Aiguille du Midi, m. 3842 (ft 12605)-(Gruppo del Monte Bianco) – ore 7,30 del mattino – Per pura combinazione colgo questa immagine. Si tratta di un numeroso gruppo di guide alpine francesi e scalatori cher scendono sul Ghiacciaio del Gigante per protestare contro il funzionamento delle telecabine Italia-Francia che, per l’appunto, sorvolano in alto il Ghiacciaio del Gigante

Aiguille du Midi, m. 3842 (ft 12605)-(Mont Blanc Group) - 7.30 am - For pure combination I take this image. A large group of French mountain guides and climbers descend on the Gigante Glacier to protest against the operation of the Italy-France cableway which, in fact, flies over the Gigante Glacier

Anno 1989

Press ”L” for a better vision

Some Facts-

1. Inexperienced young woodpeckers frequently crash into windows: this is a major cause of death of juvenile birds.

2. An unpaired male may drum as many as 600 times a day; a paired male just 200 times.

3. Drumming has been recorded on many objects other than trees, ranging from weather vanes to metal poles.

Today's fun fact - Black Swans were presumed not to exist because there was only ever records of white ones. Then when Europeans discovered they did in fact exist, in WA Australia, the phrase "black swan" was coined. The Black Swan by scholar Nassim Taleb, was ranked by the Sunday Times one of the 12 most influential books since World War II. Taleb's black swan theory states that dramatic unexpected events matter more to history than regular happenings.

Bit simpler for me, I just like to photograph them on the local lake. Especially at sunset. Like little floating silhouettes. (bit of an older pic, revisiting some unloved pics from my Flickr exile years)

The first "cat on the moon" watches his beloved distant tuxedo girlfriend playing in the planet "Katzenhimmel" and keeps his bitter-sweet memories, in fact he is "happy inside"...

Chrysanthemum Facts

The chrysanthemum is the official birth flower of November.

In the United States, the chrysanthemum is the largest commercially produced flower and is known as the “Queen of Fall Flowers.”

The chrysanthemum head is actually a cluster of many small flower heads.

The chrysanthemum belongs to the Asteraceae family which is the largest family of flowering plants and includes over 23,000 species.

Have a nice Friday!

Thank you all for your visit, fave, kind comments. Always greatly appreciated.

Copyright 2018 © Gloria Sanvicente

(Flickr Friday: #329 MoreThanWords)

This photo aims to represent the fact that there are emotions that can’t be adequately expressed with language. The heart was made following origami instructions.

Esta foto intenta representar que hay emociones que no se pueden expresar con palabras. El corazón de papel fue hecho siguiendo los pasos de un tutorial de papiroflexia.

"Strana cosa un silenzio: semina le domande o insinua le risposte... Ma di fatto non tace mai."

R.Scudieri

"A strange thing is silence: it sows questions or insinuates answers ... But in fact it is never silent."

R.Scudieri

reading fingers have left almost invisible traces on the letters. the story is very old.

what is readable, what can we know...just some shades and hints of the forgotten lives.

San Diego is a city on the Pacific coast of California known for its beaches, parks and warm climate. Immense Balboa Park is the site of the world-famous San Diego Zoo, as well as numerous art galleries, artist studios, museums and gardens. A deep harbor is home to a large active naval fleet, with the USS Midway, an aircraft-carrier-turned-museum, open to the public.

Fact Courtesy of : en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Diego

……. We can certainly vouch for the fact that Derwent water (pictured) & Bassenthwaite lake were both well up on previous years! Must Google 'How to build an Ark'!....... Alan:-)

For the interested I’m growing my Shutterstock catalogue regularly here, now sold 132 images :- www.shutterstock.com/g/Alan+Foster?rid=223484589&utm_...

©Alan Foster.

©Alan Foster. All rights reserved. Do not use without permission.……

Be careful: Staircase photography can be really dangerous!

Not only because you may crash from the top floor down to the ground if you aren't cautious :-o

In fact, the hunt for exciting stair images can infect you and won't let you go so fast. You may even find yourself rolling on the floor trying to capture some weird views noone else ever pays attention to.

