Author: sharonstjoan

This 19 May 2019 video says about itself:

Compilation of common birds on the beautiful Island of Terschelling, the Netherlands

On 16 September 2019, we went to Terschelling.

A great cormorant and jackdaws flying over Harlingen harbour.

As the ship approached Terschelling, a lesser black-backed gull swimming alongside it.

by Kareena Koirala as published on AmoMama.com

Hurricane Dorian struck with tragic devastation. However, the majestic breed of wild horses living in North Carolina’s Outer Banks used their natural defenses against the storm.

According to Corolla Wild Horse Fund, which looks after the herd of wild horses in the area, the animals are more adept at dealing with the hurricane than human beings.

“They’ll likely ride out winds and rain as their ancestors did before them — in huddles, butts to the wind,” said the organization.

It also stated that the wild horses have a trick that they have been carrying out for over 500 years to protect themselves against such disasters.

The herd moves to the higher grounds and gather under strong oak trees to survive the storm.

According to the authorities, the animals sensed the danger in days prior to the storm due to a change…

by New York University

A team of scientists has concluded that earth experienced a previously underestimated severe mass-extinction event, which occurred about 260 million years ago, raising the total of major mass extinctions in the geologic record to six.

“It is crucial that we know the number of severe mass extinctions and their timing in order to investigate their causes,” explains Michael Rampino, a professor in New York University’s Department of Biology and a co-author of the analysis, which appears in the journal Historical Biology. “Notably, all six major mass extinctions are correlated with devastating environmental upheavals—specifically, massive flood-basalt eruptions, each covering more than a million square kilometers with thick lava flows.”

Scientists had previously determined that there were five major mass-extinction events, wiping out large numbers of species and defining the ends of geological periods: the end of the Ordovician (443 million…

August is with us and it is a time when birds become harder to find with many starting to moult and hide away skulking in the hedgerows. Now you need to get up with the lark for the best chance to catch up with our feathered friends as they are more active at the break of day. This week I took a number of young assistants for a camp out on Beckhithe Meadow to make the most of the dawn activity as well as the nocturnal stuff. Our first surprise was no however a bird but a very striking spider.

Wasp spider unmistakeable but harmless.

The wasp spider is a relative newcomer to the UK and is spreading slowly North but predominantly found in the South of the country. Male wasp spiders are smaller than this female and have to tread carefully around their mate choosing only to mate when…

Point Reyes, Tomales Point, Pacific Ocean side

Tule elks (male), Point Reyes

Pt. Reyes from Tomales Point Trail. McClure’s Beach.

About a two-hour drive north of San Francisco is an expansive park called Point Reyes. Geologically it is a large cape that extends off the Pacific coast. Technically it is Point Reyes National Seashore…locals call it Point Reyes.

It is an entire peninsula with ocean coastline, beaches, and dunes; rolling hills; forests; dairy ranches; hiking trails and more. The land area is 70,000 acres (283 sq. km). It is my favorite of all places to hike in Northern California.

Point Reyes Wikipedia

Point Reyes is home to 490 bird species, 40 species of land animals, and a dozen species of marine mammals. Pods of California gray whale migrate through here. Two resident mammal species nearly went extinct: tule elk and elephant seals.

A breeding colony of elephant seals can be…