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Justification of Red List category
This species is listed as Critically Endangered because its population has undergone a very rapid reduction, for reasons that are poorly understood but are likely to be at least partly due to hunting along the migration flyway; this decline is projected to continue and increase in the future. Fieldwork in Kazakhstan (and counts in Turkey and the Middle East) has shown the population to be substantially larger than previously feared, but recent demographic studies have found low adult survival, possibly largely driven by hunting pressure along the migration routes and wintering grounds.
By Jim Lawrence
BirdLife International, RSPB (BirdLife in the UK) and leading optics manufacturer Swarovski Optik have just launched a remarkable new interactive website The Amazing Journey which charts the migration of one of the world’s most threatened birds - Sociable Lapwing. The new website enables you to experience the birds' migration online and witness new discoveries as they happen. It also provides support to a large team of international scientists who are trying to prevent the species from becoming extinct. Following extensive research, nine Sociable Lapwings have been carefully fitted with tiny, state-of-the-art satellite transmitters, which will track their hazardous 5,000+ km journey from their breeding grounds in Kazakhstan to their non breeding areas in tropical Africa and other, as yet undiscovered, destinations. The Amazing Journey follows the adventures of Erzhan, Dinara, Svetlana and six other intrepid satellite-tagged lapwings as they fly south for the winter - dodging hunters with guns and falcons and the myriad other unknown threats that await them. Andreas Pittl – Head of the Nature Division at Swarovski said, “This is a hugely important and fascinating project which Swarovski Optik is proud to champion. Wildlife is threatened with extinction for many reasons so finding ways to help such a beautiful and inspiring creature as the Social Lapwing is an important conservation effort we are keen to support. We want to bring people and nature together so they can continue to enjoy brilliant, close-up views of birds like these for years to come.” Designed by online marketing experts Digital Spring, The Amazing Journey uses satellite data fed through Google map technology to keep pace with the birds. A mixture of clever, regularly updated maps and video and photo blog reports from the field will follow their progress. Relatively little is still known about the routes Sociable Lapwings take, so tracking them will provide vital information, enabling BirdLife scientists to monitor and protect the birds and unlock the mystery of their migration. Now, for the first time, those interested in birds, wildlife and conservation can sit alongside scientists, and learn about these extraordinary birds, their migration habits and their conservation. Dr. Paul Donald, the project’s Principal Conservation Scientist at RSPB said, “We are using the world’s smallest and latest satellite transmitter – weighing just 5 grams – to record this amazing journey. By engaging with people around the world and inviting them to see this fascinating migration happening live online we believe we can inspire them to play their part too.” As the Sociable Lapwings progress along a lengthy route through various countries they need to stop every now and again to ‘refuel’ along the way. As they do so they form big feeding flocks (which is how they get their name). Whenever they touch down, precise details of their location are picked up by satellites orbiting high overhead and sent to RSPB scientists. These locations are then passed on to conservation project partners in each of the countries the birds travel through. With detailed coordinates they can quickly locate the flocks of birds, wherever they’ve touched down and take action if they are threatened in any way. The Amazing Journey website will provide regular reports from these scientists in the field keeping us up to date with all the latest news on the birds’ progress. Jim Lawrence, Preventing Extinction Programme Manager at BirdLife International said, “Protecting migratory species on the brink of extinction like Sociable Lapwings can’t be done without the considerable support of BirdLife Species Champions like Swarovski and RSPB. The Amazing Journey website is a new window on our world where you can see BirdLife International Partners around the globe delivering co-ordinated international conservation solutions.” Main photo credit Maxim Koshkin - Conservation Project Leader ACBK.
Everyday, we have some Water monitor (Varanus salvator) coming to the staff canteen to get some scraps of food dropped (not always by accident) by the staff eating there. As they are used to our presence, they are easy enough to approach and observe. It took the opportunity today to capture a nice portrait of one of them, more than a meter long, that came very close. Of course, it wouldn't be the same without its tongue out.
Canyonlands National Park
Pentax 645N II
Pentax smc FA 645 75mm f/2.8
Kodak Ektar 100
Epson Perfection V550 Photo
The Nile monitor is a large member of the monitor family found throughout most of Sub-Saharan Africa and along the Nile. The population of West Africa forests and savannahs is sometimes recognized as a separate species, the West African Nile monitor. Wikipedia
PENTAX K-1 • Crop Mode • 400 ISO • HD Pentax DA 560mm F5.6 ED AW
Field Flare • Grive litorne • Wacholderdrossel • Turdus pilaris • Jhackert
It's time for his second vaccination shot and we had to make sure he's ready for it. He's well ahead of the general 100-grams-per-week rule so he'll be paying his second visit to the vets tonight. The progress in his interaction with Pip, Pebbel and Poeka is slow but noticeable. He wants to play with them so badly that he often charges into them and is then told off in a very clear way.
