A real Treat :)!

Since yesterday I´m the proud owner of a "Fahrausweis für Flurförderzeuge" aka "Staplerschein", a license for handling forklifters.

New Vocabulary

	ENGLISCH		DEUTSCH
Unmittelbare Treffer
	coccyx [anat.]		das Steißbein wiss.: Os coccygis
	tailbone also: tail bone [anat.]		das Steißbein wiss.: Os coccygis

I fell on my bum yesterday and am out of action.
Luckily nothing´s broken but you´d be suprised how much that particular part of your body can hurt.

isbjoern

Architecture

in Copenhagen.

The building on the right ist my hostel.

Building site by night
Gibbon enclosure, Copenhagen zoo
Either this enclosure was originally build for another species (Turtles perhaps?), I´m completely missing the point why this should be a good home for arboreal, brachiating apes - or its one of the examples for Gerald Durrells that architects are the most dangerous animals in a zoo.

Norman Fosters elephant house in copenhagen zoo: more Information

Sign at the Guildhall-square
floating homesphoto exhibit
bridge

Weekend

And I´m off, chakka, chakka! :)

Maybe I´ll get round to sorting some of my photos - but I doubt it somehow.

At least & last: this is the view from the hostel- room on the 9th floor in Copenhagen.
To the right you can see the city-hall and the weird "tower" on the left is one of the Tivolis´ fun rides.

Btw. : Did you know the polish word for "weekend"?
I bet you did.
It´s "weekend".
And "Feierabend" is "fajrant" which may look different but sounds extremely similar.
(Don´t you believe me? Check.)
Unfortunately the rest of this language is not as easy to remember, I´m taking a course at the moment and there´ll be a test on Tuesday.

P.s.: Godd wishes and a "Get well soon!" to Sandra from Pixels Park !

Greetings from Copenhagen !

Yes, yes, yes - I´m on holiday :)!
Only from Wednesday till Saturday but it feels good to do at least a bit of travelling again.

Playing with Photo Impact

also known as Procrastination.

Original (reduced in size)
Humboldt-Penguin, Spheniscus humboldti, Naturzoo Rheine

Summer is leaving

Autumn is coming

Another Froggie

Zoo Nuernberg

Embarrassingly enough I can´t remember the species (I guess Dendrobates x) and am too tired to search for ist.

Update: I guess it´s Epipedobates tricolor (Dreistreifen-Baumsteiger, Phantasmal Poison Frog).

Rothenburg ob der Tauber

is an incredibly beautiful, medieval town - impressive even for an "Phililstine" (= "Kulturbanause") like me.
The pigeon - yes, you can always depend on me finding animal motifs even in the most unlikely spots - is sitting on the St. Georgs Brunnen, situated on the marketsquare.
It´s been a very nice trip, maybe more photographic Impressions will follow.
Off work until wednesday.

My Shoe-tic

is of a slightly different kind than the one you´ll see on american TV series.
I´m into PROPER shoes with steel-caps and so on :).

Off on holiday: I´ll be using my ebay ticket today - tot ziens!

Travelling by Train in Germany

In case you´re planning a trip with the "deutsche Bahn", this offer might interest you : for 66 Euro (+2.50 for shipping) you can buy 2 Tickets for german-wide travelling until the 31.10.08 on ebay : Ticket-auction
Just bought one and hope this time I´ll get the chance to use it...didn´t work with my last "Tschibo-Ticket" which I had to resell for little money.

Sad discovery

Found a dead barn owl in the attic above my appartment today. I haven´t heard any noises, wish I could have "saved" it, owls are such gorgeous (and useful, esp. here on a farm) birds.

Murphy & Lara

I´ve been absolutely terrible at writing e-mails and generally keeping in contact recently :(.

Bssss....

Bee, leaving its hive in Emsbürens Heimathof. Just testing the new cam.Stop taking Fotos!
(Rainbow Lorikeet, Allfarblori, Trichoglossus haematodus in an Aviary at Emsflower)
Saw these guys wild in Australia...

Trommelzaaier - Zaaimaschine
at Emsflower

18232 - too much input

I´m trying to sort through (always thaught it was "to sort out") my photos of the last year. ..no Chance.

Natrix natrix

Grass Snake - Ringelnatter
Taken in Bremerhaven, "Zoo am Meer"

Information on this species in german
Information on this species in english (Arkive)

Holidays !

