FSU Nature photos

[2tallbill]

Please feel free to post your nature photos here. I will get it started.


Mountain lakes and clouds over snowy peaks in Urals

[Wild Orchid]

When I was in the Uni for 3 summers I attended "labour camp/brigade" called Vetlan. It was named after a cliff in Urals not very far from the place where we worked sorting out logs. Yes, I was doing that.. 

Every year we'd have an expedition to that cliff, we'd have to climb it from one side and take a group photo when on the top. I'm scared of heights and especially when going down so I was brave enough only once. 

Here is Vetlan in it's full glory



and "winter" shot



there is a lot of river banks like this one in northern Urals

[2tallbill]

Siberian (or Amur) tigers are the world's largest cats. They live primarily in eastern Russia's birch
forests, though some exist in China and North Korea. There are an estimated 400 to 500 Siberian tigers living in the wild,

(note above information from National Geographic)
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/siberian-tiger/

[ECR844]

Snow leopards live in the high, rugged mountains of Central Asia.  Their range extends through twelve countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan.  The cat's range is roughly indicated on the map below by the red shading.



Snow leopard range covers 2 million square kilometers, about the size of Greenland or Mexico. China contains as much as 60% of snow leopard habitat.  The cats have already disappeared from some areas where they formerly lived, such as certain parts of Mongolia.

Much of the snow leopard's habitat is located along international borders, some of them disputed between two countries.  To some degree, this situation protects the cats because sensitive border areas are often closed to all public access, making them almost de-facto protected areas.  But it also adds to the difficulty of studying snow leopards and establishing their current status and distribution.

Snow leopards are usually found between 3,000 and 5,400 meters above sea level.  The environment at this elevation is harsh and forbidding.  The climate is cold and dry, the mountain slopes sparsely vegetated with grasses and small shrubs.

Snow leopards prefer steep, broken terrain of cliffs, rocky outcrops, and ravines.  This type of habitat provides good cover and clear views to help them sneak up on their prey. 

Each individual snow leopard inhabits a defined home range.  However, these home ranges overlap and snow leopards do not defend them the way more aggressively territorial species do.  Home range sizes vary greatly.  It is thought that in Nepal and other areas where prey is abundant, cats inhabit home ranges as small as 30-65 square kilometers.  In areas where there is less prey, such as Mongolia, snow leopards need more land in order to survive and their home ranges may be over 1,000 square kilometers in area.

As they move about their home ranges, the cats often travel along ridgelines and cliff bases, and choose bedding sites near cliffs or ridges with good views over the surrounding terrain.

Radio collar studies of snow leopards in the wild indicate that they usually stay in one area for several days and then move to another part of their home range--usually to another valley, where they might find another herd of potential prey.  They can cover long distances in a single night, and in Mongolia they have even been documented to cross over 25 miles of open desert between mountain slopes.





The following are from Dima Belikov

[Wild Orchid]

Waterfalls in Armenia. It is not Russia, but it is one of not many of FSU countries that I'd like to visit

[2tallbill]

Kraternaya Bay in the Kuril Islands

[Wild Orchid]

Crater Bay and it surely looks like one 

[nicknick]

I'll be going to Moscow this spring for 3 months and I was looking for places to visit while I was there.  One place I've been thinking about going to is the Central Forest Reservation which is a UNESCO biosphere reserve about 200 miles to the west of Moscow in the Tver oblast.  As well as everything else they have a research station there that looks after orphaned bear cubs and wolf cubs and then releases them into the wild when they are old enough.  The place is called Chisty Les Biological station - has anyone ever been there?

Anyway, the reason I'm posting this here is that they've just had a photo competition on the topic of birds feeding and this won second place which I thought was really cute:-



The link to their website is here:-

http://www.clgz.ru/index.php?news_id=171

Here in the UK it is VERY rare to see a red squirrel as they have mostly been killed off by the American grey squirrels.  I've seen lots of drawings of Russian squirrels and was always confused by the very tufty ears that were shown.  Now I understand why after seeing this photo.

If anyone's interested there are also some youtube clips about the work they do on releasing bears and wolves back into the wild.  I know that American members may be more used to seeing these animals but here in the UK we would never get to see anything like this:-

[2tallbill]

Siberian Iris, Iris sibirica is widely grown in gardens in temperate regions around the world. It is the parent plant of many hybrids, used because of its attractive foliage and ability to flourish in a wide range of climates; the hybrids vary widely in flower color.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iris_sibirica

[2tallbill]

 Siberian squill (Scilla siberica), also known as wood squill or spring beauty, is a bulbous perennial native to Siberia flowering in early spring. It naturalizes rapidly from seed.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_squill

[I/O]

Cruising Bakail on an early mid summer morning....................

[I/O]

Russian "Wildlife"...........................

[2tallbill]

Russian "Wildlife"...........................

But this thread is about nature photos, so they need to be El Natural