Quote of the Week - Rosalind Franklin- Science and everyday life

"Science and Everyday Life cannot and should not be separated" - Rosalind Franklin, British Scientist, 1920-1958

The trials of life as a plant....

We hear a lot about the suffering of animals but it is rare that anyone talks about those of plants. This clever article talks about the amazing lengths plants go to, to avoid being eaten and their sophisticated biology-

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/22/science/22angi.html?_r=1&ref=science

The Best of the Web- Today’s Link- Fish Parasite

Today I just have one link for you- to this very engaging, informative (and simultaneously disturbing) essay entitled "it pays to be nice to your tongue-eating isopod, unfortunate weaverfish"-

http://runningponies.com/2009/09/19/it-pays-to-be-nice-to-your-tongue-eating-isopod-unfortunate-weaverfish/

Link of the day- animals in utero

Some lovely pictures of elephant-, dog- and dolphin- foetuses in utero and of a duck embryo/"foetus" developping in its shell. The elephant, dog and dolphin pictures were widely publicised a while back, but I have not seen the duck pictures before.

http://www.thisblogrules.com/2009/12/stunning-photographs-of-animals-inside.html

Cheering-up bird 16- Vulturine Guineafowl

The cheering-up bird this week is the Vulturine Guineafowl (Acryllium vulturinum).It is an African bird and the largest species of guineafowl still alive (i.e. extant). This image was taken in the Schoenbrunn Zoo in Vienna by Manfred Werner/Tsui. The source file and the licence [=Creative commons attribution share alike 3.0]can be found here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Acryllium_vulturinum_Sch%C3%B6nbrunn2008c.jpg The wikipedia article on this weird creature- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulturine_Guineafowl- contains another picture showing the rest of this strange beast.

distant Birds in the snow
(c) V. Neblik, 2009

Winter Wonderland...

The Holly and The Ivy....

Quote of the Week- Albert Einstein- achieving the impossible

"Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible."
-Albert Einstein.

with thanks to http://quotes.maxabout.com/

Resplendent Quetzal Link

I have an extra link for you this week- the link below will take you to a whole host of fantastic images of the resplendent quetzal, which must, surely, be the most magnificent of all birds-

http://www.glennbartley.com/naturephotography/Costa%20Rica/Birds/resplendentquetzal.htm

Best of the Web- Today's Links- Getting Brain Injuries, treating them and the wonders of ice

Good morning!

I have three links for you today, as usual- the first is a news story summarising research on brain injuries that shows that protein-rich drinks can help recovery from brain injuries. I always feel very 'depressed' about [posting about] this kind of animal-experiment, which is a huge debate, all by itself. In this case, I really just want to say that the biology behind it is interesting-

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091207/thl-protein-drink-may-aid-brain-injury-d831572.html

The second link is to a tabloid news story about what boxing and "wrestling" (WWE-style) does to the brain - the article talks about "chronic traumatic encephelopathy" and the finding of Tau proteins (associated with Alzheimer's disease) in the brain of a 33-year old wrestler-
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/wrestling/2765141/The-brain-of-ex-WWE-star-Test-resembled-an-Alzheimers-patient-according-to-new-report.html

Today's final link is more upbeat- I would like to highlight a blog with a series of pictures and an essay (for want of a better word) about some bizarre, hair-like ice formations (also known as "hair ice"). The more I learn about water and ice and their strange properties, the more impressed I am- sometimes, it seems, that the things right under our noses and all around us-like water- are just as interesting and weird as the world's more obscure and exotic substances:

http://www.stumbleupon.com/su/2qofhD/my.ilstu.edu/~jrcarter/ice/diurnal/wood/

Image of the day- Misty Dawn...

(c) V. Neblik, 2009

Cheering-up bird 15- Ornate Hawk Eagle

Good morning, Monday-Greetings to you!
Today's cheering-up-bird is an Ornate Hawk Eagle, Spizaetus ornatus. A powerful raptor, the ornate hawk eagle is found in tropical South America, where it lives in the crown of the rain forest.

This is an immature individual photographed in Darien National Park, Panama by "Mdf"- the original file and the licence (creative commons attribution share alike 3.0) is here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Spizaetus-ornatus-001.jpg .

Image of the day

Two male apes....
(c) V. Neblik, 2009

Usually, when taking pictures of captive animals, the glass/bars/cage mars the photograph- in this case, it makes it...

The ape on the left lives in Antwerp Zoo, the ape (man) on the right (a zoo visitor) was standing behind me and to my right.

I've spent an interesting morning working through my photograph archives for the first of the Weridbeautiful postcard books, which is where I found this image. Finally seeing your (one's) ideas take shape into an end-product, as I am doing at the moment, is a wonderful feeling.

Quote of the Week- Shakespeare on dawn

"The gray-eyed morn smiles on the frowning night, Checkering the eastern clouds with streaks of light."- William Shakespeare.

Best of the Web- Today's Links- Robotic Hands, Hooded crows and bald parrots

The first of today's links is to a short story about an amputee being fitted with a robotic hand and learning to move it with his mind. This was the stuff of science fiction just a short time ago.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091202/tsc-man-controls-robotic-hand-with-mind-4b158bc.html

The second link is to a lovely image of a stand-off between a cat and one of my favourite bird species: a hooded crow, Corvus cornix. Actually, I have just spent this afternoon writing about the hooded crow for a feature in the "weirdbeautiful" book. Found across Eurasia, not only are they elegant, but, like a lot of the crow family, they are highly intelligent birds. The image is here-

http://community.livejournal.com/lj_photophile/100614.html

Finally, thanks to the tabloids (in this case the British newspaper "The Sun") , we have a heart warming story about a bald parrot .... so, if you have ever wondered what a parrot would look like without any feathers (odd and more than a little ungainly, it has to be said), the images and story are here- http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2765753/Parrot-with-no-feathers-lives-happily.html

Image of the day- Kingfisher

(c) V. Neblik, 2009.
This is an image of a Kingfisher amongst a bed of reeds that I took in Jerusalem Botanic Gardens back in October (there's an article about that trip, [here] ). Anyway, the point of this picture is really just that an apparently really brightly coloured animal - like a kingfisher- can sometimes all-but disappear into the background in its native environment. The bird is almost exactly in the centre of this image.

Best of the Year's Science

Good Afternoon! Welcome to Weirdbeautiful.

Lately I have been posting quite a few links, quotes and images, rather than longer articles. I seem to have come across a lot of relevant links for some reason recently.

