Flower Friday – Frangipani

June 3, 2016June 3, 2016 ~ laura lecce ~ 12 Comments

Frangipani - Photograph by Laura Lecce — Frangipani – Photograph by Laura Lecce

The frangipani (Plumeria) is a beautiful plant with gorgeous flowers that come in varieties of whites, yellow, oranges and pinks. Although native to Central and South America, they are a popular plant that can now be found in most tropical places around the world. This plant however, is not without its quirks, being related to Oleander, both produce an irritating sap similar to Euphorbia plants (click here to see my post on Euphorbia). Frangipanis are also fragrant, most heavily at night, to attract the sphinx moth under the false pretense that the flowers contain a sweet smelling nectar. As the moth goes from flower to flower in search of the non-existent nectar, it is in fact being duped into pollinating the flowers. Cheeky frangipanis…. Have a great weekend everyone!

Flower Friday – Pink Speckled Phalaenopsis

May 27, 2016May 27, 2016 ~ laura lecce ~ 12 Comments

Pink Speckled Phal - Photograph by Laura Lecce — Pink Speckled Phal – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Actually the proper name for this orchid is Doritaenopsis Ackers Sweetie ‘Dragon Tree Maple.’ It is one of my favorite hybrids to grow at home, mostly because the flowers were so big (the size of my palm) and so interesting to look at. Every time I look into the pink speckles of this flower it looks like a huge colony of bats flying away from the cave in the center and getting further and further into the distance as they fly away. Maybe I just have a vivid imagination, but either way the pattern on this flower really does come alive! Have a fantastic weekend everyone!

If you’d like to see more Flower Friday posts, please click here.

Orangutan Sanctuary

May 25, 2016May 25, 2016 ~ laura lecce ~ 6 Comments

Orangutan - Photograph by Laura Lecce — Orangutan – Photograph by Laura Lecce

One of my most memorable wildlife experiences was visiting an orangutan sanctuary at the Rasa Ria Nature Reserve in Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia. This reserve provides protected space where orphaned orangutans are rehabilitated and hopefully reintroduced into their natural habitat. Here the orangutans are taught the skills they need to eventually live an independent life. Orangutans are native to Indonesia and Malaysia and are currently found only in the rainforests of Borneo (island shared by Malaysia, Indonesia and Brunei) and Sumatra (Indonesian island). Watching juvenile orangutans is such a heartwarming pleasure. They are intelligent, playful, inquisitive and tactile animals, that it brings sadness to remember that they are at the sanctuary because of poaching and deforestation. Though it is because of these sanctuaries that people are made aware, educated and hopefully interested in actively saving these precious animals.

To see my other posts with primates click here.

Pod of Pelicans

May 23, 2016May 23, 2016 ~ laura lecce ~ 14 Comments

Pelicans can be found in many countries around the world, but none of them quite compare with the strikingly beautiful, black and white feathered, pink billed features of the Australian Pelican. For a medium bodied pelican, it actually possesses the largest bill size of any bird in existence. Quite common in Australia, these birds are a icon of the Australian coast. This photo was taken in Western Australia, and this pod of pelicans are patiently waiting for a feed from a local fisherman who is cleaning his recently caught fish to the right of this photo. These graceful birds which are usually quite polite and not overly aggressive for their size, feed on fish, insects, yabbies and shrimp, but should not be underestimated, for even small dogs have been swallowed by these large billed birds.

Click here for other posts from Western Australia.

Teddy Bear Crab

May 18, 2016May 18, 2016 ~ laura lecce ~ 18 Comments

This furry little creature is called a Teddy Bear Crab because its body and legs are covered in fur (setae). You can imagine my surprise to find a crab covered in fur, but there are actually many different species of this little crab. I took this photo in a very shallow reef off the coast of Vanuatu (a pacific island nation about 3 hours flight from the east coast of Australia). This shallow reef was partly exposed each day at low tide and was a great place to observe and photograph many weird and wonderful sea critters. This particular crab is covered in fur to trap sand and sediment which help it camouflage itself on the sandy floor. Some species of this crab have been seen carrying around mini stinging anemones in their two front claws to present to any potential threats it might encounter. A very ingenuitive way of forcing other marine creatures to be portable body guards.