A Gould's monitor at the Brevard Zoo in Melbourne, Florida.
See a related video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r7g5mQntks
Mertens water monitor is a medium- to largesized (total length up to 1 m) semi-aquatic monitor, dark brown to black on the back with numerous small dark-edged cream or yellow spots. #D500
www.etsy.com/listing/505015395/bjd-monitor-set?ref=shop_h...
Twitter : @pepepemiko
Site : studioinsert.com
Botswana 2015 - Moremi Game Reserve.
Many thanks for the faves and comments, they are all very much appreciated.
Lizards in general look prehistoric to me, but the rock monitor looks like a smallish dinosaur. The reddish coloration on this lizard is from iron oxide found in the soil in Tsavo National Park.
A lovely encounter with a monitor lizard on the banks of the river in Gorongosa.
#wildcamp #gorongosa #gorongosanationalpark #M#wildcamp #gorongosa #gorongosanationalpark #M#gorongosaozambique
#monitorlizard #reptilesofinstagram
#endangeredspecies #wildography #wildlifepics #wildgeography #africanamazing #natgeoafrica #instaafrica #africansafari #africanwildlife #amazingafrica #wildlifeconservation #pictussafaris
I was looking for a more elegant/delicate pedestal for a monitor/TV, because I didn't like the ones I had and came up with these ideas.
May 20, 2017
This water beetle skating around low on the water's surface reminded me of images I had seen of early iron-clad warships of the US Civil War, Monitor and Merrimack.
Brewster, Massachusetts
Cape Cod - USA
Photo by brucetopher
© Bruce Christopher 2017
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...always learning - critiques welcome.
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Monitor lizards have a massive body and powerful legs. Most species have strong claws on their feet, and all but the largest monitors can climb well. The tail is long and powerful, usually about twice as long as the body, and can be flailed as a potent weapon. Monitors grow throughout their life, so the oldest individuals in a population are also the largest ones.
Monitors have a long, specialized tongue with a bifurcated tip that is highly sensitive to smell and taste. The tongue is extended to pick up scent chemicals, and is then retracted into the mouth where the scents are analyzed using an organ on the roof of the mouth.
Monitor lizards grow replacement teeth in the gaps between their mature teeth. They have at least 29 vertebrae above their hips. Nine of these are neck vertebrae, supporting the unusually long neck of these lizards. Their powerful jaws are hinged in the middle, allowing them to swallow large prey. The head of monitors is tapered, and there are distinct ear holes.
Monitors are active predators, hunting during the day. They stalk a wide range of animals and eat carrion and eggs as well. Monitors ingest their prey whole if it is small enough, but they can also dismember large prey items so they can be swallowed.
Monitors, like all lizards, are poikilothermic or “cold-blooded.” They are most energetic after they have been heated by the morning sun, since their muscles work much more efficiently and easily when they are warm. Monitors can run quickly to chase down prey. When doing so they lift their body and tail clear off the ground.
Monitors also swim well, and may seek water as a refuge when threatened. They can walk underwater, and can use their tongue to smell underwater.
When threatened, monitors can be formidably aggressive animals. They can inflict painful bites and scratches, and the largest species are capable of killing a human. However, monitors can be readily tamed in captivity.
The Bengal monitor (Varanus bengalensis) or common Indian monitor, is a monitor lizard found widely distributed over the Indian Subcontinent, as well as parts of Southeast Asia and West Asia. This large lizard is mainly terrestrial, and its length can range from about 61 to 175 cm from the tip of the snout to the end of the tail. Young monitors may be more arboreal, but adults mainly hunt on the ground, preying mainly on arthropods, but also taking small terrestrial vertebrates, ground birds, eggs and fish.
"Varanus bengalensis is mainly found in the lowland dry zone of the Sri Lanka, but reaches elevations of ca. 500m. It is one of the most widely distributed of the living varanids. It inhabit a large range of habitats ranging from arid desert fringes to rainforests, but is most common in farmlands (particularly the coconut plantations) and dry, open forests. Land monitors reach a maximum snout to vent length of about 140 cm in Sri Lanka and large specimens can weigh over 10 kg. Land monitors spend the nights in burrows, where their body temperature decreases. The following morning they must raise their body temperatures by basking before commencing activity, hence they are rarely active early in the morning. Younger Land monitors frequent the vicinity of rivers, and that adults are found in drier forest, scrublands and grasslands unlike the water monitors which do not usually venture far from the water. They are excellent climbers. Even large adults can ascend vertical tree trunks with ease, and they are reported to be agile enough to stalk and capture even roosting bats. Despite their large size, these lizards get most of their nutrition from tiny prey and feed mainly on beetles, grubs, orthopterans, scorpions, snails, ants and other small invertebrates, which are consumed in enormous numbers. Hence they are important biological controllers of agricultural pests."-http://www.srilankanreptiles.com/TetrapodReptiles/Varanidae.html