In that spirit, then, I have 2 links today- the first is yahoo's list of "top 10 scientific discoveries of the year" (yes, it's that time of year again) -

http://uk.yearinreview.yahoo.com/2009/blog/7

and the second is this astronomy article, also on yahoo, talking about the discovery of some new planets in a solar system a little like our own-

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/21/20091213/tsc-three-new-planets-discovered-4b158bc.html

Interview with Dr. Phil Bishop

One of the really wonderful things about my job is that I get to talk to people who interest me about things that interest them the most. This week, I got to interview New Zealand-based amphibian expert Dr. Phil Bishop for Practical Reptile Keeping magazine. So far, all of my interviews have been interesting experiences for me and proof- (if such a thing is needed)- that it is not just the fluffy and "cute" animals in the world that have "fans". The interview should be on sale in January but I'll post more about that nearer the time. In the meantime, you can find more information on amphibian conservation work in New Zealand [here] and Dr Bishop's work [here]

Quote of the Week - Samuel Butler on "The Selfish Gene"

"A hen is only an egg's way of making another egg"
- Samuel Butler (British poet, 1835-1902)

This pithy quotation expresses one of the most important ideas that was to feature in Richard Dawkins' famous book, "The Selfish Gene", over 70 years later.

Image of the day

(c) V. Neblik, 2009

The Best of the Web- Today’s Links

The first of today's links is the blog of Vermont-based wildbird enthusiast Chris Petrak : "Tails of Birding"
http://tailsofbirding.blogspot.com/
which is an entertaining read.

As an arachnophobe it is rare that I have anything positive at all to say about spiders and I certainly never expected to be encouraging people to look at pictures of them, but here is a picture of a very small (4mm) and extremely colourful spider that is as close as an arachnid may ever get to "cute" or beautiful-

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2749828/Amazing-mating-display-of-the-Australian-peacock-spider.html

- the beast in question is an Australian Peacock Spider- one of a group of highly coloured spider species- you can find a little more information and several more photographs of it here-

http://www.phenomenica.com/2009/11/jumping-peacock-spider.html

Cheering-up bird 14- Gentoo Pengiun

Good morning and Happy Monday to you!

Today's cheering up bird is a Gentoo Pengiun- image here-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/karohemd/340074669/

Tiger Butterfly

The Plain Tiger Butterfly, Danaus chrysippus Image (c) V. Neblik, 2009. photographed near Caesaria, Israel.

Quote of the Week- Fred Hoyle- the way things are

"Things are the way they are because they were the way they were."
- Fred Hoyle, British Scientist (1915-2001)

Stunning Landscape- snow-capped mountains

Today I just want to post this link to this stunning image of snow-covered mountains in the Kamchatka Peninsula, in the Far East of Russia. The photographer is Natalie Fed.

http://community.livejournal.com/lj_photophile/102080.html

The Best of the web: Today’s links

It is not hard to find good wildlife images on the internet, but there are some really magnificent pictures of birds and flowers on this flikr photostream- http://www.flickr.com/photos/natural_wonders_photography/

There’s a lovely picture of the truly ridiculous-looking “Madagascan leaf-nosed snake” (Langaha madagascariensis) here-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/g-na/3212269140/
Generally, in the animal kingdom, it is the males who have the more outlandish ornaments – horns, headwires, peacock’s tails and so on- but in this case, the males have a comparatively discrete thin, pointed snouts, making them look like twigs, whilst the females have the more elaborate leaf-shaped noses for which the species is famous. These weird creatures live on tree-living animals, such as lizards, frogs and bird nestlings and grow to around a metre long.

This week’s educational link is to this article on snakes of Madagascar -
http://www.wildmadagascar.org/wildlife/snakes.html

Cheering-up bird 13- Egyptian Vulture Chick

Today's cheering-up bird is a creature so ugly that, surely, only its own mother could consider it beautiful.... Actually, it is an Egyptian Vulture and, whilst it might not be pretty, it is certainly valued- this chick is being reared in an incubator at Antwerp Zoo, where they have a number of impressive breeding programmes.

Quote of the Week- Carl Sagan- vastness, emptiness and love

"For small creatures such as we the vastness is bearable only through love."
- Carl Sagan, American Physicist (1934-1996)

Wild life- Diary of a Nomadic Naturalist- November

"Not all bees are black and yellow. In Europe, we tend to think of honey bees and bumble bees and, perhaps- if pushed- of the solitary red mason bees that various wildlife organisations are urging us to protect and make provisions for in our gardens. In other countries, however, the word “bee” comes with much more colourful associations.

In my previous incarnation, as a research biologist, I must have spent many weeks trawling through the dry and chilly storerooms of various famous museums, which is a story in itself. This last month, I have been revisiting my last big scientific project- a study of bee and wasp colouration- as I have sifted through the masses of images on my hard drive. Periodic hard-drive purges and desktop re-arrangement are undoubtedly as much a part of the modern scientist’s annual routine as mending butterfly nets and topping up specimen jars was for our antecedents. In my case, I have many gigabytes of images gleaned from Oxford University’s Museum of Natural History and two Belgian museums.

Museum trips were one of my great pleasures as a scientist and, in this case, I spent many happy days going through countless tight-fitting wooden drawers, deciphering Victorian handwritten labels and photographing anything that caught my eye. There were startling metallic Mexican orchid bees (complete with the impossibly long, drinking-straw-like probosces they need to access nectar) and sinister shiny blue thread-waisted “digger wasps”, with their fearsome-looking stings and a thousand other species in every colour of the rainbow.

People tend not to group ants with wasps and bees, but they are related- they are all members of the hymenoptera: a sophisticated insect family with numerous equally vibrant, but more obscure members.

In the case of my own work, I generally talk about colour in its literal sense, but amongst the hymenoptera- the bees, wasps, ants and their relatives- there are so many creatures with private lives that are certainly “colourful” in the word’s more figurative sense. For example, I am told that the thread-thin waists of the digger wasps allow them enough flexibility to sting forwards, as well as behind them. A similar trick is used by certain ants, who bite would-be-attackers and then angle their rear-end forwards, and spray formic acid from the end of their abdomens into the wound; a very biological version of adding-insult-to-injury. Then there is the “gay” behaviour seen in certain Australian parasitic wasps and there is the ability of worker bees to detect how many sexual partners their mother- the Queen- has had. However, all this pales in comparison with the lives of the digger wasps mentioned above, which sting other insects with a paralysing venom, drag their helpless victims’ bodies into subterranean hollows and then lay their eggs in the still living insects’ flesh, leaving them to be eaten alive from the inside out, once the eggs hatch into larvae.

