original: Konica Autoreflex T4 (SLR - 1978)
Scanned slide edited with PSE 25 and DxO Nik filters.
A colourful Halloween Tribute for the 31st Oct 2024
The juxtaposition of dominant reds with intense blues and biting yellows is not merely a chromatic exercise but an intentional invocation of in depth physical dynamics.
The red, historically emblematic of revolutionary zeal, is here transmuted into an image of territorial encroachment, symbolizing the blood of land workers who toiled here in harsh conditions.
The compositional tension between this red and the contrasting yellow and blue functions as a visual dialectic, evoking the material conflicts of occupation and sovereignty that are as much corporeal as they are ideological.
I was out hiking in one of the few remaning green spaces in the center of Israel. I took this just a bit east of the Arab village of Kfar Bara looking to Tel Aviv. I am probably 1 kilometer from the old 1948 borders. The ocean is a bit more than 10 kilometers away, give or take. That's it, not alot of land left in Little Israel...
Cattle graze on the East Flood at Oare Marshes, a nature reserve maintained by the Kent Wildlife Trust. Specifically, the reserve features Sussex and Sussex Angus cross cattle that are present year-round. The East Flood is an area within Oare Marshes that is being managed to restore grazing marsh, with plans to allow cattle to graze reed areas. Cattle grazing helps maintain the habitat by preventing reed encroachment and supporting the diverse birdlife that thrives in the area
🇬🇧 White-winged Becard (male)
🇵🇪 Cabezon ala blanca / Anambe negro
🆔 Pachyramphus polychopterus
©️ Naun Amable Silva
🌎 Tambopata, Peru
📅 June, 2020
📷 Canon 5D Mark IV - Canon 600mm + 1.4x
f/ 5.6 - 1/250 - iso 1000
To reach more pristine and continuous amazon rainforest is still just a short journey from Puerto Maldonado city.
The great Bahuaja-Sonene National Park is bordered and protected by the Tambopata National Reserve which uses sustainable activities, predominantly tourism, to act as a buffer zone. The idea is to stop encroachment into the Park of logging, hunting, mining and other often illegal activities that exploit the forest.
So along this buffer zone that follows the Tambopata river are many lodges to visit and choose from. Generally speaking the deeper you go, the more bio diverse the flora and fauna, having been less impacted by human activities. It is also along this river that two of the regions largest macaw claylicks are found.
But a 50 minute drive followed by 15 minutes up river in boat takes us to our first true jungle lodge of an Untamed Peruvian Amazon Expedition. A lodge that is owned and run by one of the local indigenous communities and has much if its surrounding flora and fauna in tact.
Here the lodge garden is filled with native fruits and flowers, bringing in lots of the species from the surrounding forest. They also have a network of trails penetrating deeper into the forest and even a tower to take you up into the new world of the rainforest canopy.
In Africa, the Cheetahs population is struggling and listed as vulnerable by the IUCN. Human encroachment continues to shrink and fragment their native habitat. During my time in Ndutu I was encouraged that we found several thriving families. These sleek and beautiful cats stole my heart and quickly became favorites. We found this young cub just before sunset one evening. In the first year of life, cheetah mortality is high and this tough guy was the sole survivor from what was likely a litter of three or four. Due to this little one's cautious nature, I have am hopeful that he survived.
