View allAll Photos Tagged environment
Ruthven Barracks near Ruthven in Badenoch, Scotland, are the best preserved of the four barracks built in 1719 after the 1715 Jacobite rising. Set on an old castle mound, the complex comprises two large three-storey blocks occupying two sides of the enclosure, each with two rooms per floor. The barracks and enclosing walls were built with loopholes for musket firing, and bastion towers were built at opposite corners. Destroyed by Jacobites following their retreat after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, the Barracks ruins are maintained as a scheduled monument by Historic Environment Scotland. They are accessible at all times without entrance charge.
Early last year, the Winter was a fantastic birding season - my first year of birding and had seen so many raptors in action. I remember the day I shot this swallow very well since it was quit eventful.
I was driving on the dry lake bed and there were around 30-40 swallows continually circling my vehicle. And when I Stopped, they also stopped. Some landed on a nice perch, others on nearby rocks, but most of them on the ground.
I took several shots including this and drove again, only to get stuck in the mud for more than an hour. Met several nice people that day who helped my vehicle out. The first of several times I got stuck in the lake bed and made it an expensive affair to repair the vehicle.
Many thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Have a nice weekend.
Seems right to put this out early for Earth Day 2018, with the lime light very much on cutting down the amount of plastic waste spilling into our fragile environment.
HMM
Ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. Ibises usually feed as a group, probing mud for food items, usually crustaceans. It is widespread across much of Australia. It has a predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long down curved bill and black legs. They are monogamous and highly territorial while nesting and feeding. Most nest in trees, often with spoonbills or herons. Due to its increasing presence in the urban environment and its habit of rummaging in garbage, the species has acquired a variety of colloquial names such as tip turkey; and bin chicken, and in recent years has become an icon of popular culture, being regarded with passion, wit, and, in equal measure, affection and disgust. 55209
Many people associate lions with the grasslands of the Masai Mara or Serengeti. While those areas are great for seeing lions, there are also other environments where they can be seen. This image was captured in the Chobe National Park, Botswana during an extended drought in August 24.
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Another species of the pipit and one that is widespread in the Central and Western Parts of India. They are a tad larger than the 3-4 species we get here in my state.
This is a bird of open habitat and generally prefers rocky hillsides, desert regions / areas with some scrub or woodland. While the longer beak is a pointer to the id, getting pipits id right is a big challenge since the differences are quite subtle. I took several shots of the bird and could id only in the computer after downloading.
In the desert, these were very common and we found these and Tawny pipit in good numbers. Surprisingly, this bird had several sightings in my home state down South last year far away from its range.
Many thanks in advance for your views and feedback. Much appreciated.
Random bird mode continues.
After what proved to be a challenging positive ID on the sparrow I posted yesterday, I decided to only post shots in this series of bird species that are easy to identify. This Marbled Godwit qualifies.
Photographed in Morro Bay, California
Twelve Flowers from the magnificent gardens at Dirleton Castle.
© PHH Sykes 2022
phhsykes@gmail.com
Dirleton Castle is cared for by Historic Environment Scotland
www.historicenvironment.scot/visit-a-place/places/dirleto...
Dirleton, East Lothian, EH39 5ER
01620 850 465
"As long as there is wanting in you, especially for someone or something to make you happy, paradoxically, this is a sure way to make yourself feel lacking and therefore miserable."
-Mooji (White Fire)
Claude Monet is probably the best loved of all the Impressionist painters, and he was certainly the most influential. His paintings attempting to capture the fleeting effects of sunlight at different times of the day and in various environments are still captivating nearly 100 years after his death. If anything, in our era of visual overload, the freshness of how Monet saw the world is even more striking.
But it is no easy and sometimes ... just a disaster...>))
Nothing more we have left for them....celebrating the World Environment Day...taken in Lepchajagat, Darjeeling Himalayas, India
"A Tricolored Heron at sunrise."
Tricolored Heron
The Tricolored Heron (Egretta tricolor), formerly known in North America as the Louisiana heron, is a small heron. It is a resident breeder from the Gulf States of the United States and northern Mexico south through Central America and the Caribbean to central Brazil and Peru.
There is some post-breeding dispersal to well north of the nesting range.
Tricolored heron's breeding habitat is sub-tropical swamps. It nests in colonies, often with other herons, usually on platforms of sticks in trees or shrubs. In each clutch, 3–7 eggs are typically laid.