I´m on holiday this week and on the first week of July.
Tomorrow I´ll take a short trip northwards, to the coast to visit a friend.
(BTW: Invitations welcome...:) )
And I´ve ordered a new camera today (guess...) and am soooooooooooooooo doubtful whether that was a good decision, I´ve been terribly nervous all day.

Just in case you´ve got too much money: Canon is promoting a cashback action at the moment: http://canon2008promotions.onlinerebates.com/

Listening to...

...Jason Mraz.
Funny: Geek in the Pink
and Wordplay

Just for fun

The JCB* song by Nizlopi

*for the german-speakers who -like me- don´t know what a JCB is: JCB is a company, "one of the leading manufacturers of digging and earthmoving equipment".

I love LEO :).

BTW, I also like listening to Jason Mraz at the moment, esp. "The remedy".
The "I´m yours" video (Youtube) reminds me a lot of my working holidays in Thailand, Greece, Turkey, Australia and Costa Rica.
I don´t think there´s a really good Translation for "Fernweh" (Leo says Wanderlust / itchy feet), "Fernweh is a longing, an aching for the faraway, the painful longing to be faraway".

Interested in Nature Photography?

As a subscriber and keen reader of the "BBC Wildlife Magazine" I particularly enjoyed the "masterclasses" on photography.
These are also available online: http://www.bbcwildlifemagazine.com/masterclasses.asp

Just spotted them on the website where I was originally looking for ideas on what to do on the "volunteer day", where the animal-protection club I´m a member of will present itself.
If anyone has got suggestions, `specially for kid-activities : please let me know!
I thought about preparing insect hotels, rodent hideaways or dog-cookies, but I´m afraid that would be too time-consuming.

Year of the frog !

Though I´m anything but an amphibian-expert I have encountered so many fascinating species and individuals on travels, in zoos and at home, that it makes me extremely sad to see that they´re disappearing at frightening speed.
(The reasons being rather interesting, from a scientific point of view).
I took the above picture of the famous red-eyed treefrog during a night in "the swamp" at the biological Staion "La Selva" in Costa Rica.
Nowadays I sometimes catch frogs between the flower-pots in the greenhouses and try to relocate them to better places - life changes but some patterns remain :).
(I even caught a newt the other day, my highlight of the week)

Click here if you´re interested in Frogs :

Frogs matter. Jump in!

And once again I realize that this world appears tob be rather small : the photo on the linked site was taken by Richard Gibson. Who was my boss while I worked at the herpetology department in Jersey Zoo/the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust...

An interesting site for the german-speakers: http://www.kaulquappe.de/

Effects of Artificial Roosts for Frugivorous Bats on Seed Dispersal in a Neotropical Forest Pasture Mosaic

Very Interesting Publication about bats by my "ex-boss" Detlev Kelm (IZW, Costa Rica) in "Conservation Biology" - Congratulations !

DETLEV H. KELM, KERSTIN R. WIESNER, OTTO von HELVERSEN (2008)
Effects of Artificial Roosts for Frugivorous Bats on Seed Dispersal in a Neotropical Forest Pasture Mosaic
doi:10.1111/j.1523-1739.2008.00925.x
Link to Abstract

Wie Fledermäuse tropische Wälder aufforsten

Naturenews: Artificial bat roosts could re-seed the tropics

Days off...

lifted my spirits!
Hurra !

Another test

Spot the fake smile - and beat me :
" Results: You got 20 out of 20 correct"
My advise : keep a close look on the eyes.

Gosh, and I rated my confidence in spotting them at two out of seven .
To point out the negative side: my distrust in some peoples friendliness seems to be justified...

According to another test on the fabulous BBC Site I´m a "Nurturer" and this sentence will make everyone who knows me well laugh:
" Nurturers remember details that are important to them, such as their friends' birthdays and anniversaries. "
I´m the worst birthday rememberer alive - maybe cause they´re not really important to me.

No new postings?

Please see 9th of Feb.

Me = INFJ or ISFJ

...pending on the version of an online test.
Any questions ?

Heiko

today, enjoying our - almost - daily walk.

gone full-time

on the 1st of Feb.

Happy Birthday

Card for a colleague (who hopefully doesn´t know this blog) - a flower as a theme might seem a bit boring but we work in a Nursery :).

Lilly

is looking for a new home: click.

World of Orchids

Orchid exhibition.
Finally something for the plant fans after all the animal stuff