Embark on a photo quest 📷 to find the listed items for this week’s Busy Bee post! Go out and explore new areas as you search high and low for these objects. Remember to wear sunscreen! 😎 📸: HIDOE interns
Scavenger Hunt List 🗺️
• Birds
• Flowers
• Flag
• Buildings
• Banyan Tree
The Eurasian siskin, male (Spinus spinus)
A small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is also called the European siskin, common siskin or just siskin. Other (archaic) names include black-headed goldfinch, barley bird and aberdevine. It is very common throughout Europe and Eurosiberia. It is found in forested areas, both coniferous and mixed woodland where it feeds on seeds of all kinds, especially of alder and conifers.
It can be distinguished from other similar finches by the colour of the plumage. The upper parts are greyish green and the under parts grey-streaked white. Its wings are black with a conspicuous yellow wing bar, and the tail is black with yellow sides. The male has a mainly yellow face and breast, with a neat black cap. Female and young birds have a greyish green head and no cap. It is a trusting, sociable and active bird. The song of this bird is a pleasant mix of twitters and trills. For these reasons it is often raised in captivity.
These birds have an unusual migration pattern as every few years in winter they migrate southwards in large numbers. The reasons for this behaviour are not known but may be related to climatic factors and above all the availability of food. In this way overwintering populations can thrive where food is abundant. This small finch is an acrobatic feeder, often hanging upside-down like a tit. It will visit garden bird feeding stations.
More information: https://lnkd.in/dp94pGjT
Photographed on 30 December 2023 ...
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#vihervarpunen#Eurasiansiskin#siskin#Spinusspinus#bird#naturephotography#wildlifepic#wildlifephotography#wildlife#birds#birdingphotography#nature#birdphotography#birdcaptures#lintukuvaus#birding
Cheetahs often climb to high locations for several reasons:
Vantage Points: Like many predators, cheetahs seek elevated spots to survey their surroundings. From these high vantage points, they can more easily spot potential prey or other predators.
Curiosity: Younger cheetahs may also climb onto branches or higher points out of curiosity. Learning from their mothers, they explore their environment and test their agility.
However, it’s essential to maintain a safe distance when observing cheetahs. Getting too close can be dangerous for both humans and the cheetahs themselves.
📹 Safari_with_kayla
#NambitiReserve#KZNWildlife#WildlifePhotography#NaturePhotography#Big5#SouthAfricaSafari#DiscoverWildlife#AfricanWildlife#SafariExperience#ConservationAwareness
Witness the unexpected! 🦁🌳
Have you ever imagined a lion, with all its grandeur and majesty, in a tree? It seems impossible given their size and the call of gravity, doesn't it? But here in the expansive Thornybush Private Nature Reserve, we love to defy the odds.
Watch this interesting video footage captured by Shumbalala Game Lodge field guide Bryce Mitchell - first, we present the agile leopard, for whom climbing trees is a natural skill. Next, some interesting footage of a lion in the reserve deciding to try the same. Can you see the difference?
This is an extraordinary occurrence, as unlike their nimble cousins, the leopards, lions are not known for their arboreal agility. But nature continues to surprise us!
Perhaps this signals a shift in lion behaviour as sightings of prides perched in trees become increasingly reported. But why is this happening? Some say it’s to get a better vantage point or to escape the heat, others suggest it's to avoid pesky insects, or maybe they are simply adapting to their environment.
Regardless of the reason, watching our royal felines clumsily manoeuvre their way up a tree underscores the fact that they are out of their natural element. But it is this very spectacle that makes it so captivating.
Who has seen this majestic but rather comical sight with their own eyes? Let us know in the comments below and share your unique lion encounters! 👇
📍Shumbalala Game Lodge, Thornybush Private Nature Reserve 🇿🇦
📸Video footage by Shumbalala Game Lodge field guide, @bryce_mitchell007
#ShumbalalaGameLodge#Thornybush#SouthAfricaSafari#LuxurySafari#WildlifeEnthusiasts#BigCats#LionSighting#NatureUnexpected#Adaptation#WildlifePhotography#UniqueEncounters#AfricanWildlife#MajesticLion#TreeClimbingLion#NatureReserve#AfricanSafari
Bird watching is a great way to enjoy nature and also learn a bit about different species. Check out this article from AARP regarding Bird Watching basics.
https://conta.cc/43GDa4h
NIGHT SECRETS:
A SPECIAL KIND OF ADRENALIN RUSH
Diving the outer Great Barrier Reef below around thirty metres at night can be spectacular. As the water temperature drops and darkness turns to black, tension mounts. This is a special kind of adrenalin rush. This is another world apart from the shallow reefs during daylight. Using a hand torch and electronic flash, eye-popping forms and colours flash before your eye. Macro photography in this space is like none other.
