Tuesday, 27 September 2016
1984 MARA RIVER, KENYA - EAST AFRICAN HIPPOPOTAMUS (Hippopotamus amphibius ssp. kiboko)
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Hippos are recognizable for their barrel-shaped torsos, wide-opening mouths with large canine tusks, nearly hairless bodies, pillar-like legs, and large size. The eyes, ears, and nostrils of hippos are placed high on the roof of their skulls. This allows these organs to remain above the surface while the rest of the body is submerged. The hippo's jaw is powered by huge masseter and digastric muscles which give them large, droopy cheeks. The jaw hinge allows the animal to open its mouth at almost 180°. The canines and incisors are used mainly for combat instead of feeding. Hippos rely on their flattened, horny lips to grasp and pull grasses which are then ground by the molars. Hippo skin is 6 cm (2 in) thick across much of its body with little hair. The animal is mostly purplish-grey or blue-black, but brownish-pink on the underside and around the eyes and ears. Their skin secretes a natural, red-colored sunscreen substance that is sometimes referred to as "blood sweat" but is neither blood nor sweat. This secretion is initially colorless and turns red-orange within minutes, eventually becoming brown. This natural sunscreen cannot prevent the animal's skin from cracking if it stays out of water too long.
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The original range of this species used to cover sub-Saharan Africa. The small current range of Common Hippos includes East African countries such as Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique. As semiaquatic creatures, they prefer living in shallow water bodies such as lakes, rivers, or swamps. Hippos mostly live in freshwater habitats; however, populations in West Africa mostly inhabit estuarine waters and may even be found out at sea.
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Common hippos are highly social, nocturnal, and sedentary animals. They usually form groups of 20-100 individuals that are led by females, who occupy the core areas of their resting pools. Males of the group are responsible for protecting females and the young. Hence, they remain on the outer banks of these resting pools. The daytime hours are typically spent resting. At dusk, the animals come out of their shelters to forage. Common hippos are normally non-territorial, except when in the water. Males of this species can occasionally be observed fighting for access to females or space in the resting pool. Males and females of a group don't tend to socialize with each other and generally remain separated. Females and their offspring gather in smaller sub-groups and occasionally practice communal care, helping rear each other's claves. Communication between community members occurs through a wide range of vocalizations.
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Their most common vocalization is the "wheeze honk", which can travel over long distances in the air. The animals can recognize the calls of other individuals. When threatened or alarmed, they produce exhalations, and fighting bulls will bellow loudly. Hippos produce clicks underwater which may have echolocative properties. They have the unique ability to hold their heads partially above the water and send out a cry that travels through both water and air; individuals respond both above and below water. Despite being semiaquatic and having webbed feet, an adult hippo is not a particularly good swimmer, nor can it float. It rarely enters deep water; when does, the animal moves by bouncing off the bottom. An adult hippo surfaces every 4-6 minutes, while the young need to breathe every 2-3 minutes.
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Common hippos exhibit a polygynous mating system, where one male mate with a group of females. These mammals don't have a specific breeding season, although they generally mate from February to August. Females of this species give birth underwater. They produce offspring from October to April, which coincides with the rainy season. A single baby is born after 240 days of gestation. Mothers and their young live in close bonds with each other. They display affection through activities such as cleaning and cuddling. Complete weaning occurs at about 1.5 years old, although the baby often continues living with its mother until 7-8 years of age, when totally independent. The age of reproductive maturity is 7-9 years old for males and 8-10 years old for females.
26-9-2016 MONTE CORONA, VALENCIA - HOUSE CENTIPEDE (Scutigera coleoptrata)
Scutigera coleoptrata, also known as the house centipede, is a species of centipede that is typically yellowish-grey and has up to 15 pairs of long legs. Originating in the Mediterranean region, it has spread to other parts of the world, where it can live in human homes. It is an insectivore; it kills and eats other arthropods, such as insects and arachnids.
In 1758, Carl Linnaeus described the species in the tenth edition of his Systema Naturae, giving the name Scolopendra coleoptrata, writing that it has a "coleopterated thorax" (similar to a coleopter). In 1801, Jean-Baptiste Lamarck separated scutigera from scolopendra, calling this species Scutigera coleoptrata. The word scutigera comes from Latin gerere 'to bear' and scutum 'shield', because of the shape of the plates in the back of the chilopod.