Bristol's name is derived from the Saxon 'Brigstowe' or 'place of the bridge', but it is unclear when the first bridge over the Avon was built. The Avon has a high tidal range, so the river could have been forded twice a day. The name may therefore refer to the many smaller bridges over the lesser known River Frome, in the marshy surrounding area, which is now largely built over. The first stone bridge was built in the 13th century, and houses with shopfronts were built on it to pay for its maintenance. A chapel with gate crossed the roadway in the centre. [Adam's Chronicles of Bristol]
A seventeenth century illustration shows that these bridge houses were five stories high, including the attic rooms, and that they overhung the river much as Tudor houses would overhang the street.[1] At the time of the Civil War the bridge was noted for its community of goldsmiths. Houses on the bridge were attractive and charged high rents as they had so much passing traffic, and had plenty of fresh air and waste could be dropped into the river.[1] Its population was also perceived to be strongly parliamentarian.[1]
In the 1760 a bill to replace the bridge was carried through parliament by the Bristol MP Sir Jarrit Smyth.[2] By the early 18th century, increase in traffic and the encroachment of shops on the roadway made the bridge fatally dangerous for many pedestrians, but despite a campaign by Felix Farley in his Journal, no action was taken until a shopkeeper on the bridge employed James Bridges to provide designs. The commission accepted the design of James Bridges after many long drawn out disputes which are still unclear. Bridges fled to the West Indies in 1763 leaving Thomas Paty to complete it between 1763 and 1768. Resentment at the tolls exacted to cross the new bridge occasioned the Bristol Bridge Riot of 1793. The toll houses were turned into shops before they were removed. In the 19th century, the roadway was again congested, so walkways were added on either side, the supporting columns disguising the classical Georgian design. The current metal railings date from the 1960s.
Before the Second World War, Bristol Bridge was an important transport hub. It was the terminus of tram routes to Knowle, Bedminster and Ashton Gate, and other trams also stopped here.[3] It lost importance when Temple Way was built further upstream in the 1930s,[4] and when the tram system closed in 1941.
.
Should Ould acquaintance be forgot, as the song goes?
I had searched keywords in Lr and came across this bench scene from 2016. The encroaching foliage had caught my eye.
In the interest of blending old and new, I wondered what might happen if I brought it to the LAB color space in Ps and wildly exaggerated the separation of hues. Learning about the LAB color space has been a major endeavour of mine lately.
I discovered, not surprisingly since this was an infrared image, that the green-magenta channel had tons of magenta information.
Very surprisingly, when I turned off the curve adjustment that exaggerated the green-magenta, the exaggerated blue-yellow curve adjustment showed this pretty much.
It doesn't look like channel swapping. And it doesn't have the duotone look, as the brownish and purplish tones aren't at the luminosity ends of dark and light. The LAB exaggeration shows where in the image, blue and yellow information was, irrespective of luminosity. The exaggerated yellow interacted with the natural amount of magenta in the image to create the various browns we see. The exaggerated blue interacted with the natural magenta to create the various purplish violet hues here.
This manner of editing won't take precedence over my inclination to turn my IR images to black/white, but it's a nice occasional change up.
Happy Bench Monday, the first of 2018!
May we all find a bench upon which to rest and ponder...
CoExistence is an environmental art exhibition featuring 100 life size lantana elephants. These elephants are making their way around the globe to tell the story of our over-populated planet, the effect of human encroachment on wild spaces and the inspiring ways we can coexist with animals.
A snowy egret stands by ready to protect his "territory" from the youthful invader. The white ibis is a juvenile and really doesn't care and won't be run off by the pending attack and attack it is with just a few more feet of encroachment.
EXPLORE: 12 July 2008 - Many thanks to everyone for your visits, comments, favs and invitations that put this into Explore!
International trade is prohibited by the Wildlife Protection Act in Pakistan. Snow Leopard Foundation (SLF) in Pakistan conducts research on the current status of Himalayan brown bears in the Pamir Range in Gilgit-Baltistan, a promising habitat for the bears and a wildlife corridor connecting bear populations in Pakistan to central Asia. The project also intends to investigate the conflicts humans have with the bears, while promoting tolerance for bears in the region through environmental education. SLF received funding from the Prince Bernhard Nature Fund and Alertis. [3] Unlike its American cousin, which is found in good numbers, the Himalayan brown bear is critically endangered. They are poached for their fur and claws for ornamental purposes and internal organs for use in medicines. They are killed by shepherds to protect their livestock and their home is destroyed by human encroachment. In Himachal, their home is the Kugti and Tundah wildlife sanctuaries and the tribal Chamba region. Their estimated population is just 20 in Kugti and 15 in Tundah. The tree bearing the state flower of Himachal — buransh — is the favourite hangout of this bear. Due to the high value of the buransh tree, it is being commercially cut causing further destruction to the brown bear’s home. [4] The Himalayan brown bear is a critically endangered species in some of its range with a population of only 150-200 in Pakistan. The populations in Pakistan are slow reproducing, small, and declining because of habitat loss, fragmentation, poaching, and bear baiting.
