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American Bittern by Transcendent Clicks

52 21

Nature's Mastery of Camouflage at its Best

You'll need sharp eyes to catch sight of an American Bittern. This streaky, brown and buff heron can materialize among the reeds, and disappear as quickly, especially when striking a concealment pose with neck stretched and bill pointed skyward. These stealthy carnivores stand motionless amid tall marsh vegetation, or patiently stalk fish, frogs, and insects.

Szystrum Synod - 1 by Osiris LeShelle

48 2

Fantasy Faire 2023

Sim : Szystrum Synod

Sponsor : ContraptioN

Design : Walton Wainwright & Victor Eton

SLURL : maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Szystrum Synod/92/128/79

Nestled among the stars lies a world where machines left by long-forgotten creators have pried the secrets of the cosmos from the grasp of mystery. Strange entities have taken up artificial bodies to colonize worlds through their mastery of technology and connection to spirituality; the likes of which were previously mere whispers of myth. Take a brave step onto an Aetherpunk artificial moon and explore a congregation of seven noble eclectic and extraordinary houses.

fantasyfairesl.wordpress.com/szystrum-synod/

Desires & Mastery by Zoey Ravenheart

31 4

February Beginnings by Robert Cowlishaw (Mertonian)

44

“The conceptual boundaries of what it means to be human or what we human beings mean by nature have never been less secure.”15 Emerging from and integrated into a chaotic world rather than a position of mastery and control removed from it, “the cyborg has the potential not only to disrupt persistent dualisms (body and soul; matter and spirit) but also to refashion our thinking about the theoretical understanding of the body as a material entity and a discursive process.”

-Anne Kull, “Cyborg Embodiment and Incarnation,” Currents in Theology and Mission 28, nos. 3–4 (2001): 282.

Mastery of the Terrain by A. Walden

25 115

If we had a keen vision of all that is ordinary in human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow or the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which is the other side of silence.

-- George Eliot

Divine Design - Pure mastery, Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal by Ravi Prasanna

133 18

Montreal, Canada

1/4 sec handheld capture. Happies !!!

MASTERY OF GROOVE by Jacquo B

68 11

MONTREAL 20250705-287-2Jazz Festival

Tunnels, passages, and cuttings by Neil Moralee

111 8

Throughout history, tunnels, passages, and cuttings have played pivotal roles in shaping human civilization, enabling the efficient movement of people, resources, and information while pushing the boundaries of engineering and innovation.

The earliest recorded tunnels were created by ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians and Persians, for irrigation and water supply purposes. These rudimentary passages were often hand-dug through hillsides or mountains.

The ancient Romans revolutionized tunnel engineering with the construction of extensive underground aqueducts, such as the Cloaca Maxima in Rome, showcasing their mastery of arches and engineering techniques.

The 18th and 19th centuries brought about major advancements in tunneling technology due to increased industrial activity. The use of steam engines and explosives facilitated the construction of longer and deeper tunnels.

Chough at Half Moon Bay near Heysham in Lancashire, England - March 2018 by Saffy H

66 84

www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/wildlife-guides/bird-a...

Scientific name: Pyrrhocorax pyrrhocorax

Bird family: Crows

UK conservation status: Green

Protected by The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981

Key information

While its black plumage identifies it as a crow, the chough (pronounced 'chuff') has a red bill and legs unlike any other member of the crow family. It is restricted to the west of the British Isles.

It readily displays its mastery of flight with wonderful aerial displays of diving and swooping. This Schedule 1 species can be found in flocks in autumn and winter.

What they eat:

Insects and larvae.

Measurements:

Length:39-40cm

Wingspan:73-90cm

Weight:260-350g

Population:

UK breeding:250-350 pairs in Great Britain; 120-150 pairs on the Isle of Man

Reed Mastery by Ger Bosma

51 7

Rietgors - Male reed bunting (Emberiza schoeniclus)

“Fragility is the mask of mastery.” by Emma Leila

49 4

“Fragility is the mask of mastery.”

― Donna Goddard, Waldmeer

Camo Mastery by catchlightdon

181 13

Using binoculars along with Alice and Beth telling me where this adult Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus) was, it took me several minutes to find it on the cliff face; SLO County; CA; USA

Mastery of Flight by Robert Streithorst

32 4

Red Kite, 20012022, 18 f by Alan Blunden

21 18

Red Kite,

Agility and mastery in the air are synonymous with with the kites. the Red Kite adds the appeal of colour and pattern, It is easily separated from the heavier, less elegant Buzzard, having more of the lightness of a harrier, but even greater flexibility and elasticity in its movements, Where common, it gathers in groups of ten or even up to forty wherever food is concentrated,

Flight;- direct flight slow and steady with supple, deep wingbeats, often twists as rudder, soars well but not usually to any great height, very aerobatic,

The kite flexes its wings and twistsits long tail from side to side to exploit air currents to the fill, it is capable of fast stoops and twisting dives,

Occurrence ;- Local in Great Britain, widespread in Spain, Portugal, France, parts of S Europe, and north to Baltic, In open countryside and wooded valleys, higher up in summer but in low valleys in winter, whwn it forages around towns and tips,

Voice;- High, long-drawn, wailing or squealing weieieee-ow, higher-pitched than Buzzard.

Nesting;- Large nest of sticks, rags, earth, and rubbish in tree, well-hidden, 2-4 eggs, 1 brood, March - June,

Feeding;- Eats dead animals, such as rabbits or sheep, catches birds up to crow or gull size in surprise dash, also feeds on insects, worms,

Order;- Accipitriformes,

Family;- Accipitridae,

Species;- Milvus milvus,

Length;- 60 - 65cm ( 23.5 - 26in ),

Wingspan;- 1.45 - 1.65m ( 4.75 - 5.5ft ),

Weight;- 0.75 - 1.3kg ( 1.75 - 2.75lb ),

Social;- Small flocks,

Lifespan;- Up to 25 years,

Status;- Secure,

Material Mastery by ktmqi

10 2

Chuck Boux (b. 1947)

St. Petersburg, Florida Bird Island Florida

Five-color double overlay blown glass with double graal sandblasted technique, 17 ½ × 25 × 11 in.

On loan from Florida CraftArt

The Mastery of Triumph & The Art of Victory by Scarlett Saphira

249 13

The Mastery of Triumph & The Art of Victory

True weapon kills enermies from the inside.

Strategically attack to inflict as many wounds as possible. Scares and wounds never enable fools to learn and grow, instead, they leave them mentally maimed, permanent scarred, and bereft of vitality. Devoid of positive energy and genuine intelligence, they inevitably transform into new depths of destruction, a realm meticulously crafted by your design.

ღ.-:**★**:-.ღ.-:**★**:-.ღ.-:**★**:-.ღ

Tale: Swordless Success 💕

In a circle of friends seeking her guidance, she stands out with her unique approach. While others may rely on weapons and conflicts to conquer their challenges, she takes a different path. With each request, she offers a little concept, a seed of wisdom that grows into an everlasting victory.

Her strategies are not rooted in aggression or violence, but rather in the power of thought and the art of diplomacy. She understands that true triumph lies not in the destruction of others, but in the elevation of oneself and the collective. With her wise counsel, she empowers her friends to navigate the complexities of life, armed not with swords, but with innovative ideas and a steadfast belief in their potential to conquer any obstacle.

ღ.-:**★**:-.ღ.-:**★**:-.ღ.-:**★**:-.ღ

" Nurture victory within,

Choose battles that thrive in your enemies' minds and souls - small enough to win but big enough to matter.

Strategic victories lie within the battles of the mind. Transform fools into grand masters of their own folly, and empower the weak by affirming their wrong strength, leaving no room for their growth.

