Kurt Schwitters abandoned his Merz pictures to a large extent during the mid- to late 1920s to concentrate on paintings, constructions, and reliefs in which the influence of Russian Constructivism and the work of his friend Theo van Doesburg is discernable. He eliminated found materials from these compositions and thereby reduced the Dada element of chance they contributed in order to achieve a less idiosyncratic and hence more universal form of expression. This development accorded with his belief in the ascendancy of formal values, which he felt should not be jeopardized by references to anything outside the work of art.

When Schwitters returned to the Merz idiom in 1930, he placed more emphasis on the act of painting than he had in his early collages. Though the planes are shaped with the impersonality of geometric contour, they are animated by the variation of rhythmic brushstrokes and the addition of collaged forms. In the tradition of his Merz works of the classic period of 1919 to the mid-1920s, the objects he adopted were disposable articles—the top of a corroded tin can and a metal butterfly; the picture once included a broken piece of china to the right of the tin circle and two wooden balls below the butterfly. While the objects function as abstract elements within the flat confines of the support, their projection contradicts the two-dimensionality of the picture plane and implies an extension of the work of art into the observer’s world.

Lucy Flint

The extent to which I have read about the prototype is this webpage:

www.lner.info/locos/Electric/ner_tyneside.php

No buffers lol

Acrylic 3d flower with rhinestones on acrylic extentions

This place was hugh! Just look at the extent of those tailings.

Here are some of the latest photographs that depict the extent of devastation wreaked by the 2016 floods in Texas.

Source: goo.gl/ypybhj

In reality the mitigation of moral laws—to the extent it is not illusory—can represent an intrinsic superiority only on two conditions: first, that it confers a concrete advantage on society; and second, that it is not obtained at the cost of what gives meaning to life; respect for the human person must not open the door to a dictatorship of error and baseness, to the crushing of quality by quantity, to general corruption and the loss of cultural values, for if it does so it is, in relation to the ancient tyrannies, merely an opposite extreme and not the norm. When humanitarianism is no more than the expression of an over-valuation of the human at the expense of what is divine or the crude fact at the expense of truth, it cannot possibly be counted as a positive acquisition; it is easy to criticize the “fanaticism” of our ancestors when one has lost the very notion of saving truth, or to be “tolerant” when one derides religion. Whatever the morality of the Babylonians may have been, it must not be forgotten that certain kinds of behavior depend largely on circumstances and that collective man always remains a sort of wild animal, at least in the “Iron Age”: the conquerors of Peru and Mexico were no better than Nebuchadnezzar, Cambyses, or Antiochus Epiphanus, and one could find analogous examples in the most recent history. Religions can reform the individual man with his consent—and it is never the function of religion to make up for the absence of this consent—but no one can bring about a fundamental

change in that “thousand-headed hydra” which is collective

man, and this is why nothing of the kind has ever been the aim of any religion; all that a revealed Law can do is curb the egoism and ferocity of society by channeling its tendencies more or less effectively.

The goal of religion is to transmit to man a symbolic, yet adequate, image of the reality that concerns him, according to his real needs and ultimate interests, and to provide him with the means of surpassing himself and realizing his highest destiny; this destiny can never be of this world, given the nature of our spirit. The secondary goal of religion—with a view to the principal goal—is to make possible a sufficient equilibrium in the life of the collectivity or to safeguard within the framework of the natural malice of men a maximum of spiritual opportunities; if society must be protected against the individual, the individual for his part must be protected against society. There is endless talk about “human dignity”, but it is rather too often forgotten that “noblesse oblige”; dignity is invoked in a world that is doing everything to empty it of its content and thus to abolish it. In the name of an indeterminate and unconditional “human dignity”, unlimited rights are conceded to the basest of men, including the right to destroy everything that goes to make our real dignity, that is to say, everything on every plane that attaches us in one way or another to the Absolute. Of course truth obliges us to condemn the excesses of the aristocracy, but we can see no reason at all why it should not also confer a right to judge contrary excesses.

---

Frithjof Schuon: Light on The Ancient Worlds

CP 8915 westbound at Lytton, British Columbia on October 24, 2024. You can clearly see the extent of the tragic 2021 wildfire on the mountain in the background. The town of Lytton out of view to the right was completely destroyed.

Fork-tailed Woodnymph

A text, in english, from Birdlife International:

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence 30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Taxonomic source(s)

del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

SACC. 2006. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: #http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html#.

Population justification

The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'common' (Stotz et al. (1996).

Trend justification

This species is suspected to lose 15.9-17.6% of suitable habitat within its distribution over three generations (12 years) based on a model of Amazonian deforestation (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). It is therefore suspected to decline by <25% over three generations.

References

Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W.; Parker, T. A.; Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Further web sources of information

Explore HBW Alive for further information on this species

Search for photos and videos,and hear sounds of this species from the Internet Bird Collection

Text account compilers

Ekstrom, J., Butchart, S.

IUCN Red List evaluators

Butchart, S., Symes, A.

Recommended citation

BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Thalurania furcata. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 14/12/2015. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2015) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 14/12/2015.

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife

To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.

Beija-flor-tesoura-verde

Texto, em português, da WikiAves:

O beija-flor-tesoura-verde é uma ave da ordem dos Apodiformes, da família Trochilidae.

Também é conhecido como beija-flor-de-barriga-violeta. No livro Aves do Brasil, edição Pantanal e Cerrado, consta como beija-flor-de-ventre-roxo.

Seu nome significa: do (grego) thalos = criança, descendente de; e ouranos céu, celeste, referente ao azul do céu; e do (latim) furcata, furcatus = bifurcada. ⇒ Pássaro filho do azul celeste com cauda bifurcada.

Mede cerca de 9,7 cm de comprimento. Macho com partes superiores esverdeadas, garganta verde-metálica, peito e barriga azul-violeta-brilhante; fêmea com as partes inferiores cinza.

Possui doze subespécies:

Thalurania furcata furcata (Gmelin, 1788) - ocorre no extremo Leste da Venezuela, Guianas e Norte do Brasil, ao norte do Rio Amazonas;

Thalurania furcata refulgens (Gould, 1853) - ocorre no Nordeste da Venezuela, na Península de Paría e na Serra de Cumaná;

Thalurania furcata fissilis (Berlepsch & Hartert, 1902) - ocorre no Leste da Venezuela, e na região adjacente no extremo Oeste da Guiana e Nordeste do Brasil;

Thalurania furcata nigrofasciata (Gould, 1846) - ocorre do Sudoeste da Colômbia até o extremo Sul da Venezuela e Noroeste do Brasil;

Thalurania furcata viridipectus (Gould, 1848) - ocorre do Leste da Cordilheira dos Andes na Leste da Colômbia até o Nordeste do Peru;

Thalurania furcata jelskii (Taczanowski, 1874) - ocorre na região tropical Leste do Peru e na região adjacente no Brasil;

Thalurania furcata simoni (Hellmayr, 1906) - ocorre na Amazônia ao Sul do Rio Amazonas no extremo Leste do Peru e no Oeste do Brasil;

Thalurania furcata balzani (Simon, 1896) - ocorre na região Norte e Central do Brasil ao sul do Rio Amazonas;

Thalurania furcata furcatoides (Gould, 1861) - ocorre no baixo Rio Amazonas, na região Leste do Brasil ao Sul do Rio Amazonas;

Thalurania furcata boliviana (Boucard, 1894) - ocorre nos sopés da Cordilheira dos Andes no Sudeste do Peru e no Nordeste da Bolívia;

Thalurania furcata baeri (Hellmayr, 1907) - ocorre da região Central e Nordeste do Brasil até o Sudeste da Bolívia e no Norte da Argentina;

Thalurania furcata eriphile (Lesson, 1832) - ocorre do Sudeste do Brasil, Leste do Paraguai até o Nordeste da Argentina, na região de Misiones.

Alimenta-se em flores à pouca altura, buscando também insetos na vegetação ou capturando-os no ar.

Faz ninho em forma de taça profunda, preso por teias de aranha a forquilhas ou pequenos ramos, a cerca de 2 m de altura. Põe 2 ovos brancos. Os filhotes deixam o ninho após 18 a 24 dias.

Comum no sub-bosque de florestas altas, capoeiras e florestas de várzea. Vive solitário, defendendo seu território de maneira agressiva.

Distribuição Geográfica:

Quase todo o Brasil, da Amazônia ao Paraná. Encontrado também do México à Bolívia, Paraguai e Argentina.

Referências:

Portal Brasil 500 Pássaros, Beija-flor-tesoura-verde - Disponível em webserver.eln.gov.br/Pass500/BIRDS/1birds/p159.htm Acesso em 09 mai. 2009

CLEMENTS, J. F.; The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2005.

Classificação Científica

Reino: Animalia

Filo: Chordata

Classe: Aves

Ordem: Apodiformes

Família: Trochilidae

Vigors, 1825

Subfamília: Trochilinae

Vigors, 1825

Espécie: T. furcata

Nome Científico

Thalurania furcata

(Gmelin, 1788)

Nome em Inglês

Fork-tailed Woodnymph

Estado de Conservação

(IUCN 3.1)

Pouco Preocupante

Very hot, dry and unstable conditions in California and across the Pacific Northwest add to the challenges facing firefighters as they battle blazes around the region. Cal Fire is urging Californians to be extremely cautious, especially for the next few days, as the current conditions increase the dangers authorities face.

This image was taken by NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite's VIIRS instrument around 2145 UTC (5:45 p.m. EDT) on August 17, 2015. Northern California is seeing smoke from the River Complex, Route Complex, South Complex, Fork Complex and Mad River Complex fires combine over a large area of the Shasta-Trinity National Forest west of Redding, California, while the Rough Fire in Fresno County is spreading toward the Black Rock Reservoir, causing evacuations and road closures.

Fires across the Pacific Northwest aren't limited to California. Please see the Suomi NPP VIIRS composites in NOAA View to see the growth and extent of fires over the past weeks.

Credit: NASA/NOAA via NOAA Environmental Visualization Laboratory

Paris | 2016

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 dg ex macro os hsm plus 31 mm macro extention tube

One more image from a great session at Reynisdrangar about a month ago. Endless foul weather and rain has kept me home and going through my archive. In a way it is good to go through the archive but I would rather be out there somewhere shooting.

If you would like to visit an ice cave consider join my Winter Photo Tour

Landsat image that shows the extent of Carr wildfires in Shasta and Trinity Counties in northern California, as of July 27, 2018. The Carr fires started on July 23, 2018, and were associated with 'fire tornadoes". This image, acquired early on in the cycle of destruction, shows the community of Shasta going up in smoke. Included in this image are Weaverville, Lewiston, Redding, Anderson, the Sacramento River, Interstate 5, Trinity Lake, Whiskeytown Lake, and Shasta Lake.