This is a fascinating little cottage at Blists Hill Victorian Town museum in Ironbridge Gorge. Built of stone and only one storey high it was the home of a working class family. The people who built the cottage did not own the land it was built on, they simply ‘squatted’ there. An ‘encroachment’ or fine was paid yearly to the landowner and they were then allowed to stay. As long as someone in the family paid 30 shillings a year for 60 years the cottage belonged to them.
The very knowledgeable guide here was so interesting to talk to and obviously full of admiration for the family who lived here.
HMT!
Bowie County, Texas.
Castilleja coccinea and Packera tomentosa bloom in a remnant Silveus Dropseed Prairie. This imperiled community type is named for Sporobolus silveanus), a rare species of grass endemic to the West Gulf Coastal Plain. These prairies occurred as inclusions within a matrix of forests and savannas. Today virtually all have been lost to the plow, or by the slow and painful process of woody encroachment in the absence of suitable disturbance such as periodic fire and grazing by large, native herbivores. Fortunately a few that retain their pre-settlement conditions survived, and today this spectacular prairie and others like it are protected and maintained by conservation organizations like the Native Prairies Association of Texas and the Nature Conservancy in Texas.
Richmond, BC Canada
Finn Slough Heritage & Wetland Society was formed in September 1993 to preserve the natural environment and habitat at the Slough and surrounding area. The group also aims to maintain the heritage values of the community and to protect the Slough from urban encroachment. Finn Slough is one of the last tidal communities on the West Coast. They are working to live in harmony with the environment on a sleepy little backwater on the mighty Fraser River in Richmond, British Columbia, Canada.
Originally established in the 1880’s by immigrant fishers from Finland, Finn Slough has been a fishing village for over a hundred years. Families have continually occupied Finn Slough since then. The community swelled to 70 households in the 1940’s and 1950’s but by the 1970’s the original settlers were dispersing. Non Finnish fishers and people who appreciated the Slough’s unspoiled historic setting began to take their place.
The Finns eventually stopped living at the waters edge and moved to more permanent homes within a few miles of the Slough. Today Finn Slough holds special status as it is the last working commercial fishing village on the Fraser River.
Approximately 50 people live and work at the Slough with 18 households remaining. Here you will see gill-net fish-boats, net-mending floats, and sheds belonging to fifth generation fishers.
This image is best viewed in Large screen.
Thank-you for your visit, and any faves or comments are always sincerely appreciated.
Sonja
The Tellico Blockhouse was a United States fortification used officially from 1794 through 1807. The site functioned in some smaller capacity through December 1811. The Tellico Blockhouse served as a check against white encroachment as those of European decent were required to have written passes from the commander of the Blockhouse before entering deeper into Cherokee land. This site was also home to the Tellico Factory, part of Henry Knox’s civilizing policy and its aim of teaching modern methods of agriculture and industry to the American Indian.
As a trading post, the Tellico Blockhouse offered trade items for hides. Furs and hides were the primary currency that the Cherokee could barter with. Through years of such trade the fur-bearing animals of the region were decimated. This trade had an economic and environmental impact on the area. The Tellico Factory offered a solution when spinning wheels, cotton seed, looms, and training were brought to the Cherokee at the Tellico Blockhouse. Much of the Little Tennessee River Valley was planted in cotton. This new commodity took some of the stress off of fur bearing animals and provided the Cherokee with a valued item of trade.
