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Stronsay Beast1
Stronsay () is an island in Orkney, Scotland. It is known as Orkney's 'Island of Bays', owing to an irregular shape with miles of coastline, with three large bays separated by two isthmuses: St Catherine's Bay to the west, the Bay of Holland to the south and Mill Bay to the east. Stronsay is in area, and in altitude at its highest point. It has a usually resident population of 349. The main village is Whitehall, home to a heritage centre. Sights on the island include the Vat of Kirbister, a natural arch described as the "finest in Orkney", white sand beaches in the three bays, and various seabirds amongst which are Arctic terns. Environment Geography and geology As with most of Orkney, Stronsay is made up of Old Red Sandstone which has produced a fine soil in many places. It is generally low-lying. On the eastern coast, spectacular rock formations include the Vat of Kirbister – Stronsay's famous natural rock arch, often described as the finest in Orkney. The coast around Od ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whitehall, Orkney
Whitehall is the village on the island of Stronsay, in the Orkney Islands of Scotland. It is a small village with about 50 houses. It also has a shop, a café and heritage centre, known as the Fish Mart; the Stronsay Hotel, with attached pub; a post office, a fisherman's pier and a ferry pier. History Whitehall is a former boom town, whose historical growth and decline has been linked to that of the herring industry, which was initially developed by the Dutch. It takes its name from a house built in the 1670s by Patrick Fea, a retired privateer, whose descendant John Fea pioneered the kelp burning industry on the island in 1722. The fall of the herring industry came with overfishing, and the outbreak of World War II. There was also a similar decline during World War I, but a brief rebirth in the ''interbellum''. Until then it had been the biggest herring port in the northern Orkney Islands, trading mainly with the Baltic ports. At its height, 300 boats were moored in Whitehall h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mertensia Maritima
''Mertensia maritima'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family, and is known by the common names oyster leaf in North America, oyster plant in the British Isles, and sea bluebells. It is restricted to gravelly sea shores, usually within reach of the highest winter tides in the Northern Hemisphere, reaching north to the northern parts of Canada, Greenland and Svalbard. It is a perennial herb producing a stem approaching 50 centimeters in maximum length. The inflorescence forms a cluster of flowers which are first reddish, and later bright blue. Description ''Mertensia maritima'' is known as the oyster leaf or oyster plant because it gives off a faint smell of mushrooms and when eaten it tastes vaguely of oysters. The chemical that gives this plant the oyster-like odour when its leaves are crushed is dimethyl sulphide, a compound that is noted for being a major part of the odour profile of raw oysters. . It is native to Britain and Northern Europe; however, population ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arctic Redpoll
The redpoll (''Acanthis flammea'') is a species of small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus ''Acanthis''. It breeds in the Arctic and north temperate Holarctic tundra and taiga. The redpoll was formerly widely treated as three species: the common or mealy redpoll, the arctic or hoary redpoll (''A. hornemanni''), and the lesser redpoll (''A. cabaret''). Taxonomy The redpoll was listed in 1758 by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in the 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Fringilla flammea''. The specific epithet ''flammea'' is Latin meaning "flame-coloured". Linnaeus also described the redpoll as ''Fringilla linaria'' on the same page, but the earlier name ''flammea'' has priority. The redpoll was previously placed in the genus ''Carduelis''. Molecular phylogenetic studies showed that it formed a distinct lineage, so it was moved to the resurrected genus ''Acanthis'' that had been intro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
American Golden Plover
The American golden plover (''Pluvialis dominica'') is a medium-sized plover. The genus name is Latin and means relating to rain, from ''pluvia'', "rain". It was believed that golden plovers flocked when rain was imminent. The species name ''dominica'' refers to Santo Domingo, now Hispaniola, in the West Indies. Description Measurements: * Length: * Weight: * Wingspan: The breeding adult American golden plover has a black face, neck, breast, and belly, with a white crown and nape that extends to the side of the breast. The back is mottled black and white with pale, gold spots. The breeding female is similar, but with less black. When in , both sexes have grey-brown upperparts, pale grey-brown underparts, and a whitish eyebrow. The head is small, along with the bill. It is similar to two other golden plovers, European and Pacific. The American golden plover is smaller, slimmer and relatively longer-legged than European golden plover (''Pluvialis apricaria'') which also has ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corncrake
The corn crake, corncrake or landrail (''Crex crex'') is a bird in the Rallidae, rail family. It breeds in Europe and Asia as far east as western China, and bird migration, migrates to Africa for the Northern Hemisphere's winter. It is a medium-sized crake with Buff (colour), buff- or grey-streaked brownish-black upperparts, chestnut (color), chestnut markings on the wings, and blue-grey underparts with rust-coloured and white bars on the flanks and undertail. The strong beak, bill is flesh-toned, the Iris (anatomy), iris is pale brown, and the legs and feet are pale grey. Juveniles are similar in plumage to adults, and down feather, downy chicks are black, as with all rails. There are no subspecies, although individuals from the east of the breeding range tend to be slightly paler than their western counterparts. The male's call is a loud ''krek krek'', from which the scientific name is derived. The corn crake is larger than its closest relative, the African crake, which shares ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Skua
