View allAll Photos Tagged encroachment
Adult flamingos have few natural predators. The primary threats to flamingo populations are bacteria, toxins, and pollution in water supplies, which is usually run-off from manufacturing companies, and encroachment on their habitat.
A common tern delivers a fishy breakfast to one of her offspring this morning, just after sunrise. Watching shorebirds in the early hours of the day and later hours of the evening allows one to see their interactions without interference from human encroachment. #CommonTerns
One of the rarest of the Egrets in North America, the Reddish Egret, is listed as "Near Threatened" by the IUCN. As with many Egrets, they were hard hit by plume hunters in the 19th century. The species thrives in coastal environments and is currently heavily impacted by habitat loss due to human encroachment as well as climate change which is causing rising sea levels.
Fortunately, J. N. "Ding" Darling NWR continues to be a great location to spend time with this active hunter. In March 2017 I found this one hunting relatively close to shore shortly after sunrise. The Reddish Egret stalks its prey actively, frequently using its wings to cast shadows allowing it to better see its prey. It then quickly stabs its long, sharp bill into the water to spear the unsuspecting quarry. March 8, 2017
Custer is a city in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,987 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Custer County. Custer is generally considered to be the oldest town established by European Americans in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. Gold was found there during the 1874 Black Hills Expedition, conducted by the 7th Cavalry led by Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer, a discovery which initiated the Black Hills Gold Rush. For thousands of years, the Black Hills had been part of the territory of varying tribes of indigenous peoples. They were within historical territory of the Oglala Sioux at the time of United States encounter, and within the Great Sioux Reservation established by the US Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868). Having established dominance in the area by the eighteenth century, the Oglala Sioux had long considered the Black Hills as sacred land. After increasing encroachment by Americans and violent confrontations, the U.S. government forced the Sioux to cede much of the Black Hills in 1877, and opened the land for individual purchase and settlement. In 1875 trespassing gold-boomers named their settlement Stonewall (after the Confederate general, Stonewall Jackson), but it was renamed for Custer. Almost abandoned in 1876 after word of the much larger gold strikes in Deadwood Gulch spread, Custer later became an established city. Custer has had a smaller population and been less wealthy than the Northern Hills cities of Deadwood and Lead. In addition to gold, Custer and other cities based their economies on the extraction of industrial minerals, which are still important to the regional economy. Custer annually observes a "Gold Discovery Days" celebration and festivities over the last full weekend of July. This heritage tourism event celebrates the discovery of gold by the Custer expedition in nearby French Creek and the subsequent founding of the town.
“We can expect more pandemics to come, owing to factors like climate change, mass migration, globalization, and human encroachment on wildlife habitats. As temperatures change, people are moving around the world more rapidly than ever before … and intruding into ecosystems that used to be made up entirely of animals or insects. This, in turn, creates opportunities for humans to get infected by new diseases and disease strains.”
Tom Inglesby - Department of Health and Human Services -2025
Created With Night Cafe AI Generator
This male Chobe Bushbuck was very accommodating, and allowed me to creep up quite close..
Sadly their numbers have fallen drastically due mainly to a loss of habitat caused primarily by elephant damage and human encroachment..
This will be the last Louisiana pine snake (Pituophis ruthveni) image I post for a while. Here one of the released snakes can be seen in the longleaf pine savanna that will serve as its new home. These communities are really more prairie than forest, with widely scattered overstory longleaf pines and little to no woody encroachment in the understory, save the scattered longleaf pine saplings able to withstand the flames of the frequent fires that kept the shrubs at bay.
Unfortunately over the past 150 years or so, habitat loss combined with fire suppression and other means of habitat degradation have greatly reduced the the acreage of longleaf pine savanna in the West Gulf Coastal Plain and beyond. Many of the high quality examples that remain are fragmented, and few large, contiguous tracts exist.
In the past few decades there has been a push to begin restoring longleaf pine and implementing management regimes such as prescribed burn programs to re-establish former habitat and enhance existing habitat for the Louisiana pine snake and a suite of other species that depend on these communities. It is my hope that these efforts along with those like this reintroduction will help bring this iconic snake back from the brink.
Sulphur-crested cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) shows its adaptation to human habitat encroachment by starting the day with a rubbish bin raid. Beside Currumbin Creek on the Queensland Gold Coast.
Het Noordbrabants Museum
Did You know?
Many artists have been inspired by Hieronymus Bosch, including Pieter Bruegel, Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, Joan Miró, Maurits Escher and Jan Fabre.
Hieronymus Bosch is one of the world’s most famous artists. His characteristic work full of illusions and hallucinations, bizarre monsters and nightmares, depicts the great themes of his time: temptation, sin and judgement. His work was no less popular after his death and inspired innumerable artists to the present day, making Bosch one of the most important artists of the late Middle Ages.
Jheronimus Bosch – Visions of a Genius will be the highlight of the Bosch Year 2016, a unique event and an unparalleled homage to the most important Medieval artist from the Netherlands.
