King Penguins

The king penguin (Aptenodytes patagonicus) is a large species of penguin, second only to the emperor penguin in size.

King penguins eat small fish, mainly lanternfish, and squid. They are less reliant on krill and other crustaceans than most Southern Ocean predators. On foraging trips king penguins repeatedly dive to over 100 metres (300 ft), and have been recorded at depths greater than 300 metres (1,000 ft).

King penguins breed on the subantarctic islands at the northern reaches of Antarctica, South Georgia, and other temperate islands of the region.

The king penguin is the emblem of Edinburgh Zoo.

Mersey Tunnel

At the time of its opening The Queensway Tunnel linking Liverpool and Birkenhead under the river Mersey was the longest road tunnel in the world, a title it held for 14 years until the opening of the Vielha Tunnel in Spain in 1948, though it remained the longest underwater tunnel as of 1955. The tunnel, which cost a total of £8 million, was opened on 18 July 1934 by king George V, the opening ceremony was watched by 200,000 people. 

There were also dock exits and entrances at both ends, controlled by traffic lights..

In those days the tunnel had green toll booths at the ends, manned by attendants who handed out tickets.  

This ticket was among the possessions of my Uncle Eric.  He retained it because it was a memento of the day he came through the tunnel to Liverpool to get married at Liverpool Registry Office.

The Avocet

Partner-who-loves-tea and I have just had a week away and one of the places we visited was Birdland at Bourton-on-the-Water.  One of the birds we saw there was the Pied Avocet.  The four species of avocets are a genus, Recurvirostra, of waders in the same avian family as the stilts. The genus name is from Latin recurvus, "curved backwards" and rostrum, "bill".  The common name is thought to be derived from the Italian (Ferrarese) word avosetta.   Francis Willughby in 1678 noted it as the "Avosetta of the Italians".   

Avocets have long legs and they sweep their long, thin, upcurved bills from side to side when feeding in the brackish or saline wetlands they prefer.

The Pied Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta ) is a distinctively-patterned black and white wader with a long up-curved beak. It is the emblem of the RSPB and symbolises the bird protection movement in the UK more than any other species.

They had been extinct in Britain for a long time because of land reclamation of their habitat and persecution by skin and egg collectors, but during or soon after World War II started breeding on reclaimed land near the Wash which was returned to salt marsh to make difficulties for any landing German invaders.  Its return in the 1940s and subsequent increase in numbers represents one of the most successful conservation and protection projects.

Avocets are found along the east coast of England in summer and in the Exe estuary in winter. 

 

Do you remember

Do you remember taking the primus stove on your picnics?

Do you remember?