Here, fingers of soft coral become a hunting ground for night-active Pajama cardinalfish, set out to feed on small fishes and mobile crustaceans. Like many other schooling fish, pyjama cardinalfish form a strict hierarchy. The members of this family have a unique way of mating. Females take the initiative to choose their male partner and establish and defend their territory. Once the female lays up to 75 eggs, the male takes over by holding and protecting the eggs in a special pouch in its mouth. The eggs typically hatch in about 20 days and are kept in the male's mouth for another 10 days until they are released.
'Night Secrets' is available as a fine art print > https://bit.ly/48i8Cbu
Visit my 'Ocean of Life' fine art portfolio > https://gallery.steveparish-https://bit.ly/3fAy4TI
Join Steve for his > PHOTOGRAPHY A PATHWAY TO PURPOSE MASTERCLASS > https://lnkd.in/gQ7EDiQ
Care about our Oceans, support the Australian Marine Conservation Society > https://lnkd.in/gxM5U69X#GreatBarrierReef#OceanLife#Oceans#SaveOurSeas#underwaterphotography#MarineConservation#Diving#CoralReefs#SeaLife#MarineBiodiversity#ClimateChange#EnvironmentalProtection#SustainableLiving#OceanConservation#BeachCleanup#PlasticFree#WildlifeConservation#BluePlanet#NaturePhotography
Art, storytelling, and mindful awareness, are powerful keys to help advocate positive, and often drastic changes to our human experience. If we can dream it, we can be it!
Dearest Readers,
Prepare to be enchanted! Our beloved #BirchAquarium now boasts a breathtaking mural behind the scenes courtesy of the incomparable Hanna's Murals (https://lnkd.in/gr_sK25y). A masterpiece of marine splendor, the goal of this new addition was to inspire and delight aquarium staff and will surely serve as the diamond of the sea-son.
Until we meet again,
Lady Fishleton 🐟
This quick-flying sprite of small streams, channels, and ponds is Chloroceryle americana, AKA the Green Kingfisher. At about 8 1/2” long, it's roughly the same length as a Northern Cardinal, but lighter — although its outsized bill may make it look larger. 🐦
🌊The Green Kingfisher is just one of 120 species in the Kingfisher family– which is so diverse that it has been divided into three subfamilies. The Green Kingfisher is a member of the Cerylinae subfamily, or “water kingfishers.”
Like other diving birds, such as the Common Loon, kingfishers have visual adaptations that give them binocular vision underwater, enabling them to judge depth when capturing prey.🐟 Nictitating membranes (third eyelids) protect its eyes underwater like a pair of goggles. 🥽
Learn more about this “streamside sprite” and access ABC's full Bird of the Week library at https://lnkd.in/gzpKipjZ.
#GreenKingfisher#ChloroceryleAmericana#BirdOfTheWeek
🪶 This is a Red-Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) a member of the Accipitridae (Small and Large Birds of Prey) family.
🪶 Like all birds of prey they have the best vision in all of the animal kingdom. To put it into perspective they not only can see further than humans, their visual acuity is eight times greater than ours, while being able to see in color. That’s like having a pair of binoculars or telescopes for eyes 👀 with the ability to focus on close and very long range subjects. 🔭
🪶 While they are a medium sized hawk with an average wingspan of 38-42 inches, they can still fly at speeds from 18-34 mph. So they can certainly fly a lot faster than we can run, never try to race a hawk, it won’t end well for you. 🏃🏽
🪶 Red-Shouldered Hawks eat a variety of prey items mostly small rodents like mice and voles, medium sized rodents like tree squirrels and rabbits. They also will prey on amphibians, reptiles, fish, birds, large insects, earth worms, and even crustaceans like crayfish. These hawks have even been known to eat carrion like road killed deer. 🐀
🪶 Do you love birds of prey as much as I do? Tell me your favorite in the comments section below and I’ll tell you my favorite one too. 🦅
Learn more about this beautiful hawk here:
https://lnkd.in/e__XQNTd#bird#birds#birdphotography#birder#birdwatcher#wildlife#birding#birdwatching#birdlovers#wildlifeofinstagram#wildlifeconservation#wildlifephotography#wildlifeonearth#outdoors#outdoorphotography#nature#naturephotography#animal#animallovers#animalphotography#science#conservation#photography#wildlifephotographer#SonyAlpha#birdphotos#ornithology#hawk#redshoulderedhawk