Orchid Niche
View allAll Photos Tagged niche
The sixteenth-century wing overlooks via della Mercanzia, with the façade entirely covered with frescoes by Raimondo Sirotti that follow those made at the beginning of the twentieth century by Ludovico Pogliaghi, who in turn had rebuilt, reinterpreting them, the original ones of the Tavarone.
The painted decoration of the facade reproduces a marble cladding with ashlar on the ground floor and pilasters that divide the façade into three sections. In the center of the façade, above the imposing marble entrance portal, stands the polychrome figure depicting St. George on horseback killing the dragon, a recurring image in numerous portals of the buildings of the historic center: in the Middle Ages the saint was in fact considered the very symbol of Republic. The subject was freely interpreted by Sirotti in 1990, having disappeared all traces of the seventeenth-century original. On the sides, from left to right, six bronze statues are painted inside false niches, depicting some historical figures of the Republic: the annalist Caffaro, the "Prince" Andrea Doria, the doge Simone Boccanegra (according to some the painting would instead depict the founder of the palace, Guglielmo Boccanegra), the crusader leader Guglielmo Embriaco known as "Head of a mallet", the navigator Christopher Columbus and finally the admiral Benedetto Zaccaria.
The decoration is completed by the figures of Janus and Neptune, also in fake bronze, and the coat of arms of the "Conservatori del Mare", the body in charge of governing the port at the time of the Republic of Genoa. The facade culminates with the clock tower.
Le tarier pâtre niche dans divers milieux de landes et de prés ainsi que dans les friches ou en marge des cultures. Dans certaines régions, on le trouve dans les clairières, sur les pentes buissonneuses des montagnes, parmi les dunes et le long des plages. Trois conditions sont requises : le tarier pâtre doit disposer de végétation basse pour nicher, de perchoirs pour chasser et de postes plus élevés pour surveiller son domaine et se lancer dans les vols nuptiaux. En France, le tarier pâtre niche à travers l'ensemble du pays dans les différents milieux signalés précédemment, mais en hiver, il se tient surtout dans l'ouest et dans le sud, notamment le long des côtes.
**********************************************************
The Stonemite suckers nest in various heathland and meadow habitats as well as in the wastelands or on the margins of crops. In some areas it is found in clearings, on mountainous slopes, among dunes and along beaches. Three conditions are required: Stonechat must have low vegetation for nesting, roosts to hunt and higher positions to monitor its area and engage in bridal flights. In France, Stonechat has nested throughout the country in the various environments previously reported, but in winter, it is mainly found in the west and in the south, especially along the coast.
Le guêpier est un oiseau très coloré : son dos est de couleur brune et jaune et son ventre ainsi que sa queue tirent sur le vert et le bleu. Sa gorge est jaune vif et se décolore en blanc jusqu'à ses joues et son front. Un masque noir entoure ses deux yeux rouges et prolonge son bec noir légèrement incurvé. Sa taille est à peu près celle d'un merle, soit 28 centimètres environ. C'est en général au mâle d'arborer les couleurs les plus vives, surtout en plumage nuptial, contrairement à la femelle et aux juvéniles. Cet oiseau, assez craintif, vient nicher en France en été où il se reproduit avant de repartir pour l'Afrique vers la fin août / début septembre. Grâce à l'augmentation des températures, sa niche tend à non plus se limiter au sud de la France, mais à remonter vers le nord. Grégaire, les colonies atteignent le plus souvent la vingtaine ou trentaine d'individus et les familles restent solidaires et se préviennent mutuellement en cas de danger. En France, le guêpier s'installe à proximité des cours d'eau dans des milieux assez ouverts mais contrairement à nombre d'oiseaux, il niche au sol, dans des talus de terre meuble ou artificielle. Il y creuse alors son nid avec son bec, progressivement usé, de sorte à offrir une cavité de 1 à 2 mètres de long. Près de 10kg de terre sont évacués du nid pour sa construction !
Image prise en milieu naturel et depuis la portière de la voiture équipée du filet de camouflage .
*******************************************************************
The bee-eater is a very colorful bird: its back is brown and yellow in color and its belly and tail are green and blue. Her throat is bright yellow and fades white down to her cheeks and forehead. A black mask surrounds its two red eyes and extends its slightly curved black beak. Its size is about that of a blackbird, about 28 centimeters. It is generally the male to display the brightest colors, especially in breeding plumage, unlike the female and juveniles. This rather fearful bird comes to nest in France in summer where it reproduces before leaving for Africa towards the end of August / beginning of September. Thanks to the increase in temperatures, its niche tends not to be limited to the south of France, but to move up towards the north. Gregarious, the colonies usually reach about twenty or thirty individuals and families remain united and warn each other in case of danger. In France, the bee-eater settles near watercourses in fairly open environments, but unlike many birds, it nests on the ground, in banks of loose or artificial soil. It then digs its nest there with its beak, gradually worn out, so as to offer a cavity 1 to 2 meters long. Almost 10kg of soil are evacuated from the nest for its construction!