Sources:
boschexpo.hetnoordbrabantsmuseum.nl/en
www.bosch500.nl/en/the-event/2016-exhibition
Have a look at this,
The Bosch Research and Conservation Project:
and
youtu.be/F6JqHN1n7UM?list=PLnZeTSd73Ej4jQNyNs7AlZ06QrVPA-6g-
_________________________________________________________
's-Hertogenbosch
'
s-Hertogenbosch, literally "The Duke's Forest" in English, and historically in French: Bois-le-Duc) is a city and municipality in the southern Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant.
In speech, the Dutch seldom use the formal 's-Hertogenbosch but rather the colloquial Den Bosch. Den Bosch means "The Forest".
History
The city's official name is a contraction of the Dutch des Hertogen bosch—"the Duke's forest". The duke in question was Henry I, Duke of Brabant, whose family had owned a large estate at nearby Orthen for at least four centuries. He founded a new town located on some forested dunes in the middle of a marsh. At age 26, he granted 's-Hertogenbosch city rights and the corresponding trade privileges in 1185. This is, however, the traditional date given by later chroniclers; the first mention in contemporaneous sources is 1196. The original charter has been lost. His reason for founding the city was to protect his own interests against encroachment from Gelre and Holland; from its first days, he conceived of the city as a fortress. It was destroyed in 1203 in a joint expedition of Gelre and Holland, but was soon rebuilt. Some remnants of the original city walls may still be seen. In the late 15th century, a much larger wall was erected to protect the greatly expanded settled area. Artificial waterways were dug to serve as a city moat, through which the rivers Dommel and Aa were diverted.
Until 1520, the city flourished, becoming the second largest population centre in the territory of the present Netherlands, after Utrecht. The birthplace and home of one of the greatest painters of the northern Renaissance, Hieronymus Bosch, the city was also a center of music, and composers, such as Jheronimus Clibano, received their training at its churches. Others held positions there: Matthaeus Pipelare was musical director at the Confraternity of Our Lady; and renowned Habsburg copyist and composer Pierre Alamire did much of his work at 's-Hertogenbosch.
...
Museums are the Stedelijk Museum 's-Hertogenbosch, Noordbrabants Museum and the Jheronimus Bosch Art Center. The painter Hieronymus Bosch (c. 1450–1516) remains probably the best known citizen of 's-Hertogenbosch.
Namibia.
Etosha National Park.
Etosha National Park is a national park in northwestern Namibia. The park was proclaimed a game reserve on March 22, 1907 in Ordinance 88 by the Governor of German South West Africa, Dr. Friedrich von Lindequist. It was designated as Wildschutzgebiet Nr. 2 which means Game Reserve Number 2, in numerical order after West Caprivi (Game Reserve No. 1) and preceding Namib Game Reserve (No. 3). In 1958, Game Reserve No. 2 became Etosha Game Park and was elevated to status of National Park in 1967 by an act of parliament of the Republic of South Africa which administered South-West Africa during that time.[1]
Etosha National Park spans an area of 22,270 square kilometres (8,600 sq mi) and gets its name from the large Etosha pan which is almost entirely within the park. The Etosha pan (4,760 square kilometres (1,840 sq mi)) covers 23% of the area of the total area of the Etosha National Park.[2] The park is home to hundreds of species of mammals, birds and reptiles, including several threatened and endangered species like the black rhinoceros.
The park is located in the Kunene region and shares boundaries with the regions of Oshana, Oshikoto and Otjozondjupa.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etosha_National_Park
The plains zebra (Equus quagga, formerly Equus burchelli), also known as the common zebra or Burchell's zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra.[2] It ranges from the south of Ethiopia through East Africa to as far south as Botswana and eastern South Africa. The plains zebra remains common in game reserves, but is threatened by human activities such as hunting for its meat and hide, as well as competition with livestock and encroachment by farming on much of its habitat.
The heaviest of North American owls, the Snowy, takes off from its perch. It will look for another place, not far away, but free from human encroachment. These beautiful birds pass their summers in the high arctic, where they raise their young and hunt for lemming and ptarmigan. Though they migrate south, they don't always make it this far south to New Jersey. Unlike many other owls, snowy owls are diurnal, hunting by day and night. They are elusive and skittish, and should be approached with caution and care. If they are overly bothered by human interaction they will frequently relocate. Cloudy weather has made photographing these birds ever so much more difficult lately. I do wish that they could stay all year! #ILoveNature #ILoveWildlife #SnowyOwls #WildlifePhotography in #NewJersey #Nature in #America #USA #Canon #Bringit #DrDADBooks #Photography #Picoftheday #Photooftheday
Scanned slide, photo taken in early June 1998
The Trấn Quốc Pagoda in Hanoi is the oldest pagoda in the city, originally constructed in the sixth century during the reign of Emperor Lý Nam Đế (from 544 until 548), thus giving it an age of more than 1,450 years. When founded the temple was named Khai Quoc (National Founding) and was sited on the shores of the Red River, outside of the Yen Phu Dyke. When confronted with the river's encroachment, the temple was relocated in 1615 to Kim Ngu (Golden Fish) islet of Ho Tay (West Lake) where it is now situated.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tr%E1%BA%A5n_Qu%E1%BB%91c_Pagoda
A fascinating Ecosystem of the hill ranges of Nilgiris and its surrounding environments covering a tract of over 5000 Square kilometers was constituted as Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO under Man and Biosphere Programme. Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve is India's first and foremost biosphere reserves with a heritage, rich in flora and fauna.
