Poppies

Poppies outside St. Aidan's Winery on Lindisfarne.

Elephants on PBS' Nature: Echo and Her Family. Sweetest Elephants.

It seems that each animal species embodies some collection of traits that we humans have and/or recognize. Elephants have a lot of the best of us. Care, sacrifice, love, playfulness, stamina, endurance, determination--and grief, depression, and longing as well--if you don't admire elephants, get a check up.
A recent PBS special on Nature was an emotional wellspring of insight into elephants.

mt kilimanjaro

A matriarch elephant, Echo, and her family are chronicled through many years including a heartbreaking famine near Mt. Kilimanjaro. Her wisdom leads to the survival of her family even after her death.
The story of little Elijah is amazing.
Born with poor legs, the elephants love him with great patience.
 he is speared in the rear haunch at age 8 but survives.
the women of the preserve weep as he reappears many years later. (more about the women of the amboseli trust HERE
did i mention you may weep most of the show? a good purge...

Watch this. you can see it all online here.
more on elephants, their language, poaching, etc. HERE

More about Mt. Kilimanjaro HERE

Wild Turkeys Can Make You Love Them (Apparently): PBS' My LIfe As A Turkey

I just watched a PBS Nature Special from a guy (Joe Hutto) who is a nature/animal buff, about Wild Turkeys, and it was excellent, beautifully filmed, and mind-expanding.
For thanksgiving, give it a watch:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/episodes/my-life-as-a-turkey/introduction/7268/

Wild turkey fact sheet:
HERE

Class: Aves

Order: Galliformes Family: Phasianidae 
Subfamily: Meleagridinae  Genus: Meleagris
Species: Meleagris gallopavo
Subspecies: There are five subspecies of North American wild turkey: Eastern, Osceola, Rio Grande, Merriam’s, and Gould’s.

When I lived down south, the wild turkeys saw you a mile or two away; they did not let you see them. Here, I try hard not to hit them with my truck. (with complete success so far...)

cast-AWAY

I so like these pictures from spells and the gypsy.

I'm off to Paros island now for my summer vacation! Will be back on Sunday! I hope you all have a great time :)

(via spellsjewellery)

Gorse Flowers

Dandelion Head

Bracken Fronds

The Hunt

Yesterday while I was stood gazing aimlessly out of the front windows, it being a far quieter day than we had been expecting, I saw a crow trying to kill a baby squirrel. The squirrel had come out of its tree and was running and jumping as fast as it could, the crow flew low behind banking and swerving to try and cut off the squirrel's escape route.

I was cheering for the crow, Adam couldn't see the fun as he hasn't sorted himself any glasses out yet, and Sadie just kept saying "Oh no" every time time I indicated that the squirrel's end was nigh. The entertainment was curtailed though when the squirrel made the safety of a tree trunk, the crow took a last look at its retreating prey and then began to poke around in the grass in a nonchalent fashion as if to indicate that worms were what he had been after all along.

The Imagist Credo Summarized

Image via Wikipedia1) Use the language of common speech, but use it exactly

2) Create new rhythms for new moods

3) Allow complete freedom in a subject

4) Present an image, but avoid vagueness

5) Produce poetry that is hard and clear

6) Concentration is the essence of poetry

Picture - Image of a flea from Robert Hooke's Micrographia (1665), a Royal Society work. The Zementa Content widget seems to have suffered a brain freeze for this article, still, it's a nice drawing of a bug.

Flowers

What are these ? Conrnflowers ? Forget-me-nots ?  On the terrace at Ilkley Golf Club.

Pheasant In The Gorse

A colourful male pheasant by the road side at Ling Park.

Thrush On A Wall

Thrush on a dry stone wall at Langbar.

Tree Flowers

Death On The Moors