#i love post 10 / new england wildlife and more

[mellow-hole]

sunday night activities. smoke a joint, eat soup, and watch an autistic man unclog drains in new england on youtube

[siarven]

I made this for cara but thought I should use it to FINALLY make a proper pinned post on here! (image descriptions in alt text)

Hello everyone (:

I thought I'd use this to properly re-introduce myself. These days I have a lot going on irl, so I'm not as interactive on here as I used to be. However, I love making new friends and getting to know their projects :D Some of my most important friends are from here, even if most of them are no longer active on writeblr (we have migrated to discord), so if you think we'd vibe pls shoot me a message!!

What you can expect:

Started out as an artblr, then turned into a writeblr, now it's mostly me collecting inspiration, art and writing references, with some infrequent original writing wip/art posts ✴︎ — more info about tags and writing below the cut — ✴︎

✴︎ — #queer tag - I reblog a lot of queer related posts, particularly about aro/ace and gender related topics

✴︎ — #inspirational - art, writing, photography, nature/environmental issues related topics, history, paleontology, archaeology; things I find inspiring and fascinating :D

✴︎ — i love all of the creatures, fictional or real, but less in a "cute videos" and more in a "I love how our world works" type way. I worked at a wildlife sanctuary for a year after school and learned a lot there. one day i will be the forever home for an old cat nobody else wants

✴︎ — sometimes I still post art and or writing, though I guess there'll be more art on Cara if you wanna follow me there (less AI threat)

✴︎ — i study concept art, work as a freelance illustrator, and am currently working on my MA thesis project "Fragments of the Infinite"

✴︎ — my main wip novel (Dream's Shadow) is probably finally getting close to being Finished. Feels somewhat surreal. idk if it's even worth querying it because it really doesn't fit into the current publishing world but it's not actually finished yet anyway so... we can worry about that later

✴︎ — very into fantasy with cool worldbuilding in particular. don't much care for elves/dwarves/.. fantasy preindustrial england type worlds, but dungeon meshi is my current obsession so if it's deeply developed and interesting enough I don't really mind :)

✴︎ — hopepunk my most beloved! i do love when characters get put through the wringer to get to their hopeful ending though. Sometimes, things are tragic in a bittersweet way, and that is okay too

✴︎ — deeply nuanced, complicated, messy morally grey characters driving the narrative

I am open to tag games, but will probably only manage to respond to like 10% of them... it's not you, it's me

Always open for DMs or asks <3

I try to tag everything as well as I can, if i forget, ask to tag <3

If you're into TMA, I have a podcast/TMA blog @moth-song-archives; my rambling animals/shitposts/memes/other fandoms/... blog is @lirhin, and I have a dedicated art blog @siarvenart

a hopepunk dark fantasy story with creepy/horror elements set in another world; small scope that transitions into epic fantasy later on

Status: draft 6.5 completed at 141k; currently mini-beta round. First in a trilogy

✴︎ —1st, 2nd and 3rd person limited, present tense ✴︎ — hopepunk, sibling dynamics, dysfunctional family, power of kindness & love, platonic love, queer characters, queer-embracing worldbuilding, mental & physical trauma, light & dark, secrets, tragedy, lies, betrayal, loss of innocence, holding on & letting go, cute creatures, (in)humanity, trees, religion & belief, growing up, monsters, dreams, nightmares.

When Ava and her parents arrive at the hospital, they find her older brother Ben in a deeply unnatural coma - and nobody can tell them what happened. Despite the magical abilities of the Asim Healers, there seems to be no way to save him. But then, why do they still keep him alive? As Ava slowly learns the magnitude of how terrible Ben's situation (and impossible his future) truly are, she finds herself embroiled in a larger conflict, ready to hook its claws into her as well. And the one person she cares about most - who always had her back - is gone. So despite everything, there's only really one choice: Find out how to save him and try anyways.

the travel journal of a young scientist, documenting the cultures, places, people and creatures she encounters on the way (art/text)

Status: storyboard/script 2nd draft completed; beta feedback

✴︎ —1st person present ✴︎ — 66 double pages of art accompanied by ~10k text ✴︎ — hopepunk, (body) horror, religion & belief, nihilism vs making your own meaning, platonic love, queer characters, queer-embracing worldbuilding, transitioning with magical body horror means, mental & physical trauma, light & dark, deep worldbuilding, eldritch monsters, loss of innocence, SO MANY creatures

Features: a tidally locked planet orbited by 5 moons and populated by giant eldritch monsters; two trans aroace main characters; body horror; so much art; the most gratuitous worldbuilding project; character driven narrative

When the fifth moon hatches during Thorn's own naming ritual, making her one of 2 people who saw it happen, she knows she's been chosen. But back at home, nobody believes what she saw, choosing to instead take the moon's disappearance as a sign of celebration as it mirrors religious scriptures. So Thorn sets out to find physical proof, and uses the opportunity to document her travels. She doesn't know that her view of the world will be thoroughly challenged, but she also doesn't know about the friends she'll make <3

I have various other wips, some of them are linked in my header. I'll return to them at some point, but these 2 are my current projects for 2024:)

[hellodenisestuff]

Oct., 6, 2023

Monday we said goodbye to 6 volunteeers and waited for the 5 new volunteers. The hange over is a mixture of poingnancy saying goodbye to friends and apprehension on receiving new ones. Joanne and I were the only two remaining so we hoped the new bunch would be congenial. They are.

There are 5 women an one man. The man is from Malta here with his daughter, a lovely pair. There are two women from USA an one from England. We were happy to see that they are full of enthusiasm and game for whatever needs to be done and comes up.

The two days in Naboisho are very long 10 to 13 hours in the game drive vehicle which I in this stage of my life find pretty tiring, but Oh, what we get to see. It is breath taking. I will post some of the more spectacular sights.

We met with the students of the Center for two hours. Most of them are in Wildlife training, a few in housekeeping and some in food production.

they are all Maasai and live relatively nearby. There are 13 women enrolled and 27 men. They are mostly young and not married. Some of the women have children who are taken care of by there moms. The struggle to attain this high level of education for the women especially is mind boggleing. I talked with some of the gals. One told how she walked barefoot for 3 kilometers at 6 years of age coming home to wash and iron her uniform and gather wood and help with the chores, then in elementary school walking 7 kilometers through rain and mud, or stifling heat and dust. She was able to get secondary school education, had a baby at 16. Her parents were helpful with school fees and encouragement. They do homework by firelight or kerosene lamp. Now most have solar.

I am so impressed with the parents. One young women who works in reception and the office here is 34 and has taken the guide school training but so far has not been able to get a guiding position. She has three children who her 72 year old mom is raising along with another grandchild after raising 9 of her own. The father is supportive and they want their children to have a better life as all parents everywhere. I am in awe of the obstacles these young people have overcome to get an education. This young woman had an abusive husband and divorced him. Again something relatively rare here. Many are now marrying for lovebut before they were married off to. old men and essentially were slaves to them. Just in the preceding generation the men had three wives and with each wife having 5 to 10 kids population grew very fast. Now those kids are just having one wife and maybe 5 to 6 kids. Still too many but Things changed in one generation which is fast.

Tues night we went on a game drive in Pardamat and saw such an awe inspiring sight. There was a herd of maybe 15 elephants in the bush at the base of the hills. Sem, our Masai guide, said they will all come out at dusk to go to the nearby watering hole. Watching these huge hulks one by one appear silently out of the dark bush into the semi light with the red and orange and pink light of sunset behind them was eerie and gorgeous. I was in awe and tears. They are so big, and so silent and seem like apparitions from another world. May they live forever on this planet.

They crossed into land where the Maasai live in individual houses now and many fenced fields. We are trusting that in-time that all the people will take down their fences in this conservancy as many have so the animals can be free to go where they please and there will be a mutually beneficial environment for all.

I could go on and on. But time to post some photos.

The students breaking the ice at our mutual meeting. We danced with them.

Denise, Joanne and Stacy from UK. , The guide showing us an elephant skull we found on the drive, Breakfast in Naboisho Conservancy on one of the long days there. Here we are with Sem and Samson the guides in our truck that we call Bushbaby. It is an old hulk very uncomfortable, but we see great sights from it.

Road building with the Zebra watching us. The local Maasai women brought their wares to us to peruse and buy after the road building, Volunteers and staff preparing art to go to the primary school for the little ones to fill in the blanks with drawing animals. Thank goodness Joanne has thirty years of teaching experience and came up with great ideas for the children who are from 5 to 10 years old.

Tower of giraffe, Close up of a male giraffe neck and head,Many lions resting in the shade, Hyena nursing a baby, and a young hyena.

[dansnaturepictures]

10 of my favourite pictures to take in October 2020 

1. Speckled Wood butterfly at Lakeside Country Park, Hampshire 

2. Red Deer at Bushy Park, London 

3. My first ever Wilson’s Phalarope at Pennington, Hampshire 

4. A scene with nice red autumnal leaves in near to the house 

5. Yellow autumn leaves at Lakeside 

6. A view at Leaden Hall in the New Forest 

7. Mute Swan at Lakeside 

8. Mushroom at Pig Bush in the New Forest 

9. The tree visible from my room with yellow autumnal leaves 

10. My favourite mushroom the red fly agaric at Pig Bush in the New Forest 

Well there we have it, with 10 photos the maximum amount for a Tumblr photoset this is the last of these posts from me this year! Thanks for all your support for them as I reflected both through my photos and some writing on some of the most extraordinary months of mine and all of our lives! Synonymous of my working from home days is yet again obvious photos I was proud of for this list missed out with so many I took in October. 

And October for me was a month of landmarks, colour and life. As these photos show the dominant theme in my month was capturing autumnal colour in mushrooms and coloured leaves on trees and increasingly on the ground as the month went on especially. Where autumn was still just coming on in September really, in October everything around me looked so ripe and full of varied colour. In varied weather between overcast, sunny and wet I took a set of landscape pictures I was really happy with too and many sky ones with the sun now setting on our weekend walks a bit. 

The personal landmark moments for me this month were really all down to wildlife, particularly some key trips for the month. Our annual Bushy Park visit for Red Deer watching in the rut, birds and more was the standout moment for my October as it always is, that day I saw iconic wildlife in a brilliant location which I love so much and took over 60 pictures which was a lot. Then that very next day we saw one of Hampshire’s birds of the year catching up with and watching the Wilson’s Phalarope at Pennington incredibly close to us, with one of the also rare Grey Phalaropes it was with so that was a monumental weekend. The weekend that followed ended in another Grey Phalarope sighting at Gilkicker Point on the pond a quirk of the month as always at this time of year that lots of these birds turned up in Hampshire thanks to some adverse weather. The day before Gilkicker it was a brilliant New Forest trip to Ashley Walk and Leaden Hall seeing my first Ring Ouzels of the year and first pigs out for pannage on the way back by Bramshaw. A theme that resonated into last weekend too as we visited Pig Bush and Rockford Common in the New Forest and saw pigs at the former too seeing more than every before. Those days were landmarks as I took 45 pictures each day and had two of my best ever days for mushrooms just seeing mushrooms everywhere I looked and taking so many pictures of them, with so many other pictures taken too. 

So its been another top bird month and great mammal one too throughout with Roe Deer sightings at Lakeside standing out too, and a few butterflies, dragonflies, moths and flowers certainly hung on its not what you would always associate with October but I enjoyed some great moments with those too and each day I was so lucky whilst working from home to get out into the natural world and enjoy autumn all around me. 

November obviously may be a little different as we enter lockdown again or fuller lockdown in England. I outlined what this means for me and my hobby at this stage anyway in my blog post of my day last night: https://dansnaturepictures.tumblr.com/post/633537805171195905/31102020-lymington-and-photos-in-the-garden but I just wanted to say here that when Thursday comes I shall be doing on Dans_Pictures some additional weekday tweets with past photos of mine to any photos I take on the days, for the first five week days a return of my #AButterflyADay tweets which I did early in the first lockdown, then five days of #ABirdADay, #AnInsectADay (other ones to butterflies) and #AFlowerADay to take me up to the 2nd December when lockdown is planned to lift which should hopefully give me some focus to help me roll through the days a bit if the time of the restrictions imposed and everything I look forward to once they lift slows my days down a bit as did happen early in the last lockdown and maybe it will bring some brightness to other people’s days too and most of the photos I use will be taken this year. 

And on that note in December when we get there my usual 10 Wildlife/Photography highlights of the year posts will go out this year with 10 of them and a bonus 11th too for 2020 in what’s been a strange and high photo and walk yielding year for me thanks to working from home for most of it. There will also be on Twitter this year 11 of “My 4 favourite ..... pictures” taken in 2020 across categories coming after the highlights blogs from 27th December. However, like I always do in December if I get low photo yields or low amounts of tweets required to upload a day’s photos at weekends, in November if I have that on Saturdays or Sundays due to the lockdown I will bring some of these tweets forward I will only do that four times in November to leave three for any such days in December and at the very least keep four one a day to post on 27th, 28th, 29th and 30th December when they were intended. On New Year’s Eve they’ll also be my first and last bird and photo tweets and one picture I was proud to take each month tweets with my Christmas and New Year edits of my photos getting postings in December too. 

Thanks for all your support again this month and I hope you all stay safe and well in November. 