Just like my friend Sabine R. during the recent Hamburg Flickr meeting :-)

It was probably around 10 months ago now that I took a vested interest into woodland photography. Looking back this was probably brought about through the changing of the seasons and some very inspirational shots I had seen from some prominent and some not so prominent photographers.

It was also about this time that I noticed my photography in genral was shifting, I was no longer trying to compete against shots I had seen on social media or forever chasing that elusive colorful sunrise or sunset (I still do chase these from time to time, mainly in winter when the trees have retired there foliage) instead I was paying more attention to smaller details and how things came together in shape and form. One thing woodland photography isn't is easy, far from it in fact. A lot of my early attempts at woodland photography left me with nothing but frustration. How was it these photographers made it look so easy? I would find what I thought was a great looking characterful tree take some shots of it and the images on review would be lifeless and I just didn't get it, what was I doing wrong? I think I am slowly beginning to have some thought on how to answer this question and hopefully this image is testimony to that.

Music:

"Sports Hazardeux" by ALBERT MARCOEUR, in 'Sports et Percussions' (1994)

open.spotify.com/track/27pWS2up3iNu37QVv3Zic9

Post Details

Odd fact: The Baltimore Oriole received its name from the fact that the male's colors resembled those on the coat of arms of Lord Baltimore.

If you like this and some of my other images, I invite you to take a look at my wildlife/birding blog, which I try to update every few days. ... grenfell.weebly.com and my web page at www.tekfx.ca

I appreciate your feedback and comments! so feel free to contact me for any reason. I can be reached at billm@tekfx.ca or on Flickrmail

All images are copyright. Please don't use this, or any other of my, images, on websites, blogs or any other media without my explicit written permission © All rights reserved

Been a while since I posted one of these, just over a year in fact. I was a bit lazy last winter to go out borealis hunting but think that´ll change this winter, we´ll see. Taken up in Bláfjöll during a trip with my buddy Indriði.

In the middle of the hardest winter most of us has known, it often seemed otherwise, but the spring will come again. In fact it's just around the corner. In the meantime, the season of bare trees has its own joys: especially when a bit of Sahara sand is making the sunsets more intense.

Those little birds just have no fear. The little kingbird, Cassin's I think, buzzed this regal bald eagle a bunch of times while I watched. In fact, it seemed in a few of my frames to be dancing in the eagle's face. The eagle outlasted both of us though, and I moved on. Check it Large!

..... in bloom. This is the only plant that Monarch Butterflies feed on while in this area during the summer. Unfortunately they aren't as common as they were in the past. In fact I can't remember ever seeing one.

A pic of Folkestone Harbour. I took this with my iphone. The rainbow was just appearing. Loved the fact that the tide was out and the gulls were circling above. The light was amazing too.

Men are naturally better at lifting and throwing things, all with a smile on their faces! Women are naturally better at working alone in peace.

Picture taken by Mike.

Take your pick.

Helios 44M-7 at F5.6

“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.”

William Blake

ursus arctos

length: 1 to 2.8 m

weight: 139 kg (male), 95 kg (female)

lifespan: 20 to 30 years

predators: humans

habitat: boreal forest, mountain alpine, arctic tundra

yukon population estimate: 6,000-7,000

they breed for the first time around their 8th year and reproduce every 3 to 4 years

bears routinely distinguish between threatening and non-threatening human behaviour

bears are not mean or malicious; they are very gentle, curious, and tolerant animals

shih shòh (gwich’in)

shär cho (hän)

dlēze (kaska)

srà cho (northern tutchone)

akłaq (inuvialuit)

atsìá sho (big grandpa) (southern tutchone)

shash chō (tagish)

shüh choh (upper tanana)

xóots or xûts (tlingit)

A bit of a hike down the cliffs to the river bed but judging by the path i took i wasn't the first to make the trek. I had left my wife at the top but she wasn't there when i got back and we spent the next 35 minutes looking for each other. In fact other hikers i met were on the alert that my wife was looking for me. I thought to myself this is not going to end well.