This is a high-resolution, false-color satellite image, from Landsat 8; image acquired on July 27, 2018. Please place your cursor above the image, then click on the image in order to see more detail; click on the image a second time to get back to your normal viewing.

shooted with pentacon 50MM F1.8 vintage lens without extentions tubes

This panorama extends for just over 90° along the northernmost extent of the Milky Way ...

... from Perseus at left,

... to Cygnus at right,

... with Cassiopeia and Cepheus between in the centre.

The images were taken and processed to enhance the rich array of reddish emission nebulas along this segment of the Milky Way, glowing in the red light of hydrogen gas. Also emphasized are the contrasting dark nebulas made of obscuring interstellar dust.

The main and brightest emission nebulas are, from L to R (north to south):

- IC 1848 and IC 1805, the Heart and Soul Nebulas in Cassiopeia,

- NGC 7822 and Cederblad 214, with small and round Sharpless 2-170 below, all making up the Question Mark Nebula,

- a large complex of small nebulas in Cepheus, such as Sharpless 2-132 and 2-142,

- the large round IC 1396 in Cepheus at centre, which contains the Elephant Trunk Nebula,

- the bright North America Nebula, NGC 7000, accompanied by the Pelican Nebula, IC 5067 and the Cygnus Arc, IC 5068,

- the complex of nebulas in central Cygnus, with IC 1318, the Butterfly Nebula the main component,

- the twin arcs at bottom right of the Veil Nebula, a supernova remnant.

Technical:

This is a panorama of 5 segments, each a stack of 8 x 2-minute exposures, with the Canon RF28-70mm lens at 50mm, and at f/2, on the astro-modified Canon EOS R camera at ISO 1600.

All on the MSM Nomad star tracker. And all taken with an Astronomik UHC clip-in filter installed in the camera to isolate the red and green light of emission nebulas. The filter certainly brought out the nebulas and suppressed any skyglow, but did tend to make the stars cyan coloured, a tint I have mostly corrected. Using the filter for all shots simplifies the panorama assembly, as there is no need to align separate panoramas taken with and without filters, but does compromise star colours.

All stacking, stitching and blending in Photoshop. Actions and filters from Photokemi Actions and Nik Color EFX helped bring out the fainter nebulas.

Taken August 21, 2025 from Lookout Point in Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park, Saskatchewan, during the annual Saskatchewan Summer Star Party.

We are living in times of great destruction of the world as we know it, earth changes, fires, floods, earthquakes.

Here alone in Australia we sit in horror at the extent of the fires rampage across the country. Unprecedented fires and weather in the history of our existence (well what is on record)

Whilst horrific - the earth we live on has always been full of cyclic changes.

Ancient cities have been discovered under the sea, we are naive to think that the world as we know it will remain the same.

What continents exist now may no longer exist. What coast line exists now is slowly being swallowed up by the ocean.

Volcanic eruptions are changing the face of the planet as are earthquakes - the list is long.

We cannot stop the force of Mother Nature. We live on a planet that has always endured such destruction.

We have pole shifts taking place - all kinds of catastrophic events happening across the Globe. We are but a spit in the ocean to the wide Galaxies that we know of. Yet we think we are precious in some way.

I cannot help but wonder why I was so drawn to create this "Black Winged Goddess" let alone give her the name of Black Winged Goddess. But I was drawn, my soul was pushing me for weeks with a "slight vision" of what I needed to create. It now makes total sense to me why I was so drawn to create The Black Winged Goddess, given the state of our world and humanity.

My soul as always when I listen guides me with powerful messages and reminds me to just 'be' to accept 'what is'.

We may not like the current state of our world but it is what it is and all we can do is stay strong within ourselves and hold the power of 'love' in our hearts despite seeing so much being played out on the planet.

Kali (Hindu) - was known as a deity of the Fearsome Demon destroying Goddess who represents death and rebirth - so her name means "Black One".

We can never truly comprehend or understand the power of mother nature - we have abused her for centuries, taken her for granted and she is a living breathing consciousness so powerful that we dare not go up against here.

In recent years we have seen the influence of the feminine energy on earth which for eons has been dominated by the male energy.

So it makes complete sense to me that we are witness to so much destruction on the planet.

We are witness to the destruction of our societies as we know it, breakdown of families, law, politics.

So much of humanity is at war with the 'system', the injustices, and the lack of balance within our society. The homeless, the abused, the forgotten souls, the mental health issues that seem to have become rampant, the rise of Corporate wealth while humanity is trapped in slavery. We have learnt nothing as a humanity over the past how many hundred years?

In order for rebirth, for new growth, a culling needs to take place - hence the energy of the Black Winged Goddess she is both the Destroyer and the Giver of New Life.

We have elected to be here at this time on the planet - despite the suffering we witness or endure - I know at a higher level it is absolutely necessary for real change to take place.

Our world is a very different place to the one we have known - and whilst we have believed we have had a safe and reasonable planet in which to live, the reality is much Evil has existed and people have been brainwashed to the point of being zombies. There has been so much suppression imposed upon humanity even to the extreme of vaccinations and fluoride to our water supply. All of these chemicals act as suppressants to our brain! It has been a deliberate agenda of the existing power on earth. Their agenda has always been to rule, control and suppress the populous.

Humanity is awakening and with this will be uproar, dis - ease, a culling if you like. It is time for humanity to step out of fear and into their true power which is within each and every one of us.

New growth, new beginnings but not before the dismantling of the old - it has to be this way.

These times we are living through were written in history.

So I have created "The Black Winged Goddess" she is available in different styles, inside a Dome with beautiful etched glass or stand alone. She will rotate or can be static.

She is available on MP in the Stand Alone version (rotating) or can be seen in world at my store.

I hope you enjoy and embrace 'The "Black Winged Goddess' and rather be in fear of her - understand she brings 'New Life" but first the old has to die for the new to be born.

How appropriate for a New Year of 2020 fast approaching.

Interestingly and unconsciously I created 4 of these Black Winged Goddesses.

The year 2020 equates to the number 4 in Numerology.

The #4 represents a Universal energy. (see below for a deeper understanding of the #4)

The # 2 - Is the most feminine and often underestimated when it comes to power and strength. She is always gentle, tactful, diplomatic, forgiving and understanding. She likes to keep peace and likes to avoid confrontation. # 2 is the survivor and extremely resilient force. Her shape looks as though she is bent back on a knee with head bowed in humility and service. However when enough pressure is applied to the # 2 energy. Some would perceive her as weak and powerless due to this servitude shape. However never underestimate the power behind #2 because she represents the power (double) #1 who is the all powerful warrior who will shake and destroy no matter what. So #2 brings the balance but never underestimate the power of 2 Energy.

The #4 Energy in more detail

The 4 is without a doubt masculine, reflecting strength and stability. His chief characteristics are dependability, productivity, punctuality and obedience. He is trustworthy, patient, conventional and a traditionalist.

Tend to be rule followers. 4 is the area of sciences, upholding the law (such as Government and the military). The #4 represents Disciplined, systematic, Dependable, Strong. Loyal

Four is the basis of all solid objects. Four points are used in constructing the simplest solid and thus four is the number symbolizing the way of construction. In many religions, four is seen as the number for earth, and representing the four elements, Air Earth, Water and Fire.

At its extreme 4's can tend to overreact to violence.

So 2020 seems to have more challenges ahead and I suspect we will be seeing more uprising across the planet (#2 energy) with totalitarianism (#4 energy) being played out like never before. Perhaps more of what the world has witnessed in Hong Kong this year.

It is as if the two energies Masculine & Feminine are battling against one another. But at the same time I cannot help but feel and acknowledge UNITY - and this is what I will remain focused upon during the year ahead. We must stand united. We are after all 'one humanity'

We are without doubt living in very challenging times.

May peace be with you!

Taxi

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Isle%20Of%20Currents/243/2...

Fork-tailed Woodnymph

A text, in english, from Birdlife International:

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence 30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Taxonomic source(s)

del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

SACC. 2006. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: #http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html#.

Population justification

The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'common' (Stotz et al. (1996).

Trend justification

This species is suspected to lose 15.9-17.6% of suitable habitat within its distribution over three generations (12 years) based on a model of Amazonian deforestation (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). It is therefore suspected to decline by <25% over three generations.

References

Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W.; Parker, T. A.; Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Further web sources of information

Explore HBW Alive for further information on this species

Search for photos and videos,and hear sounds of this species from the Internet Bird Collection

Text account compilers

Ekstrom, J., Butchart, S.

IUCN Red List evaluators

Butchart, S., Symes, A.

Recommended citation

BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Thalurania furcata. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 14/12/2015. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2015) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 14/12/2015.

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife

To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.

Beija-flor-tesoura-verde

Texto, em português, da WikiAves:

O beija-flor-tesoura-verde é uma ave da ordem dos Apodiformes, da família Trochilidae.

Também é conhecido como beija-flor-de-barriga-violeta. No livro Aves do Brasil, edição Pantanal e Cerrado, consta como beija-flor-de-ventre-roxo.

Seu nome significa: do (grego) thalos = criança, descendente de; e ouranos céu, celeste, referente ao azul do céu; e do (latim) furcata, furcatus = bifurcada. ⇒ Pássaro filho do azul celeste com cauda bifurcada.

Mede cerca de 9,7 cm de comprimento. Macho com partes superiores esverdeadas, garganta verde-metálica, peito e barriga azul-violeta-brilhante; fêmea com as partes inferiores cinza.

Possui doze subespécies:

Thalurania furcata furcata (Gmelin, 1788) - ocorre no extremo Leste da Venezuela, Guianas e Norte do Brasil, ao norte do Rio Amazonas;

Thalurania furcata refulgens (Gould, 1853) - ocorre no Nordeste da Venezuela, na Península de Paría e na Serra de Cumaná;

Thalurania furcata fissilis (Berlepsch & Hartert, 1902) - ocorre no Leste da Venezuela, e na região adjacente no extremo Oeste da Guiana e Nordeste do Brasil;

Thalurania furcata nigrofasciata (Gould, 1846) - ocorre do Sudoeste da Colômbia até o extremo Sul da Venezuela e Noroeste do Brasil;

Thalurania furcata viridipectus (Gould, 1848) - ocorre do Leste da Cordilheira dos Andes na Leste da Colômbia até o Nordeste do Peru;

Thalurania furcata jelskii (Taczanowski, 1874) - ocorre na região tropical Leste do Peru e na região adjacente no Brasil;

Thalurania furcata simoni (Hellmayr, 1906) - ocorre na Amazônia ao Sul do Rio Amazonas no extremo Leste do Peru e no Oeste do Brasil;

Thalurania furcata balzani (Simon, 1896) - ocorre na região Norte e Central do Brasil ao sul do Rio Amazonas;

Thalurania furcata furcatoides (Gould, 1861) - ocorre no baixo Rio Amazonas, na região Leste do Brasil ao Sul do Rio Amazonas;

Thalurania furcata boliviana (Boucard, 1894) - ocorre nos sopés da Cordilheira dos Andes no Sudeste do Peru e no Nordeste da Bolívia;

Thalurania furcata baeri (Hellmayr, 1907) - ocorre da região Central e Nordeste do Brasil até o Sudeste da Bolívia e no Norte da Argentina;

Thalurania furcata eriphile (Lesson, 1832) - ocorre do Sudeste do Brasil, Leste do Paraguai até o Nordeste da Argentina, na região de Misiones.