For more info: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tricolored_Heron/overview
The Cornell Lab: www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Tricolored_Heron/overview
“The Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall, England. The project is located in a reclaimed china clay pit.
The complex is dominated by two huge enclosures consisting of adjoining domes that house thousands of plant species, and each enclosure emulates a natural biome. The biomes consist of hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) inflated cells supported by geodesic tubular steel domes. The larger of the two biomes simulates a rainforest environment (and is the largest indoor rainforest in the world) and the second, a Mediterranean environment.
The attraction also has an outside botanical garden which is home to many plants and wildlife native to Cornwall and the UK in general; it also has many plants that provide an important and interesting backstory, for example, those with a prehistoric heritage.”
Read more:
"Hoback at sunset."
“In the Tetons, two bull moose seem to get all of the attention: Hoback and Shoshone. There are several other majestic bulls, but over the past couple of years, the dynamic duo has become the stars of the show. Both are stunningly large and relatively “dependable” subjects. There are times, especially early and late in the season, when you might see them together, as they share much of the same territory. Over a period of three or four years of photographing them, I can suggest they enjoy each other’s company. During the heat of the rut, however, they can become mortal enemies!” By Mike R. Jackson www.bestofthetetons.com
Moose of Grand Teton
Moose are the largest member of the deer family and love cold weather. They frequent marshy meadows and edges of lakes and streams. About 800 Moose inhabit the southern part of Yellowstone, Grand Teton National Park and surrounding national forests. Moose are most heavily concentrated in Grand Teton Park.
To keep from sinking in mud while feeding, as the animal lowers its foot, a large dewclaw spreads to better support the weight. Similarly, the odd-looking crook of the hind leg allows a Moose to pull the leg straight up, more easily releasing it from deep, sucking mud.
Bull Moose lose their antlers anytime between December and March. Most of the Moose drop them in January. Immature bulls may not shed their antlers for the winter but retain them until the following spring. Female Moose do not have antlers.
A new set of antlers begin to grow the following spring, nourished by the covering of furry skin known as velvet. They take three to five months to develop fully – the velvet is then scraped and rubbed off against bushes and branches. The antlers are then ready for battle. Generally, each set of antlers will be larger than the one before.
Birds, carnivores, and rodents eat dropped antlers as they are full of protein and Moose themselves will eat antler velvet for the nutrients.
Take note—cow Moose with young can be particularly dangerous.
For more info: www.yellowstonepark.com/things-to-do/wildlife/about-moose/
£500 Penalty for dumping rubbish, at the time I didn't notice the writing on the window.
Illicit rubbish dumping is out of control across the UK, perhaps our new Prime Minister could get the ball rolling on that one without making his rich friends even richer :-).
LR3469
"A nestling Red-tailed Hawk in the environment."
Red-tailed Hawk
The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is a bird of prey, one of three species colloquially known in the United States as the "Chickenhawk," though it rarely preys on standard sized chickens. It breeds throughout most of North America, from western Alaska and northern Canada to as far south as Panama and the West Indies, and is one of the most common Buteos in North America. Red-tailed Hawks can acclimate to all the biomes within their range. There are fourteen recognized subspecies, which vary in appearance and range. It is one of the largest members of the genus Buteo in North America, typically weighing from 1.5 to 3.5 pounds, and measuring 18–26 inches in length, with a wingspan from 43–57 inches. The Red-tailed Hawk displays sexual dimorphism in size, with females averaging about 25% heavier than males. The bird is sometimes referred to as the red-tail for short, when the meaning is clear in context.
For more info: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-tailed_hawk
I stopped by the lake yesterday in our smokey environment (thus the coloring). The smoke must have driven the insects lower, as the swallows, and this hummingbird, were having a grand time with the selection of tasty treats!
We saw thousands of Sandhill cranes (Antigone canadensis) feeding in fields of grasses and then off to the last bit of corn stubble and insects before the evening's rest. We were invited onto benches on some private land that provided crane flyovers in the afternoon sun.
According to information at the Rowe Sanctuary Audobon Center, 80% of the Sandhill cranes of North America spend time in South Central Nebraska during the spring migration. The braided Platte River has provided a safe space for them to court, store up energy, and collect before their flight to Northern Canada and the Artic for the summer.