The body of an adult Scutigera coleoptrata is typically 25 to 35 mm (1.0 to 1.4 in) in length, although larger specimens are sometimes encountered. Up to 15 pairs of long legs are attached to the rigid body. Together with the antennae they give the centipede an appearance of being 75 to 100 mm (3 to 4 in) in length. The delicate legs enable it to reach surprising speeds of up to 0.4 meters per second (1.3 ft/s)[citation needed] running across floors, up walls and along ceilings. Its body is yellowish-grey and has three dark dorsal stripes running down its length; the legs also have dark stripes. S. coleoptrata has developed automimicry in that its tail-like hind legs present the appearance of antennae. When the centipede is at rest, it is not easy to tell its cranial end from its caudal end.
Unlike most other centipedes, house centipedes and their close relatives have well-developed faceted eyes.
House centipedes lay their eggs in spring. In a laboratory observation of 24 house centipedes, an average of 63 and a maximum of 151 eggs were laid. As with many other arthropods, the larvae look like miniature versions of the adult, albeit with fewer legs. Young centipedes have four pairs of legs when they are hatched. They gain a new pair with the first molting, and two pairs with each of their five subsequent moltings. Adults with 15 pairs of legs retain that number through three more molting stages (sequence 4-5-7-9-11-13-15-15-15-15 pairs).
House centipedes live anywhere from three to seven years, depending on the environment. They can start breeding in their third year. To begin mating, the male and female circle around each other. They initiate contact with their antennae. The male deposits his sperm on the ground and the female then uses it to fertilize her eggs.
House centipedes feed on spiders, bed bugs, termites, cockroaches, silverfish, ants, and other household arthropods. They administer venom through forcipules. These are not part of their mandibles, so strictly speaking they sting rather than bite. They are mostly nocturnal hunters. Despite their developed eyes, they seem to rely mostly on their antennae when hunting. Their antennae are sensitive to both smells and tactile information. They use both their mandibles and their legs for holding prey. This way they can deal with several small insects at the same time. To capture prey they either jump onto it or use their legs in a technique described as "lassoing". Using their legs to beat prey has also been described. Like other centipedes they can stridulate.
1984 MASAI MARA, KENYA - SOUTH EAST AFRICAN CHEETAH (Acinonyx jubatus jubatas)
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The Southeast African cheetah (Acinonyx jubatus jubatus) is the nominate cheetah subspecies native to East and Southern Africa. The Southern African cheetah lives mainly in the lowland areas and deserts of the Kalahari, the savannahs of Okavango Delta, and the grasslands of the Transvaal region in South Africa. In Namibia, cheetahs are mostly found in farmlands. In India, four cheetahs of the subspecies are living in Kuno National Park in Madhya Pradesh after having been introduced there.
The Southeast African cheetah was one of the most widespread animals.
The Southeast African cheetah usually lives on grasslands, savannahs, scrub forests, and arid environments such as deserts and semidesert steppes. These cheetahs can be found in open fields, where they chase and hunt herbivorous mammals such as antelopes at a very high speed. In South Africa, the cheetah also prefers woodlands (in Kruger National Park), shrublands, high mountains, mountainous grasslands, and montane areas where favorable prey are mostly available.
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The Southeast African cheetah is currently the most common subspecies and was widespread everywhere in southern to central Africa, ranging from South Africa to the southern Democratic Republic of the Congo (Katanga Province) and southern Tanzania. Its range is now greatly reduced, where it occurs in an area of 1,223,388 km2 (472,353 sq mi), 22% of its original range.[citation needed]
In the past, less than 10,000 cheetahs were hunted in Namibian farmlands. Previously estimated at mere 2,000 individuals since the 1990s, as of 2015, over 3,500 cheetahs live in Namibia today. The country maintains the largest population of wild cheetahs worldwide. About 90–95% of the cheetahs live on Namibian farmlands; others live in the Kalahari Basin, the coastal deserts of Namib and Kaokoveld, and the central to northeastern region of the country. Although Namibian cheetahs are mostly found outside of protected areas, they also live in Naankuse Wildlife Sanctuary, Namib-Naukluft National Park, and Bwabwata National Park. The cheetahs are rather uncommon in Etosha National Park and in Palmwag.
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With an approximate population of 2,000 cheetahs as of 2016, Botswana has the second-largest population of cheetahs. They are mostly found in arid habitats of the Central Kalahari, Mokolodi Nature Reserve, and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (known as Gemsbok National Park in Botswana) in the south, and in the southwest and also in the northern region of the country that holds the largest prey base, such as in Okavango Delta, Chobe National Park, and Moremi Game Reserve. Khutse Game Reserve is also known to contain high abundance of suitable prey base for cheetahs, such as springboks, gemsboks, and wildebeests. Cheetahs are rarely found in the eastern Botswana and at the Zimbabwean border.
