Wednesday, January 10, 2007

To have sex or not during 40s?

Age is no bar

What is relevant to our topic is that the response pattern at any age is much the same. The oldest male study was on an 89-year-old and the oldest female subject was 78 years old. They concluded, "There is every reason to believe that maintained regularity of sexual expression coupled with adequate physical well-being and a healthy mental orientation to the aging process will combine to provide a sexually stimulating climate within a marriage. This climate will in turn improve sexual tension and provide a capacity for sexual performance that frequently may extend to and beyond the 80 years age level."

Social Myths

Some people believe that an old man can never satisfy the sexual needs of a young woman. This is not true. There could be many problems due to generation gap outside the bed, but their sex life could be fairly satisfactory. What they may lose in quantity would be more than made up in quality.

It must, however, be agreed that many of the myths are not without some basis. For many couples in the middle years, sex becomes just what the social myths predict – a routine unchanging and less frequent act, done because it is expected. Gradually, many couples opt out of sex or get stuck into a rut.

Towards many more exciting years
What can a couple entering the middle years do to prevent the zest and enjoyment from going out of their sex life?

Obviously, the first and most important thing is to abandon the assumption that age automatically entails a drop in sexual activity. The couple's interest in sex declines because they expect it to decline.

The female partner must be willing to express her sexual desire. One of the most common problems involves the question of which partner should initiate sexual interaction.

Overindulgence in food and drink and mental and physical fatigue are common at this period of life, which can affect both general health as well as sexual well-being. They must be minimized.

Any activity that becomes routine, standardized and predictable eventually loses its appeal. Obviously not every sexual encounter with the same partner can be a totally novel experience, but allowing yourself to act on your spontaneous impulses and introducing new and unexpected elements into sexual relationships is important.

Lack of communication is a very common point in couples who feel that their marriage has become stale and unstimulating. One of the major impediments to open communication about sex is that couples often lack a sexual vocabulary that they are comfortable with and are unable to express themselves clearly.


Age has its effects

Be in touch

Of course all this does not mean that aging has no effect at all on sexual desire and sexual performance in males and females. There is a proper age for everything. A cricketer may be too old at 35/36 and an athlete at 25/26, so far as competitive sport is concerned but they can all play their part when they play in their own age group. A senior citizen may not be able to run a few rounds in a park, but he can certainly walk and yes he may even be able to do it if he has kept himself fit enough and in touch.


Diseases effects :

Old age brings with it some diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure, though they may occur at younger age as well. In both these conditions sexual performance may get affected, if not by the disease itself, the drugs used in their treatment may. Arthritis and joint pains common in the elderly will certainly make sexual activity painful, resulting in avoiding it totally or in minimizing it. Heart attacks per se should not result in sexual abstinence, but out of fear of a `coital coronary', both partners may decide to give sex a go-by. Conditions like a stroke or neurological disorders of old age will most certainly put an end to sex life in most cases. General debility and senile dementia will also have a similar effect. Degenerative changes as a result of hormonal deficiency in the post-menopausal period may make sex tiring, painful and unrewarding in some individuals.

Tuesday, January 09, 2007

Wife of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow

old day wife life. they very obey to their husband
today wife. they argue and demand anything
future wife. they command the husband

Monday, January 08, 2007

Dyspareunia or Pain during Intercourse

As it is well known, during sexual intercourse, two sex organs are involved - the male's penis and the woman's vagina. The vagina, which is an external genital organ, is a tubular muscular structure about three inches long. It is capable of contraction and relaxation at will of the woman. At its entrance are two lips or labia, which close the entrance. In a young girl a delicate skin fold known as hymen is found in the vagina at its entrance. It may have a small hole. In women having normal sexual relation, the hymen is absent.

Causes of Dyspareunia

The pain of dyspareunia as suffered by a woman may have various causative factors. Most of them can be detected early and treated successfully resulting into a normal, enjoyable sexual intercourse. Certain congenital defects (defects that a person is born with) in vagina may obstruct the penetration of penis causing pain. The defects are easily detected and if needed surgically corrected.

