Friday 30 April 2010

African Wild Dog in Knowsley Safari Park

African Wild Dog in Knowsley Safari Park

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Sitatunga in Knowsley Safari Park

Sitatunga in Knowsley Safari Park

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Bongo with head in mud

Bongo with head in mud
chicago bachelor pad

Duck family by River Conwy, Llanrwst


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Bongo in Knowsley Safari Park

Bongo in Knowsley Safari Park

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Wildebeest in Knowsley Safari Park,

Wildebeest in Knowsley Safari Park

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Lapwing in Knowsley Safari Park

Lapwing in Knowsley Safari Park

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Oysters Catchers in Knowsley Safari Park

Oysters Catchers in Knowsley Safari Park

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Duck with ducklings Conwy River

Duck with ducklings Conwy River

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Grey Heron flying over Conwy Valley

Grey Heron flying over Conwy Valley

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Thursday 29 April 2010

Grey Heron on Trefriw Ox Bow Lake

Grey Heron on Trefriw Ox Bow Lake

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My explanation for the moon illusion - position of pupil on lens

The Moon illusion is an optical illusion in which the Moon appears larger near the horizon than it does while higher up in the sky. This optical illusion also occurs with the sun and star constellations. It has been known since ancient times, and recorded by numerous different cultures. The explanation of this illusion is still debated.
My theory is it is to due to the curvature of the lens of the eye.
It could be that When an object is seen through the lens, the curvature of the eye means that the object is different size on different parts of the lens, or that that as the pupil moves up and down on the eye. As you lift your head up to see the moon in the sky. You normally raise your pupils up to see this. This means they are at a different position on the eye. So it will have a different position on the eye. I am sure if you life your head up to see somthing with your pupils pointing up things seem smaller than if you lift your head up to look with your pupil in the middle of your eye.
On their other hand it might be to do with the rod, or cones nerve cells.
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Oyster catcher near Tan Lan, Llanrwst

Oyster catcher near Tan Lan, Llanrwst

Wildfowl

Wildfowl are the biological family called Anatidaethat includes ducks, geese and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica and on most of the world's islands and island groups. These are birds that are adapted through evolution for swimming, floating on the water surface, and in some cases diving in at least shallow water. (The Magpie Goose is no longer considered to be part of the Anatidae, but is placed in its own family Anseranatidae.) The family contains around 146 species in 40 genera. They are generally herbivorous, and are monogamous breeders. A number of species undertake annual migrations. A few species have been domesticated for agriculture, and many others are hunted for food and recreation.
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Monday 26 April 2010

Jokes about mute swans

Jokes about mute swans
Here are some jokes I have invented about swans
Here they are.

1. Why did the Mute Swan cross the road?
Because it SWANted to.

2. Three Swans walk into a bar,
The bar man says would you like the bill?
The swans say thanks but we have already got a bill each.

3.
Knock Knock
Who is there?
No answer
Oh it must be A mute swan.


4. What is a Mute Swans favorite Letter?
S, as it has a s shaped neck.

5. What do you call a swan's wizard wand?
A swand.

6. What swan is the best for celebrating
A Whooper Swan.

7. What swan could be good at Jazz?
A Trumpeter Swan

Anagrams of Mute Swan include Wants Emu..
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Mute Swan

Mute Swan

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Mute Swans in flight

Mute Swans in flight

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Mute Swan Cygnet Flying

Mute Swan Cygnet Flying

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Common Mergansers on Conwy River - Llanrwst

Common Mergansers on Conwy River - Llanrwst

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Black-headed Gull in Langholm

Black-headed Gull in Langholm

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Wednesday 21 April 2010

Anserinae

The Anserinae is a subfamily in the waterfowl family Anatidae. It includes the swans and true geese. Under alternative systematical concepts, it is split into two subfamilies, the Anserinae containing the geese, while the Cygninae contain the swans.

A number of other waterbirds, mainly related to the shelducks, have goose as part of their name; see the family page at Anatidae and the goose page for these.
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Tuesday 20 April 2010

Carl Linnaeus

Carl Linnaeus (Latinized as Carolus Linnaeus, 23 May [O.S. 12 May] 1707 – 10 January 1778) was a Swedish botanist, physician, and zoologist, who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of binomial nomenclature. He is known as the father of modern taxonomy, and is also considered one of the fathers of modern ecology.

Linnaeus was born in the countryside of SmÃ¥land, in southern Sweden. His father was the first in his ancestry to adopt a permanent last name; prior to that, ancestors had used the patronymic naming system of Scandinavian countries. His father adopted the Latin form name Linnaeus after a giant linden tree on the family homestead. Linnaeus got most of his higher education at Uppsala University and began giving lectures of botany there in 1730. He lived abroad between 1735–1738, where he studied and also published a first edition of his Systema Naturae in the Netherlands. He then returned to Sweden where he became professor of botany at Uppsala. In the 1740s, he was sent on several journeys through Sweden to find and classify plants and animals. In the 1750s and 60s, he continued to collect and classify animals, plants, and minerals, and published several volumes. At the time of his death, he was renowned throughout Europe as one of the most acclaimed scientists of the time.
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Uppsala is the capital of Uppsala County and the fourth largest city of Sweden with 140,000 inhabitants.

