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Bald eagle perched in an eucalyptus tree.

Flock of five calmly crossing Back Bay drive in front of the Newport Dunes.

Warming up in early sunlight waiting for some air movement.

Been hanging around since mid-November. Shot on phone through binoculars.

Such a scenic commute, hopefully things align to allow biking more often.

In breeding plumage, love the tassels.

Although this came to light in the past, it was again reveled during Trump's election interference trial. In a quid pro quo arrangement, Arnold agreed to remain editor of Muscle & Fitness and Flex magazines, if the National Enquirer would kill stories that could damage Arnold's carefully crafted image.

Newport Bay Conservancy volunteers returning from the last king tide cleanup of the season.

Lighting, background and subject matter came together on this one, I was just there to record.

Took advantage of todays 6.8 high tide giving access to clean otherwise inaccessible areas of the UNBR marsh. Sit on tops do have areas where they excel.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10458716

Flowers are “giving up on” pollinators and evolving to be less attractive to them as insect numbers decline, researchers have said.

A study has found the flowers of field pansies growing near Paris are 10% smaller and produce 20% less nectar than flowers growing in the same fields 20 to 30 years ago. They are also less frequently visited by insects.

“Our study shows that pansies are evolving to give up on their pollinators,” said Pierre-Olivier Cheptou, one of the study’s authors and a researcher at the French National Centre for Scientific Research. “They are evolving towards self-pollination, where each plant reproduces with itself, which works in the short term but may well limit their capacity to adapt to future environmental changes.”

Plants produce nectar for insects, and in return insects transport pollen between plants. This mutually beneficial relationship has formed over millions of years of coevolution. But pansies and pollinators may now be stuck in a vicious cycle: plants are producing less nectar and this means there will be less food available to insects, which will in turn accelerate declines.