The labia may be fused because of congenital anomaly or scarring following infection of labia. Surgical separation is possible in such a case. Also, an intact hymen causing dyspareunia can be excised.

Infection of the vagina, also known as vaginitis is another common problem. Bacteria, protozoa or virus can cause the infection. There is soreness, itching and it is painful during sex. The male partner may complain of irritation and burning at the tip of his penis following the sexual act. Infection requires proper antibiotic treatment taken orally or applied locally in the vagina in the form of a jelly.

A small tumor arising in the vagina can also cause pain. Such a tumor can easily be removed by surgery.

A condition known as endometriosis found internally near the uterus can cause pain at the thrust of penis in the vagina. A woman having this condition (endometriosis) may have painful periods, excessive periods, infertility, pain in the abdomen. Today endometriosis can easily be diagnosed and suitably treated.

Dyspareunia can be caused by dryness of vagina. The secretion that lubricates the vagina is under the influence of a female hormone - estrogen. In menopausal woman or where ovaries which produce the hormone are removed, dryness of vagina results. Replacement of estrogen by oral tablet or a skin patch and also use of lubricating jelly during sex will mitigate the dyspareunia.

The pain may be psychological also. The woman voluntarily or inadvertently contracts her vagina at the time of sex. The condition known as vaginismus requires proper understanding of the woman and explaining to her about her problem. Psychotherapy tremendously helps to relieve the condition.

A stitch in time saves nine. Thus, early diagnosis and treatment of the problem of dyspareunia can result in a happy and blissful sexual life.

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Men : Erectile dysfunction

Very often men face with erectile problems, like difficulty in maintaining an erection, or difficulty raising an erection. But these problems should not be associated to impotency or lack of masculinity, as this may be caused due to various physical and psychological factors.

It may causes a lot of disturbance in your sex life and you may also feel very depressed and inferior, but do not worry these problems can be treated.

What is it?
The arteries that supply blood to the penis expand and allow more blood to fill the central tissues. The veins start compressing, when these tissues start filling up with blood, restricting the out flow of blood and resulting in blood build up in the organ resulting in an erection. Therefore, any drug or illness, which restricts the flow of blood to the penis, can cause erectile problems.

Causes

Many physical and psychological factors and drugs cause erection problems. Some of the major causes of erectile problems are:

Erectile problem associated to other diseases

Smoking
Alcohol
Tranquilizers
Narcotic drugs
Certain medicines used for blood pressure
Any illness associated to the nervous system
Stress
Tensions at home or office
Diabetes: Diseases like diabetes, which interfere with the flow of blood to the penis, can cause an erectile problem.

Blood pressure: High blood pressure, and heart diseases sometimes restrict the blood flow and make it difficult for you to maintain or get an erection.

Prostate surgery: Erectile problems can also occur after a surgery. Many such cases have been reported a surgery for prostate gland.

Hormone imbalances: Hormonal deficiencies, like deficiency of testosterone can cause difficulties with regard to erection.

Neurological diseases: Neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis, which cause considerable damage to the nerves, also cause erectile problems.

What to do?
Try to get into foreplay before your intercourse. Try not to hurry up and ensure that your partner also enjoys it.

In case the problem is due to some medication, consult your doctor immediately. Quit smoking and cut down the consumption of alcohol.

You may also try some oil massage, creams and gels after consulting your doctor.

Saturday, January 06, 2007

Tongue Twister

1.If you understand, say "understand". If you don't understand, say "don't understand". But if you understand and say "don't understand".How do I understand that you understand? Understand!

2 .I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.

3.Sounding by sound is a sound method of sounding sounds.

4.A sailor went to sea to see, what he could see. And all he could see was sea, sea, sea.

5.Purple Paper People, Purple Paper People, Purple Paper People.

6.If two witches were watching two watches, which witch would watch which watch?

7.I thought a thought.But the thought I thought wasn't the thought. I thought I thought. If the thought I thought I thought had been the thought. I thought, I wouldn't have thought so much.

