Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family Betulaceae. The common name alder evolved from Old English alor, which in turn is derived from Proto-Germanic root aliso, the generic name Alnus is the equivalent Latin name. With a few exceptions, alders are deciduous, and the leaves are alternate and these trees differ from the birches in that the female catkins are woody and do not disintegrate at maturity, opening to release the seeds in a similar manner to many conifer cones. The largest species are red alder on the west coast of North America, by contrast, the widespread Alnus viridis is rarely more than a 5-m-tall shrub. Alders are commonly found near streams and wetlands, Alder leaves and sometimes catkins are used as food by numerous butterflies and moths. A. glutinosa and A. viridis are classed as environmental weeds in New Zealand, Alder leaves and especially the roots are important to the ecosystem because they enrich the soil with nitrogen and other nutrients.
Alder is particularly noted for its important symbiotic relationship with Frankia alni and this bacterium is found in root nodules, which may be as large as a human fist, with many small lobes, and light brown in colour. The bacterium absorbs nitrogen from the air and makes it available to the tree, Alder, in turn, provides the bacterium with sugars, which it produces through photosynthesis. Because of its abundance, red alder delivers large amounts of nitrogen to enrich forest soils, red alder stands have been found to supply between 120 and 290 pounds of nitrogen per acre annually to the soil. From Alaska to Oregon, Sitka alder characteristically pioneer fresh, gravelly sites at the foot of retreating glaciers, alders are common among the first species to colonize disturbed areas from floods, fires, etc. Alder groves themselves often serve as natural firebreaks since these trees are much less flammable than conifers. Their foliage and leaf litter does not carry a fire well, in addition, the light weight of alder seeds allows for easy dispersal by the wind.
Although it outgrows coastal Douglas-fir for the first 25 years, it is shade intolerant. Red alder is the Pacific Northwests largest alder and the most plentiful, alders largely help create conditions favorable for giant conifers that replace them. Alder root nodules Alder roots are parasitized by northern groundcone, the catkins of some alder species have a degree of edibility, and may be rich in protein. Reported to have a bitter and unpleasant taste, they are useful for survival purposes. The wood of certain species is often used to smoke various food items such as coffee, salmon. Most of the pilings that form the foundation of Venice were made from alder trees, Alder bark contains the anti-inflammatory salicin, which is metabolized into salicylic acid in the body
Steam engine
A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. Steam engines are combustion engines, where the working fluid is separate from the combustion products. Non-combustion heat sources such as power, nuclear power or geothermal energy may be used. The ideal thermodynamic cycle used to analyze this process is called the Rankine cycle, in the cycle, water is heated and transforms into steam within a boiler operating at a high pressure. When expanded through pistons or turbines, mechanical work is done, the reduced-pressure steam is exhausted to the atmosphere, or condensed and pumped back into the boiler. Specialized devices such as hammers and steam pile drivers are dependent on the steam pressure supplied from a separate boiler. The use of boiling water to mechanical motion goes back over 2000 years. The Spanish inventor Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont obtained the first patent for an engine in 1606. In 1698 Thomas Savery patented a steam pump that used steam in direct contact with the water being pumped, Saverys steam pump used condensing steam to create a vacuum and draw water into a chamber, and applied pressurized steam to further pump the water.
Thomas Newcomens atmospheric engine was the first commercial steam engine using a piston. In 1781 James Watt patented an engine that produced continuous rotary motion. Watts ten-horsepower engines enabled a range of manufacturing machinery to be powered. The engines could be sited anywhere that water and coal or wood fuel could be obtained, by 1883, engines that could provide 10,000 hp had become feasible. The stationary steam engine was a key component of the Industrial Revolution, the aeolipile described by Hero of Alexandria in the 1st century AD is considered to be the first recorded steam engine. Torque was produced by steam jets exiting the turbine, in the Spanish Empire, the great inventor Jerónimo de Ayanz y Beaumont obtained a patent for the first steam engine in history in 1603. Thomas Savery, in 1698, patented the first practical, atmospheric pressure and it had no piston or moving parts, only taps. It was an engine, a kind of thermic syphon, in which steam was admitted to an empty container.
The vacuum thus created was used to water from the sump at the bottom of the mine
Fox
Foxes are small-to-medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. Foxes are slightly smaller than a domestic dog, with a flattened skull, upright triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout. Twelve species belong to the group of Vulpes genus of true foxes. Foxes live on every continent except Antarctica, by far the most common and widespread species of fox is the red fox with about 47 recognized subspecies. The global distribution of foxes, together with their reputation for cunning, has contributed to their prominence in popular culture and folklore in many societies around the world. The hunting of foxes with packs of hounds, long an established pursuit in Europe, the word fox comes from Old English, which derived from Proto-Germanic *fuhsaz. This in turn derives from Proto-Indo-European *puḱ-, meaning ’thick-haired, tail’. Male foxes are known as dogs, tods or reynards, females as vixens, a group of foxes is referred to as a skulk, leash, or earth.