Located about 70 km north of the capital Stockholm, it is also the seat of the Uppsala Municipality. Since 1164, Uppsala has been the ecclesiastical center of Sweden, being the seat of the Archbishop of the Church of Sweden. Founded in 1477, Uppsala University is the oldest center of higher education in Scandinavia. Situated on the fertile Uppsala flatlands of muddy soil, the city features the small Fyris River (Fyrisån) flowing through the landscape surrounded by lush vegetation. Parallel to the river runs the glacial ridge of Uppsalaåsen, at an elevation of circa 30 metres the site of Uppsala's castle from which large parts of the town can be seen. The central park Stadsskogen stretches from the south far into town, with opportunities for recreation for many residential areas within walking distance.

Writing Tips & Careers : How to Write a Coffee Table Book

Writing Tips & Careers : How to Write a Coffee Table Book

mute swan book

Friday 16 April 2010

This is the Fastest Bird in North Wales

This is the Fastest Bird in North Wales

This is a Red-breasted Merganser. These are claimed by some to be the fastest birds in level flight. Although some claim the White-throated Needletail is faster. This is possibly the fastest bird in Wales in level flight. This video was taken on the Conwy River Llanrwst on April the 16th 2010.

http://picturesofswans.blogspot.com/

Red-breasted Merganser in Llanrwst

Red-breasted Merganser in Llanrwst

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Friday 9 April 2010

Conwy Valley Greylag Goose and Mute Swans

Conwy Valley Greylag Goose and Mute Swans

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Trefriw Shelducks

Trefriw Shelducks
Some shelducks in the Conwy Valley between Llanrwst and Trefriw. The video was taken on April the 8th 2010.

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Thursday 8 April 2010

Greylag Geese with Mute Swans

Greylag Geese with Mute Swans

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Long Tailed Tit in Llanrwst


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Peacock in Gwydir Forest

Peacock in Gwydir Forest

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Peacock in the snow

Peacock in the snow

Peacock in field with horses

Peacock in field with horses

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European Dipper Bird on River Conwy

European Dipper Bird on River Conwy

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House Sparrow in the town of Llanrwst, in North Wales

House Sparrow in the town of Llanrwst, in North Wales

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Buzzard high in the distance above the forest

Buzzard high in the distance above the forest

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Is this a Mulard Duck on the Conwy River

Is this a Mulard Duck on the Conwy River

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Is this a Mulard Duck on the Conwy River

Is this a Mulard Duck on the Conwy River

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Buzzard flies past trees

Buzzard flies past trees

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Peacock in the white snow


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Duck attacks another Duck


Duck attacks another duck.

Grey Wagtail in Llanrwst

Grey Wagtail
This is a video of a Grey Wagtail in Llanrwst, North Wales. March 2010.

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Friday 2 April 2010

Mute Swan walking in a green field to music

Mute Swan walking in a green field to music

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Thursday 1 April 2010

Black swansas a species

Black swans were first seen by Europeans in 1697, when Willem de Vlamingh's expedition explored the Swan River, Western Australia.

The black swan was described scientifically by English naturalist John Latham in 1790. It was formerly placed into a monotypic genus, Chenopis.

The common name ‘Swan’ is a gender neutral term, but ‘cob’ for a male and ‘pen’ for a female are also used, as is ‘cygnet’ for the young. Collective nouns include a ‘bank’ (on the ground) and a ‘wedge’ (in flight). Black Swans can be found singly, or in loose companies numbering into the hundreds or even thousands.

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Black Swan

The Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) is a large waterbird which breeds mainly in the southeast and southwest regions of Australia.
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Thomas Bewick

Thomas Bewick (12 August 1753 – 8 November 1828) was an English wood engraver and ornithologist.

Bewick was born at Cherryburn House in the village of Mickley, in the parish of Ovingham, Northumberland, England, near Newcastle upon Tyne on 12 August 1753.

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Tundra Swan

The Tundra Swan (Cygnus columbianus) is a small Holarctic swan. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes[1] split into two species, Cygnus bewickii (Bewick's Swan) of the Palaearctic and the Whistling Swan, C. columbianus proper, of the Nearctic. Birds from eastern Russia (roughly east of the Taimyr Peninsula) are sometimes separated as the subspecies C. c. jankowskii, but this is not widely accepted as distinct, most authors including them in C. c. bewickii. Tundra Swans are sometimes separated in the genus Olor together with the other Arctic swan species.

Whooper Swans

Whooper swans require large areas of water to live in, especially when they are still growing, because their body weight cannot be supported by their legs for extended periods of time. The whooper swan spends much of its time swimming, straining the water for food, or eating plants that grow on the bottom.

Whooper swans have a deep honking call and, despite their size, are powerful fliers. Whooper swans can migrate many hundreds of miles to their wintering sites in northern Europe and eastern Asia.
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Whooper Swan

The Whooper Swan (Cygnus cygnus) is a large Northern Hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American Trumpeter Swan.
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Led Zeppelin - Kashmir

Led Zeppelin - Kashmir

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Mute Swan walking by Conwy River in Llanrwst Part 2


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Mute Swan walking by Conwy River in Llanrwst Part 1

Mute Swan walking by Conwy River in Llanrwst Part 1