Tag Archives: magic
D is for East Indian Wandering, Whistling Duck
A rather handsome wandering duck photo by FIR0002/Flagstaffotos. . . The beautiful deep red-brown and black-feathered, wandering whistling ducks are found in Northern and Eastern Australia as well as Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines and the Pacific Islands. . They prefer deep water where aquatic plants and insects are in plentiful supply. . They are gregarious …
Mermaid hunting in Bristol
Some of you may have heard that Bristol docks’ water quality has improved a lot in recent years, and is now so clean fish have been seen venturing up into Bristol. But you may not have heard about this… Last Thursday evening in Bristol, I was astonished to be accosted by a clearly unhinged man …
S number 1 is for Shoebill Stork
. Shoebill storks live in Africa, and are unusual, prehistoric-looking birds, about one and half metres tall. They have extraordinary, up to 30 cm long, shoe-shaped bills from which they derive their name. Not a huge amount is known about them – they hunt at night, are quite solitary, and live in impenetrable marshes. They …
R is for Rainbow Frog
The rainbow frog, rainbow burrowing frog or painted burrowing frog lives in dry forests and canyons in Madagascar. It is unusual because it has two adaptations for completely differing lifestyles. On its hind feet it has horny projections that help it burrow in the mud – where it spend up to ten months of the …
O is for Orangutan
This post is slightly more outspoken than heretofore… Orangutans are wonderful. Beautiful, gentle, intelligent – and they are very, very vulnerable. The forests both Sumatran and Bornean orangutans live in are being cut down mainly for plantations of palm oil. If you go into your kitchen and start looking at your labels, you will find …
M is for Manatee
Manatees are large, aquatic, bulbous, grey, whiskered, flippered, intelligent creatures that live in rivers, estuaries, bays, canals and coastal areas. They are slow-moving and also like to live in slow-moving water, where they rest and travel to find the sea grasses and other underwater vegetation they like to eat. They are the only totally herbivorous …
J for Javan Slow Loris
Slow lorises are beautiful, huge-eyed creatures that live in Indonesian forests in Java. Less than a foot long, they don’t jump through the trees like lemurs or monkeys, but climb slowly using lianas and vines to get from tree to tree. They eat fruit, eggs, lizards, tree gum and chocolate seeds, are seen alone or …
H (number 2) is for Hare
The Corsican or Italian hare prefers grasslands and pastures and is fairly common in some areas but missing or rare in others. It has only relatively recently been shown to be a different species to the European hare. Its population is generally low, and threats to it include the introduction of the European rabbit, predation, …
H (number 1) is for Hippopotamus
I like hippopotamuses. I have written two poems about them… one of which is in my book, and one of which is posted below – and both of them are painted onto a giant reversible jigsaw. Hippos are considered to be the most dangerous animal living in Africa, killing more humans than all the other …
lizbrownlee - poet 