8 .Once a fellow met a fellow In a field of beans. Said a fellow to a fellow, "If a fellow asks a fellow, Can a fellow tell a fellow What a fellow means?"

9.Mr Inside went over to see Mr Outside. Mr Inside stood outside and called to MrOutside inside. Mr Outside answered Mr Inside from inside and Told Mr Inside to come inside. Mr Inside said "NO", and told Mr Outside to come outside. MrOutside and Mr Inside argued from inside and outside about going outside or coming inside. Finally, Mr Outside coaxed Mr Inside to come inside, then both Mr Outside and Mr Inside went outside to the riverside.

10.SHE SELLS SEA SHELLS ON THE SEA SHORE , BUT THE SEA SHELLS THAT SHE SELLS, ON THE SEA SHORE ARE NOT THE REAL ONES

11.The owner of the inside inn was inside his inside inn with his inside outside his inside inn.

12.If one doctor doctors another doctor does the doctor who doctors the doctor doctor the doctor the way the doctor he is doctoring doctors? Or does the doctor doctor the way the doctor who doctors doctors?
"When a doctor falls ill another doctor doctor's the doctor. Does the doctor
doctoring the doctor doctor the doctor in his own way or does the doctor doctoring the doctor doctors the doctor in the doctor's way"

13 .We surely shall see the sun shine shortly. Whether the weather be fine, or whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold Or whether the weather be hot, We'll weather the weather Whatever the weather, Whether we like it or not. Watch? Whether the weather is hot. Whether the weather is cold. Whether the weather is either or not. It is whether we like it or
not.

14 .Nine nice night nurses nursing nicely.

15.A flea and a fly in a flue Said the fly "Oh what should we do" Said the flea" Let us fly Said the fly"Let us flee" So they flew through a flaw in the flue

16.If you tell Tom to tell a tongue-twister his tongue will be twisted as tongue-twister twists tongues.

17.Mr. See owned a saw.And Mr. Soar owned a seesaw. Now See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw Before Soar saw See, Which made Soar sore.Had Soar seen See's saw Before See sawed Soar's seesaw, See's saw would not have sawed Soar's seesaw. So See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw.But it was sad to see Soar so sore. Just because See's saw sawed Soar's seesaw...

Friday, January 05, 2007

Earning Per Minutes (Indian)

VERY Interesting BENCH MARK data!! You can plan your course of action!!!
__________________________________

Shah Rukh Khan

Profession: Actor
How much: Rs 247 per minute

The King Khan, who started off modestly as a 'Fauji', made about Rs 13
Crore last year. This included his endorsement deals for Pepsi,
Hyundai Santro - and of course, wetting himself in a bathtub,
Surrounded by women for HLL's Lux. How much per minute?

__________________________________

Brij Mohan Lall Munjal

Profession: Chief of Hero Group
How much: Rs 255 per minute

The patriarch of the Hero Group received the Life-time achievement
Award for 'Excellence in Corporate Governance' by the Institute of
Company Secretary of India this year. Brij Mohan Lall Munjal earned
About Rs 13.4 crore last year. He continues to be the world's largest
Motorcycle manufacturer and fuels his bank balance with Rs 255 per
Minute.

__________________________________

Sachin Tendulkar

Profession: Cricketer
How much: Rs 1,163 per minute

India's most loved sportsman makes a lot more than most CEOs of Indian
Companies; going by his annual remuneration for 2004-2005. Breaking it
Down, his three-year contract for endorsements is worth Rs 180 crores.
He is also paid Rs 2,35,000 for a five-day test match and Rs 2,50,000
For one dayers.

A little bit of elementary math: This highest paid cricketer in the
World makes around Rs 61.15 crore a year, or Rs 1,163 per minute.