When Tennyson famously wrote that nature is “red in tooth and claw”, it seems that he was making an understatement. "

-Extract from the forthcoming book, "Weirdbeautiful" (c) Victoria Neblik, 2009. Text and images all (c) V Neblik. All rights reserved.

To join the mailing list for advance notification of "Weirdbeautiful"'s publication, e mail neblik@yahoo.co.uk with "Weirdbeautiful book mailing list" in the title. You will not be sent any spam or other mailings and your e mail address will not be passed on or sold to any third parties. I also have a technical book on aspects of bee, wasp, ant, ichnuemon fly and sawfly colouration due out soon: "Beautiful Bees, Wasps, Ants and Sawflies: Structural colouration in the Hymenoptera"-this was co-authored with Prof. Jean-Pol Vigneron- for details, please e mail the same address. Thanks.

Extra weblinks- photography competition winners and renewable fuel

The winning entries for National Geographic's International Photography Contest are now online- there are some really lovely images- an elephant swimming with his driver standing on his tusks, photoluminescent coral, an Indonesian volcano.....

you can find the pictures at this address, on the website of The Boston Globe- http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2009/11/national_geographics_internati.html

One of the day's odder wildlife stories is this article talking about a man who was attacked by a kangaroo, whilst trying to rescue his dog from it...
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20091123/twl-kangaroo-slashes-drowning-dog-s-owne-3fd0ae9.html [STORY REMOVED BY YAHOO DEC09]

Finally, there is a story here - http://uk.news.yahoo.com/22/20091124/tts-uk-norway-osmotic-ca02f96.html [STORY REMOVED BY YAHOO DEC09] about a new, renewable energy power plant in Norway that generates power from osmosis.

Cheering-up bird 12- Milky Eagle-Owl

This Monday's cheering-up bird is a Milky Eagle-owl (Bubo lacteus) displaying an admirable disdain for morning daylight. This particular bird lives in Antwerp Zoo.
Image (c) V Neblik, 2007.

The Best of the Web- Today’s Links

One of the more depressing wildlife stories to hit the news this week was that of the pet shop in Yokohama, which sells all sorts of rare, difficult-to-care-for and (allegedly) endangered species to the general public. That story was published in a British tabloid newspaper (The Sun)- you can find it here- http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/2667441/Pick-up-a-penguin-sloth-or-alligator-at-worlds-most-exotic-pet-shop.html.

Of course, not all animals adopted by individuals have a bad life – the story of “Christian-the-lion” (a captive bred lion cub bought in Harrods’ Pet Shop and eventually released into the wild by his owners) is wonderfully uplifting (http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2009/08/christian-lion.html)- but, on the whole, this trade clearly does not benefit anyone.

I think the most interesting science story this week, however, is this scientific study by Craig Bennett and colleagues at The University of California and Dartmouth College, New Hampshire measuring brain activity in a dead fish. The point of the publication (a scientific poster), of course, is to show that fMRI (a tool used in a lot of studies of brain activity) can give false readings and should be used with caution. There’s a synopsis of the study and paper on “Wired” –here- http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/09/fmrisalmon/
The article’s dry tone and some of the comments are pretty good: nerd-humour at its finest.

Quote of the Week- Max Gluckman

"A science is any discipline in which the fool of this generation can go beyond the point reached by the genius of the last generation."- Max Gluckman, South African Scientist (1911-1975)

Thanks to http://www.brainyquote.com , which is the source of many of these weekly quotes.

Welcome to Weirdbeautiful

Hi. Welcome to Weirdbeautiful.As it says in the title banner, this blog is about the Weird and wonderful natural world (but particularly wildlife). Weirdbeautiful is a mixture of nature photos and short and longer articles on nature, interviews and links to content elsewhere on the web. There are quite a few things scattered about Weirdbeautiful now, so please have a look around. If you scroll down, you can find a blog archive with a list of everything near the bottom of the page on the right hand side; alternatively, there’s a summary below-

Updates
. I update this blog with the regular content every Monday and Thursday, so if you bookmark Weirdbeautiful in your browser, those are the best days to visit. I post other content- articles, interviews, images and links- at random times.
If you have an RSS reader on your mobile/blackberry or computer, this blog has RSS feed enabled, so you can get updates directly.

Regular Features
. The regular features here are a weekly “cheering-up bird” –a new one is posted first thing every Monday morning- and a quote of the week- posted on Thursday. The people quoted range from Aristotle and Martin Luther to Isaac Asimov and Albert Einstein, but are usually famous scientists. It always surprises me how seldom you see scientists quoted in the main media (compared with- say- actors or writers).

Articles and Longer Content
. If you are interested in longer articles/ longer content, there are several- for example “Diary of a nomadic naturalist”- the October entry is here-
http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2009/10/diary-of-nomadic-naturalist-october.html
This is actually one of a series of diary-articles, but I haven’t had time to upload the others yet. I have some articles summarising scientific research on this blog, too (this one is on butterfly colouration)-
http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2009/09/flashing-butterflies-science-in-plain.html
and an interview with particle physicist Dr Jeanne Wilson here-
http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2009/09/ask-particle-physicist-with-dr-jeanne.html

. Some of my written articles are available elsewhere, but, for various contractual reasons, I can’t reproduce them on this blog. One of these is a diary piece I wrote called “A week in the life of a wildlife writer” (the wildlife writer in this case being me): it is available here-
http://scienceray.com/philosophy-of-science/a-week-in-the-life-of-a-wildlife-writer

There are also some articles I did available free online at e-zine articles- if these interest you, a list of them can be found on this blog here-
http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2009/10/articles-online.html
-they include an interview with butterfly expert Zsolt Balint and articles on chimpanzee research, pandas, bees, bacteria and the Edelweiss-

. You can find a list of articles I have written that are available free online on the articles page of my main website-
http://www.victorianeblik.com/page2.htm
-you may have to scroll down to find them.

Links
. From time to time I post links on this blog to what I think is “the best of the web”- striking wildlife or nature photos, pet care articles and science news stories- for example these articles-
http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2009/11/some-recommended-articles-pet-care.html and links to images by Daniel Seidman, Eduardo Izquerido and Victor Eredel , amongst others- if you have a look around this blog, you can find these and other links. (The link to Daniel Seidman's image is just below this post, I posted the link for Victor Eredel's Autumn photographs back in August).


The Book and The Magazine
I am currently working on a book of this blog “Weirdbeautiful”, which will be a coffee-table-type book with a mixture of glossy wildlife photos, short articles and interviews. I have spent a lot of time over the past few months interviewing people who work with wildlife in various ways- all sorts of people from scientists to insect collectors, falconers and snake breeders –and the best of these interviews will be in the book, too. You can read some of these interviews in “Practical Reptile Keeping”, each month*, some will be posted on this blog and the others will only be available in the book.