In South Africa, cheetahs live in the Limpopo, Mpumalanga, North West, and Northern Cape Provinces. After conservation efforts throughout the years, cheetahs have been reintroduced in the eastern, western, and southern parts, and recently in the Free State province of the country. Over 90% of the cheetah population is found outside protected areas such as game reserves and in farmlands.[25] More than 412 cheetahs are in Kruger National Park, subpopulations of 300 to 350 in parks and reserves, and 400 to 500 free-roaming on farmlands in the Limpopo and North West Province, although the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park is the stronghold for cheetahs. Kruger and Kalahari Gemsbok National Parks hold the largest populations; they are home to roughly 42% of South Africa's cheetahs.[26] Cheetahs had not always been common in South Africa. As of now, the country contains the third-largest population of cheetahs after years of conservation actions and reintroductions into the wild. In 2016, it is estimated about 1,500 adult cheetahs live in the wild.
The population of cheetahs has been dramatically decreased in Zimbabwe, from about a thousand to 400, as of 2007. Currently, the Zimbabwean population is estimated at 165 individuals.[28] Prior the population decline, cheetahs were more widespread in Zimbabwe, and its population had excellent growth rate, in which over 1,500 individuals thrived. Back in 1973, an estimated 400 cheetahs lived in Zimbabwe and had increased to 470 in 1987. Afterwards in 1991, a total population of 1,391 cheetahs was found by the Zimbabwe Department of Parks and Wildlife Management, whilst in 1996, a population of 728 cheetahs lived on commercial farmlands alone. In 1999, a minimum total population of 1,520 was estimated, in which over 1,200 of these cheetahs lived on commercial farmlands, while 320 were found in national parks. A year later, several reports questioned whether the Zimbabwean cheetahs were stable or decreasing, but it was increasing at the time.
Monday, 26 September 2016
25-9-2016 VILLALONGA CAMPO, VALENCIA - BARN SWALLOW
The Barn swallow (Hirundo rustica) is the most widespread species of swallow in the world. In fact, it has the largest natural distribution of any of the world's passerines, ranging over 251 million square kilometers globally. In Anglophone Europe it is just called the swallow; in northern Europe, it is the only common species called a "swallow" rather than a "martin".
The Barn swallow is a distinctive songbird with blue upperparts and a long, deeply forked tail. There is a line of white spots across the outer end of the upper tail. The female is similar in appearance to the male, but the tail streamers are shorter, the blue of the upperparts and breast band is less glossy, and the underparts paler. The juvenile is browner and has a paler rufous face and whiter underparts. It also lacks the long tail streamers of the adult.
Barn swallows are found in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. These birds are long-distance migrants and their wintering grounds cover much of the Southern Hemisphere as far south as central Argentina, the Cape Province of South Africa, and northern Australia. The preferred habitat of Barn swallows is open country with low vegetation, such as pasture, meadows, and farmland, preferably with nearby water. These birds avoid heavily wooded or precipitous areas and densely built-up locations. On their wintering grounds, Barn swallows avoid only dense forests and deserts. They are most common in open, low vegetation habitats, such as savanna and ranch land, and in Venezuela, South Africa, and Trinidad and Tobago the birds are particularly attracted to burnt or harvested sugarcane fields and the waste from the cane.
Barn swallows are gregarious birds and in the absence of suitable roost sites, they sometimes roost on wires where they are more exposed to predators. Individual birds tend to return to the same wintering locality each year and congregate from a large area to roost in reed beds. These roosts can be extremely large and are thought to be a protection from predators. Barn swallows typically feed by day in open areas 7-8 m (23-26 ft) above shallow water or the ground often following animals, humans, or farm machinery to catch disturbed insects; they may also pick prey items from the water surface, walls, and plants. During the breeding, season Barn swallows hunt in pairs, but otherwise form often large flocks. These birds are usually fairly quiet on the wintering grounds. At other times they communicate with constant twittering and chattering. The song of the male Barn swallow is a cheerful warble, often ending with 'su-seer'. Other calls include 'witt' or 'witt-witt' and a loud 'splee-plink' when excited (or trying to chase intruders away from the nest). The alarm calls include a sharp 'siflitt' for predators like cats and a 'flitt-flitt' for birds of prey like the hobby.
25-9-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - GREY WAGTAIL (Motacilla cinerea)
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This slim wagtail has a narrow white supercilium and a broken eye ring. The upperparts are grey and the yellow vent contrasting with whitish underparts makes it distinctive. The breeding male has a black throat that is edged by whitish moustachial stripes. They forage singly or in pairs on meadows or on shallow water marshes. They also use rocks in water and will often perch on trees. They have a clear sharp call note and the song consists of trills.