[blackevermore]

I've never really seen anyone give canon characters family before. I like Wonka's brothers, could you tell me more about them?

x Thanks for the ask!!

x Some of this is outdated lore that has been updated which I will post later

🐍 Wesley Joziah Wonka🐍

x He was sent off to live with a relative before William ran away and shortly after Wilfred was sent to military school. Is the "luckier" child because he was raised in a caring home.

x His aunt and uncle lived out in the middle of the meadows with fields to run through and beautiful woods to hike through.

x He was a rather outgoing child with really dirty habits. His aunt and uncle had a lot of animals that he would mimic. He would walk like the dog, meow like the cat, and stand in the corner blending in like the chameleon. His aunt and uncle did try to stop him from time to time but eventually, they realize he never planned on stopping. They just allowed him to do as he pleased as long as he didn't do it at school and he didn't get in trouble.

x At age 11 he got into an accident where he climbed a tree trying to follow a red robin. He got to the very top of the tree and he was holding the bird when his aunt saw him from the kitchen window and ran out to get him down. When she yelled his name he panicked and lost his footing turning around and fell 12 feet. This resulted in a concussion and a brain injury that left him with a prolong stutter.

x Even with his stutter he still could talk up a storm and no matter what whoever he was talking to would wait for him to finish. His uncle was the one to teach him how to lessen his blocks by snapping. So whenever there was snapping heard around the house they knew it was Wesley.

x He went to school and was brilliant in biology and zoology, anytime the mentions of animal life was the topic Wesley would either be the one talking or the one listening. He did get bullied for his passion and he did get into a few occasions. He never hit first and he also never had to fight for himself since he had this rather intense connection with nature. His bullies would always be attacked by nearby animals.

x After High school, Wesley didn't want to go to college but his uncle and aunt demanded it. Even though he liked biology and zoology and everything animal/bug related he hate being graded. He spent most of his time in nature skipping classes or showing up late. His professors knew of his talent but were sad he didn't try to apply that for a degree, eventually, Wesley dropped out of college and started to travel.

x During his travelling days, he met and befriended some rather important people and made a name for himself on accident. He was known for his braveness to hold and care for the most dangerous creatures. At 25 he was offered a position at a wildlife organization that still allowed him to travel the world but also document his findings.

x At 28 he got lost in a random forest and he was the one that stumbled across the Oompa Loompas. They took care of him and even showed him the way out and in return, he harvests some cocoa beans for them as a thank you.34 he adopted two diamond holo shine anacondas and named them Lilith and Eve while he lived in South America for a while. Was not easy getting them back over into the States when he moved to New York.

x 40 He was engaged to a man who shared his same interest but it turned out he was trying to steal Wesley's animals. That man was never heard of again and the police still can't find the body. Wesley was never approached as a suspect "Just doesn't seem like he would do it, look at him."

🚬 Wilfred Izaac Wonka🚬

x The very unfortunate eldest of the brothers. The only brother to have an actual relationship with their mother before he was shipped off to a really scary military school.

x Unlike his brothers he was highly educated and was top of his class, he hated every moment of it. People started expecting shit outta him and he couldn't enjoy being a kid.

x When he was 16-18 he started a school fight club just to see something different than what he was used to. He would only get in a fight when someone challenged him which was rare since people always thought he was intimidating. He won every fight. Eventually, he did get caught but the school covered it up since he was their star student and the face of the school.

x After 12 years of hell and boredom, he didn't even try to fight with his hellbent father and just became a dentist so he wouldn't have to think about doing anything else.

At 25 he once again was top of the dean's list and was a success in dentistry he went back home to study under his father and realized that his father killed a few people and no one knew. He once again left home and started up his own office.

x At 27 he met a nurse who came in for the removal of her canines and replaces them with gold teeth and they quickly fell in love. He married a year later and was happy. During their marriage and his career, he had some rather questionable clients and wacky dental stories. However, the more Wilfred got into his work the weirder he got. He developed an oral fascination, he became OCD and would straighten things for minutes before doing what he should have been doing, he collected the teeth he pulled out and even had someone dies while in his chair on accident (wasn't his fault, 88 yr old guy had a heart attack in the chair from ). His wife was uncomfortable with all of this and legally separated after 10 years together. He was hella depressed and become bitter but he understood why she did what she did and just hopes they can work it out sometime in the future.

x Funny story of how he became a midwife. When he was 39 he had two pregnant patients who needed fill in and while both of them were in the chair they went in labour. Panicking he called his ex-wife and she walked him through what to do. Turns out the same hands that could pull out teeth could pull out babies. And he liked the feeling of being life so it just stuck with him. The two women were so amazed by him that they spread the news and he becomes a self proclaim midwife and is great at what he does. Just imagine he is working on removing teeth and installing braces and gets a call that  Margret down the street is about to pop but won't make it to the hospital in enough time.

x At 41 he reunited with Wesley and it was so awkward for him because he knew very little about neither of his brothers. But he was willing to try and make a relationship with them. He and Wesley always meet on Thursday for afternoon lunch. It was actually Wilfred's idea for him and Wesley to go to England to meet William. Wesley tried to tell him that might not be a good idea for when he met William he was ignored but Wilfred insisted that they go. Wesley just nodded and hoped for the best.

[secondscratch17]

weird asks that say a lot

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans? All of them. I drink tea in coffee mugs and teacups. I love drinking wine. I like that I can recycle soda cans

2. chocolate bars or lollipops? chocolate

3. bubblegum or cotton candy? bubblegum if the flavor lasts long

4. how did your elementary school teachers describe you? the stereotypical quiet, obedient, smart, goody-two-shoes kid

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups? somehow I like the aesthetic from soda bottles

6. pastel, boho, tomboy, preppy, goth, grunge, formal or sportswear? hONESTLY I can dO ALL OF THE ABOVE in the span of days. Went to work one day wearing beach-y clothes for spirit day. Returned to pick up a friend to go see a metal concert in VERY metal concert attire. I own short, sweet summery floral dresses and gothic dresses, too

7. earbuds or headphones? Earbuds, they allow me to be more mobile

8. movies or tv shows? movies

9. favorite smell in the summer? Fresh cut grass. The smell of the ocean. Churros at the fair

10. game you were best at in p.e.? Soccer, obvs. Somehow would always last until the end of the game in dodgeball tho because I was small and no one could hit me

11. what you have for breakfast on an average day? Cereal

12. name of your favorite playlist? Don’t have one. 

13. lanyard or key ring?  Key ring

14. favorite non-chocolate candy? Smarties!

15. favorite book you read as a school assignment? I remember re-reading Holes over and over just to make my book reports easier since I knew the boo so well. The Kite Runner was phenomenal and unforgettable

16. most comfortable position to sit in? idk?? I really can’t sit still in one position for too long

17. most frequently worn pair of shoes? Currently my hiking/outdoorsy shoes. Also my black Nikes that I play pickup in and wear to the gym

18. ideal weather? Sunny and 65. Maybe one or two clouds. The tiniest of faint breezes to cool me down. 

19. sleeping position? Any I can get into and fall asleep in quickly

20. preferred place to write (i.e., in a note book, on your laptop, sketchpad, post-it notes, etc.)? Laptop. I can edit easier.

21. obsession from childhood? Probably any cheesy show on Animal Planet. The Most Extreme, Meerkat Manor, Big Cat Diary, etc

22. role model? I have a lot of different ones. Role models for athletics, role models for career and ambition choices, artistic role models...can’t pick just one

23. strange habits? Spelling words with the tips of my fingers

24. favorite crystal? Aquamarine

25. first song you remember hearing? how in the FUCK am I supposed to remember that. I do remember my parents playing The Beatles for me when I was a toddler

26. favorite activity to do in warm weather? Soccer! (futbol) 

27. favorite activity to do in cold weather? Sledding, making hot chocolate, or playing indoor soccer haha

28. five songs to describe you? Who I am Hates Who I’ve Been by Relient K, Proud by the Icarus Account, Land of the Dead by Voltaire, Always Leaving by Mayday Parade, Wavin’ Flag by K’naan

29. best way to bond with you? Listening to my favorite music with me or watching the US Women’s national soccer team with me

30. places that you find sacred? Belfast, Maine. Gold Camp Road. Newport Beach

31. what outfit do you wear to kick ass and take names? Tight jeans with holes in them, fishnets, and a crop top

32. top five favorite vines? Vines still exist?

33. most used phrase in your phone? “tbh”

34. advertisements you have stuck in your head? O O O O REILLYYYYYY’S autoparts

35. average time you fall asleep? around 9

36. what is the first meme you remember ever seeing? I don’t remember

37. suitcase or duffel bag? suitcase

38. lemonade or tea? Is it warm outside? Lemonade. Is it cold outside? tea

39. lemon cake or lemon meringue pie? PIE!

40. weirdest thing to ever happen at your school? Zombie hunting or my professor cutting lab a half an hour short to go look at some Cedar waxwings

41. last person you texted? I think it was Robert

42. jacket pockets or pants pockets? Pants pockets

43. hoodie, leather jacket, cardigan, jean jacket or bomber jacket? Jean jacket

44. favorite scent for soap? Anything fruity

45. which genre: sci-fi, fantasy or superhero? Fantasy. It depends on how good the sci-fi movie is

46. most comfortable outfit to sleep in? as little as possible lmao

47. favorite type of cheese? Parmesan

48. if you were a fruit, what kind would you be? A raspberry

49. what saying or quote do you live by? A great amount of good is always evened out by a great amount of bad

50. what made you laugh the hardest you ever have? Honestly Daniel knew how to make me laugh better than anyone. There are a couple of memories with him that I don’t remember entirely but I know that I ended up cry-laughing so hard that my head hurt. There was a time during my orientation camping trip when a bunch of us were playing ultimate Frisbee, and Jesse went to catch the frisbee in the most perfectly lateral horizontal position and the expression of focus just frozen on his face had me laughing so hard that I couldn’t see

51. current stresses? Sam. Jobs that I can apply for starting in May of 2020. Sam. STUDENT LOANS. Bills. Car payments. Wondering how fucked up my car has gotten since I’ve lived here on this ranch. Sam. 

52. favorite font? Anything that looks fancy and sarcastic

53. what is the current state of your hands? Need to be washed. 

54. what did you learn from your first job? The world is cruel and bad things happen without warning

55. favorite fairy tale? Uh....the Pied Piper?

56. favorite tradition? when my family visits for Christmas, eating lots of traditional Chinese food with them

57. the three biggest struggles you’ve overcome? Heartbreak. Staggering rejection from the field I majored in. Probably a lot of body image struggles in there as well

58. four talents you’re proud of having? Writing, futbol, adaptability, flexibility. I think the last two are just traits but I don’t have a lot of talents I can invest in

59. if you were a video game character, what would your catchphrase be? Let’s make like a baby and head out

60. if you were a character in an anime, what kind of anime would you want it to be? No idea

61. favorite line you heard from a book/movie/tv show/etc.? Though we are far apart, our spirits share the same earth and the same sky

62. seven characters you relate to? Bilbo Baggins from The Hobbit, Data from The Goonies, Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter, Eliza Thornberry from The Wild Thornberries, Raven from Teen Titans, Isaac from Teen Wolf

63. five songs that would play in your club? ANYTHING by Within Temptation. I wouldn’t be a good club owner. The catchy and pump-up songs from Hamilton.

64. favorite website from your childhood? Wasn’t allowed much computer time. I was allowed to visit educational sites and occasionally the Disney site

65. any permanent scars? some self-harm scars. Probably the one on my right leg that I got from CO parks and wildlife. I stepped on a barbed wire fence that had been plastered to the ground, but the metal sprang up when I stepped on it and ripped through my skin

66. favorite flower(s)? Plumerias

67. good luck charms? I’m not sure if I have any. 

68. worst flavor of any food or drink you’ve ever tried? earthworm flavor from Bertie Bott’s every flavor beans

69. a fun fact that you don’t know how you learned? uh...Something about not being able to spray silly string on Halloween in Hollywood

70. left or right handed? Right handed

71. least favorite pattern? wtf

72. worst subject? anything math related, I really struggled in GIS.

73. favorite weird flavor combo? I...have no idea

74. at what pain level out of ten (1 through 10) do you have to be at before you take an advil or ibuprofen? 2. I’m a baby

75. when did you lose your first tooth? I was 6

76. what’s your favorite potato food (i.e. tater tots, baked potatoes, fries, chips, etc.)? chips and fries

77. best plant to grow on a windowsill? a succulent

78. coffee from a gas station or sushi from a grocery store? sushi from a grocery store, the quality can surprise you

79. which looks better, your school id photo or your driver’s license photo? Both are terrible

80. earth tones or jewel tones? Jewel tones

81. fireflies or lightning bugs? I hate bugs

82. pc or console? PC

83. writing or drawing? Writing, I’m terrible at drawing

84. podcasts or talk radio? Not into either

84. barbie or polly pocket? I had both

85. fairy tales or mythology? God!!!! Like hearing about both but mythology I guess

86. cookies or cupcakes? Cookies

87. your greatest fear? Being forgotten. I also have a terrible, horrible fear of drowning

88. your greatest wish? In the times I’ve struggled I often find myself wishing for peace. Not only for myself, but for others to easily feel peace with everyone else

89. who would you put before everyone else? Sierra

90. luckiest mistake? Mistake? There’s been lucky accidents but I don’t think any of my mistakes have been lucky

91. boxes or bags? It depends on what I’m packing and where I’m going

92. lamps, overhead lights, sunlight or fairy lights? Sunlight

93. nicknames? T, Tear, Tear-tear, T-Dog, Miss T..a few of my recent favorites from soccer: Ronaldinha and Thierry Chun

94. favorite season? Fall! Shit, especially in New England

95. favorite app on your phone? I don’t know

96. desktop background? A picture of a simple dock leading out to sea

97. how many phone numbers do you have memorized? My parents’ and brother’s

98. favorite historical era? Victorian era, for sure

[wearebraveyourhighness]

Because, I am meanie and said Lauren should do all of them I guess I should do them all to just to be fair. :)

1: Top 3 ice cream flavors

MInt, Purple Cow, and Blueberry Cheesecake

2: Top 3 disney movies

Beauty & The Beast, Pirates Of The Caribbean, and Robin Hood

3: Top 3 vacation destinations

Ireland, Alaska, and England

4: Top 3 places to shop

Love Culture, Hot Topic, and Worlds Market

5: Top 3 school subjects

English, Creative Writing, and History

6: Top 3 makeup products

Eyeshadow (that’s mostly it because I’m not exactly a girly girl, lol)

7: Top 3 music artists

Shakira, Lady Gaga, and Christian Kane

8: Top 3 spices/herbs

Mint, Parsley, & Sage

9: Top 3 drinks

Sprite, Lemonade, and Chocolate Milk

10: Top 3 apps to use

Etsy, BeFunky, and Tribez

11: Top 3 months of the year

January, February, and October

12: Top 3 clothing items

Boots, Leggings, and Sweater

13: Top 3 tv shows

Prison Break, The Originals, and Beauty & The Beast

14: Top 3 romantic dates

Walking in the park, Sitting on the back of a tailgate watching the stars, and Bonfires

15: Top 3 kinds of flower

Lilies, Roses, and Lilacs

16: Top 3 christmas movies

Frosty The Snowman, White Christmas, and Prep & Landing

17: Top 3 OTPs

Rey & Kylo Ren, Sherlock Holmes & Joan Watson, Hayley & Elijah from The Originals

18: Top 3 quotes to describe your life

I don’t really have 3 quotes to describe my life. I just like quotes in general. Can’t narrow it down to 3.

19: Top 3 characteristics you love about yourself

I’m very motherly even though I have yet to actually have children, I like my eyes, and I’m a very good listener to some people I’m more a psychiatrist than a friend sometimes, lol.

20: Top 3 kinds of candy

Sweet Tarts, Sprees, and Jolly Rancher

21: Top 3 ways to exercise/ be active

Dancing, Squats, and Hiking

22: Top 3 spirit animals

Wolf, Eagle, and Deer

23: Top 3 pet names

Peekaboo (I use to peek under doors as a kid. I was very curious.), Sweetie Pie, and one other one I don’t care to mention, lol.

24: Top 3 books

I don’t have a top 3 for books because I like all books. :)

25: Top 3 most used websites

Tumblr, My work website so I can figure out my schedule for the week, and 

26: Top 3 people you last texted

My fiance’ Adam, my friend Scott, and my best friend Virginia

27: Top 3 hashtags you use

I don’t really use hashtags

28: Top 3 instagram accounts you follow

I don’t use Instagram

29: Top 3 guilty pleasures

Sweet Tarts, Fuzzy blankets, and SeaGrams

30: Top 3 summer activities

Swimming, Camping, and Hiking

31: Top 3 things to draw

Landscapes is the only thing I can draw. I suck at rest. 

32: Top 3 aesthetics

No idea what that means....

33: Top 3 things you’d buy if you gained three million dollars

A house w/farm, land for a wildlife preserve for wolf conservation, and a new car

34: Top 3 ways to treat yourself

Pedicure, Hair coloring, and a Nap

35: Top 3 celebrity crushes

Hayden Christensen, Tatanka Means, and Christian Kane

36: Top 3 books from your childhood

Good Night Moon, Arthur Series, and Robin Hood

37: Top 3 accents to hear

Irish, Australian, and Scottish

38: Top 3 scents

Vanilla, Lavender, and Cinnamon

39: Top 3 “friends” quotes

Don’t have any quotes really

40: Top 3 cupcake flavors

Chocolate, Vanilla, and Marble

41: Top 3 fruits

Blueberries, Raspberries, and Mango

42: Top 3 places you’ve had amazing pizza from

Dominos, Pizza Hut, and Tony’s

43: Top 3 sports teams to watch

I don’t have any

44: Top 3 crayola colors

Purple, Blue, and Red

45: Top 3 things you hope to accomplish in college

Went to college and graduated

46: Top 3 fanfictions you’ve read

I don’t remember what there titles are

47: Top 3 people you miss right now

My fiance’, my grandma who passed away, and my 

48: Top 3 fears

Blood, Germs, and Death

49: Top 3 favorite literary devices

No idea what that means.

50: Top 3 pet peeves

When guys can’t put the seat down, when people assume things about others, and when people put stigma against mental illness

51: Top 3 physical things you find attractive

Smile, Eyes, and Hands

52: Top 3 bad habits

I bite my nails, I pick at myself when I’m anxious/nervous, and I don’t go to church as often as I should.

53: Top 3 pets you’ve had/wish to have

I've had a lot of pets I don’t think I would wish to have anything else.

54: Top 3 types of foreign food

I love anything Italian

55: Top 3 things you want to say to someone in your lifetime

That is a tough question because I honestly don’t have an answer to that

56: Top 3 dog breeds

Husky, Great Pyrenees, and Labrador

57: Top 3 cheesy romance movies

I really don’t watch a lot of romance movies

58: Top 3 languages you speak/wish to speak

Irish Gaelic, German, and French

59: Top 3 series (book, movie, television)

Prison Break, Star Wars, and Call The Midwife

60: Top 3 pizza toppings

Cheese, Pineapple, and Ham

61: Top 3 youtubers you’re subscribed to

Adalia Rose, Lucas The Spider, and Batdad

62: Top 3 tattoo/piercing ideas

I want to get a Celtic cross/knot on the back of my neck, a semicolon behind my ear or on my wrist, and a quote I can’t remember on my forearm. 

63: Top 3 awards you want to win

I’m not one who likes being awarded for things

64: Top 3 emojis

I use a lot of the Star Wars ones, the hugging bear, and smiley faces

65: Top 3 cars you dream of owning

I’m not really into cars. I’m good with anything that gets me from Point A to Point B.

66: Top 3 authors

I don’t have a top 3

67: Top 3 historical figures

Hatshepsut, Pocahontas, and Joan of Arc

68: Top 3 baby names

Lyanna, Anakin, and Natalie

69: Top 3 DIYs

Jewelry, Tie blankets, and Crocheting

70: Top 3 smoothie combos/flavors

Wild Berry, Mango, and Pomegranate

71: Top 3 songs of this month

Feral Hearts by Kerli, Alejandro by Lady Gaga, and Teeth by Lady Gaga

72: Top 3 questions of this post you want to be asked

I’m not shy ask me anything :)

73: Top 3 villains

Harley Quinn, Darth Revan, and Kylo Ren

74: Top 3 Cities you want to see

I want to go back to Washington D.C., Salem/Ipswich, and Seattle.

75: Top 3 recipes you want to try

I don’t have three I have a whole drawer full :)

76: Top 3 dream jobs

Egyptologist/Historian, Veterinarian, and Writer

77: Top 3 lucky items

I don’t believe in that sort of thing

78: Top 3 traditions you have

I don’t really have any traditions I have

79: Top 3 things you miss about being a kid

I barely remember my childhood if I did I could tell you something

80: Top 3 harry potter characters

Luna Lovegood, Hermione, and Harry Potter

81: Top 3 lies you were told

Rather not talk about it

82: Top 3 pictures in your camera roll right now

They’re all nature shots

83: Top 3 turn ons

Smile, Eyes, and Honestly

84: Top 3 turn offs

Liars, High maintenance, and Rude

85: Top 3 magazines/newspapers/journals to read

I actually don’t read mags or newspapers

86: Top 3 things you wish you had known earlier

There are to many to count....

87: Top 3 spongebob episodes

Never really watched it

88: Top 3 places to be in the world

Home, Nature Preserve, and Museums

89: Top 3 things you’d do differently

To many to count, tbh.

90: Top 3 TV shows from your childhood

Power Rangers, Batman, and Pokemon

91: Top 3 meals you love

PB&J sandwiches, Mac Cheese, and Meatloaf

92: Top 3 kinds of tea

I hate drinking tea, yuck

93: Top 3 embarrassing moments

I am very clumsy so you can guess the stupid things I’ve done, lol

94: Top 3 holidays to celebrate

Christmas, 4th of July, and Star Wars Day

95: Top 3 things to do in the rain

Listen to it, Read in a nook, and Nap

96: Top 3 things to do in the snow

Snowboard, Snow Angel, and Snowballs

97: Top 3 items you can’t leave the house w/o

Purse, Cell Phone, and Keys

98: Top 3 movies you’d like to see

I don’t keep up to date with movies

99: Top 3 art mediums

Smithsonian

100: Top 3 museums you’ve been to

Various Smithsonian’s in Washington D.C.

101: Top 3 school memories

I played soccer, School choir, and FFA

102: Top 3 things you don’t/won’t miss

My younger years when I was bullied a lot, My past, and People who I thought were friends

103: Top 3 pick up lines

No idea....

104: Top 3 sports to watch

Soccer, Snowboarding, and Surfing

105: Top 3 taylor swift songs

Your kidding right.......

[sussex-nature-lover]

Tuesday 16th February 2021

Normal Service and some Out of the Ordinary News

I’ve got to say that I don’t quite know where my head is at lately, let’s blame disturbed sleep shall we - might as well. I’ve been doing my customary waking around 2-3am and then napping, waking again around 5-6ish for the day and watching the cricket, which has taken up the best part of the morning. Although that makes the days seem long, they’ve been full and my blog has ended up being written piecemeal here and there and then being rather last minute. Inevitably errors occur when you write that way and I haven’t made the time to read through properly before pressing post. Usually I’m fairly meticulous, but I’ve ended up rushing, so I’ve resolved to do better. Side-note to both my football and the England crickets teams, you should do the same. Liverpool FC play tonight in Hungary, 8pm our time should you need to know (Champions’ League)

Yesterday was a very dull and grey day, cold, but not nearly as cold as of late. We had to go out to the Pharmacy and so took the car on a run just for the sake of keeping it in action.

We came back via the village where the younger Ms NW went to school and it was a very neat little journey. The hedges have had a really good cut.

It was just around this point in the lane where Crow and I did our second synchronised Woaaaaaa Woaaaaaaa of the week so far - that always makes us laugh. The first had been at a low level swoop behind our top shrubbery bed - couldn’t see what it was, but we thought it was the Buzzard. Yesterday it was an absolutely gorgeous Kestrel that flew from one side of the lane across the front of the car and off into the distance. We saw enough to register the lovely markings and beautiful chestnut colouring. I took a few other pictures of some nice looking cows and a field absolutely covered by Seagulls but to be honest they’re not all that exciting, so I’ll just leave the thoughts there.

What was exciting yesterday and I’ll go so far as to say, terribly exciting, was a brand new bird in the garden. Seriously, I can hardly believe it, so settle down and enjoy with me one of the most delightful and tiniest birds we’ve had here.

Let me set the scene, I was standing at the sink under the window, just pootling about and tidying things and a bright flash of red took my eye. I presumed Goldfinch, which would’ve been unusual as it’s been a while. But no, it wasn’t that pillar box type of red, it was more a deep and bright ruby pink. Chores abandoned and camera at the ready I took as many photos as I could considering that A) it was quite poor light and it was drizzling and B) this little bird hardly stayed still. Suffice to say I have A LOT of very blurry pics.

Enough introductory waffle, this is what I saw

Ladies and Gentlemen, a Redpoll. I have to say that its Latin name is absolutely charming.  Carduelis cabaret. Isn’t that wonderful? It certainly lives up to that descriptor in my opinion, as every angle is a feast for the eyes.

Wikipedia says

The genus name Acanthis is from the Ancient Greek akanthis, a name for a small now-unidentifiable bird, and cabaret is the French name for a type of finch

That turns out to be somewhat disappointing really. I prefer to stick to my imaginary idea of them being an actual theatre show-stopper. 

Anyway after establishing the Redpoll bit, as so often in the birding world (and the rest of the natural world to be fair) it all gets rather complicated.

For size perspective: House Sparrow and Redpoll. I said they’re tiny didn’t I

The full name for this species is actually the Lesser Redpoll, as relatively recently (year 2000) it was classified as a separate species from the very similar Common Redpoll (also called the Mealy Redpoll) which, despite the name, is not common in the UK at all. 

Lesser Redpolls breed in the UK, whereas Common Redpolls are winter visitors only and generally just to the eastern side of the UK. There are subtle differences only between the two species, but it is the Lesser Redpoll that’s much more likely to be seen in gardens across the UK.

I’ve put a really excellent video towards the end of this blog which should make things clearer.

As you can tell from the shape of the bill, Redpoll is a Finch, a small Finch. This is particularly interesting as I keep bemoaning how we lack Finches here and yet last year we saw more Goldfinch in the garden than we ever have before; not big numbers, but more frequent visits. We had the return of a Greenfinch and evidence they’d had young and of course, lately a male Chaffinch has been here a lot. Apparently Redpoll will often flock with Siskin - another relatively common bird, but again, one we’ve not spotted in our garden. There’re probably loads in the woods who only come to the garden when we turn our backs!

SIZE GUIDE:

1.5–12.5 centimetres (4.5–4.9 in) long with a wingspan of 20–22.5 centimetres (7.9–8.9 in) and a weight of 9–12 grams (0.32–0.42 oz). The bill is short, conical and sharply pointed and is pale yellow with a dark tip.

Little Lesser Red Poll making the distant Robin look huge

Obviously all the information I have is collated from various searches I made on the internet: I read that the UK population of this lovely bird went into rapid decline since the 1970s and now stands at about 10% of the known figures at that time. There is no sound evidence currently available as to why, but studies have focused on the reduction in young forestry plantations, especially non-native Conifers (a favoured nesting location) and possibly a lessening of Birch trees. To counter that though, I have also read that since around 2010 there has been a marked increase in sightings in gardens. In the Spring the Redpoll will feed on insects and source caterpillars for its young, but in the Autumn and Winter it’s a seed eater, particularly enjoying the fine Niger seed which is suited to its small beak. It seems more people are feeding the birds in their gardens and Niger seed in particular is being employed more frequently as it attracts the colourful little birds.

Lesser Redpoll GB breeding population was estimated at around 220,000 breeding pairs (2016) but they are doing particularly well these days in N Ireland which boasted an additional 40,000 pairs.

 The species is now listed as red status in the UK (see below)

Absolutely beautiful from every angle

You can just make out a small black bib in the photo above and from what I’ve read this is a male bird already displaying breeding colours, as seen by the extremely red-pink breast. It could be said it’s fairly ahead of the game with its timing.

More information from an outside source Here (pdf) which is a British Birding Association article from 2010 with some excellent photographs.

LISTING STATUS EXPLAINED:

The Red Listed birds are not necessarily terribly low in number -  for example the Common House Sparrow. Starling and Song Thrush are in this category because of population decline.

Red List Criteria

Globally Threatened

A Serious Population Decline In The UK Between 1800 And 1995

A Decline Of At Least 50% In The UK Breeding Population Over The Last 25 Years Or Over A Longer-Term Period

A Contraction Of At Least 50% In The UK Breeding Range Over The Last 25 Years Or Since 1969

The RSPB say

"We use the red list to prioritise our action. We use it to identify which species need help immediately and take action. So, if there is research to do to find out what the problem is, and how to tackle it, then we’ll do that, then once we know what needs to be done to help them we’ll get on with it, whether it’s land management, species recovery projects or lobbying government.

"Prioritising is vital as we don’t have money and resources to work on everything, even within the red list we can’t prioritise action for all 67 species. In some cases we have to just keep a watching brief on a species until we have more resource to take action."

"The first step is considering what to do in your own outdoor spaces to create better habitats for wildlife. Those who have a garden could consider wildlife friendly gardening - create a pond, plant pollen rich flowers, or plant shrubs with berries for birds.

"Most of the data we use is collected by volunteers –if you know a little bit about birds you could get involved in data gathering with monitoring schemes, such as those run by the BTO in partnership with the RSPB."

I’m going to have a think about what projects we can embark on this Spring to help our garden birds even more and then, well, who knows what species might turn up. Even after 20 years here, there’s something to marvel at every single day.

WHAT ELSE DID I LEARN TODAY?

Mount Etna has erupted. If you look at this Twitter thread you can see photos and video

LINK

[marissastaxidermy]

Hi, I've read an article named "hunting myths and facts" when I was searching for arguments for and against hunting, and what do you think about it? It says that baiting deer with human food is dangerous and that wildlife agencies artificially raise deer populations before hunting season.

Hello, I’m glad you asked! Before I get into it I just want to say that I’m grateful you are doing some research, are willing to ask questions, and that we can have this conversation peacefully. I looked up the article that you are referencing and it does make some seemingly good points, but also seems biased and only scratches the surface. For anyone else who would like to read it: link. My partner is going to help me answer this because it is a very multifaceted topic- thus this will be a long post. Please note most of our experience is based on New York state.

Let’s first address the artificial overpopulation argument.The article seems to say that state agencies purposely create habitat that willincrease deer populations for hunting. They mention clear cutting and plantingfood plots.

Clear cuts:

It is true due to colonial clearcuts we have lost much of our old growth stands in America. However, allforests should not be old growth. In a natural setting forests go throughdisturbance (ice, wind, fire, natural inundation, etc), this resets what istypically referred to as forest succession. Some trees like the pitch pine Pinus regida have what’s called aserotinous cone. These serotinous cones are glued shut and can only open torelease seeds once fire has partially burned them. They have adapted thisstrategy as they would be out competed by other trees which are less resistantto fire, so this tree saves its seeds until fire comes through. In the animalworld we have species like the Kirtland’s warbler Setophaga kirtlandii, these birds can only nest in jack pines, Pinus banksiana less than 15 years old.The New England cottontail, Sylvolagustransitionalis is declining more than ever due to a lack of earlysuccession (freshly disturbed sites).

The main problem is disturbance forforests will also disturb humans. We suppress natural disturbances like fire.By encouraging sustainable logging (plant whatever you cut) you can maintainevery stage of forest succession while still providing forest products, jobs,and specialized habitat. For every species I mentioned that needs earlysuccession, there’s an alternate species that requires old growth, or mid stagesuccession.

State agencies boast better deerhunting through clear-cutting because it’s true. It incentives the public bygetting clear-cuts on their side. Clear-cuts improve deer by improving theirhabitat – this is not the same thing as overpopulating deer. The bottom line iswhether it is for deer or not, clear cuts are necessary in a world where humansoccupy and control so much habitat.

Food Plots:

               In mostcases food plots are not encouraged by state agencies. However, this does vary fromstate to state. As a former employee of the bureau of wildlife in the NYSdepartment of environmental conservation I want everyone to understand wildlifemanagement is more human management than anything else. When feeding deer wasfirst banned in New York it was such an ingrained practice in the Adirondackregion (I.E region 5 & 6) that not only did the people not stop, but policeofficers in the area refused to enforce the law. Most recently while I wasworking in region 3 we were seeking to eradicate mute swans, Cygnus olor. The mute swan destroysrooted plants, is incredibly aggressive, and without getting into too muchdetail is simply a horrible invasive species which is bad for native waterfowland wetlands. It seems like a no brainer, if we can aim to eliminate theharmful hemlock woolly adelgid, Adelgestsugae why not another destructive invasive species? In short the publicwas so outraged that the state government wanted to kill the “symbol of love”the management plan was rapidly scratched. Just because something makes sensefrom a management perspective does not mean it can be implemented! My salary isnot paid by the tax payers, all management is not aided by nature lovers,hikers, bird watchers, or animal rights groups. My salary is paid by theRobert-Pittman act and hunting licenses. When you buy a gun and a huntinglicense you’re not just helping deer, you’re helping most species. State agenciesopenly want better deer hunting, however overpopulated deer do not generallymake for good hunting.

Would a Wildlife Management agency support hunting?Absolutely. People rarely raise money for biologists any other way. That’s alltrue. Hunting is not an incentive for the biologists who genuinely want to seea more sustainable ecosystem and understand wildlife, but rather the incentivefor the public to support them. What wildlife management units want is toencourage farmers to manage their land in a way that supports and preserveswildlife, instead of just pushing wildlife out and solely favoring ‘game’/deerto hunt. I don’t think wildlife management workers have ever called for addingfood plots to state/federal land and refuges. Even though its public land it istypically illegal for the public to disturb the land by planting anything.Biologists are free to manage it as best for all wildlife and we can see thatfood plots to artificially boost deer populations are not part of the plan.This article is focusing on private land, where a biologists can’t see afragmented and unhealthy habitat and just decide to fix it. They need toconvince the land owner that it will benefit them and most often land ownerswill only cooperate if it supports better hunting (even though it’s reallybenefiting soil, plants, birds, entire ecosystems, etc on top of it). Severalstate agencies even have programs to incentivize agricultural land owners totransform farmland into wetlands (wetland reserves programs) to decrease theeffects of soil erosion and support all native wildlife.

Humans:

               Highways,lawns, agriculture, and roads provide more edge habitat than deer can use. Illegalfeeding, or unintentional feeding (ornamental plants or gardens), and wintershelter from homes all cause overpopulation. It has been observed that yardingdeer will often seek the warm of a home as a windbreak above conifer stands.Before hunting regulations the white-tail deer was near extirpated from NewYork. In fact New York did lose the wild turkey, Meleagris gallopavo from the 1850s until it was reintroduced inthe 1950’s. Now because of artificial help they’re doing better than ever, andthey’re doing especially well in communities without hunting. Suburban deer area nightmare in the world of wildlife biology.

               Withoutnatural predators and with all the artificial help deer can get, it’s no wonderthey are largely overpopulated in many areas. Most harvestable species arewhat’s called compensatory. State agencies only have hunters kill a proportionof the population that will be eliminated with or without humans. For example,roughly 20% of the mallard population, Anasplatyrhynchos will die every year. USFWS aims for hunters to take around10-11%. No matter if you have a very liberal season or a very conservativeseason, the amount of ducks dead does not change. We could allow the full 20%to die off and lose the economic value (hunting license, gas, coffee, ammo,staying at hotels, camping, etc), but in the case of many species that revenueis critical in protecting them. Humans destroy habitat, pollute ecosystems, andbuild projects right over key habitat. Without that revenue we wouldn’t have aDEC or DNR to clean spills, conduct environmental impact statements, monitorpopulations, or survey for T&E species.

Carrying Capacity  

               It istrue you cannot have more species alive than the environment can support. Wesee an S shaped curve for the carrying capacity of many rabbits. The populationbooms, then busts. The problem with deer is we support them above the carryingcapacity indirectly. Many areas in Long Island, NY are overrun by deer with nopredators and no hunters. In some urban cases agencies hire trained sharpshooters to come and kill deer in the middle of the night. Eventually, yes youdo see the deer population drop, but it’ll come right back with the problemsassociated. Why allow individuals to die of from disease and starvation when wecould be generating revenue for most other species, wildlife refuges, andbiologists to monitor the ecosystem. When DDT’s were decimating the eaglepopulation in the 1960’s and 70’s Robert-Pitman money generated by hunters surehelped state research scientists like Peter Nye (In NY) to figure out what wascausing the problem and how to fix it.

               Inshort, hunting is extremely important. The way humans are you wouldn’t havedeer without regulatory hunting. People would definitely poach illegally and decimatepopulations without regulation (like what happened to the Passenger Pigeon) orunintentionally produce an overpopulation through simply owning a home andgarden. Overpopulations of deer encourage the very factors (disease, stuntedgrowth, early death (i.e smaller antlers)) hunters don’t want to see. If theright amount of people harvest deer, you won’t have population booms and busts,you’ll only have that compensatory portion of the population utilized. Thearticle also says that good genes are weeded out through hunting. The strongaren’t necessarily the ones who survive when it comes to natural deaths, it’s agame of luck. The article argues that only trophy animals are hunted so thepopulation’s genes suffer, but hunting seasons begin during the end of thebreeding season. So any of the ‘trophy’ deer that are harvested will stilllikely have offspring because they are usually the first to breed. It also doesnot give deer the credit they deserve. The biggest bucks are typically theoldest and they didn’t get to that age by being stupid. It’s arguable that theyrecognize the hunting season and will stay hidden away or in extremely ruralareas to avoid it. The majority of hunters will probably never even see deerpast the age of three years old during hunting season. Here is a journal thatattempts to determine the causes of the decline in bighorn horn sizes (theproblem mentioned in the article). It does not seem that hunting pressure is one of the main causes, even with thelargest trophies being sought out.

Finally my biggest issue is theending paragraph because they are so incredibly correct! And then they go tothe other extreme. No, not every person in America should hunt. That would becompletely unrealistic and decimate wildlife. People cannot be trusted when itcomes to moderation, and excess harvesting is no exception. For the same reasonthat everyone hunting wouldn’t work, everyone becoming vegan would not work.Agriculture does a lot of native habitat damage and when harvested with machine(which would be unavoidable if every person was vegan) results in mass animaland insect death. The only way for everyone to be completely cruelty free is toeither sustainably gather wild edibles or grow your own food, preferablyharvesting wild invasives and growing plants without pesticides. Even thatposes a problem, if every person harvested their own wild edibles we’d depletethe natural resource. 

So to conclude: things are neverever cut and dry. Yes, wildlife management does encourage hunting but thatargument does not necessarily provide all the facets that go into thatdecision. Yes, feeding deer with human food is definitely dangerous (here’sa little handout about that), but farmers can be incentivized to plant thingslike clover that they will eat. Hunters can be jerks, I’m not denying that, buthunting is not inherently about raising deer or trophies to kill for sport.Vegetarians are not wrong. Vegans are not wrong. The irony is we need ALL ofthese lifestyle variations to survive. 

[lethaderr-blog]

Here are the best things to do in southern for active and outdoor adventurers.

It was my first time visiting the state of and I really didn’t know what to expect. I was in town for the Women in Summit conference (WITS), and it was a great excuse to check a new state off my bucket list. After spending some time in Portland, it was time to venture away from the city. As I had my own car, I had the freedom to go wherever I wanted. Yes, this crazy road trip warrior drove solo on a 10 hour trip from Toronto to Portland. After making this journey, I feel like I can own the term “road trip warrior” and also the “crazy” part of the title, too (though I did break up the drive into manageable chunks).

Anyway, after my time at WITS, I headed south to check out the southern coast on a trip with The Beaches. There are lots of things to do in southern for outdoor adventure enthusiasts. I had the opportunity to check out several exciting places for those wanting to get outside, explore nature, or try a new activity. While there are many attractions in York County, I’ll break up this itinerary by city, starting from south in Kittery to north in Kennebunkport. While you won’t see any beaches on this itinerary, this listing of things to do in southern can be enjoyed from spring right through to the fall.

SOUTHERN MAINE TRAVEL GUIDE

WHERE TO STAY IN THE MAINE BEACHES REGION: I loved staying at The Dunes on the Waterfront in Ogunquit. You can read my review a little further down on this page. Book your stay at The Dunes or read more reviews by fellow travelers. While I highly recommend staying at The Dunes, you can also choose to browse the available listings on Airbnb if you’re looking for a shared room or your own home. Here are some more hotels in The Beaches.

GETTING AROUND SOUTHERN MAINE: I recommend having access to a car when you visit The Beaches. A lot of the places on this particular itinerary are far apart from one another. Having a car makes this trip possible. If you don’t have your own, consider renting a car for this trip.

MORE THINGS TO DO IN MAINE: For all of the best things to do in New York State, check out all of my other blog posts.

PHOTOS OF THE MAINE BEACHES REGION: Check out our entire photo album of pictures from southern to inspire your trip. You can also purchase prints, housewares, and all sorts of gifts made from any of our photos – just click the “buy” button on any picture.

Kittery

Let’s start just about as far south as we can go in the state of : Kittery. The town of Kittery is just across a bridge from Portsmouth, New Hampshire. While Kittery might be known for its outlet shopping, I headed straight to one of the most unique things to do on the coast of .

Take Flight Aerial Park

The aerial adventures and ziplines at Take Flight are one of the most thrilling things to do in southern . Strap on your harness and helmet, we’re going on an adventure! I experienced the Aerial Challenge Course and it was exhilarating, demanding, and even a little bit scary at times. With that said, you can choose how much or little to challenge yourself. It’s an epic journey for kids and adults alike. 

The adventure course at Take Flight a place to climb, swing, and hang around, quite literally. It’s perfect for all abilities, even if you’ve never done a ropes course before. You’ll need to visit with a partner as the course operates on a buddy system where you’ll be responsible for the safety of your partner (and vice versa). There are over 65 elements on the adventure course, including cargo nets, bridges, swinging tires, various platforms, ropes, and all sorts of inventive materials to swing around on.

Some of these are easier to figure out than others. It’s quite simple to realize that you need to climb through a cargo net. But, you might encounter a set of buoys suspended in the air and wonder, “how the heck am I going to get across this?” It’s all a part of the fun. I found myself laughing over and over again with the antics I seemed to get myself into on this course.

There are three levels of apparatus and swinging platforms that you’ll encounter. You can choose just how high you want to go and which bridges to cross. When my travel buddy, Retha and I got to a certain spot that was a little too intimidating, we’d exclaim something like, “Oh hell, no!” and choose an alternate route. And then there were other moments where a set of swings looked rather daring and we’d give it a shot. In the end, I felt quite pleased and accomplished that I’d attempted the adventure course. Take Flight is one of the best southern attractions, and I urge you to check it out with one of your friends.

When you visit the Take Flight adventure course, you’ll be able to climb around for a maximum of 2 hours. You’ll receive a “pre-flight” training to prepare you for the excursion. Wear sneakers, sunscreen, and sunglasses. Don’t bring your camera, phone, or anything else with you. Take Flight staff members will take photos of you, so you don’t need to worry about damaging your gear on the course. Thank you so much to the staff at Take Flight for taking these photos of us!

York

Next, we drive a little bit up the road to York where you can find an excellent place to hit the trails. Some of the best hiking in southern is at Mount Agamenticus. My second stop in York isn’t really an outdoor adventure per se, but a beautiful scenic location to view the Nubble Lighthouse.

Mount Agamenticus

If there’s one place where you need to go hiking in southern , it’s Mount Agamenticus. Known as “Mount A” for short, the Mount Agamenticus Conservation Region sprawls across 10,000 acres within a 30,000 acre section of conservation land in southern . In fact, the region surrounding Mount A makes up one of the largest unfragmented forests in coastal New England. Within this unique coastal forest, you’ll find the highest diversity of plant and animal species in the whole state. You might spot whitetail deer, moose, spotted turtles, black racer snakes, or even a black bear. I didn’t manage to see any wildlife this time around, but you never know what you might see on the trail.

Mount A also happens to be one of ’s best sites to watch migrating raptors, including peregrine falcons, bald eagles, osprey, and hawks. In the fall, you can see hundreds of birds migrating within a few hours from the summit. On average, 4000 raptors migrate through this location annually. Make sure you visit Mount Agamenticus in late September through mid October on a clear day with a strong northwest wind.

The trails surrounding Mount A are perfect for hikers, bikers, and even winter activities like snowshoeing. Along with a local guide, we started at the bottom of Mount A and hiked up to the top. It’s a very gradual incline, so it’s not terribly challenging. However, it’s a great location for sightseeing and spending a few hours in nature. There are numerous informative plaques along the way about the history of the region, as well as the kinds of trees you’ll come across on your journey. 

Eventually, you’ll reach the summit of Mount A, which is also directly accessible by car. At the summit, there are several interesting features and lookouts. You can soak up views of the mountains in one direction, including Mount Washington on a clear day. From another vantage point, you can see right out to the Atlantic Ocean. There’s a circular deck at the middle of the summit with miniatures of various nearby attractions like Nubble Light and Goose Rocks Beach. Be sure to wander around this vast expanse of land to the various lookout decks and rocky ledges.

Nubble Light

Even though this isn’t technically an outdoor adventure, you really should go to see Nubble Light when you’re in York. You can actually see Nubble Light from Mount A, too! It’s a quick drive down to the ocean to view this beautiful southern lighthouse. Officially named Cape Neddick Light, the lighthouse sits on Nubble Island, about 100 meters off Cape Neddick Point. While the lighthouse itself is inaccessible to the general public, you can easily view it from the edge of Cape Neddick Point. There’s a big parking lot, so you can pull right up and take a look. Going to see Nubble Light is one of the most iconic things to do on the coast of .

Built in 1879, the lighthouse is 41 feet tall but is positioned 88 feet above sea level. It sits up on top of a high, rocky island. Nubble Light is still in use today. It’s a classic example of an American lighthouse. A picture of the Nubble Light is included on the Voyager spacecraft, along with examples of other famous man made structures like the Great Wall of China and the Taj Mahal.

Ogunquit

Ogunquit has some of the most stunning views that I’ve seen throughout my time in . I recommend that you take a drive down to Perkins Cove and explore the adorable village, including the beautiful coastline. Park your car at Perkins Cove and take a walk on the Marginal Way.

Marginal Way

The Marginal Way is one of the prettiest coastal footpaths in New England. The term “margin” refers to the space between the land and the sea. Take a stroll down this 1.25 mile pathway to get right up close to the crashing waves of the Atlantic Ocean. Even on a cloudy and somewhat dreary day, it’s so magical. The water is seemingly drawn towards the shore, violently crashing into the rocks and cliffs. There are 39 benchs along this relatively short stretch, inviting visitors to take a break. Sit back and enjoy the view.

Perkins Cove

Perkins Cove is a cute village at one end of the Marginal Way. There are many boutiques, cafes, and restaurants in town, although many of them are seasonal. While only a handful of them were open when I visited in early May, I didn’t mind that at all. There weren’t many people around, and I felt at times like I had many southern attractions all to myself. 

The Perkins Cove Drawbridge is the most iconic sight in Perkins Cove. It overlooks a lovely little harbor, and it might be the only double leaf draw footbridge left in the . I didn’t happen to see any boats sailing through, but the drawbridge can be raised to allow tall ships to enter the harbor. The harbormaster typically operates the drawbridge. However, if he isn’t available, it’s up to the average citizen or visitor to help out. There’s a button right on the bridge itself that you can push to raise the bridge. I didn’t have the unique opportunity to push that button, but fingers crossed that you get the chance!

Kennebunk

Did you know that Kennebunk is the only village with that name in the entire world? With such a unique name, I wouldn’t expect that any other town would be called ‘Kennebunk.’ All of the residents want you to know that. At the entrance to the town, there’s a sign stating: “Welcome to Kennebunk, The Only Village in the World So Named.” So, there you have it. Definitely wander around town here. You’ll discover a river with a small waterfall, a charming little park, and a main street with lots of little boutiques.

Garden Street Bowl

Now, a bowling alley wouldn’t generally be on my list of outdoor adventures. But, it’s a fantastic place to head in the evening after a long day of activities. Grab your travel gang and head straight to Garden Street Bowl. It’s a newly renovated bowling alley that’s inside an old repurposed grocery store. There’s a massive bar, restaurant, and a games room located in a long room where the shopping carts used to be stored. I’ll write a little bit more about what I ordered at the restaurant, but this food is not your average bowling alley grub. Garden Street Bowl is the perfect rainy day activity, and it’s open super late (until 11pm most days, and until midnight on Friday and Saturday). 

Kennebunkport

Wandering around Kennebunkport may very well be one of the best things to do on the coast of . While I didn’t participate in any particular activities or adventures, it’s a quaint village to go for a walk. I loved the colorful buildings and the views of the docked boats. Sometimes the best adventures are the ones that you don’t overly plan. Go for a stroll in Kennebunkport and admire the scenery around you.

Scenic Flight of the Coast

Now that you’ve visited all of the towns on the southern coast, why not take a look at them from up above? Taking a scenic flight with Southern Aviation was one of the most memorable aspects of the entire trip. There’s nothing quite like witnessing the natural beauty of the sand dunes from up above. You can see the crashing waves along the coast from high in the sky. Soar above the treetops and marvel at the landscapes of coastal . 

Our aircraft was a small, four seat plane (including the pilot). You can embark on a flight with two of your friends, and you’ll each have your own window for the amazing views. The plans are modern, well equipped, and incredibly safe. Our pilot, Paul, had over 25 years of experience flying with American Airlines. You’re in good hands!

While you can choose your flight path, we decided to leave it up to the expert. He took us on a journey to see so many southern attractions, like Nubble Light, York Harbor, Kennebunkport, Ogunquit (we even spotted our hotel from the air), and even Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Flights start and end at the Sanford Airport, which is just 14 miles west of Kennebunk. You can take flights lasting anywhere from a half hour to two hours. Taking a scenic flight with Southern Aviation is incredibly affordable at a rate of $195 per hour (it’s a great price, especially if you split it between 3 people). 

Curious about learning how to fly an airplane? This first “discovery flight” counts as your first lesson towards earning your pilot license. If you’re a local or live nearby and would like to take flying lessons, Southern Aviation can hook you up. If you’re like me and you want to leave the flying up to the experts, it’s easy to hop on board for a short flight to soak up the stunning views.

Where to Eat

While it was relatively easy to find vegan food in the city of Portland, it was a little more challenging in southern . There were a few plant-based and very vegan-friendly establishments, but they are only open seasonally during the summer months. You might be thinking that visiting as a vegan could be next to impossible, especially since the state is most known for its lobster. Don’t worry, I always find a way to make it work! I discovered several restaurants with vegan dishes that were very delicious.

Squeeze

The Squeeze is a local chain of smoothie shops. Their location in Kittery resembles a small juice shack. It’s actually a juice bar inside a repurposed drive through bank location. I love when companies are able to find new uses for old buildings. At The Squeeze, you can find all sorts of smoothies and smoothie bowls in every flavor. I couldn’t resist ordering a Bananarama (without the yogurt) because it had espresso in it. The smoothie was super refreshing and definitely hit the spot.

Heckman’s Pub at Nonantum Resort

Heckman’s Pub is a small bar inside the Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport. You don’t need to stay overnight at the hotel to take advantage of the dining options. Heckman’s Pub has several local beers on tap, as well as a small menu of yummy eats. The vegan offering on the menu is the cauliflower tacos. I love the little round taco shells that look more like little taco bowls. Not only is there roasted cauliflower in them, but there’s also grilled pineapple salsa. You’ve gotta try this tasty take on a taco.

Garden Street Bowl

The Crotux Kitchen and Taphouse is the restaurant inside Garden Street Bowl. While it might seem rather casual (you can choose to dine at a table, the bar, or right at your bowling alley!), there’s an extensive menu of food and drink options. There are dozens of local beers on tap, including kombucha (I sampled a pint of the ginger kombucha). For my meal, I was in a snacking kind of mood, so I ordered the roasted chili hummus and the fries with truffle ketchup. If you plan to go bowling at Garden Street Bowl, be sure to stay for a meal as it goes well above and beyond what you’d typically expect to eat at a bowling alley.

Mike’s Clam Shack

This is most likely the last place you’d expect a vegan to dine. Mike’s Clam Shack in Wells, has a very tasty vegan veggie burger on their menu. I verified with the restaurant staff that the burger is vegan. It might be the only option on the menu, but it’s a good one. If you happen to be traveling with some seafood loving friends, you won’t go hungry. 

Norma’s Restaurant

Norma’s Restaurant is a bit of a greasy spoon, but it’s a favorite among the locals. The veggie folks in the crowd will find fried potatoes and toast with jam as a breakfast offering.

Cafes & Coffee

If you know me, you’ll know that I like to stay caffeinated! I’m always seeking the best cafes and coffee shops while I travel, and I managed to find a few excellent ones in southern . Here’s where you’ll find some of the best coffee in York County.

Lil’s Cafe

Lil’s Cafe in Kittery serves up delicious coffee and espresso beverages. They also make all of their own baked goods and pastries right on site. Unfortunately, they don’t have any vegan pastries at the moment, but they do have lots of freshly baked bread. I ordered an Americano and it was exactly what I needed as a pick me up. As an added bonus, check out Lil’s Vinyl Vault, a vintage record shop connected directly to the cafe. Searching for a particular LP? You might find that retro gem at Lil’s Vinyl Vault. Coffee and records is a pretty sweet combination.

Dock Square Coffee House

The Dock Square Coffee House is right in the main tourist area of Kennebunkport. I stopped by for a morning coffee and sat at the front window, sipping my drink and watching the people stroll by. Many visitors stopped by for their morning brew, and I even managed to see a couple of dogs on their morning walks. Be sure to stop by this charming little coffee shop for a break in your sightseeing activities in the Beaches region.

Christian’s Cafe and Eatery

Christian’s Cafe and Eatery is right along the main street of Kennebunk. I stopped by as I was wandering around town because I felt a little bit hungry and definitely in need of some caffeine. While they didn’t have any vegan items on the menu, the staff members were so helpful and kind. They offered to prepare a bagel with vegetable toppings in place of the cream cheese (cucumber, lettuce, and onion). I also ordered a soy milk cappuccino, which was very yummy.

Where to Stay in Southern

My choice for the best place to stay in Southern is The Dunes on the Waterfront. It’s a collection of cozy cottages right on the Ogunquit River. It’s like having your own home away from home, right on the edge of the water. This accommodation is a little slice of paradise in a very tranquil setting. The cottages are spaced apart just the right amount for a secluded atmosphere.

The cottage itself has everything you could need for a comfortable stay: a large bed, a full kitchen, a flat screen TV with satellite channels, complimentary Wi-Fi, and even a wood burning fireplace. My cottage had a covered and screened in front porch, which is such a lovely place to unwind in peace. You can also explore the sand dunes and Ogunquit beach from Dunes on the Waterfront. The hotel staff will provide you with a time table for the tides where you’ll learn when you can easily walk across the river or take a rowboat. You can book out the rowboats through the front desk. 

I highly recommend waking up to watch the sunrise over the Ogunquit River and the Atlantic Ocean. While it means getting up as early as 5:00am and a great sunrise isn’t a guarantee, it’s so completely worth it for those vibrant skies. On my first morning at The Dunes, it was very overcast. While my surroundings still looked beautiful, it wasn’t quite as brilliant as I had hoped. However, on my second morning, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky as the sun seemingly came up from beyond the river itself. It was absolutely gorgeous.

Ogunquit is a central location for your holiday to southern . You’re right in the middle of it all. Plus, The Dunes on the Waterfront is one of the most unique properties at which I’ve had the pleasure of staying. It’s a peaceful sanctuary away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. You can kick back and relax here, whether you’re enjoying a crackling fire in your fireplace, reading a book on your front porch, or taking in one of nature’s best performances as the sun comes up. Be sure to book your stay at The Dunes on the Waterfront. You can also read more reviews by fellow travelers by clicking here.

Map of Things to Do in Southern

PLANNING A TRIP TO MAINE?

Book your accommodation, Airbnb rental, or rental car.

Browse tours and excursions around the city for fun day trips.

Check out my 10 essential items to pack for a day hike.

Research even more with Eastern guidebooks to help plan your holidays.

Read the rest of my blog posts for the best trip ever.

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[olko71]

New Post has been published on All about business online

New Post has been published on http://yaroreviews.info/2020/03/coronavirus-deaths-in-italy-overtake-china-as-economic-damage-mounts

Coronavirus deaths in Italy overtake China as economic damage mounts

LONDON/MILAN (Reuters) – The world’s richest nations poured unprecedented aid into the global economy on Thursday as coronavirus cases ballooned in the new epicentre Europe, with the number of deaths in Italy outstripping those in mainland China, where the virus originated.

With over 242,000 infections and nearly 10,000 deaths, the epidemic has stunned the world and drawn comparisons with painful periods such as World War Two, the 2008 financial crisis and the 1918 Spanish flu.

U.N. chief Antonio Guterres warned that a global recession, “perhaps of record dimensions”, was a near certainty.

“This is a moment that demands coordinated, decisive, and innovative policy action from the world’s leading economies,” Guterres told reporters via a video conference. “We are in an unprecedented situation and the normal rules no longer apply.”

Tourism and airlines have been particularly battered, as the world’s citizens hunker down to minimize contact and curb the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 respiratory illness. But few sectors have been spared by a crisis threatening a lengthy global recession.

The United States is urging Americans not to travel abroad at all and could announce restrictions at the U.S.-Mexican border on Friday. They would be similar to the closure of the U.S.-Canada border to non-essential traffic.

Markets have suffered routs unseen since the 2008 financial debacle, with investors rushing to the U.S. dollar as a safe haven. Wall Street tried to bounce back on Thursday. The benchmark S&P 500 .SPX closed up 0.5%, still around 30% off highs reached last month. U.S. oil prices posted their largest one-day gain ever, rising 25%. [.N] [O/R]

Policymakers in the United States, Europe and Asia have slashed interest rates and opened liquidity taps to try to stabilise economies hit by quarantined consumers, broken supply chains, disrupted transport and paralysed businesses.

The virus, thought to have originated from wildlife in mainland China late last year, has jumped to 172 other nations and territories with more than 20,000 new cases reported in the past 24 hours – a new daily record.

Cases in Germany, Iran and Spain rose to more than 12,000 each. An official in Tehran tweeted that the coronavirus was killing one person every 10 minutes.

Interactive graphic tracking global spread of coronavirus tmsnrt.rs/3aIRuz7

LONDON LOCKDOWN?

Britain, which has reported 144 deaths, was closing dozens of underground stations in London and ordering schools shut from Friday.

Some 20,000 soldiers were on standby, Queen Elizabeth headed for sanctuary in the ancient castle of Windsor, and the Tower of London was to close along with other historic buildings.

“Many of us will need to find new ways of staying in touch with each other and making sure that loved ones are safe,” the 93-year-old monarch said in an address to the nation.

“I am certain we are up to that challenge,” she added.

Italian soldiers transported corpses overnight from an overwhelmed cemetery in Europe’s worst-hit nation where 3,405 people have died, more than in mainland China. Germany’s military was also preparing to help.

Supermarkets in many countries were besieged with shoppers stocking up on food staples and hygiene products. Some rationed sales and fixed special hours for the elderly, who are particularly vulnerable to severe illness.

Solidarity projects were springing up in some of the world’s poorest corners. In Kenya’s Kibera slum, volunteers with plastic drums of water and boxes of soap on motorbikes set up handwashing stations for people without clean water.

Russia reported its first coronavirus death on Thursday.

A medical worker wearing a protective mask and suit treats patients suffering from coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in an intensive care unit at the Oglio Po hospital in Cremona, Italy March 19, 2020. REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo

Amid the gloom, China provided a ray of hope as it reported zero new local transmissions of the virus, a sign of success for its draconian containment policies since January. Imported cases accounted for all 34 new infections in China.

In the United States, where President Donald Trump had initially played down the coronavirus threat, infections surged with over 11,500 known cases and at least 186 deaths.

Trump has infuriated Beijing’s Communist Party rulers by rebuking it for not acting faster and drawn accusations of racism by referring to COVID-19 as the “Chinese virus”.

“We continue our relentless effort to defeat the Chinese virus,” he said in opening remarks at a briefing on Thursday.

The head of the U.S. National Guard said tens of thousands of its troops could be activated to help U.S. states deal with the outbreak now in all 50 states.

MOTOWN SHUTS CAR PLANTS

In a bewildering raft of financial measures around the world, the European Central Bank launched new bond purchases worth 750 billion euros ($817 billion). That brought some relief to bond markets and also halted European shares’ slide.

The U.S. Federal Reserve rolled out its third emergency credit programme in two days, aimed at keeping the $3.8 trillion money market mutual fund industry functioning. The Bank of England cut interest rates to 0.1%, its second emergency rate cut in just over a week.

China was to unleash trillions of yuan of fiscal stimulus and South Korea pledged 50 trillion won ($39 billion).

The desperate state of industry was writ large in Detroit, where the big three automakers – Ford Motor Co (F.N), General Motors Co (GM.N) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCHA.MI) (FCAU.N) – were shutting U.S. plants, as well as factories in Canada and Mexico. Some automakers have pledged to help manufacture much needed medical supplies.

With some economists fearing prolonged pain akin to the 1930s Great Depression and others anticipating a bounceback, gloomy data and forecasts abounded.

Slideshow (10 Images)

In one of the most dire calls, J.P. Morgan economists forecast the Chinese economy to drop more than 40% this quarter and the U.S. economy to shrink 14% in the next. Ratings agency Moody’s prepared for mass downgradings.

In Britain, small gin distilleries have started producing hand sanitizer amid a national shortage, a trend mirrored across the globe from Australia to the United States.

And Monaco cancelled its showcase Formula One Grand Prix, the most famous and glamorous race on the calendar, in another high-profile sporting casualty of the epidemic.

Reporting by Reuters bureaux around the world; Writing by Marius Zaharia, Andrew Cawthorne, Nick Macfie and Lisa Shumaker; Editing by Mark Heinrich and Bill Berkrot

Our Standards:The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[sussex-nature-lover]

Sunday 27th December 2020

What Have We Seen?

♦ outside links indicated by bold type - not affiliated to this blog

When I was a little girl, as an only child, my Christmas Day evening and the days afterwards were spent diligently writing. It was all about the Thank You cards and filling in my new diary (remember them?) This year the house has been equally quiet, just me and Crow and it set me thinking that as I’ve been using this Blog as a kind of journal, documenting our weekly life, I should try and make a definitive list of all the birds we’ve seen in our Sussex garden and on our walks straight out of the front door, all within half an hour’s gentle amble. I’m going to include birds seen flying overhead as well as in the trees and on the ground.

As of the 30 November 2020 update, the British lists of species seen stands at 622, so we have a very long way to go.

The UK List from the British Ornithologists’ Union - check the site for further qualifications on the categories below.

Now yesterday was a super exciting day for us here and we didn’t even leave the house. It wasn’t to do with forgotten Christmas presents or stuffing ourselves with left overs either.

I’d got this Blog entry partly drafted out (and annoyingly lost everything I wrote earlier, so am having to start again, boo hoo) but I’m going to take the opportunity to start at the end instead of the beginning.

You might remember that last week I reported seeing a Tree Creeper for the first time. I used an illustration as I just didn’t manage to get a photo. After a shout out on Twitter two friends supplied me with personal pictures and said I could use them. Here’s one and the other will be showcased again soon. It’s great to be able to use friends’ photos if I haven’t got one rather than rely on the reference sites.

Tree Creeper in Sefton Park by Dave Edwards ‘ Lifelong LFC Fan. Proud Scouser. Lakeland walker, lover of all wildlife. Photography lover’ Thanks Dave

Yesterday morning I was looking out of a front bedroom window and could tell there was a huge amount of activity in the field across the lane (Babs the Buzzard’s Field) but this time it was tiny activity, dwarfed by the Rooks and Crows over there.

First off there was a big flock of Pied Wagtails. I’d guesstimate more than 20. The most I’ve ever seen before (in Real Life) would be eight or nine. They were really, really busy little birds. Lovely.

They’re quite hard to make out and were over a fair area. I just wanted to offer a bit of proof I hadn’t seen about four and told a Fisherman’s Tale.

Peer closely and they are there I promise

Then I noticed that right at the back along the tree line where the Deer usually linger, what might have been leaves blowing in the wind, was actually something totally different.

I do believe (and my Guru will soon put me right if I’m mistaken) that there was a huge number of both Redwing (above) and Fieldfare (below) - the so called Winter Thrushes.

Link includes video which gives you more of an idea what I saw.

They were hard to snap as well because they were so active, leaping up on the wing and dancing about.

What I’ve lost in clarity I’ve gained by showing scale

We’ve never seen either of these birds for ourselves before, so that’s another first - three within a week or thereabouts.

BUT...We weren’t done yet - brace yourselves.

I was on the phone to Ms NW tE and didn’t have the binoculars to hand. A huge bird caught my eye. The Heron? Oooh, no, TWO huge birds and then a third smaller bird flying behind.

I managed to get a very poor photo with which to tease my Guru. I actually gave him the pic that looked like a spec of dust on the screen, but he knows my modus operandi by now and politely enquired if I had anything a little better? Tee Hee.

Still not the best, but I offered up what I have. Through a process of enquiry and thought, we identified what the two large birds are. See Link Here.

RECONNECTING PEOPLE AND LANDSCAPES

A group of private landowners and nature conservation organisations are working together to help the white stork return home to South East England for the first time in several hundred years.

These large birds, symbolic of rebirth, are native to the British Isles and evidence suggests that they were once widely distributed. Whilst it is unclear why this spectacular and sociable bird failed to survive in Britain, it is likely that a combination of habitat loss, over-hunting and targeted persecution all contributed to their decline. A contributory factor may be that it was persecuted in the English Civil War for being associated with rebellion. The white stork is a migratory bird species, and there have been many sightings in the UK over recent years, but conservationists identified that the species would need a helping hand to re-establish a breeding population in Britain.

Read more at The White Stork Project

I think we agreed there’s no doubt as the project is 4-5 miles away by road and a friend from another nearby village also confirmed sightings here last week (of several, circling) I wish I’d known.

To say that I am BEYOND EXCITED (yes - shouting, sorry) is an understatement. This was our first sighting and now we know, we’ll definitely be on the look out. Sometimes I find it hard to identify a new bird because it just doesn’t occur to me that I’m going to see something unusual - which is odd because I do know the science and always advise other people that you just don’t know what’s out there. My mind boggles at all the spottings I’ve missed because I wasn’t looking out at the right time...but then sometimes you just get lucky.

