Tag Archives: America

Roseate Spoonbill

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Roseate Spoonbill

Roseate spoonbills are really as vivid as a rose against the lakes.

  • Roseate spoonbills are a species of bird found mostly in lake, swampy and mangrove areas of South America, but also in Central America, and southern parts of North America.
  • The scientific name of a roseate spoonbill is Platalea ajaja, and is also known as Ajaia ajaja, and is from the family Threskiornithidae, the family of spoonbills and ibises.
  • Roseate spoonbills generally grow to be 60 to 80 centimetres (23.6 to 31.5 inches) in height and have a wingspan of 110 to 130 centimetres (43 to 51 inches).
  • The plumage colour of roseate spoonbills is a combination of pinks, whites and reds, and they often have some pale green, grey and orange features.
  • Roseate spoonbills are wading birds, and as such their diet consists primarily of aquatic insects, small fish, and shrimp.
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Roseate Spoonbill
Image courtesy of Insu Nuzzi/Flickr
  • Female roseate spoonbills typically produce a clutch of two to five white eggs that are speckled with brown, which are laid in a nest they build, usually in a tree near water.
  • The 15 to 18 centimetres (6 to 7 inches) long, flat-ended bill of a roseate spoonbill is utilised by swinging back and forth underwater to collect food, and on it are sensors that allows the bird to know when it has come in contact with food.
  • A roseate spoonbill does not usually sit or lie down when asleep and instead stands, often on one of its long legs, while tucking its head into its plumage.
  • Roseate spoonbills have an average lifespan of ten to fifteen years; and they live in flocks, and when in flight, they are typically arranged in a pattern, often diagonally.
  • The habitat of roseate spoonbills is under threat in a number of regions; and they have been traditionally hunted for both food and for their striking feathers, however, they have since been protected for many years in some areas, and are listed as ‘least concern’.
Bibliography:
Roseate Spoonbill, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roseate_spoonbill
Roseate Spoonbill, 2016, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/roseate-spoonbill/
Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), 2015, Nature Works, http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/roseatespoonbill.htm
Roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja), n.d, Wildscreen Arkive, http://www.arkive.org/roseate-spoonbill/platalea-ajaja/

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Garlic Bread

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Garlic Bread

There’s no garlic bread on the menu? Okay, that’s an issue.

  • Garlic bread is a bread-based food item typically flavoured with garlic and butter, margarine or oil.
  • Crusty bread, such as a baguette, is commonly used to create garlic bread, and the already cooked bread is spread with a combination of butter and garlic, or soaked or drizzled in oil and rubbed in garlic, and occasionally cheeses and herbs are also added.
  • Garlic bread is popularly served as an entree or accompaniment to a main meal, especially with Italian food.
  • Garlic bread is generally heated in an oven or a frypan, or grilled, typically until toasted lightly.
  • Preparation of garlic bread can be undergone in two main ways – firstly, cutting the bread in slices and then adding flavours to each slice, or partially cutting the bread and drizzling the cut area with oils and herbs.
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Garlic Bread
Image courtesy of Marco Arment/Flickr
  • Garlic bread is derived from the Italian bruschetta, a thickly sliced bread-based dish rubbed with olive oil and garlic gloves, which was originally considered peasant food, and most likely a tradition passed down from the Ancient Romans.
  • It is common to find ready-made garlic bread, frozen or refrigerated, sold at supermarkets, so that it is only required to be heated at home.
  • Garlic bread was likely brought to America by Italian immigrants, originally as bruschetta, but due to the lack of olive oil and other ingredients, butter was substituted and later adapted to make a different dish.
  • The texture of garlic bread can be either crisp or soft, which generally depends on the preparation type, but also length of cooking, and to obtain a soft texture, the prepared bread is generally wrapped in aluminium foil and placed in the oven.
  • During preparation, garlic bread can be cut a number of ways – on a diagonal down the length of the baguette; straight across; length-ways from end to end; sliced in half length-ways and then sliced diagonally or straight across; or partially sliced through, straight across or diagonally.
Bibliography:
Bread, 2015, Food Timeline, http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodbreads.html#garlicbread
Garlic Bread, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garlic_bread
Garlic Bread, n.d, ifood.tv, http://ifood.tv/bread/garlic-bread/about
There is No Such Thing as “Garlic Bread”, 2011, The View from my Italian Kitchen, http://ronjamesitaliankitchen.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/theres-no-such-thing-as-garlic-bread.html

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Guatemala

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Guatemala

Guatemala is a site of exquisite history, both modern and ancient.

