Mois : août 2016
Lānaʻi, Hawaiʻi
Heaven is real, people, and it exists in a place quite fitting when heavenly destinations come to mind: Hawaii.
The island just west of Maui and south of Molokaʻi is home to a cat sanctuary housing nearly 500 cats.
The coral colored dot is the place to be.
Larry Ellison (cat lover and gazillionaire that owns 98% of the island) acquired this non-profit organization that was started to protect the native birds the feral cats were preying on. His cat actually resides at the sanctuary, too! But let’s be honest here; today, this sanctuary less about the birds and all about the cats. So much so that it’s become the # 1 rated attraction for the island on Trip Advisor.
The sanctuary is open daily from 11am to 3pm and is free of charge. For more information, visit their website, like them on Facebook, or follow them on Instagram @lanaicatsanctuary
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Guest Post: LĀNAʻI, HAWAIʻI – The Cat Lover’s Paradise
Speckled Wood
This rather threadbare speckled wood butterfly, Pararge aegeria, is making the most of the last of August’s sunshine.
This is a fairly common butterfly. As the name suggests, it favours woodland, but is often found in parks and gardens.
The speckled wood can overwinter as either a larva or pupa. This means that there are adult butterflies flying between March and October. The adults feed on aphid honeydew in trees, whereas the caterpillars feed on grasses.
The Big Butterfly Count saw a 25% decrease in speckled woods between 2014 and 2015. Although the general trend for this species has been an increase, there is concern that woodland loss will have a detrimental effect. We await the results of the 2016 count.
Dog Days
The Michaelmas daisies are beginning to flower, a sign that the dreamy dog days of summer are drawing to a close.
In the northern hemisphere the hottest summer months are referred to as dog days. This dates back to Greek astronomy around 700 BC. It was thought that the dog star, Sirius, which rose before the sun during the summer months, brought about the hot weather. It was also thought that this brought on fever and madness in people. Homer alluded to this in « The Iliad« :
Sirius rises late in the dark, liquid sky
On summer nights, star of stars,
Orion’s Dog they call it, brightest
Of all, but an evil portent, bringing heat
And fevers to suffering humanity.
CatTar
CatTails – The story of my 4 friends
Double Rainbow
The reward for the torrential rain yet again today was a double rainbow. I admit this is not the most glamourous setting for a double rainbow, but it will have to do. As you all know, a rainbow is …
Source : Double Rainbow
Double Rainbow
The reward for the torrential rain yet again today was a double rainbow. I admit this is not the most glamourous setting for a double rainbow, but it will have to do.
As you all know, a rainbow is created when sunlight hits raindrops, and the light as it passes through is refracted. Red light has a longer wavelength than blue light and so bends less. This is why rainbows always have a longer red band at the top and a shorter blue band at the bottom.A double rainbow is created when the light is reflected twice off the raindrops. The second reflection has less light so the second rainbow is dimmer as well as upside down.
1520 Portrait of Richard III. Unknown, British School [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons In the UK we remember the colours of the spectrum, or rainbow with the mnenomic, « Richard of York gave battle…
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