Awesome Nature #24

Kiwi
Type: Bird  Lives In: New Zealand  Conservation Status: Vulnerable

There are many awesome animals in the world but the kiwi is one I keept forgetting about, then when I'm reminded of it I wonder why. They do of course only live in New Zealand which could be one reason why, but there are, surprisingly, five distinct species of them there. They look pretty similar of course, and they are a bit bigger than I'd realised (similar in size to chickens) but are still far smaller than most other members of their family (ratites) such as ostriches, emus and rheas. In fact, their closest relative is the now-extinct Elephant Bird. They are cute little fuzzballs in any case, who spend mostly-nighttimes scrummaging around forest floors looking for seeds, insects, worms and fruits to eat, and they have a remarkable nose located at the end of their long, slightly curved beaks with which to find these things. They have several other rather strange characteristics too, most likely due to how isolated they were for much of their existence. I'm not sure my behind could handle the amazingly-long flight needed to catch sight of one of these flightless flappers in person but I sure would like to bear witness to one. I wonder if they would let me pick them up? Very reluctantly, I'd say, judging by the end of this short National Geographic video I saw!

Why It Is Awesome: It's a fuzzy brown sphere with a beak!

Awesome Nature #23

Blue-Footed Booby
Type: Bird  Lives In: Eastern Pacific  Conservation Status: Least Concern

I guess it's not hard to work out why so many people have heard of this particular flapper (and no, it's not because of the blue feet)! It's quite an interesting creature though. They are much bigger than most people think, for one thing, reaching up to about 90cm with a wingspan of 1.5m. As might be obvious from its appearance, it's a marine bird, living in the Eastern Pacific from about Northern Mexico down to Peru, and only ventures onto land to breed, and that's what the bright blue feet are for. Only the males have them and they display them in a strange dance to attract a female. It must work too, as there are tons of them! I'm not sure why just the blue-booted variety is well known though, as there are several other types of booby (no, not making a joke about the more commonly-appreciated type of boobies!) including the more widespread red-footed booby. Oh, and in case you're wondering, the name comes from the Spanish word 'bobo' which means 'foolish', or 'clown' since they are clumsy on land!

Why It Is Awesome: Booby

Awesome Nature #22

Double-Collared Sunbird
Type: Bird  Lives In: South Africa  Conservation Status: Least Concern

Remarkably, there are 56 species of these colourful flappers, but the one pictured is known as the southern double-collared sunbird. It lives almost exclusively in South Africa (a small number can also be found in Swaziland) and mainly eats nectar such as that found in these lovely rocket pincushion flowers which are nearly as eye-catching as the birds themselves! I guess there's nothing particularly special about them though - they are common throughout most of their range and can be found in scrubland, forests, and even gardens in residential areas. In fact, I'm probably only posting about them here in order to share/preserve this wonderful picture I found, but that certainly shouldn't detract from their splendour. If you're lucky enough to live somewhere that these dazzling fellows (it's just the males with the colour) hang out, I'm sure your days are brighter than those of the rest of us!

Why It Is Awesome: Colourful garden friend!
 

Top Five Elephants

Few of the wondrous species that inhabit our increasingly-abused planet are as vital to the continued health and longevity of its ecosystem and general environment as elephants. These colossal trampers have been around since not too long after the dinos got obliterated by a giant asteroid, and they've flourished ever since. Well, until our idiotic species came to prominence and started wiping them out, anyway. Here are the five most notable types to have trumpeted their way across the land:

5... Asian Elephant

The pipsqueak of the elephant family is this smallest-but-still-large variety, averaging around 2.6m tall and weighing in at around 3-4 tonnes. It's found in Asia, believe it or not, and is easily recogniseable in pictures due to its smaller ears. It's often also known as the Indian Elephant but is actually found across much of the Sub Continent and South East Asia, even making it to islands such as Sri Lanka and Borneo. Despite having been exploited by mankind since pretty much forever,as well as being considered sacred by some countries, we are still apparently doing our best to cause its extinction, mainly through destruction of its habitat.

Top Five Red Birds

Birds are pretty awesome, even someone as unenvironmentally friendly as Jeremy Clarkson knows that, but here in Europe most of them are a bit dull in terms of colour. Plenty of blacks, whites, browns, etc, but not many bright colours. They appear to be nearly exclusive to the tropics. There it's rare to see a bird that isn't brightly coloured. Here is a look at five of the finest bright red examples :)

5... Red Munia

Also known as the red avadavat, this little finch is found in tropical Asian regions where it lives in fields and grasslands. Only the male is red like this, and even then only during breeding season, but that doesn't make it any less eye-catching.

Awesome Nature #21

Coati
Type: Mammal  Lives In: Central and South America  Conservation Status: Least Concern

Unlike a lot of awesome creatures I've warbled on about here, I have first-hand experience of these amusing rascals. I first saw one in Brazil: we had rented a villa near the beach and were eating at the outdoor table one evening when I saw one in a tree gathering fruits. I was excited to see it but that was nothing compared to my more recent encounter: I was on holiday with my wife in Mexico, staying at a resort this time, and I saw what looked like a coati from a distance. It later turned out the resort, and indeed that part of the world generally, was absolutely teeming with them! Everywhere we went in the resort, we would see them running around with their ringed tails sticking straight up in the air. They were usually in large family groups all at once too - outside our window digging for food with their long claws, running around the pool area looking for scraps, even invading the breakfast buffet hoping someone would share some fruit with them. This was something my wife and I did regularly during our time there and the little things were adorable, following us around, usually with youngsters in tow, squeaking constantly as they went. They have immediately become one of my very favourite animals!

Why It Is Awesome: They are squeaking cuties and they're everywhere!

Awesome Nature #20

Quokka
Type: Marsupial Lives In: South-West Australia Conservation Status: Vulnerable

Most of Australia's creatures have become famous over the years due to how unusual they are, but the Quokka is apparently different. Hardly anyone has even heard of it for some reason, even though it's just as worthy of attention as any of the rest. They kind of look like a cross between a wallaby and a wombat, with large hind legs/feet to hop around on and also a short, broad head, but being around the size of a domestic cat, they are more agile than both creatures and can even climb trees. Perhaps their obscurity is more down to how few of them there are. Destruction of their habitat as well as introduced species such as foxes and dogs has seen their population drop to around the 15,000 mark, all of which are found only in the extreme south-west of the Australian mainland as well as on a few small islands. Their plight doesn't seem to bother them too much though - just look how happy they seem!

Why It Is Awesome: It's always happy!
 

Awesome Nature #19

The Door to Hell
Type: Geologic Formation Located In: Turkmenistan Conservation Status: N/A

Our precious planet is an incredible place, crammed full of countless natural wonders, but every now and then we manage to create one ourselves by accident, and a great example is the Door to Hell. It can be found in the barren deserts of Turkmenistan and was originally an attempt by the Soviets to drill for oil, but instead of that the drill site collapsed into a crater where they found a large pocket of natural gas. Worried about poisoning some nearby villages they decided to burn it off, expecting the reserves to be spent within a few weeks. This, however, was over 40 years ago and the fiery pit, measuring 230 feet across and 65 feet deep, is still burning continuously to this day. Supposedly there are plans to fill it in though, so if this kind of thing piques your interest, visit it soon, but be careful - the heat also attracts camel spiders which can grow up to six inches long, look rather hellish themselves and can give you a painful bite!

Why It Is Awesome: Greatest name ever!

