A Moment Frozen
Wildlife
Home
Photographers
Sam
>
Wildlife
Sport
Man-made
Macro
Landscapes
Geoff
>
Landscapes and countryside
Wildlife
Coastal life
Cities, Towns and Villages
A closer look
Step back in time
About
Comments
Special mentions
Also of interest...
Events
The incidental photographer
Licensing photos
Contact
Madeiran wall lizard- as the name suggests, they are often found on walls (as this one was) throughout madeira, but can be found virtually anywhere on the island. As are a lot of animals, these were accidentally introduced via shipping to the Azores archipeligo
On the weir up the Lune from Lancaster, this fantastic cormorant was fishing. Cormorants dive to catch fish typically for about 30 seconds at a time and can dive down to 6 meters.
Sally lightfoot crab- fantastically coloured, although this specimen is a bit less vibrant, these crabs were remarkably numerous on the shores of madeira. They feed primarily on algae but also occasionally on other plant matter and dead animals, and even helping clean ticks off iguanas in the Galápagos Islands
A starling mother and her two fledgling chicks. Whilst starlings are still a very common bird, their numbers have reduced dramatically throughout Europe, with a roughly 80% decline in the UK between 1987 and 2012, in this case probably due to changes in farming methods. Conservation efforts appear to be working as their numbers have started to show an uptick in recent years
Red squirrel on Brownsea island. Brownsea island is one of the few places in southern England where red squirrels remain. Due predominantly to the introduction of grey squirrels (that outcompete the reds and spread the squirrelpox virus), red squirrel numbers have plummeted, with now almost 10 times as many grey squirrels as red.
Grey seal pup on the Norfolk coast. Grey seals are the UK's biggest land breeding mammal and come out of the water during September through to December to breed and allow the pups to grow, with mothers feeding their pups up to six times a day so that they can grow from around 14kg at birth to over 100kg as an adult
Helmet design is looking to woodpeckers for nature’s solution to concussions since they can cope with many repeated forceful impacts seemingly unscathed as they burrow into trees for food and to make nests. If you want to help your local birds, a bird feeder can go a long way: https://shopping.rspb.org.uk/
A Kingfisher. Bullet trains were modelled after the kingfisher's beak since the traditional bullet shape of the trains was causing sonic booms as the trains exited tunnels. One of the engineers tasked with solving the issue was a birdwatcher and noticed that the kingfisher entered the water with very little splash. He applied the design to the train, the sonic booms ceased, and it also caused a 10-15% reduction in fuel consumption
When ducklings hatch, they go through a process known as “imprinting” where they almost instantly associate themselves to their mother. In experiments, it was found that they can imprint onto inanimate objects and, whilst this doesn’t seem very smart, provides evidence that ducks are capable of abstract thought, differentiating between “same” and “different”, in some cases better than a so called “smarter” species
This crab is the shore crab and is listed as one of the top 100 most invasive species. It is native to the northern coasts of Europe but has spread to the Americas and even Australia, among others
Madeiran Chaffinch - a subspecies of the common chaffinch found across Europe. Whilst the shape and size is very similar the plumage is totally different, I suspect a sign that it was accidentally imported
Pilot whales; these incredible creatures live in pods of typically 10-30 individuals and stay in their pods for their entire lifetime. They feed on squid and other large fish and are known to sprint to catch during their dives - unusual for a diving animal that typically needs to conserve oxygen
Another crab from madeira, although I can't say which species, probably in the pachygrapsus genus (if anyone knows please let me know). This crab is shown eating the algae growing on this rock, as it is the main food source for most species of crab, although they will eat almost anything. They are also known to work together to provide food and protection for their family
A swift with cormorants in the background. Swifts are remarkable birds- they spend most of their lives flying and only land to nest. Every year, they migrate over the 3,400 mile (one way) trip to and from north Africa and have an astonishing top speed of 69mph
A murmuration of starlings. Nobody completely knows why starlings murmurate but three major possibilities are: to catch food together; to ward off and confuse predators; and, as put forward by Richard Dawkins in his fantastic book "The Selfish Gene", to determine population size before having a brood of chicks (more birds, less food, having fewer chicks improves the chances of survival)
These two swallows were having a bit of a squabble. Although I don't think it was the reason for this altercation, swallows very aggressively defend their nests from other swallows and can even do so to the death.
Another cormorant, I got up for sunrise and there was a large family of cormorants in a nearby tree, this was one as it was flying around after having just got up.
A male woodpecker (differentiated by the red spot on the back of the head) bringing food back to the nest. Woodpeckers share parenting roles equally and build their nests by burrowing into trees; the nest entrance is the small hole in the tree
A chaffinch, once very commonly kept as a caged bird, they were often used as entertainment by holding competitions about which bird would sing for the longest. This resulted in people branding them to get them to "sing" more. Thankfully, this practice is greatly diminished, although in Belgium they do still hold competitions for which bird can sing most in an hour
Home
Photographers
Sam
>
Wildlife
Sport
Man-made
Macro
Landscapes
Geoff
>
Landscapes and countryside
Wildlife
Coastal life
Cities, Towns and Villages
A closer look
Step back in time
About
Comments
Special mentions
Also of interest...
Events
The incidental photographer
Licensing photos
Contact