Much of the Nilgiris natural Montane grasslands and shrublands interspersed with sholas has been much disturbed or destroyed by extensive tea plantations, easy motor vehicle access and human encroachment.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margalla_Hills
The Margalla Hills (Urdu: مارگلہ پہاڑیاں) is a hill range which is part of the Himalayan foothills located within the Margalla Hills National Park, north of Islamabad, Pakistan. The Margalla range has an area of 12,605 hectares. The hills are a part of Murree hills. It is a range with many valleys as well as high mountains.
On 6 January 2012, after almost six years, Pir Sohawa, the city’s highest tourist spot, received few inches of snowfall.[1] Another measurable snow event occurred on 11 February 2016 where 2 inches fell after four years.
Paleontology and archeology
According to the research carried out by scientists and archaeologists of the project "Post-Earthquake Explorations of Human Remains in Margalla Hills", the formation of the Margalla Hills dates to the Miocene epoch. The dominant limestone of the Margalla is mixed with sandstone and occasional minor beds of shale. The archaeologists of the project have also found two human footprints over one million years old here, preserved in sandstone.[4]
Flora and fauna
There are around 250 to 300 species of plants on the Margalla hills. As many as two third of them are used by the people for their medicinal effects to treat or cure various diseases.[5]
The Margalla Hills are home to various species of wildlife, including monkeys, exotic birds and carnivores such as the rare and presently endangered Margalla leopard.[6][7]
Much less common are leopards, which occasionally come down from the Murree area but usually remain high up in the hills. Villagers dwelling in the Margallas do report sighting of leopards off and on.[8]
High diversity of birds in the Margallas is due to the combination many ecological components that together make it a unique location. No other Pakistani location could come even near in the number of species seen. As a result of a series of faunal survey of the park, 54 species of butterflies, 37 species of fish, 9 species of amphibians, 20 species of reptiles, 380 species of birds, 21 species of small mammals and 15 species of large mammals have so far been recorded.
Bird watching
The Margallas are an excellent place for bird watchers. The area is home to a large number of birds, including robins, sparrows, kites, crows, larks, paradise flycatchers, black partridge, shrikes, pheasants, spotted doves, Egyptian vultures, falcons, hawks, eagles, Himalayan griffon vulture, laggar falcon, peregrine falcon, kestrel, Indian sparrow hawk, white cheeked bulbul, yellow vented bulbul, paradise flycatcher, cheer pheasant, Khalij pheasant, golden oriole, spotted dove, collared dove, wheatears and buntings.[7]
The cheer pheasant, indigenous to the North West Frontier Province, is being reared in Margalla Hills as a part of conservation campaign.[10]
Environmental conservation
The ecology of Margallas faces threats from quarrying by 'crush plants', deforestation, illegal encroachments and buildings, and poachers.[11] Crush plants situated around the hills near Taxila are busy eroding the hills for extracting building material.[12] Deforestation is resulting from fires and illegal felling of trees.[13]
Margalla Hills Society
Margalla Hills Society[14][better source needed] established in 1989, with objective to preserve the natural environment of Margalla Hills National Park and prevent shrinkage of the green areas; to promote public interest in conservation, development and management of forests, wildlife and other natural resources of Margalla Hills National Park, and to disseminate information about the park, including its history, geography, flora, fauna, culture, and its benefits to the citizens of Islamabad.
Southwild Pantanal Lodge
The Pantanal
Brazil
South America
Formerly widespread in gallery forest or woodland, now the most numerous in the Pantanal. Elsewhere is very rare or absent. They are the longest macaw length. Flocks can be as large as 40-50 birds. Many landowners offer protection to these birds helping to stabilize the population.
All 18 species of macaws are threatened. The primary causes are habitat loss and heavy exploitation for the pet trade. The hyacinth macaw is especially vulnerable to capture and habitat destruction because it is noisy, intrinsically fearless, predictable, and dependent on palm trees.
Hyacinth macaws brought $5,000 to $10,000 each in the pet trade as of 1988. This high price fosters a dangerous level of poaching and smuggling. Data and anecdotal evidence suggest that as many as 10,000 Hyacinth macaws were taken from the wild during the 1980s.
