Archive for Environment

More Pics from Calgary Zoo

I would like to share more pictures from The Calgary Zoo. I must say the Flamingos were the star attraction.

The Whooping Crane

The Whooping Crane

 

The Dall's Sheep

The Dall’s Sheep

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Elk

The Elk

The Grizzly Bear

The Grizzly Bear

The Flamingo

The Flamingo

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The Calgary ZOO – Home of Penguins, Flamingos and Big Horn Sheep

Reaching The Calgary Zoo is a wonderful experience. If you are aware of the LRT or C- Train, just get into the one which is going towards saddletowne (North East). On the way there is a station dedicated to Calgary zoo which comes just after Bridgeland / Memorial and before Barlow/Maxbell. Get down at the Calgary Zoo station and you are at the entrance of the zoo.  WOW !!

The first creatures to welcome you are The Penguins at The Penguin Plunge !!. The flightless birds with an upright stance and having flippers instead of wings. What a marvelous creature ! They can walk on earth and swim gracefully in water. Their flippers help them to swim and the most important thing which I noticed was that their swim pattern (movement of flippers) was quite similar to flight of a bird. (As if Penguins fly in water !!!)  . I liked the King Penguin the most and I must say that the Calgary Zoo has put up a great effort in maintaining the living conditions suitable for The Penguins.

Did I tell you they are not afraid of Humans? They give you a warm welcome, beaming with confidence with an exceptional upright gait.

Pingoo

The King Penguin

The King Penguin

The Canadian Wild Section was entirely new thing to me. I encountered The Mule Deer, The BigHorn Sheep, The Rocky Mountain Goat, The Dall’s Sheep,The Grizzly Bear, The Caribou and The Muskox, to name a few. The Muskox looked closer to The Yak.

On the way to Eurasia Section we met rain and entered Kitamba Cafe to get some food and drink to keep ourselves going. When we came out of the cafe a Peacock (Peafowl) was sitting at the entrance of cafe – What an excellent Eurasian welcome was it !!

We met The two humped Bactrian Camel, One horned Rhinoceros, The Eurasian Lynx, The Japanese Macaque, The Snow Leopard, The Himalayan Monal , Amur Tigers, Wild Boar, The Markhor and The Alpine Ibex. The Monal is a bird which is colorful and the Ibex were quite close to goats. There were Fallow deer and Japanese Serow waiting for us to meet and greet. Those Deer had the most innocent eyes, I must say !!

Our next goal was The Enmax Conservatory. I did not expect such place in a zoo (they are more close to botanical gardens) but to my surprise, the conservatory had variety of Flora !!! Devil’s tongue, Queen Sago (Cycas circinalis), Flame violets, Red Betel Vine, Bananas, Sugarcane, Papaya, Red Button Costus, Pomegranate, Sacred Fig, all were there. The most fascinating was Lobster Claw. At last there was Funeral tree – I wonder how it got this name??On the other side of the green house were the butterflies and moths. They were just completing the picture.

Wait did you say I miss something? Well, yes The Flamingos. They were just awesome pinkish birds and were able to stand on their feet for a long time. It was a delight to see those birds.

The Calgary Zoo is really a big one so anyone visiting make sure to plan advance. For us, we need another visit to explore The prehistoric park and Destination Africa.

All the best Zoo-goers !!

 

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Winter Wonder…

Every season has its own charm. The Winter is most charming , I must say. Think of winter and what comes to my mind is foggy mornings, dew and mist, several cups of hot tea, geyser and of course woollens. Sun becomes the best friend. My grandmother used to put all woollen clothes in sunlight for 2-3 days before we started putting them on. Days become short but full of activity. You can roam in daylight without any problem. Everyone comes out for Sun. All outdoor games become pleasant.

Another reason why winter is good is that it brings Green Peas (Matar). I’m not that kind who loves to get everything round the year. I don’t like the concept of frozen peas. Get a bunch , open the pods and eat fresh or cook aaloo-matar (ghugnee) or choora-matar (matar poha) or make matar stuffed paranthas. Another typical curry of matar is Nimona which is my favourite.

The New Year arrives in winter, the dates start repeating with another year and there is much excitement about new calendars and new diary. Christmas decorations add more beauty to winter. Cakes and gifts for kids and friends and sending new year greeting cards to near and dear ones. I still send greeting cards to my loved ones. I feel internet is not able to create that magic of a card, with a message written with hand.

Then comes Makara Sankranti – A significant festival and a celestial phenomenon. The Sun ends its southward journey and start moving towards north i.e., towards tropic of cancer. Sesame seeds (til) and jaggery laddoos , gajak, khichadi with dahi – choora come into the picture. The more beauty is added by the colourful kites.