. The images in the book will be a selection of the best plant and animal photographs I have taken over the past decade, whilst working as a research scientist and more recently. I am currently choosing what to include from my images of flora and fauna from Korea, Japan, Australia, the USA, Cuba, Israel, Italy, Belgium, Portugal, Hungary, Spain, Britain and many other places. There will also be some unique and previously unseen photographs taken with an electron microscope. As for the interviews, some of this pictures have been posted on this blog but others will only be available in the book. I am sorry if this sounds hard-sell, but, as you can see, I am very excited about this book. I will be putting some more information about it online closer to publication, but you can sign up for advance notice by e mailing neblik@yahoo.co.uk with “Weirdbeautiful book mailing list” in the title.

(*If you live in the UK, you can get Practical Reptile Keeping from WH Smiths/ JS Sainsbury and various high-street newsagents.)
Thanks for reading.

Quote of the Week- Humphry Davy- failure and discoveries

"The most important of my discoveries have been suggested to me by my failures."
- Humphry Davy, British Scientist (1778-1829).

Link of the day

Today, I just want to post a link to this awe-inspiring landscape photo by Daniel Seidman-

http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#1W4G7v/www.flickr.com/photos/dseidman/3930813880/sizes/o//

Cheering-up bird 11- Regents Bower Bird

Today's cheering up bird is a male Regent's Bower bird: an animal with a life history as colourful as the male's plumage. This image comes from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Regentbowerbirdmale.jpg the photographer is credited there as "Myobatrachidae" / "Kelson" and the copyright information (creative commons license details) can be found here.

(Female bower birds have a much drabber appearance- brown and white speckles all over except for a black patch on the tops of their heads.)

Some recommended articles- pet care- geckos and cockroaches

I came across these 2 entertaining articles this week through triond.com -

http://therealowner.com/exotic-unusual/the-madagascar-hissing-cockroaches-are-they-pets-pests-or-just-plain-putrid/

http://therealowner.com/reptiles-amphibians/caring-for-the-mediterranean-house-gecko/

The first is on keeping Madagascar Hissing Cockroaches and the second is on keeping Mediterranean House Geckos.

Quote of the Week- Aristotle- Marvelous Nature

" In all things of Nature there is something of the marvelous"
-Aristotle (384-322BC)

Cheering-up tree

As this week is "tree week" on Weirdbeautiful, in place of today's Cheering-up-bird we have a cheering up tree. This picture is taken from the forthcoming book "Weirdbeautiful" by Victoria Neblik. Further details, price and stockists will be posted [here], but if you want to join the mailing list for advance notification, you can e mail: neblik@yahoo.co.uk with the title line "Weirdbeautiful book mailing list".

Quote of the Week- Martin Luther- Trees

"Every green tree is far more glorious than if it were made of gold and silver"
- Martin Luther (1483-1546)

Cheering-up bird 10- Heron

This week's cheering up bird is a Heron- for technical reasons that I don't really understand, I cannot reproduce more than 1 pixel of the original image here. So let me provide a link instead- the image is "Heron in a Hurry" by Dave Karnes and was originally posted at this address-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digital-k-photography/4003623272/

Diary of a Nomadic Naturalist- October 2009

British birds bore me rigid. I can offer no justification or excuse for my total lack of enthusiasm for them- I just cannot get excited about a small brown winged creature flitting between the balding branches in the shrubbery. Overseas, it is a completely different story- I have no sooner landed in foreign climes than been transformed into the most insufferably obsessive twitcher. I cannot be alone in this as almost all countries seem to sell laminated brochures of their common wildlife –especially birds- for the interested tourist.

This month, I am in Israel and, as on previous visits, I am getting good use out of my laminated bird-leaflet: in this case, “Birds of Israel- A pocket Guide to common species”. The “Nature in Israel” people have clearly gone one step further than many of their foreign counterparts in selling, not only general guides to wildlife and bird leaflets, but specific pocket guides to trees and shrubs, wildflowers and mammals, all of which I am working through.

The wildlife in this region is a curious mix of European, African and Asiatic species, with a few endemic species, thrown in, as if for good measure. Turkey is famous for its birdlife because it lies at the intersection of continents. Israel has a similarly favourable location and some wonderfully diverse landscapes; the lush north of the country invites very different species from the barren sands of the Negev Desert to the south. Of course, many of the birds here would be familiar to any Briton – great tits, house sparrows, goldfinches, chaffinches and so forth- even greenfinches, plovers and barn owls, but there are other more exotic creatures, too. The spectacled bulbul- a black, white and grey bird, with a striking yellow patch under its tail is a familiar garden resident. Hoopoes, which theoretically visit Britain from time to time, actually do inhabit Israel all the time.

Pigeon fanciers in Britain talk about “ash red” pigeons- really a brown variant of the better known grey/blue racing pigeon. However, in Israel, the feral pigeons really are red. Or, to be more accurate, the urban pigeons familiar across Europe, are largely replaced in cities by their similar but strikingly red-tinged cousin- Streptopelia senegalensis- the Laughing dove, which, as its name suggests, is also an African species.

Of all these birds, the one of greatest interest to me is the one I have been unable to find- a beautiful medium sized green animal with a vivid blue face and broad, sharp black stripe across its eyes. My guide calls it Merops orientalis , or the “Little Green Bee Eater”, which somehow implies that there is only one in the country (perhaps why it has proven so elusive, so far). So, my aim this month is to track down the Little Green Bee Eater, wherever he is hiding, and photograph him- if not for posterity, at least to show my British bird-watching friends- a creature that is most certainly not brown nor drab- now that is a bird worth getting excited about.

- Victoria Neblik, Jerusalem, Israel, Oct 2009. (c) Victoria Neblik 2009.

-This post is an extract from my forthcoming book- "Weirdbeautiful". The book will combine my pick of extracts from this blog with exclusive, unpublished wildlife photos, diary articles, interviews, quotations from famous scientists and other short science-themed articles. When the book is released, I will make an announcement on this blog. To join the mailing list for advanced notice of release, e mail: neblik@yahoo.co.uk with the subject line "Weirdbeautiful book mailing list". Thank you for reading.