Alimenta-se em flores à pouca altura, buscando também insetos na vegetação ou capturando-os no ar.

Faz ninho em forma de taça profunda, preso por teias de aranha a forquilhas ou pequenos ramos, a cerca de 2 m de altura. Põe 2 ovos brancos. Os filhotes deixam o ninho após 18 a 24 dias.

Comum no sub-bosque de florestas altas, capoeiras e florestas de várzea. Vive solitário, defendendo seu território de maneira agressiva.

Distribuição Geográfica:

Quase todo o Brasil, da Amazônia ao Paraná. Encontrado também do México à Bolívia, Paraguai e Argentina.

Referências:

Portal Brasil 500 Pássaros, Beija-flor-tesoura-verde - Disponível em webserver.eln.gov.br/Pass500/BIRDS/1birds/p159.htm Acesso em 09 mai. 2009

CLEMENTS, J. F.; The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2005.

Classificação Científica

Reino: Animalia

Filo: Chordata

Classe: Aves

Ordem: Apodiformes

Família: Trochilidae

Vigors, 1825

Subfamília: Trochilinae

Vigors, 1825

Espécie: T. furcata

Nome Científico

Thalurania furcata

(Gmelin, 1788)

Nome em Inglês

Fork-tailed Woodnymph

Estado de Conservação

(IUCN 3.1)

Pouco Preocupante

The Author Amos Oz once said that though if literature and gossip would pass one another on the street, they would never greet each other with: 'hello', actually they are cousins: Both satisfy a deep and never satisfied human concern: to what extent I am unique and different? versus: to what extent I am like all the rest, I am 'normal'?

A quick sniff and then move on. That was the extent of muskox dating activity on this day.

Taken on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska.

The sea ice cap of the Arctic appeared to reach its annual maximum winter extent on Feb. 25, according to data from the NASA-supported National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) at the University of Colorado, Boulder. At 5.61 million square miles (14.54 million square kilometers), this year’s maximum extent was the smallest on the satellite record and also one of the earliest.

Read more: 1.usa.gov/1Eyvelz

Credit:

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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(Aral Sea: left 2014 and right 2000, 1960 extent black line)

In the 1960s, the Soviet Union undertook a major water diversion project on the arid plains of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The region’s two major rivers, fed by snowmelt and precipitation in faraway mountains, were used to transform the desert into farms for cotton and other crops. Before the project, the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya rivers flowed down from the mountains, cut northwest through the Kyzylkum Desert, and finally pooled together in the lowest part of the basin. The lake they made, the Aral Sea, was once the fourth largest in the world.

Although irrigation made the desert bloom, it devastated the Aral Sea. This series of images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite documents the changes. At the start of the series in 2000, the lake was already a fraction of its 1960 extent (black line). The Northern Aral Sea (sometimes called the Small Aral Sea) had separated from the Southern (Large) Aral Sea. The Southern Aral Sea had split into eastern and western lobes that remained tenuously connected at both ends.

By 2001, the southern connection had been severed, and the shallower eastern part retreated rapidly over the next several years. Especially large retreats in the eastern lobe of the Southern Sea appear to have occurred between 2005 and 2009, when drought limited and then cut off the flow of the Amu Darya. Water levels then fluctuated annually between 2009 and 2014 in alternately dry and wet years. Dry conditions in 2014 caused the Southern Sea’s eastern lobe to completely dry up for the first time in modern times. Continue reading: 1.usa.gov/1nLX9Ku

Read more: 1.usa.gov/1pqEnDj

Credit: NASA Earth Observatory

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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Micro Crossover: A-Segment-SUV, Min-SUV.

FW - City-SUV - mit Frontantrieb.

Mehr Übersicht:

Higher ground clearance + Higher seating position (gives to some extent SUV feeling)

Front:

mit Unterfahrschutz und military Jeep ähnlichem Grill.

Der Suzuki Ignis verwandelt sich mit dem Facelift wieder mehr in ein SUV zurück: das bringt er mit der neuen Suzuki-SUV-Nase und den verstärkten Schwellern optisch zum Ausdruck.

Unter der Haube arbeiten ab sofort ausschließlich der verbesserte Benziner und sein modifiziertes Mildhybridsystem. Dessen Effizienz ist gestiegen;

Für Suzuki selbst ist der Ignis im Augenblick konkurrenzlos: er ist das einzige ultrakompakte SUV auf dem Markt.

Die geschwärzten A- und B-Säulen verleihen ihm einen Schuss Extravaganz.

Facelift im Modelljahr 2020 (4/2020)

Der Wiedererkennungswert ist unbestritten. Das Fahrzeug ist in seinen Proportionen prägnant und

einzigartig.

-

refined engine

Rear:

Am Heck findet sich ein neu

gestalteter Stoßfänger mit Unterfahrschutz.

und an der Kofferraumklappe der Schriftzug Hybrid.

Der IGNIS erweist sich als Freund des leichten Ein- und Aussteigens, auch in engen Parklücken

Diesen Monat entscheidet es sich.

Dank der hohen Karosserie freuen sich auch großgewachsene über viel Kopffreiheit.

Mit seiner sympathisch-eigenständigen Optik vereint der neue Suzuki Ignis die praktischen Eigenschaften von Kleinstwagen und SUV miteinander.

Seit dem Facelift 2020 gibt es den aufgefrischten Micro-Crossover mit einem 83 PS starken Mild-Hybrid-Antrieb

Federung wurde verbessert: auf Komfort getrimmtes Fahrwerk.

-

Neuer Ignis sparsam, aber nicht sportlich.

###########

Kraftstoffverbrauch Suzuki Ignis 1.2 M/T DUALJET HYBRID

(61 kW | 83 PS |

Typ MF

Version: MT-4/L

Variant H91S

5-Gang-Schaltgetriebe

| Hubraum 1.197 ccm |

Kraftstoffart Benzin:

WLTP

Comfort und Comfort+!!

innerstädtisch (langsam) 4,9 l/100 km,

Stadtrand (mittel) 4,2 l/100 km,

Landstraße (schnell) 4,3 l/100 km,

Autobahn (sehr schnell) 5,9 l/100 km,

Sehr schnelle Autobahn Fahrten:

CO2-Emissionen kombiniert 112 g/km.

Die Ausstattung ist mit entscheidend!

Allgrip und CVT-Automatic Version: 5,4 l/100 km, kombiniert

Nur die Basis Version "Club" kommt auf 4.9 l/100 km, kombiniert.

ps

Der Vorgänger hatte noch 90 PS, war aber etwas durstiger, und schaffte von

0 - 100 km/hin 10,0 s- 11,0 s

Verbrauch5,8 l S/100 km

83 PS, jetzt 11% sparsamer und mit besserem Mild Hybrid System:

braucht

0 - 100 km/h 11,5 s - 12,5 s.

Verbrauch4,8 l S/100 km

Der Motor muss eingefahren sein!

Angaben

offiziell, Oktober 2021

Von Suzuki Deutschland

auto.suzuki.de/modelle/ignis

Höchste Ausstattungs-Variante ist empfehlenswert.

Highest trim level: GLX aka Comfort+, BS6, or shine

Suzuki bietet seine Modell in anderen Ländern jeweils unterschiedlich an.

Wenn die Gesetze wenig Wert auf Umwelt legen, gibt es auch keinen Mild Hybrid.

Intelligente Allrad-Unterstützung gibt es nur mit 5 Gang-Schaltung, im Prinzip!

Die Comfort+ - Ausstattung macht viel her:

etwa mit Klimaautomatik, Navi (voice comanded - sprachgesteuert, sensitive display) , Sitzheizung beidseitig und einem umfangreichen Paket modernster Sicherheitsassistenten; und NCAP Test : 5 Sterne.

komplett – nur Metalliclack und ein schwarzes Dach, oder andere Alu-Felgen, kostet extra.

Pant Glas, Upper Clynnog, Gwynedd.

Next time I want to try a video as it is so mesmerizing watching the crystals spin around inside the bubble as they freeze!

i figured out the joy is not in your arms

i know ill always ache with an empty heart

I like this but i think somethings missing from it i dont know what!

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The extent of white on the primaries (especially p10) identifies this as a Scopoli's Shearwater (C. d. diomedea) from the population that nests in the Mediterranean Sea. | Atlantic Ocean southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina | June 12, 2022

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurasian_wryneck

The Eurasian wryneck (Jynx torquilla) is a species of wryneck in the woodpecker family. This species mainly breeds in temperate regions of Europe and Asia. Most populations are migratory, wintering in tropical Africa and in southern Asia from Iran to the Indian Subcontinent, but some are resident in northwestern Africa. It is a bird of open countryside, woodland and orchards.

Eurasian wrynecks measure about 16.5 cm (6.5 in) in length and have bills shorter and less dagger-like than those of other woodpeckers. Their upperparts are barred and mottled in shades of pale brown with rufous and blackish bars and wider black streaks. Their underparts are cream speckled and spotted with brown. Their chief prey is ants and other insects, which they find in decaying wood or on the ground. The eggs are white as is the case with many birds that nest in holes and a clutch of seven to ten eggs is laid during May and June.

These birds get their English name from their ability to turn their heads through almost 180 degrees. When disturbed at the nest, they use this snake-like head twisting and hissing as a threat display. This odd behaviour led to their use in witchcraft, hence to put a "jinx" on someone.