Foxes are generally smaller than members of the family Canidae such as wolves, jackals. For example, in the largest species, the red fox, males weigh on average between 4.1 and 8.7 kg, while the smallest species, the fennec fox, weighs just 0.7 to 1.6 kg. Fox-like features typically include a face, pointed ears, an elongated rostrum. Foxes are digitigrade, and thus, walk on their toes, unlike their dog relatives, foxes have partially retractable claws. Fox vibrissae, or whiskers, are black, the whiskers on the muzzle, mystaciae vibrissae, average 100-110mm long, while the whiskers everywhere else on the head average to be shorter in length. Whiskers are on the forelimbs and average 40mm long, pointing downward and backward, other physical characteristics vary according to habitat and adaptive significance. Fox species differ in fur color and density, coat colors range from pearly white to black and white to black flecked with white or grey on the underside. Fennec foxes, for example, have ears and short fur to aid in keeping the body cool.
Arctic foxes, on the hand, have tiny ears and short limbs as well as thick, insulating fur. Red foxes, by contrast, have a typical auburn pelt, a foxs coat color and texture may vary due to the change in seasons, fox pelts are richer and denser in the colder months and lighter in the warmer months
Squirrel
Squirrels are members of the family Sciuridae, a family that includes small or medium-size rodents. The squirrel family includes tree squirrels, ground squirrels, marmots, flying squirrels, Squirrels are indigenous to the Americas and Africa, and were introduced by humans to Australia. The earliest known date from the Eocene period and are most closely related to the mountain beaver. That word squirrel, first attested in 1327, comes from the Anglo-Norman esquirel which is from the Old French escurel and this Latin word was borrowed from the Ancient Greek word σκίουρος, which means shadow-tailed, referring to the bushy appendage possessed by many of its members. The native Old English word for the squirrel, ācweorna, survived only into Middle English before being replaced, Squirrels typically have slender bodies with bushy tails and large eyes. In general, their fur is soft and silky, although much thicker in some species than others, the color of squirrels is highly variable between—and often even within—species.
In general, the limbs are longer than the fore limbs. Their paws include a poorly developed thumb, and have soft pads on the undersides. Unlike most mammals, Tree squirrels can descend a tree head-first and they do so by rotating their ankles 180 degrees so the hind paws are backward-pointing and can grip the tree bark. Squirrels live in almost every habitat from tropical rainforest to desert, avoiding only the high polar regions. They are predominantly herbivorous, subsisting on seeds and nuts, but many will eat insects, as their large eyes indicate, in general squirrels have an excellent sense of vision, which is especially important for tree-dwelling species. They have very versatile and sturdy claws for grasping and climbing, many have a good sense of touch, with vibrissae on their heads and limbs. The teeth of sciurids follow the typical rodent pattern, with large gnawing incisors that grow throughout life, the typical dental formula for sciurids is 1.0.1.31.0.1.3. Many juvenile squirrels die in the first year of life, adult squirrels can have a lifespan of 5 to 10 years in the wild.
Some can survive 10 to 20 years in captivity, Squirrels breed once or twice a year and give birth to a varying number of young after three to six weeks, depending on species. The young are naked and blind. In most species of squirrel, only the female looks after the young, in general, ground-dwelling species are social animals, often living in well-developed colonies, but the tree-dwelling species are more solitary. Squirrels cannot digest cellulose, so they must rely on foods rich in protein, during these times, squirrels rely heavily on the buds of trees
Ternoise
The river Ternoise is one of the small chalk streams that flow from the plateau of the southern Boulonnais and Picardy, via the Canche, into the English Channel. The basin of the Ternoise extends to 342 square kilometres and lies in the end of the département of Pas-de-Calais. It is one of the rivers of the Seven Valleys tourist area, the 41. 4-kilometre long river rises at Ligny-Saint-Flochel and passes through Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise to join the river Canche at Huby-Saint-Leu, near to the town of Hesdin. The Faux and the Eps are the only principle watercourses joining the Ternoise, the Ternoise is a very uniform river. Seasonal flow fluctuations are not very marked, similar to the Canche or the Somme, the higher water flows occur at the end of winter and in the spring. Average flows vary between 3.44 m³ per second in September to 5.36 m³ per second in March, schéma directeur daménagement et de gestion des eaux Carte Géologique de la France à léchelle du millionième 6th edn
Picardy
Picardy is a historical territory and a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it is now part of the new region of Hauts-de-France and it is located in the northern part of France. The historical province of Picardy stretched from north of Noyon to Calais, via the whole of the Somme department, the province of Artois separated Picardy from French Flanders. From the 5th century the area was part of the Frankish Empire, and in the period it encompassed the six countships of Boulogne, Ponthieu, Amiénois, Vermandois. According to the 843 Treaty of Verdun the region part of West Francia. The name Picardy was not used until the 12th or 13th century, during this time, the name applied to all lands where the Picard language was spoken, which included all the territories from Paris to the Netherlands. In the Latin Quarter of Paris, people identified a Picard Nation of students at Sorbonne University, during the Hundred Years War, Picardy was the centre of the Jacquerie peasant revolt in 1358.