Shot taken with the 7Artisans 10mm fisheye.

Ok, it's that time of year. Low raking morning light (without needing to get up at "daft o'clock") and the leaves are starting to fall.. Driving back on the school run, I had 10 minutes to spare -- so pulled over at the local park. Grabbed this and applied a lot pp work to 1) try and enhance the image and 2) fix the fact I blended 3 exposures but didn't use the self-timer so half the image is misaligned over on the right...

As I drove away, at the top end of the park, I saw far better photo oppurtunities pass by... But, it was too late, my 10 minute window was up..

"Knowledge is power,"

Attributed to Sir Francis Bacon

Assassin bugs are in an order of True Bugs (order Hemiptera). They are related to Stink bugs and Shield bugs. Additionally they are distantly related to Water Striders and Water bugs.

Here's a link to more glorious bugs and lots of facts! Enjoy!

wildcolumbia.org/wildlife-guide/insects-of-northwest-oreg...

There’s something deeply transformative about watching the sun gently touch the dunes, as if time slows down to remind us of what truly matters. Every grain of sand holds the memory of ancient winds, movements beyond our control yet shaping us all the same. In this open space, we’re invited to quiet our minds and feel the weight of our footprints, knowing they’ll soon disappear. Life, much like the dunes, is shaped by the unexpected and the fleeting. And maybe that’s what makes it so beautiful: the fact that everything is temporary, but, for a brief moment, entirely ours.

Daiunin Temple, Kyoto, Japan

Hello my friends. I know! I know! it has been a long time but I have not forgotten you. In fact, I missed you! So as the year comes to an end, I thought I would drop by and say hello to you all and see what you have been up to.

As for me, I have recently come back from a trip to Japan. So here is one of the pictures I took there.

Marsh Owl (Asio capensis ssp.tingitanus) in flight Morocco_North Africa_w_0363

The Morocco Marsh Owls are an isolated and dwindling population. So much so that they are now a critically endangered species in Morocco.

This fragmented population is geographically separated from other breeding Marsh Owls by the huge arid area to the south called the Sahel. The Moroccan Marsh Owls are in fact a sub-species Asio capensis ssp. tingitanus. The only other other sub-species is Asio Capensis hova, in Madagascar.

The main cause of their decline in Morocco is habitat loss due to draining of large marsh areas with the expansion of agriculture.

An uninhabited island in the Strait of Magellan in southern Chile. An important breeding area for the Magellanic penguin.

It is one of the spectacled penguins (Spheniscus) in the south of South America.

Its name comes from the fact that it occurs on the coasts of the “Terra Magellanica”, the Patagonian region.

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

Eine unbewohnte Insel in der Magellanstraße im Süden Chiles. Ein wichtiges Brutgebiet für den Magellanpinguin.

Er gehört zu den Brillenpinguinen (Spheniscus), im Süden Südamerikas.

Sein Name da er an den Küsten der „Terra Magellanica“ vorkommt, dem Gebiet Patagoniens.

This is another abstract created from tree reflections on our pond. This is about the only thing those cottonwood trees are good for. This and the fact that the ducks love to eat the pollen that comes off the trees.

Happy Sliders Sunday!

Now a cold and dry storage facility in Peterbrough Ontaro, this building was a Baskin-Robbins ice cream manufacturing plant between 1990 and 2010. Prior to that it was the site of Silverwood Dairies Ltd from 1940 to 1980.

The downside of traveling to Thailand during the rainy season is that it can rain heavily from time to time. You just have to accept that. Also, the fact that you won't always be able to find shelter under a roof.

But then you get a photo that doesn't look like the average tourist photo. This shot from the temple "Wat Phra That Pha Sorn Keaw" definitely falls into that category for me.

Not to mention the other advantages, such as cooler temperatures, lower prices, and significantly fewer tourists.