For other posts on underwater creatures click here.

Flower Friday – Bromeliad

May 13, 2016May 13, 2016 ~ laura lecce ~ 18 Comments

Bromeliad - Photograph by Laura Lecce — Bromeliad – Photograph by Laura Lecce

I just love this photo of a bromeliad flower. The fiery red stem, pretty purples and pinks of the flower bases against the lime green leaves, what a gorgeous display of intense colors. Bromeliads are quite a well known plant with a huge variety of colors and sizes. The smallest one being Spanish moss, and the largest one, Queen of the Andes reaches 3 meters (almost 10 feet) tall, with a flower spike of 9-10 meters (32 feet) tall! Most of you would have at some point eaten a bromeliad…the pineapple (which will no doubt appear in a future post). Have a bright and colorful weekend everyone!

Existence

May 11, 2016May 11, 2016 ~ laura lecce ~ 4 Comments

This Buddha head enveloped within a tangle of roots belonging to a banyan tree is one of the most recognizable images in Thailand. It is located in Wat Mahathat (a Buddhist temple ruin) in the city of Ayutthaya (the ancient capital of Siam). A temple that was built in the 14th century but later ravaged by invading Burmese which destroyed many of the Buddha statues by lopping off their heads. To me this sacred site is a symbol that even things seemingly destroyed can endure and continue to have a meaningful existence beyond the ruins they have become.

Clownfish Quirks

May 9, 2016March 7, 2017 ~ laura lecce ~ 2 Comments

So these little fish are more amazing than I ever knew. They live amongst anemone tentacles protected by a layer of mucous that covers their body. This symbiotic relationship means that clownfish are protected from predators, and get left over scraps of food from the anemone. In exchange the clownfish drive off intruders and keep the anemone clean of parasites. Interestingly all clownfish are born male, but the largest clownfish in a group is female. If she dies, her mate increases in size and transforms into a female and subsequently mates with the next largest male. It is thought that because adult clownfish rarely stray from their homes, this evolutionary trait ensures that there is always a female and a male in the small group.

For my other post on clownfish Click here.

Mum and Bub Pademelon

May 2, 2016November 22, 2016 ~ laura lecce ~ 7 Comments

Sorry to inundate you with such cuteness on Monday morning, but this photo was too adorable to not to share. This pademelon youngster following its mother around is about 6-8 months of age. Interestingly, mum is likely to already have another joey in the pouch. The reproductive cycle is a bit complicated, but stick with me on this. When mum gives birth to a new born (after 3 weeks gestation) the little jelly bean climbs up her tummy and into the pouch where it lives for the next 6 months. As soon as the baby is born, mum is immediately receptive to mating again. If she does and the egg is fertilized, it is put into a state of suspended animation until the current joey exits the pouch. When the pouch is vacated, the blastocyst continues to develop and the newest baby is born. It then climbs into the pouch and attaches itself to a teat for milk. The youngster outside the pouch will still put its head into the pouch for milk (where it meets its younger sibling). Even more interesting is that mum is making newborn milk for the little joey, and from a separate teat, toddler milk for the older sibling, and has a blastocyst in suspended animation as a backup. Talk about a very efficient parenting strategy!

For my other post about pademelons click here.

Flower Friday – Euphorbia Didieriodes

April 29, 2016March 9, 2017 ~ laura lecce ~ 19 Comments

Euphorbia Didieriodes - Photograph by Laura Lecce — Euphorbia Didieriodes – Photograph by Laura Lecce

Last month at the New York botanic gardens I went to see the orchid display, when in fact these non-orchid photos turned out to be my favorites. In the dessert section was this beautiful plant native to Madagascar called Euphorbia didieriodes. The plant itself isn’t widely known, and I found little information on it, although other Euphorbias are common house/garden plants. I love these photos mainly because it surprised me that such delicate, cute little red flowers were poking out of a formidably thorny plant!

Happy weekend everyone!