Scarce Swallowtail (Iphiclides Podalirius), 05-2022, Ticino, Switzerland

My best photos are here: www.lacerta-bilineata.com/ticino-best-photos-of-southern-...

More TICINO/TESSIN Wildlife Photos (all taken in my garden in Monteggio/Ti, Switzerland): it.lacerta-bilineata.com/ramarro-occidentale-lacerta-bili... (the website exists in ESPAÑOL, FRANÇAIS, ITALIANO, ENGLISH, DEUTSCH)

My latest ANIMAL VIDEO (warning, it's a bit shocking): www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T2-Xszz7FI

ABOUT THE PHOTO:

Before I get to the photo, I want to apologize sincerely that I haven't reacted to most of the comments I got since January, and I promise I will catch up on that in the weeks to come, and I want everyone to know I'm extremely grateful for all the kind and generous support my photos have received here, and I will never take that for granted. I haven't been very active on Flickr these past few months, and there's two reasons for that.

The first reason is a very positive one, because I've been busy working on my photo website about western green lizards (Lacerta bilineata) and the fauna Ticinese, which is now finally in a place where I'm quite happy with it. The other reason is a bit less positive; I suffer from a condition called "Dupuytren's contracture" which affects my hands. Typing becomes increasingly difficult for me, as the fingers of my left hand have a hard time hitting the correct keys.

This disease (which both my parents have, so there seems to be a genetic component), is not dangerous and especially older people are often affected by it, but it is very annoying, as it slowly makes your fingers contract inwards and eventually turns your hands into "claws" unless you have surgery. I'm a bit unlucky as I already got it in my early thirties; I'm now 45, and sadly it is progressing very rapidly, which makes writing a bit of a chore, especially during the colder months.

I love writing, and I'm still determined to react to every comment, but it will probably take me a bit longer in the future to reply, so I just wanted you to know that this is not due to my natural laziness and tendency for procrastination (or at least not ONLY due to those factors 😉)

With that out of the way, let's talk briefly about the photo ;-)

The scarce swallowtail is a very rare butterfly in Switzerland, but in Ticino it is thankfully still relatively common in the sense that while you won't see it every day, you still do come across it occasionally. Ever since I was a kid and started taking photos with my dad's old Pentax Spotmatic, I wanted to photograph a scarce swallowtail, because I always thought it was one of the most beautiful and exotic looking butterflies (next to the equally rare old world swallowtail it's the only species of swallowtail we have in Switzerland), but I never managed to capture one.

They are not only scarce, but they're also a very nervous bunch and flat-out refuse to sit still on a flower and pose for the desperate photographer who's close to a nervous breakdown. But last year I finally got lucky. I was just preparing lunch, when out of the corner of my eye I detected a fluttering movement in the garden through the kitchen window.

The fluttering was near the lavender (which I had only recently planted after a very unfortunate "sod incident"; a SHOCKING tale you can read all about here: www.flickr.com/photos/191055893@N07/52177556047/in/datepo... ), and I realized right away that this was something bigger than a cabbage butterfly (Pieris brassicae) or a common brimstone (Gonepteryx rhamni), which are usually my most frequent guests.

Camera always at the ready, I stormed out of the house and into the garden (and I was probably lucky that I hadn't yet turned the stove on, as I'm sure I would have forgotten all about it and my house would have burned down right behind me without me even noticing it - which would have been quite embarrassing, though not as embarrassing as "death-by-selfie" which I hear is rather popular among millennials 😉 ), and to my great joy it really was my elusive, scarce friend!

And the fella nearly drove me insane: I shot the heck out of Mr Swallowtail who JUST NEVER WOULD SIT STILL! Lemmie tell ya: it was nerve-wrecking! In the olden days of film (remember: 36 photos was usually all you could shoot) I wouldn't have managed to produce a single usable photo. I believe I shot around 400 photos of this scarce beauty, under the bemused eyes of my neighbor, a retired construction worker, who was curious to learn what exactly I was photographing as if my life depended on it.

When I excitedly told him: "This butterfly!" he just said "Oh" with such unconcealed disappointment that it was almost insulting; he gave me a pitiful look and went back into the house (I find I get this reaction quite a lot from my neighbors; in fact, it's mostly the only reaction I get for my photographic endeavors 😂 )

Out of those roughly 400 photos, I ended up with only two usable ones (the other one you find on my website). But I still count myself lucky; there have been many times when I tried to shoot some lovely critter in my garden and out of several hundred photos not even one was of acceptable quality.

Anyway; as always, many greetings to all of you and have a lovely week ahead, and please let me know what you think in the comments below, even if it might take a while until you hear back from me (but I promise you will!!! 🙏 😊 👍❤)

Comments and Critiques are most welcome on this picture and I'll glad to read them but my prime purpose of posting this picture is to spread the awareness about growing Danger of Genetically Modified Food.

