Arcticterntalk.org
The blog of a travelling psychiatrist and football lover. Who happens to be a halfway decent photographer. Takes a cynical view of the world
Archive for the category “animals”
Blogging and a New Photo Blog site. Please share
Seems I have now posted over 1000 blogs on this blog which started off as a blog to keep in contact with my wandering daughter. I have been trying to streamline a little what goes on here and have decided that I would like to showcase some of my best photography on a separate photo blog where there are no words just pictures .
Please feel free to take a look, comment and share. The last few months I have been fortunate enough to be able to photograph amongst other things wolves in the wild, food and some fascinating places.
Here on this blog I will continue to show some photos but the main purpose will be the words not the photos.
Thanks for listening.
The Lobo Wolf Park At Antequera in Southern Spain
This is an area next to El Torcal where Wolves live effectively in the wild though a few of them have been socialised. The park is in the middle of nowehere and finding it is not always so easy situated around an hour north of Malaga but not well known. Even when one arrives in Antequera it is hard to find with the Spanish not putting signposting high on their agenda.
The options are to go on a small group tour , maybe 6-10 people each tour, sometimes less, or book a photographers tour which they do 10 am when the light is at its best and still quite warm, and that is done with a private guide who also allows you to throw food to the Wolves. Some of the panels in the fences can be removed and at times the Wolves were within feet of myself and my camera.
The photographs speak for themselves really. From around 300 photos I have tried to select here the top 15 which is not easy. There are a mixture of young and old wolves. Alpha males and bottom of the food chain. Enjoy.
I have also put the photos on my photo website Chrisbushephotography.com where it is easier to view them full size
The Animals of Udawalawe National Park in Sri Lanka
Many travellers to Sri Lanka have heard of and visit Yala National Park however far more visit Udawalawe.Udawalawe National Park lies on the boundary of Sabaragamuwa and Uva Provinces, in Sri Lanka 165 kilometres (103 mi) from Colombo. Udawalawe is an important habitat for water birds and Sri Lankan elephants. It is a popular tourist destination and the third most visited park in the country.
Udawalawe is an important habitat for water birds and Sri Lankan elephants.
The national park was created to provide a sanctuary for wild animals displaced by the construction of the Udawalawe Reservoir on the Walawe River, as well as to protect the catchment of the reservoir and covers 30,821 hectares (119.00 sq mi) of land and was established in 1972.
Other than than the more exotic animals such as elephants , a whole plethora of birds, water monitors and other lizrd creatures seem to appear from nowhere.
Walking Rescue Greyhounds in Hersham. Great exercise and Great thing to do
On sunday mornings a great way to get some exercise and be helpful is to take a trip down to Turners Lane in Hersham where Hersham Hounds/Wimbledon Greyhound Welfare have their greyhound kennels. The kennels are home to maybe 100 greyhounds at any one time.
Humphrey. A gorgeous greyhound who loves everyone
Home for the Greyhounds
Many walkers walk anything from a single pair of greyhounds to as many as eight. A thoroughly recommended way to get anything from 4-8,000 steps in Fitbit terms.
Turners Lane Hersham
Muddy Fields
The walk by itself is pleasant down the lanes. The field nearby show evidence still of the excess amount of rain of the last month and some of the fields are pure mud. One feels sympathy for the horses stabled there. The area is also home to many parakeets that take southeast England as their home, with their noisy chattering quite obvious, and flying around in small flocks of maybe 4-10 birds.
In the past the life of a greyhound at the end of its racing life, 4-5 years was not terribly optimistic but rescue groups such as WGW/Hersham Hounds work hard to ensure socialisation of the hounds and training for re-homing. Many dogs are rehomed though some are scarred and have idiosyncrasies that make it more complex.
If you do decide to come down and walk the greyhounds do remember to bring personal and address identification as this is needed to “sign-on”.
Early Arrival of Egyptian Goose Goslings 2016
Winter 2015-16 has been a strange one with varying temperatures almost daily. Painshill park in Cobham has always been home to many types of ducks and fowl including Egyptian Geese.
Egyptian Goose and Goslings .Painshill Park in Cobham. Copyright Chris Bushe 2016
A few facts worth knowing about them are that they are not actually geese at all but a cross between a goose and a duck. It has many duck-like characteristics, but it also has some external goose-like traits. It is the most widespread of all the African waterfowl. These old-world shelducks were domesticated by the ancient Egyptians, and were considered sacred , and appeared in much of their artwork. The Romans and the Greeks also kept Egyptian Geese in domestic flocks.They can breed all year around, but usually breed in the spring or at the end of a dry season. It thus is somewhat surprising to see baby goslings in early February.The British population dates back to the 18th century, though only formally added to the British list in 1971 and are found mainly in East Anglia, in parkland with lakes. It was officially declared a pest in the U.K. in 2009. There is little surprise that Painshill Park has become home to them over very many years.
Egyptian Goose and Goslings .Painshill Park in Cobham. Copyright Chris Bushe 2016
Egyptian Goose and Goslings .Painshill Park in Cobham. Copyright Chris Bushe 2016
Egyptian Goose and Goslings .Painshill Park in Cobham. Copyright Chris Bushe 2016
The Academic Cat Continues Her Research
Knowledge is a CATalyst to further development and lack of knowledge is CATastrophic. We are all guilty of not providing further education for our CATs. And before we go on I might mention that there are 347 words all starting with CAT, so this might be a long post. You may need to apply a CATaplasm to your forehead to cool down as something might be happening to your CATabolism.
I have been luck enough to watch this clever CAT, CATapult itself into learning and to CATch it doing reading, homework and revision . So left to its own devices, what does a cat like to read? The Russian Civil War is certainly a good read, and indeed the CAT spent a good hour sprawled out investigating this topic.
This however was not enough and she began to enjoy reading plays, the one that caught her eye was The Secret Rapture by David Hare.
This maybe showed that she was playing CATchup with her knowledge of theatre and last night was caught reading notes on Warhorse. And we have good reason to suspect that she is considering GCSE Drama in her later years. Drama clearly provides a CAThartic experience.
A Great Place
The rants and warblings of an active and some would say disturbed mind. A Brentford Fc supporter and a psychiatrist and photographer. Welcome to my musings and rants.
chris1957