Red-crowned cranes (Grus japonensis) in Hokkaido, which is Japan's northernmost main island, and its coldest region.
Leafcutter ants are fungus-growing ants that cut leaves from trees to carry them back to their nests so as to nourish their farm fungus. Next to humans, leafcutter ants form some of the largest and most complex animal societies on Earth.
The American bison is the largest land animal of the North American wild. These massive animals, which can weigh up to 900 kilograms and reach a height of 1.86 meters, roam in nomadic herds across North America's grasslands and river basins. In the past they numbered in the tens of millions, but were almost eradicated in the 19th century because of hunting, however preservation efforts have managed to bring them back.
There is nothing like ripe pumpkin to remind us of Halloween, and that we are in autumn.
The giant panda is an arboreal bear endemic to the Qinling Mountains, and to the hilly province of Sichuan, of China, where there are forests of bamboo, which it eats, notwithstanding that it has the digestive system of a carnivore. All told there are only about 3,000 giant pandas in the wild.
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The endangered green sea turtle can be found throughout tropical and subtropical waters. Interestingly, the common name refers to the usually green fat found beneath its carapace, due to its diet strictly being seagrass, and not to the colour of its carapace, which is olive to black.
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'Ghost bird' and chick hide in plain sight in the Peruvian jungle
Potoos feed at dusk and at night on flying insects. Their typical nocturnal foraging technique is to perch on a branch and occasionally fly out in the manner of a flycatcher in order to snatch a passing insect. They occasionally fly to vegetation to glean an insect off it before returning to their perch, but they do not attempt to obtain prey from the ground. Beetles form a large part of their diet, but they also take moths, grasshoppers and termites.
During the day they perch upright on tree stumps, camouflaged to look like part of the stump.
Reflection in the water of hammock camping on the bald cypress trees above, in Florida (images courtesy of Mac Stone).
Gannets diving into the oceanic waters to catch fish such as sardines (click on image to see full size).
Various silhouettes of wildlife. The silhouettes of elephants, wildebeests and giraffe are from Kenya, whilst that of foxes is from South Africa.