Der Nachteil von einer Thailand Reise während der Regenzeit ist, dass es hin und wieder heftig regnen kann. Damit muss man sich dann eben abfinden. Auch mit der Tatsache, dass man es nicht immer trocken unter ein Dach schafft.

Doch dafür bekommt man dann auch mal ein Foto, welches nicht so aussieht, wie das durchschnittliche Touristenfoto. Diese Aufnahme aus dem Tempel "Wat Phra That Pha Sorn Keaw" gehört für mich zweifelsfrei in diese Kathegorie.

Von den anderen Vorteilen wie niedrigere Temperaturen, geringere Preise und deutlich weniger Touristen, ganz zu schweigen.

You have got what you wanted, or rather what one half wanted and the other half tried to prevent from happening. A self-declared messiah with an unlimited sense of self-importance. He will try to subdue to his nativistic logic what is in fact a multitude of diversity, points of view and interests - in the US and world-wide. Such attempts at denying plurality and exchanging it for one's own monologue usually end in tears. Brace yourself. Sony A7iii.

Il Tempio di Cerere o Atena (500 a.C.)

Costruito circa cinquant'anni prima del Tempio di Nettuno e 50 anni dopo quello di Hera ha delle particolarità che lo distingue dagli altri due templi e lo rendono uno dei più interessanti dell'architettura greca. Il frontone alto rende questo Tempio unico; il fregio dorico composto di larghi blocchi di calcare è anch'esso di tipo unico. La pianta interna, più semplice di quella degli altri due templi era composta dal pronaos e dalla cella nella quale non ci sono tracce della camera del tesoro (adyton).

Il pronaos aveva otto colonne con capitelli ionici, quattro sul fronte e due su ciascun lato. Delle colonne ioniche del pronaos si vedono solamente le basi e due capitelli ( i più antichi in stile ionico rinvenuti in Italia) sono custoditi nel vicino Museo Archeologico.

Il ritovamento di numerose statuette in terracotta (ex voto) raffiguranti Atena nelle stipi votive prova che il Tempio non era dedicato a Cerere ma alla dea della saggezza e delle arti Atena. Infatti il tempio sorge sulla parte più alta della città, luogo dove sono sempre stati eretti i templi in onore di Atena nelle città greche.

Built about fifty years before the Temple of Neptune and 50 years after that of Hera, it has particularities that distinguish it from the other two temples and make it one of the most interesting in Greek architecture. The high pediment makes this Temple unique; the Doric frieze composed of large limestone blocks is also unique. The internal plan, simpler than that of the other two temples, was composed of the pronaos and the cell in which there are no traces of the treasure chamber (adyton).

The pronaos had eight columns with Ionic capitals, four on the front and two on each side. Of the Ionic columns of the pronaos, only the bases can be seen and two capitals (the oldest in Ionic style found in Italy) are kept in the nearby Archaeological Museum.

The discovery of numerous terracotta statuettes (ex voto) depicting Athena in votive containers proves that the Temple was not dedicated to Ceres but to the goddess of wisdom and the arts Athena. In fact, the temple stands on the highest part of the city, a place where temples in honor of Athena have always been built in Greek cities.

You just never know what the day will bring ?

As I'm enjoying my morning coffee and read an email then a text that states an injured bird was found in the Selkirk area. My contact went on to say that it looked like a Peregrine ?

After a couple texts and emails I received a photo of the injured bird along with an address and confirmed that it was in fact a Peregrine.

Phone call to Tracy (Peregrine Project Coordinator) and we met at the location. It took some time to locate the bird that had a very good hiding spot. Short time later the bird was in a carrier and on it's way from the Lockport area to Wildlife Haven Rehab Center.

The bird was unbanded and we think that it may be a Tundra bird that was migrating through ?

It appeared that the bird had a broken wing from what we could tell...will have to wait and see what the outcome is.

Despite its name, the Marsh Tit is actually found in our woodlands, parks and gardens.The Marsh tit is very similar to the Willow Tit in looks and size. It was only discovered in 1897 by ornithologists that the Marsh & Willow Tits were in fact two separate species.

Although June is National Rose Month, Roses actually start blooming in May. In fact, all of my Rose shrubs (except for one shrub) are in bloom right now.

Roses in American History

As the most popular flower in America (and the world, for that matter), it’s no surprise that roses made their way into the most famous house in America — the White House.

On November 20, 1986, President Ronald Reagan declared the rose the national floral emblem of the United States while standing in the White House Rose Garden.

The rose is also the state flower for North Dakota, Georgia, Oklahoma, New York and Iowa.

The White House Rose Garden was started in 1913 by First Lady Ellen Wilson.

Presidents still use the White House Rose Garden as the location for bill signings, press conferences, and diplomatic meetings.

It’s believed that George Washington was one of the first American rose breeders.

W. H. Davies, ‘In May’

Yes, I will spend the livelong day

With Nature in this month of May;

And sit beneath the trees, and share

My bread with birds whose homes are there …

“At last came the golden month of the wild folk—honey-sweet May, when the birds come back, and the flowers come out, and the air is full of the sunrise scents and songs of the dawning year.”

― Samuel Scoville Jr.

IMG_0580.jpgq

It did occur to me, during the period that GBRF ran the Deltic "Royal Scots Grey" during late spring and Early summer in 2011, that the first, or last portion of its short journey from the Lynemouth Aluminium Smelter to the North Blyth Aluminia import silos, that this section of line ran along the coastal sand dunes. In fact there had been colliery tipping on the beach up to the end of the 1960s here from Cambois colliery. There is a picture of this in one of Colin Giffords books. And Gone Forever, plate 213 to be precise.

But there were scant few in the hundreds of photographers who turned up during that time who acknowledged this obvious fact. Well, you would have to arrive early, and not many then shot in dull conditions.

So a calculation was made. The sun would rise over the sea at an acute angle in the mid winter, and the train for Fort William left on Saturday at 09:02, around half an hour after sunrise. Prone to run a little early too..

Keep an eye on the forecast and go. So long as the empties ran the day the day before.

Postscript:

The Lynemouth smelter, which received three trains each weekday from here, closed in March 2012, leaving from then on two to three trains a week to Fort William from this terminal.

Minolta x300, 100mm f2.5 Rokkor. Fuji Provia 100, 1/250 @ f8/11 with a 0.6 Hard ND Graduated filter mounted on a tripod.

Sometimes the first picture is the best. I could leave this place alone but there is something here, there is not another place like it and its not just the sea and the structures. Its everything that made what it is now, and what it was before. Life feels different in the North. For all its economic inequalities, life feels better up here, the melancholic celebration of life in the North is symphony for the soul.

Number: CT-1807

Rank: ARC Captian Grade III

Nickname: Scout

3rd Regiment of the 253rd Legion

///Log Entry\\\

"We were called back to HQ before we could finish locating the missing escape pods, something about reinforcements and an urgent mission. The choice should have been an easy one, but deep down part of me disliked the fact that our current mission would go on uncompleted and the fate of the other three escape pods would be unkown, for now at least. Anyway, the trek back to base was surprisingly short, filled mostly with the usual banter and boasting, which all ended abruptly when we exited the jungle, at first I didn't understand why, but all it took was a silent nod skywards from Rook to enlighten me on the sudden change. Above us ragged a battle of massive proportions, it appears the rumors of help arriving were true, now all they had to do was smash through the blockade. Upon arriving at HQ were immediately briefed on the current situation and our new high profile objective, apparently we were now acting under the direct orders of the Chancellor himself, what an honor. Soon it was go time, we loaded up into the LAAT/is and set off for this temple, I spent most of the flight trying to figure out why so many resources were being used to recover some priceless artifact, what was to gain?

And in the end, will it really be worth all of the death and suffering?