The Tellico Blockhouse was in use during a time when the future of the United States was uncertain. Spain controlled the Mississippi River, the port city of New Orleans, and had built a fort where Memphis now stands. At times, Spain and the United States seemed close to war. The young U.S. Army had suffered devastating losses at the hands of American Indian confederations. The United States could not face both American Indian and Spanish forces.
Through establishments such as the Tellico Blockhouse better relations were fostered between the U.S. and many American Indian cultures. The Cherokee people and the U.S. citizens could remember recent atrocities. This garrison of American soldiers was a symbol of military power but also of the government’s intent to keep order. No longer would roaming militias and bands of Cherokee repay violence for violence. Negotiations would take the place of violence. Much of what is now known as Tennessee was signed over by the Cherokee at the Blockhouse.
By 1807 few Cherokee remained in the Little Tennessee River Valley. The Blockhouse was no longer a convenient place for them to meet. The garrison was relocated down along the Hiwassee where many of the Cherokee had moved. A few soldiers did remain at the Blockhouse through December 1811 but official functions were taking place elsewhere.
Today the Tellico Blockhouse is in a state of stabilized ruin. Visitors can walk the ground once walked by the Cherokee, soldiers, and agents of government. The site is part of Fort Loudoun State Historic Area and is a day use area. This establishment, spurred by the governor of the Territory Southwest of the River Ohio, is now overseen by the State of Tennessee.
fortloudoun.com/tellico-blockhouse/
Fort Loudoun State Historic Park is 1,200-acres and is one of the earliest British fortifications on the western frontier, built in 1756. The fort was reconstructed during the Great Depression and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1965.
tnstateparks.com/parks/fort-loudoun
Three bracketed photos were taken with a handheld Nikon D7200 and combined with Photomatix Pro to create this HDR image. Additional adjustments were made in Photoshop CS6.
"For I know the plans I have for you", declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." ~Jeremiah 29:11
The best way to view my photostream is through Flickriver with the following link: www.flickriver.com/photos/photojourney57/
The cottage dates to 1695 and it is written above the front door.
Spaunton is a hamlet and civil parish in the Ryedale district of North Yorkshire, England. At the 2011 the civil parish had a population of less than 100. Details are included in the civil parish of Lastingham. It is situated near Lastingham and about 5 miles (8 km) north west of Pickering. The name Spaunton derives from Old Norse and means a farmstead or settlement which had shingle roofs.
Spaunton consists of a single village street lined with cottages and farmhouses dating from the 17th Century and is typical of many North Yorkshire Moors villages and hamlets. The fields around Spaunton are set out on a Roman pattern and at the beginning of the 19th Century a Roman Burial place was discovered near the village.
Excavations some sixty years later also unearthed the foundations of a very large medieval hall which indicated that Spaunton was a very important village owned by St Mary’s Abbey in York.
When the estate was sold in the 16th Century, the new landowners constituted a special court for the manor, grandly called the Court Leet and Court Baron with View of Frankenpledge. The court meets annually in October and decides on matters of encroachment onto the common land and who can graze animals in the village and hands down fines to offenders who trangress.
More recent history of the village records that just after 9:00 pm on the 7 October 1943, a Lancaster bomber from No. 408 Squadron, Royal Canadian Air Force, crashed into the village with a full load of ordnance. One of the bombs exploded and killed a civilian from the village, Mr George Strickland as he went to see what the noise was about. He is buried in Lastingham graveyard.
Leopards (Panthera padrus) live in all but the most arid African habitats. They are one of the most far-reaching cats, found even in suburban areas. They enjoy resting on boulders, kopjes and tall trees along the riverside. They are able to make their homes anywhere there is an available food supply and a limited amount of external interference. Though leopards are adaptable, they are facing a severe drop in population as fur hunting and human encroachment create dire conflicts.
Leopards are solitary animals. They inhabit a territory spanning anywhere from one to 12 square miles, depending on the access to food. Territories for males and females frequently overlap, but they guard their regions heavily against members of the same sex. Female territories tend to be smaller, and several may be encompassed within one male territory. Males often fight over their space and will mark trees and logs throughout their area by clawing bark and spraying urine.