The United States is the largest market for the exotic pet trade. In the last decade, 8.5 million birds, at least 85 percent of birds captured in the wild, were imported or smuggled into the United States. Even when the export of birds is controlled, the domestic bird trade often is not regulated. Millions of tropical birds, including parrots and macaws, are captured for local sale with about 50 percent of hyacinth macaws trapped in Brazil were bought by Brazilians rather than being sold overseas.
The hyacinth macaw’s habitat has been lost to hydroelectric power development; vast tracts of their former riverside habitat have been flooded by dam building. Habitat modification through human encroachment and conversion to cattle ranching also are significant threats. – Wikipedia
Winter 2008 - Blacktail Plateau
These intelligent and adaptable animals now manage to occupy almost every conceivable habitat type, from open ranch country to densely forested areas to downtown waterfront. Despite ever-increasing human encroachment and past efforts to eliminate coyotes, the species maintains its numbers and is increasing in some areas. The coyote’s tenacity tries some people’s patience and inspires others’ admiration.
Custer is a city in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,987 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Custer County. Custer is generally considered to be the oldest town established by European Americans in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. Gold was found there during the 1874 Black Hills Expedition, conducted by the 7th Cavalry led by Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer, a discovery which initiated the Black Hills Gold Rush. For thousands of years, the Black Hills had been part of the territory of varying tribes of indigenous peoples. They were within historical territory of the Oglala Sioux at the time of United States encounter, and within the Great Sioux Reservation established by the US Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868). Having established dominance in the area by the eighteenth century, the Oglala Sioux had long considered the Black Hills as sacred land. After increasing encroachment by Americans and violent confrontations, the U.S. government forced the Sioux to cede much of the Black Hills in 1877, and opened the land for individual purchase and settlement. In 1875 trespassing gold-boomers named their settlement Stonewall (after the Confederate general, Stonewall Jackson), but it was renamed for Custer. Almost abandoned in 1876 after word of the much larger gold strikes in Deadwood Gulch spread, Custer later became an established city. Custer has had a smaller population and been less wealthy than the Northern Hills cities of Deadwood and Lead. In addition to gold, Custer and other cities based their economies on the extraction of industrial minerals, which are still important to the regional economy. Custer annually observes a "Gold Discovery Days" celebration and festivities over the last full weekend of July. This heritage tourism event celebrates the discovery of gold by the Custer expedition in nearby French Creek and the subsequent founding of the town.
The greater flamingo (Phoenicopterus roseus) is the most widespread and largest species of the flamingo family. It is found in Africa, on the Indian subcontinent, in the Middle East, and in southern Europe).
Adult flamingos have few natural predators. The primary threats to flamingo populations are bacteria, toxins, and pollution in water supplies, which is usually run-off from manufacturing companies, and encroachment on their habitat.
Custer is a city in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 1,987 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Custer County. Custer is generally considered to be the oldest town established by European Americans in the Black Hills of South Dakota and Wyoming. Gold was found there during the 1874 Black Hills Expedition, conducted by the 7th Cavalry led by Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer, a discovery which initiated the Black Hills Gold Rush. For thousands of years, the Black Hills had been part of the territory of varying tribes of indigenous peoples. They were within historical territory of the Oglala Sioux at the time of United States encounter, and within the Great Sioux Reservation established by the US Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868). Having established dominance in the area by the eighteenth century, the Oglala Sioux had long considered the Black Hills as sacred land. After increasing encroachment by Americans and violent confrontations, the U.S. government forced the Sioux to cede much of the Black Hills in 1877, and opened the land for individual purchase and settlement. In 1875 trespassing gold-boomers named their settlement Stonewall (after the Confederate general, Stonewall Jackson), but it was renamed for Custer. Almost abandoned in 1876 after word of the much larger gold strikes in Deadwood Gulch spread, Custer later became an established city. Custer has had a smaller population and been less wealthy than the Northern Hills cities of Deadwood and Lead. In addition to gold, Custer and other cities based their economies on the extraction of industrial minerals, which are still important to the regional economy. Custer annually observes a "Gold Discovery Days" celebration and festivities over the last full weekend of July. This heritage tourism event celebrates the discovery of gold by the Custer expedition in nearby French Creek and the subsequent founding of the town.
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization. The memorial master plan includes the mountain carving monument, an Indian Museum of North America, and a Native American Cultural Center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, on land considered sacred by some Oglala Lakota, between Custer and Hill City, roughly 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet long and 563 feet high. The arm of Crazy Horse will be 263 feet long and the head 87 feet high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet high. The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion. If completed, it may become the world's largest sculpture as well as the first non-religious statue to hold this record since 1967 (when it was held by the Soviet monument The Motherland Calls). Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people. His most famous actions against the U.S. military included the Fetterman Fight (21 December 1866) and the Battle of the Little Bighorn (25–26 June 1876). He surrendered to U.S. troops under General Crook in May 1877 and was fatally wounded by a military guard, allegedly while resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson in present-day Nebraska. He ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members and was honored by the U.S. Postal Service in 1982 with a 13¢ postage stamp that is part of its Great Americans series.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial
Website: crazyhorsememorial.org/
Salt Lake Valley, viewed from the Bonneville Shoreline Trail near Draper, Utah, looking northwest. There really is no escape, as much as you may pretend that climbing mountains gets you away from the reality of human encroachment and domination. Still, prisoner you may be, but it isn't such an awful prison, is it?