Choose wisely, for the relentless struggle unfolds in your enemies' obsessions and inner conflicts. As they embrace the seed you sow, you emerge triumphant, for they unwittingly nurture the very force that conquers them. 💕"

______ Scarlett Saphira

ღ.-:**★**:-.ღ.-:**★**:-.ღ.-:**★**:-.ღ

Outfit Art&Ko - Sword Girl Set - Fatpack

Art&Ko

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Lich's Mastery by Razor Cure

40

Mystery mastery by Jbarr420

Illusions of Mastery by Marqs DeSade ☕︎♡

79 4

As mankind endeavors to assert dominion over the natural world, we are but pretenders to the throne, wrapped in our illusions of mastery. The intricate machinery and towering edifices that we construct belie our vulnerability, for, in truth, nature remains the ultimate arbiter of our fate. We may harness her forces, summon her bounties, and ply her secrets for our advancement, but let us not forget that she is a capricious sovereign, capable of wrath as swift and terrible as her favors. The relentless flow of time reveals our fragility, and, as with the fickle tides, nature can, with the subtlest gesture or tempestuous roar, erase the grandest marks of our ambition, returning us to the humbling recognition of our place in her eternal tableau.

Ethereal City Dusk

maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Ethereal%20City%20Dusk/212...

Storm warning by Marilyn

59 161

The glass has been falling all the afternoon,

And knowing better than the instrument

What winds are walking overhead, what zone

Of gray unrest is moving across the land,

I leave the book upon a pillowed chair

And walk from window to closed window, watching

Boughs strain against the sky

And think again, as often when the air

Moves inward toward a silent core of waiting,

How with a single purpose time has traveled

By secret currents of the undiscerned

Into this polar realm. Weather abroad

And weather in the heart alike come on

Regardless of prediction.

Between foreseeing and averting change

Lies all the mastery of elements

Which clocks and weatherglasses cannot alter.

Time in the hand is not control of time,

Nor shattered fragments of an instrument

A proof against the wind; the wind will rise,

We can only close the shutters.

I draw the curtains as the sky goes black

And set a match to candles sheathed in glass

Against the keyhole draught, the insistent whine

Of weather through the unsealed aperture.

This is our sole defense against the season;

These are the things we have learned to do

Who live in troubled regions.

(Adrienne Rich)

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

Thanks to Joes Sistah for the great texture

a bygone era... by Santanu Sen

26 1

Rani-ki-Vav (the Queen’s Stepwell) is an intricately designed stepwell situated in Patan, Gujarat, India. It is a World Heritage site. Designed as an inverted temple highlighting the sanctity of water, it was built in the 11th century AD.

Commissioned by queen Udayamati in memory of her husband Bhima I, it was built at the height of craftsmens’ ability in stepwell construction and the Maru-Gurjara architectural style, reflecting mastery of this complex technique and great beauty of detail and proportions.

There are 212 pillars in the stepwell.

Also do notice the sculpture in the shaft of the well, in the center of the photo.

Bald Eagle with Midshipman fish by Matthew Schwartz

78 39

* Bald Eagle Trip Report Video / Article! *

Feels awesome to be back on flickr, I missed everyone, thanks for the warm welcome back! Here we go, day 2!

Bald Eagle in flight with Midshipman fish prey, photographed in Hood Canal in Washington state (June 2016).

Editing Disclosure: Background slightly modified to reduce distracting wave patterns.

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Yellowlegs by Matthew Schwartz

70 40

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Yellowlegs

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GHH Mining Machine... by Gian Luigi Fadda

41 2

GHH mining machine underground shovel, when they were introduced in the Monteponi mine, helped to make the work lighter and faster. He wouldn't mind seeing it displayed in a protected area and not exposed to the elements. A machine created to work indoors that ends its "career" outdoors. The most interesting part are the reinforcements made by hand welding along the entire profile of the blade of the shovel. Although not a certainly functional artistic work; this is proof of the mastery and skills that the staff had acquired in working in a mine like this.