Quote of the Week- Galileo Galilei- the stars

"I've loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night"
-Galileo (1564-1642)

A week in the life of a Wildlife Writer

I wrote a diary-piece about a week in the life of a wildlife writer (the wildlife writer in question being me)- for contractual reasons, I cannot reproduce it on this blog, but you can find it at this address:

http://scienceray.com/philosophy-of-science/a-week-in-the-life-of-a-wildlife-writer

thanks to Nurit Intrater for help with posting today

Cheering-up moth- Oleander Hawkmoth

In place of a cheering up bird, this week, we have an Oleander Hawkmoth (Daphnis nerii) ; this stunning photo was taken by Subharghya Das in Mysore, Karnataka, India. This impressive hawkmoth has pale blue caterpillars and is found in large parts of Africa and Asia, even Southern Europe in the Summer.
This image was originally published by Subharghya Das here- http://www.flickr.com/photos/the_mask/3684067620/ and is just one of many beautiful photographs in Mr Das's photostream.

Quote of the Week- Isaac Asimov-problems and ignorance

"If knowledge can create problems, it is not through ignorance that we can solve them" - Isaac Asimov, American Scientist, (2/1/1920-6/4/1992)

Cheering-up bird 9- parakeet in flight

Image (c) Victoria Neblik, 2009 - from the forthcoming book "Weirdbeautiful".
I will put an announcement on here when the book is on sale, but if you want to join the mailing list and receive advance notice, please e mail neblik@yahoo.co.uk

Quote of the Week- Lord Kelvin- physics, stamp collection and flight

"All science is either physics or stamp collecting."
Lord Kelvin (1824-1907)

however, Lord Kelvin also said that

"Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible."

I am very grateful to http://www.brainyquote.com , which is the source of many of these quotes -of-the-week.

Cheering-up bird 8- Golden Pheasant

This week's cheering-up bird is the golden pheasant. Images V. Neblik.

The image quality here is not great, but it is such a pretty animal that I wanted to post these pictures anyway.

Articles online

I'm happy to say that several more of my articles have now been published on e-zine articles.com

They are-

"Ask a particle physicist"- an interview with Dr. Jeanne Wilson- full text version
http://ezinearticles.com/?Ask-an-Expert---Number-1---Ask-a-Particle-Physicist-With-Dr-Jeanne-Wilson&id=2863026

and 3 articles that have previously appeared in on this blog-

"Finding China's Lost Pandas" (-a Science Report summarising published research)
http://ezinearticles.com/?Finding-Chinas-Lost-Pandas---Science-Report&id=2883099 (http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2006/06/finding-chinas-lost-pandas-science-news.html)

"Bees and Bacteria" - ( a summary of published scientific research on bees and on oil-slick digesting bacteria)
http://ezinearticles.com/?Bees-and-Bacteria&id=2883002 ( puiblished here as two articles - http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2006/08/bee-time-science-news.html and http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2006/08/oily-bacteria-science-news.html)

"Nutty Chimps"- (scientific research on chimps using tools to crack nuts)
http://ezinearticles.com/?Nutty-Chimps&id=2883066 ( published on this blog some time ago http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2006/08/nutty-chimps-science-news.html)

I am also happy to say that I have a couple of print articles coming out soon- one being an interview with snake expert Joel La Rocque- due out soon in Practical Reptile Keeping magazine - more details of that when it is available in the shops.

Quote of the Week- Hippocrates- astrology

"A physician without a knowledge of Astrology has no right to call himself a physician."- Hippocrates (460BC- 357BC)

(It is really Such a shame he's not alive to have a televised debate on the subject with Prof Richard Dawkins... )

Cheering-up-plant- Stapelia flavopurpurea

(c) Martin Heigan, reproduced with permission.

In place of a cheering-up bird this week, I have this stunning image, taken by Martin Heigan, of the flower of the succulent plant Stapelia flavopurpurea. There are around 40 plant species in the genus Stapelia -the so called "carrion flowers". This species is notable for having a sweet, pleasant smell, unlike its relatives, which typically smell of rotting flesh- hence their name. This picture was taken in South Africa, but this plant also grows in Namibia.

Mr Heigan has whole set of photos of carrion flowers and their relatives on flickr, which is well worthy of a detour- you can find them here- http://www.flickr.com/photos/martin_heigan/sets/72157594229096037/

His picture of the oddly geometric flowers of "the wax plant",Hoya carnosa " is particularly impressive- http://www.flickr.com/photos/martin_heigan/154069086/in/set-72157594229096037/

Quote of the Week- Sydney Altman- privileges

"We are privileged to have been afforded the opportunity to study Nature and to follow our own thoughts and inspirations..."
Sydney Altman, Canadian Molecular Biologist and Nobel Laureate (b. 7th May 1939)

“Flashing Butterflies” (Science in plain English)

I recently received a package of reprints for a scientific paper I contributed to. The paper was on colouration in two neotropical butterflies. Having worked for so long in the field of colouration (sic), at the moment, I am in two minds about revisiting projects in the subject, let alone, blogging about them. In this case, I really like some of the underlying scientific idea, so it seemed worth writing a popular science version of them. This was originally supposed to be a teaching aid/ class-discussion resource for educational purposes, so you will have to excuse me if the tone is a bit didactic in places:-

Mercedes atnius and Morpho rhetenor are two day-flying butterflies that live in the same tropical habitat (pristine forests of Guyana and in the lower Amazon basin in South America). When observed with the naked eye, museum specimens of these insects seem to exhibit an identical blue colouration, but this is deceptive because living butterflies of different species flap their wings differently, giving rise to various optical effects. Dead animals, which look alike in a museum case, may look very different from each other when they are alive, in the wild.

Different species vary in their wing-beat frequencies and this variation is not always for reasons of aerodynamics or to conserve energy. In fact, in some butterflies, characteristic wing-beat frequencies have evolved which are known to be aerodynamically costly but which have a role in signalling to other butterflies.

We should consider this signaling for a moment- it is as if the pattern of pigment on the wing in these butterflies acts as a coloured display, which is alternately visible and not, as the wings open and close. This means that the pattern of display seen over time depends on the wing-flap frequency, allowing butterflies to distinguish between other members of their own species and similar species with the same wing colouration. This phenomenon has already been investigated in some butterfly species, but the situation is much more complicated in the butterflies Mercedes atnius and Morpho rhetenor .

There are essentially three ways in which living organisms can produce colouration: by using pigment, by using bioluminescence (carrying out chemical reactions that give off light of certain colours) or by reflecting certain colours (wavelengths) of incoming light and not others. This last method- better known as “structural colouration” -is the cause of the bright colours in metallic beetles, the feathers in a peacock’s tail and the shiny metallic blue colouration in many butterflies of the rainforest. Mercedes atnius and Morpho rhetenor are two such butterflies. They both have a vivid metallic blue colouration on the upperside of their hind-wings’ surface, which "flashes" as the butterfly is tilted.

