Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @700mm, f8, ISO 220, Nikon Z 6 Minor crop, bramble flowers; the iconic bee of systemic and cultural importance looking for morning nectar. Europe produces about 60% of honey for its market (as does the US). The current number of beekeepers compared to 2017-19 period grew in the UK by over 6%, by almost 30% in France and over 24% in the Czech Republic (it fell sharply in Bulgaria and Lithuania). South East
Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @680mm, f8, ISO 110, Nikon Z 6 Crop (slightly more than APS-H), NR (8:00 morning); the male is also keen to feed the fledging young. Sparrows chirping is still common in calmer parts of Greater London with lots of gardens, and it seems livelier this year. A recent study of molecular sequences of over a thousand genera of songbirds put the age of the sparrow genus at about 14 MY old. The previously photographed whitethroat’s genus is older, about 18 MY old. That means that a roughly the same looking warbler remembers our common ancestor with gibbons. The early, evolutionarily simpler songbirds (passerines) woke up to a changed world in the aftermath of the K/T asteroid event (about 66 038 000 years ago). The established order of niches was turned on its head and the conflux of consequent changes accelerated the evolution of basal lineages of the archaic songbirds. They adopted nesting in open nests soon after the event while their toes went from two at the front/two at the back to three forward/one backward to improve the grip on the branch (some 65 MY ago). Today the sparrow possesses a sophisticated foot with tendons autolocking mechanism that gives them a pretty easy, energy-efficient way of perching. South East
Nikkor 200-500 VR/TC 14 III @680mm, f8, ISO 140, Nikon Z 6 Morning (8:01; wrong time in exif); The first wave of marsh crane fly is peaking and the sparrows have plenty of them in their territory. Larval stadium of the flies cause significant damage to crops on farms so chemicals are used to prevent getting it out of hand (unless you are Riverford farmers). Bushes and hedges extend sparrows and other nesting birds coverage, bringing them close to healthier fields. These then bring fewer allergies and immunity factors to our kids and ourselves. The birds and their populations are healthier too. The thing is that choosing fast money ways may bring a better tomorrow to some, but it won’t bring a better future to their kids and everyone else. I have a feeling the female house sparrow would hate to be our missing flower on that rosebush. South East