The breeding season is April to July and the nest is placed near fast running streams or rivers on an embankment between stones and roots. The male in display, makes short flights up into the air and descends slowly with fluttering flight accompanied by a rapid series of chipping high notes. In Europe the nests are often made in holes in manmade structures. The clutch consists of 3–6 speckled eggs and multiple broods may be raised with declining numbers in the clutch in subsequent broods. The usual clutch size is five in Ireland and the breeding success is about 80% with predation of eggs or chicks being the main cause of breeding failure. The Canary Islands population typically have smaller clutches and the breeding season is not as short and well marked as in populations at higher latitudes. The incubation period is about two weeks with chicks fledging within a fortnight. They live for a maximum of 8 years in the wild.
25-9-2016 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - GREEN SANDPIPER (Tringa ochropus)
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The green sandpiper represents an ancient lineage of the genus Tringa; its only close living relative is the solitary sandpiper (T. solitaria). They both have brown wings with little light dots and a delicate but contrasting neck and chest pattern. In addition, both species nest in trees, unlike most other scolopacids.
Given its basal position in Tringa, it is fairly unsurprising that suspected cases of hybridisation between this species and the common sandpiper (A. hypoleucos) of the sister genus Actitis have been reported.
The green sandpiper (Tringa ochropus) is a small wader (shorebird) of the Old World.
This species is a somewhat plump wader with a dark greenish-brown back and wings, greyish head and breast and otherwise white underparts. The back is spotted white to varying extents, being maximal in the breeding adult, and less in winter and young birds. The legs and short bill are both dark green.
It is conspicuous and characteristically patterned in flight, with the wings dark above and below and a brilliant white rump. The latter feature reliably distinguishes it from the slightly smaller but otherwise very similar solitary sandpiper (T. solitaria) of North America.
In flight it has a characteristic three-note whistle.
Sunday, 25 September 2016
25-9-2015 VILLALONGA RESERVOIR, VALENCIA - LITTLE BITTERN (JUVENILE) (Ixobrychus minutus)
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The little bittern or common little bittern (Ixobrychus minutus ) is a wading bird in the heron family, Ardeidae. Ixobrychus is from Ancient Greek ixias, a reed-like plant and brukhomai, to bellow, and minutus is Latin for "small".
The little bittern has a length of 33–38 centimetres (13–15 in) and a wing span of 52–58 centimetres (20–23 in). It is the smallest of the breeding herons of Europe and is characterised by its tiny size, long and sharp bill and thick neck. The males are distinctively patterned and both sexes show pale forewing panels. The males have black with a faint green sheen on the crown, nape, back, tail and scapulars. The underparts are pale buff and the wing has a pinkish buff oval shaped panel which contrasts with the otherwise black wings and is formed by the inner wing coverts. The underwing is completely whiteish in colour. The female is duller than the male and has brownish black upperparts with paler feather margins visible at close range. The underparts of the female are not as clean as those of the male and are streaked with dark buff and brown. The female's wing panel is less obvious than the male's. The juveniles are duller and more rufous than the females and are more heavily streaked on both their upperparts and underparts, including their wing coverts.
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The little bittern is native to the Old World, breeding in Africa, central and southern Europe, western and southern Asia, and Madagascar. Birds from temperate regions in Europe and western Asia are migratory, wintering in Africa and further south in Asia, while those nesting in the tropics are sedentary. It is rare north of its breeding range.
The little bittern is crepuscular, skulking and normally solitary. It feeds on fishes, amphibians and insects which are caught within reedbeds or at their edges by the bird slowly stalking the prey. The male claims a territory in the Spring, advertising his presence with a deep barking or croaking call and the monogamous pair remain together for at least one breeding season. Eggs are laid in a nest situated in dense reedbeds, rushes or bushes above the water from the middle of May and there is a single brood which is normally 5-6 eggs. These are incubated for 17–19 days and the chicks are fledged after 25–30 days.
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Little Bitterns were once widespread in Central Europe. In the meantime it is a poorly distributed breeding bird of the lowlands, sporadically up to low mountain ranges. It occurs from Europe (without regular breeding in Great Britain, Ireland or Scandinavia) to West Siberia up to 56° N. It also occurs in North Africa and southern Iran and south of the Sahara to southern Africa. Isolated populations also exist in Madagascar and Australia. The total population of Europe is about 60,000-120,000 breeding pairs, with occurrences of> 5000 breeding pairs in Russia, Ukraine, Romania and Turkey. In Central Europe (around 2000) about 5300-7800 pairs are breeding, most of it in Hungary. The formerly large population in Germany has decreased to just over 100 breeding pairs. However, inventory information is particularly unreliable for this very secret species.
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