Detailed examination of their wings reveals that, like all butterflies they are covered in scales. However, within the scales in these two butterflies are masses of tiny, highly organized and repetitive structures. Because of their precise geometry and dimensions, these structures are able to interfere with any light landing on them. They amplify certain colours (wavelengths) of light, whilst colours either pass through the structure or disappear within it. In fact, the wing structures reflect and amplify blue light, which is why the butterflies appear blue. The wings reflect light much more strongly in some directions than others. (the reflected light is highly directional)

When flying, a butterfly with this type of structures in the wing scales can produce some arresting visual effects, because not only does the pattern on its wings appear and disappear, or flicker, but at certain, precise, angles, there are also bright flashes as the wings reflect light very strongly.

This may sound complicated enough, but it is not the end of the story because it is not just the strength of reflection that varies with angle, but also- slightly- the colour of the light reflected. The result of this is that there are three visual effects occurring simultaneously in the butterflies Mercedes atnius and Morpho rhetenor. With each wing flap, the coloured display from the wings of these species will not only become visible or not (flicker) as the wings open and close, but it will also vary in colour as the wing angle changes and in intensity (show bright flashes).

Because the consequences of wing-flapping had not previously been investigated in species like these (with colour- producing structures in their wings) this scientific paper discusses these flashes. In particular, it considers the idea that their frequency could be a way for these butterflies to recognise other individuals of the same species. Obviously, this is a phenomenon that will require more detailed discussion in the future, but this paper makes a start by studying museum specimens of these two butterflies, in order to understand the signals they emit better. All of which is a necessary prelude to investigations into the flicker phenomenon and to studies of these "flashes" in the wild and their behavioural significance.

This study was published as “Morpho-like optical phenomenon in the neotropical lycaenid butterfly Mercedes atnius”, (Zsolt Balint, Serge Berthier, Julie Boulenguez & Victoria Welch,) in the journal Atalanta (sic), 40 (1/2), 263-272, Wurzburg, 2009 (ISSN 0171-0079).

Cheering-up bird 7- Anna's Hummingbird

This week's cheering-up bird is a male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna). "Anna" in this case was Anna Massena, 2nd Duchess of Rivoli, who lived in the 19th Century and whose husband was a keen amateur ornithologist (as well as being a Duke and Prince...). This beautiful species lives on the west coast of North America.

This picture was taken by Janine Russell and originally posted here- http://www.flickr.com/photos/janinerussell/2419059438/

Quote of the Week- Paul Nurse- importance of biology

"Better understanding of the natural world not only enhances all of us as human beings, but can also be harnessed for the better good, leading to improved health and quality of life."
Paul Nurse, Nobel Laureate

Pink Insects

There seems to have been surprisingly little by way of science news in the headlines this week, but I did come across this link of some recently discovered mutant insects with pink colouration: (both weird and beautiful)...

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/greenpicks/253/boy-finds-rare-pink-grasshopper.html

Ever wondered what a Nobel Prize looks like?

If you have ever wondered what a Nobel Prize looks like (apart from the money), the answer is here- 2 certificates (in Swedish) and a medallion.

No prizes for guessing who won this particular Nobel prize... Actually was donated by Einstein (indirrectly) to the Bloomfield Science Museum in Jerusalem, where it is on public display.

The museum is right beside the Hebrew University, in the Givat Ram district of the city. It is mostly targetted at children with a number of interactive displays, but it does have a room devoted to Albert Einstein, complete with letters by him, school reports on him and facsimiles of the original maunscript of special (?) general (?) relativity, complete with crossings out. I found it enormously heartening to see that even Prof. Einstein himself occassionally made mistakes. photos (c) V Neblik, 2008

Cheering-up-dinosaur

As promised, this week's cheering-up animal is a REAL LIVE DINOSAUR.
The world's only living dinosaur species, in fact ( I'm ignoring birds here, for the sake of argument). It's a tuatara from New Zealand.

This image is by Ian McHenry of Christchurch, New Zealand, who owns the copyright. Reproduced with permission. You can see this image and the rest of Ian's photostream (which contains lots of wildlife images) at http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianrmc/249622063/ . He also has a collection of images online at http://www.pbase.com/ianmc , including some lovely pictures of a Kea.

Quote of the Week- Marie Curie- People and things

"Be less curious about people and more curious about ideas."
- Marie Curie

Autumn toadstool

(c) Victoria Neblik, 2009.
my best guess is that this slowly rotting toadstool is species of Coprinus, related to the Autumn toadstool Coprinus cinereus.

Snakeman, Butterflyman, Zsolt Balint and Joel La Rocque

For a little while now, I've been experimenting with e-zines: redrafting old articles and writing fresh ones for publication- mostly on ezinearticles.com

A few days ago, I came across this anecdotal article (http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Hardest-Task-Ever&id=2719998)by snake expert Joel La Rocque on his life collecting and studying snakes. I hope to have an interview with him soon. I will post a link or details [here] when it is available. In the meantime, I'd like to recommend that article on ezinearticles.com

I am also working on a series of interviews with entomologists- the first of these- with Hungarian biologist Dr Zsolt Balint- a world expert on lycaenid butterflies- will be published in a week or two- I will add the address [here- http://ezinearticles.com/?Man-With-a-Passion---Hungarian-Scientist-Zsolt-Balint-on-Butterflies&id=2864019] once the article becomes live. [16th Sept-article now live- here]

Cheering-up lizard- Jackson's Chameleon

This wonderful image of Jackson's chameleon was supplied to wikipedia http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jackson%27s_Chameleon444.jpg by Benjamint444

The picture shows an animal from Melbourne Zoo and I've only ever seen this creature in an exotic pet shop. In that case, it had bright orange "horns", resembling 3 prehistoric carrots on its weird-yet-strangely-beautiful face.

This lizard may look like a dinosaur, but next week's cheering up animal really is one... watch this space....

Quote of the Week- Alan Turing- The Future

"We can only see a short distance ahead, but we can see plenty there that needs to be done."- Alan Turing ( 23/6/1912- 7/6/1954)

Ask a particle physicist with Dr Jeanne Wilson

Some time ago, I posed several questions about particle physics and radioactivity on this blog (now removed). I am happy to say that I have had my questions answered, courtesy of Dr Jeanne Wilson.