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So what is GM Food???

Genetically modified (GM) foods are foods produced from genetically modified organisms (GMO) that have had their DNA altered through genetic engineering.These plants have been modified in the laboratory to enhance desired traits such as increased resistance to herbicides or improved nutritional content.

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Fair enough, so what's the problem with that?

No one can assure that what'll be the consequence of this genetic engineering in long run …. Might be good might be Really BAD (which is more likely) . . . . but if it goes into wrong direction then there is no turning back.

http://www.newscientist.com/channel/life/gm-food/dn9921

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What India has to do with this?

We are running on the risk of field test of GM food …. Because it is easy to do this test in developing countries due to weak regulations, lack of political will-power and last but not least high corruption rate.

In field test GM crops will be grown in open fields for testing but it won't be limited to that area …. The GM plants will produce seeds and they will spread in near and far areas with wind and water . . . .

This crop will the part of food chain so all the above levels of food pyramid will swallow the new "Genetic Code" directly or indirectly . . . .

So Developing nations are actually like Gini Pigs for GM crop testing.

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Is there someone doing something about it?

Ammm… sort of .. there is a trial happening in the supreme court of India … but -

http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Supreme-Court-vacates-ban-order-on-GM-crops-trials/272520/

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For more information just Google – "GM food Danger"

Thanks for Reading

Protea is both the botanical name and the English common name of a genus of South African flowering plants, sometimes also called sugarbushes or fynbos. The family is Proteaceae. In local tradition, the protea flower represents change and hope. The extraordinary richness and diversity of species characteristic of the Cape flora are thought to be caused in part by the diverse landscape, where populations can become isolated from each other and in time develop into separate species. The main vectors responsible for the transfer of pollen in protea cultivation are birds, insects, and wind. Some Protea species exhibit both self-pollination and cross-pollination as a method of reproduction. Cross-pollination is preferred, though, as a method of reproduction because it provides genetic diversity in the population. When cultivating proteas, breeders use hand pollination as a controlled method to transfer pollen from one flower to another. Proteas usually flower during spring. The general structure of their flower heads consists of a mass of flowers on a woody receptacle. The ovary is protected by the receptacle, thus is not seen when looking at the flower, but the anthers are present at the top of the flower, which can then easily transfer the pollen to the vectors. 30019

No thank´s

I'm pondering things... and also sharing things, cus that's what I do. Join me on the blog readmeri.wordpress.com/2019/11/15/do-you-buy-yourself-a-c...

Meri moans about British Summer-time while working out at the beach, cus RL isn't quite as good! Featuring new work-out gear from Genetic at On Sense Event. Read more on the blog - readmeri.wordpress.com/2019/07/23/til-it-hurts/

Meri is excited to be in at the beginning of something new, read more on the blog.

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I have to remind a lot of kids around Halloween that black cats aren't scary and they aren't bad luck. Black cats have the most docile characteristics of any cats genetically so the idea that they would have developed a bad reputation is not based on Science or reality!

Here's a cat from Vancatver, Catada!

**All photos are copyrighted. Please don't use without permission**

A leucistic plains zebra (Equus quagga) living in a herd of normally pigmented zebras. Leucism is a genetic condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation in an animal resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration.

Ol Pejeta conservancy, Kenya.

Conservation status: Near Threatened

Surprise!

ReadMeri talks about how something is happening inside my mind, plus brand newness from Genetic at Unik Event.

Follow the link - readmeri.wordpress.com/2019/07/12/on-the-cusp/

It does not matter if you call it democratic or republican. Same show, hardly differences. Same Zionist' banking stuff...

Genetic mutation during the beginning of XXI century

Thank Yous fer da 5.5 million views

Sony A7RIII, Sigma 105 mm Macro

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If you take a closer look, you may notice they tested with smartphones too!

If it ain't broke? we'll fix it anyway

between radioactive dust and plastic scraps

we have a new plant able to smell like craps

View On Black

Tattoo:

Nefekalum Tattoos - "Enhancement (Blue)"

Available at Mainframe from January 20th to February 20th.

(A projector was used to create the white circuitry lines.)

The Fly x Bee hybrid orchid is extremely rare in the UK and known from only three locations in Gloucestershire, Somerset and West Sussex. Originally created as a genetic experiment in 1962, ophrys x pietzschii has since occurred naturally, and takes equal characteristics from its two parent species, the Bee orchid and the Fly orchid.

👗🍃Genetic Nancy Dress at UniK Event👗🍃

-16 Color option for 2 colorable fabric parts and 6 color option for metal part.on Fatpack HUD

-Rigged for Maitreya

Thanks to Magissa Denver for Amazing Photo.

