Echoes in the Mist

This video is about young avocets in the Crezéepolder nature reserve in the Netherlands.

Protesters against the Dakota Access oil pipeline stand on a burned-out truck near Cannon Ball, N.D., on Nov. 21.(James MacPherson / Associated Press)

FARGO, N.D. — A judge on Monday ordered the Dakota Access pipeline shut down for additional environmental review more than three years after it began pumping oil — handing a victory to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and delivering a blow to U.S. President Donald Trump’s efforts to weaken public health and environmental protections it views as obstacles to businesses.

In a 24-page order, U.S. District Judge James Boasberg in Washington, D.C., wrote that he was “mindful of the disruption” that shutting down the pipeline would cause, but that it must be done within 30 days. Pipeline owner Energy Transfer Partners plans to ask a court to halt the order and will seek an expedited appeal, spokeswoman Vicki Granado said.

The order comes after Boesberg said in…

This 29 June 2020 video says about itself:

Captioned video showing and describing a new soft coral garden habitat discovered deep off the coast of Greenland.

From University College London in England:

Soft coral garden discovered in Greenland’s deep sea

June 29, 2020

A deep-sea soft coral garden habitat has been discovered in Greenlandic waters by scientists from UCL, ZSL and Greenland Institute of Natural Resources, using an innovative and low-cost deep-sea video camera built and deployed by the team.

The soft coral garden, presented in a new Frontiers in Marine Science paper, is the first habitat of this kind to have been identified and assessed in west Greenland waters.

The study has direct implications for the management of economically important deep-sea trawl fisheries, which are immediately adjacent to the habitat. The researchers hope that a 486 km2 area will be recognised as a ‘Vulnerable Marine Ecosystem’ under UN…

Scaly-Breasted Lorikeets,

are easy to hear,

but hard to see,

they blend in so perfectly with their arboreal home!

Cheers to you from the well camouflaged lorikeets in Oz~

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; men’s hearts failing them for fear and for looking after those things that are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken”  – (Luke 21:25, 26).

2020: The year of locust plagues, giant hornets, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, giant dust storms, wars, strange moons, wildfires, plagues, financial-market meltdowns, deadly tornado outbreaks, global riots and protests, and now – comets. We seem to have entered a region of space where the universe appears to be throwing more objects in our direction. We certainly get it now – the year 2020 will certainly go down by us as one of the worst on record.

And then there were five. Though we’re long overdue for the next great…

Diving in an offbeat Stonehenge feeling at Saxony-Anhalt, Germany

The western gate (Beltane / Lugnasad)

On the occasion of solcistice 2020 we visited the Woodhenge Pömmelte (Ringheiligtum von Pömmelte), a circular sanctuary in Saxony-Anhalt; in the evening of years’ longest day time had come to discover this ancient and magical spot. During this period of the year people usually enjoy the very long days, so this archeological site offered special guided tours on June 20 at 8:30 p.m, followed by the sunset at 9:28 p.m.

View through the outer palisades at dusk

Although weather was not ideal with a more grey sky and even a little bit of rain, some nice light effects emerged at the distant horizon when the sun finally disappeared, impressive moments that we longingly look for.

View on the sanctuary from the visitor’s platform

WoodhengePömmelte is a reconstructed circular earthwork of Neolithic times…

This video says about itself:

Stonehenge: Neolithic monument found at Durrington Walls (UK) – BBC News – 22nd June 2020

Stonehenge: Neolithic monument found near sacred site on Salisbury Plain (in Wiltshire), at Durrington Walls, just two miles away from Stonehenge.

From the University of Bradford in England:

Massive prehistoric circle near Stonehenge

‘Astonishing discovery’ offers new insights into lives of Neolithic ancestors

June 22, 2020

Summary: Archaeologists have discovered a major new prehistoric monument only a short distance away from Stonehenge. Fieldwork and analysis have revealed evidence for 20 or more massive, prehistoric shafts, measuring more than 10 metres in diameter and 5 metres deep. These shafts form a circle more than 2 kilometres in diameter and enclose an area greater than 3 square kilometres around the Durrington Walls henge, one of Britain’s largest henge monuments, and the famous, smaller prehistoric circle at Woodhenge.

What could…