Urban Vegetation (or nature strikes back)
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Generally quite dark compared to other orb web spiders and can be found close to water where their webs are spun on fencing, buildings and bridges and rarely on vegetation. Close to a river near me where I live a river flows under a road in a tunnel these Orbweb spiders can be found and seen in their webs close to the lights that help to light up the pathway where they have the best of both worlds, warmth from the lights where I have even seen the adults spiders here in February with snow outside and plus their prey such as moths and flies are attracted to the lights also. Its amazing to see their webs so close together and not eating each other, nature can be truly amazing at times.
Whinchat - Saxicola Rubetra (M)
The whinchat is a solitary species, favouring open grassy country with rough vegetation and scattered small shrubs. It perches in elevated locations ready to pounce on the insects and other small invertebrates that form its diet. The nest is built by the female on the ground in coarse vegetation, with a clutch of four to seven eggs being laid. The hen incubates the eggs for about thirteen days and then both parents feed the nestlings. Fledging takes place about eighteen days after hatching and the parents continue to feed the young for another fortnight. Moulting takes place in late summer before the migration southwards, and again on the wintering grounds in Africa before the migration northwards in spring. The whinchat is a common species with a wide range and the International Union for Conservation of Nature has classified it as being of least concern.
Fairly common but local summer migrant from winter grounds in Africa. Found in open country on heathland, moorland, rough grassland, often with bracken. Perches atop bushes and on fences, dropping to the ground to feed, where usually hops briefly before flying back up to a perch. Male distinctive, with bold white eyebrow, dark cheeks, and peachy-orange breast. Female duller but with ghosting of male pattern, especially pale eyebrow. In flight shows distinctive white bases to sides of tail.
Die Halbinsel liegt im Osten der portugiesischen Insel Madeira und gilt als regenärmstes Gebiet dort. Hauptsächlich aus Felsen bestehend gibt es dort wenig Vegetation.
Libellule Anax empereur mâle (Anax imperator), Neuchâtel, Suisse.
L’Anax empereur est une libellule commune des plans d’eau de toutes sortes. C’est la plus grande libellule et aussi le plus grand insecte volant d’Europe. Originaire d’Afrique, elle est observable d'avril à octobre en Europe occidentale et centrale. Malheureusement cette libellule a fortement régressé, voir disparu des zones d'agriculture intensive.
Retentiegebied Kristalbad
The area lies in the flow of the Elsbeek, which drains the effluent from the sewage treatment plant in Enschede. The water machine purifies the water from the sewage treatment. The area consists of three sections. Each of these sections is successively filled with water for 4 hours by means of sliding, they are emptied again in 4 hours and they are dry for 4 hours. The sections are shallow and need natural vegetation. The vegetation will then purify the effluent so that the Elsbeek contains more oxygen.
Dusky moorhens
The adult in the foreground was repeatedly showing the youngster how to get a certain weed under the water, immersing its head and bringing up strands of vegetation, but not sharing any of the bounty. The young one was most attentive, watching carefully for quite a while. Then it finally cottoned on and started copying its mentor.
Tour Kieswerk Thönse / 27.05.2018 / Niedersachsen / lower saxony
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Unterordnung Großlibellen (Anisoptera)
Überfamilie Libelluloidea
Familie Segellibellen (Libellulidae)
Unterfamilie: Sympetrinae
Gattung Crocothemis
Art Feuerlibelle
Wissenschaftlicher Name Crocothemis erythraea (Brullé, 1832)
Feuerlibelle
Die Feuerlibelle (Crocothemis erythraea) ist eine ursprünglich vor allem afrikanisch und mediterran verbreitete Libellenart aus der Familie der Segellibellen (Libellulidae), die zu den Großlibellen (Anisoptera) gehören. 2011 wurde sie in Deutschland zur Libelle des Jahres gekürt.
Merkmale
Die reifen Männchen der Feuerlibelle sind signalrot, wobei die Intensität der Rotfärbung offenbar mit der Umgebungstemperatur zusammenhängt. So wirken mitteleuropäische Tiere manchmal bräunlich-rot, anders als in den Mittelmeerländern. Die Weibchen sind ockerfarben bis hellbraun; sie weisen außerdem einen auffälligen hellen Dorsalstrich zwischen den Flügelansätzen auf. Feuerlibellen werden in der Regel zwischen 40 und 45 Millimetern lang. Sie erreichen Flügelspannweiten von 65 bis 70 Millimetern. Bei beiden Geschlechtern befindet sich auf der Basis der Hinterflügel ein deutlicher gelb-oranger Fleck, auf der Basis der Vorderflügel ein kleinerer. Das Pterostigma (Flügelmal) ist gelblich bis braun.
Man kann Feuerlibellen aufgrund der Färbung mit roten Heidelibellen-Arten (Sympetrum spp.) verwechseln, insbesondere mit der Blutroten Heidelibelle. Allerdings unterscheiden sie sich von diesen durch ihren flacheren Hinterleib und ihren relativ großen Körper. Außerdem sind bei den Männchen selbst die Beine rot. Die noch nicht ausgefärbten Imagines und die Weibchen sehen manchen Blaupfeil-Arten (Orthetrum spp.) ähnlich. Im Unterschied zu diesen weisen die Feuerlibellen-Weibchen aber einen ungefähr senkrecht abstehenden Legebohrer auf. Ebenso sieht auch der Gefleckte Sonnenzeiger (Trithemis kirbyi) der Feuerlibelle ähnlich, bei diesem sind allerdings auch die Flügeladern rot gefärbt.