Taxonomy and etymology

The Eurasian wryneck was first described by Carl Linnaeus in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae in 1758. The type species came from Sweden.[2]

The genus name Jynx is from the Ancient Greek name for this bird, iunx. The specific torquilla is Medieval Latin derived from torquere, to twist, referring to the strange snake-head movements.[3] The bird was used as a charm to bring back an errant lover, the bird being tied to a piece of string and whirled around.[3] The English "wryneck" refers to the same twisting movement and was first recorded in 1585.[4]

The family Picidae has four subfamilies, the Picinae (woodpeckers), the Picumninae (piculets), the Jynginae (wrynecks) and the monotypic Nesoctitinae (Antillean piculet).[5] Based on morphology and behaviour, the Picumninae was considered to be the sister clade of the Picinae. This has now been confirmed by phylogenetic analysis and the Jynginae are placed basal to the Picinae, Nesoctitinae and Picumninae.[5]

Jynginae includes one genus (Jynx) and two species, the Eurasian wryneck and the red-throated wryneck (Jynx ruficollis), resident in sub-Saharan Africa.[6] There are six subspecies of Jynx torquilla: [7]

Jynx torquilla chinensis Hesse, 1911

Jynx torquilla himalayana Vaurie, 1959

Jynx torquilla mauretanica Rothschild, 1909

Jynx torquilla sarudnyi Loudon, 1912

Jynx torquilla torquilla Linnaeus, 1758

Jynx torquilla tschusii O. Kleinschmidt,1907

Description

The Eurasian wryneck grows to about 17 cm (6.7 in) in length.[2] The subspecies Jynx torquilla tschusii weighs 26 to 50 g (0.92 to 1.76 oz).[8] It is a slim, elongated-looking bird with a body shape more like a thrush than a woodpecker. The upperparts are barred and mottled in shades of pale brown with rufous and blackish bars and wider black streaks. The rump and upper tail coverts are grey with speckles and irregular bands of brown. The rounded tail is grey, speckled with brown, with faint bands of greyish-brown and a few more clearly defined bands of brownish-black. The cheeks and throat are buff barred with brown. The underparts are creamy white with brown markings shaped like arrow-heads which are reduced to spots on the lower breast and belly. The flanks are buff with similar markings and the under-tail coverts are buff with narrow brown bars. The primaries and secondaries are brown with rufous-buff markings. The beak is brown, long and slender with a broad base and sharp tip. The irises are hazel and the slender legs and feet are pale brown. The first and second toes are shorter than the others. The first and fourth toes point backwards and the second and third point forwards, a good arrangement for clinging to vertical surfaces.[2]

The call of the Eurasian wryneck is a series of repeated harsh, shrill notes quee-quee-quee-quee lasting for several seconds and is reminiscent of the voice of the lesser spotted woodpecker. Its alarm call is a short series of staccato "tuck"s and when disturbed on the nest it hisses.[

Distribution and habitat

The Eurasian wryneck has a palearctic distribution. The breeding range of the nominate subspecies includes all of Europe from Britain to the Urals. In the north it reaches the Arctic Circle and the range includes Spain in the southwest. In the south and east it intergrades with J. t. tschusii (smaller and more reddish brown) which is found in Corsica, Italy, Dalmatia and parts of the Balkans. J. t. mauretanica (also smaller than the nominate form, light, with whitish throat and breast) is resident in Algeria and Morocco and possibly also the Balearic Islands, Sardinia and parts of Sicily. J. t. sarudnyi (considerably paler than the nominate with fainter markings) occurs in the Urals and then in a wide strip of Asia through southern Siberia, Central Asia, including the north-western Himalayas to the Pacific coast. J. t. chinensis breeds in eastern Siberia and northeastern and central China while J. t. himalayana breeds in Pakistan and the northwestern Himalayas.[9] Eurasian wrynecks also inhabit the island of Sakhalin,[10] Japan and the coastal areas of southern China.[11][12]

The Eurasian wryneck is the only European woodpecker to undertake long distance migrations. The wintering area of European species is located south of the Sahara, in a wide strip across Africa extending from Senegal, Gambia and Sierra Leone in the west to Ethiopia in the east. Its southern limit extends to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon. The populations from West Asia use the same wintering areas. The Central and East Asian breeding birds winter in the Indian subcontinent or southern East Asia including southern Japan.[2]

During the summer the bird is found in open countryside, parkland, gardens, orchards, heaths and hedgerows, especially where there are some old trees. It may also inhabit deciduous woodland and in Scandinavia it also occurs in coniferous forests.

Behaviour

The Eurasian wryneck sometimes forms small groups during migration and in its winter quarters but in the summer is usually found in pairs. It characteristically holds its head high with its beak pointing slightly upwards. A mutual display that occurs at any time of year involves two birds perched facing each other with their heads far back and beaks wide open, bobbing their heads up and down. Sometimes the head is allowed to slump sideways and hang limply. On other occasions, when excited, the head is shaken and twisted about violently. When disturbed on the nest or held in the hand, the neck contorts and twists in all directions. The bird sometimes feigns death and hangs limply with eyes closed.[2]

On returning to the breeding area after migration, the birds set up territories. On farmland in Switzerland it has been found that old pear orchards with large numbers of ant nests are preferentially selected over other habitats. Areas used for vegetable cultivation provided useful habitat when they include areas of bare ground on which the birds can forage.[13] Territories are not chosen at random as arriving birds favoured certain areas over others with the same territories being colonised first year after year. The presence of other Eurasian wrynecks in the vicinity is also a positive influence. Orchards in general, and older ones in particular, provide favoured territories, probably because the dense foliage is more likely to support high numbers of aphids and the ground beneath has scant vegetation cover, both of which factors increase the availability of ants, the birds' main prey. Despite some territories being consistently chosen over others, reproductive success in these territories was no higher than in others.[14] Limiting factors for such crevice-nesting species as Eurasian wrynecks are both the availability of nesting sites and the number of ants and their ease of discovery. Modern farming practices such as the removal of hedges, forest patches and isolated trees and the increasing use of fertilisers and pesticides are disadvantageous to such birds.[15]

The diet of the Eurasian wryneck consists chiefly of ants but beetles and their larvae, moths, spiders and woodlice are also eaten. Although much time is spent in the upper branches of trees, the bird sometimes perches in low bushes and mostly forages on the ground, moving around with short hops with its tail held in a raised position. It can cling to tree trunks, often moving obliquely, and sometimes pressing its tail against the surface as a prop. It does not make holes in bark with its beak but picks up prey with a rapid extension and retraction of its tongue and it sometimes catches insects while on the wing. Its flight is rather slow and undulating.

Breeding

The nesting site is variable and may be in a pre-existing hole in a tree trunk, a crevice in a wall, a hole in a bank, a sand martin's burrow or a nesting box.[2] In its search for a safe, protected site out of reach of predators, it sometimes evicts a previous occupant, its eggs and nestlings.[16] It uses no nesting material and a clutch of normally seven to ten eggs is laid (occasionally five, six, eleven or twelve). The eggs average 20.8 by 15.4 millimetres (0.82 in × 0.61 in) and weigh about 0.2 g (0.007 oz). They are a dull white colour and partially opaque. Both sexes are involved in incubation which takes twelve days, but the female plays the greater part. Both parents feed the chicks for about twenty days before they fledge. There is usually a single brood.

Status

The IUCN lists the Eurasian wryneck as being of "Least Concern" in its Red List of Threatened Species. This is because it has a world population estimated at up to fifteen million individual birds and a very wide geographical range. The population may be decreasing to a certain extent but not at such a rate as to make the bird reach the threshold for a more threatened category.[1] In continental Europe, the largest populations are in Spain, Italy, Germany, Poland, Romania, Hungary, Belarus and Ukraine, and only in Romania is the population trend believed to be upward. In Russia, where there are believed to be 300,000 to 800,000 individuals, the population trend is unknown.[17] In the United Kingdom the numbers of bird are on the decrease and it is protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and is listed on Appendix II of the Bern Convention. It is protected as a migratory species under the Birds Directive in the European Union.[18] In Switzerland, the population has also been decreasing, but the species has reacted positively to conservation measures such as the addition of nestboxes in suitable habitats.

“The joy that comes past hope and beyond expectation is like no other pleasure in extent.” Sophocles.

Having to suspend a two-week photo trip is not very pleasant. But I like to believe that things happen for something, and if I can not be where I had planned, there are always alternatives. In my case I have the immense fortune of being from a province that hides wonderful corners. So yesterday, although the sky did not promise much, I took my gear and I went with some friends to the always charming coves of the Cape of Roche.

I have seen some of the most incredible sunsets of my life on these small beaches surrounded by cliffs. This time I was not disappointed again, and although it was quite difficult to find a good composition, in the end everything was aligned. The result is this photograph full of that special light that seems to exist only in Cadiz.

--------------------------

"La alegría que viene más allá de la esperanza y más allá de la expectativa es como ningún otro placer en extensión." Sófocles.

Tener que suspender un viaje fotográfico de dos semanas no es muy agradable. Pero me gusta creer que las cosas suceden por algo, y si no puedo estar donde había planeado siempre existen alternativas. En mi caso tengo la inmensa fortuna de ser de una provincia que esconde rincones maravillosos. Así que ayer, a pesar de que el cielo no prometía mucho, cogí mi equipo fotográfico y me dirigí con unos amigos a las siempre encantadoras calas del Cabo de Roche.

Algunos de los atardeceres más increíbles de mi vida los he visto en estas pequeñas playas rodeadas de acantilados. En esta ocasión no me volvieron a defraudar, y aunque me resultó bastante complicado encontrar una buena composición, al final todo se alineó. El resultado es esta fotografía llena de esa luz especial que parece existir solo en Cádiz.

Paris | 2016

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 dg ex macro os hsm plus 31 mm macro extention tube

++++ FROM WIKIPEDIA ++++

Inle Lake (Burmese: အင်းလေးကန်, pronounced [ʔɪ́ɴlé kàɴ]), is a freshwater lake located in the Nyaungshwe Township of Taunggyi District of Shan State, part of Shan Hills in Myanmar (Burma). It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of 44.9 square miles (116 km2), and one of the highest at an elevation of 2,900 feet (880 m). During the dry season, the average water depth is 7 feet (2.1 m), with the deepest point being 12 feet (3.7 m), but during the rainy season this can increase by 5 feet (1.5 m).

The watershed area for the lake lies to a large extent to the north and west of the lake. The lake drains through the Nam Pilu or Balu Chaung on its southern end. There is also a hot spring on its northwestern shore.