RAW file edited in View NX-i
The long-tailed macaque is the most commonly seen type of monkey in Singapore. They can often be found in many of the rainforest nature reserves in Singapore, such as Bukit Timah, Pierce Reservoir and even places such at Pulau Ubin and Saint John's Island.
With the ever constant encroachment of human activity into the fringes of their living areas, this has sometimes resulted in these monkeys attacking humans and snatching food out of their hands.
Ultimately, a balance in nature will have to be found.
Bighorn Sheep of the Canadian Rockies
There are two subspecies of the bighorn – Californiana (California Bighorn Sheep) and Canadensis (Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep).
In Canada, the Bighorn Sheep are found in scattered parts of southern British Columbia and more prolifically in western Alberta, in the Canadian Rockies. Their range continues down into the American Rockies, and they can be found as far south as Mexico’s Baja Peninsula.
The Bighorn’s ideal environment has a dry climate and is rugged with areas plentiful of low grasses and herbs. Herds will often migrate long distances in the winter to areas with minimal snowfall.
There are just over 3,000 Bighorn Sheep in British Columbia, and the population there is considered vulnerable in part due to human encroachment on their habitats. In Alberta, however, where the mammal is the official provincial mammal, the Bighorn Sheep is considered secure, with more than 11,000 inhabiting its national parks and provincial lands, representing over 15% of the Bighorn Sheep population in North America.
For more Info: naturecanada.ca/news/blog/the-bighorn-sheep-majestic-and-...
The Crazy Horse Memorial is a mountain monument under construction on privately held land in the Black Hills, in Custer County, South Dakota, United States. It will depict the Oglala Lakota warrior, Crazy Horse, riding a horse and pointing into the distance. The memorial was commissioned by Henry Standing Bear, a Lakota elder, to be sculpted by Korczak Ziolkowski. It is operated by the Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation, a nonprofit organization. The memorial master plan includes the mountain carving monument, an Indian Museum of North America, and a Native American Cultural Center. The monument is being carved out of Thunderhead Mountain, on land considered sacred by some Oglala Lakota, between Custer and Hill City, roughly 17 miles from Mount Rushmore. The sculpture's final dimensions are planned to be 641 feet long and 563 feet high. The arm of Crazy Horse will be 263 feet long and the head 87 feet high; by comparison, the heads of the four U.S. Presidents at Mount Rushmore are each 60 feet high. The monument has been in progress since 1948 and is far from completion. If completed, it may become the world's largest sculpture as well as the first non-religious statue to hold this record since 1967 (when it was held by the Soviet monument The Motherland Calls). Crazy Horse was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the U.S. Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people. His most famous actions against the U.S. military included the Fetterman Fight (21 December 1866) and the Battle of the Little Bighorn (25–26 June 1876). He surrendered to U.S. troops under General Crook in May 1877 and was fatally wounded by a military guard, allegedly while resisting imprisonment at Camp Robinson in present-day Nebraska. He ranks among the most notable and iconic of Native American tribal members and was honored by the U.S. Postal Service in 1982 with a 13¢ postage stamp that is part of its Great Americans series.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazy_Horse_Memorial
Website: crazyhorsememorial.org/
Trees are taking over the old Sanitorium. This is what is left of the outside wall of the old Sanitorium on the River Avon at Shipley Bridge, Dartmoor, Devon.
It's a 20 minute cycle from work to this semi rural spot on the Havant to Chichester line, at Church foot crossing, Southbourne.
Unusually for the UK, a warm sunny day without any cloud encroachment the whole day
59205 works the 6O68 Westbury Tarmac to Crawley loaded boxes, being the fourth loaded run so far this week
Thursday 19 September 2024
Piping plovers are threatened or endangered throughout their range. The pressures of human encroachment on their breeding territories is the main reason for their decline. These birds are protected by laws around the country, but laws only go so far when there are not enough rangers to enforce them and people who follow them. The tiny plover chicks are not much bigger than a golf ball. When standing still (which they do quite often) they are all but invisible against their sandy ambient. When you enter an area that has been cordoned off, be respectful of the barriers. It’s just as important to realize, however, that these birds are not respectful of those barriers and frequently pass into areas traversed by people. Take extra care and be mindful of these tiny tots. #PipingPlovers
Newport, a street which dates from the post Roman period, around 500 AD, in Lincoln, Lincolnshire.
It followed the Roman road of Ermine Street and since 1100 has been surrounded by the early creation of the Newport suburb.
St Johns Church was erected on the line of the road in the early 12th century. The public Granthams Well was located at the north end of the road.
