Syria rejects UN calls for unilateral truce
 

Regime says opposition fighters must stop the violence first, as it deploys soldiers in rebel-held town in Idlib.

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Fall Farm Ferals
 

Location: Mendota, Illinois, USA

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Here is a batch of kittens born on the farm to a feral mama. I am working with my dad who feeds the colony, to try and trap her and get her spayed. Our family farm has outbuildings they live in. I volunteer for a no-kill .org where I live, and am contacting needed resources in his area to assist. Baby “fuzzy faces”, arent they so cute!



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Amethyst Sunbird
 

http://blog.wildlife-pictures-online...d_cp-9420a.jpghttp://blog.wildlife-pictures-online...d_cp-9420a.jpgCaption: Male Amethyst Sunbird on Freylinia tropica shrub, showing the bird’s all black body with distinctive metallic green forecrown and iridescent purple throat and shoulder patches, Curry’s Post, KZN, South Africa.

Camera: Canon EOS 50D; Lens Canon EF 400mm f/5.6L USM; Focal length 400mm; Shutter speed: 1/500; Aperture: f/5.6; ISO 400; Exposure compensation: +2/3.

The Amethyst Sunbird (Chalcomitra amethystina), previously called the Black Sunbird, is one of three sunbird species that regularly feed in our garden. The others are the Malachite Sunbird (Nectarinia famosa) and Southern Double-Collared Sunbird (Cinnyris chalybeus).

Sunbirds, because of their small size and the way they flit from flower to flower at high speed, are not easy to photograph.

I’ve found the best time to snap them is when they settle for a moment to feed on nectar from a flower, or perch briefly on a twig before flying off. Then you have to hope they aren’t partly hidden by flowers or leaves, or in mottled shade from the foliage. And, of course, you need a catchlight in the eyes, so the head needs to be facing the right direction.

With patience and luck this is all doable. The Amethyst, however, presents an additional problem and that’s getting the exposure right. The feathers on its black body seem to suck in light, so you have to over-expose to capture any detail, even in direct sunlight. But the crown and throat are iridescent, reflecting any light hitting these areas. This means a pretty wide exposure range, forcing some compromises when trying to show both shadow and highlight detail, which is the case in the photo above and in the one below.

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(Please Note: If you're not reading this post on Wildlife Photography Blog from Wildlife Pictures Online, then you're not seeing the original version. Please go to Amethyst Sunbird to read the original.)

http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wild...?d=yIl2AUoC8zA http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wild...GI:F7zBnMyn0Lo http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wild...GI:V_sGLiPBpWU http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wild...?d=qj6IDK7rITs http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wild...?d=l6gmwiTKsz0 http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wild...GI:gIN9vFwOqvQ http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/Wild...?d=TzevzKxY174
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Wildl...~4/IWeIc7BPpd0

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Poker Pros Fear Nevada's Online Poker Liquidity Pool
 

Poker players weigh in about online poker in Nevada and whether the state's liqiuidy pool will be large enough to make a living as a pro.

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South Point Looking For Web 'Poker Investigators'
 

South Point Poker, likely to be Nevada’s first ever real-money online poker site, is currently looking to hire “poker investigators” in anticipation of its launch this fall. According to the ...

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Russian Interior Minister sees ideological extremism as primary security threat
 

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The chief of the Russian police has named extremist activities aimed at changing the state and the seizure of power by force, as the main threats to the country.
Read Full Article at RT.com

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The Natural Poll: Where We Stand
 

Obama Defends Debate Performance: 'I Was Just Too Polite'
 

Forum: Newslinks & Articles Posted By: WhiteRights Post Time: 10-10-2012 at 08:33 PM

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Bright Object on Mars
 

This image from the right Mast Camera (Mastcam) of NASA\'s Mars rover Curiosity shows a scoop full of sand and dust lifted by the rover\'s first use of the scoop on its robotic arm. In the foreground, near the bottom of the image, a bright object is visible on the ground. The object might be a piece of rover hardware.

This image was taken during the mission\'s 61st Martian day, or sol (Oct. 7, 2012), the same sol as the first scooping. After examining Sol 61 imaging, the rover team decided to refrain from using the arm on Sol 62 (Oct. 8). Instead, the rover was instructed to acquire additional imaging of the bright object, on Sol 62, to aid the team in assessing possible impact, if any, to sampling activities.

For scale, the scoop is 1.8 inches (4.5 centimeters) wide, 2.8 inches (7 centimeters) long.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

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Venus Clouds
 

False-colour image of cloud features seen on Venus by the Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) on Venus Express. The image was captured from a distance of 30 000 km on 8 December 2011. The VMC was designed and built by a consortium of German institutes lead by the Max-Planck Institute for Solar System Research in Katlenburg-Lindau. Venus Express has been in orbit around the planet since 2006.

Credits: ESA/MPS/DLR/IDA

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