For the Love of the Hummingbird-

For the Love of the Hummingbird-

HERE ARE A SOME FUN GIFT MOVING
IMAGES I FOUND FOR YOU!
I HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM AS MUCH AS
I.. HAPPY HOLIDAYS 
MUCH HAPPINESS AND PEACE TO
YOU ALL MY DEAR FRIENDS AND 
READERS.. YOUR WENDY...

 

The Sword Billed Hummingbird

The Sword Billed Hummingbird- 
For my Love for the hummingbird my dears

Yes I haven't forgotten my group of post on
The Hummingbird!
This next one I think you will find quite amazing little bird with his long bill that can reach up to 4 inches long. It is the only member of the hummingbirds to have this amazing bill of such length too. Plus its a beak and bill combined. 
The Sword Billed Hummingbird - Ensifera his other name. He is commonly compared with his Cousin the Ruby-throat hummingbird whose bills can reach up to 3inches in length - beak and body combined!

These beautiful hummers crazily exaggerated their bills that have evolved
to help them feed from tubular type flowers like that of  the fuchsia's. It's kinda reminds me of the 'Pinocchio' of the hummingbird world.. Yet I believe that its the good boy of the children's story.

Sword-bills hummers are the only birds that can reach nectar deep  

inside the corollas and in the process of doing that, they transfer pollen from flower to flower. So they too are like the bee's. They are amazing little birds and that's why I love them so. And My Rosy!
With such a long bill, these Sword Billed Hummingbirds also has an extremely long tongue too! So when the tiny bird perches, it can hold it bill vertically in an effort to reduce the strain on its neck.

These Beautiful hummingbirds are  charismatic hummer from Andean South America. It is found from Venezuela and Colombia

to the Northern parts of Bolivia in the South. It belongs to the Monotypic - Ensifer species of hummingbirds. They are quite different from all the other types of hummingbirds because of their; metallic green and bronzed overall look.  Also with their black bill that is slightly up curved and longer than their body's length. This Sword-bill hummingbird is the only one with a bill length that exceeds the body in length. 
Bill- Can be as long or longer than the bird's body, its a black , needle-thin with an up curved look.
The size of the hummer- They can be up to 7-10 inches long including their bill length with deeply forked tails.

These are Tropical hummingbirds and are a year around residents in the higher elevations, which is most commonly found above the elevation of 7,000 feet in the Andes Mountains. Their range extends from eastern Venezuela to Bolivia, reaching through Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, but they prefer open forest or the forest edge. Yet one can find these

beautiful Sword-bill's in some backyards and hummingbird gardens. These hummers do not migrate, but they may move nomadically to follow the best seasons for blooming flowers. 

As far as behavior for breeding and their vocals, while not particularly vocal these Sword-billed hummers, but they do have  high pitched, single note 'chip' or tsip' call that has a sharp tone.

These hammers have a different behavior when it comes to feeding because of the length of their bills and the weight too. They

typically will perch with their bill held straight up or at a steep angle to help relieve strain on the neck muscles on their small necks. Similarly, when feeding they mostly visit flowers that have long blooms that hang down quite long allowing them to probe the flowers easily from underneath with their bills still held at a steep angle. Unlike most hummingbirds, the sword-billed hummingbirds cannot preen with their bills and preen using their feet instead. Because of this behavior, they have developed some of the largest feet of any of the humming birds. 

These very special flowers that are shown below that only the

Sword-bill hummingbird can feed from and in turn pollinate too as these flowers continue to evolve and continue to grow even longer are called Passiflora Datura or Passiflora mixta. 
These eloquent flowering plants that only the Sword-bill hummingbird can ponilizar, this flower is believed that if the Sword-bill were to disappear or if something were to happen to these tiny gems. These beautiful flowers would disappear too. They are so specialized that only the Sword-bill hummingbird are able to keep these beautiful flowering plants of the tropics alive. Apparently there is proof of their demise if something would happen to the Sword-bill hummingbird too. 

There is a Special thing about these unique flowers and the Sword- bill hummer, although the hummer can go to other flowering plants there is a special relationship with the Passiflora Datura flower and the hummer. Over the years they both have evolved, as the flower gets longer the Sword-bill hummer bill gets longer.. Its quite amazing how nature works and this is a very good example of it. And how we MOST PROTECT THIS DELICATE BALANCE OF NATURE. 

Anyway it is amazing how they depend on each other to continue on.

Thankfully my dear friends,  there is now worries of the Sword-bill hummingbird, becoming endangering unlike some of his cousins.