The beautiful Mara River female Leopard had a kill stashed up this tree. After having patrolled her territory she came back climbing the tree getting to her dinner. Photographed on a late evening drive in the Maasai Mara Game Reserve, Kenya.
Heliar 15mm f/4.5 Aspherical III on Nikon digital body.
Cors Caron is one of the largest actively growing raised bogs in the lowlands of Britain and has peat up to 10 metres deep. It's threaded by the meandering Afon Teifi, already mature after its descent from the uplands not far away.
Raised bogs get their name because of their domed shape. The peat has built up since the last glaciation, & has been exploited for fuel in the past. Other threats have come from encroachments for farming around the perimeter, but the bog is now a protected and managed nature reserve - climate change might, of course, alter the basis of all that!
The later running of this allowed for other locations to be considered for recording this. The improving weather that day made it an attractive prospect around Stoke Prior, not far from home. I did what I don't recommend as a rule following an incident with Tipton Mike one occasion. That was to move on due to potential cloud encroachment. I tend to stick by my decision and hope for the right result rather than panic about being done by cloud. Invariably I have made the right choice. On this occasion however, due to the clag often associated with The Lickeys, I did move and got this here clearly showing that, this time, I got it right!
Within Europe’s last truly remaining wilderness still lives one of the planet’s most captivating creatures - Romanian Brown Bears (Ursus arctos). A series of attacks in recent years has provoked a movement against this emblematic species to safeguard human settlements in the Carpathian Mountains. Supporters of this movement claim increasing bear populations are the cause, however, scientific research disputes this and leads us to consider human encroachment of the brown bear’s habitat as the root cause of the conflict.
Romania is home to 60% of Europe's brown bears. There are believed to be over 200,000 brown bears in the world, of which 6,000 of them roam Romania’s forests in the Carpathian Mountains - the largest population of bears in Europe.
Prints and Downloads are available on my 👉 H O M E P A G E
To be sure, northern lapwings are strange birds. They lay their eggs on the ground, in the middle of a path, if need be, and when the chicks hatch their main strategy of defense is to abandon them and fly away screaming.
In the Netherlands collecting lapwings eggs had developed into a macabre passtime, thankfully prohibited by law nowadays (except in the province of Friesland). The impact of human encroachment is nonetheless responsible for the dramatic decline of this bird in the last years.
© 2018 Marc Haegeman. All Rights Reserved
More bird photography: www.marchaegeman.com/Folders/Animals/Birds/
There is nothing like the peace of nature for me. Whether walking, in a kayak, or just sitting in the wild awaiting that special moment when I press the shutter, it is a sacred, spiritual experience for me. I sat for hours attempting to make images of Florida panthers the other day. These aren't animals that you will see in the wild, typically only via a camera trap, as there are so few remaining in the wild. Any images I do get are of captive rescues at various facilities, and I want to use these to call attention to the plight of this animal, once only having 20-30 animals remaining. We've done a good job of helping them to rebound to somewhere between 120-130 animals, but there are so many encroachments into their habitat, and vehicular collisions in Southern Florida. I was thinking the other day how dreadfully awful it would be, for humans to have a legacy of sending this species to extinction because we hit them with our cars, and we weren't mindful about their habitat. I beg of you, please look into the many ongoing efforts to save this big cat, and our wilds of Florida. I have fallen in deep love with this amazing animal, and I hope my images in any way, can help bring them into your heart.
Indigenous to urban areas, felineus sedentarius are frequently found in pairs. As is typical of the species, these two remained indifferent to human encroachment of their distinctly marked territory.
For several years, a group of Sandhill Cranes have spent time in the winter foraging in a corn field near an industrial park in central New Jersey. It's one of those great tales of nature persisting despite the encroachment of man. The are a marvel to see.
Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus (m)
The common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In Britain, where no other kestrel species occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".
This species occurs over a large range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America.
