The beauty of this world has made me sad

[Vera]

The Southern states across the US have Mockingbirds that sometimes sing in the middle of the night.  They also sing during the day and a lot of people find them annoying but I love them, however we live little too far North and I haven't heard one in many years.  They copy other birds and oddball noises.   In the video this little guy does a perfect car alarm at 2:50 and the sound of a mourning dove taking flight at 10:21.

 

Birds as so fascinating!

Here we have (Eurasian) jays who can imitate all sorts of other noises... including cats (I don't think they've quite thought that one through though... imagine if they do manage to attract another cat )




I love hearing the little owls (athene noctua) at night, such a peaceful, magical feel (I like being awake in the middle of the night in general). A lot of people think they're bad luck (some idiotess at my first job asked why we didn't kill it. What a bitch!)... then again, a lot of people are "a lot" stupid





Speaking of owls, here's an origami one I made  

[Vera]

I give you - scabiosa stellata or starflower pincushion. And to think all this unimaginable richness of colour and form, and smell came from a mutating leaf...

As the lovely Oliver Sacks beautifully wrote:

"Magnolias, my mother explained, were among the most ancient of flowering plants and had appeared nearly a hundred million years ago, at a time when “modern” insects like bees had not yet evolved, so they had to rely on a more ancient insect, a beetle, for pollination. Bees and butterflies, flowers with colors and scents, were not preordained, waiting in the wings—and they might never have appeared. They would develop together, in infinitesimal stages, over millions of years. The idea of a world without bees or butterflies, without scent or color, affected me with a sense of awe."









Also: traveller's joy or old man's beard:

[Bucky Ball]

I give you - scabiosa stellata or starflower pincushion. And to think all this unimaginable richness of colour and form, and smell came from a mutating leaf...

As the lovely Oliver Sacks beautifully wrote:

"Magnolias, my mother explained, were among the most ancient of flowering plants and had appeared nearly a hundred million years ago, at a time when “modern” insects like bees had not yet evolved, so they had to rely on a more ancient insect, a beetle, for pollination. Bees and butterflies, flowers with colors and scents, were not preordained, waiting in the wings—and they might never have appeared. They would develop together, in infinitesimal stages, over millions of years. The idea of a world without bees or butterflies, without scent or color, affected me with a sense of awe."









Also: traveller's joy or old man's beard:

We have a patch of Giant Alliums. They remind me of those.
https://www.google.com/search?q=giant+al...tYbKow8vrM

[Vera]

We have a patch of Giant Alliums. They remind me of those.
https://www.google.com/search?q=giant+al...tYbKow8vrM

Those are gorgeous! (The pincushion one though is after the petals have fallen, so this is its fruit/seeds. Such a fascinating plant (well, all plants are fascinating if you ask me   )

It's such a joy biking these days, everything is blooming so hectically, everywhere I go there are colours and smells, and buzzing... I wish spring could last several months at least...

Most of these are from the last week or so. The last one smells heavenly!

[Vera]

From Thomas Pesquet: the curvature of the Earth, reflecting the sun.



In this case, the sad part comes from what we're doing to this beautiful, beautiful planet...

[GenesisNemesis]

Taken from Reddit:

"True professional rock climbers at Sperlonga, Italy".

[Gwaithmir]

From Thomas Pesquet: the curvature of the Earth, reflecting the sun.



In this case, the sad part comes from what we're doing to this beautiful, beautiful planet...

“The Earth does not belong to Man; Man belongs to the Earth. Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” (Chief Seattle) 

[Vera]

Final autumn days (such as it was this year...)

[Inkubus]

And It's Noddy holder time: Reasons to hate people part 84...




It is indeed a great sadness he's not dead.

[Thumpalumpacus]

And It's Noddy holder time: Reasons to hate people part 84





It is indeed a great sadness he's not dead yet.

This made me sad, and not for its beauty.

Them goats, though -- that's some shit right there, standing on the side of a cliff like they own it ... and they probably do. How can you not love it? No carabiners, no pitons, no ropes, no nets ... but they manage.

