Fringing coral reef - Litorale (küstennahe) Riffe ..water garden - Wassergarten

I am linking this post to
Watery Wednesday...
http://waterywednesday.blogspot.com/

Fringe coral communities are unusual. For instance, coralline algae grow interspersed with sea grasses in less than one foot of water. The two types of coral reefs that are most commonly known—atolls and barrier reefs—live in deep ocean water. Sponges, echinoderms, crustaceans and mollusks may also be found living in the fragile habitat of fringe corals, which are easily damaged by boats that drop anchor or people who walk on them. Pictures of a fringing reef with soft corals resembling plants in Las Terrenas, Samana D.R.  Sea urchins, starfish and sponges all anchor to the reef, thereby helping to line and protect it.
This type of coral reef is the most common type of reef found in the Caribbean.

Litorale (küstennahe) Riffe findet man sehr oft in den Flachwasserzonen der Karibik.
Atolle und Barrier Korallenriffe sind die am häufigsten bekannt. Sie befinden sich  im tiefen Wasser des Ozeans.  Schwämme, See Igel, Algen und Weichkorallen, finden sich in dem fragilen Lebensraum von Litoralen Riffe. Diese Riffe, werden sehr leicht durch geankerte Boote oder  die Unvorsichtigkeit von Personen, beschädigt.

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Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) Teichhuhn

Common Moorhen - Gallinula chloropus - Teichhuhn
Found and photographed in Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic

Common Moorhen - Gallinula chloropus - Teichhuhn

The Moorhen is a common breeding bird in marsh environments and well-vegetated lakes. Populations in areas where the waters freeze, such as southern Canada, the northern USA and eastern Europe, will migrate to more temperate climes. This species will consume a wide variety of vegetable material and small aquatic creatures. They forage beside or in the water, sometimes upending in the water to feed. It is often secretive, but can become tame in some areas. Despite loss of habitat in parts of its range, the Common Moorhen remains plentiful and widespread. They fight over territories and also hop around Lily pads. (wikipedia)

In unserem Ferienresort, Las Terrenas, Dominikan Republik,  ist ein kleiner Teich, in dem ich dieses Teichhuhn (Gallinula chloropus) entdeckte.  Die Teichhühner bevorzugen schlammige Ufer von Gewässern aller Art.  Sie ernähren sich von  Pflanzen, Insekten aber fressen auch Gras. Sie verteidigen  ihr Gebiet und rennen um einen Wasserlilienteich herum. Obwohl ihr Lebensraum beschränkt wird, gibt es genügend Teichhühner in der freien Natur.

Common Moorhen - Gallinula chloropus - Teichhuhn

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Gray Kingbird - Grauer Königstyrann -Tyrannus dominicensis

The Gray Kingbird, also known as Pitirre, Tyrannus dominicensis, is a passerine bird. It breeds from the extreme southeast of the USA through Central America, from Cuba to Puerto Rico as well as eastward towards all across the Lesser West Indies, south to Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago the Guiana and Colombia. Northern populations are migratory, wintering on the Caribbean coast of Central America and northern South America.
It is found in increasing numbers in the state of Florida, and is more often found inland though it had been previously restricted to the coast. The species was first described on the island of Hispaniola, then called Santo
 Domingo, thus the dominicensis name.
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Der Grauer Königstyrann,  Tyrannus dominicensis, ist ein Vogel, der zu den Passerinen gehört. Er ist vom Südosten der USA, Mittelamerika,  Kuba, Puerto Rico sowie ostwärts in Richtung von Venezuela, Trinidad, Tobago Guayana und Kolumbien anzutreffen. Die nördlichen Vogelkolonien   überwintern an den Küsten Zentral Amerika, der Karibik , Mittelamerika und  nördlichen Südamerika. Der Graue Königstyrann, wird jetzt in größerer Anzahl, im Inland von Florida beobachtet, war zuvor mehr an der Küste  angesiedelt. Die Vogelart, wurde zuerst auf der Insel Hispaniola, damals als  Santo Domingo bekannt, beschrieben. Daher stammt der Name  'Tyrannus dominicensis' 

References:
The world wide bird database
http://avibase.bsc-eoc.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gray_Kingbird
english text from wikipedia translated by guild-rez
 pictures and copyright by guild-rez
 January 2012 Las Terrenas, D.R.

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Stunning Desert Agave - Agave americana - Agave deserti Engelm.

 

Discovered the Desert Agave in full bloom during our recent winter vacation in Las Terrenas D.R.  What a stunning plant, with beautiful flowers in a tropical and desert like landscape. 

Please enjoy my pictures, as much as I did.

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Endeckte die Agave americana in Blüte während unseres Winterurlaubs in

Las Terrenas, D.R.  Was eine herrliche Pflanze, mit sehr schönen Blüten in einer tropischen und Wüsten ähnlichen Landschaft.  

Bitte freut Euch, mit mir über meine Fotos.

Desert century-plant’s succulent,
sword-like, blue-green leaves with sharp, marginal teeth and a stiff,
terminal spine form a basal clump 2 ft. high and up to 6 ft. wide.
When the plants are 8-20 years old they send up a sturdy, 6-9 ft.,
 flowering stalk bearing large, mounded clusters of pale yellow, tubular flowers. After setting fruit, the entire plant dies.
The dried seed capsules remain conspicuous for many months.

Agave americana .

Agaven werden manchmal auch als Jahrhundertpflanze (von engl. „Century Plant“) bezeichnet, da sie nur einmal blühen und bis zur Ausbildung eines Blütenstands mehrere Jahrzehnte vergehen können.

pictures by guild-rez 2012
Las Terrenas, Samana Dominican Republic
Need more info?
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agave_americana
http://www.succulent-plant.com/families/agavaceae.html

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My first pictures from Las Terrenas, Samana...

If a person were endowed with all the splendor in the world, 

what good would it do if he had no friend whom he could tell about it.

We are home again...
After a wonderful time on the Island of the Dominican Republic,
now we have to get used to grey skies and colder temperatures again.
But I took over 600 pictures, love to show many of them with my blog readers.
Gäbe man einem Menschen alle Herrlichkeiten der Welt,
was hilft´s ihm, wenn er keinen Freund hat, dem er es sagen kann.
- Quote von  J. W. von Goethe's Mutter
Wir sind wieder zu Hause...
Nach einem sehr schönen Urlaub, auf der Insel der Dominikanischen Republik,
müssen wir uns jetzt wieder, an einen grauen Himmel und kälteren Temperaturen gewöhnen.Aber ich habe über 600 Fotos aufgenommen, die ich gerne meinen Bloglesern  zeigen möchte.

- upper right corner Oleta orange butterfly
- and below Orange Julia Longwing (Dryas iulia)

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TODAY'S FLOWERS wild ground Orchids - tropical flower series

TODAY'S FLOWERS from around the world
can be viewed here:
http://flowersfromtoday.blogspot.com/


Bottle Palm - Hyophorbe lagenicaulis and wild orchids.

The orchid family, Orchidaceae, is the most numerous in the plant kingdom. There are about 25,000 to 30,000 known species of orchids around the world. Orchids are found in all continents except Antarctica, from hot tropical jungles to the cold climate in North America. However, some orchids are found only in certain region of the world and nowhere else.

My pictures are from Samana, Dominican Republic.
More than 300 orchids grow on this island alone.

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