Image taken in a natural environment and from the car door fitted with the camouflage net.
Le deuxième petit quelques instants après sa sortie du trou.
Il fait connaissance avec le monde extérieur.
Parc Angrignon, Montréal, Qué.
DSC_0672_DT_lzn
'an interesting groove i find myself in - fits me rather neatly, doesn't it? in fact it fits me staggeringly well, must have been made to have me in it!'
- paraphrasing douglas adams, 11 march 1952 – 11 may 2001
The little white painted “Glenlyon Church” built in 1828 stands in the tiny hamlet of Innerwick, about half way along the 34 mile length of Glen Lyon. Within the porch of the church in a niche sits “St. Adomnan’s Bell”, named after Adomnan the Abbot of Iona from 679 to 704 who visited Glen Lyon on a number of occasions en route from Iona to the Pictish kingdom of Atholl in Perthshire. The13inch tall bell dates from around 700s and for centuries lay undiscovered in the graveyard of the now ruined St. Brandon’s Church in Glen Lyon.
[Enlarge and look around this micro ecosystem.]
Tomorrow we will conclude this series of infrared photographs from the Cataract Gorge in Launceston. I've been wanting to show some of the different ways infrared can add to our appreciation of the natural environment. This photograph in particular highlights the way living plants manage to secure a foothold in the cracks on ancient dolerite rock. This is their habitat, and we should always remember to walk carefully in such places.
The window in the oddly constructed niche in the side of the building is real, the rest is OPA.
_DSF2991
Often unnoticed, along pavement edges and in the cracks between paving stones these red leafed yellow flowers are increasingly common. The yellow flowers are only millimetres across. I am not sure what they are but they have exploited a niche and in some streets are the dominant pavement crack flora. I have a suspicion that these little plants are yellow wood sorrel.
A homeless person sleeping in the shelter of a hotel. How long before he or she was moved on.
If they didn't stir too much they might have a chance at some quality sleep. A good spot mostly out of the elements. It just looked strange to see the people eating and drinking in the cafe and centimeters away a person is trying to rest living on the edge.
IMG_0042WC3
madame petit gravelot au nid
Le dimorphisme sexuel est faible. La femelle a du brun qui s'insinue dans le noir, particulièrement au niveau des couvertures auriculaires, le cercle oculaire jaune moins épais et les pattes plus ternes.
Le mâle visite plusieurs sites de nidification potentiels dans des endroits différents et la femelle choisit celui qui lui convient le mieux. Elle l'entoure de galets, d'éclats de coquillage ou de brins d'herbe, puis elle pond 4 œufs jaune-sable tachés de brun-noir. Les deux adultes se relaient pour couver à intervalles variant de quelques minutes à plusieurs heures. L'incubation dure 22 à 26 jours. les poussins éclosent de façon synchrone, couvert d'un duvet cryptique où se dessine déjà le collier blanc de l'espèce. Les adultes s'en occupent pendant trois semaines, jusqu'à l'envol. Certains couples, en particulier ceux qui vivent dans le sud de l'aire, ont le temps d'élever une seconde nichée.
In my neck of the woods, summers are brown, and winters are green. This little green niche is a lovely spot down by the creek.
A peaceful stroll around Lac Blanc, nestled in the heart of the Vosges. Fresh snow blankets the peaks, having just fallen, still pristine. A true delight to wander through, to hear the soft crunch underfoot, and to give in to the urge to press the shutter. ❄️
Déambulation tranquille autour du Lac Blanc, niché au cœur des Vosges. La neige fraîche recouvre les sommets. Elle vient de tomber, immaculée encore. Un vrai plaisir de s’y promener, de laisser ses pas crisser sur le manteau blanc et de céder à l’envie d’appuyer sur le déclencheur. ❄️
Almost hidden from view, these li'l guys seemed to have just the right amount of sun and shade and moisture and... whatever else they needed to thrive.
Update: Thanks to [https://www.flickr.com/photos/gaphiker] for identifying these as Yellow Pine-saps, which apparently are parasitic and just darned well take whatever they need to thrive. Puts a different spin on things, doesn't it?
----------------------------
Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media
without my explicit permission.
© All rights reserved
----------------------------
Killdeer thrive in what looks to most humans like fairly inhospitable environments. So many critters have their own unique niche.
