Indian jumping ants have ability to shrink brain and re-grow it — study
Indian jumping ants have ability to shrink brain and re-grow it — study
Colony does not perish when queen dies as ‘chosen’ workers shrink brains and expand their ovaries
Few species in the animal kingdom can change the size of their brain. Fewer still can change it back to its original size. Now researchers have found the first insect species with that ability: Indian jumping ants.
They are like catnip to researchers in the field. In contrast to their cousins, Indian…
Birdwatch: Leach’s petrel, a storm-driven visitor wrecked on our shore
Birdwatch: Leach’s petrel, a storm-driven visitor wrecked on our shore
The sooty-black seabird should have been far out in the North Atlantic at this time of year
The wind had dropped a little, but still made my eyes water, and I was finding it hard to hold my binoculars steady. Gulls strained to stop themselves being blown backwards, while flocks of wigeon hunkered down on the river’s surface.
And then we caught sight of it. A sooty-black bird with a white rump,…
Should the EU enforce the ban on the trapping of songbirds?
Should the EU enforce the ban on the trapping of songbirds?
After two hours of scouring the mountains of Brescia, Stefania Travaglia finally finds what she is looking for. Among the remote farmhouses of an alpine hamlet, a spring-net trap is partially hidden behind a grassy embankment and a few trees. Tangled in the wire mesh, an exhausted fieldfare thrush sits silent and unmoving. Travaglia sets […]
The post Should the EU enforce the ban on the trapping…
भारत रत्न #डॉ_बाबासाहेब_आंबेडकर को उनकी जयंती पर शत-शत नमन .
I bow to the great Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on #AmbedkarJayanti. #มีล่า #yasaklar #persconferentie #dogecoin #Survivor2021 #Deprem #leonardolaserie #RamadanKareem #firstanuwat #wednesdaythought #COVID19
Country diary: a pair of blackbirds has moved in by the kitchen window
Country diary: a pair of blackbirds has moved in by the kitchen window
Sandy, Bedfordshire: I have a sink-side view of the nest, and for the next few months we will be tenement-close neighbours
An underemployed male blackbird is perched at the top of the hedge, not singing, not feeding, not pecking the hell out of another male. Just watching. Down in the garden below, his mate is working her beak off.
Caution is a winter word to her, such is the strength of her…
God
Knows birds
And wild animals
They are all His
Forever
I know all the birds of the mountains, And the wild beasts of the field are Mine. Psalm 50:11
Ceramic Tile
by MyCreatorsCreation
https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/female-cardinal-leans-receive-seed-male-1952931346
Noisy environments can have detrimental effect on plants, study finds
Noisy environments can have detrimental effect on plants, study finds
Persistent noise from natural gas wells in New Mexico disrupted birds that feed on and distribute pinyon seeds
As humans proliferate, we have penetrated deeper into wildlife habitats, creating a pervasive rise in environmental sound with our gadgets, traffic and industry. A growing body of research has shown how noise pollution adversely affects animal behaviour – but a study suggests the…
13/04/2021-Red Kite, first ducklings of the year and other spring scenes at Lakeside and memorable evening sky
I took the first picture in this photoset of the view from my room as I worked earlier. I loved getting a cracking view of a Red Kite or the Red Kite as there seems to be one around a lot in the spring time so its very likely the same one flying through the scene visible from my room, getting mobbed as it went. It was spectacular and really pleased me to see it and make out its famous features so well. It flew a lot lower than it might normally, although there was that special moment one of my moments of the year in mid-March when I stepped out the door for my walk just as one whizzed right over my head, and lower than the Buzzards also a regular pair of birds I think which I saw yesterday. A great week for raptors and birds generally out the window as I’ve worked this week, which alongside the light and some darker green shades all around I think is really contributing to me feeling a lot like I did a year ago during the start of my working from home days when I think I did take a lot of optimism even in the most difficult of times for everyone when it was great to really notice everything around me in nature and focus so much so its a time I interestingly look back fondly on. I didn’t know I was going to get this welcome nostalgia triggered by the simply look of the landscape, wildlife seen and generally what I am seeing and photographing.
I took the second, third and fourth pictures in this photoset of views including a tree in blossom and a tree further on in its journey really green going down the northern path. I loved taking in that delicious mostly light but sometimes dark green scenery which I love of a spring glowing in the sunshine yet again.
Coming into this year with the focus of me coming to Lakeside every day I had come to appreciate the beauty in the bare branches, especially with raindrops glistening in the sun resting on them. Then the catkins turned everything a nice maybe more faint green. Then the mostly white but some pink blossom set the landscape ablaze with colour. And now the green is starting to carpet the landscape and it will only get greener from here on in. I have adored taking in this stunning scenery as spring emerged bit by bit and having that focus of coming every day to be able to notice it gradually coming and I have found it so powerful. I found out on Twitter earlier that it is international plant appreciation day so it was good to enjoy these trees on this day.
I had a brief look at the westernmost lake where I was delighted to spot something else that helped make my spring and early working from home days last year when I was thrilled to spot with a female Mallard two adorable ducklings swimming behind it in the middle of the lake. I took the fifth picture in this photoset with my big lens stretching a little to get the shot, then they swam to the western side of the lake and I managed to get along here and was thrilled to see them a bit more closely. I took the sixth picture in this photoset of them here, and it marked not only my first ducklings of the year which is very exciting but its my first young birds seen this year all together which is a smashing part of spring and something I am so thrilled about. It really did make me happy seeing these Mallards, and a Mallard flew nicely over as I got to the shore of the lake and also as I walked through the estate getting back home some were flying over too which was interesting. I got a glimpse of the Great Crested Grebe on the nest beside the path on this lake too it still seems to be going well for them. I also got another top view and it was brilliant to hear it so clearly of a Blackcap down the northern path on the way back. I took the seventh picture in this photoset of a scene dominated by blossom on the way out of Lakeside after another lovely lunch time walk there.
It was a brilliant showing for the sky as the sun went down this evening I saw some brilliant pre-sunset skies and enjoyed taking a few pictures of the interesting scenes including the final three pictures in this photoset. The last one I took from the middle level of the house where I don’t usually take them as its usually my room on the top level where you can get a greater view over everything. So it was good that I was able to see the sun shining down nicely from the middle too.
Wildlife Sightings Summary: One of my favourite birds the Great Crested Grebe, Mallard, Coot, Canada Goose, Greylag Goose, Black-headed Gull, Starling, House Sparrow, Feral Pigeon, Woodpigeon, Jackdaw, Blackbird and Blackcap.