Kestrels can hover in still air, even indoors in barns. Because they face towards any slight wind when hovering, the common kestrel is called a "windhover" in some areas.
Unusual for falcons, plumage often differs between male and female, although as is usual with monogamous raptors the female is slightly larger than the male. This allows a pair to fill different feeding niches over their home range. Kestrels are bold and have adapted well to human encroachment, nesting in buildings and hunting by major roads. Kestrels do not build their own nests, but use nests built by other species.
Their plumage is mainly light chestnut brown with blackish spots on the upperside and buff with narrow blackish streaks on the underside; the remiges are also blackish. Unlike most raptors, they display sexual colour dimorphism with the male having fewer black spots and streaks, as well as a blue-grey cap and tail. The tail is brown with black bars in females, and has a black tip with a narrow white rim in both sexes. All common kestrels have a prominent black malar stripe like their closest relatives.
The cere, feet, and a narrow ring around the eye are bright yellow; the toenails, bill and iris are dark. Juveniles look like adult females, but the underside streaks are wider; the yellow of their bare parts is paler. Hatchlings are covered in white down feathers, changing to a buff-grey second down coat before they grow their first true plumage.
Data from Britain shows nesting pairs bringing up about 2–3 chicks on average, though this includes a considerable rate of total brood failures; actually, few pairs that do manage to fledge offspring raise less than 3 or 4. Compared to their siblings, first-hatched chicks have greater survival and recruitment probability, thought to be due to the first-hatched chicks obtaining a higher body condition when in the nest. Population cycles of prey, particularly voles, have a considerable influence on breeding success. Most common kestrels die before they reach 2 years of age; mortality up until the first birthday may be as high as 70%. At least females generally breed at one year of age; possibly, some males take a year longer to maturity as they do in related species. The biological lifespan to death from senescence can be 16 years or more, however; one was recorded to have lived almost 24 years.
Population:
UK breeding:
46,000 pairs
Apalachicola National Forest, Liberty County, Florida.
Carolina and I have just returned from a week of botanizing in the Florida Panhandle. This incredibly biodiverse region shares a number of similarities with Pineywoods of East Texas, but it is more notable for its differences. It is home to an amazing diversity of habitats, and we were fortunate enough to explore a number of them.
My first image of the trip is of sunset in a cypress dome swale in the middle of a wet prairie/savanna. These special places develop over shallow, coarse soils atop clay pans that act as catch-water basins for rainwater that slowly leaches through adjacent uplands. Frequent fire curbs woody vegetation growth and grasses and forbs dominate. In the lowest portions, the presence of deeper water may exclude fire for long enough for woody species like cypress to take hold.
Historically, fire in these communities would have been most common in the drier, hotter summer months. As a result, in the driest years fire would still burn through these low sections. This would, in effect, allow tall, long-lived species like cypress to develop a foothold and withstand the flames while woody shrubs would perish. Contemporary fire management, however, typically focuses on cool season burns which allows the encroachment of woody shrubs into many of these areas, eliminating habitat for a number of rare and threatened plant and animal species that depend on these specific conditions.
Prior to capturing this image I was exploring the adjacent savanna, photographing and marveling at the abundance and diversity of carnivorous plants. As I was returning to the truck I noticed that the wispy clouds in the sky were rapidly turning pink. Cursing myself for not carrying my tripod, I rushed back to the truck to retrieve it and quickly set up for a few shots. The conditions were changing by the second, and I was lucky to capture a few frames before the color faded.
© Jeff R. Clow
The last of the baby wild rabbit series for awhile.....
This shot caught my eye because it seems to sum up the fact that man's encroachment on previously wild forests really leaves nature's future in our hands.
Last sunlight on the Front Range of the Santa Catalina Mountains. From my roof in midtown Tucson looking NE. What a grand place to live! The rocky peak left of center is Window Peak. Civilization lapping up against the slopes, which are protected from further encroachment by being a National Forest. The shadows change dramatically as winter changes to spring and summer, no longer approaching at an angle that emphasizes the canyons, since the sun moves further north.