Dr Wilson is a former lecturer in physics at Oriel College Oxford and begins a lectureship Queen Mary, University of London next year. She studied physics at Sheffield and Oxford Universities in the UK and specialises in neutrino physics.
You can find a brief outline of her research here - http://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/content/337/dr-jeanne-wilson-physics-

Jeanne kindly answered 3 questions for me. One of these is reproduced below- the answers to the other two will be available online shortly. These questions and answers are to be the first of a series of articles called "Ask an Expert",where I will ask experts in a range of fields for simple answers to fundamental and difficult questions about life, the laws of nature and the world in general.

I will modify this post to include a link [here] once the full article is available. In the meantime, here is question 1

VN) I wondered why alpha particles are the largest form of radiation? Are larger particles theoretically possible but only occur with a very, very, very long half life or at much higher or lower energy levels than in the universe as we experience it?
JW) Alpha particles are actually helium nuclei – they are made up of two protons and two neutrons, a stable particle. Radioactive decay occurs because the process of emitting the radiation releases energy leaving products in a more stable configuration than what you started with. You start with a nucleus with some intrinsic energy (as Einstein’s famous equation tells us – energy is related to mass) and you end up with a new nucleus and an alpha particle which together have a lower intrinsic energy. However, for this to happen you must negotiate the “energy barrier” provided by the force that holds nuclei together. Energy to step over this barrier could be provided by a external process such as a collision with another particle, but in the case of spontaneous radioactive decay the barrier is not stepped over, but tunnelled through. This phenomenon is called “quantum tunnelling” and is due to the wave-like behaviour of particles. In quantum physics, the wave describes the probability of a particle being in a certain location with a certain energy. If the barrier is narrow enough, the wavefunction extends to the other side of the barrier and there is a small possibility that the alpha will escape from the nucleus.

In principle, you could release something larger than an alpha particle but then the energy barrier is much larger and therefore quantum tunnelling is much less likely. This process is a form of radioactive decay, called spontaneous fission, and can only occur for very heavy nuclei.

-Many thanks to Dr Jeanne Wilson.

Echidna picture

There are some interesting wildlife and animal pictures online here-
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthpicturegalleries/6104741/Animal-pictures-of-the-week-28-August-2009.html?image=1

I particularly like the second one- an echidna- it's rare to see a picture of an echidna close-up like this

Ice

This blog has become a little "cutsie" and zoological of late, so I'd like to redress the balance with something more physical and geographical. This picture of ice formations in a lake in Iceland, as seen from the air is by my friend Eduardo Izquierdo

This image is from Eduardo's photostream on flickr. His excellent photostream is primarily arty, rather than zoological or scientific; you can find it here-
http://www.flickr.com/photos/odreiuqzide/3287117584/in/photostream/

Cheering-up bird 6- Brown Pelican

Photograph by Gary M. Stolz/USFWS
Source: http://www.weforanimals.com/galleries/birds%20gallery/bird%20pictures/page1/bird_pictures-6.htm

Pelicans always seem to have a strange, slightly bashful expression to them- like a small, shy child. That, combined with their awkward gait on land makes them even more endearing than a seabird should be...

Christian the Lion

It was a great privilege to watch the story of "Christian"-the lion on the Eden channel this evening. He was a Lion-cub bought in Harrod's pet department in the 1960s, when such things were legal, and reared in London by two Australians, before eventually being released in the wild in Kenya. Christian's former owners- John Rendell and Ace Bourke - visited him in the wild twice.

Unfortunately, the programme is not available for download from the Eden website, however, wikipedia has some more information on him here- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_the_lion

Some of the footage from the documentary is also in this video on you tube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvCjyWp3rEk&NR=1

Quote of the Week- The wonderful laws of nature- Michael Faraday

I'm posting this week's quote a little early, in honour of its author- Michael Faraday, who died on this day in 1867.

"Nothing is too wonderful to be true if it be consistent with the laws of nature." - Michael Faraday (22/9/1791- 25/8/1867)

Cheering-up bird 5- Bird of Paradise

Cheering up bird number 5 is a bird of paradise

So many birds of paradise look truly ridiculous, as well as magnificent.
This image comes from the royalty-free image site http://www.sxc.hu/photo/780038 and is acredited to "chirio", 2007.

Another of my personal favourite species is the Raggiana Bird of Paradise,which can be seen here - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raggiana_Bird_of_Paradise . The male of this species compounds his outlandish appearance by hanging upside down from branches whilst throwing his feathers above his head in a display to impress females.

Quote of the Week- Importance of applicability- the Buddha

"An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea. "- The Buddha

Autumn colours...

In place of a cheering-up bird this week, I would like to draw your attention to these wonderful pictures of Autumn by Victor Eredel-

http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#1tgFQc/www.behance.net/Eredel/frame/145808/

Oldest known wild golden eagle dies

-A Golden Eagle- image from www.weforanimals.com with thanks to the photographer- Watson NPS.


Yesterday’s Daily Telegraph newspaper reported the death of the oldest known wild golden eagle in Britain off the coast of Scotland.

The bird was one of around 440 breeding pairs of golden eagles in the UK and its body was found on the Isle of Jura by a member of the public. The animal was tagged some 22 years ago, when it was still a chick and was six years older than the previous oldest known wild golden eagle.

On average, Golden Eagles have wingspans of over 2 m (7 ft) and are up to 1 m (or 3 ft) in length. They occupy large territories and feed upon rodents such as rabbits and marmots, as well as reptiles, birds, fish, carrion and sometimes even insects.

The telegraph’s article can be accessed here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/6033439/Oldest-golden-eagle-dies.html

www.weforanimals.com , which has an impressive, royalty-free wildlife image library can be accessed here

Quote of the Week - A Lagendijk- science creates order

“Only science creates order in the inevitable increase of disorder”
Prof A. Lagendijk, University of Amsterdam.

Website Live

I am happy to say that my website-

http://www.victorianeblik.com

is now live- at last!

Ostrich feathers

Aerial view of ostrich feathers- taken from a wooden platform above a live ostrich, The Biblical Zoo, Jerusalem
(c) Victoria Neblik, 2008.