The ride was short and uneventful, soon we were hovering a mere ten feet over the temple courtyard, our first objective. The first man out of the gunship was the Jedi, he backflipped out of the troop bay, most of the shinies stared in awe while I and the rest of the vets simply shook our heads and quickly got back to work securing gear and pushing our lines out the side of the LAAT/i. Once the ropes were all set the troops began fast roping out of our five gunships, once we got down to the surface most of the unfriendlies were dead the victims of lightsabers slashes and other methods typically associated with the Jedi. A few of the dead Tarisians were dressed in full clone armor while others only wore bits and pieces, though most of the bodies appeared to have once been armed with DC-15s. The next part of our mission went on without a hitch and soon the makeshift landing pad was completed, now all we had to do was wait."

END LOG

The fact that I had this build finished seconds after I posted 10.3 was nostolgic to older more active days :P

Anyway, like my previous entry the pic is kinda dark and smallish, but the build is downright epic(has to be one of my favs), and the shot really doesn't do it justice.

As always C&C and TFVAHAGD!

-Tommy

DSC_1322

just playing again...in fact it's for a theme in one of my groups :-)

Santuario della Madonna di Montenero

Su una collina da cui domina il mare e il porto di Livorno si erge Montenero. Un tempo rifugio di briganti e per questo considerato luogo oscuro, monte del diavolo, questa località è divenuta celebre per la presenza del Santuario vallombrosano dedicato alla Madonna delle Grazie. Secondo la tradizione nel 1345 un pastore storpio fu guarito dopo avere condotto sulla vetta del colle un’immagine miracolosa della Vergine, da allora ritenuta fonte di grazia e di devozione da coloro che vi si rivolgono. Intorno a tale icona è sorto l’odierno Santuario, continua meta di pellegrinaggi.

Una visita in questo luogo può rivelarsi particolarmente suggestiva per chiunque, a prescindere dalle motivazioni religiose personali. Uno dei principali motivi di interesse è dovuto alla raccolta di ex-voto che sono custoditi nelle ampie sale che circondano la Chiesa, si tratta della più grande collezione di questo tipo d’Italia. Oltre a testimoniare la fede di coloro che li hanno commissionati, queste opere costituiscono utili spaccati di vita quotidiana di diversi periodi, sono infatti numerose le tavolette dipinte che mostrano la gente con i suoi costumi, le strade, il mare, le case, i mezzi di trasporto. Accanto ai pezzi di fattura grossolana ve ne sono altri di pregevole manifattura artistica, tra cui spiccano Il cavallino di Giovanni Fattori, Il motociclista ed il Porto di Livorno di Renato Natali.

Sanctuary of the Madonna di Montenero

On a hill overlooking the sea and the port of Livorno stands Montenero. Once a refuge for bandits and therefore considered a dark place, the devil's mountain, this place has become famous for the presence of the Vallombrosan Sanctuary dedicated to the Madonna delle Grazie. According to tradition, in 1345 a crippled shepherd was healed after having brought a miraculous image of the Virgin to the top of the hill, since then considered a source of grace and devotion by those who turn to it. Today's Sanctuary arose around this icon, a constant destination for pilgrimages.

A visit to this place can be particularly evocative for anyone, regardless of personal religious motivations. One of the main reasons for interest is due to the collection of ex-votos that are kept in the large rooms surrounding the Church, it is the largest collection of this type in Italy. In addition to testifying to the faith of those who commissioned them, these works are useful snapshots of daily life from different periods, in fact there are numerous painted panels that show people with their costumes, the streets, the sea, the houses, the means of transport. Alongside the pieces of rough workmanship there are others of fine artistic manufacture, among which stand out The Horse by Giovanni Fattori, The Motorcyclist and the Port of Livorno by Renato Natali.

A companion piece to yesterday's close up of a yellow flower - same species. In fact, I made this shot the same day, on the same hillside. The magenta variant is much rarer in these parts than yellow, so it's always fun to find a nice patch of them.

This ends the very short set of square wildflower images; tomorrow, back to wildlife.

Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2023 James R. Page - all rights reserved.

Thanks to Mary for the great idea!!!!!!

Lovington, New Mexico