Maryport

Maryport is a small, and now rather run down, harbour town on the north west coast of the UK.  For those with a little more feel for the geography of the UK, Maryport is on the coastal fringe of Cumbria.

Strange as a it may seem for a county that is almost synonymous with "The Lake District" this is an old port that earned its living as much through the export of coal as the products of more rural trades.  In fact the whole coast in this area has an industrial tradition that is largely unknown outside of the area.

I'm not sure if any of these images count as "macro" shots, but they are detail shots and I tend to think of them in the same sort of way.

I was drawn to take a picture of the warning sign because of its impending sense of doom - as if something really rather bad could happen at any moment - I think this reflects the current state that Maryport finds itself in.

 You can find more (real) macro shots at Macro Monday2 and I Heart Macro. SM

Echidna

There are some remarkable animals here on planet Earth - and this must be in the top 10!

This is an Echidna - or as it is sometimes called in books published outside of Australia "The Spiny Anteater.

That second name is rather accurate, as it is both spiny and an eater of ants!

However, thats not why this animal is a contender for top 10 ranking:  what makes this animal special is that it is a mammal that layer eggs.

Now these are not like your everyday chicken egg, being small and leathery, but an egg they are.  The eggs hatch (if thats the right word) after about ten days - and then the young echidna continues to grow in a shallow pouch.

Many people (including me) were taught at school that these animals were some form of fossil species with primitive features - and this is now not thought to be the case.  While its true that they have some features of the skeleton that are found in reptiles, they are not some primitive beast hanging on be the skin of its teeth (not that it actually has teeth!).

These are modern, well adapted creatures that are in fact the most wide spread of all Australia's native mammals.  The distribution map for this species is basically the same shape as Australia - if there are ants, there may well be echidnas.  In cold regions - Tasmania and alpine areas - the fur between the spines may be much longer than in the individuals in these pictures.

(It occurs to me that some of you may never have heard the word echidna before - so it sounds like this ee-kid-na)

Last and not least is the echidnas ability to dig almost vertically downwards in soft ground as a means of defence.  When buried in this way the echidna presents little more than a dome of spines to any would be predators.

in defence mode (and not looking at the camera)

Pretty remarkable animal all in all!

You can find more animals from around the world here at Eileens Critters on Saturday.

Wild Bird Wednesday 112 - Kittiwake (Black-Legged Kittiwake)

This is the last of my series of bird post from the cliffs of the Farne Islands.

In the UK this bird is known as (just) the Kittiwake - elsewhere  the Black-Legged part is added to the front of the name.  This is a nice example of why the scientific name is useful, because whatever its local name, its formal name is always Rissa tridactyla.

This is a rather gentle looking birds - and although its in the same general group as most gulls, it is not in the classic gull genus - Larus.

It name seems to be an onomatopoeic rendering of its call on the nesting site - described in BWP as "kitti-wa-a-k"!  However, for most of the time this bird is rather less noisy than most other gulls.

As you can see it nests on sheer cliffs and rock faces.  I can only assume that the chicks are born with a head for heights!

with razorbills and guillemot 

photo-bombed by a puffin!

 Now it's over to you - click away and link up!

An InLinkz Link-up

I must have an escape!

I saw this face looking out under a gate in the village of Cheddar in Somerset - and if ever there was a face set on mischief I think it may be this one!

More shots from around the world at Our World Tuesday.  SM

Brougham Hall Door Knocker

A friend of mine has a photo gallery in a (being) restored 14th century Hall with a rather wonderful door knocker.  While the design of this door knocker may be very old, the object itself is rather more modern.

At some time the original door knocker was stolen and sold at auction!

You can find out about the Hall here.

I'm really busy at present - so comments from last week remain unanswered - it's nothing you have done, its more to do with the amount I have to do!  I will try and catch up as soon as possible.

Linking this post to I Heart Macro and Macro Monday 2.  

A wombat on Friday!

After a bit of a run of post from the UK (which will continue next week!) I thought I'd take a different direction on fridays for a while and post images of Mammals for a while.

If there is any interest in a "Furry Fhings On Friday" sort of link up, I am open to persuasion!

So, this is a Wombat.  The world largest hole dwelling herbivore by some accounts - and a good value animal by all accounts.

This fine beast was on the beach at Wilsons Promontory earlier in the year - you can read more about what else was about during that trip here.

I'd like to say thanks to everyone who hosted Sky Watch Friday - but at present I am a bit short of inspiration for sky shots that are just a little bit different.  I know that keeping a "link up" going takes a bit of work!  And I don't think I have abandoned skies for ever!

Let me know if there is any interest in a Wild Mammal Friday sort of thing!  SM