Newport Green was the name for the large open space, mostly on the west side and partly on the left side. Between the 14th-16th Centuries it was the home to the annual Newport Fair and frequent markets were held.
With the decline of the cloth trade, the market, church, and suburb declined in importance, and gradual encroachment of buildings on to the Green has removed most traces of the plot.
It was listed as Herman Street, Barton Street and Town Street on various in the 19th century maps. The corner with Church Lane was widened between 1881-2.
Information Source:
www.heritageconnectlincoln.com/character-area/newport/87/...
Near The Gulf Of Mexico
Southwestern Florida
USA
Another image of Athena taken at the Naples Zoo. Athena is the animal I talk about at the zoo for three hours on Mondays. She is a two ½ year old Florida panther abandoned by her mother at three weeks of age. She is now at her proper weight of 90 pounds. Males reach 155 pounds.
Wikipedia - The Florida panther is a North American cougar P. c. couguar population. In South Florida, it lives in pinelands, hardwood hammocks, and mixed swamp forests.
This population, the only unequivocal cougar representative in the eastern United States, currently occupies 5% of its historic range. In the 1970s, an estimated 20 Florida panthers remained in the wild, but their numbers had increased to an estimated 230 by 2017.
In 1982, the Florida panther was chosen as the Florida state animal. It was formerly classified as a distinct puma subspecies (Puma concolor coryi).
The Florida panther has a natural predator, the American alligator. Humans also threaten it through poaching and wildlife control measures. Besides predation, the biggest threat to their survival is human encroachment. Historical persecution reduced this wide-ranging, large carnivore to a small area of south Florida.
The two highest causes of mortality for individual Florida panthers are automobile collisions and territorial aggression between panthers.
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.
It’s late afternoon on the beach at Yaroomba on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland and we are back at the rocks with the lovely green weed, just below Point Arkwright.
For those unfamiliar with our slang, a chinwag is a casual, friendly talk or chat ....my best interpretation. Unless your boss has a frown when he asks you into the office for a chinwag, then it might not be so friendly.
Wonderful beaches and despite the encroachment of suburbia along the coast, still relatively quiet and relaxing. Mudjimba Island is just poking its head up on the horizon in the distance and the high rise around Maroochydore.
Yaroomba Beach, Sunshine Coast, Queensland. Looking south.
Any 'Sconnie worth their salt has coveted the Northwoods their entire lives. Some fish, some hunt, some watch wildlife and some relax on the water. The North affords views and experiences which can’t be obtained anywhere else. Expansive stands of pine battle to shade out aspen and maple. Floating bogs sustain their fight in preventing shrub and tree encroachment through acidification and destabilization of the soils. Rivers slice through the landscape feeding thousands of ponds and lakes. Eagles soar high above the whitetails, fox, wolves, beaver, and badger. The North is truly a special place. When I moved to Stevens Point three years ago I knew little to nothing about the North. Luckily, a quick hop on 51 got me there in under two hours. At that time CN was lightly operating the Bradley and Ashland subdivisions, which each have a legendary history dating back to the Original Wisconsin Central and the SOO. Little did I know my early trips to capture the CN would be the closing of the book. Early 2022 would see the Foxy rail system establish itself on many former SOO/WC lines which CN lost interest in operating. While Foxy has problems of their own, their new attitude is a welcome change. Already, pulpwood has come back in a profitable capacity. Everyone is excited to see where Foxy takes these lines.
I could never have imagined seeing a WSOR unit hauling logs up here 2-3 years ago.. yet here it is in peak fall colors. As much as I respect the CN employees- this belongs here.
USA, Nevada, Clark County, Gold Butte National Monument. An unnamed limestone peak in the Virgin Mountains cover in Pinyon-juniper woodlands.
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'At the End of the Day'...On a Wild Isle.
On a bright sunny evening, with their distinctive orange bills and legs, ten of the leaders of a large flock of White-fronted Geese, Anser, albifons flavirostris flying in to settle on Loch Gruinart at the end of their grazing day out on the grasslands and scrub fields.
Greenland White-fronted Goose Notes and Information:
The White-fronted Goose is a grey goose, bigger than a mallard and smaller than a mute swan. Adults have a large white patch at the front of the head around the beak and bold black bars on the belly. The legs are orange and Siberian birds have pink bills, while Greenland birds have orange bills. This species does not breed in the UK. Two races visit the UK in winter - birds which breed in Greenland and birds which breed in Siberia. The current wintering areas need protection, including avoiding drainage of traditional wintering areas in southern England. RSPB Notes.
What they eat:
Grass, clover, grain, winter wheat and potatoes.
Measurements:
Length:65-78cm
Wingspan:130-165cm
Weight:1.9-2.5kgPopulation:
UK wintering:13,500
Identifying features:
Greenland White fronted goose
Feather colour: Black Brown Cream/buff Grey White
Leg colour: Orange
Beak: Orange Red Long Duck-like Chunky
Natural habitats: Farmland Grassland Marine and intertidal Wetland
Similar birds: Greylag goose, Taiga bean goose,
Pink-footed goose
Where and when to see them:
White-fronted geese can be seen in south England especially the Severn estuary in Gloucestershire and the Swale estuary in Kent for Siberian birds. Ireland and West Scotland for Greenland birds.