The Sword-bill Hummingbird is the only hummingbird of its species to be able to rest its body into these long blooming flowers exclusively. Their long sword-bills have even evolved as the flower has grown even longer over the years And the only one that can pollute these beautiful blooms at the same time feeding on them is the Sword-bill

hummingbird. No other hummingbird in the world is accessible to these blooms, because the way their tiny bodies were made just for these blooms. done  These Sword billed hummingbirds with their

six to seven inch bills, can reach these amazing long blooms. That seem to grow at least a inch longer every year. The Sword Billed hummingbirds have an critical job and their bills are the main tool. What this critical job is; to continue to evolve as the Red Angel Trumpet Flower has along with these tiny hummingbird. They have to work together because they really depend on each other to survive on this planet. There is no other hummingbird on this earth that can reach the sweet nectar in these beautiful Red Angle Trumpet Flowers and the sword bill is the only one that can continue to pollutant these flowers each year, so that they will continue to grow.

Breeding-

These hummingbirds, because of the high level 7,000 feet and the 

Isolation of the sword-bill habitat there is not much known about their breeding and offspring, but it is believed that the length of the

Male's bill is what may help attract the females. 

These Sword-bill have been known to go into some hummingbird gardens. In the higher elevation of homes. Feeding on such flowers as the Datura, Fuchsia and Passion Flower. Even feeders but this is scarce if ever. 

I have always been fascinated with the sword-bill and the special flower that it is attracted to . I hope that you find this one of my Love for the hummingbirds to be interesting as mine others. I hope too do more for I love my hummingbirds but as it is the holiday season and I won't have as much time my dears. I wish you all a wonderful and happy Christmas season . Peace and good will to all. I love you all my dear Readers and Followers With much love 

Wendy.. 

The Last Japanese Mermaids-

 The Last Japanese Mermaids-

For Nearly two thousand years, Japanese women living in the small

coastal fishing villages made a remarkable life for themselves and their families by hunting for oysters and abalone in the depths of the very cold ocean coastline of Japan. They also would dive for the sea snail that produces those most beautiful and rare white, pink, and black pearls.  There are other colors too of these beautiful pearls but I can't remember all of the kinds of pearls that they do find.
They are known as Ama, and from this post you will learn that they are still a few of these Ama's ladies still left in Japan. And that still make their living well into their 9os . How you say? By filling their lungs with air and diving for long periods of time deep deep into the very cold depths of the Pacific ocean, with nothing more than a mask and flippers. 
This is one of the reason the myth of the Mermaid started with the

woman in Japan. Because of how they were able to dive so deep into the depth of the cold waters of the Pacific oceans, off the coast of Japan. So Myths and legends have become to real mermaids both with the legends and with the ladies of Japan.
In the mid 2oth century, Iwase Yoshiyuki returned to the fishing village where he grew up and started photographing these women doing this

 

 

 

A very unusual profession that is still very much alive today in the 21th century. Yoshiyuki even after his Education  found himself drawn to the ancient tradition of the Ama divers in his hometown. It is said that his simple black &White  photos are thought to be the only comprehensive documentation of the near-extinct tradition in existence. 

 

These very young women, probably only in their 20's and some just  young girls would dive into the freezing waters off of the coastline

of Japan into the depths of the Pacific for 2mins at at times and come up to breathe for just barely a few seconds. They would do this up to 60 times in a single diving
session, up to three times a day. These young women and girls would dive into this freezing water too harvest seaweed, turban shells and the prosperous pearl-bearing abalone which takes a very deep deep dives into the depth of the freezing waters..and to prey them off the coral on the bottom of the ocean is just yet another of they problems they would have. In the times it was thought that women, were believed to be better suited for the task of the freezing waters because of and extra insulating layer of fat on the female body that allowed them to hold their breath much longer than that of any man.
With this advantage, they could also make more money in a single diving season than most of the men in their village would make in a years worth of work at a regular job.
So you are probably wondering why you see so many naked ladies!

 

 

Well the reason for this is, the modern wetsuit didn't become available until the late 1950s and the cotton suits that were available at the time, were said to be very uncomfortable/when wet and made them feel much colder when they  were out of the freezing waters than if they wore nothing at all.