Top Five Scary Australian Creatures

Though it may not be the biggest country in the world, Australia is still a very large place; sufficiently large, in fact, to pretty much be classed as an entire continent by itself. It's way bigger than Europe, for example, and it has also been separated from the other main landmasses for close to 100 million years. This isolation had led to a great deal of bio-diversity. For some reason, perhaps coincidentally, this has resulted in the mighty country playing host to some of the world's scariest and most deadly creatures! Putting aside the obvious choices such as crocs and great white sharks (which are easier to avoid, at least) here are the five that freak me out the most :(

5 - Funnel Web Spider

Almost everyone is scared of spiders (even the 'tough guys' who try to convince people they find them 'cute') and one of the least pleasant in the Land Dahn Unda, not to mention most famous, is this fellow. There are several species, all of which are venomous and have large fangs capable of biting through a fingernail or shoe. They do at least do you the courtesy of adopting a 'warning posture' before striking, which is handy... assuming you even see them. Fortunately there are anti-venoms available; otherwise this scary scurrier would be higher on the list!

Awesome Nature #18

California Red-Sided Garter Snake
Type: Snake Lives In: North America Conservation Status: Least Concern

I was always reading wildlife books of all sorts when I was growing up and one thing I always remember is that brightly coloured animals are generally dangerous. These curly fellows, however, might be highly eye-catching but they're actually harmless to us pesky humans. Well that's unless they climb up inside your clothing, making you writhe and jiggle around in panic, straying in front of fast-moving traffic or something, obviously! There are quite a few of them about too. There are dozens of sub-species of garter snakes in general, ranging from Central America all the way up to Sub-Arctic Canada, but even this Californian variety is fairly common. They live on farmlands and grasslands, usually close to a water source such as a marsh or stream as they are also superb swimmers. Luckily for Californians though, despite their small size, examples like this one are also pretty easy to spot thanks to their almost fluorescent colouration, so death jiggles should be kept to a minimum.

Why It Is Awesome: Luminous snake!
 

Awesome Nature #17

The Wave
Type: Geologic Formation Located In: Arizona Conservation Status: N/A

The diverse range of creatures and plant life on our struggling planet is really quite bewildering but they are not all that Mother Nature has to offer. Every now and then we're reminded that the planet itself is alive too, and it is capable of some pretty awesome feats all by itself. Take this remarkable floopy rock formation for example. It's known as The Wave and is located on the slopes of the Coyote Buttes, an exposure of Jurassic sandstone in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness on the Colorado Plateau in Arizona. It dates back 190 million years and is primarily composed of two major troughs, each around 16m long, which were formed by erosion - water to begin with, then wind, with some parts even having been shaped by trampling dinosaurs! It certainly makes for a dramatic sight too, but good luck visiting it - only twenty people per day are permitted and they are selected by lottery. Maybe one day... :(

Why It Is Awesome: Curly rocks!
 

Awesome Nature #16

Pallas's Cat
Type: Mammal Lives In: Central Asia Conservation Status: Near Threatened

Just when you probably thought all the most awesome cats of the world had been well-documented, along comes this rather awesome creature! Named for the German naturalist who discovered it, Peter Pallas, these small felines are only found in the remote mountainous and steppe regions of Central Asia where they live alone in caves and burrows. They spend most of their time in these hidey-holes (which are often 'borrowed' from marmots or foxes), usually emerging in the late afternoon to hunt the various smaller creatures they like (including the equally-amusing pika). It must be pretty damn cold there too, as they're covered in long, thick fur which not only makes them the fluffiest cats I've ever seen but also makes them look like the porkiest! Sadly but unsurprisingly, this luxurious coat also means the manul (as it is also known) has been hunted in fairly large numbers over the years and is now being intentionally poisoned as well. Good old humans...

Why It Is Awesome: It's a super-fluff cat!

Awesome Nature #15

Whale Shark
Type: Fish  Lives In: Temperate/Tropical Ocean  Conversation Status: Vulnerable

It is in honour of my delightful wife that I thought I'd take a look at this mighty marine creature for the latest (belated) post in this series of features, for she is currently in Mexico visiting a friend who has, I'm jealous to say, taken her on a long boat trip out to the open sea where they will spend some time swimming with them! Mighty they are too, being the largest species of fish in the world - some can reach up 13 metres in length which is twice the size of the rather more famous (or should that be infamous?) great white shark. Luckily for us it's not quite as ravenous as its smaller cousin, feeding instead on krill, plankton, and other small creatures which it filters through its enormous, gaping mouth. I guess that means my wife is in little danger of being eaten (not that it stopped her from worrying) leaving her and her friend free to frolic amidst the majesty of these slow-but-graceful animals accordingly. Maybe a little scary but what an experience that must be...

