Blogging with mehar_mah

Rhododendron flowers and Bucura mountain lakes, Retezat Mountains in Carpathians, Romania A post for nature lovers! The oldest national park in Romania is located in the high mountains of the Southern Carpathians.  In addition to numerous deep blue glacial lakes - such as Bucura Lake, which we see here - the protected area also has over 60 mountain peaks with a height of over 2,300 meters.  The Retezat National Park also serves to protect one of the last primary forests in Europe.  Many animals live here, including golden eagles, wolves and brown bears.  But the flora is also impressive: a third of all plant species found in Romania can be found in the park.

An egret perches on a post at Lake Salton in California, USA Looking into the distance! Migratory birds are reliable frequent flyers who set off at the same time each year to fly approximately the same distance.  In search of food and water sources, the birds often fly long distances to reach breeding areas or wintering places.  Today is an important stopover for migratory birds: Lake Salton, the largest lake in California. This shallow salt lake was formed when a dam broke in 1905 and the Colorado River flowed into an approximately 56 km long basin with extensive salt deposits.  Today it attracts hundreds of bird species in what is considered one of the most important concentrations of bird life in mainland America. Most of these birds are only passing through and migrate along the north-south route known as the Pacific Flyway.  They gather there, sometimes in millions, to feed and gain strength before moving on.  Some birds, like the heron pictured...

Aerial view of Siesta Beach, Siesta Key, Florida Fiesta at Siesta Here we are in mid-March already, the time of year when American college-aged revellers invade the world's beaches, like this one on Florida's Siesta Key. Located in Sarasota County off the state's western shore, the island beach is a fixture on lists of America's top beaches, a standout even in a state where soft, welcoming sands compose over half the 1,900-kilometre coastline. Using the onset of spring in the region as an excuse to cut loose is nothing new, going back at least to the ancient Greeks and Romans. But spring break as we know it (a holiday period during early spring at American universities and schools) originated in the 1930's, when Fort Lauderdale began welcoming college swim teams for training. In March 1961, over 50,000 young people vacationed in the city. By the '70s, rising prices and increasing consternation of locals began driving the party from Fort Lauderdale t...

Lupins growing at Lake Tekapo, on New Zealand's South Island.