General Watkins Conservation Area
Benton Missouri
I often see moss growing along paths in the forest I visit. I suppose our constant trampling makes it difficult for other forms of life to take hold. Moss being an opportunist as most living things are, has found a niche filling in where other living things could not.
i went to the philippine international convention center today to register for tomorrow's medical convention and it's a good thing i brought my camera with me! the place had several tall plumeria trees all abloom! took some shots and then noticed that the blooms fall on a beautiful carpet of this creeping green plant! i saw this particular white and yellow bloom against the lush greenery with a bit of ray of light just shining on it. perfect for my artwork today!
your photos are awesome my friends! i tried to see as much as i could tonight and it's finally bedtime! lol! i am on the computer for 4 hours now!!!
good night and sweet dreams!
good day to the other side of the world!
© All Rights Reserved Please don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without my explicit permission
see on fluidr: www.fluidr.com/photos/msdonnalee or click L to view on flickr black
The brutalist concrete architecture includes shadow boxes for displays. Here a spring bouquet of white flowers with their young green foliage show well in this natural frame. HGGT
La mésange bleue se reproduit d'avril à juillet et peut avoir une à deux couvées de 5 à 12 œufs, généralement mouchetés de roux. L'incubation dure 13 à 16 jours. Dans la nature elle utilise les cavités naturelles (trous, crevasses et cavités des arbres) et dans les jardins elle a besoin d'un nichoir fermé. C'est l'un des oiseaux qui utilisent souvent les nichoirs. Elle construit un nid en forme de cuvette assez lâche fait d'herbes, de plumes et de mousse. Le succès des nichées est moins grand dans des zones habitées, même si leurs couvées sont plus restreintes pour compenser le peu de nourriture disponible. Il est possible que les Mésanges bleues adoptent les nichoirs parce que les meilleurs sites de nidification sont occupés par les Mésanges charbonnières dominantes. Seule la femelle couve mais le mâle la nourrit pendant cette période. Les deux parents s'occupent du nourrissage des jeunes. La fréquence de nourrissage quotidienne est entre 264 et 573 nourrissages. Les oisillons quittent le nid au bout de 18 à 21 jours et s'émancipent après 4 semaines. Le taux de survie des adultes est de 30 %.
Image prise depuis la tente affût et dans un milieu naturel .
Kestrel - Falco tinnunculus (Male)
The common kestrel (Falco tinnunculus) is a bird of prey species belonging to the kestrel group of the falcon family Falconidae. It is also known as the European kestrel, Eurasian kestrel, or Old World kestrel. In Britain, where no other kestrel species occurs, it is generally just called "the kestrel".
This species occurs over a large range. It is widespread in Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as occasionally reaching the east coast of North America.
Kestrels can hover in still air, even indoors in barns. Because they face towards any slight wind when hovering, the common kestrel is called a "windhover" in some areas.
Unusual for falcons, plumage often differs between male and female, although as is usual with monogamous raptors the female is slightly larger than the male. This allows a pair to fill different feeding niches over their home range. Kestrels are bold and have adapted well to human encroachment, nesting in buildings and hunting by major roads. Kestrels do not build their own nests, but use nests built by other species.
Their plumage is mainly light chestnut brown with blackish spots on the upperside and buff with narrow blackish streaks on the underside; the remiges are also blackish. Unlike most raptors, they display sexual colour dimorphism with the male having fewer black spots and streaks, as well as a blue-grey cap and tail. The tail is brown with black bars in females, and has a black tip with a narrow white rim in both sexes. All common kestrels have a prominent black malar stripe like their closest relatives.
The cere, feet, and a narrow ring around the eye are bright yellow; the toenails, bill and iris are dark. Juveniles look like adult females, but the underside streaks are wider; the yellow of their bare parts is paler. Hatchlings are covered in white down feathers, changing to a buff-grey second down coat before they grow their first true plumage.
Data from Britain shows nesting pairs bringing up about 2–3 chicks on average, though this includes a considerable rate of total brood failures; actually, few pairs that do manage to fledge offspring raise less than 3 or 4. Compared to their siblings, first-hatched chicks have greater survival and recruitment probability, thought to be due to the first-hatched chicks obtaining a higher body condition when in the nest. Population cycles of prey, particularly voles, have a considerable influence on breeding success. Most common kestrels die before they reach 2 years of age; mortality up until the first birthday may be as high as 70%. At least females generally breed at one year of age; possibly, some males take a year longer to maturity as they do in related species. The biological lifespan to death from senescence can be 16 years or more, however; one was recorded to have lived almost 24 years.
Population:
UK breeding:
46,000 pairs