Shrewsbury Castle dates back to the early years of the Norman Conquest. Today it is home to the excellent Soldiers of Shropshire Military Museum. The inner bailey provides attractive garden space in the centre of Shrewsbury.
More photographs of Shrewsbury Castle can be found here: www.jhluxton.com/England/Shropshire/Shrewsbury-Castle/
A castle was ordered on the site by William I c. 1067 - a very early date - but it was greatly extended under Roger de Montgomery circa 1070 as a base for operations into Wales, an administrative centre and as a defensive fortification for the town, which was otherwise protected by the loop of the river.]
Town walls, of which little now remains, were later added to the defences, as a response to Welsh raids and radiated out from the castle and surrounded the town; the area known as Town Walls still has a small section of them and a single tower, known as Town Walls Tower, which is in the care of the National Trust.
In 1138, King Stephen successfully besieged the castle held by William FitzAlan for the Empress Maud during the period known as The Anarchy.
The castle was briefly held by Llywelyn the Great, Prince of Wales, in 1215. Parts of the original medieval structure remain largely incorporating the inner bailey of the castle; the outer bailey, which extended into the town, has long ago vanished under the encroachment of later shops and other buildings.
Having fallen into decay after c. 1300 (at the end of the Welsh wars) the castle became a domestic residence during the reign of Elizabeth I and passed to the ownership of the town council c.1600. The castle was extensively repaired in 1643 during the Civil War and was briefly besieged by Parliamentary forces from Wem before its surrender.
It was acquired by Sir Francis Newport in 1663. Further repairs were carried out by Thomas Telford on behalf of Sir William Pulteney, M.P. for Shrewsbury, after 1780 to the designs of the architect Robert Adam. Much of what is seen today dates from this period.
The Shropshire Horticultural Society purchased the castle from a private owner, then Lord Barnard, and gave it to the town in 1924 and it became the location of Shrewsbury's Borough Council chambers for over 50 years.
The castle was internally restructured to become the home of the Shropshire Regimental Museum when it moved from Copthorne Barracks and other local sites in 1985. The museum was attacked by the IRA on August 25, 1992 and extensive damage to the collection and to some of the Castle resulted.The museum was officially re-opened by Princess Alexandra on May 2nd, 1995.
In 2019 it was rebranded as the Soldiers of Shropshire Museum.
In 2019 and 2020 an archaeology project by Shropshire Council and the University of Chester undertook excavations in the castle. Work in 2019 found the remains of the original ditch surrounding the motte of c.1067, along with a range of medieval pottery and two arrow heads or crossbow-bolt heads. Excavations in 2020 failed to locate St Michael's chapel, but did recover evidence of 'high-status feasting', including the bones of a pike and possibly a swan. (Information from Wikipedia)
Before and after views along the Baltimore & Ohio Chicago Terminal alongside the rock quarry pits at Thornton, Illinois. The views are looking north towards Harvey. In the first view, taken 10/11/51, a Milwaukee 2-8-2 steamer thunders south with about 110 cars in tow. The locomotive is hitting the switch points of the south end of Berg Siding. Notice the "Spring Switch" sign, meaning southbounds coming out of the siding would not need to align the switch points to enter the main.
This trackage here was shared by both the B&OCT and the Milwaukee. According to a 1955 Terre Haute Division timetable, B&OCT ownership ended at the north end of the Milwaukee yards in Faithorn, about 10 miles south of here. Milwaukee trains then continued south on what was previously the Chicago, Terre Haute & Southeastern.
The second photo, taken 4/1/22, shows that not much has really changed in the lay of the land, most likely due to it being land-locked in from any commercial encroachment due to the quarry pits on both sides of the right of way. I believe this section these days is known as the CSX Chicago Heights sub, but I have no idea what kind of traffic this line sees today. Second photo taken 4/1/22.
