See! from the brake the whirring pheasant springs, And mounts exulting on triumphant wings: Short is his joy; he feels the fiery wound, Flutters in blood, and panting beats the ground. Alexander Pope, Windsor Forest. This is a bird native to Asia that has been widely introduced throughout the word for hunting. It is a […]
Ringneck Pheasant (Phasianus colchicus) Read More »
Deep down inside me a tiny voice was calling. At first scarcely audible, it persisted until I could no longer ignore it. It was the voice of the wild places, and I knew that it was now part of me forever. –Percy Fawcett, Amazon explorer. This is a relatively common species found in the Amazon basin
Amazon Tree Boa (Corallus hortulanus) Read More »
Under a spreading chestnut tree The village smithy stands; The smith, a might man is he, With large and sinewy hands; And the muscles of his brawny arms Are strong as iron bands ——The Village Blacksmith, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, 1912. The American chestnut was once a widely distributed, magnificently large deciduous tree
American chestnut (Castanea dentata) Read More »
I marvel how the fishes live in the sea – Why as men do a-land, the great ones eat up the little ones. William Shakespeare. Pericles, Prince of Tyre Really – what would you do if you pull this thing into the boat? They are in the sculpin superfamily, Cottoidae, a wide-ranging marine and freshwater fish
Big Mouth Sculpin (Hemitripterus bolini) Read More »
His clothes had been made of some stuff that was brown holland probably, but it was covered with patches all over, with bright patches, blue, red, and yellow—patches on the back, patches on the front, patches on elbows, on knees; coloured binding around his jacket, scarlet edging at the bottom of his trousers; and the
Harlequin Duck (Histrionicus histrionicus) Read More »