Why It Is Awesome: Because it's the biggest fish in the world of course!
 

Awesome Nature #14

Olinguito
Type: Mammal! Lives In: Ecuador, Colombia Conservation Status: Unknown

It's been a while since I did one of these but this curious-looking creature makes it more than worth it! The olinguito, you see, it a newly discovered animal, and the first such mammal in 35 years. It had previously been spotted, and even 'samples' had been taken, but scientists have only just realised that it's actually an unclassified creature. The credit for noticing this goes to zoologist, Kristofer Helgen, of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, who is apparently more alert than many of his contemporaries! One reason for missing it may be its remote home in the lofty mountainous forests of the Andes mountains in Colombia and Ecuador where it spends most of its time in the trees. It's around 14 inches long, with a tail of more than that again, and is the smallest member of the raccoon family. They're nocturnal and technically carnivores but mostly eat various fruits and even nectar. Dr Helgen might not have too much longer to further study it though - sadly over 40% of the forests that make up the olinguito's home have already been levelled.

Why It Is Awesome: Because it's brand new (kind of)!
 

Top Five Marsupials

Although I've been interested in nature since my childhood, I've never really been too concerned with learning how to differentiate between all the different infraclasses, which are classes within the classes. For example, I would hope anyone could correctly determine the difference between a bird and a fish, but how about telling the different types of fish or birds apart from one another? It may not be too taxing but it's not something I've ever really tried to do, but one infraclass that's always stuck in my mind is that of the marsupials.

All marsupials are mammals but while some mammals give birth as we do and some lay eggs, but marsupials give birth to their young much earlier than either of the other types and raise them to infancy in a handy pouch. This characteristic makes them unique in the animal kingdom and their distribution is also more specific than many other types of animals. The name is most commonly associated with Australia, and indeed many of the mammals living on this continent are marsupials, but they can also be found in South and Central America too. Despite this, the splendid creatures I've selected for this list are all from the bonzer land down under:

5. Tasmanian Devil

I suppose this angry creature is better known as a Warner Bros cartoon character these days but it's actually a mammal about the size of a small dog. Long ago it lived all over Australia but its population was slowly reduced until, as its name implies, it was found only on the large island of Tasmania. Since the late 30's they've been the largest of the carnivorous marsupials but they may not hold that status for too much longer as their numbers have fallen dramatically since the 90's as a result of diseases such as cancer, as well as us stupid humans of course. One reason for this is, or at least was, fear of them due to their ferocity while feeding and the loud screeching noise they make, but more recently it's just been for the usual reasons - for their fur or simply because their presence proves inconvenient.

Awesome Nature #13

Ash Tree
Type: Tree Lives In: Northern Hemisphere Conservation Status: Endangered

Ones of the things the English countryside is famous for is its gorgeous woodland. Many types of tree can be found in them but, after the population of elms was decimated by Dutch Elm Disease during the late 20th century, now another familiar woodland sight is under threat. Sadly, after ravaging ash tree populations across mainland Europe for the last couple of decades (Denmark has lost 90% of its ashes), the deadly fungal infection know as 'chalara fraxinea', which causes ash dieback disease, has now reached our shores as well. There are over fifty types of ash tree in the world. All of them are flowering trees of varying heights, most of them are deciduous, and all live in the northern hemisphere, but only varieties in Europe seem to be affected by this devastating fungus with Asian varieties proving resistant. Let's just hope the European varieties survive long enough to develop a resistance as well. If you have any near you, treasure them while you can.