Science News 12th August

It has been a very eventful week in terms of science and wildlife news.
This is a round-up of the best of today's science news from the internet...
(I first published this summary online at:- squidoo-
http://www.squidoo.com/sciencenews12thaug09 )


"Yahoo is running a press release from ITN on suggestions that have been made by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that a plant responsible for herbal "highs" should be banned due to the dangerous chemicals it contains and the risk of paranoia and panic attacks http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090812/tuk-call-for-natural-high-drug-ban-dba1618.html

The Times newspaper expands on this story, noting that "the marijuana-type high that users get from [this plant- ] "Spice" comes from a synthetic cannabinoid four or five times as potent as THC, the main psyschoactive substance in cannabis."
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6792687.ece
Yahoo is also reporting that Somerset and Norfolk are being deluged by swarms of ladybirds http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090807/tuk-ladybirds-swarm-parts-of-britain-dba1618.html

and a notice advising about a spectacular meteor shower anticipated for tonight. The sight, which is due to the annual Perseid meteor shower is reaching its peak is expected to be visible in the UK, with the best views will in the northwest of Scotland , the north of England and the Midlands. http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20090812/tuk-meteor-shower-head-north-or-watch-on-dba1618.html

Meanwhile, the news section of Wikipedia's homepage today announces good news for
the critically endangered Slender-billed Vulture with the
the first successful captive breeding of the bird announced in India. The population of the Slender Billed Vulture, as well as those of the two other vulture species were devastated across the Asian continent by the use of Volterol (also known as "diclofenac")- a pain medicine used in cattle that is deadly to vultures. Birds died in vast numbers after feasting on the carcases of cows that had been treated with the medicine.
The success was due to joint efforts between the RSPB and the Zoological Society of London and the two chicks that hatched and are being independently cared for in Haryana and West Bengal.
The news was also published by the BBC's website at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8187533.stm

Finally, The Sun newspaper, which never shies away from a chance to show appealing animal photos, is building on the story, published just about everywhere yesterday of an elephant falling into a hole by reprinting the image, along with a series of 7 similar pictures
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/2582636/Animals-that-have-got-stuck-in-tricky-situation.html

Sunrise

(copyright, V. Neblik, 2009)

Quote of the Week- Making mistakes- Frank Wilczek

"If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake" - Frank Wilczek. Nobel Prize winner in physics, 2004

Cheering-up Sloth

Today I am departing from my periodic "cheering up bird" formula to direct you to this wonderful baby sloth picture. As always, this is more about the "awh" factor than scientific progress, but I think more than worthy of the detour...

http://www.stumbleupon.com/s/#232s1A/www.flickr.com/photos/carootje/306448711//

Quote of the Week- Problem solving- Albert Einstein

“The world we have made today, as a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far, creates problems we cannot solve at the same level at which we created them”- Albert Einstein.

Twycross Zoo- monkey-birth.

There seems to be so much bad news about wildlife, destruction of the earth etc., that it was great to hear that in mid June, Twycross Zoo succeeded in breeding a very endearing Red Titi monkey -
http://www.twycrosszoo.org/news/currentnews.htm#titi

Spontaneous amputation

There should definitely be awards for the most outlandish scientific papers. I don't mean for those that are wasteful or stupid, like the Ignobel awards or the Darwin awards, but just for the strange ones.

My award of the day goes to this paper
http://www.ejbjs.org/cgi/reprint/47/7/1401.pdf ,which is definitely not for the faint-hearted.

It describes a case where a large vein in a man's leg became blocked, causing the leg to become swollen, numb and, eventually, gangrenous. Ordinarily, once gangrene set in, one would have expected him to die without urgent medical attention. In his case, he recovered in bed at his sisters house for 15 months, until finally, the diseased leg just dropped off...

The best bit of the story however, is that even this drastic turn of events did not prompt him to seek medical help. Instead, he called a vicar for advice about what to do with broken off bit of leg. Fortunately, the vicar suggested a doctor might be appropriate.

*BEWARE- the paper contains one VERY gory image *

Cheering up Bird number 4- Wild Pheasant

Wild Pheasant, UK

The powerful red cheeks of male pheasants look very garish and absurd- like something from a Venetian masked ball.....

Silence, Absence and The Writing Experience

Please excuse my long absence- I have been busy doing research for my forthcoming popular science book and creating pieces for my jewellery collection- due to be launched later this month. I will post details of the book here in due course. Actually, writing this book has been a very strange experience in many regards. From what I have read in interviews with well known authors, I think most people find some books harder to write than others.

For a while, things were very heavy going with this book, but lately I've been learning all sorts of bizarre and entertaining facts that I'm trying to squeeze into the narrative. (well, they entertain me, anyway). It's very tempting to share what I am learning as I go along - to enthuse about it all here and to mention it to my friends when they ask how things are going, but I'm fighting that for the moment- even to the extent of avoiding talking about it at all. I hope keeping it all to myself will make the book better in the end.

Both the writing and the jewellery-making are proving great experiences and -oddly- seem to compliment each other. Sometimes doing two creative things simultaneously seems to be utterly exhausting; for example, conducting research science and writing a book at the same time was disastrous for me- but other activities seem to support each other. Jewellery manufacture and writing seem to work well together.

Volcano photo

Amazing photo of an erupting volcano from a satalite

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2498407/Volcano-snap-out-of-this-world.html

Cheering Up bird 3- Night Heron

Night Heron, Lisbon - image (c) Victoria Neblik, 2009

Compared with the previous cheering-up birds, the Night Heron has a very subdued appearance, but his head wires are just ridiculous enough to secure him the dubious honour of cheering-up bird number 3.

The world's Most Terrifying Penises - Leopard Slugs

There are times when I think that I've seen many of the world's weirdest creatures. Then time and again, I get proven wrong. The latest unexpected surprise is this wonderful tongue-in-cheek video on the penis and truly bizarre natural history of the leopard slug-
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2tZLWIo9nY&feature=channel_page

Spineless Hedgehog

Ever wondered what a hedgehog would look like without the spines?

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article2321923.ece

Cheering-Up Bird 2

OK so it's not quite as unusual as the quetzal, but the Toucan is a pretty close second cheering-up bird- http://victorianeblik.blogspot.com/2010/03/cheering-up-bird-24-toucan.html

Beautiful pictures of waves

The Daily Mail has some wonderful photos of waves online today taken by a surfer from inside the waves. What an amazing world we inhabit.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1156222/Pictured-The-daredevil-surfer-taking-amazing-photos-INSIDE-huge-breaking-waves.html

Giant ant nest-

Ever wondered how big an ant nest can be? I was recently shown this wonderful video of some researchers filling a giant ants nest with concrete and then excavating the solidified concrete cast- it’s truly amazing-
http://www.flixxy.com/ant-city-development.htm
I can’t help wondering if the scientists expected to use to much concrete or the nest to take so much excavation when they started out...

(VN wishes to thank SL for this information)

WELCOME

Hello. Thank you for visiting my blog. This blog is mostly about the natural world- the amazing plants and animals around us. Some of the posts here were previously published in a different format elsewhere; I have dated them according to when they were either first published or completed, so some posts are dated prior to the creation of this blog.