Few things like Amla,  sweet potato (shakarkand) are gift of winter. Nature is so beautiful and systematic that if a change in weather occurs, it also brings the suitable kind of vegetation for the season. So, lets stay warm and enjoy winter with your favourite cuppa……………

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Sydney – Part 2

…..continued from Sydney Part -1 (https://rubyash.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/sydney-the-rocking-n-happening-city-1/)

We were damn tired and slept like kumbhkarna after 1st day of Sydney tour. Next morning we got up without any alarm and reached the circular quay at 9:00 am. We got Matilda cruise which took us to Taronga Zoo We got a cable car which took us to the zoo entrance – A nice way to enter the zoo – You can have a view of sea, opera house, Harbour Bridge and animals.

In the zoo we found several deadly reptiles, lions, tigers, hippopotamus, Ostriches, Elephants, Koalas and many other animals . Of course there were GIRAFFE and ZEBRA.  There was a fabulous sealion show which again was a presentation of Harmony of man and another animal……And sometimes we don’t understand what other man is saying and we fight among each other…

I got some pics and would let them do the rest of talking…..

Giraffe posing with Opera house

Black n White

a pic while going to the zoo 

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HMDA Park – Near Hyderguda, Rajendra Nagar Mandal, Hyderabad

These are some pics from a small park in Hyderguda area in Hyderabad.

The complete address is – HMDA  Chinna Talla Kunta Park, Hyderguda, Rajendra Nagar.

Landmark : Opposite to Pillar No. 152 of P.V. Narsimha Rao Expressway (which starts near Mehdipattnam and goes till AaramGhar and turns right towards Agricultural University).

A Ticket of Rs. 10 is charged, kids go free.

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SeaWorld – Gold Coast – Pics

star fish

Star Fishes @ seaworld

imagine..
Imagine….Dolphin show
dancing dolphins

Dancing Dolphins @sea world

Elmo's Sea Subs

fishes
awesome…..
Polar Bear

The Polar Bear @ sea worldKidz Zone

sea world
Beautiful Sea World @GoldCoast, Australia
sea lion

A Sea-Lion

how we interfere

How we interfere

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God’s Sixth Day Creation

A ForestAccording to Mythology, God created man on 6th day and was happy to see his best creation.

The early man was just like animals, his needs were food and shelter from bad weather and other harmful animals, so he lived in caves. Gradually he invented fire, started cooking. When he learned about agriculture, he started building a house for shelter and thus civilization was introduced…. 

Modern man invented technology, he invented electricity and then came the Iron age – Industries were set up in order to meet demands of man and nowadays everything in a home comes from outside. Man was not satisfied with his EARTHY Exploration so he went to SEE the moon. Man wanted to know about each and every thing happening around the world, In order to fulfill his wishes he didn’t spare the SPACE; he sent satellites and created space-stations.

 I don’t know about the origin of different races and countries; probably it happened due to migration of some groups and then their segregation from each other. Man divided the EARTH into several continents, countries with well defined borders and security forces. He was not satisfied with land security so he divided water and air also and now has air force, armed forces and naval forces(wherever applicable).

He learned reading, writing and expressing himself in different languages…He worked hard and earned luxary…He was living the happiest life and enjoying his self proclaimed position of controller in the Ecosystem.

This was the happier side of the story…..

The sad part is that, because of his immortal and unlimited wishes, the mother EARTH has suffered, more than a lot. The beautiful system of ozone layer, to protect  the earth from harmful rays, coming from sun, is undergoing depletion. The reason is the dramatic increase in the concentration of hydroxyl, nitric oxide radicals and the atomic chlorine and bromine – these were always present in the nature but MAN has terribly increased their concentration.

The global warming is on an all time high – thanks to the industrialization, leading to more and more emission of greenhouse gases which tend to absorb the sun’s radiation and keeping our planet warm. These gases were there in the past but due to the “Happy Man’s Life” their concentration has elevated like anything – the consequences – Polar Ice caps will melt, increasing the level of sea. There will be more hurricanes,heat waves, droughts, and diseases.

These are the major outcomes of The Man’s Evolution.

So what, The happy Man will shift to the mountains or will move to another suitable place in space”. There will be a struggle for existence (read it : WAR), leading to the survival of the fittest (the mightiest).

I wonder how GOD should be feeling about his 6th day creation…….

He must be feeling apologetic to his all other creations, He must be CRYING over his mistake and saying to himself ” WHY I CREATED THE MAN ?? WHY I CREATED THE MAN??”  

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