Monthly Archives: April, 2013
P is for Paradox Frog
Paradox Frog . The paradox frog lives in lakes in the middle of South America. Unlike most frogs it stays in water most of the time and doesn’t just breed there. It doesn’t croak, it has a oink-y sort of a call; but this isn’t unusual, if they have a call, most frogs don’t croak, …
O is for Owl
. Burrowing owls live in North and South America and differ in quite a few regards to other owls. For a start, they are diminutive – about 7.5 inches, at the most 11. They are often active during the day, although they do hunt in the dawn and dusk. These owls eat small vertebrates and …
N is for Narwhal
Liz Brownlee . Narwhals are a type of whale, related most closely to the beluga – the long horn-like sword at the front of the males is actually a upper canine tooth that grows spirally out through their top lip. Scientists still don’t really know what they use it for – although there is one …
L is for Lion
. Mountain Lion . Not the thing but a way of saying it how a cat moves . like oil smoothed . golden treacle stretching down the tin . small, fastidious waves lapping . the first dark splashes of rain on pebbles . the slow wind of water from a tap . light flickering through …
k is for Komodo Dragon
Komodo . Komodo dragons live on a few Indonesian Islands, including the one that gives them their name. They are extremely large, aggressive lizards, growing up to 10 feet long. New research suggests that contrary to former opinion, that they grew so large because there was no competition on their isolated islands, they are actually …
J is for Javan Rhinoceros
Javan Rhino Some time ago I was Googling and was horrified by a photograph I saw of a rhinoceros with its horn hacked off – its face a gaping wound, it stood, a dejected, beaten animal. It had to be put down. I just have not been able to put the image out of my …
I is for Iridiomyrmex cordatus
Drawing uses photo taken by Alex Wild – website here . Iridiomyrmex cordatus is a species of ant, that lives high in the trees in the rainforests of southeast Asia and Australia, inside a epiphyte – a plant that lives its life on the tree and gains its needs from it. This particular epiphyte lives …
G is for Greenfinch
This is a slightly different post, and a true story. Greenfinches hold a very special place in my heart. When I was a child, my friend Sharon brought round two baby birds whose nest had been destroyed. I used to volunteer at the vets’ and I took them both along to find out how to …
F is for Fallow Deer
Fallow Deer . There – but so nearly not like a still from a film . only held by absence of the next . before I breathe her detail of long-legged vigilance . eyes wide with me inside . she completes her design in the air . Liz Brownlee . Fallow deer are not endemic …
E is for Earthworm
Earthworms! . Earthworms are VITAL! Earthworms burrow endlessly through the soil and break down all the organic litter and rubbish and recycle it into the soil, enriching and fertilising it, keeping it healthy with air and releasing trapped carbon dioxide. Every plant in the world is serviced by earthworms, without them we would have no …
lizbrownlee - poet 