__________________________________

Dr A P J ABDUL Kalam

Profession: President of India
How much: Rs 1.14 per minute

Before taking on the reins of this country, Dr A P J Kalam played a
Leading role in the development of India's missile and nuclear weapons
Programmes - so much so - that he's fondly referred to as the 'Missile
Man'. In the early 1990s, he served as scientific adviser to the
Government, and his prominent role in India's 1998 nuclear weapons
Tests established Kalam as a national hero. For all his work in his
Present capacity as President of the world's largest de mocracy, Kalam
Draws an annual remuneration of Rs 6,00,000 or Rs 1.14 per minute.

__________________________________

Mukesh Ambani

Profession: CMD of Reliance Industries Ltd
How much: Rs 413 per minute

Head honcho of the $16.5 billion Reliance Industries Limited, Mukesh
Ambani was ranked the world's 56th richest man in Forbe's list. But
Since this is only about salaries (and the like), we'll completely
Ignore his other earnings. Last year, Mr Ambani earned Rs 21.72 crore;
A neat growth of 87 per cent over his previous year's earnings. He
Makes not less than Rs 413 per minute.

__________________________________

Amitabh Bachchan

Profession: Actor
How much: Rs 361 per minute

"Kaun Banega Crorepati?", Apparently, Mr Bachchan! With more
Endorsements and film releases per year than successful actors half
His age, Bachchan's take-home last year was around Rs 19 crore -
that's Rs 361 per minute.

__________________________________

Dr Manmohan Singh

Profession: Prime Minister of India
How much: Rs 0.57 per minute

An economist by profession, Dr Singh has formerly served in the
International Monetary Fund. His economics education included an
Undergraduate and a master's degree from Punjab University; an
Undergraduate degree from Cambridge; and a doctorate from Oxford
University. One of the most educated Indian prime ministers in
History, Singh also served as the finance minister under prime
Minister Narasimha Rao. In his present capacity, Singh is paid Rs
3,60,000 annually, I.e. Rs 0.57 per minute.

__________________________________

Indra Nooyi

Profession: New Pepsi Chief
How much: Rs 2,911 per minute (from October 11)

Chennai-born 50-year-old Indra Nooyi was the Chief Financial Officer
(CFO) of PepsiCo, the US-based soft drink major. In that capacity, her
Remuneration stood at $5 million (over Rs 23 crore). With her
Promotion this year, Nooyi becomes one of the highest paid CEOs in the
World, with an announced remuneration of $33 million (approximately Rs
153 crores). This means Nooyi makes a whopping Rs 2,911 per minute.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

Three Things in Life

Three things in life that, once gone, never come back ;

Time
Words
Opportunity


Three things in life that may never be lost ;

Peace
Hope
Honesty

Three things in life that are most valuable ;

Love
Self - Confidence
Friends

Three things in life that are never certain ;

Dreams
Success
Fortune


Three things that make a man/woman ;

Hardwork
Sincerity
Commitment


Three things in life that can destroy a man/woman ;

Alcohol
Pride
Anger

Three things in life that, once lost, hard to build-up ;

Respect
Trust
Friends


Three things in life that never fail ;

True Love
Determination
Belief

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Things You Should Know

1. Chewing on gum while cutting onions can help a Person from stop producing tears. Try it next time you chop onions!!!!!!!!!!

2. Until babies are six months old, they can breathe and swallow at the same time. Indeed convenient!

3. Offered a new pen to write with, 97% of all people will write their own name.

4. Male mosquitoes are vegetarians. Only females bite.

5. The average person's field of vision encompasses a 200-degree wide angle.

6. To find out if a watermelon is ripe, knock it, and if it sounds hollow then it is ripe.

7. Canadians can send letters with personalized postage stamps showing their own photos on each stamp.

8. Babies' eyes do not produce tears until the baby is approximately six to eight weeks old.

9. It snowed in the Sahara Desert in February of 1979.

10. Plants watered with warm water grow larger and more quickly than plants watered with cold water.

11. Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

12. Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave.

13. Those stars and colours you see when you rub your eyes are called phosphenes.

14. Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

15. Everyone's tongue print is different, like fingerprints.

16. Contrary to popular belief, a swallowed chewing gum doesn't stay in the gut. It will pass through the system and be excreted.

