Our Feathered Friends

“There is nothing in which the birds differ more from man than the way in which they can build and yet leave a landscape as it was before.” - Robert Wilson LyndBirds

A peek into the world of our feathered friends.

Some interesting fun facts about birds – courtesy of Facebook pages ‘Plant Care Today’, ‘Zootopia’, ‘David Attenborough’, etc… However, I do not know if they are true. Some of them sound really incredible.

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That 42-minute number is not the whole story. Those stolen minutes of sleep are broken into fragments of just seconds at a time — micro-naps snatched mid-glide while the bird is still reading the wind, still adjusting its wings, still navigating by starlight or smell.

The sleeping half of the brain goes quiet. The awake half holds the wheel. Then they switch. No ground. No pause. Just an ongoing negotiation between rest and survival happening inside a skull the size of a fist.

White storks take a different deal entirely. They stop. They perch on rooftops, tree branches, and power lines across Europe and Africa, letting the whole brain go dark at once before pushing on.

Two birds. Two solutions. Same ancient pressure to cross a planet without dying from exhaustion.

The frigatebird never touches land during those ocean crossings — sometimes for weeks. It does not get to choose rest the way a stork does. So the brain learned to split itself in half and take turns.

That is not a trick. That is architecture. Sleep did not wait for safety. It learned to travel. – A Facebook post by ‘Plant Care Today’

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The Resplendent Quetzal is a specialist of the high-altitude cloud forests of Mesoamerica, ranging from southern Mexico down through Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and western Panama.

They thrive in moisture-rich, evergreen mountain forests — usually at elevations between 4,000 and 10,000 feet — where the canopy is perpetually cloaked in mist and draped in mosses, ferns, and orchids.

Within these misty canopies, their diet is surprisingly heavy. While they occasionally snatch insects, frogs, and small lizards, they are primarily frugivores with a massive craving for wild avocados and other fruits from the laurel family.

They pluck these fruits by hovering mid-air, swallowing them completely whole.

After digesting the soft outer pulp, their specialized digestive system allows them to regurgitate the large seeds intact, making the quetzal an indispensable seed disperser for the survival of its own habitat. – A Facebook post by ‘Zootopia’

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Fischer’s turaco is a stunning bird found in the forests and woodlands of East Africa, especially Kenya, Tanzania, and parts of Somalia.

It stands out with its bright green body, red crest, bold white markings, and vivid red eye-ring.

These birds mostly feed on fruit and play an important role in spreading seeds through the forest, making them not just beautiful, but helpful to their ecosystem too. – A Facebook post by ‘Zootopia’

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Unlike humans, whose hands naturally open up when relaxed, a bat’s resting state is a clenched fist. Their specialized tendons are designed so that the weight of their own body pulls the claws shut. When they attach to a ceiling, the mechanism locks into place perfectly.

A bat can sleep, hybernate, and even pass away while hanging upside down without ever losing its grip. – A Facebook post by ‘Zootopia’

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In 2013, Australian naturalist John Young released remarkable footage of one of the world's most elusive birds — the night parrot. The images captivated ornithologists because they provided some of the first widely recognized photographs and video of a living wild night parrot in modern times.

The discovery confirmed that the species, once believed by many to be extinct, had survived in the remote landscapes of Western Australia. Young's work inspired additional scientific surveys, which uncovered further evidence that small populations of the bird were still living in the wild.

Often described as a "Lazarus taxon," the night parrot became one of the most celebrated rediscoveries in modern ornithology. Its survival serves as a powerful reminder that even species thought to be lost can sometimes persist in the most isolated corners of the natural world, offering renewed hope for wildlife conservation. – A Facebook post by David Attenborough

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End of Holidays

My last post from Benalmadena before I head home on Friday.

Time flies. I had a pleasant and relaxing month here in Benalmadena – a nice, laid back town of holiday makers and retirees.

There is quite a big community of foreigners – British, Europeans, Scandinavians, and Russians here. Some bought holiday apartments so they can have a place to stay when they are in town during the cooler months back home.

I can understand why many Europeans want to retire here. Benalmadena is a very likeable town. The place is idyllic, the pace of life is slow and laid-back. Life is simple, and affordable. The town is self-sufficient. The locals are friendly and accepting. A very likeable town indeed.

“According to the latest municipal tourism bulletin for March 2026, Benalmádena continues to consolidate its position as one of the most competitive tourist destinations on the Costa del Sol.” - SUR

There are enough things to do here in Benalmadena. There is the Costa – where sun and sand beckons. And places of interest like the Puerto Marina, the Park of the Doves, cable car rides up to Mount Calamorro.