I’ve only ever seen a Stork in real life once before and that was in South Africa. I’ll embarrass myself here and confess that neither of us thought it was real. We came straight out of the Lodge (in the open Land Rover) with our Ranger and Tracker and there it was. We actually thought someone had made a giant painted cut out as some kind of way marker.

Saddle Billed Stork at 5′ approx, the tallest Stork in the world, with a wing span of between 8-9′ Incredible. Click link for all the details

To be fair to us that was in the fairly early days of our interest in bird watching and they are usually shy and somewhat reclusive.

So that’s four new to us sightings within a week or 10 days. What an end to the year that is, not that it’s over yet. I’ll sign off now and start over on the full Sightings Blog that I’d written earlier. Back to Square One it is.

LOCAL NEWS:

Just down the lane this morning. The post and wire fence on the right is where I took the Goldfinch photos in the Summer. Luckily our house is on a slope down from the village towards this point. Apparently the roads all around are flooded, some can’t be used at all and it goes as far as St Leonard’s (towards the coast)

Photo Credit: a fellow villager

And a couple of villages along, a friend’s view at the end of the garden - there is no river there as a rule.

Photo credit: friend * permission has been requested. Will remove if not forthcoming

NOTE FROM LAST NIGHT’S KITCHEN:

I was quite the Domestic Goddess. We have some beautiful large Majool Dates. They were £4 for two packs on offer from Morrisons.

I really recommend you read that link.

I made a slit in them and inserted a Pistachio Nut and drizzled some melted dark chocolate over them, sprinkling it before it set with some more finely chopped nuts.

I was also prepping on the off-chance our power got cut off later because of Storm Bella revving up outside. There’s been some awful flooding around the country and I could hear high winds. I slept with ear plugs in last night, which did help, but woke about 6ish and my goodness it was still raging. There are rail and road disruptions all over and goodness knows what it was like out at sea. A friend said around Brixham container ships and an empty cruise liner were clinging in close to shore for what shelter they could get. It’s around 9am as I type and it just about seems to be calming down here.

More weather reports.

I’d got some cous cous with mixed spices and so we made that up, steamed some plain potatoes to make into a potato salad with chives from the freezer and have been making my favourite olive and preserved lemon Tagine recipe, which has been marinating for a day already.

I got that all ready for an emergency reserve supper but as it happened we were ok. The camping stove was on standby, but it wasn’t needed. Phew. Pity the hundreds of people who did lose power though

Decoration from the Standen Courtyard Christmas Trees

a colourful hand crafted tree with leaves and blossom - very cheery for a dull day

Today’s Carol from the Vienna Boys’ Choir

with the London Symphony Orchestra 

‘Deck the Halls with Boughs of Holly’

[dansnaturepictures]

10/07/2021-Amazing day at Knepp: Part 2 of 2 

Following on from my previous post, after the tea and cookie stop we then enjoyed one more glorious walk around the special new Purple Emperor route this year where the sun did come out more and more and really well as we waded through much mud a memorable part of the day which we’d not seen on the baking days we came in previous years. We saw the initial White Storks well again getting photo opportunities with my bridge camera with them and saw some flying which is always lovely. We started to see a lot of other butterflies around at this point too with Marbled Whites, Small Skippers, Meadow Browns and Commas all coming out nicely with a brief Ringlet on this walk around and some Gatekeepers too earlier in the day. I took the first picture in this photoset of the landscape and second of one of the initial White Storks. 

We then reached an area where we had seen Purple Emperors before and saw another as well as Purple Hairstreak which really increased the joy. Then we met a very kind family of volunteers who we had an extensive conversation about Knepp with and they gave us invaluable information about the new Purple Emperor trail. With them a little way into the trail as they’d spotted a Purple Emperor they helped us get onto it too and it was a brilliant view of one sat at the top of an oak tree so nicely for an extended period. Breathtaking to witness and really take in, this gigantic and sharply marked jewel in the crown of British butterflies which signals a sweet summer which we tried and tried for four years to get a glimpse of and managed it in 2018 here and I feel so fortunate every time we get to do it again. I took the third picture in this photoset of this butterfly. We also got the exceptional sight of two Purple Hairstreaks fighting something both the purple species are known for a tree top battle. 

Walking on and I took the fourth and fifth pictures in this photoset of views as we took in the breathtaking scenery of how much more British countryside should be for the good of us all. It was very stimulating on my fourth visit to explore way more of Knepp and really take it to my heart even more. We got nice views of mushrooms and some lichen on a stick that made a cross shape which I tweeted a picture of tonight. As the sun was really bringing out many butterflies there was one last chance for a Purple Emperor view a precious fourth today so I certainly saw them well and this was another really good one with it perched on an oak leave so beautifully and I loved taking this valuable chance to see it once more. 

Attention turned to water next taking in areas such as the pond in the sixth picture in this photoset and one much bigger one, getting an exquisite view of a waterfall coming off a pond in bright sunlight with Greylag Goose with goslings in shot as I tweeted which showed a glorious other side to Knepp I’d never seen. Such beautiful scenes and seeing Mute Swan and Great Crested Grebe along with Moorhen near the lily clad pond earlier and a Grey Heron flying too but not the biggest bird I saw flying today unusually with the storks around gave me my first ever views of these types of waterbirds here. After the Lakeside ones at home being long gone I was delighted that the Great Crested Grebes had some adorable humbug chicks on the water I did love seeing them. A perfect ending scene in - if our recent Anglesey holiday was a movie this feature length which I have really looked forward to since Anglesey knowing we would do this - but it wasn’t quite over. 

We walked back towards the car and saw another White Stork nest with birds on looking so lovely. We realised this was a nest other people we spoke to said was here which we hadn’t seen. With it out of view before we got back to the car we then tried to fathom where this actually was. It then left us gobsmacked to find out that it was in some farm buildings type area which we had walked past twice already, admittedly in heavy rain the first time and completely missed! But seeing it now just before going, us and others marveled at the closest views we’d got of White Storks this afternoon and ever for me. It was phenomenal how close they are. It appeared to be some young birds and I was just so stunned to see these creamy white masses of avian glory exceptionally close. This of course allowed photo opportunities and with for the first time at Knepp all my lenses and the bridge camera with me (with my macro lens the butterfly one and me usually picking between them the bridge camera would normally stay at home for this one, but the White Storks and Little Owl in previous years made me realise it could be needed as the long distance specialist so I brought both with my big lens and normal lens for my DSLR) with my bridge camera doing stuff with the storks especially and even the Purple Emperor record shots as it felt right in the moment I was pleased with this was the moment for my big lens where in fairness to the bridge camera on a DSLR the quality I believe is higher for me to capture these with it and it was results I was pleased with. The day then had its perfect end with two of the White Storks taking off and they looked like aeroplanes in the sky and looked so magnificent. Even after seeing these iconic species in this iconic wild place three times now, I still couldn’t quite believe my eyes. What a beautiful moment for the nation with these birds and I am honoured to be part of that. I took the seventh picture in this photoset of a sky scene before leaving and eighth and ninth of the storks still and flying. We also saw as well as some white doves or a white pigeon some Swallows sat wonderfully on the wire another top bird seen today presenting photo opportunities too I got the tenth and final picture in this photoset of them. Wildlife Sightings Summary: My first White Stork and Turtle Dove of the year, my first of one of my favourite butterflies the Purple Emperor of the year, my first Purple Hairstreak and White-letter Hairstreak of the year, another two of my favourite butterflies the Red Admiral and Marbled White, two of my favourite birds the Great Created Grebe and Buzzard with Red Kite seen nicely on the way too, two of my favourite mammals the Red Deer and Fallow Deer, Little Owl, Kestrel very well a couple of times too as we saw on the way here on a more scenic journey here than normal through different parts of Hampshire, Woodpigeon, Rook, House Sparrow, Great Tit, Blackbird, Song Thrush, Chiffchaff, Whitethroat, Linnet, Wren, lots of Goldfinches nicely, Bullfinch, Swallow, Herring Gull, Mute Swan, Greylag Goose, Moorhen, Grey Heron, Comma, Gatekeeper, Meadow Brown, Small Skipper, Ringlet, nice moths, Grey Squirrel, a few Rabbits and I heard Yellowhammer and another of my favourite birds the Green Woodpecker.

Well what a sensational day! To come to this genius project and credit to the UK in terms of putting nature first and restoring our environment, for birds and butterflies have year defining moments again seeing the most incredible of wildlife was just a wonderful way to spend a Saturday. We were positively exhausted from all the walking, watching and talking with many great people met today. Today was a strong lesson of perseverance with seeing all we wanted and more in the rain or just after anyway to be quite honest and I felt so extremely lucky for this but also waiting for the weather to clear up and maybe things spring into the summer rhythm we have experienced here before. Key moments for my year lists. And key moments for my year up there with the Tawny Owl and Lesser Spotted Woodpecker afternoon, the March flower extravaganza Monday off at Lakeside, all those butterflies and other insects and flowers at Martin Down, Fishlake Meadows, Magdalen Hill and Bentley Wood on the second May Bank Holiday, the Stone Curlew in Hampshire Naturetrek tour in the middle of three new birds in four days and the Black Guillemots, Manx Shearwater and Red Squirrel on the first night from the Anglesey adventure and I could name many more big moments from that. A fantastic day, I hope you all had a good one. I thought to myself this could go down as one of the weekends of my life with a Knepp visit and possibly England’s senior men football team winning a tournament for the first time in my life time in another interest of mine. Part 1 is done, and has probably secured that status anyway with England even being in the final the first I have witnessed. It was great to see a really nice sky and a moth when home tonight with a House Martin flying out the front too.

[tripstations]

Top 10 Summer Vacations 2018

And as Canadians continue to struggle with a weakened dollar and creeping fuel prices, should we consider packing up the car and the kids and make a road trip to southwestern Ontario or perhaps east to Prince Edward County and the beaches of Sandbanks or go further afield and splurge on a trip to Paris for a little je ne sais quoi?  Whatever your summer vacation plans, here are some tripstations options to make following your summer vacation dreams a reality.

Prince Edward County, Ontario

Six friends and former Toronto neighbours have gathered at a Cherry Valley cottage for a Good Friends and Good Wine weekend in The County to reunite, reminisce, and share some laughs over the incredible wine, food and friendship The County has to offer. We linger over a late breakfast of fresh fruit, yogurt and savoury scones and lots of hot, head-remedying coffee before we trundle ourselves into our van for day one of wine tasting, shopping, and memory making. And, like the rural quaintness of the French River of Nova Scotia and the excitement of the Napa Valley of the 1980’s, the County has grown up! Our rustic next door neighbour is growing up and attracting local, national and international attention offering exciting wineries, farm to table restaurant choices, unique shopping, local artisanal foods and cheeses, and serving up a warm-hearted and generous way of life, steeped in rural tradition with just a hint of modern thinking.

Prince Edward County continues to captivate her visitors with a spirit and engagement that is exciting to witness.

Halifax, Nova Scotia

Planning on heading east from Toronto this summer? Then make Halifax, where friendly Haligonians enjoy their music-filled pubs and rooftop patios, a must-stop on your Atlantic adventures. I just returned from five rather cool, rainy and beer-soaked days in this historic gateway to the East Coast, but the soggy weather certainly did not dampen the locals’ spirits in their rowdy, packed bars, pubs, and patios, literally spilling over with plentiful and flowing local craft beer. Grab some food, quaff some ale, and if you linger into the evening, you will be treated to one of the many local bands that pump out long sets of popular and traditional music to the hand clapping, spontaneous dancing revelers that Halifax is known for.

Nova Scotia

The Princess of Acadia chugs her way into the grey, fog-swept Digby Gut and gracefully docks, allowing eager camper-vanners, Japanese tourists and some home-sick locals to disembark and begin their summer vacations or to simply ‘head home.’ The 3-hour crossing has been uneventful, other than a possible breach sighting of some whales as we approach the Digby Neck. Nestled between South Mountain and the Bay of Fundy lies the fertile Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia’s farming center and we have 5 days of touring and exploring the coastal roads of the  Annapolis Basin,  including some family time, some great meals and cocktails on sunset decks, watching the clammers clamber over the low-tide mud  and a slowly rising full moon, begging to be howled at.

Southwestern Ontario

Ontario’s Southwest is perhaps one of the prettiest and rural parts of the world. This time of year the western sun sits lower and more reflective on the gently rolling hills west of Toronto. Travel the 403/407/401 route and avoid the headache of the 401/427/403 interchange hassle. Once past Milton, you’re home free and will enjoy the beautiful green, undulating summer landscapes and rich farmland west of Kitchener, New Hamburg and onto Stratford and St. Jacobs. Looking for more adventure?  Continue up to Ontario’s West Coast and  Lake Huron, Bayfield,  Goderich and north towards Southampton, famous for its fabulous sunsets and on any given Saturday summer evening, be serenaded by the skirl of a bagpipe at the foot of High Street.

Toronto

Toronto is a four-season city full of eating and drinking patios, fabulous roof-top hotel views and foodie neighbourhoods, brimming over with tourists and locals alike. We love our city in the spring, summer, and Indian summer-fall and have been known as well to plop ourselves down on a winter-white park bench to extend our patio cravings. As summer approaches, we have some recommendations to make your Toronto stay-cation a memorable one!