Although the lake is not large, it contains a number of endemic species. Over twenty species of snails and nine species of fish are found nowhere else in the world. Some of these, like the silver-blue scaleless Sawbwa barb, the crossbanded dwarf danio, and the Lake Inle danio, are of minor commercial importance for the aquarium trade. It hosts approximately 20,000 brown and black head migratory seagulls in November, December and January.[1]

In June 2015, it became Myanmar's first designated place of World Network of Biosphere Reserves.[2] It was one of 20 places added at the Unesco's 27th Man and the Biosphere (MAB) International Coordinating Council (ICC) meeting.[3]

Contents

1 People and culture

2 Climate

3 Environmental concerns

4 Tourism

5 Cuisine

6 See also

7 References

8 External links

People and culture

The people of Inle Lake (called Intha), some 70,000 of them, live in four cities bordering the lake, in numerous small villages along the lake's shores, and on the lake itself. The entire lake area is in Nyaung Shwe township. The population consists predominantly of Intha, with a mix of other Shan, Taungyo, Pa-O (Taungthu), Danu, Kayah, Danaw and Bamar ethnicities. Most are devout Buddhists, and live in simple houses of wood and woven bamboo on stilts; they are largely self-sufficient farmers.

Transportation on the lake is traditionally by small boats, or by somewhat larger boats fitted with single cylinder inboard diesel engines. Local fishermen are known for practicing a distinctive rowing style which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. This unique style evolved out of necessity as the lake is covered by reeds and floating plants, making it difficult to see above them while sitting. Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds. However, the leg rowing style is only practiced by the men. Women row in the customary style, using the oar with their hands, sitting cross legged at the stern.

Lotus thread is used to weave a special robe for the Buddha.

On the way home from harvesting weeds in the lake

Fish caught from the lake - the most abundant kind is called nga hpein locally (Inle carp, Cyprinus intha) - are a staple of the local diet. A popular local dish is htamin gyin - 'fermented' rice kneaded with fish and/or potato - served with hnapyan gyaw (literally twice fried - Shan tofu). In addition to fishing, locals grow vegetables and fruit in large gardens that float on the surface of the lake. The floating garden beds are formed by extensive manual labor. The farmers gather up lake-bottom weeds from the deeper parts of the lake, bring them back in boats and make them into floating beds in their garden areas, anchored by bamboo poles. These gardens rise and fall with changes in the water level, and so are resistant to flooding. The constant availability of nutrient-laden water results in these gardens being incredibly fertile. Rice cultivation and consumption is also significant facet of the local diet and agricultural tradition.

Climate

Inle Lake is suffering from the environmental effects of increased population and rapid growth in both agriculture and tourism. During the 65-year period from 1935 to 2000, the net open water area of Inle Lake decreased from 69.10 km² to 46.69 km², a loss of 32.4%, with development of floating garden agriculture, which occurs largely on the west side of the lake (a practice introduced in the 1960s).[4]

Lumber removal and unsustainable cultivation practices (slash and burn farming techniques) on the hills surrounding the lake are causing ever-increasing amounts of silt and nutrients to run off into the rivers that feed the lake, especially along its western and northern watershed areas. This silt fills up the lake; the nutrients encourage the growth of weeds and algae. More important however is the development of floating garden agriculture, largely along the western side of the lake. This practice encroaches into the diminishing area of the lake, since over time, the floating beds become solid ground. About 93% (nearly 21 km²) of the recent loss in open water area of the lake, largely along its western side, is thought to be due to this agricultural practice. Direct environmental impacts associated with these combined agricultural activities within the wetlands and surrounding hills of the lake include sedimentation, eutrophication, and pollution.[4]

The water hyacinth, a plant not native to the lake, also poses a major problem. It grows rapidly, filling up the smaller streams and large expanses of the lake, robbing native plants and animals of nutrients and sunlight. At one time, all boats coming into Nyaung Shwe were required to bring in a specified amount of water hyacinth. Over the past twenty years, large-scale use of dredges and pumps has been employed with some success in controlling the growth of this plant. On a smaller scale, public awareness education and small-scale control have also been successful.

Another cause for concern is the planned introduction of non-native fish species, such as the Grass Carp (Ctenopharyngodon idella)] intended to improve fishery.

Sanitation in the villages around the lake is an ongoing concern for public health authorities, due to untreated sewage (with 72% of households using open pits, not latrines) and waste water flowing into the lake.[5] To ensure fresh and clean water, some villages now have enclosed wells and public access to the well water. Some studies of the lake's surface water quality indicates that the water is not safe for consumption.[5] Water from Inle Lake has dissolved oxygen ranges lower than those necessary for fisheries and aquatic life, while nitrite, nitrate and phosphate ranges are unusually high.[5]

Noise pollution is also a noticeable issue. The noise from the cheaper poorly muffled diesel engines driving the stern drive propellers is significant, and can be a distraction to the otherwise tranquil lake.

The summer of 2010 registered very high temperatures causing the water level of the lake to drop so low, the lowest in nearly 50 years, that drinking water had to be fetched from elsewhere and the floating market was in danger of disappearing.[6] One other serious consequence was that the hydroelectric plant at Lawpita, where the former capital Yangon received its power supply from, could not operate at its full capacity.[7]

In 2015 the United Nations added Inle lake to its World Network Biosphere Reserves. There are a total of 651 sites in 120 countries in this network, but Inle Lake is the first biosphere reserve to be added for Myanmar.[8]

Tourism

Inle Lake is a major tourist attraction, and this has led to some development of tourist infrastructure. Many small and large privately owned hotels and tour operations have arisen during the past few years. Local shops are flooded with consumer items, both local and foreign. The nearest airport is Heho Airport which is 35 km away. There are flights from both Yangon and Mandalay. Yangon is 660 km away by road, Mandalay 330 km.

A number of festivals occur from August to October on Inle Lake and in the surrounding areas. The ceremonial Hpaung Daw U Festival, which lasts for a total of 18 days, is closely followed by the Thadingyut festival of lights. Inthas and Shan turn out in their best clothes in great numbers to celebrate the Buddhist Lent. Traditional boat racing, with dozens of leg-rowers in traditional Shan dress compete on teams with a team on each boat. These boat races are locally one of the most anticipated affairs during the Hpaung Daw U Festival.[9]

Inle Boat Miniature

One of the tourist attractions in the village on the lake itself is the traditional silversmithing, which has fed into the local tourist economy. The silver is brought in from the mines that line the hills surrounding the lake and is boated into the village. Almost all the houses in the village on the lake itself sit on stilts and are made of woven bamboo. Tourists can satisfy their need for trinkets and memorable tokens by observing the silver being smithed and purchase items on-site. If silversmithing doesn't interest a visitor there are also local silk workshops that operate on the lake in a very similar manner as the silversmiths.[10]

Floating farm

Hand-made goods for local use and trading are another source of commerce. Typical products include tools, carvings and other ornamental objects, textiles, and cheroots. A local market serves most common shopping needs and is held daily but the location of the event rotates through five different sites around the lake area, thus each of them hosting an itinerant market every fifth day.[11] When held on the lake itself, trading is conducted from small boats. This 'floating-market' event tends to emphasize tourist trade much more than the other four.

The Inle lake area is renowned for its weaving industry. The Shan-bags, used daily by many Burmese as a tote-bag, are produced in large quantities here. Silk-weaving is another very important industry, producing high-quality hand-woven silk fabrics of distinctive design called Inle longyi. A unique fabric from the lotus plant fibers is produced only at Inle lake and is used for weaving special robes for Buddha images called kya thingahn (lotus robe).[12]

While hot air balloon flights are more popular in Bagan, they are also provided over Inle Lake with Balloons Over Bagan. There is also a winery near the lake, called Red Mountain Estate.[13]

Cuisine

Inle cuisine is different from Shan cuisine, as it incorporates local natural produce. The most well-known Inle dish would be the Htamin jin - a rice, tomato and potato or fish salad kneaded into round balls dressed and garnished with crisp fried onion in oil, tamarind sauce, coriander and spring onions often with garlic, Chinese chives roots (ju myit), fried whole dried chili, grilled dried fermented bean cakes (pè bouk) and fried dried tofu (topu jauk kyaw) on the side.

31mm Extention Tube Attached To 60mm lens:

Small Red, Yellow, Green And Blue Lights Placed Inside A Wine Glass .

Red: I'm angry!!

Silver: I know.

Red: RAARRR!! I want to destroy pigs and their domiciles!

Silver: Mm-Hm.

Red: I'm furious!!

Silver: Is this the extent of our act?

Red: Well, we're angry birds. There's not a lot of depth here.

__________________________

A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.

Package description:

"Go on an Angry Birds adventure with determined Red and super smart Silver. Equipped with his furry hoodie, Red is ready to hit the road and tread through the snow of Eagle Island on their mission, while brainy Silver has a good book to read and is waiting for Red to catch up."

Witnessing the lunar eclipse was magical. Planning and shooting the same was a lot of fun. Out here, in the north east of US, the lunar eclipse was not total, so missed out on the blood moon, but it was still a scintillating experience. As the moon was getting into total eclipse, it set over the horizon. But at the same time it created for some interesting photographing options.

This involved a lot more planning than it meets the eye (and a bit of luck, as there were too many variables from the weather, location, time zone, the quality of the air etc. Will share more details on the planning and tools in a separate article, for my geek friends out there shortly.

Additionally, this is something new I had tried. Had always wanted to shoot a scene around sunset and into the night and highlight the same in a single frame as time-slice [A time slice is depicting a time range in a single frame]. When I learnt about the lunar eclipse, this past week, thought it might be a good candidate for time slice. This shot is a mix of landscape and time slice – in an attempt to highlight the lunar eclipse in the context of the surrounding landscape. This was a panorama made out of a composite. Though it does not look like a wide view, that is what helped capture the moon and the lighthouse in context (all 12 images [10 for the moon and 2 for the lighthouse] used to create the same, were shot at the extreme end of my long zoom lens). The long zoom helped actuate the size of the moon to some extent due to the much debated perspective compression effect.

Driving for couple of hours, setting out with the camera in the biting cold, witnessing moving ice by the lake, the planning, the execution and the processing – it all culminated in the below shot :)

People often ask me what draws me to travel the extents I do to capture railroads. It is true, the amount of miles railfans log can be astounding. The last 6 days I spent in Montana totaled 2300 miles on the Impala.

Why do we do it? Hard to say. Maybe it's the sights and sounds of 3000+ HP giants shoving tens of thousands of tons of metal up mountain grades. Maybe it's the friendly crews and the relationships you built. Maybe it's the unmistakable click and clack you here when steel wheels meet steel rails. Part of me thinks it's the candid moments like this picture captures. Down at the bottom of the Fish Creek bridge, the Clark Fork River rushes violently by. Above, a westbound coal train slides it's way across the impressive structure as the early summer sun slinks behind the mountains.

Mountains, rivers, pine trees, bridges, and rails. No worries, no cells phones, no interuptons. This hobby encompasses a lot of things; the purist in me is happy for those candid moments it produces.

This is the extent of my HH posting....

This happy smiling colorful pumpkin came home

with me to add color and celebrate the season!!!

