If we're looking for peaceful, these Buddhas carved into the mountainside at the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang in Henan Province, P.R.C. haven't moved an inch in more than a thousand years.
Silver Springs and the five-mile-long Silver River are much like stepping back thousands of years in time. One spring alone produces 550,000 gallons of spring water a day and the area is teaming with all types of wildlife.
When I canoe through the springs and down the river I often think of my ancestors that have lived in this area for over 12,000 years and wonder what they felt when they saw the manatee, a most gentle creature that inhabits the area.
Major corporations are trying to buy up the springs for their bottled water. The last few years Florida and its citizens have refused to allow anyone access to our springs.
Here is a very short video of my Iwagumi style aquarium.
I'll be adding additional stone to the right side of this aquarium over the weekend. Either this weekend or next weekend I'll be moving the fish to the 75g, but the cherry shrimp will stay here.
I have a new project for a sweet lady that came into the office and saw my office tank. I'll be setting up a simple standard 20g Betta tank for her over the next few weeks.
It is called Ghost Train by Yarin Primak - I paid a year subscription for royalty free music and other "creator" content use stuff. I'd like to get to a point where I can make several videos and schedule them to come out every couple of weeks. I'd only do it if I can get, and stay, at least 6 months ahead. I have to learn the editing software and get someone to help with the filming to do this too.
The house wrens returned on Wednesday, and with no delay went straight to building nests.
Mourning dove.
Cottontail.
Gray squirrel.
Here's the setup for this summer's bird watering station. I've had some extra paving stones on hand for years, and I finally figured out a good use for them. That's a brown-headed cowbird on the fountain. They returned a few weeks ago.
Beautiful, Dig. You know I love the birds. We've had a lot of snow melt and localized flooding around. No green lawns yet, but then I don't normally have to mow until mid-May anyway. The robins, starlings and grackles are all showing up now.
I was just going to say that if you like birdhouses, and you have house wrens around, then you're almost guaranteed to get them in one of those hanging wren houses. No hassle putting up a pole or nailing it to a tree, and they take to them readily.
Their song is boisterous and entertaining, and they'll eat a HUGE amount of bugs from your yard when they're feeding chicks, especially spiders.
I only have the one apple tree and one cherry in the yard. We’ve been thinking of adding something in the back to attract more birds.
You don't necessarily even need a tree for the hanging wren houses. The wren picture above is of one hanging from the eave of my front porch, only about 10 feet from the front door. You can put those things almost anywhere and get wrens in them.
But if you want to attract lots of different birds, the best bet would probably be a birdbath with some way to move the water around, like a bubbler or even a little fountain. I'm still new to the fountain thing, but the one I made last year has proven to be a serious attractor. I only used a 3 watt pump in it, so the electric cost is barely even noticeable.
I was going to make a YouTube video showing how to make that fountain, but I used a nozzle that came with a solar pump that I already had and couldn't find an individual one like it on Amazon to link people to, and with an incomplete parts list I couldn't really make a very good how-to video, so I ended up not doing it.
An aggressive defender of its nest, the Brown Thrasher is known to strike people and dogs hard enough to draw blood.
Brown Thrashers are accomplished songsters that may sing more than 1,100 different song types and include imitations of other birds, including Chuck-will’s-widows, Wood Thrushes, and Northern Flickers.
At least one early naturalist thought the Brown Thrasher’s song was underappreciated, writing “Much of the [acclaim] which has fallen to the Mockingbird is really due to the unperceived efforts of the Brown Thrasher. It is the opinion of many ornithologists that the song… is richer, fuller, and definitely more melodious than that of polyglottis” (the Northern Mockingbird).
Both males and females help incubate the eggs and feed the young. Nestlings sometimes leave the nest fully feathered within nine days of hatching—earlier than either of their smaller relatives, the Northern Mockingbird and Gray Catbird. Shrubby habitats are popular hideouts for nest predators, which may explain why the thrashers fledge so quickly for birds of their size.