'Birdguides' Notes... Goose 'fitness tracker' reveals migration struggles
Greenland White-fronted Geese make a 600-mile round trip each year to overwinter in Scotland but not every bird finds it easy, according to new research from Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust (WWT).
Specially designed bird ‘fitness trackers’ have revealed what happens to the birds as they struggle over the sea for long distances, trying to navigate the angry North Atlantic and getting blown off course by unpredictable storms.
Migration is a particularly vulnerable time for Greenland White-fronts. One goose took just 14 and a half hours to fly from Iceland to Greenland, but two others took days to complete the same journey, being forced to spend a lot of the time bobbing on the sea.
The complete migration routes of Greenland White-fronted Geese in spring, as monitored by the WWT (WWT).
WWT researcher Ed Burrell has just returned from the tiny island of Islay, Argyll, where he’s been downloading data from the bird fitness trackers. He said: “We’ve just downloaded all this amazing data from these individual birds to see what they’ve been up to. From studying the leg from Iceland to Greenland in May this year, we see what a difference a day makes.
“We can tell that the weather turned on two birds who left the same evening, as they landed on the sea – so they wouldn’t be blown further, of course. By using an extra gadget called an accelerometer – a bird 'fitness tracker' so to speak – which measures the movement of the tag, we can tell that they bobbed about for a bit. To avoid the terrible conditions, the birds went for a swim.”
The blue-tagged goose left Iceland at 3.30 am on 6 May in calm conditions, arriving in Greenland 14-and-a-half hours later at a speed of 33.5 mph. The green-tagged goose left at 4 pm on 3 May accompanied by a good tailwind that later turned on the bird, blowing it towards the Arctic Ocean and forcing it to hunker down in the sea. It later landed in Greenland 53 hours after its journey began.
The red-tagged goose had it even worse, leaving the same evening as Green, but taking a traumatic 63 hours to complete the trip.
Researchers at WWT have been tracking these birds to find out why they are declining so rapidly. Since the turn of the century, 50 per cent of the population has vanished.
Thanks to support from players of People’s Postcode Lottery, Ian Macleod Distillers Ltd and other generous funders, WWT is able to carry out pioneering research using the finest technologies available to try and prevent further loss of these magnificent birds.
White-fronted Goose is one of eight wetland species of birds threatened with extirpation in Britain. Numbers have declined from 35,000 in 1999 to 18,900 in 2016 due to a number of threats at their breeding grounds. People keen to support our drive to save this species can donate here.
Northern Ireland Notes:
Anser albifrons flavirostris Dalgety & P. Scott, 1948
Family: Anatidae
While it may graze with other geese on manicured pastures, this goose is also a bird of wild boglands and marshes, returning faithfully each year to favoured areas. It breeds on the coastal fringes of western Greenland and winters almost entirely in Ireland and Scotland. Its eastern counterpart, the European white-fronted goose, winters in England.
In brief...
Scarce wintering bird to traditional sites in the west of Northern Ireland
Prefers blanket bog with pools or agricultural grassland
It is a winter visitor found from late October to early April
The Greenland white-fronted goose is Amber listed in both Irish and UK Birds of Conservation Concern
Threats include habitat loss from drainage, inappropriate development and disturbance.
Species description:
The white-fronted goose is a medium-sized, grey-brown goose, which is slightly smaller than the more familiar greylag goose. It has bold black bars across its belly. Its name derives from the white forehead blaze above its beak. The Greenland race is distinctive in being rather dark and having an orange bill and legs. Young birds can be distinguished early in the winter by their reduced white forehead and lack of bars on the belly.
Life cycle
Greenland white-fronted geese breed entirely in the arctic coastal fringe of western Greenland, up to 700m above sea level. They nest amongst hummocks in the tundra, and the timing of egg laying is determined by the thaw of snow. The young geese are tended by both parents and remain as a family through the first autumn and winter. They migrate to Ireland together via south-west Iceland. During the winter months the geese form flocks which remain at traditional sites. These are often improved grasslands where protein-rich shoot tips are grazed. Some small flocks remain faithful to blanket bog feeding sites where they eat the tubers of bog cotton and sedges.
Similar species:
The greylag goose is much more numerous in Northern Ireland. It is a bigger, heavier bird with a larger orange bill and pink legs and lacks the white forehead and black bars on the belly. In flight the greylag has broad pale forewings which contrast with the rest of the plumage. The pink-footed goose is a scarce migrant with pink legs, a noticeably dark head and neck and small, stubby bill. The eastern race of white-fronted goose, which is rare in Ireland, differs in having a pinkish bill.