  • Guatemala is a small, Central American country located beneath Mexico, surrounded by the Pacific Ocean and the Caribbean, and the countries Belize, Honduras and El Salvador.
  • ‘Guatemala’ is also known under the official name of the ‘Republic of Guatemala’, and the name of the country comes from the Ancient Aztec language, derived from the word ‘Cuauchtēmallān’, meaning ‘place of many trees’.
  • Guatemala’s first inhabitants were the Mayan civilisation, however, they were conquered by the Spanish who arrived from 1517, and the natives were fully defeated in 1697.
  • Guatemala had a population estimation of just fewer than 16 million people in 2014, and the country covers an area of almost 109,000 square kilometres (42,085 square miles).
  • In 1821, Guatemala was declared independent from Spain, however the country only became a republic with a subsequently chosen president in 1847.
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Image courtesy of Sara Fratti/Flickr
  • Guatemala is quite a mountainous region with a mixture of sandy and forest habitats, featuring two main mountain ranges – unsurprising considering the country is situated on a fault line – and it has 33 extinct and 4 active volcanoes.
  • The Guatemala capital, now known as ‘Guatemala City’, has been subject to multiple relocations, initially moving south-east in 1527 after an attack on the city; and relocating in 1541 and 1773, due to flooding and earthquakes respectively.
  • Guatemala has consistently been a location of political unrest and high criminal activity, having its own revolution from 1944 to 1954, and an ongoing civil war from 1960 to 1996, which resulted in millions of refugees and displacements, and hundreds of thousands of deaths.
  • Guatemala primarily produces vegetables, fruit and textiles, as well as nickel and petroleum and some other commodities, and has a GDP of approximately US$7,500 per capita in 2014.
  • Due to its ancient historical importance, particularly of Mayan culture, Guatemala is a popular destination for tourism, receiving around two million visitors a year.
Bibliography:
Guatemala, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemala
Guatemala, n.d, Australian Government Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, https://smartraveller.gov.au/countries/guatemala
Guatemala, n.d, The World Factbook, https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gt.html

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Arctic Hare

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Arctic Hare

Don’t lose your hair over the Arctic hare.

  • Arctic hares are a species of hare native to the Arctic Circle, primarily in northern parts of Canada, Greenland, and islands of the Arctic.
  • The scientific name of Arctic hares is Lepus arcticus and it is from the family Leporidae, the family of rabbits and hares.
  • ‘Arctic hares’ are also known as ‘polar hares’ and ‘polar rabbits’, and they are said to be the largest species of hare in existence.
  • Arctic hares generally range from 48 to 67 centimetres (19 to 26 inches) in length and weigh 2.5 to 5.5 kilograms (5.5 to 12.1 pounds), though they can be heavier.
  • The diet of Arctic hares consists primarily of leaves from certain species of low growing plants, as well as twigs, roots, grass, moss and flowers depending on the season, while sometimes they are known to consume meat.
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Arctic Hare
Image courtesy of Jodie Wilson/Flickr
  • In winter, Arctic hares are generally white in colour to blend into their environment, and they become a blue-grey or brown-grey colour in the months without snow, so that they are more camouflaged in their habitat; however, hares in the northern regions, with short summers, may remain white or grey all year round.
  • Female Arctic hares typically have two to eight young each year, during a period between April to September, and the young are generally able to fend for themselves after nine weeks.
  • It is common for Arctic hares to live alone, however some gather in groups reaching hundreds of individuals; and they have an average lifespan of three to five years.
  • Arctic hares can reach speeds of 64 kilometres per hour (40 miles per hour), achieving such speeds when threatened by predators like wolves, foxes, and large birds of prey; and they are also proficient swimmers and diggers.
  • The Arctic hare has been hunted by humans for its meat, as well as its soft, thick and absorbent fur which is used for clothes, throughout much of North America’s history.
Bibliography:
Arctic Hare, 2016, A-Z Animals, http://a-z-animals.com/animals/arctic-hare/
Arctic Hare, 2016, National Geographic, http://animals.nationalgeographic.com.au/animals/mammals/arctic-hare/
Arctic Hare, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_hare
Lepus Arcticus, 2014, Animal Diversity Web, http://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Lepus_arcticus/

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Pokémon

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Pokémon

Gotta Catch ’em All – the Pokémon slogan.