Brown Thrashers are the largest common host of parasitic Brown-headed Cowbirds. The thrashers do put up some resistance, often rejecting cowbird eggs that are laid in their nests.
The Brown Thrasher is considered a short-distance migrant, but two individuals have been recorded in Europe: one in England and another in Germany.
The oldest Brown Thrasher on record was at least 10 years, 11 months old. It was found in Florida in 1978 where it was banded in 1967.
It's amazing that you have so many hanging out on rooftops in a populated area. All the eagles I've ever seen seemed to be really people shy. They were all in wild areas though, where they wouldn't be used to seeing people, so that might be why.
We normally get smaller ones in but this one is huge..even I have never seen one this big before.
But they do battle monstrous seas in the Strait and with the roaring 40s..the name given to the winds that roar around latitude 40 and 50 they have to with stand it...pass on that for me..
The biggest boat I was ever close to was the Queen Mary, docked as a tourist attraction at Long Beach, California. It was really claustrophobic walking the narrow long low-ceiling hallways inside it. I think it was bigger than the iron ore ships that sail the Great Lakes, that I also was able to see close up as they passed though the canal from the western end of Lke Ontario into Hamilton Bay.
This is an average day at Pier 300 in LA/LB Harbor. The ships dwarf most everything on the water and reach a length of over 1100 feet and are bigger than an aircraft carrier with a container capacity of 18,000 to 24,000 containers and as high as a 20 story building.
This photo will give you a much better understanding of the size of these vessels. This is the APL Merlion and has a capacity of 14,000 containers not one of the big boys when compared to some of the newer container ships.
A harbor pilot at LA/LB harbor earns close to $500,000 a year but it is also one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
Now THAT'S big. I can't help but thinking of the amount of loss when there's a shipwreck or fire - like what happened off the British Columbia coast a year or two ago.
But they do battle monstrous seas in the Strait and with the roaring 40s..the name given to the winds that roar around latitude 40 and 50 they have to with stand it...pass on that for me..
If we're looking for peaceful, these Buddhas carved into the mountainside at the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang in Henan Province, P.R.C. haven't moved an inch in more than a thousand years.
.
And "Here's looking at you, kid."
Fantastic carvings.
Silver Springs and the five-mile-long Silver River are much like stepping back thousands of years in time. One spring alone produces 550,000 gallons of spring water a day and the area is teaming with all types of wildlife.
When I canoe through the springs and down the river I often think of my ancestors that have lived in this area for over 12,000 years and wonder what they felt when they saw the manatee, a most gentle creature that inhabits the area.
Has anyone bottled and sold that spring water? The could call it Fountain of Yourht water, or Ponce de Leon liquid.
Major corporations are trying to buy up the springs for their bottled water. The last few years Florida and its citizens have refused to allow anyone access to our springs.
Here is a very short video of my Iwagumi style aquarium.
I'll be adding additional stone to the right side of this aquarium over the weekend. Either this weekend or next weekend I'll be moving the fish to the 75g, but the cherry shrimp will stay here.
I have a new project for a sweet lady that came into the office and saw my office tank. I'll be setting up a simple standard 20g Betta tank for her over the next few weeks.
Cool video and some scary music as well.
It is called Ghost Train by Yarin Primak - I paid a year subscription for royalty free music and other "creator" content use stuff. I'd like to get to a point where I can make several videos and schedule them to come out every couple of weeks. I'd only do it if I can get, and stay, at least 6 months ahead. I have to learn the editing software and get someone to help with the filming to do this too.
The stones on the far left are skulls?
I buried one ceramic skull in the far back right corner. The rest are simple granite rocks I found on the side of the road.
I'm losing it... I meant the far back left corner of course.
Skulls have a tendency to move around on their own.
That's why I partially buried it.
