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Josefov Meadows
The Josefov Meadows Bird Reserve ( cz, Ptačí park Josefovské louky) is a privately owned, publicly accessible nature reserve next to Josefov Fortress near Jaroměř in the Hradec Králové Region, Czech Republic. Established in 2008, the area is administered and developed by the Czech Society for Ornithology. The wet meadow is being restored with the aim of creating a reserve for birds, as well as other fauna and flora that thrive in wetlands. Restoration of the wet meadows The Czech Society for Ornithology started buying up land in an area next to the river Metuje and restoring and imitating its original appearance and function of a floodplain. Thanks to public donations and sponsors, the Society has bought and repaired a hundred-year-old irrigation system that maintains a higher level of groundwater and is used twice-yearly to imitate natural spring and autumn flooding of the meadows. The area is managed with the view to accommodate not only wild animals but also the visi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Josefov Fortress
Josefov Fortress ( cs, Pevnost Josefov, german: Josefstadt or ) is a large historic defence complex of 18th-century military architecture in Jaroměř in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It was built between 1780 and 1787. Together with Terezín fortress, it was built for protection against attacks from Prussia, but its military importance, like other such fortresses built across Europe, was minimal as decisive battles were often fought elsewhere. In 1948 it became part of the town of Jaroměř. Design After the coronation of Emperor Joseph II, new fortifications began to be built for the defence of the northern border of the Empire. The defence of Moravia was entrusted to Olomouc, which was fortified by powerful forts. When the work was completed, the fortification of Hradec Králové commenced between 1766-88. The Emperor Joseph II himself had the Josefov Fortress built around the area of Plesy, near the town of Jaroměř. Designed by the French architect Lou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water Rail
The water rail (''Rallus aquaticus'') is a bird of the rail family which breeds in well-vegetated wetlands across Europe, Asia and North Africa. Northern and eastern populations are migratory, but this species is a permanent resident in the warmer parts of its breeding range. The adult is long, and, like other rails, has a body that is flattened laterally, allowing it easier passage through the reed beds it inhabits. It has mainly brown upperparts and blue-grey underparts, black barring on the flanks, long toes, a short tail and a long reddish bill. Immature birds are generally similar in appearance to the adults, but the blue-grey in the plumage is replaced by buff. The downy chicks are black, as with all rails. The former subspecies ''R. indicus'', has distinctive markings and a call that is very different from the pig-like squeal of the western races, and is now usually split as a separate species, the brown-cheeked rail. The water rail breeds in reed beds and other mar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Southern Emerald Damselfly
''Lestes barbarus'' is a species of damselfly of the family Lestidae, the spreadwings. Its common names in English include southern emerald damselfly, shy emerald damselfly, and migrant spreadwing.Clausnitzer, V. 2009''Lestes barbarus''.The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Downloaded on 28 January 2016. Distribution and habitat ''Lestes barbarus'' is a southern European species with a rapidly expanding range. It is found across southern Europe in a band across Spain, France, Italy and Greece to India and Mongolia. It is less common in northern Europe. It breeds in the Netherlands in coastal dunes and is increasing in number. It is at the edge of its range in the Channel Islands, where it has been breeding since 1995. It is also found in North Africa; it gets its Latin name as the first specimen was found in Barbary, North Africa. It is a damselfly of still water and can be found in stagnant and slightly brackish water. This species was first recorded in Britain at Winterton ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Odonata
Odonata is an order of flying insects that includes the dragonflies and damselflies. Members of the group first appeared during the Triassic, though members of their total group, Odonatoptera, first appeared in Late Carboniferous. The two common groups are distinguished with dragonflies, placed in the suborder Epiprocta, usually being larger, with eyes together and wings up or out at rest, while damselflies, suborder Zygoptera, are usually smaller with eyes placed apart and wings along body at rest. All Odonata have aquatic larvae called naiads (nymphs), and all of them, larvae and adults, are carnivorous. The adults can land, but rarely walk. Their legs are specialised for catching prey. They are almost entirely insectivorous. Etymology and terminology Fabricius coined the term ''Odonata'' in 1793 from the Ancient Greek ( Ionic form of ) 'tooth'. One hypothesis is that it was because their maxillae are notably toothed. Most insects also have toothed mandibles. The wo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Fire-bellied Toad
The European fire-bellied toad (''Bombina bombina'') is a species of fire-bellied toad native to eastern parts of mainland Europe, where it can be found near waterbodies such as ponds and marshes. It is known for its red colored belly used to ward off predators, an example of aposematism, and its distinctive "whoop" call. Description The European fire-bellied toad is a medium sized frog, growing up to approximately . The dorsal coloration can vary from gray to brown to green, while the stomach is red with thick black Mottle, mottling. The backs of these frogs are covered in warts. When threatened by a predator, the fire-bellied toad will lift up its arms (sometimes flipping over) to expose its red coloration and show off its toxicity to the potential predator. This is known as Unkenreflex, and is an example of aposematism. Distribution The European fire-bellied toad is found throughout Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. More particularly, its range starts in eastern ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Green Toad