  • Pokémon is a major video gaming franchise published by Nintendo and produced by Game Freak, of which the main series has been and is released on Nintendo’s handheld consoles; and the game developers, Game Freak, nearly became bankrupt due to the lengthy production of the first games.
  • Pokémon follows a role-playing game format were the player is depicted as a human, named a ‘trainer’, that travels the land to find, capture, battle, train, evolve, and trade the fictional creatures named “Pokémon”.
  • The term “Pokémon” is a contraction, derived from the Japanese name “Poketto Monsutā”, meaning “Pocket Monsters”, and during early development the game was known as “Capsule Monsters”.
  • The idea for Pokémon was created by video game designer Satoshi Tajiri, from Japan, however he was unsuccessful in marketing it to Nintendo for development, until Shigeru Miyamoto, also a Japanese video game designer, identified its potential and initiated its development around 1990.
  • Pokémon was inspired by the hobby of insect collecting and the aspiration for the creator to introduce the new generation to an equally pleasurable hobby involving creatures, in a quickly industrialising Japan.

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Pokémon Logo
Image courtesy of The Pokémon Company
  • Pokémon has been adapted from the handheld games into multiple spin-off versions, including a unique and anticipated massive multiplayer location-based game, and it has been adapted into film, anime, manga, trading cards, figurines and more.
  • The first Pokémon game was released in early 1996, exclusive to Japan as a Red version and Green version for the Game Boy handheld device, and it originally experienced average sales until the Japanese magazine CoroCoro began a competition allowing a small number of people to obtain a previously unknown bonus character, which subsequently boosted sales and general popularity.
  • The general aesthetics of the first Pokémon versions were below average, however these aesthetics were pleasingly enhanced in the similar Blue version, which had a limited release in 1996, and in the sequels Gold and Silver, both released commercially in 1999 in Japan.
  • Pokémon risked changes to its visuals on its importation to America to better cater for its audience, but it was eventually released faithful to the originals under the Red and Blue versions in 1998.
  • As of the end of 2015, the Pokémon franchise consisted of 721 known individual Pokémon species across six generations, and a total of twenty-four main-series games.
Bibliography:
20 Years of Pokémon, 2016, Nintendo/Creatures Inc., http://www.pokemon20.com/lite/timeline.html
History of Pokémon, 2016, Bulbapedia, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/History_of_Pok%C3%A9mon
Pokémon, 2016, Bulbapedia, http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon
Pokémon, 2016, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon

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Caño Cristales

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Caño Cristales

Rainbows are jealous of the beauty of Caño Cristales.

  • Caño Cristales is a brightly and abnormally coloured river found in Colombia’s Meta region, in South America.
  • Caño Cristales is not calm – instead the fast flowing water includes waterfalls and rapids, and the river also includes a number of pools.
  • During the peak season, Caño Cristales sports vivid colours including red, black, blue, green and yellow.
  • Caño Cristales is said to contain no fish, and it is situated in a mountainous region with nearby grasslands.
  • The total length of Caño Cristales is 100 kilometres (62 miles) and it lies in the Serrania de la Macarena National Park.
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Part of Caño Cristales
Image courtesy of rachelcifelli/Flickr
  • The red colours of Caño Cristales are caused by the riverweed Macarenia clavigera, which changes from green to red when the water and sun conditions are at a certain level, while other colours in the river are caused by a combination of water, rocks and sand.
  • ‘Caño Cristales’ can be literally translated as ‘glass spout’ or ‘crystal spout’ from Spanish, and it is also known as ‘the River of Five Colours’ and ‘Liquid Rainbow’.
  • Some weeks, between June and December, the colours of Caño Cristales reach their peak, and this is the best time to visit.
  • Caño Cristales is in a remote area, only accessed by aircraft, then boat, and even then, a hike is required.
  • Tourists were unable to visit Caño Cristales for 20 years, from 1989 to 2008, mainly due to guerrilla warfare in the area, but also because of the potential negative effect they would have on the habitat, however, visitors have been able to tour the area since 2009 with authorised tourism companies
Bibliography:
Caño Cristales, 2015, Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ca%C3%B1o_Cristales
Caño Cristales, 2016, Atlas Obscura, http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/cano-cristales
Catchpole K, Columbia’s Liquid Rainbow, 2014, BBC Travel, http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20140903-colombias-liquid-rainbow
Introducing Caño Cristales, 2016, Lonely Planet, http://www.lonelyplanet.com/colombia/cano-cristales

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