Many companies these days choose to go green. Central Midland Railway was obviously one such company. Their successor, Missouri Eastern Railroad, has since cut back the encroachment on the sides of the tracks, reballasted this section, and sprayed herbicide along the right of way. At the time, however, only four CMR trains passed this location each week, so Mother Nature took advantage of the lack of activity.
8/1/2020
Maryland Heights, MO
Semi-desert scrubland, lacking glamour, is little-mourned as it is grazed and ploughed into oblivion, hence the IUCN's categorization of Stoliczka's Bushchat as Vulnerable, which is just one step away from Endangered. An arid country specialist, its home is disappearing through agricultural encroachment.
One can hope that conservation efforts to save the Great Indian Bustard, with which it shares a similar habitat preference, will also boost Stoliczka's numbers.
Busy Worming!
Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus (m)
The common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In Britain, where no other kestrel species occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".
This species occurs over a large range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America.
Kestrels can hover in still air, even indoors in barns. Because they face towards any slight wind when hovering, the common kestrel is called a "windhover" in some areas.
Unusual for falcons, plumage often differs between male and female, although as is usual with monogamous raptors the female is slightly larger than the male. This allows a pair to fill different feeding niches over their home range. Kestrels are bold and have adapted well to human encroachment, nesting in buildings and hunting by major roads. Kestrels do not build their own nests, but use nests built by other species.
Their plumage is mainly light chestnut brown with blackish spots on the upperside and buff with narrow blackish streaks on the underside; the remiges are also blackish. Unlike most raptors, they display sexual colour dimorphism with the male having fewer black spots and streaks, as well as a blue-grey cap and tail. The tail is brown with black bars in females, and has a black tip with a narrow white rim in both sexes. All common kestrels have a prominent black malar stripe like their closest relatives.
The cere, feet, and a narrow ring around the eye are bright yellow; the toenails, bill and iris are dark. Juveniles look like adult females, but the underside streaks are wider; the yellow of their bare parts is paler. Hatchlings are covered in white down feathers, changing to a buff-grey second down coat before they grow their first true plumage.
Data from Britain shows nesting pairs bringing up about 2–3 chicks on average, though this includes a considerable rate of total brood failures; actually, few pairs that do manage to fledge offspring raise less than 3 or 4. Compared to their siblings, first-hatched chicks have greater survival and recruitment probability, thought to be due to the first-hatched chicks obtaining a higher body condition when in the nest. Population cycles of prey, particularly voles, have a considerable influence on breeding success. Most common kestrels die before they reach 2 years of age; mortality up until the first birthday may be as high as 70%. At least females generally breed at one year of age; possibly, some males take a year longer to maturity as they do in related species. The biological lifespan to death from senescence can be 16 years or more, however; one was recorded to have lived almost 24 years.
Population:
UK breeding:
46,000 pairs
If you want to hear a typical Dutch sound, ask a Dutch person to pronounce "Schokland". And if you can imitate without getting them to laugh, you're some kind of talent!
Wikipedia and UNESCO: Schokland (mun. Noordoostpolder) is a former island in the Dutch Zuiderzee. Schokland lost its status as an island when the Noordoostpolder was reclaimed from the sea in 1942. The remains are still visible as a slightly elevated part in the polder and by the still partly intact retaining wall of the waterfront of 'Middelbuurt'. As a result from the increasing sea-level Schokland transformed from an attractive settlement area in the Middle Ages to a place under continuous threat by floods in the 19th century. By that time the Schoklanders had retreated to the three most elevated parts, Emmeloord, Molenbuurt, and Middelbuurt. A major flood in 1825 brought massive destruction, and in 1859 the government decided to end permanent settlement on Schokland. The former municipality of Schokland was joined to Kampen on the mainland. Today Schokland is a popular archeological site and host to the Schokland Museum. Schokland was the first UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Netherlands, inscripted in 1995. It symbolizes the heroic, age-old struggle of the people of the Netherlands against the encroachment of the waters. According to Statistics Netherlands, there are 5 people living on the former island.