Why It Is Awesome: Well, I suppose they aren't any more awesome than most trees from the same region but they might be gone soon! :(

Awesome Nature #12

Axolotl
Type: Amphibian Lives In: Mexico Conservation Status: Critically Endangered

I'd never heard of this unusual creature until very recently but was immediately captivated by its unique appearance. Although its name means 'Water Dog', and it has also earned the nickname of 'Mexican Walking Fish', it's actually a kind of salamander. Most reach a size of around 20-25cm in length and can be found in a variety of colours including grey, brown, black, and yellow, but I think you'll agree the kind pictured here is the most eye-catching! My dear wife thinks it 'looks like a demon' but it reminds me more of some wacky creature from a Studio Ghibli film or something. Whatever you may think of its looks, though, it may not be around much longer - the entire wild population was confined to two lakes near Mexico City but one of those has now been artificially drained (for the convenience of the humans living there, of course) so the poor old Axolotl now lives only in Lake Xochimilco, itself severely diminished from its former size. Their plight doesn't seem to bother this one though!

Why It Is Awesome: It looks very happy!
 

Top Five Trees

Trees rule, I don't care what anyone says. They could even be among the greatest anythings ever. Not only could do they look nice, provide somewhere for us to climb as children, and offer homes to countless creatures, but they also continue to supply us with a never-ending supply of oxygen as well. It's a great system really - we need what they have and they need what we have - a match made in heaven! It's for these reasons and many others that it upsets/angers me so much when people cut them down, or even just cut their branches off as so often happens to the rare inner-city trees here in my home town. Boo hoo, never mind, luckily I live near some splendid wooded areas and even a few forests so I can always get away and join my friends, the oaks, beeches, ashes, birches, horse chestnuts, sycamores and all the rest of them whenever the feeling takes me. Choosing a Top Five Trees is a largely nonsensical pursuit of course, but here are five highly noteworthy examples :)

5 - Monkey Puzzle Tree

I've already sung the praises of this spikey conifer and I can still never avoid smiling when I see one. Which isn't very often here, of course, since they come from the South American mountainous regions where they grow substantially larger than the ones 'introduced' to Europe and other less suitable parts of the world. They're hardy things too - they can survive on the barren, windy, Andean slopes for up to 1,000 years so many of them will be around long after our stupid species is gone...

Awesome Nature #11

Sunflower Seastar
Type: Echinoderm Lives In: North-Eastern Pacific Ocean Conservation Status: Least Concern

Not only are starfish pretty awesome creatures but they're also very strange ones too. They're not actually fish, for one thing, which is probably why they're more commonly known as Seastars these days and the Sunflower Seastar is the biggest of them all. Indeed, it can reach a metre in diameter and, unlike most seastars which have a mere five arms, this monster can have up to twenty-four! It can be found in a variety of colours and can also move very quickly for a seastar using thousands of tube-like feet that cover its underside and they are used to good effect for it's an aggressive predator to the many smaller creatures that share its home off the west coast of North America where it is found it not inconsiderable numbers. Few of its neighbours pose a threat to it except for one: the king crab which can rip off the seastar's arms! Like most seastars though, this giant can simply regrow lost limbs meaning they're unlikely to disappear any time soon...

Why It Is Awesome: It's like a floppy sea-vacuum!

Awesome Nature #10

Stonefish
Type: Fish Lives In: Indian and Pacific Oceans Conservation Status: Least Concern

As amusing as they often are, I think I've probably featured enough cutesy animals here for a while and this menacing brute is about as different as it's possible to get! There are a few different kinds of stonefish but they are all highly venomous - the most venomous of all fish in fact. To make matters worse, they live in most of the shallow areas, both marine and river, across the Indian and Pacific oceans and any surrounding countries, especially coral reefs. This means it's not too difficult to accidentally step on one and suffer a large injection of venom from the row of spines along their backs, particularly since they've frequently very hard to spot. Excruciating pain and swelling comes soon after and their venom can be fatal if not treated. So if you're from any countries in their range, beware - even wearing thick-soled sandals may not be enough to stop these monstrous creatures!

Why It Is Awesome: It's like a sea-ninja!