From 1419 onwards, the Picardy counties were gradually acquired by the Burgundian duke Philip the Good, in 1477, King Louis XI of France led an army and occupied key towns in Picardy. By the end of 1477, Louis would control all of Picardy, in the 16th century, the government of Picardy was created. This became a new region of France, separate from what was historically defined as Picardy. The new Picardy included the Somme département, the half of the Aisne département. In 1557, Picardy was invaded by Habsburg forces under the command of Emmanuel Philibert, after a seventeen-day siege, St. Quentin would be ransacked, while Noyon would be burned by the Habsburg army. In the 17th century, a disease similar to English sweat originated from the region. It was called Suette des picards or Picardy sweat, the sugar industry has continued to play a prominent role in the economy of the region. One of the most significant historical events to occur in Picardy was the series of battles fought along the Somme during World War I.
From September 1914 to August 1918, four major battles, including the Battle of the Somme, were fought by British and German forces in the fields of Northern Picardy. In 2009, the Regional Committee for local government reform proposed to reduce the number of French regions, Picardy would have disappeared, and each department would have joined a nearby region. The Oise would have incorporated in the Île-de-France, the Somme would have been incorporated in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lille, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established.
The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity.
In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
Oystercatcher
The oystercatchers are a group of waders forming the family Haematopodidae, which has a single genus, Haematopus. They are found on coasts worldwide apart from the regions and some tropical regions of Africa. The exception to this is the Eurasian oystercatcher and the South Island oystercatcher, the name oystercatcher was coined by Mark Catesby in 1731 as a common name for the North American species H. palliatus, described as eating oysters. Yarrell in 1843 established this as the term, replacing the older name sea pie. The genus name Haematopus comes from the Greek haima αἳμα blood, the different species of oystercatcher show little variation in shape or appearance. They range from 39–50 cm in length and 72–91 cm in wingspan, the Eurasian oystercatcher is the lightest on average, at 526 g, while the sooty oystercatcher is the heaviest, at 819 g. The plumage of all species is either all-black, or black on top, the variable oystercatcher is slightly exceptional in being either all-black or pied.
They are large and noisy birds, with massive long orange or red bills used for smashing or prying open molluscs. The bill shape varies between species, according to the diet and those birds with blade-like bill tips pry open or smash mollusc shells, and those with pointed bill tips tend to probe for annelid worms. They show sexual dimorphism, with females being longer-billed and heavier than males, the diet of oystercatchers varies with location. Species occurring inland feed upon earthworms and insect larvae, other prey items include echinoderms and crabs. Nearly all species of oystercatcher are monogamous, although there are reports of polygamy in the Eurasian oystercatcher and they are territorial during the breeding season. There is strong mate and site fidelity in the species that have been studied, a single nesting attempt is made per breeding season, which is timed over the summer months. The nests of oystercatchers are simple affairs, scrapes in the ground which may be lined, the eggs of oystercatchers are spotted and cryptic.
Between one and four eggs are laid, with three being typical in the Northern Hemisphere and two in the south, incubation is shared but not proportionally, females tend to take more incubation and males engage in more territory defence. Incubation varies by species, lasting between 24–39 days, oystercatchers are known to practice egg dumping. Like the cuckoo, they lay their eggs in the nests of other species such as seagulls. One species of oystercatcher became extinct during the 20th century, the Canary Islands oystercatcher, another species, the Chatham oystercatcher, which is endemic to the Chatham Islands of New Zealand, is listed as endangered by the IUCN, and the African oystercatcher is considered near threatened
Nightjar
Nightjars are medium-sized nocturnal or crepuscular birds in the family Caprimulgidae, characterized by long wings, short legs and very short bills. They are sometimes called goatsuckers, due to the ancient folk tale that they sucked the milk from goats, some New World species are called nighthawks. Nightjars usually nest on the ground, the English word nightjar originally referred to the European nightjar. Nightjars are found around the world and they are mostly active in the late evening and early morning or at night, and feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects. Most have small feet, of use for walking. Their soft plumage is coloured to resemble bark or leaves. Some species, unusual for birds, perch along a branch and this helps to conceal them during the day. Nightjars lay one or two patterned eggs directly onto bare ground and it has been suggested that nightjars will move their eggs and chicks from the nesting site in the event of danger by carrying them in their mouths.