 

 

The naked body dries much faster by its own body heat, but if you have a wet cotton suit on, it will keep the body cold & wet. It will take far longer for the body to warm up even with freezing air that blows off the coastline after the girls come out of the water. This is why most Ama took to diving in the cold pacific ocean with nothing more than a tiny loincloth and a mask.  
After the World War II, the carefree Ama divers of Japan suddenly

began to have, lets say  tourism come to even their  small towns where they were diving into the ocean with just the loincloth and mask , which forced them to change there Traditional ways of diving. The Ama divers had to eventually covering or basically were forced to cover-up. But I thought you might like a peek of the precious moments of the past traditions  that will soon will all disappear from all different cultures. This being Japan.  

 

 

   

Japanese Mermaids: Ancient Pearl Hunters of the Sea-
This is a continuation of the Mermaid  women of the Freezing oceans of the Japan. These women known as Ama are the last of

their kind. In their floral wetsuits, they fill their lungs with just pure air into their lungs then dive for a long periods of time into the depths of the very cold Pacific ocean, with nothing more than a mask and flippers. A little more than what traditional they use to do but they still are Ama's and they still make a living hunting for abalone, a sea snail that produce the beautiful pearls of Japan.
In Japan women and young girls have been doing his job for nearly two thousand years , because they believe that over the centuries

that, females have always been more suited for this type of work in the Freezing waters of the depths of the Pacific ocean.
But these women that are carry on the tradition of the Ama Woman are not the young women and girls like  before-
No .....They are Indeed the true last of the Ama's The elders The

 

youngest known Ama is forty-five years old and women are commonly known to dive well into their 90s. But their daughters and the younger female generations of the communities of the small villages of the Ama's are uninterested in learning form their elders. So the unusual profession is nearly if not almost extinct. If

the younger generation doesn't carry on the Ama's them the Two thousand tradition will die out and that to me would be so sad.. 
I guess it might have something to do with what these women Ama divers do. Underwater hunting , often can go down to a free dive up to 30 feet below, its very dangerous work and the divers are often joined by shark during their descent. The Amas will usually be under water for 2mins at a time and come up for air for just barely a few seconds. They will do this up to 60 time's in one diving session the water too is often freezing too.

The Ama don't make as much money as they did 40years ago , so this could be another reason why the job is not attractive to the younger Japanese women. But these women who have have managed to support themselves and their families entirely while their husbands often fisherman are away most of the year.
 So these could be the very reasons when the young generation isn't

 

interested in learning the ways of the Ama and come be the End of an great tradition of Japan that will be just in the books and no

more until the few have live out their lives as the last of his wonderful tradition in japan for over two thousand years.. 
I hope you all enjoyed this post.  I thought it was interesting ..
much love you my dear readers..
 Wendy.. 

The Silent Night Story

The Silent Night Story-

OBERNDORF, Austria, Each year on December 24, a special passenger train pulled by a bright red electric locomotive heads out of the train station in Salzburg for a half-hour trip to the village of Oberndorf, A multitude of languages can be heard as passengers from all over the globe become Christmas pilgrims, heading for the birthplace of the world's best-loved Christmas carol "Silent Night,"
At the same time, the Oberndorf streets are crowded with cars bearing license plates from neighboring European Church can be seen across the nations and filled with people who have raced along the autobahns to arrive in time for the special Christmas Eve "Silent Night" twilight service.
Throughout the world; "Silent Night" which has been translated into more than 200 languages, is and anchor for Christmas celebrations. 
Its lullaby-like melody and simple message of heavenly peace can be

heard from small town street corners in mid-America to magnificent cathedrals in Europe and from outdoor candlelight concerts in Australia to palm thatched huts in northern Peru. 
The original church of St. Nicholas, where "Silent Night " was first heard in 1818, was torn down in the early part of this century after sustaining damage from the flooding of the nearby Salzach River. 
The Silent Night Chapel was erected on the spot in front of the main altar where Gruber and Mohr stood with the choir to sing the six-stanza carol. In a higher section of town, another church was built and the original pulpit and altars from the old church were moved there. 
At Christmas Midnight Mass, singers stand in front of the same altars and recreate the moment when the song heard 'round the world was 
first performed.  
by Bill Egan, Christmas Historian

Silent Night has always been one of my favorite Christmas Songs my dear Follower/Readers and When I found this story by Bill Egan I just loved it so much i just had to share with you all. I had never heard of the story behind the song of 'Silent Night' and when I found this I thought you all might like to know to in the Spirit of Christmas. Merry Christmas my dears only 12days..much love to your all. Wendy

Christmas Fairies2

Merry Christmas to All my dear Readers- 
Only 12 days away-
For today's Christmas post I thought I would 
Put a few of the fairy images that I found for the Christmas
Spirit... Happy Holidays my dears...

Wendy...