The European green toad (''Bufotes viridis'') is a species of toad found in steppes, mountainous areas, semi-deserts, urban areas and other habitats in mainland Europe, ranging from far eastern France and Denmark to the Balkans and Western Russia. As historically defined, the species ranged east through the Middle East and Central Asia to western China, Mongolia and northwestern India, and south through Italy and the Mediterranean islands to North Africa. Following genetic and morphological reviews, 14 population (all largely or entirely Asian, except for the African and Balearic green toads) are now regarded as separate species. These species and the European green toad are placed in their own genus ''Bufotes'', but they were included in ''Bufo''. Description The spots on the back vary from green to dark brown and sometimes red spots appear, too. The underside is white or very lightly coloured. The European green toad will change colour in response to heat and light changes. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Newts
A newt is a salamander in the subfamily Pleurodelinae. The terrestrial juvenile phase is called an eft. Unlike other members of the family Salamandridae, newts are semiaquatic, alternating between aquatic and terrestrial habitats. Not all aquatic salamanders are considered newts, however. More than 100 known species of newts are found in North America, Europe, North Africa and Asia. Newts metamorphose through three distinct developmental life stages: aquatic larva, terrestrial juvenile (eft), and adult. Adult newts have lizard-like bodies and return to the water every year to breed, otherwise living in humid, cover-rich land habitats. Newts are threatened by habitat loss, fragmentation and pollution. Several species are endangered, and at least one species, the Yunnan lake newt, has become extinct recently. Etymology The Old English name of the animal was , (of unknown origin), resulting in Middle English ; this word was transformed irregularly into , , or . The initial "n" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frogs
A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is known from the Early Triassic of Madagascar, but molecular clock dating suggests their split from other amphibians may extend further back to the Permian, 265 million years ago. Frogs are widely distributed, ranging from the tropics to subarctic regions, but the greatest concentration of species diversity is in tropical rainforest. Frogs account for around 88% of extant amphibian species. They are also one of the five most diverse vertebrate orders. Warty frog species tend to be called toads, but the distinction between frogs and toads is informal, not from taxonomy or evolutionary history. An adult frog has a stout body, protruding eyes, anteriorly-attached tongue, limbs folded underneath, and no tail (the tail of tailed frogs is an ex ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Beaver
The Eurasian beaver (''Castor fiber'') or European beaver is a beaver species that was once widespread in Eurasia, but was hunted to near-extinction for both its fur and castoreum. At the turn of the 20th century, only about 1,200 beavers survived in eight relict populations in Europe and Asia. It has been reintroduced to much of its former range, and now occurs from Spain, Central Europe, Great Britain and Scandinavia to a few regions in China and Mongolia. It is listed as least concern on the IUCN Red List, as it recovered well in most of Europe. It is extirpated in Portugal, Moldova, and Turkey. Taxonomy ''Castor fiber'' was the scientific name used by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, who described the beaver in his work ''Systema Naturae''. Between 1792 and 1997, several Eurasian beaver zoological specimens were described and proposed as subspecies, including: *''C. f. albus'' and ''C. f. solitarius'' by Robert Kerr in 1792 *''C. f. fulvus'' and ''C. f. variegatus'' by Johann Matth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Garganey
The garganey (''Spatula querquedula'') is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and across the Palearctic, but is strictly migratory, with the entire population moving to southern Africa, India (in particular Santragachi), Bangladesh (in the natural reservoirs of Sylhet district) and Australasia during the winter of the Northern hemisphere, where large flocks can occur. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae''. Like other small ducks such as the Eurasian teal, this species rises easily from the water with a fast twisting wader-like flight. Their breeding habitat is grassland adjacent to shallow marshes and steppe lakes. Taxonomy The first formal description of the garganey was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He introduced the binomial name ''Anas querquedula''. A molecular phylogentic study comparing mitochondrial DNA sequences publis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Northern Shoveler
The northern shoveler (; ''Spatula clypeata''), known simply in Britain as the shoveler, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and across most of North America, wintering in southern Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central, the Caribbean, and northern South America. It is a rare vagrant to Australia. In North America, it breeds along the southern edge of Hudson Bay and west of this body of water, and as far south as the Great Lakes west to Colorado, Nevada, and Oregon. The northern shoveler is one of the species to which the ''Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds'' (AEWA) applies. The conservation status of this bird is Least Concern. Taxonomy The northern shoveler was first formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae''. He introduced the binomial name ''Anas clypeata''. A molecular phylogentic study ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Crane
The common crane (''Grus grus''), also known as the Eurasian crane, is a bird of the family Gruidae, the cranes. A medium-sized species, it is the only crane commonly found in Europe besides the demoiselle crane (''Grus virgo'') and the Siberian crane (''Leucogeranus leucogeranus''). Along with the sandhill (''Antigone canadensis'') and demoiselle cranes and the brolga (''Antigone rubicunda''), it is one of only four crane species not currently classified as threatened with extinction or conservation dependent on the species level. Despite the species' large numbers, local extinctions and extirpations have taken place in part of its range, and an ongoing reintroduction project is underway in the United Kingdom. Taxonomy The first formal description of the common crane was by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Ardea grus''. The current genus ''Grus'' was erected by the French zoologist Mathuri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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