Pala da sottosuolo GHH mining machine, quando vennero introdotte nella miniera di Monteponi aiutarono a rendere il lavoro più leggero e veloce. Non sabbe male vederla esposta in una zona protetta e non esposta alle intemperie. Una macchina che nasce per lavorare al chiuso che finisce al sua "carriera" all'aria aperta. La parte più interessante sono i rinforzi realizzati con saldatura a mano lungo tutto il profilo della lama della pala. Seppure non un lavoro artistico sicuramente funzionale; questo a riprova della maestria e delle competenze che il personale aveva acquisito nel lavorare in una miniera come questa.

10,000+ Catnap Hours by David Copley

98 30

Mastery

mastery by Martin Nuernberg

113 3

Gapyeong, Gyeonggi, Corea del Sud by Mauro Astolfi

87 1

Garden of Morning Calm.

Architettura degli alberi e la grande maestria nella loro potatura.

Garden of Morning Calm.

Tree architecture and the great mastery in their pruning.

IMG_1391m

Into the Breach by Courtney Meier

67 26

2021-05-30, Day 1 hiking

A flare of desert light banks off the scalloped walls of Buckskin Gulch and slides into the lower recesses of the slot, losing red tones as it falls, Paria Wilderness, Utah.

Somewhere in this part of the canyon we encountered a young coyote, its body broken apart but still held together by the desiccated, furry skin. It looked forlorn, and somebody had placed a black raven's feather into its bleaching mouth. She held a story, this one.

Once she'd finished whelping, the young coyote pup began feeling restless, her mind focused somewhere beyond the family unit and all she'd ever known. Too, she felt herself growing tired of the obstreperous gamboling and constant intrigue that surrounded her 6 brothers and sisters. She sensed a tolerable mastery of hunting thanks to her devoted parents, and felt reasonably sure she knew how to flush rodents from their burrows well enough that she likely wouldn't starve. Perhaps once night fell she would set off on her own.

Evening gathered, and heat left the desert air with a surprising haste. The red stone and sandy washes, on the other hand, radiated daytime warmth for hours as she found her way out of her natal drainage and worked her way southwest and upslope in the dark toward Wire Pass. She flitted between clumps of Cliff-rose and Snakeweed, following the smells and paths of the rodents that sheltered within the shrubs. She caught a Kangaroo Rat, fat on summer grass seeds, and she felt pleased about the future.

Hoping for a second serving, before morning brought intolerable heat and the necessity of resting in the shade, she kept to the parts of the landscape most dense with vegetation, veering south toward Navajo sandstone, and what smelled perhaps like distant water. She found an eroded breach in the stone and wandered down a steep field of broken rock, dotted with Pinyon, Juniper, Artemisia, and yet more Snakeweed. She neared what seemed like an impossibly narrow cleft in the earth, with a swallowing darkness in the gloaming that kept her from prizing the secrets of its depth.

A scurry near the edge of the abyss caught her attention, and she pounced swiftly and surely into loose soil at the base of an Artemisia, without thinking. Scrabbling quickly, the smells of panicked rodent grew stronger, and she yelped involuntarily with excitement. In a flash she sensed what looked like another exit to the burrow, and she leaped round to pounce again and block an expected attempt at escape. This time, the force of her pounce dislodged some stone unexpectedly, and it broke away, falling into the dark slot. Almost simultaneously, an adjacent stone embraced the lure of gravity, causing her to scramble madly for purchase. It was no use. She felt herself falling and twisting in the air, and then her pelvis struck the wall, breaking, and she landed with a sickening thud on the benign, sandy floor of the slot.

She looked up, unable to move, the light of an incongruous new day just building in the sky. A pair of ravens circled overhead.

Mastery by Mike G

40 1

A Maori carving in the Hamilton Gardens.

Mastery of Fishing by Suzanna Reynolds

32

bumblebee mastery by Jaya

10 1

There's something satisfying about having enough real food for the insects. Letting the biodiversity of the yard go full meadow this year was definitely the way to go, despite my white-bred, lawn-hugger neighbors. I saw at least a 10 fold increase in diversity of insects.

