Wolle guten Tag, a good morning
It’s very quiet on your end i do have the feeling that you are really enjoying life as a married man. Or you have to much « to do »😂😂

In the late 1800s my great-great-uncle pulled his sixshooter & killed his parrot...who had just pooped in his hat. Uncle Jim had a very short fuse when he had been drinking out there in the Wild West

Cormorant rookery by starlight. Pismo Beach, California

He's reading my will...

So the question is, who gets him when your LAST WILL & TESTZMENT is read ??🤔 ..... the parrot i mean

Monarch caterpillar

WOW Wolle!!! Great pix! 👍

Hello
Here are a few more pictures of Heligoland On the "Lange Anna", the free-standing rock on Heligoland, "guillemots" and "basses" breed at this time of year. An incredible spectacle. You can get so close that one of the gannets bit me on the finger. Well, I was holding it out. So it was my own fault.

After a couple weeks of very Springlike weather, we were blessed with THIS on April 2nd.
It might be pretty, but quite unwelcome!
Dave B

Back to nature. Couple of flower heads in the garden before they disappear.

Chris

A few miles from me is Chesterton Windmill, which was built around 1633 and is of an usual design in stone and is called a tower windmill.

I've photographed it a few times over the years but not for the last few as the sails were removed because of safety concerns. However, they have been replaced in the last couple of weeks and as I was passing on the way back from the boat club and the sun was shining decided to take some photographs with its nice new sails. Great to see it as it should be again.

Chris

Psittacus erithacus timneh. He's a viscious begger, but sly with it. He looks at you all cute and inviting then strikes, I have had a few nasty bites. He is about 40 years old and has lived with me for the past 30 years or so..

Could it be a Psittacus Erithacus (Linnaeus, 1758), also known by the common (unscientific) name of African Grey Parrot or Congo African Grey Parrot or Greater African Grey Parrot?

Ollie is a Timneh African Grey... He is not a talker, but he mutters under his breath and whistles some amazing tunes. Every time I try and record him he stops so no tunefull videos...

How cute Ollie! He's beautiful!
What species is he?

Here's a photo of the works manager inspecting a newly built engine. His name is Ollie..

Nice photo Rob.
They are three specimens of "Trachemys scripta elegans" (Wied-Neuwied, 1839) which in Italy is commonly called the red-cheeked turtle (or red-eared turtle).
The common name of this species is due to the red stripes on the head immediately behind the eyes.
It is a species that comes from America but in Italy it was very popular as a pet. Before other species of turtles arrived on the reptile market, the Trachemys s. e. was the most popular among lovers of these small animals. I also had more than one.
However, although it was bought very small, most people were unaware of the size it would reach as an adult. So almost everyone got rid of it (no longer having suitable terrariums large enough) in artificial city lakes or, worse, in natural ponds. Since this species has adapted to the new environment, it has proliferated gradually supplanting our endemic species. Rightly or wrongly, its introduction is now prohibited in the EU.

The specimen in the center is a male. In fact, even if smaller than the other two on the sides, it has already developed the claws of its front legs. In males of this species, the front legs have much longer claws, to grab and hold the female during mating.

Nice Red-Eared Sliders Rob!!!

Three turtles looking over their shoulders at an RC schooner sailing a bit too near. Photographed on Sunday, March 30th, 2025 at William Mason Regional Park, Irvine, California, USA.

Big Andy Scott fan! Thanks for posting these DW!

Not quite "Nature", but they do represent animals. We saw the Kelpies in Scotland last year.
Allianz Field commissioned the same artist (Andy Scott) to do a Loon sculpture here in Minnesota.
Dave B

Sunrise over Lake Superior. View from Duluth Canal Park.

Results of overnight ice storm in Ontario Canada 🇨🇦 and eating a cold breakfast and lukewarm coffee since the electricity is off. Good thing we have a gas Bar b Que under a covered area.

Hello there

Our jackdaws are hungry too

Yes she has!!!!!!! Hail Bastet!!!!

Mela has assumed the pose of the Egyptian cat god.

Hello there

This morning in Stade.

Love the eye's 👀

This is our little willow and as mad as a box of frogs

That would have had the mrs running for the hills lol

A little jumping spider was posing for me so I had to oblige!

My boss measured the stones after the Bobcat left, and he came approximately at a hefty 40" long base of tail to head. Obviously a successful hunter...hopefully not on the local pet population!
😉

So sweet Alessandro

Our domestic felines.

Beautiful lynx, Jumpugly.

Not quite a bobcat, but our George by candle light 😁

Bobcat at my boss’s house. 👍🏻

The Song Sparrow has returned and I so enjoy their music, despite all the confusion and construction that has occurred this past year.

This morning in Stade.
Light fog.

Sundays' 'Super moon' rising from the ocean. Taken from the main road to Orewa Beach Auckland outside my place at 11.15 pm. Was twice as big when I first saw it, but by the time I got my camera sorted it had reduced in size. Only reason I caught it, was that I went up to the road to see what the odd light was, - thought something was on fire !

Saw the same thing last year about this time while down at the beach, looks amazing.

JB

Rob,
I assume that's not snow on those rocks? LOL
Dave B

Cormorants roosting by starlight off Pismo Beach, California.

Great pics Dave, you guys certainly covered some ground ! Them's a lotta rocks ! 😀 Our little country would fit nicely into Colorado !

JB

Corning is a must-see even for non-technical persons. I watched glassworkers from the gallery. They insert a pontil rod into the open furnace & extract a glowing blob of molten glass, then form it into things such as $$$$$ paperweights. Don't be thinking you can purchase something inexpensive in the "giftshop", take a hi-limit creditcard with you. But it is worth the trip to see 13th century technology in operation.

DW my sister-in-law is on Canandaigua Lake so she'll investigate a bit, but these come to mind right away...

- Letchworth State Park, "The Grand Canyon of the East" A+
- Corning Glass Museum, a personal favorite, fantastic place!
- Watkins Glen State Park, gorgeous
- Erie Canal Museum in Syracuse
- Wineries in PennYan on the Keuka Lake Wine Trail
- Three Brothers Winery in Geneva, never been, but folks like it
- Seneca Lake Drive is super nice.
- Ontario Antique Mall in Farmington. Huge place 30,000 sq ft,
another favorite of mine. Awesome if you like to browse.

That's a good start. If you get down as far as the Catskills you have to drop in the cabin! More to follow. 😉

Jump,
Next August, we are traveling with several other Miatas, taking the northern route around the Great Lakes to Ottawa for a Miata Convention.
After that, some of us plan to head down into the Finger Lakes area (sort of) near you on our way home.
Do you have any "must see" suggestions for when we are in the general area?
Dave B

Excellent DW! Hit the divide a couple years back with Mary! You def took the scenic route way up there in the high chaparral!
😊👍

We spent the final days, before we had to make the long boring drive home, in the Colorado Rockies. Two days after these shots, some of these roads were closed for the season by a snowstorm.
Dave B
Nothing against eastern Colorado and all of Nebraska, but they just go on FOREVER.

Next, we ventured To Glen Canyon Dam (creates Lake Powell reservoir), and Antelope Canyon formations.

After the Balloon Fiesta we spent some time in western New Mexico, Utah, Arizona, and Colorado.
We hiked in to see an "Ice Cave" where there is a cave with 11' thick layer of ice in the New Mexico Desert. We also had to make a stop at the "Four Corners Monument" which is the only place in the US where 4 states (New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, and Utah) meet in one spot.
We camped by the Navajo Dam in northern New Mexico before venturing into Colorado.
Dave B