This suggestion has been repeated many times in books. This has nothing to do with any lack of effort and it reflects, the difficulty in locating and identifying a small number of those species of birds among the 10,000 or so that exist in the world, given the limitations of human beings. A perfect example is the Vauries nightjar in Chinas south-western Xinjiang and it has been seen for certain only once, in 1929, a specimen that was held in the hand. Surveys in the 1970s and 1990s failed to find it and it is perfectly possible that it has evolved as a species that can really be identified in the wild only by other Vauries nightjars, rather than by humans. As a result, scientists do not know whether it is extinct, the two groups are similar in most respects, but the typical nightjars have rictal bristles, longer bills, and softer plumage. Accordingly, they placed the eared-nightjars in a family, Eurostopodidae. The listing below retains a more orthodox arrangement, but recognises the eared-nightjars as a separate group, for more detail and an alternative classification scheme, see Caprimulgiformes and Sibley-Ahlquist taxonomy.
Nightjar videos on the Internet Bird Collection Nightjar sounds on xeno-canto. org
Reed bed
Reed beds are natural habitats found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions, and estuaries. Reed beds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As reed beds age, they build up a considerable litter layer that eventually rises above the water level, artificial reed beds are used to remove pollutants from grey water. Reed beds vary in the species that they can support, depending upon water levels within the system, seasonal variations. Reed swamps have 20 cm or more of water during the summer and often have high invertebrate. Reed fens have water levels at or below the surface during the summer and are often more botanically complex and similar plants do not generally grow in very acidic water, so, in these situations, reed beds are replaced by bogs and vegetation such as poor fen. Although common reeds are characteristic of reed beds, not all dominated by this species is characteristic of reed beds. It commonly occurs in unmanaged, damp grassland and as an understorey in certain types of damp woodland, many dicotyledons occur, such as water mint, skull-cap, touch-me-not balsam and water forget-me-nots.
Many animals are adapted to living in and around reed-beds, constructed wetlands are artificial swamps using reed or other marshland plants to form part of small-scale sewage treatment systems. Water trickling through the bed is cleaned by microorganisms living on the root system. These organisms utilize the sewage for growth nutrients, resulting in a clean effluent, the process is very similar to aerobic conventional sewage treatment, as the same organisms are used, except that conventional treatment systems require artificial aeration. Treatment ponds are small versions of constructed wetlands which uses reed beds or other plants to form an even smaller water treatment system. Similar to constructed wetlands, water trickling through the bed is cleaned by microorganisms living on the root system. Treatment ponds are used for the treatment of a single house or a small neighbourhood. Organisms used in water purification South Milton Ley
River
A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, lake or another river. In some cases a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of water, small rivers can be referred to using names such as stream, brook and rill. There are no official definitions for the term river as applied to geographic features. Many names for small rivers are specific to geographic location, examples are run in parts of the United States, burn in Scotland and northeast England. Sometimes a river is defined as being larger than a creek, but not always, Rivers are part of the hydrological cycle. Potamology is the study of rivers while limnology is the study of inland waters in general. Extraterrestrial rivers of liquid hydrocarbons have recently found on Titan. Channels may indicate past rivers on other planets, specifically outflow channels on Mars and rivers are theorised to exist on planets, a river begins at a source, follows a path called a course, and ends at a mouth or mouths.
The water in a river is confined to a channel. In larger rivers there is a wider floodplain shaped by flood-waters over-topping the channel. Floodplains may be wide in relation to the size of the river channel. This distinction between river channel and floodplain can be blurred, especially in areas where the floodplain of a river channel can become greatly developed by housing. Rivers can flow down mountains, through valleys or along plains, the term upriver refers to the direction towards the source of the river, i. e. against the direction of flow. Likewise, the term describes the direction towards the mouth of the river. The term left bank refers to the bank in the direction of flow. The river channel typically contains a stream of water, but some rivers flow as several interconnecting streams of water. Extensive braided rivers are now found in only a few regions worldwide and they occur on peneplains and some of the larger river deltas. Anastamosing rivers are similar to braided rivers and are quite rare
