Saturday, April 30, 2022

Pic(k) of the Week: Happy International Jazz Day!

Salsa!


Here: Keeping clave time with Orquesta MaCuba, at the Inman Park Festival in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

I shot this image on 23 April 2022...but International Jazz Day is celebrated today and, in fact, every year on the 30th of April. Jazz lives!

International Jazz Day is an International Day declared by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2011 "to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe." It is celebrated annually on April 30. The idea came from jazz pianist and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Herbie Hancock. Jazz Day is chaired by Hancock and the UNESCO Director-General [Audrey Azoulay]. The celebration is recognized on the calendars of both UNESCO and the United Nations.
Wikipedia

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Saturday, April 23, 2022

Pic(k) of the Week: Rare Sarracenia oreophila, blooming

Rare Sarracenia oreophila, blooming

The yellow blossom of an endangered, carnivous(!) green pitcher plant, growing in the wild, on the bank of a pond, in Legacy Park of the city of Decatur, Georgia, USA. 16 April 2022.

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The more you know...

Sarracenia oreophila, also known as the green pitcher plant, is a carnivorous plant in the genus Sarracenia [growing in wetland environments].

In early spring, the plant produces large, yellow flowers with 5-fold symmetry. The yellow petals are long and strap-like, and dangle over the umbrella-like style of the flower, which is held upside down at the end of a 20-inch long (50 cm) scape. The stigma of the flower are found at the tips of the 'spokes' of this umbrella.

In late spring, the plant devlops highly modified leaves in the form of pitchers that act as pitfall traps for prey, such as small insects. The narrow pitcher leaves are tapered tubes that rise up to 30 inches (75 cm) from the ground, with a mouth 2 to 4 inches (6-10 cm) in circumference.
Wikipedia.

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Now, the bad news

Native to the southeast U.S., the green pitcher plant is an extremely endangered species [due to human development and forest succession] and now only can be found in a handful of counties in northeast Georgia [including Decatur], southwest North Carolina, and northeast Alabama.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Green pitcher plants, surviving

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Saturday, April 16, 2022

Saturday, April 09, 2022

Pic(k) of the Week: Bird on a vine

Bird on a vine

This northern mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos) may have posed for me; but, boy, did he give me a death stare.

He (and I) were hanging out at the Wheland Foundry Trailhead of the Tennessee Riverwalk, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, USA, on 20 March 2022.

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Saturday, April 02, 2022

Pic(k) of the Week: West on Eastside BeltLine

West on Eastside BeltLine

A corrugated metal wall separates Wylie Avenue from the Hulsey Rail Yard, alongside the BeltLine trail, in the Reynoldstown neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

The BeltLine is a former railway corridor around the core of Atlanta, now under development as a multi-use trail to circumnavigate the city.

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