Camera Critters, waterbirds

 
 
 
 

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When my Australian family stayed with me in May, we went to the windmills and to other places not far from my home. We saw many waterbirds as in this part of the country there's a lot of water.All kind of waterbirds were having young ones, some of the chicks swam after their mothers, others were carried by their mums on their backs. We saw ducks, grebes and coots, the latter in very dirty water.

Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar.

 
 

We were astonished that these geese had so many goslings. We hardly could count them.Neither could we see what kind of geese they were.

ABC Wednesday, M for The Mousehole Cat., Camera Critters

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Mousehole is a small fishing village in the south west of England, in Cornwall. See header!
The Mousehole Cat is based on an old Cornish legend. It tells the story of Tom Bawcock through the eyes of his cat, Mowzer. One winter, the great Storm Cat comes snarling and leaping at the harbour walls so that no boat can go out to fish. When all the food in the village is gone, Tom decides he must brave the terrible weather. As they sail into the mountainous seas, Mowzer sings a lullaby to calm the great Storm Cat of the sea. Tom catches enough fish to feed the entire village. And to this day the people of Mousehole hold a procession and feast every Christmas in memory of brave Tom Bawcock.

With thanks to Denise Nesbitt, who created ABC.For more interesting ABC posts click on the logo in the sidebar or Here. This week we are looking for words beginning with M.

Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar.

I must apologize for my early entry, but next week I shan't be able to blog, because I take a break.



There are two more movies about the Mousehole Cat on YouTube, which you can easily find after watching this one.

Weekend Reflections, Camera Critters,

 
 

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These cows are a common sight in our polders, where grass grows in abundance. The fields are separated from each other by ditches filled with water. We always hope that these ditches will freeze over in winter, so that skaters can enjoy themself to their heart''s content!


This is a new meme which gives us the opportunity to show our best photos of reflections. It is a meme that is started by James. You can join this meme at some time during the weekend. Just post your photo and go to James to tell him that you are on.

Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar, or on Misty Dawn.

Weekend Reflections,Camera Critters:The Lonely Swan

 

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The Lonely Swan.

Swans form lifelong relationships. If I see a lonely swan I always ask myself: "Is this swan lonely because its partner died or did it not yet find one?".

It happened not so long ago in Germany. It was spring and the weather was fine, but the lonely swan swam from one end of the lake to the other, looking for his wife, a beautiful young pen, but in vain. He didn’t realise that she was dead and that he would never see her again. He felt sad and hopelessly alone. Day in day out he had been looking for her. Swans are very faithful to their partners, you know.
One beautiful morning in May our swan suddenly saw something that drew his attention. It was very quiet in the park and the lake lay blue and promising in front of him, but he also saw to his great joy a beautiful female swan. He was delighted and swam towards her as fast as he could. He swam around her and did his best to draw her attention. She, however, remained very calm and although she didn’t reject him, she didn’t answer his approach either. All summer he felt happy, but in spite of all advances he made, she didn’t show him that she was also interested in him. She remained beautiful, cool, aloof and very, very silent. September came and October. Autumn had arrived and on a cold day in December something terrible happened Two men came to the park and took his beautiful girlfriend away. He swam to the men threatening them by spreading his wings and hissing as loud as possible, but the men laughed and talked loud. “Look at that silly swan! What does he think he’s doing!” They took the beautiful lady with them and our swan was so terribly sad and so lonely again. He swam here and there and had lost his appetite. He didn’t want to live anymore. People, who often came to the park noticed the poor fellow and pitied him. Some of them knew he was the lovesick swan, who tried to win the heart of the lady who had now being taken away. They talked to the park-keepers. They understood what was to be done and returned to the lake to find the poor fellow. They took him to the zoo and united him with his loved one, whom he had almost lost and who was a beautiful, big polyester boat in the shape of a white swan. He was happy again and got his appetite back.



This is a new meme which gives us the opportunity to show our best photos of reflections. It is a meme that is started by James. You can join this meme at some time during the weekend. Just post your photo and go to James to tell him that you are on.


Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar, or on Misty Dawn.

Camera Critters Grey Heron

 
 
 
 

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I think that this is the Grey Heron. This bird is quite common where I live. Wikipedia says :"The Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea), is a wading bird of the heron family Ardeidae, native throughout temperate Europe and Asia and also parts of Africa. It is resident in the milder south and west, but many birds retreat in winter from the ice in colder regions. It has become common in summer even inside the Arctic circle along the Norwegian coast."

For further interesting information click on more



Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar.

Camera Critters Friesland

 
 
 
 

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Apart from the rooster of my friends there were the many cows we saw . Even on our cycle tour we had to cycle behind a herd of cows, which were taken to other fields. We also saw a herd of Dutch Land Goats which had almost become extinct, had it not been for a group of biologists who succeeded to breed them back.

This group of Canadian geese in the distance, and a cormorant were worth seeing as well.

 

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Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar.

Camera Critters Snails and Slugs

 
 

I always have a lot of snails and slugs in my garden, which I really hate for many plants are destroyed during the night. Snails are especially active in rainy weather and at night. Every year they eat my hostas, but this year I put slug-pellets around the plants and I managed to save them.


Common snails have pale grey moist skin. At the front end are four tentacles, the shorter two are for feeling and the longer pair are eye stalks. The shell of these snails is light brown with darker brown bands following the spiral of the shell. The shell colouration varies in its intensity from pale yellow to almost black.


Reproduction
Common snails, like all land snails, are hermaphrodites. This means that they possess both male and female reproductive organs. Despite this they still need to find another snail to mate with. When two snails meet during the breeding season (late spring or early summer), mating is initiated by one snail piercing the skin of the other snail with a calcified 'love dart'. The exact purpose of the 'love dart' is not fully understood but it seems to stimulate the other snail into exchanging small packets of sperm. After mating is complete the snails will produce eggs internally, which are fertilised by the sperm that has been exchanged.

Up to about a month after mating the snail lays about a hundred small white eggs in a nest underground in damp soil. If the conditions remain suitable for the eggs, snails will begin to hatch after about 14 days. Newly hatched snails have a small fragile shell and it takes two years for them to reach maturity. More facts are to be found Here




Jedediah drew my attention to this video by David Attenborough. It's about the mating of slugs. Thank you so much, Jedediah!

Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar.

Camera Critters, at The Castle of Cheverney

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The sky over Cheverny was blue and promised a great day! The hounds, which I chose for Camera Critters, were having a difficult time coping with the heat. Hunting is a regular pastime. It is said to be necessary to keep the game population in good condition and avoid overpopulation of boar and deer.

Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar.

Camera Critters in The Castle of Villesavin, France

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We couldn't see the interior of the castle but we walked around it. It was fine weather and we enjoyed the walk to the children's farm, where we admired the newborn animals. There was also an exhibition of bridal clothes and the weddingceremony of a century ago.

Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar.

Camera Critters: French blackbirds

 
 
 
 

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The blackbirds built a nest in this little pergola, and one day during my stay in France, we saw the blackbird couple flying in and out of it. So I took some photos of the nestlings just a week ago.

Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar.

Camera Critters On a cycling tour.

 
 
 

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Terribly tired but wonderfully satisfied, I've just come home. I put my photos on the computer and found a few, which could pass for CC. We had been cycling for three hours. The weather was splendid and we enjoyed the ride through the polders.(A polder is low-lying land that has been reclaimed and is protected by dikes, especially in the Netherlands) We heard and saw many birds and in the meadows the cattle were grazing and sheep were peacefully lying together. They had been shorn already.


Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar.