kalahari desert

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Cee-BW-Challenge-Smaller-Bread-Box-or-Bin

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This week I have chosen birds which are all,

according to Google, smaller than a breadbox

which are usually about 16 inches wide

by 8 to 9 inches high and deep ,

or 40cm x 20cm x 20cm.


I would have thought the

Northern White Crowned Shrike

was considerably smaller than its

Crimson Breasted cousin.

However, at 19-23 cm long and

tipping the scales between

42 to 58 grams it more than

holds its place with its cousin.

The Crimson Breasted Shrike

is a smaller bird than I remembered it to be.

Measuring 23cm in length and

weighing 40-57 grams it is roughly

the same size as the

Northern White Crowned Shrike.

Bread box: 40cm x 20cm x 20cm

 

The Kalahari Scrub Robin

measures only 16 cm in length and

weighs between 17 and 23g 

Bread box: 40cm x 20cm x 20cm

At 14 cm, or 5.5in, long and weighing

only 8–13 grams (0.28–0.46 oz),

the Superb Fairy Wren

Bread box: 40cm x 20cm x 20cm 

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Cee’s Black & White Challenge:...Smaller-Than-Bread-Box-or-Bin

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Black_White

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by

Word-of-Day-Challenge-Queer

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queer

 differing in some way from what is usual or normal

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I remember at the time thinking what

an unusually shaped tree root, this was.

Unfortunately, I don’t think I captured

another image to put it in context.

Then as now all I see is a reptile hanging out of a tree.

One of my more interesting images from

Botswana’s Lekhubu Island in the

Makgadikgadi Salt Pans.

Another oddity sighted on Lekhubu Island

was this split rock.

The only other rocks I have seen split so cleanly

 by Mother Nature were at

The Devil’s Marbles in the Northern Territory.

The Marble which was photographed

the most was some 10-12 feet in diameter.

Apparently desert extremes (heat and cold)

causes the split.

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by

One-Word-Sunday-Ugly

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ugly

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I would be…

 

…hard pressed…

…to find any beauty…

 

….in these arachnids

although many would disagree.

 

 

Even this one, long embedded in resin

made me jump when I saw how close

it was to my hand.

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One Word Sunday Challenge:...Ugly

 

 

 

 

by

A-Photo-a-Week-Challenge-Off-Centre

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*****

Point Nepean flag pole at the 2014

Commemoration of Firing the First Shot

of World War I,

August 5, 1914,

at 1245 hours.

 

 Geelong Football Stadium

home of the

Geelong Cats. 

Sadly the art work is no longer.

 

 

Technically I believe my Kalahari Scrub Robin

is in the wrong half of the frame.

It should have room to run into.

However to include its shadow

the rule had to be ignored.

 

 

Living street art in Melbourne.

 

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A Photo a Week Challenge:….Off-Centre

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by

One-Word-Sunday-Empty

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empty

containing nothing,

not filled or occupied.

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Makgadikgadi Salt Pans…

…are located on the North Eastern edge of

Botswana’s Kalahari Desert.

 

We drove for several hours over what appeared

to be empty acres of salt.

 

The only time we knew there was life was when

we sighted some wildlife.

 

Lekhubu Island, our destination,

was a pleasant site on the horizon…

…which only temporarily blocked our view of the emptiness…

 

…all round us.

The emptiness did make for a beautiful sunset…

…followed by an equally beautiful sunrise

in the morning.

 

Packed and ready to go,

we were soon out of salt pans…

…however, apart from the occasional tree

the landscape was still very empty.

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One Word Sunday Challenge:...Empty

 

 

 

by

One-Word-Sunday-Small-Smaller-Smallest

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Some

Small, Smaller, Smallest fauna

from Africa.

The Masked Weaver, 11–14.5 cm (4.3–5.7 in) long,

which makes it nearly the same length

as the Scrub Robin.

However, at 35 grams, the Weaver weighs

nearly twice as much.

The Scrub Robin is roughly the same length

as the Weaver, however, at just 17–23 grams

it is the Roboin is the smaller of the two.

The of my images today is the Dung Beetle,

which varies in size from 5mm to 30mm,

or about 0.2 to 1.2 inches.

  Some dung beetles can bury dung 250 times

their own mass in one night.

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One Word Sunday Challenge:...Small, Smaller Smallest

 

 

 

by

SUNDAY-STILLS-PC-Mountains-Valleys-Nature-Landscapes

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Drakensberg Mountains,

South Africa.

 

The Grampians…the southern end of

Australia’s Great Dividing Range

Two views of…

…Geelong’s

Moorabool Valley.

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After our night at

Botswana’s Lekhubu Island

we headed off to

Maun and the Okavango Delta…

…through the North-East

Kalahari Desert landscape.

 

The almost bare open landscape was…

…interspersed with several

Kalahari Bushmen Villages.

 

Salt Pans on the horizon

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PictureThis-Mountains-Valleys-Nature-Landscapes

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SUNDAY STILLS PHOTO:  Yellow

by

Pic-and-Word-Challenge_Wk231-Nothing

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Google will tell you that

Botswana’s Lekhubu Island

was once surrounded by water and… 

 …may have looked something like this.

In 2014, however, it was a bare salt pan

devoid of…

 

…of much plant life and even less animal life.

 

Our little island in the desert was

surrounded by nothing…

…almost as far as the eye could see.

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Pic-and-Word-Challenge_Wk231 – Nothing