The great skua (''Stercorarius skua''), sometimes known by the name bonxie in Britain, is a large seabird in the skua family Stercorariidae. It is roughly the size of a herring gull. It mainly eats fish caught at the sea surface or taken from other birds. Taxonomy The great skua was described from the Faroe Islands and Iceland by the Danish zoologist Morten Thrane Brünnich in 1764 under the binomial name ''Catharacta skua''. It is now placed in the genus '' Stercorarius'' that was introduced by the French zoologist Mathurin Jacques Brisson in 1760. The English name and species name "skua" is believed to originate from the Faroese ''skúvur'' or ''skúgvur'' and is the only known bird name to originate from the Faroes that has come into regular use elsewhere. In Britain, it is sometimes known by the name bonxie, a Shetland name of Norse origin. The genus name ''Stercorarius'' is Latin and means "of dung"; the food disgorged by other birds when pursued by skuas was once th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Quail
The common quail (''Coturnix coturnix''), or European quail, is a small ground-nesting game bird in the pheasant family Phasianidae. It is mainly migratory, breeding in the western Palearctic and wintering in Africa and southern India. With its characteristic call of three repeated chirps (repeated three times in quick succession), this species of quail is more often heard than seen. It is widespread in Europe and North Africa, and is categorised by the IUCN as "least concern". It should not be confused with the Japanese quail (''Coturnix japonica)'', native to Asia, which, although visually similar, has a call that is very distinct from that of the common quail. Like the Japanese quail, common quails are sometimes kept as poultry. Taxonomy The common quail was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Tetrao coturnix''. The specific epithet ''coturnix'' is the Latin word for th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Snipe
The common snipe (''Gallinago gallinago'') is a small, stocky wader native to the Old World. Distribution and habitat The breeding habitats are marshes, bogs, tundra and wet meadows throughout the Palearctic. In the north, the distribution limit extends from Iceland over the north of the British Isles and northern Fennoscandia, where it occurs at around 70°N, as well as through European Russia and Siberia. Here it is mostly on the northern edge of the Taiga zone at 71°N, but reaches 74°N on the east coast of the Taymyr Peninsula. In the east it extends to Anadyr, Kamchatka, Bering Island and the Kuril Islands, The southern boundary of the distribution area in Europe runs through northern Portugal, central France, northern Italy, Bulgaria, and Ukraine, with populations in the west being only very scattered. In Asia, the distribution extends south to northern Turkestan, locally to Afghanistan and the Middle East, through the Altai and further to Manchuria and Ussuri. It is ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Common Redshank
The common redshank or simply redshank (''Tringa totanus'') is a Eurasian wader in the large family Scolopacidae. Taxonomy The common redshank was formally described by the Swedish naturalist Carl Linnaeus in 1758 in the tenth edition of his ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Scolopax totanus''. It is now placed with twelve other species in the genus ''Tringa'' that Linnaeus had introduced in 1758. The genus name ''Tringa'' is the Neo-Latin name given to the green sandpiper by the Italian naturalist Ulisse Aldrovandi in 1603 based on Ancient Greek ''trungas'', a thrush-sized, white-rumped, tail-bobbing wading bird mentioned by Aristotle. The specific ''totanus'' is from , the Italian name for this bird. Six subspecies are recognised: * ''T. t. robusta'' ( Schiøler, 1919) – breeds in Iceland and the Faroe Islands; non-breeding around the British Isles and west Europe * ''T. t. totanus'' (Linnaeus, 1758) – breeds in west, north Europe to west Siberia; winter ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greater White-fronted Goose
The greater white-fronted goose (''Anser albifrons'') is a species of goose, closely related to the smaller lesser white-fronted goose (''A. erythropus''). The greater white-fronted goose is Bird migration, migratory, breeding in northern Canada, Alaska, Greenland and Russia, and winters farther south in North America, Europe and Asia. It is named for the patch of white feathers bordering the base of its bill: ''albifrons'' comes from the Latin "white" and "forehead". In the United Kingdom and Ireland, it has been known as the white-fronted goose; in North America it is known as the greater white-fronted goose (or "greater whitefront"), and this name is also increasingly adopted internationally. Even more distinctive are the salt-and-pepper markings on the breast of adult birds, which is why the goose is colloquially called the "specklebelly" in North America. Description Greater white-fronted geese are in length, have a wingspan, and weigh . They have bright orange le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whooper Swan
The whooper swan ( /ˈhuːpə(ɹ) swɒn/ "hooper swan"; ''Cygnus cygnus''), also known as the common swan, is a large northern hemisphere swan. It is the Eurasian counterpart of the North American trumpeter swan, and the type species for the genus '' Cygnus''. Taxonomy Francis Willughby and John Ray's ''Ornithology'' of 1676 referred to this swan as "the Elk, Hooper, or wild Swan". It was one of the many bird species originally described by Carl Linnaeus in the 1758 10th edition of his ''Systema Naturae'', where it was given the binomial name of ''Anas cygnus''. The species name is from ''cygnus'', the Latin for "swan". Description The whooper swan is similar in appearance to Bewick's swan. It is larger, however, at a length of and a wingspan of . The weight is typically in the range of , with an average of for males and for females. The verified record mass was for a wintering male from Denmark. It is considered to be amongst the heaviest flying birds. Among standard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