LOL. Glad to see someone else make the kind of errors I do. Anyway, you don't err with your aquariums (aquaria?) - you're NT's Aquarium King.
Changes made this morning…
It seems roomier now. New rocks and a different plant?
The change to a different kind of plant that is not so prominent added variety and made a positive difference.
Yes. Additional granite I found on the roadside, 1 Anubius Nana and 1 Anubius Coffeefolia.
Thanks Buzz. I agree it adds more interest.
Spring is in full swing now.
Apple blossoms and a busy little honeybee.
Redbud blossoms.
The hummingbirds returned on Monday.
The house wrens returned on Wednesday, and with no delay went straight to building nests.
Mourning dove.
Cottontail.
Gray squirrel.
Here's the setup for this summer's bird watering station. I've had some extra paving stones on hand for years, and I finally figured out a good use for them. That's a brown-headed cowbird on the fountain. They returned a few weeks ago.
Beautiful, Dig. You know I love the birds. We've had a lot of snow melt and localized flooding around. No green lawns yet, but then I don't normally have to mow until mid-May anyway. The robins, starlings and grackles are all showing up now.
The warblers are on the way! I've been seeing a few lately and they're probably heading north.
I expect to hear warblers next week. It's been downy woodpecker heaven in the neighborhood this week.
I love downies, but they've been drinking too much of my hummingbird nectar lately.
Do you get house wrens where you are?
Not often in the yard, but I've seen them around the area.
I was just going to say that if you like birdhouses, and you have house wrens around, then you're almost guaranteed to get them in one of those hanging wren houses. No hassle putting up a pole or nailing it to a tree, and they take to them readily.
Their song is boisterous and entertaining, and they'll eat a HUGE amount of bugs from your yard when they're feeding chicks, especially spiders.
I only have the one apple tree and one cherry in the yard. We’ve been thinking of adding something in the back to attract more birds.
Obviously Alfred Hitchcock's movie didn't turn you off of birds.
You don't necessarily even need a tree for the hanging wren houses. The wren picture above is of one hanging from the eave of my front porch, only about 10 feet from the front door. You can put those things almost anywhere and get wrens in them.
But if you want to attract lots of different birds, the best bet would probably be a birdbath with some way to move the water around, like a bubbler or even a little fountain. I'm still new to the fountain thing, but the one I made last year has proven to be a serious attractor. I only used a 3 watt pump in it, so the electric cost is barely even noticeable.
I was going to make a YouTube video showing how to make that fountain, but I used a nozzle that came with a solar pump that I already had and couldn't find an individual one like it on Amazon to link people to, and with an incomplete parts list I couldn't really make a very good how-to video, so I ended up not doing it.
I enjoy YOUR Spring more than mine these days.
Lensatic clouds over the Adirondack High Peaks
Camouflage for the alien mothership.
The mothership left a hole...
Heh. Just like the one over Chicago's O'Hare a few years ago, one of the more compelling UFO stories I've heard.
WOW!!! An eye in the sky.
Do I have your permission to enlarge that image?
Yes. I was posting it from my phone and considered myself lucky to get what is there
Did a bit of editing as well - hope you like the result, I sure do.
From the garden --
In the kitchen window --
Nice tomatoes!
Nice orchids!
Great images - the kitchen window one is beautiful. I like what you're dong with frames these days.
A Brown Thrasher dropped by a few days ago. Here's a picture of it, some interesting info, and a short video of it singing.
From All About Birds
An aggressive defender of its nest, the Brown Thrasher is known to strike people and dogs hard enough to draw blood.
Brown Thrashers are accomplished songsters that may sing more than 1,100 different song types and include imitations of other birds, including Chuck-will’s-widows, Wood Thrushes, and Northern Flickers.
At least one early naturalist thought the Brown Thrasher’s song was underappreciated, writing “Much of the [acclaim] which has fallen to the Mockingbird is really due to the unperceived efforts of the Brown Thrasher. It is the opinion of many ornithologists that the song… is richer, fuller, and definitely more melodious than that of polyglottis” (the Northern Mockingbird).