17. At 40 Centigrade a person loses about 14. 4 calories per hour by breathing.

18. There is a hotel in Sweden built entirely out of ice; it is rebuilt every year.

19. Cats, camels and giraffes are the only animals in the world that walk right foot, right foot, left foot, left foot, rather than right foot,left foot...

20. Onions help reduce cholesterol if eaten after a fatty meal.

21. The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting.

22. In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch and make it look=20 like it's smiling.

23. The color blue can have a calming affect on people.

24. Depending upon the shade, the brain may send up to 11 tranquilizing chemicals to calm the body

25. Leonardo DA Vinci could write with the one hand and draw with the other simultaneously. Now we know why his pictures were exquisite!!

26. Names of the three wise monkeys are: Mizaru (See no evil), Mikazaru(Hear no evil), and Mazaru (Speak no evil).

27. The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and parrot.

28. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

29. Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2-6 years of age

30. The names of the continents all end with the same letter with which they start.

31. Electricity doesn't move through a wire but through a field around the wire.

32. All U.S. Presidents have worn glasses; some of them just didn't like to be seen wearing them in public.

33. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and
purple.

34. Raw cashews are poisonous and must be roasted before.

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Antartic Birds

Blue eyed shags


Blue eyed shags are the only member of the cormorants to venture down into the Antarctic proper. They are found particularly along the Scotia arc
islands and down the Antarctic peninsula, venturing as far as 68 degrees
south. They are characterized by the vivid eye colour and the orange /
yellow growth at the base of the beak that becomes particularly large and
bright during the breeding season.
They feed mainly on fish frequently forming a "raft" made up of dozens or hundreds of birds that repeatedly dive down onto the shoals below helping each other by panicking the fish into having nowhere to go except into the beak of the next bird. They are excellent divers with a recorded maximum dive of 116m. Once underwater they use their powerful webbed feet to propel themselves. I used to joke that blue eyed shags got their name because they had a blue eye and you can smoke them - but not enough people got the joke so I stopped.

This pair have arrived on their nesting site on a sub-antarctic island as the last of the winter ice is breaking out. Blue eyed shags are not birds of the ice, usually staying out of the way of sea-ice. They are unique in antarctic and sub-antarctic birds in that they will maintain a nest year-round where the sea remains ice-free. They never venture far from their nest site out to sea and because of this were welcomed by the early explorers and sealers who were looking for isolated areas of land in the vast sea-scape of the southern ocean.

Shag chicks are unique amongst Antarctic birds in that they have the only chicks that are born naked with no down. This makes them particularly susceptible to bad weather and especially dependent on their parents when very young.

Blue eyed shags nest in colonies with other birds of the same type and sometimes with no other species there at all. Shag Rocks for instance, isolated rocks sticking out of the South Atlantic about 250 kilometers from the next nearest island of South Georgia are home to countless blue eyed shags and virtually nothing else. Likewise the aptly named Shagnasty Island in the South Orkneys is home to a large monoculture of these birds, and a very loud and smelly place it is too!
Like many types of penguins these shags are adept and compulsive thieves stealing the unguarded nest material from any neighbouring nests if at all possible. A habit that contributes to a raucous and very lively colony.


Giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus)


This is a Giant Petrel, commonly known as a Geep, GP or to the old sealers as Stinkers. The latter name came from their habit, quite common amongst sea-birds, of vomiting on any one or thing that approached them and seemed to impose a threat.
They build the traditional antarctic nest of small stones, but always seem to manage quite an impressive pile of them in comparison to penguins for example. They spend much of their time scavenging and are always to be found where there is a dead seal or whale carcass. Sometimes eating so much that after a couple of aborted attempts at taking off due to excessive baggage, the only remaining option is to be sick in order to lighten the load. They are large birds the size of a turkey with a wing span of 2 metres or more.