Our leaves had not really started to change yet

so by the time they do y'all may be tired of seeing

Fall foliage but I hope not in the meantime this is

my image for Happy Halloween... pray all are safe!!!

Südafrika - Kleine Karoo

Red Stone Hills

Sunset - Sonnenuntergang

The Karoo (/kəˈruː/ kə-ROO; from a Khoikhoi word, possibly garo "desert") is a semi-desert natural region of South Africa. There is no exact definition of what constitutes the Karoo, and therefore its extent is also not precisely defined. The Karoo is partly defined by its topography, geology and climate — above all, its low rainfall, arid air, cloudless skies, and extremes of heat and cold. The Karoo also hosted a well-preserved ecosystem hundreds of million years ago which is now represented by many fossils.

The Karoo is sharply divided into the Great Karoo and the Little Karoo by the Swartberg Mountain Range, which runs east-west, parallel to the southern coastline, but is separated from the sea by another east-west range called the Outeniqua –Langeberg Mountains. The Great Karoo lies to the north of the Swartberg range; the Little Karoo is to the south of it.

The Little Karoo is separated from the Great Karoo by the Swartberg Mountain range. Geographically, it is a 290 km long valley, only 40–60 km wide, formed by two parallel Cape Fold Mountain ranges, the Swartberg to the north, and the continuous Langeberg-Outeniqua range to the south. The northern strip of the valley, within 10–20 km from the foot of the Swartberg mountains is most un-karoo-like, in that it is a well watered area both from the rain, and the many streams that cascade down the mountain, or through narrow defiles in the Swartberg from the Great Karoo. The main towns of the region are situated along this northern strip of the Little Karoo: Montagu, Barrydale, Ladismith, Calitzdorp, Oudtshoorn and De Rust, as well as such well-known mission stations such as Zoar, Amalienstein, and Dysselsdorp.

The southern 30–50 km wide strip, north of the Langeberg range is as arid as the western Lower Karoo, except in the east, where the Langeberg range (arbitrarily) starts to be called the Outeniqua Mountains.

The Little Karoo can only be accessed by road through the narrow defiles cut through the surrounding Cape Fold Mountains by ancient, but still flowing rivers. A few roads traverse the mountains over passes, the most famous and impressive of which is the Swartberg Pass between Oudtshoorn in the Little Karoo and Prince Albert on the other side of the Swartberg mountains in the Great Karoo. There is also the main road between Oudtshoorn and George, on the coastal plain, that crosses the mountains to the south via the Outeniqua Pass. The only exit from the Little Karoo that does not involve crossing a mountain range is through the 150 km long, narrow Langkloof valley between Uniondale and Humansdorp, near Plettenberg Bay.

(Wikipedia)

Die Karoo (auch Karroo, früher Karru; Khoisan für Halbwüste) ist eine Halbwüstenlandschaft in den Hochebenen des Landes Südafrika, nördlich der Großen Randstufe und im südlichen Namibia. Unterschieden werden Kleine Karoo, Große Karoo und Obere Karoo sowie Sukkulentenkaroo und Nama-Karoo. Mit einer Ausdehnung von 500.000 km² umfasst die Karoo fast ein Drittel des Territoriums Südafrikas. Die Sukkulentenkaroo gehört zu den Biodiversitäts-Hotspots der Erde und wird u. a. im Rahmen von BIOTA AFRICA systematisch kartiert.

Der Name Karoo kommt von kurú (trocken) aus der Sprache der San, die einst hier lebten und jagten. In Hinsicht auf die geographische Ausdehnung des Karoo-Begriffs sind die folgenden Teilaspekte zu beachten und voneinander zu unterscheiden.

Die Karoo als Landschaft im traditionellen Verständnis ist eine südafrikanische Trockenregion innerhalb der Provinzen Westkap, Ostkap und Nordkap sowie im Süden Namibias. Ihre spezifische kapländische Strauchvegetation weist sie als Halbwüste aus. Ursprünglich wird in zwei Regionen unterschieden: Große Karoo und Kleine Karoo.

Die Große Karoo besitzt eine West-Ost-Ausdehnung von über 750 Kilometern und eine Nord-Süd-Ausdehnung von etwa 110 Kilometern. Sie wird im Westen vom Massiv der Zederberge und im Osten durch die Winterberge begrenzt. Im Norden bilden die Bergketten vom Roggeveld-, Koms-, Nuweveldberge und Sneeuberg und im Süden die Höhenzüge der Witteberge, Groot Swartberge und die Groot Winterhoek die natürliche Begrenzung.

Südlich dieser Region schließt sich die Kleine Karoo an. Diese wird wiederum an ihrer südlichen Flanke von den küstennahen Langebergen und Outeniqua-Bergen begrenzt.

Anders als in dieser traditionellen Gliederung, wird die Karoo heute nach ökologischen Gesichtspunkten in einen östlichen Teil, die Nama-Karoo, und einen westlichen Teil, die Sukkulenten-Karoo, gegliedert, wobei auch die Gesamtausdehnung der Karoo nach diesem Konzept von jener der traditionellen Betrachtungsweise abweicht.

(Wikipedia)

Die Little Karoo (englisch, auf Afrikaans Klein Karoo) ist eine Region in der Western Cape Provinz in Südafrika.

Durch die Little Karoo zieht sich die Route 62.

Die Klein Karoo ist ein halbwüstenartiger Landstrich, der zwischen den Swartbergen im Norden und den Outeniqua-Bergen im Süden liegt. Die Gegend ist fruchtbar und nicht ganz so trocken wie die nördlich anschließende Große Karoo. Die Kleine Karoo ist bekannt für die Straußenzucht, allein in der Umgebung von Oudtshoorn gibt es angeblich über 400 Betriebe, landwirtschaftliche Nutztiere der Region sind auch Schafe und Angoraziegen.

Die Kleine Karoo ist das östlichste Weinbaugebiet Südafrikas. Muskatweine, Portweine und Desertweine gedeihen in dem recht trockenen Klima, ein Teil des Weines wird zu Brandy verarbeitet. Auch das hier angebaute Obst wird teilweise zu Schnaps verarbeitet, man bekommt aber auch überall recht preisgünstig getrocknete Früchte.

(wikivoyage.org)

Fork-tailed Woodnymph

A text, in english, from Birdlife International:

Justification

This species has an extremely large range, and hence does not approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the range size criterion (Extent of Occurrence 30% decline over ten years or three generations). The population size has not been quantified, but it is not believed to approach the thresholds for Vulnerable under the population size criterion (10% in ten years or three generations, or with a specified population structure). For these reasons the species is evaluated as Least Concern.

Taxonomic source(s)

del Hoyo, J.; Collar, N. J.; Christie, D. A.; Elliott, A.; Fishpool, L. D. C. 2014. HBW and BirdLife International Illustrated Checklist of the Birds of the World. Barcelona, Spain and Cambridge UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International.

SACC. 2006. A classification of the bird species of South America. Available at: #http://www.museum.lsu.edu/~Remsen/SACCBaseline.html#.

Population justification

The global population size has not been quantified, but this species is described as 'common' (Stotz et al. (1996).

Trend justification

This species is suspected to lose 15.9-17.6% of suitable habitat within its distribution over three generations (12 years) based on a model of Amazonian deforestation (Soares-Filho et al. 2006, Bird et al. 2011). It is therefore suspected to decline by <25% over three generations.

References

Stotz, D. F.; Fitzpatrick, J. W.; Parker, T. A.; Moskovits, D. K. 1996. Neotropical birds: ecology and conservation. University of Chicago Press, Chicago.

Further web sources of information

Explore HBW Alive for further information on this species

Search for photos and videos,and hear sounds of this species from the Internet Bird Collection

Text account compilers

Ekstrom, J., Butchart, S.

IUCN Red List evaluators

Butchart, S., Symes, A.

Recommended citation

BirdLife International (2015) Species factsheet: Thalurania furcata. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 14/12/2015. Recommended citation for factsheets for more than one species: BirdLife International (2015) IUCN Red List for birds. Downloaded from www.birdlife.org on 14/12/2015.

This information is based upon, and updates, the information published in BirdLife International (2000) Threatened birds of the world. Barcelona and Cambridge, UK: Lynx Edicions and BirdLife International, BirdLife International (2004) Threatened birds of the world 2004 CD-ROM and BirdLife International (2008) Threatened birds of the world 2008 CD-ROM. These sources provide the information for species accounts for the birds on the IUCN Red List.

To provide new information to update this factsheet or to correct any errors, please email BirdLife

To contribute to discussions on the evaluation of the IUCN Red List status of Globally Threatened Birds, please visit BirdLife's Globally Threatened Bird Forums.

Beija-flor-tesoura-verde

Texto, em português, da WikiAves:

O beija-flor-tesoura-verde é uma ave da ordem dos Apodiformes, da família Trochilidae.

Também é conhecido como beija-flor-de-barriga-violeta. No livro Aves do Brasil, edição Pantanal e Cerrado, consta como beija-flor-de-ventre-roxo.

Seu nome significa: do (grego) thalos = criança, descendente de; e ouranos céu, celeste, referente ao azul do céu; e do (latim) furcata, furcatus = bifurcada. ⇒ Pássaro filho do azul celeste com cauda bifurcada.

Mede cerca de 9,7 cm de comprimento. Macho com partes superiores esverdeadas, garganta verde-metálica, peito e barriga azul-violeta-brilhante; fêmea com as partes inferiores cinza.

Possui doze subespécies:

Thalurania furcata furcata (Gmelin, 1788) - ocorre no extremo Leste da Venezuela, Guianas e Norte do Brasil, ao norte do Rio Amazonas;

Thalurania furcata refulgens (Gould, 1853) - ocorre no Nordeste da Venezuela, na Península de Paría e na Serra de Cumaná;

Thalurania furcata fissilis (Berlepsch & Hartert, 1902) - ocorre no Leste da Venezuela, e na região adjacente no extremo Oeste da Guiana e Nordeste do Brasil;

Thalurania furcata nigrofasciata (Gould, 1846) - ocorre do Sudoeste da Colômbia até o extremo Sul da Venezuela e Noroeste do Brasil;

Thalurania furcata viridipectus (Gould, 1848) - ocorre do Leste da Cordilheira dos Andes na Leste da Colômbia até o Nordeste do Peru;

Thalurania furcata jelskii (Taczanowski, 1874) - ocorre na região tropical Leste do Peru e na região adjacente no Brasil;

Thalurania furcata simoni (Hellmayr, 1906) - ocorre na Amazônia ao Sul do Rio Amazonas no extremo Leste do Peru e no Oeste do Brasil;

Thalurania furcata balzani (Simon, 1896) - ocorre na região Norte e Central do Brasil ao sul do Rio Amazonas;

Thalurania furcata furcatoides (Gould, 1861) - ocorre no baixo Rio Amazonas, na região Leste do Brasil ao Sul do Rio Amazonas;

Thalurania furcata boliviana (Boucard, 1894) - ocorre nos sopés da Cordilheira dos Andes no Sudeste do Peru e no Nordeste da Bolívia;

Thalurania furcata baeri (Hellmayr, 1907) - ocorre da região Central e Nordeste do Brasil até o Sudeste da Bolívia e no Norte da Argentina;

Thalurania furcata eriphile (Lesson, 1832) - ocorre do Sudeste do Brasil, Leste do Paraguai até o Nordeste da Argentina, na região de Misiones.