Both males and females help incubate the eggs and feed the young. Nestlings sometimes leave the nest fully feathered within nine days of hatching—earlier than either of their smaller relatives, the Northern Mockingbird and Gray Catbird. Shrubby habitats are popular hideouts for nest predators, which may explain why the thrashers fledge so quickly for birds of their size.
Brown Thrashers are the largest common host of parasitic Brown-headed Cowbirds. The thrashers do put up some resistance, often rejecting cowbird eggs that are laid in their nests.
The Brown Thrasher is considered a short-distance migrant, but two individuals have been recorded in Europe: one in England and another in Germany.
The oldest Brown Thrasher on record was at least 10 years, 11 months old. It was found in Florida in 1978 where it was banded in 1967.
Nice catch.
They leave the nest fully feathered only 9 days after hatching? Astounding!!!
Is he calling the ladies ?
Yup, and to establish territory.
I've been telling my neighbor to put up a ''poop-free zone'' sign or he'd be sorry. Did he listen, Nooooooo and now he has this.
It's amazing that you have so many hanging out on rooftops in a populated area. All the eagles I've ever seen seemed to be really people shy. They were all in wild areas though, where they wouldn't be used to seeing people, so that might be why.
Florida has quite a few bald eagles and in our community, we have two resident eagles that are here year around and this is one of them.
Did I ever hear once that it's considered good luck? Think of my "Foo Bird" story.
Thanks, never saw one before. We never stop learning.
We normally get smaller ones in but this one is huge..even I have never seen one this big before.
But they do battle monstrous seas in the Strait and with the roaring 40s..the name given to the winds that roar around latitude 40 and 50 they have to with stand it...pass on that for me..
The biggest boat I was ever close to was the Queen Mary, docked as a tourist attraction at Long Beach, California. It was really claustrophobic walking the narrow long low-ceiling hallways inside it. I think it was bigger than the iron ore ships that sail the Great Lakes, that I also was able to see close up as they passed though the canal from the western end of Lke Ontario into Hamilton Bay.
This is an average day at Pier 300 in LA/LB Harbor. The ships dwarf most everything on the water and reach a length of over 1100 feet and are bigger than an aircraft carrier with a container capacity of 18,000 to 24,000 containers and as high as a 20 story building.
This photo will give you a much better understanding of the size of these vessels. This is the APL Merlion and has a capacity of 14,000 containers not one of the big boys when compared to some of the newer container ships.
A harbor pilot at LA/LB harbor earns close to $500,000 a year but it is also one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
Now THAT'S big. I can't help but thinking of the amount of loss when there's a shipwreck or fire - like what happened off the British Columbia coast a year or two ago.
A very dangerous area for ships.
Evening..yes hundreds of ship wrecks all along Bass Strait... didn't have much hope in the olden days.
Sail all the way from England then get wrecked less than a hundred kilometres from land..so many lost souls never to be heard of again...
Now that's a boat.
It IS somewhat bigger than the 14 1/2 foot bowrider that I had at my lakeside home.
One of my neighbors checked his cactus plant and found this, two baby mourning doves with mum close by keeping an eye on both him and the chicks.
Any port in a storm.
Geez hope there are no cats in the area..😵💫
In our complex if you have a cat it has to either be an indoor cat or if it is outside it must be on a leash.
The first Baltimore Oriole showed up this morning.
Beautiful photos and subjects.
Beautiful bird!
They'll never be the same without Paul Molitor.
Late Entry
American Elk, Male,Yellowstone, Wyoming (Computer Graphic)
© AMacG/Philly
An excellent contribution to this article in your group...and in case anyone else has a late entry....
It's Monday morning in America, the weekend's done so this article is now going to bed. Next weekend should see A.Mac back running the show.