Albatross (Diomedea exulans)

The wandering albatross is a truly remarkable bird. Residents of the species on the sub Antarctica island of South Georgia have been known to make regular fishing trips that take them as far as the seas off Uruguay and southern Brazil, round trips of thousands of kilometres over several days repeated frequently, and all to catch food for themselves and their young.
Any visiting ship to the South Atlantic will almost certainly at some time be followed by one or more albatrosses, wheeling and turning around the ship following at a distance hypnotically and silently.

The bird in this picture is a juvenile recognisable by the dark wing tips. As the bird ages, the dark patches recede further to the tips of the wings, so it becomes whiter. After leaving the nest they are thought not to return to land again for 7 to 10 years when they return to the island where they were born. Albatrosses mate for life and can live to be 80 - 85 years old probably making them the animal that travels further than any other in their life-time.

The birds rarely flap their wings that can measure up to 4 metres in span. They swoop low over the never ending swell of the southern ocean, dipping down when the sea falls and rising on the air that is pushed up again when the wave rises. In this manner they are able to fly continuously and cover vast distances with the minimum of effort. There is even a mechanism within the base of the wing to "lock" it in an extended position so the bird doesn't need to strain to keep its "arms" out.

The albatross is a large bird with a large chick. The chick is so large (12kg when it leaves the nest) that it takes just over 12 months to develop fully. This means that the albatross is in the same select group as king and emperor penguins in that it has a breeding cycle that stretches over 2 years

In folklore the bird carries the soul of dead mariners. If a sailor kills the bird, bad luck would fall upon him for the rest of his natural life. This was not a universal belief as the feet of the albatross were once used as tobacco pouches by sailors.

The name albatross dates back to the 15th century when Portuguese sailors first ventured down the coast of Africa, they came across large black and white birds with stout bodies and called them "alcatraz" the Portuguese word meaning large seabird. English sailors later corrupted the word to albatross

** "The bird that made the breeze to blow" taken from Samuel Taylor Coleridge "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner".

( i have read this poem of Samuel Taylor Coleridge. It is really good)


Antarctic skua (Catharacta maccormicki) adult


The Antarctic skua (Catharacta maccormicki) is the size of a largish gull. They nest all around continental antarctica and breed into the deep south. They are excellent fliers and have occasionally been sighted deep in the interior hundreds of miles from anything other than ice. One of their feeding techniques is to chase and bully other birds into regurgitating the contents of their crop, a strategy successful with some species that are in themselves excellent fliers.

They tend to have a reputation as being fierce and aggressive birds, which is somewhat unfair. I see them more as characters who stick up for their own corner and look after their own - no more or less than humans do.

Often a visitors first sight of a skua is at a penguin colony where they usually are nesting nearby. They hang around as a dark presence looking for unguarded eggs or weak or isolated chicks to prey on, which is a very productive means of finding food, but does their reputations no good at all.

A displaying skua. They display to, or for a mate or to other skuas to establish their territory. Sometimes the birds can be seen to do this as a pair, it is quite an impressive sight and the squawking can be heard some considerable distance away. Skuas will also do this if their nest is being approached by an unwanted visitor.

More often though the first sign that a visitor gets of being near to a skuas nest is of a sudden heart-stopping rush of air through the wing feathers of the parent bird flying at speed past your head from behind, much too close for comfort. If you're particularly unlucky or if its very unhappy at you being so close, then rarely a whack at the back of the head by the front of the wing may result. This is actually quite a good way of finding skua chicks - when the parents start getting upset you know you're very close to the excellently camouflaged chick.

This bird however was semi-tame and was calling to his mate to come quick as there may well be some give-away food. The biggest problem I had taking this shot was getting the bird far enough away as he kept sticking his beak about 10cm from my lens.

These birds are on the specially made skua landing platform (also used by occasional Dominican gulls and sheathbills) outside the kitchen window of the scientific station on Signy island in the South Orkneys. There were two pairs of skuas that used it regularly (never at the same time though), the Reds" and the "Blues" they lived respectively to the sides of the platform of their colours. This is Mr. and Mrs. Blue. Their nest was about 250m away downhill of this rooftop platform and occasionally when feeling lazy, they would walk up rather than fly and then glide downhill back home.