Thanks to all UniK Team

Genetic

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Genetic Inc 💚🍃

Sony A7RIII, Sigma 105 mm Macro, focus stacking

Sony A7RIII, Sigma 105 mm Macro, focus stack

The Barnacle goose (Branta leucopsis) belongs to the genus Branta of black geese, which contains species with largely black plumage, distinguishing them from the grey Anser species. Despite its superficial similarity to the Brent Goose, genetic analysis has shown it is an eastern derivative of the Cackling Goose lineage.The Barnacle goose was first classified taxonomically by Johann Matthäus Bechstein in 1803. Its specific epithet is from the Ancient Greek leuko- "white", and opsis "faced".

In English, the term "barnacle" originally referred only to this species of goose and only later to the crustacean barnacles. It is sometimes claimed that the word comes from a Celtic word for "limpet", but the sense-history seems to go in the opposite direction.[2]The Barnacle Goose is a medium-sized goose, 60–70 cm long,[3] with a white face and black head, neck, and upper breast. Its belly is white. The wings and its back are silver-gray with black-and-white bars that look like they are shining when the light reflects on it. During flight a V-shaped white rump patch and the silver-gray underwing linings are visible.

Barnacle Geese breed mainly on the Arctic islands of the North Atlantic. There are three main populations, with separate breeding and wintering ranges; from west to east:

Breeding in eastern Greenland, wintering on the Hebrides of western Scotland and in western Ireland. Population about 40,000.

Breeding on Svalbard, wintering on the Solway Firth on the England/Scotland border. Population about 24,000.

Breeding on Novaya Zemlya, wintering in the Netherlands. Population about 130,000.

A new fourth population, derived from the Novaya Zemlya population, has become established since 1975 breeding on the Baltic Sea islands (Estonia, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden), and wintering in the Netherlands. Population about 8,000.

Small numbers of feral birds, derived from escapes from zoo collections, also breed in other north European countries. Occasionally, a wild bird will appear in the Northeastern United States or Canada, but care must be taken to separate out wild birds from escaped individuals, as Barnacle Geese are popular waterfowl with collectors.

Natural genetic cross in the green house. Chinchiná, Colombia.

www.researchgate.net/publication/346397275_Introgresion_g...

DDG-AI Cat-Owl Hybrid

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Skirt;

-8 solid and 8 grafiti colors via Fatpack Hud

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Thanks for all Sense Event SL Team and Thanks to Iriana Perez Marzo for amazing photo.

Genetic modification affects many of the products we consume on a daily basis. As the number of GMOs available for commercial use grows every year, the Non-GMO Project works diligently to provide the most accurate, up-to-date standards for non-GMO verification.

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La modification génétique affecte de nombreux produits que nous consommons quotidiennement. Alors que le nombre d'OGM disponibles à des fins commerciales augmente chaque année, le projet Non-OGM travaille avec diligence pour fournir les normes les plus précises et les plus à jour pour la vérification

des non-OGM.

COMMENTS WITH AWARDS WILL BE REMOVED !

Film

Rio San Juan, Dagua, Valle, Colombia. Check out the scientific publication about this extraordinary case of speciation:

www.researchgate.net/publication/346397275_Genetic_introg...

2011, Spring

Keep your eyes on the "SEED" evolving.

citygenetic.com/Photography

CITY::GENETIC is an on-going project, a creative adventure and a meeting of inspired minds. A number of artists from different disciplines are sowing the seeds for a “genetic” experiment. They start with a single piece that represents the beginning of a story. Then they pass the seed to a second artist who makes the story evolve with a second piece. The process repeats until the creation of a genetic chain: the art work.

These artists are sowing the seeds:

Dafter.

This is my genetic derivative in her Indie-Goth phase a while ago now. She’s an excellent model when she wants to be so I have an interesting range of these images.

These days the Goth has receded to almost nothing (a shame) though vestiges are still there as evidenced by an inclination for particoloured purple hair. The Indie element, in contrast, is stronger than ever, helped no doubt by the increased confidence that comes with maturity. Ah well. The dangers of dodgy DNA…

But I digress (as ever). This is for Sliders Sunday today.

I promised myself at the turn of the year to try textures a bit more (I’ve only used them a couple of times) and also to try a wean myself off using super-saturated colour zap in every image.

Yey! Progress. Whether it’s an improvement who knows, but as character development it’s a step in the promised direction :)

Thank you for taking the time to look. I hope you enjoy the image. Happy Sliders Sunday :)

[Handheld in daylight; developed in Capture One, mangled in Topaz Studio using textures and colour control.]

Could this little family have BEEN any more beautiful?! Seriously.

And editing here is just my soft color pop.

“I make friends. They’re toys. My friends are toys. I make them. It’s a hobby. I’m a genetic engineer.”

- JF Sebastian