Saturday, June 30, 2012
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Superb Fairy Wren
The Superb Fairy Wren is a passerine bird common and familiar across South Eastern Australia. The species is sedentary and territorial, also exhibiting a high degree of sexual dimorphism: the male in breeding plumage has a striking bright blue forehead, ear coverts, mantle, and tail, with a black mask and black or dark blue throat, while non-breeding males, females and juveniles are predominantly grey-brown in colour
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Monday, June 25, 2012
Giant Tortoise Dies
The last known individual of Chelonoidis nigra abingdoni, a subspecies of the Galápagos tortoise, dies
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Saturday, June 23, 2012
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Common Frog
The Common Frog is found throughout much of Europe. Adults have a body length of 6 to 9 cm and vary in colour, with the ability to lighten and darken their skin to match their surroundings. They will feed on any invertebrate of a suitable size and, apart from the breeding season, live solitary lives.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Culpeo
The Culpeo (fox/wolf) is the second-largest native Canidae in South America. It has grey and reddish fur, a white chin, reddish legs, and a stripe on its back that may be barely visible. The mean weight for males is 11.4 kg while females average 8.4 kg.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Monday, June 11, 2012
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Red-billed Chough
The Red-billed Chough is a bird in the Crow Family; it is one of only two species in the genus Pyrrhocorax. It lives and breeds on mountains and coastal cliffs, from Ireland and Great Britain east through southern Europe and North Africa, and farther east to Central Asia, India, and China. It has a glossy black plumage, a long curved red bill, red legs, and a loud, ringing call. It has a buoyant, acrobatic flight with widely spread primaries. The Red-billed Chough pairs for life and displays fidelity to its breeding site, which is usually a cave or crevice in a cliff face. It builds a wool-lined stick nest and typically lays three eggs. It feeds, often in flocks, on short grazed grassland, consuming mainly invertebrate prey. The main threat to this species is changes in agricultural practices, which have led to population decline, some local extirpation, and range fragmentation in Europe; however, it is not threatened globally. The bird has also been depicted on postage stamps in a few countries, including the Isle of Man, with four different stamps, and The Gambia, where this species does not occur.
Monday, June 4, 2012
Saturday, June 2, 2012
First “First Lady of the United States”
Martha Washington (1731–1802) was the wife of George Washington (her second husband), the first President of the United States. Although the title was not coined until after her death, she is considered to be the first First Lady of the United States. She was widowed from her first husband, Daniel Parke Custis, at the age of 25. She brought great wealth to her second marriage with Washington, which enabled him to buy much land and many slaves to add to his personal estate. She and Washington did not have children but they reared two children of her late son John Custis, who died during the Revolutionary War, and helped both of their extended families.
Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee
Elizabeth II (born 1926) is the Constitutional Monarch of 16 Sovereign States known as the Commonwealth Realms, Head of the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations, and Head of State of the Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories. Her father, George VI, acceded to the Throne in 1936 on the abdication of his brother Edward VIII. She began public duties during the Second World War, in which she served in the Auxiliary Territorial Service. On George VI's death in 1952, she became Head of the Commonwealth and Queen of Seven Independent Commonwealth Countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistan, and Ceylon. Her coronation service in 1953 was the first to be televised. Since her accession, the number of her realms has varied as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. In 1947 she married Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, with whom she has four children: Charles, Anne, Andrew, and Edward. Her reign of 60 years is the second-longest for a British Monarch; only Queen Victoria has reigned longer. Elizabeth's Silver and Golden Jubilees were celebrated in 1977 and 2002; her Diamond Jubilee is being celebrated during 2012.