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.
Hummingbirds at the palm of one's hands
With a flapping of wings that is so fast that it is only a blur, hummingbirds gather round to savour the nectar that is on offer. One cheeky hummingbird even pecks another on the head, interrupting its drink, apparently because it was in its way.
Saguaros are hardy columnar cacti that brave all seasons across a a relatively long lifespan, often exceeding 150 years. They may grow their first side arm around 75–100 years of age, but some never grow any arms. Some grow to be over 12 meters (40 feet) tall. Saguaro National Park is home to over 2 million saguaro cacti living wild in Arizona.
However saguaros do need a perfect balance of heat and rainfall to thrive, and because of this their range is limited to specific areas within the Sonoran Desert in Arizona, the Mexican state of Sonora, as well as the Whipple Mountains and Imperial County areas of California.
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Wild white horses running over the waters of Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer, in Camargue Regional Nature Park, France - photo courtesy of Uryadnikov Sergey.