Alimenta-se em flores à pouca altura, buscando também insetos na vegetação ou capturando-os no ar.

Faz ninho em forma de taça profunda, preso por teias de aranha a forquilhas ou pequenos ramos, a cerca de 2 m de altura. Põe 2 ovos brancos. Os filhotes deixam o ninho após 18 a 24 dias.

Comum no sub-bosque de florestas altas, capoeiras e florestas de várzea. Vive solitário, defendendo seu território de maneira agressiva.

Distribuição Geográfica:

Quase todo o Brasil, da Amazônia ao Paraná. Encontrado também do México à Bolívia, Paraguai e Argentina.

Referências:

Portal Brasil 500 Pássaros, Beija-flor-tesoura-verde - Disponível em webserver.eln.gov.br/Pass500/BIRDS/1birds/p159.htm Acesso em 09 mai. 2009

CLEMENTS, J. F.; The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. Cornell: Cornell University Press, 2005.

Classificação Científica

Reino: Animalia

Filo: Chordata

Classe: Aves

Ordem: Apodiformes

Família: Trochilidae

Vigors, 1825

Subfamília: Trochilinae

Vigors, 1825

Espécie: T. furcata

Nome Científico

Thalurania furcata

(Gmelin, 1788)

Nome em Inglês

Fork-tailed Woodnymph

Estado de Conservação

(IUCN 3.1)

Pouco Preocupante

Inle Lake is a freshwater lake located in the Nyaungshwe Township of Taunggyi District of Shan State, part of Shan Hills in Myanmar (Burma). It is the second largest lake in Myanmar with an estimated surface area of 44.9 square miles (116 km2), and one of the highest at an elevation of 2,900 feet (880 m). During the dry season, the average water depth is 7 feet (2.1 m), with the deepest point being 12 feet (3.7 m), but during the rainy season this can increase by 5 feet (1.5 m).

The watershed area for the lake lies to a large extent to the north and west of the lake. The lake drains through the Nam Pilu or Balu Chaung on its southern end. There is a hot spring on its northwestern shore.

Although the lake is not large, it contains a number of endemic species. Over twenty species of snails and nine species of fish are found nowhere else in the world. Some of these, like the silver-blue scaleless Sawbwa barb, the crossbanded dwarf danio, and the Lake Inle danio, are of minor commercial importance for the aquarium trade. It hosts approximately 20,000 brown and black head migratory seagulls in November, December and January.

In June 2015, it becomes the Myanmar's first designated place of World Network of Biosphere Reserves. It was one of 20 places added at at the Unesco's 27th Man and the Biosphere (MAB) International Coordinating Council (ICC) meeting.

The people of Inle Lake (called Intha), some 70,000 of them, live in four cities bordering the lake, in numerous small villages along the lake's shores, and on the lake itself. The entire lake area is in Nyaung Shwe township. The population consists predominantly of Intha, with a mix of other Shan, Taungyo, Pa-O (Taungthu), Danu, Kayah, Danaw and Bamar ethnicities. Most are devout Buddhists, and live in simple houses of wood and woven bamboo on stilts; they are largely self-sufficient farmers.

Most transportation on the lake is traditionally by small boats, or by somewhat larger boats fitted with single cylinder inboard diesel engines. Local fishermen are known for practicing a distinctive rowing style which involves standing at the stern on one leg and wrapping the other leg around the oar. This unique style evolved for the reason that the lake is covered by reeds and floating plants making it difficult to see above them while sitting. Standing provides the rower with a view beyond the reeds. However, the leg rowing style is only practiced by the men. Women row in the customary style, using the oar with their hands, sitting cross legged at the stern.

In addition to fishing, locals grow vegetables and fruit in large gardens that float on the surface of the lake. The floating garden beds are formed by extensive manual labor. The farmers gather up lake-bottom weeds from the deeper parts of the lake, bring them back in boats and make them into floating beds in their garden areas, anchored by bamboo poles. These gardens rise and fall with changes in the water level, and so are resistant to flooding. The constant availability of nutrient-laden water results in these gardens being incredibly fertile. Rice cultivation is also significant.

Sturminster Newton Mill on the Dorset Stour. The floods have gone down again now. So today it was as if this had never happened.

Work is going on in Southsea to complete a shelter ready for the arrival of a D-Day landing craft in Southsea, near the D-Day Museum. The landing craft, LCT 7074, was one of more than 800 specially-designed landing craft vessels taking part in D-Day. This is the last one of its kind, apparently. We were having a picnic across the road when I took this photo.

The San Francisco cable car system is the world's last manually operated cable car system and an icon of the city of San Francisco. The system forms part of the intermodal urban transport network operated by the San Francisco Municipal Railway, which also includes the separate E Embarcadero and F Market & Wharves heritage streetcar lines, and the Muni Metro modern light rail system. Of the 23 cable car lines established between 1873 and 1890, only three remain (one of which combines parts of two earlier lines): two routes from downtown near Union Square to Fisherman's Wharf, and a third route along California Street. While the cable cars are used to a certain extent by commuters, the vast majority of the millions of passengers who use the system every year are tourists, and as a result, the wait to get on can often reach two hours or more. They are among the most significant tourist attractions in the city, along with Alcatraz Island, the Golden Gate Bridge, and Fisherman's Wharf. San Francisco's cable cars are listed on the National Register of Historic Places and are designated as a National Historic Landmark.

In 1869, Andrew Smith Hallidie had the idea for a cable car system in San Francisco, reportedly after witnessing an accident in which a streetcar drawn by horses over wet cobblestones slid backwards, killing the horses. Hallidie solicited financial support in 1871 and 1872, and his primary backers were Henry L. Davis, Joseph Britton, and James Moffit.

The first successful cable-operated street running train was the Clay Street Hill Railroad, which had its inaugural run on August 2, 1873. The promoter of the line was Hallidie, and the engineer was William Eppelsheimer; both Hallidie and Eppelsheimer obtained several patents for their work on the Clay Street line. The line involved the use of grip cars, which carried the grip that engaged with the cable, towing trailer cars; the design was the first to use grips. The term "grip" became synonymous with the operator.

The line started regular service on September 1, 1873, and its success led it to become the template for other cable car transit systems. It was a financial success, and Hallidie's patents were enforced on other cable car promoters, making him wealthy.

Accounts differ as to the precise degree of Hallidie's involvement in the inception of the line, and to the exact date on which it first ran. According to the franchise granted by the city, operations were required to begin by August 1, 1873. Retrospective published in 1895 stated that a single car was run over the line at 4 AM on the morning of August 1 with few witnesses to ensure the franchise would not expire.  Eppelsheimer would later bring a suit against Hallidie and the Clay Street Hill RR in June 1877 over patents, but dismissed it voluntarily the following March.

The next cable car line to open was the Sutter Street Railway, which converted from horse operation in January 1877. This line introduced the side grip, and lever operation, both designed by Henry Casebolt and his assistant Asa Hovey, and patented by Casebolt. This idea came about because Casebolt did not want to pay Hallidie royalties of $50,000 a year for the use of his patent. The side grip allowed cable cars to cross at intersections.

In 1878, Leland Stanford opened his California Street Cable Railroad (Cal Cable). This company's first line was on California Street, and is the oldest cable car line still in operation. In 1880, the Geary Street, Park & Ocean Railway began operation. The Presidio and Ferries Railway followed two years later, and was the first cable company to include curves on its routes. The curves were "let-go" curves, in which the car drops the cable and coasts around the curve on its own momentum.

In 1883, the Market Street Cable Railway opened its first line. This company was controlled by the Southern Pacific Railroad and would grow to become San Francisco's largest cable car operator. At its peak, it operated five lines, all of which converged on Market Street to a common terminus at the Ferry Building. During rush hours, cars left that terminus every 15 seconds.

In 1888, the Ferries and Cliff House Railway opened its initial two-line system. The Powell–Mason line is still operated on the same route today; their other route was the Powell–Washington–Jackson line, stretches of which are used by today's Powell–Hyde line. The Ferries & Cliff House Railway was also responsible for the building of a car barn and powerhouse at Washington and Mason, and this site is still in use today. In the same year, it also purchased the original Clay Street Hill Railway, which it incorporated into a new Sacramento–Clay line in 1892.

In 1889, the Omnibus Railroad and Cable Company became the last new cable car operator in San Francisco. The following year the California Street Cable Railroad opened two new lines, these being the last entirely new cable car lines built in the city. One of them was the O'Farrell–Jones–Hyde line, the Hyde section of which still remains in operation as part of the current Powell–Hyde line.

In all, twenty-three lines were established between 1873 and 1890.

Originally, the cables were powered by stationary steam engines. For the initial three cables, the Ferries & Cliff House Railway constructed a three-story structure to house two 450-horsepower coal-burning steam engines. The building was complete with a 185-foot-tall smokestack to vent away the heavy black smoke created by the Welsh anthracite coal that the company burned. Expansion of service required two additional 500-horsepower coal-fired steam engines in 1890, and the number and type of engines continued to vary over time. Coal consumption in 1893 was about 10 tons per day. The system was converted to oil in 1901, and the lessened amount of smoke allowed the smokestack to be shortened to 60’; this shortened smokestack still exists at Washington-Mason today.

Electric energy was introduced in 1912, when a 600-horsepower General Electric motor came on-line. By 1926, all steam operation of the cable ended when a second complete electrical drive was installed, a 750-horsepower General Electric product. With reduction in the number of cable car lines, the single 750-horsepower electric motor took over the job of running all of the lines. The problem with that configuration was that if one cable car on one line broke down, all lines had to be stopped. After the 1984 reconstruction, each of the four cables for the three lines (California, Hyde, Mason and Powell) is separately powered by its own 510-hp electric motor.

The first electric streetcars in San Francisco began operation in 1892 under the auspices of the San Francisco and San Mateo Electric Railway.