"Mastery In Bronze" by Halvorsong

36 54

Words, sometimes, won't do. www.flickr.com/photos/halvorsong/</a

Yellowlegs In Evening by Matthew Schwartz

54 27

Sometimes you have to push yourself past that point when you feel like giving up. Often, when you think "It's over," "I'm finished," "There's no way," “It won’t work,” but you decide to hang in there anyway and give every last drop of your full potential, you are rewarded.

www.naturephotographymastery.com/

One fine day in April, I got up before sunrise and went out with a specific plan to create an image of a certain subject. After many hours of hard work and effort, I did not succeed. I took a break during the harsh midday sun, and then went out again, at a different location, when the light got better. Again, after much trying, it seemed that I would not succeed.

Still, I refused to give up until I had given 110% effort on every possible opportunity. As the last minutes of light approached, and all seemed hopeless, a sudden turn of events resulted in "the stars aligning.” The light, the subject, and everything else, came together just right, and I gave my final push, physically and mentally, to obtain the image you see here.

I'd like to point out that, after 12 hours of physically and mentally exhausting effort, at two locations, when all seemed hopeless, I used my last reserves of patience and physical energy to push myself to 110% effort, at which point I was finally rewarded with a few awesome images.

Editing disclosure: minor adjustments made to background to reduce distractions

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Bald Eagle - Juvenile, fishing by Matthew Schwartz

50 11

* EBOOK SIGN UP ERROR PROBLEM IS FIXED! *

Grab your FREE 188 page Gear Guide here:

I appreciate all comments, faves, and follows.

Matthew

If you’re interested in nature photography, please check out my youtube channel!

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.. Andrew .. by Fenris V.

143 10

⚜️CREDITS⚜️

On me

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Killdeer Portrait by Matthew Schwartz

44 18

There was a grassy embankment on which this cute Killdeer kept zipping around. It darted here and there, occasionally pausing and making the distinctive Killdeer peeping sounds. Initially it was quite suspicious of me. I slowly made my way to a corner in the embankment wall, backed up against it, kept my face behind the camera to appear less threatening, and waited patiently for the bird to become comfortable with me. After a while, it decided I was not a threat, and continued foraging for worms.

The Killdeer approached so close to me that I was unable to fit the small bird in the frame completely. This was great, because it afforded me the opportunity to do minimal cropping and come up with a beautiful close up portrait.

This story illustrates the importance of understanding animal psychology, respecting their well-being, and being patient.

www.naturephotographymastery.com/

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This image is protected by Copyright, and is not available for ANY use without the explicit written permission of the photographer. Thank you for being respectful of the years of learning and practice, thousands of dollars, and extremely hard work and time I put into creating my fine art images.

Killdeer surveying territory by Matthew Schwartz

43 15

There was a grassy embankment nearby, on which this cute Killdeer kept zipping around. It darted here and there, occasionally pausing and making the distinctive Killdeer peeping sounds.

Because the grassy area was raised up five feet above the sea, I was able to get this “low point of view” without laying on the ground. The Killdeer did make me work for the shots though, because initially it was quite suspicious of me. I slowly made my way to a corner in the embankment wall, backed up against it, then waited patiently for the bird to become comfortable with me. After a while, it decided I was not a threat, and continued foraging for worms.

This story illustrates the importance of understanding animal psychology, respecting their well-being, and being patient.

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...please share them with others who may benefit.

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...............................................................................................................................

This image is protected by Copyright, and is not available for ANY use without the explicit written permission of the photographer. Thank you for being respectful of the years of learning and practice, thousands of dollars, and extremely hard work and time I put into creating my fine art images.

Yellowlegs In Evening by Matthew Schwartz

36 17

Wearing a ghillie suit and laying in rotting mud with the nauseating stench of sewage is not fun, and, oddly, at the same time, it’s a little fun. Oh, what I do for my images!

Editing Disclosure: Very minor tweaks to background.

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