If you were out nearby they would sometimes come to see if they could get any free food (see above) squawking and hovering above you. If you lent over forwards, then sometimes one would land on your back and look quizzically sideways at you as if to say "Now what?". I also had one of them once try to land on my back-pack as I was walking along. Unfortunately it was a purpose made back pack that consisted of a frame with two large open top cans attached. The first I knew what was happening was when Mrs. Blue fell into one and with much scrabbling and panic managed to get out of it before settling nearby and giving me a haughty stare.


Cape pigeon or Pintado

The Cape pigeon or Pintado, a pigeon sized petrel common around sub antarctic islands and peninsula. They nest on rocky ledges and usually rear a single chick which looks particularly shape-less until it fledges. It used to remind me of a fluffy ball with a head just stuck on the front. The birds tend to feed in flocks on krill and small fish but also will scavenge on scraps discarded by skuas and giant petrels when feasting on floating seal carcasses.



Sheathbills


These are sheathbills (also sometimes referred to as "Mutts" - it just seems appropriate) and they're the "dust men" (garbage disposers) of the Antarctic. They will eat just about anything that they can lay their beaks on, the one in the lower picture had been feeding on (in) a dead seal. They frequently scavenge penguin colonies for eggs, dead chicks, even penguin faeces - there's occasionally some not fully digested food there. The only Antarctic bird species that don't have webbed feet and so are not able to fish for food like the others.

They usually stay out of the path of the sea-ice and move north in the winter when the worst weather comes. The top picture however was taken in mid-winter at a temperature of minus 30 centigrade of one of a small colony of sheathbills that lived around the base on Signy island. Whereas most of the other sheathbills would move north, this hardy group evidently thought
that there were enough scraps available from the base to make staying worthwhile. Surprisingly hardy creatures, the bird in the picture has its feathers fluffed out as far as it can and is considerably skinnier than this picture shows.

In an attempt to try to reduce heat loss mutts will hop around on one leg rather than risk getting two cold. This made landing rather exciting as they found out the hard way that this is really a two legged activity. Frequent falls down small holes were another hazard as their one leg went between slats on wooden decking. In fact so determined were they to not use both legs and so clumsy in the process, that for a while I was convinced that there were actually several unfortunate individuals that really only had a single leg.

Sheathbills "Mutts" waiting outside the kitchen window in winter. With no skuas around in the winter months, these birds that live around an Antarctic scientific base can actually get to the best supply of food around at this time. They accumulate around meal times drawn to the smells coming from the kitchen waiting for the "gashman" to start clearing up and hopefully throw
some tasty morsels in their direction.

Not exactly a good looking bird and very nervous and skittish as befits a small and vulnerable creature that makes its living by scavenging, it was difficult not to have some respect at least for Mutts as they braved the harshest of conditions and seemed to know their place in the hierarchy - right down at the bottom.


Antarctic tern (Sterna vittata)

Antarctic terns nest on the Antarctic peninsula and also particularly on Antarctic islands. It lays it's eggs in small quite widely spread out colonies, i.e. low density of birds in the colony. The nests are made on the ground in places that tend to be isolated but quite exposed. The eggs and the chicks are excellently camouflaged and the birds defend them from a distance so as not to draw attention to where the nest is.

The upper picture shows a tern hovering at the "nervous" stage when its nest is being approached maybe by a skua or other scavenger. Once the intruder gets too close for comfort then it dive-bombs as in the lower picture. No apologies for a lack of sharpness in this picture, this is exactly what it seems like. The term dives and builds up great speed before letting out an
ear-piercing call that is perfectly timed to cause maximum panic and consternation. No matter how prepared you think you are, the first "attack" feels like it's removed some time from your life. Terns feed on small fish and plankton, such as the ubiquitous krill.

Monday, January 01, 2007

Ivanka Trump - Daugther of Donald Trump

ivanka trump being a cover girl
billionaire Donald Trump's daughter on magazine
Ivanka Trump exposed
The Apprentice mastermind daughter Ivanka Trump
Donald trump and Ivanka Trump