Lebensweise:
Die Art lebt hauptsächlich an stehenden Gewässern, in denen auch die Larvenentwicklung stattfindet. In Mitteleuropa sind dies vor allem Stillgewässer mit einer üppigen Ausstattung an submerser Vegetation, wie z. B. Tausendblatt (Myriophyllum spp.), etwa Altwasser und Sandgrubenweiher. Im wärmeren Mittelmeerraum entwickeln sich die Larven jedoch in fast jedem Stillgewässer bis hin zu kurzlebigen Kleintümpeln.
Die Männchen sitzen gerne am Boden oder in der bodennahen Vegetation. Wie alle Libellen lebt auch diese Art räuberisch und jagt insbesondere kleine Insekten.
Die Paarung wird in wenigen Sekunden im Flug vollzogen. Die Weibchen tauchen die Eier gleich anschließend im Flug mit der Spitze des Hinterleibes ins Wasser, wobei die Eier gerne an flutenden Wasserpflanzen oder Algenwatten abgestreift werden. Dies geschieht oft fern vom Ufer. Die Männchen bewachen die Weibchen dabei nicht.
Verbreitung:
Feuerlibellen sind ursprünglich in den warmen Regionen Südeuropas, Afrikas und Vorderasiens verbreitet. In den 1990er-Jahren hat die Art sich auch nach Süddeutschland ausgebreitet, wo sie mittlerweile nicht selten ist. Die Feuerlibelle erweitert ihr Areal in Mitteleuropa derzeit kontinuierlich weiter und dürfte mittlerweile in fast ganz Deutschland zu finden sein. Die Flugzeit reicht hier von Ende Juni bis Mitte/Ende August, in Südeuropa bei mindestens zwei Generationen vom Mai bis in den Oktober hinein.
Die Feuerlibelle galt vor ihrer in jüngster Zeit zunehmenden Bodenständigkeit in Mitteleuropa als ausgesprochene Wanderlibelle, die in warmen Sommern zahlreich aus dem Mittelmeerraum nach Zentraleuropa einflog. Die Ausdehnung ihres Areals nach Norden wird mit dem Klimawandel in Verbindung gebracht.
Quelle:
This broadleaf water plant is threatening to take over this beautiful pond. It seems like it might be invasive, but I can’t identify it. Are there any landscapers on Flickr who might know the name of this plant.
Update: it was identified as Spatterdock
Mossy Throne - Recently, I had a dream encounter of a Gray Fox kit relaxing in a mossy Bigleaf Maple in the wilderness. Despite seeing several Gray Foxes over the years, I never had the opportunity to photograph kits before, let alone in a tree.
Gray Foxes fascinate me because they are the oldest extant lineage of canid (which means they branched off from other canids the longest time ago). They are not closely related to red foxes and consume more berries/vegetation than their more carnivorous distant relative. They also have several other unique adaptations and behaviors such as semi-retractile claws and tree-climbing.
It was challenging to expose the fox's eyes and avoid blowing the background - but I tried my best to do so real time. Special thanks to a good friend for making this opportunity possible.
Species: Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargentus)
Location: Northern California, CA, USA
Equipment: Canon EOS R5 + EF 100-400mm IS II + EF 1.4x Extender III, Handheld
Settings: 1/200s, ISO: 1600, f/8 @560mm, Electronic Shutter
A decorative seat hidden in the shadows of the tree and the green vegetation ,a place to escape the daily hustle and bustle.
Brazil
Mating for life, pairs of black-capped donacobiuses can be seen frequently and throughout the day atop thickets of dense lakeside or streamside vegetation. They often will engage in antiphonic dueting. Adult offspring will remain with their parents and help raise siblings from subsequent nesting periods in a system of cooperative breeding.
Please, no invitations to award groups or to those with large/animated comment codes.
The band-winged meadowhawk is a dragonfly of the genus Sympetrum belonging to the family Libellulidae. This species is native to Canada and Continental United States, from coast to coast. This dragonfly can be found perched on vegetation along the edges of meadows, in weedy ponds, marshes and lakes, also in the hills or mountains. (Wikipedia)
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The heat of the summer is not good for birding around here, so I like to go out looking for butterflies and dragonflies instead. This day, both were in short supply, but I did find this lovely and very cooperative meadowhawk resting on the railing of a bridge at a local trail.
Stony Swamp, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. August 2024.
The sun does not rise in the Arctic for six weeks, in late November, when there is light, it is a cool light. In this photo, a red fox walks up a small hill with the vegetation covered with a heavy blanket of frost. The fox in the Arctic grow a very thick coat of fur for protection of the harsh environment. Winter starts in late September and ends in late May and often times into mid June.
Ulster heights Lake, NY. Three elements of frozen lake surface, tree reflection and vegetation beneath the ice combine at the edge of a lake.
Smoke on the horizon is from back burning. A method to reduce the amount combustible vegetation on the ground. View of Dales Gorge, Karijini National Park. Its climate can best be described as tropical semi-desert. A highly variable, mainly summer rainfall of 250–350 mm, often associated with thunderstorms and cyclones, is accompanied by temperatures frequently topping 40 degrees Celsius. The ideal times to visit the park are late autumn, winter and early spring. Winter days are warm and clear, but nights are cold and sometimes frosty.
Massive mountains and escarpments rise out of the flat valleys. The high plateau is dissected by breathtaking gorges, and stony, tree-lined watercourses wind their way over the dusty plain. Erosion has slowly carved this landscape out of rocks that are over 2,500 million years old. (information from Explore Parks W.A)
This photograph was taken early this month from the Lower Seletar Reservoir Heritage Bridge looking towards the Orchid Country Club at sunrise.
It was a calm morning, with relatively still water surface of the reservoir. The sun has just arisen above the vegetation. The clouds and cloudlets were illuminated differently and provided contrasting colours and shapes to the beautiful landscape.