Quebec City

La Belle Ville de Québec is home to the continent`s first parish Church, its first Museum, first Anglican Cathedral, first French-speaking University and the continent’s oldest Hospital. At first glance, no romantic, French glamour to be seen nor the apparent sprucing up that La Ville undertook for their 400th anniversary a couple of years ago. But very soon a warm and welcoming magic will embrace you as you pull up to your Relais and Chateaux listed  Auberge Saint-Antoine, situated an ancient stone’s throw from Le Vieux Port in La Belle Ville’s Old Lower Town and feel your excitement grow in anticipation of your vacation in La Belle Ville de Quebec!

Michigan

Summer isn’t the only time to experience the shores of western Michigan. Ice cream, fudge stores, family dining, unique antiques, lovely beaches, quaint B & B ’s and a well established Artists Community await those who hop in their cars and do the 6.5-hour drive from Toronto to this undiscovered and virtually unknown to Canadians, part of Western Michigan. Unlike those mid-summer bathing togs and sun hats, Michigan’s fall harvest flannels, coveralls and snow pants can be a bit more unkempt and rustic. But don’t let that stop you from heading west along I-69 to Flint, flanking to the north of Lansing before merging onto the I-96 toward Grand Rapids and experiencing this unique part of Western Michigan.

Provincetown, Massachusetts

Dreaming of an all-American, bunting and burgers kind of summer beach vacation this year? Then the hurdy-gurdy, loud lewdness of Commercial Street in Provincetown, Massachusetts is for you. Join the throngs of foot traffic that daily battle the crowds of car-laden, lost tourists on the one lane, one-way main street that dissects downtown PTown from east to west. The West End beckons the party boys and their boozy BFF girlfriendz, the Bears, the Muscle Boys and yes even some well-heeled Cape Cod Tourists and Boston Ferry Day-Trippers, kids and strollers in tow, sharing some casual West End Herring Cove or Racepoint Beach time with a saucy drag queen. Ahh, summer in this, the first and original summer beach resort in America.

Vermont

The Blackburn and Suessdorf standard ‘Moonlight in Vermont’ softly serenades as a languid late afternoon summer sun greets us as we roll through the beautiful Green Mountains of Vermont. It has been a long 9-hour drive, and we are in the middle of Vermont ski country, in August, and neither of us ski. Our hotel’s website offers outdoor activities such as ‘romantic sleigh rides’ and ‘grab a pair of snowshoes’ but we have decided to discover the beauty of Vermont with the last waning days of a hot, dry summer and tour the green, rural roads of small-town New England. Southern Vermont resorts offer a unique style of vacation and are completely different in harvest ‘moonlight’ August than they are in the ‘icey finger waves’ of February.  From hiking Vermont’s state parks or fishing and wildlife viewing to those simply craving quiet downtime or a ‘romantic setting’ long weekend at a luxury resort as we were, there is nothing like a summer vacation in Vermont. Enjoy some country luxury, indulge in some downtime, wander in the green. ‘You and I and moonlight in Vermont’: beautiful in any season.

  Paris

When you think about Paris, which tripstations does ALOT, you probably think about the Eiffel Tower; Bateaux Mouches rides on the Seine or perhaps un café or demi-litre of white wine in cozy, cobbled pavement cafés –the usual, touristy things to do in Paris. Why not wander away from the ‘usual suspects’ and explore some of the more unusual things to do in Paris, experiencing a taste of what local Parisians enjoy every day, and especially in the summer, when most Parisians exercise their four-week August vacation options and exit the city to the countryside and seashores of the south and west.

        The post Top 10 Summer Vacations 2018 appeared first on Tripstations.

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[tourguideexpert-blog-blog]

10 of the best US hiking trails: readers travel tips

New Post has been published on https://travelqia.com/must-see/10-of-the-best-us-hiking-trails-readers-travel-tips-2/

10 of the best US hiking trails: readers travel tips

From a rocky wonderland with views of Las Vegas to the green ridges of the Appalachians, our readers share their tips for great walks

Winning tip: Angels of Utah

This five-mile round-trip hike within Zion national park takes you from the Virgin river to the top of Angels Landing (nearly 2,000 metres). The views from the top of the valley below are truly breathtaking. But firstly there are 21 steep switchbacks Walters Wiggles to navigate. The final part is along a very narrow ridge with sheer drops on both sides, with just a support chain to hold on to. A truly memorable (and at times scary) experience. hikespeak.com jwinkworth

New England mountains

Mount Katahdin. Photograph: Alamy

It was a walking trip in the wilderness of Virginia during which we had a rather worrying encounter with three bears that led me to look into doing a tour for my 50th birthday. Wanting to join a small group to hike the Grand Canyon, I discovered Grand American Adventures circular tour of breathtaking canyon landscapes. We travelled by minibus and hiked great wilderness routes. Ive since hiked spectacular sections of the Appalachian Trail with them, in the mountains of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, including an ascent of 1,600-metre Mount Katahdin, the highest peak of Maine. Its the perfect combination: a small group of like-minded people, camping or staying in lodgings, experienced leaders who know the routes, wonderful hiking and lasting memories. Appalachian Trail hike from 1,719 camping, 2,289 staying in hotels (flights not included), grandamericanadventures.com jules7

Shelter-to-shelter walking in Vermont

Camels Hump, Huntington Photograph: Alamy

I initially chose to do Vermonts Long Trail for unromantic logistical reasons but ended up falling in love with it. The trail is the oldest long-distance hiking route in the US and quieter than the more famous paths. It runs through high rugged mountains, alpine forests and wide open green valleys and is as stunning as anything Ive seen. Despite the name, at 272 miles it is shorter than many of Americas famous long treks. The route is well-marked with white blazes so theres less time with your head in a map and more opportunity to take in the beautiful Appalachian landscapes. There are more than 50 hikers shelters along the route so you can get away with not taking a tent helping to keep pack weight down. greenmountainclub.org Savas Arici

California island dreamin

Anacapa island. Photograph: Alamy

Channel Islands national park, 40 miles due south of Santa Barbara coast, has no cars, can only be reached by boat ($60 return with Island Packers from Ventura) and light plane, and has great hiking above rocky coasts or inland hills. We saw one of the islands tiny endemic foxes on Santa Cruz island, many seals, sea lions, pelicans and other birds on both Anacapa and Santa Cruz. The boat trip usually sees dozens of dolphins, sometimes a whale, in the Santa Barbara Channel. The website has lectures and webcams (underwater, eagles, shore birds). Weve done day hikes, and its possible to camp. Its never crowded, since the boats have limited capacity. nps.gov pburke

Teeming with wildlife, New Mexico

Pecos Wilderness, Sangre De Cristo Mountains, Santa Fe. Photograph: hedobaby

The Pecos Wilderness has a variety of trails winding by high peaks and ridges, lakes, rivers and cascading streams. This southernmost tip of the Rockies is outstandingly beautiful. There are trails for all levels of hiker and many spots to camp as well. You can reach the Pecos via car from Santa Fe in less than an hour. There are lakes and streams for fishing as well. The area is teeming with wildlife and one would not be surprised to see eagles, deer, bears, chipmunks and squirrels. This is a wonderful destination for day hikes or camping trips. pecosnewmexico.com hedobaby

Oregon wonderland

Sparks Lake, near Bend. Photograph: Alamy

Oregon is truly a hikers paradise. Youll find something to suit any hiking preference and ability, from easy scenic lakeside rambles to spectacular challenging mountain climbs and coastal paths, most if not all superbly maintained and documented. The Columbia river gorge is on Portlands doorstep. The Sisters wilderness area on Bends. South Sister is a workout for mind and body that leaves you buzzing (and aching) for days. Theres even a forest hike in Portlands centre. The variety of hikes available in or within fairly easy reach (albeit by car) of Portland and its surrounding towns is amazing. And the added bonus is that Portland and those cities not only have a character unlike many other US cities and towns but also provide so many options for that very welcome craft brew at the end of each hiking day that youll never get bored. methismenos

A meeting with Big Bob, Montana

Cliff mountain and cliff pass, Bob Marshall wilderness. Photograph: Alamy

The Big Bob in northern Montana is the highlight of the Continental Divide Trail (CDT), which takes in 2,000 miles and five states from New Mexico to Montana. Its full name is the Bob Marshall wilderness a land of huge escarpments, ridges, grassland and forests full of wildlife. You will need six months to do the CDT winter snow and summer lightning storms add to the stress factors of hiking along its paths, 70% of which are signposted so take a compass. A Davy Crockett spirit and a can of bear spray is useful too in case you meet any grizzlies, as we did. Make as much noise as possible to scare them off we discovered they dont want to meet you as much as you dont want to meet them! continentaldividetrail.org gallarate

Wyoming wildflowers

The North Fork of Cascade Canyon. Photograph: Alamy

Cascade Canyon and Phelps Lake are the less crowded areas of the Teton mountains for wilderness hiking. Start out from Jackson in Wyoming from April to September and you soon find yourself in fields of bluebells (depending on the time of year) with herds of elk and moose grazing and gazing as you walk along. Dont be deceived by their docile demeanour and cartoonish faces they can be dangerous if they feel threatened so best not to approach them. Walk up from the lake for great views over Death Canyon. tetonhikingtrails.com lion67

Medicine for the soul, Montana/Idaho

The Gird Point lookout tower, Bitterroot national forest. Photograph: Alamy

Last summer I was lucky enough to spend time exploring the states of Montana and Idaho. The two states are both beautiful in their own ways, but one hike Ill never forget was the Medicine Point Trail in the Bitterroot national forest. A steep four-mile trail up to a historic forest fire service lookout was a tough yet fun-filled hike spent sampling huckleberries and spotting wildlife such as deer, goats and many types of birds (thankfully no bears during our trip). The rustic lookout tower had basic amenities for an overnight stay no water or electricity, but an axe for chopping firewood and stunning views of the southern Bitterroot valley and into Idaho. We spent the evening watching the spectacular sunset, and the night staring up at the Milky Way. Ive never been so happy to be off the grid. recreation.gov Jennifer Johnson

Hiking near Las Vegas

Lake Mead national recreation area. Photograph: Alamy

Walk in the desert in the morning and in cool pine forest in the afternoon. Top it off with world-class dining or a headline performer at night. Eschew Red Rock Canyon and Valley of Fire; both desert areas are stunning but can just as easily be done by car on loops. Instead head to Bootleg Canyon, with 30-odd miles of trail near Boulder City. The peaks, shrouded in silence, offer views over Lake Mead, high desert and the oasis of Vegas in the distance. The area gets its name from being a hidden area for smuggling in beer for the builders of the Hoover Dam during the prohibition era. In the afternoon, 35 minutes the other way from Vegas, head up to the trails that lead out from Lee Canyon surrounded by pine trees and, in winter, plenty of snow. From here you cant see Las Vegas, just mountain walls, blue skies, wildlife and evergreen trees. A beautiful change for the senses. To emphasise how removed you feel, it is often 10C cooler up here. bcnv.org catchytitled

Read more: http://www.theguardian.com/us

[addictionrecoveryassistance]

Detox Centers In Lake Cormorant Mississippi 38641

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Lake Cormorant, Desoto, Mississippi is located in United States. Its zip code is 38641. Home » Mississippi » Desoto » Lake Cormorant » 38641.

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Mississippi Wildlife Rehab Inc. 9665 Green River Rd. Lake Cormorant, MS 38641-3864Map (662) 429-0044. send email rehabilitation services. quick Info. 5. Southeast Delta Rehabilitation … detox centers; alcohol treatment; physical therapist; speech therapy; nursing home; retirement; Close Send by Text.

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Luxury drug rehabs in Lake Cormorant, Mississippi will provide excellent rehab services with upscale amenities for anyone requiring the very best drug rehab experience, just as Lake Cormorant alcohol rehab centers will help those battling alcohol to attain sobriety.

Then you might want to check into a Lake Cormorant, MS alcohol and drug treatment center that is likely to meet your requirements for full recovery. Although dependency is thought to be an issue that you might not have been able get a handle on, ongoing recovery will be …

NA Meetings in Lake Cormorant by zip 38641. If you are looking for help, Call (800) 429-7690 Now! … there are drug and alcohol treatment centers in 38641. NA meetings are open to all people that want to abstain from using drugs and alcohol for their lifetime. … Mississippi 38637. Saturday 05:00 PM

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Be prepared with the most accurate 10-day forecast for Lake Cormorant, MS ( 38641) with highs, lows, chance of precipitation from The Weather Channel and …

10201 Star Landing Road, Lake Cormorant MS 38641. From I-55. Take I-69 towards Tunica, MS. Take the Hwy 301 exit and turn right on Hwy 301. Take first left …

After detox, drug rehabilitation might consist of one or a mix of psychiatric therapy, therapy, group therapy, CBT or pharmaceutical upkeep treatments, depending upon the chemical, mental, physical and emotional effects of the particular dependency. … Inpatient Recovery Centers in Lake Cormorant DC 38641 Inpatient Recovery Centers in …

Mississippi. Lake Cormorant. 38641. Category: Residential, Separate Tub & Shower, Double Sinks, Walk In Shower, Eat-in Kitchen, Snack Bar, Showing: Call Appointment Center, Utilities: Public Water Available, Homestead Exempt: Full, Listing Type: EXCLUSIVE RIGHT TO SELL, Photo…

Lake Cormorant, Mississippi facts. Kids Encyclopedia Facts. Lake Cormorant is an unincorporated community located in DeSoto County, Mississippi, United States. Lake Cormorant is adjacent to the town of Walls and 19 miles (31 km) north of North Tunica near U.S. Route 61.