How to see this species:
There are only a few sites where they winter regularly. On Lough Foyle they can be found feeding on the fields around the southern part of the lough. These birds are not always present, and are more often at Lough Swilly which lies just to the west in Donegal. The other flocks can be difficult to track down, leading to many real wild goose chases! The small flock at Annaghroe on the River Blackwater (County Tyrone) can often be viewed from a public road. Occasionally, flocks or single birds are seen on migration at other sites such as Strangford Lough.
Current status:
The wintering population in Northern Ireland seems to have decreased since the 1960s when around 500 wintered. Several traditional sites have been lost to drainage, peat cutting and afforestation. In recent years, numbers at Lough Foyle have been very variable, with usually between 40-50 birds present. Over 1,000 winter nearby at Lough Swilly in County Donegal. Lower Lough Macnean in County Fermanagh supports the largest regular flock of about 100 birds, while there are smaller numbers on the Pettigo Plateau bogs (Fermanagh/Donegal) and at the River Blackwater (County Tyrone). The most important site in Ireland is the Wexford Slobs which supports a spectacular 10,000 geese each winter.
This is not a quarry species and is protected under the Wildlife (NI) Order 1985. It is also listed in Annex I of the EU Birds Directive as a species which must be the subject of special conservation measures.
Why is this species a priority in Northern Ireland?
The Greenland race is Amber listed in the UK and Irish Birds of Conservation Concern lists because both UK and Ireland support more than 20 per cent of the NW European population in winter.
Threats/Causes of decline
Some traditional sites in Northern Ireland have been lost because of drainage (Downpatrick Marshes) or the encroachment of forestry. Inappropriate siting of wind turbines could also threaten some flocks and the geese are also very vulnerable to human disturbance. The world population increased following a ban on hunting in their wintering grounds in 1982, although there is evidence of a recent decrease in numbers.
Conservation of this species:
Current action
Some sites visited by this species are designated as Areas of Special Scientific Interest (ASSIs) and Special Protection Areas (SPAs)
Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s (DARD) Countryside Management Scheme and Environmentally Sensitive Areas Scheme include measures designed to protect and enhance habitats for wintering geese
Some key sites are surveyed each winter by a combination of conservation bodies and volunteer counters as part of the nationally co-ordinated Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS).
Proposed objectives/actions
The status of the Greenland white-fronted goose will continue to be monitored and appropriate conservation action undertaken if required.
What you can do
Volunteer as a Wetland Bird Survey counter by contacting EHS or RSPB
Report incidents of illegal shooting to PSNI or EHS
Report any sightings to Northern Ireland Birdwatchers’ Association Flightline. Tel: 028 9146 7408.
Business as usual on the Hedwige-Prosperpolder, in the north of Flanders, on the Dutch border. A container giant arrives to deliver its cargo in Antwerp, while a hen harrier hunts for prey. A bizarre confrontation between a last stand of nature and ever-increasing human encroachment.
© 2021 Marc Haegeman. All Rights Reserved
Kaziranga National Park
State Of Assam
India
Rhino in the tall elephant grass.
The Indian rhinoceros (Rhinoceros unicornis), or Indian rhino for short, also known as the greater one-horned rhinoceros or great Indian rhinoceros, is a rhinoceros species native to the Indian subcontinent. It is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List, as populations are fragmented and restricted to less than 20,000 km2 (7,700 sq mi). Moreover, the extent and quality of the rhino's most important habitat is in decline due to humans and livestock encroachment.
As of August 2018, the global population was estimated to comprise 3,588 individuals, including 2,939 individuals in India and 649 in Nepal. Kaziranga National Park alone had an estimated population of 2,048 rhinos in 2009.
Nearly 85% of the global Indian rhinoceros population is concentrated in Assam, where Kaziranga National Park contains 70% of rhino population.
In the early 1990s, between 1,870 and 1,895 Indian rhinos were estimated to have been alive. Since then, numbers have increased due to conservation measures taken by the government. However, poaching remains a continuous threat.
Indian rhinos are grazers. Their diet consists almost entirely of grasses, but they also eat leaves, branches of shrubs and trees, fruits, and submerged and floating aquatic plants. – Wikipedia
Black and white stripes make the zebra one of the most recognizable animals in the world.
The plains zebra (Equus quagga, also known as the common zebra or Burchell's zebra, is the most common and geographically widespread species of zebra. There are three species of zebra, inhabiting the grasslands of eastern and southern Africa. The other two species are Grevy’s zebras and Mountain zebras.
It ranges from the south of Ethiopia through East Africa to as far south as Botswana and eastern South Africa. The plains zebra remains common in game reserves, but is threatened by human activities such as hunting for its meat and hide, as well as competition with livestock and encroachment by farming on much of its habitat.
This very handsome Zebra stallion posed very well for it's portrait on a late evening game drive during a Photography Safari in Lake Nakuru National Park, Kenya.
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.
**Information posted at Finn Slough
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Thank-you for your visit, and any faves or comments are always sincerely appreciated.