By the beginning of 1906 many of San Francisco's remaining cable cars were under the control of the United Railroads of San Francisco (URR), although Cal Cable and the Geary Street Company remained independent. URR was pressing to convert many of its cable lines to overhead electric traction, but this was met with resistance from opponents who objected to what they saw as ugly overhead lines on the major thoroughfares of the city center.

Those objections disappeared after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The quake and resulting fire destroyed the power houses and car barns of both the Cal Cable and the URR's Powell Street lines, together with the 117 cable cars stored within them. The subsequent race to rebuild the city allowed the URR to replace most of its cable car lines with electric streetcar lines. By 1912, only eight cable car lines remained, all with steep grades impassable to electric streetcars. In the 1920s and 1930s, these remaining lines came under pressure from the much improved motor buses of the era, which could now climb steeper hills than the electric streetcar. By 1944, five of those cable car lines had survived: the two Powell Street lines – by then under municipal ownership, as part of Muni – and the three lines owned by the still-independent Cal Cable.

In 1947, Mayor Roger Lapham proposed the closure of the two municipally owned lines. In response, a joint meeting of 27 women's civic groups, led by Friedel Klussmann, formed the Citizens' Committee to Save the Cable Cars. In a famous battle of wills, the citizens' committee eventually forced a referendum on an amendment to the city charter, compelling the city to continue operating the Powell Street lines. This passed overwhelmingly, by 166,989 votes to 51,457. Klussman led another campaign in 1948 to have the city acquire Cal Cable, but the referendum fell short of the required 2⁄3 majority, with 58% in favor of acquisition; a second referendum in 1949, requiring a simple majority, passed and the city began negotiations with Cal Cable.

In August 1951, the three Cal Cable lines were shut down when the company was unable to afford insurance. The city purchased and reopened the lines in January 1952, but another referendum that would have funded maintenance for the California Street tracks and the powerhouse and car barn at Hyde and California failed in November 1953. The amendment to the city charter did not protect the newly acquired Cal Cable lines, and the city proceeded with plans to replace them with buses; in addition, businesses in Union Square and downtown began advancing plans to convert O'Farrell to automobile traffic, which would remove service through the Tenderloin district via the inner section of the O'Farrell Jones & Hyde line. The result was a compromise that formed the current system: a protected system made up of the California Street line from Cal Cable, the Powell–Mason line already in municipal ownership, and a third hybrid line formed by grafting the Hyde Street section of Cal Cable's O'Farrell-Jones-Hyde line onto a truncated Powell–Washington–Jackson line, now known as the Powell–Hyde line.

This solution required some rebuilding to convert the Hyde Street trackage and terminus to operation by the single-ended cars of the Powell line, and also to allow the whole system to be operated from a single car barn and power house. Much of the infrastructure remained unchanged from the time of the earthquake.

By 1979, the cable car system had become unsafe; it needed to be closed for seven months for urgently-needed repairs. A subsequent engineering evaluation concluded that it needed comprehensive rebuilding at a cost of $60 million. Mayor Dianne Feinstein, who took charge of the effort, helped win federal funding for the bulk of the rebuilding job. In 1982 the cable car system was closed again for a complete rebuild. This involved the complete replacement of 69 city blocks' worth of tracks and cable channels, the complete rebuilding of the car barn and powerhouse within the original outer brick walls, new propulsion equipment, and the repair or rebuild of 37 cable cars. The system reopened on June 21, 1984, in time to benefit from the publicity that accompanied San Francisco's hosting of that year's Democratic National Convention.

Since 1984, Muni has continued to upgrade the system. Work has included rebuilding of another historical car, the building of nine brand new replacement cars, the building of a new terminal and turntable at the Hyde and Beach terminus, and a new turntable at the Powell and Market terminus.

Between 2017 and 2019, the system received a second, but less extensive rebuild. Over the two year project, Muni rehabilitated the cable car system's gearboxes, which had been in service since the last rebuild in 1984.

The system was shut down in March 2020 to protect operators during the COVID-19 pandemic, as cable cars do not offer a compartment separating them from passengers (unlike Muni buses, which kept running). Limited service on all three lines resumed on August 2, 2021. Full revenue service began on September 4. On September 9, a valve failure caused the fire suppression system in the carbarn to activate, shutting down electric power to the powerhouse. Service resumed on September 18.

The cable cars are an iconic part of San Francisco and are protected National Historic Landmarks, but they are not without their critics. Most complaints center around the high cost of operating a system that mostly serves tourists, and the large number of accidents involving the cable cars.

The cable car lines serve around seven million passengers per year, but the vast majority are tourists, rather than commuters. The area where the cable cars operate is well-served by a large number of buses and trolleybuses that often give residents better options for their trips. Also, during busy times, the wait to board a cable car can often reach two hours or more.

While Muni does allow monthly passholders to ride the cable cars at no additional charge, single ride fares are more than triple the fares charged on other Muni routes. The high fares led the San Francisco Chronicle to describe the cable cars in 2017 as a "cash cow" for Muni, yielding a yearly revenue of around $30 million. Still, according to Mission Local, the cable car system had a $46 million operating deficit in 2019. In 2006, then-Mayor Gavin Newsom reported that he had observed several conductors pocketing cash fares from riders without receipt. The following year, the San Francisco auditor's office reported that the city was not receiving the expected revenue from cable cars, with an estimated 40% of cable car riders riding for free. Muni's management disputed this figure and pointed out that safe operation, rather than revenue collection, is the primary duty of conductors. In 2017, after an audit showing that some conductors were "consistently turn[ing] in low amounts of cash", as well as a sting operation, one conductor was arrested on charges of felony embezzlement.

Among U.S. mass transportation systems the cable cars have the most accidents per year and per vehicle mile, with 126 accidents and 151 injuries reported in the 10 years ending 2013. In the three years ending 2013 the city paid some $8 million to settle four dozen cable car accident claims.

extension of the new breath

The photographs in this album were not taken by myself. They were taken in and around London in late March 2020 and show the extent the people in this lovely city are taking the current pandemic very seriously indeed.

Like millions of others in the UK I’m adhering to the advice of the government to remain in my home so that my own chances of catching the Covid-19 virus are minimised.

The pictures show how quiet some major London landmarks are at this worrying time.

I’d love to go out and take some pictures of my own but know that to do so would be irresponsible.

I hope that the pictures give my friends and contacts on flickr some idea of how serious the people of the UK are taking this potential health crisis.

The vast majority of the UK is trying extremely hard to:

#FlattenTheCurve

My thoughts at this worrying time are with all of the families around the world who are having to bear the loss of their loved ones.

Oly 60mm lens + 26mm extention tubes + Raynox 250

As the sun sets over the Arctic, the end of this year’s melt season is quickly approaching and the sea ice cover has already shrunk to the fourth lowest in the satellite record. With possibly some days of melting left, the sea ice extent could still drop to the second or third lowest on record.

Arctic sea ice, which regulates the planet’s temperature by bouncing solar energy back to space, has been on a steep decline for the last two decades. This animation shows the evolution of Arctic sea ice in 2015, from its annual maximum wintertime extent, reached on February 25, to September 6.

Credit: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio

DOWNLOAD THIS VIDEO HERE: svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/details.cgi?aid=11999

NASA image use policy.

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center enables NASA’s mission through four scientific endeavors: Earth Science, Heliophysics, Solar System Exploration, and Astrophysics. Goddard plays a leading role in NASA’s accomplishments by contributing compelling scientific knowledge to advance the Agency’s mission.

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This viewpoint is at ~265 m asl on the eastern side of the Vale of Clwyd, a short distance below the huge summit hillfort of Penycloddiau. This section of the Clwydian Way is a favourite family walk, typically offering good views over Denbigh (the western edge of which is at the lower left, 7½ km away, with Denbigh Quarry to the right) and western side of the Vale; the hill in the middle of the image is Moel Tywysog, with a trig. pillar just visible on its 400 m summit, 14 km from here.

However, that's usually the extent of the mid-afternoon view, with the distant peaks of Snowdonia rarely being more than a silhouette in haze – this is exceptional.

Starting from the left of the background, Pen Llithrig y Wrach (799 m) is 41 km from here, rising from Llyn Cowlyd. To its right (below the skyline) is Pen yr Helgi Du (833 m), 43 km away.

That ridge continues right to the popular climbing amphitheatre of Craig yr Ysfa at the head of Cwm Eigiau then, with greater snow cover, on to Carnedd Llywelyn (1,064 m, 44 km away), the highest of the Carneddau and second highest summit in Wales by prominence (750 m).

From there, a ridge curves left to Wales' fourth highest summit, Carnedd Dafydd (1,044 m, 46 km away) then on to Pen yr Ole Wen (978 m), 47¼ km away on the skyline behind and to the right of Pen Llithrig y Wrach and overlooking the head of the Ogwen Pass.

The only landmark not linked by these ridges is the dark cliff in front of Carnedd Llewelyn, at the right of the image. That's Craig Eigiau, 41 km from here, unsurprisingly overlooking Llyn Eigiau.

Yes, I know, this is nothing but thy love, O beloved of my heart -

This golden light that dances upon the leaves...

This passing breeze leaving its coolness upon my forehead.

-Rabindranath Tagore ( Nobel Laureate Indian Poet )

Chicago Botanic Garden, 'Butterflies and Blooms' tent, housing 2500 butterflies they claim.

Shot with Shot with Nikon D610, AF-S NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR and a 20mm automatic extention tube. 150mm, f7.1, 1/400sec, ISO 800, AF-C focus mode. Ring flash

PNT_9575 close

shot on Fuji Provia RHP about 20 years ago with my Bronica GS1 medium format film camera. Probably with a 100mm lens (50mm equivalent) and macro extention tube.

This photo of the Changu Naryan temple gives some idea of the extent and quality of the decoration you can find on Hinu temples in Nepal.

Like many of the temples we visited in Nepal (and unlike most Western churches) it felt it was an important part of the residents everyday routine rather than a something that's been preserved as a tourist attraction.

More photos from my Kathmandu trip here : www.flickr.com/photos/darrellg/albums/72157709610673461

From Wikipedia : "The ancient Hindu temple of Changu Narayan is located on a high hilltop that is also known as Changu or Dolagiri. The temple was surrounded by champak tree forest and a small village known as Changu. The temple is located in Changunarayan VDC of Bhaktapur District, Nepal. This hill is about 7 miles or 12 km east of Kathmandu and a few miles north of Bhaktapur. The Manahara River flows beside the hill. This shrine is dedicated to lord Visnu and held in special reverence by the Hindu people. This temple is considered to be the oldest temple in the history of Nepal. The Kashmiri king gave his daughter, Champak, in marriage to the prince of Bhaktapur. Changu Narayan Temple is named after her."

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