[Inkubus]

An antidote:

[Fireball]

An antidote:

My second son discovered my SRV music at about age 18. I listen on either earbuds or headphones as my wife doesn't like a lot of my music. So, he hadn't heard it, before. He's all over it, now. 

[Inkubus]

Now that there cheered me up.

[Vera]

"So crystal clear it is to me
That when I die I cease to be,
All else seems sheer stupidity.

All promises of Paradise
Are wishful thinking, preacher's lies,
Dogmatic dust flung in our eyes.

Yea, life's immortal, swift it flows
Alike in reptile and in rose,
But as it comes, so too it goes.

Dead roses will not bloom again;
The lifeless lizard writhes in vain;
Cups shattered will not hold champagne.

Our breath is brief, and being so
Let's make our heaven here below,
And lavish kindness as we go.

For when dour Death shall close the door
There will be darkness evermore;
So let us kneel in prayer before

Each day and let our duty be
To fight that mankind may be free . . .
There is our Immortality."
Robert William Service, "Reptiles and Roses"

[Vera]

The air outside my window smells of apple blossoms, in front of the house - of lilacs, there are nightingales at night, the ground is covered with the petals of the cherry trees like snow, the tulips are blooming and there armies of dandelions in the grass...

I wish this time of the year wasn't quite so fleeting...

[Vera]

Beauty in death:



"California sea lions (Zalophus californianus) are iconic members of the Monterey Bay ecosystem, and photographer David Slater loves diving with them. “They rush past you with such beauty and grace that they leave you stunned,” he gushes. But during a dive last September, Slater witnessed a more somber sea lion scene. On a mucky stretch of sea floor, a dead sea lion had fallen to its final resting place, a colorful array of bat stars (Patiria miniata) strewn across its body like flowers tossed onto a grave.

Bat stars are omnivorous and frequently feed on carcasses that fall to the ocean floor. “I’ve seen video accounts of them scavenging on dead sea urchins, fishes, almost anything that is possible food,” says starfish expert Christopher Mah at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History. Chemoreceptors on the stars’ arms help them catch the whiff of decaying flesh and crawl in the direction of a meal. While they don’t move quickly, time-lapse video has revealed the fierce fight that ensues as the scavengers jockey for position on a carcass, prodding and pinning one another’s arms as if engaged in a slow-motion thumb-wrestling match. Once they’ve secured a feeding site, the starfish extend their stomachs onto their prey and secrete enzymes to digest the meat. “This is a slow process, by our time standards,” says Mah, “that can last hours, to days, to weeks.”

Without the benefit of time-lapse video to reveal the feeding frenzy underway, the scene looked peaceful to Slater, who was moved by the picturesque blending of life and death he happened upon. “I had never known death to be this beautiful,” says Slater, “and I was humbled to be a part of this sea lion’s fall.”"

[Deesse23]

[Vera]

And beauty in birth: an example of "broadcast spawning": "the release of both eggs and sperm into the water column, whereupon gamete contact and fertilization occur externally".

Here's a Leach sea star engaged in this kind if spawning, captured by Tony Wu.







"THE starfish in this image looks suitably electrifying, but the lightning-like currents emanating from this male Leach’s sea star are actually streams of sperm. The shot was taken in Kagoshima prefecture in Japan by nature photographer Tony Wu.

Starfish sexually reproduce by a process called spawning, with many individuals releasing great quantities of eggs or sperm into the water from their sexual organs, located in their arms. Congregating in groups boosts the chance of the eggs being fertilised, whereupon they will develop into planktonic larvae that are carried by the currents.

This sea star is spawning in synchronisation with others nearby, as dictated by the time and flow of the tide, but that isn’t its only reproductive tactic. Just like other starfish, Leach’s sea stars (Leiaster leachi) can also asexually reproduce if their arms become detached or damaged. As long as part of their core – the central disc – is intact, they can restore the lost arm or regenerate their entire body from the arm.

Leach’s sea stars are found on rocky shores and corals, spanning the seas of east Africa to South-East Asia, Japan, Australia and Hawaii."