Steingeißen direkt neben der Nufenen-Passstraße
Rota Is. This fascinating tree is reputedly the "biggest tree in the Marianas". According to some legends, the Pacific Banyan -- Tronkon Nunu -- is home to ancient Chamorro spirits or taotaomo’na.
Informative article on this species:
https://uk.whales.org/whales-dolphins/species-guide/guiana-dolphin
Western Crested Berrypecker. Photographed at - Lake Habbema, West Papua, Indonesia 0n 13 October 2016. Stunningly attractive...
"It's all in the approach" An Anna's Hummingbird - (Calypte anna), flying sideways, between two Candelabra Aloe blooms.
Approx. 20 individuals (no young)
Weather: cloudy, snow limit low for Mid-July, as well as temperature about 5°C
First observation of 2024. Birch trees under some amazing Aurora borealis !
Pour la beauté
Ciconia ciconia are no longer migrating to warmer areas during the winter.
Observation at the same location with negative temperatures:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/197153574
With Ardea cinerea in the background: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/198502100
Very docile, once they settled down. Tended to drop to the ground if disturbed (perhaps a defense mechanism against bats?), but happy to perch on a finger. Picked this one up and placed on this leaf for a nice photo op. Wingspan 8 cm.
If séculaire du cimetière de Lalacelle (61)
https://www.monumentaltrees.com/fr/fra/orne/lalacelle/2782_leglise/
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q106111762
https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/4783402443
Very impressive beech trees, which are several hundred years old. They are the remains of an old "Hutewald" - an agroforestry system fostering widely spaced oak and beech trees to produce acorns and beechnuts, which in turn fatten wild boar in autumn.
Some of them seemed to grow like Ficus bengalensis: branches bending down to the ground, re-rooting, and from there growing into another beech tree.
Check out these links (in German):
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urwald_Sababurg
www.nabu-hofgeismar.de/altkreis-hog/reinhardswald/urwald
www.nw-fva.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Sachgebiet/Waldnaturschutz_Naturwald/Jahrbuch10Urwald.pdf
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0418.1963.tb02901.x
I've rarely seem impressive oak trees like these, which are supposedly between 500 and 800 years old. They are the remains of an old "Hutewald" - an agroforestry system fostering widely spaced oaks to produce acorns, which in turn fatten wild boar in autumn.
Check out these links (in German):
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Urwald_Sababurg
www.nabu-hofgeismar.de/altkreis-hog/reinhardswald/urwald
www.nw-fva.de/fileadmin/user_upload/Sachgebiet/Waldnaturschutz_Naturwald/Jahrbuch10Urwald.pdf
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1439-0418.1963.tb02901.x
AKA Common Bluewing. I believe this is the only Zenithoptera that occurs in Costa Rica.
Chataignier de Zonza (Corse-du-Sud).
https://www.monumentaltrees.com/fr/fra/corsedusud/zonza/4500_surlarouteducoldebavella600m/
Cardinal getting territorial with itself in this mirror. It was doing the same thing last week too. It spends a not-insignificant amount of time battling itself.
What caught my attention is that huge pair of eyes staring at me like an Owl.!!
They were restless, flying from one plant to another...
I witnessed this scene for at least 5 mins before they flew into a thicket...
I was lucky to get this shot.
The plain is flooded since weeks (fall especially rainy), and now it's frozen ...
Grand Ried d´Alsace, relevant bird migration area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ried_(natural_region)
1449 Copied from an old slide. Date is accurate from my diary.