You can explore the town area, pick a nice cafe or restaurant – of which there are many, have a meal, or a drink and watch the world go by. Just chill and relax. At night, if you like to party, you can head to the square at the costa and party the night away.

If that is not enough excitement for you, you can explore the other towns along the Costa, or the Pueblos that nestled on the mountain side. And then, there is Malaga center, which is about half an hour by train.

It’s your holiday. It is up to you, how you want to spend it. Some people visit the whole of Europe in ten days. Some take ten days to explore a little town. To each his own.

I have been here a few times, and I did the touristic things on my earlier trips. Now, I just relax, do as little as possible.

Some photos of the place.

Till the next time, Benalmadena!

You can click on the picture for a better view.

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Sunset, And Cloud-spotting in Benalmadena

Sunset at the moment is about 8.10 pm. However, it would be another half an hour or more before the sun sets over the horizon of the Mediterranean sea.

I get a good view of the sun setting behind the mountain ranges from Roger’s balcony. If I am lucky, I get treated to some magical, and phenomenal natural light shows and cloud formations.

Unfortunately, I haven’t been lucky this year. I have not seen any impressive sunset, light shows or cloud formations. These are my best captures to date.

The sun, beginning to set. It will eventually go down behind the mountain ranges

Cloudy skies

“Contrails are line-shaped artificial clouds formed when water vapour in airplane engine exhaust condenses and freezes into ice crystals at high, freezing altitudes.” - Wikipedia

These are some more dramatic ones – courtesy of Roger, from the earlier months of the year.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

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All Puns Intended

Sometimes, the only way out of a stressful life is to have a good laugh – at life, at yourself. A hearty laugh will overcome more difficulties and dissipates more dark clouds than any other one thing.

The following images are from the internet – Facebook pages and friends’ WhatsApp messages. I hope they bring on a chuckle or at least put a smile on your face. May your days be filled with laughter.

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Biology - Briefly

Know your body parts. Understand how they are quietly keeping you healthy and alive.

"Many people treat their bodies as if they were rented from Hertz – something they are using to get around in but nothing they genuinely care about understanding." - Chungliang Al Huang

Some interesting fun facts, trivias about our body – courtesy of Facebook pages ‘Inside Biology’, ‘Human Scope’, 'Dark WIsdom’, 'Body Truth' etc… However, I do not know if they are true. Some of them sound really incredible.

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The Liver Explained: The Hardest-Working Organ in Your Body!

Did you know your liver performs over 500 essential functions every single day? From filtering toxins and producing bile to storing nutrients and supporting metabolism, the liver is one of the most important organs in the human body. – A Facebook post by ‘Human Scope’

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Did you know? Around 70% of your immune system is located in and around your digestive tract. That means every meal you eat isn't just feeding you — it's also feeding the trillions of microbes that help regulate your body's immune defenses.

Inside your intestines lives a vast community of bacteria known as the gut microbiome. These microbes constantly communicate with immune cells lining your gut, helping your body distinguish between harmless substances and harmful invaders. When your gut microbiome is healthy and diverse, it helps strengthen the intestinal barrier and keeps your immune system functioning in balance.

What you eat plays a major role in shaping this microscopic ecosystem. Fiber-rich foods like vegetables, fruits, beans, whole grains, nuts, and seeds nourish beneficial bacteria, while fermented foods such as yogurt, kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, miso, and traditionally fermented pickles provide live microorganisms that help support microbial diversity. As gut bacteria ferment fiber, they produce short-chain fatty acids like butyrate, which nourish the cells lining your colon, strengthen the gut barrier, and help regulate immune activity.

Research published in Nature Reviews Immunology, Cell, and Nutrients has consistently shown that diets rich in fiber and fermented foods are associated with a healthier gut microbiome and a more balanced immune response. While no single food can prevent illness, consistently feeding your beneficial gut bacteria is one of the most effective ways to support your body's natural defenses over time.

Try this: Aim for 25–30 different plant foods each week, and include a serving of fermented food most days. Small daily habits can help build a healthier gut microbiome — one meal at a time. – A Facebook post by ‘Body Truth’

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Every tear starts with the lacrimal gland. Located above the outer corner of each eye, this small gland produces the watery layer of your tears.

Every blink spreads this protective film across the cornea, keeping the eye moist, washing away dust and microbes, delivering oxygen and nutrients, and helping maintain sharp, comfortable vision. A simple blink is one of your body's most effective defense mechanisms. – A Facebook post by ‘Inside Biology’

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The Pituitary Gland Explained | The Master Hormone Gland That Controls Your Body

The pituitary gland is a tiny organ at the base of your brain, but it controls many of your body's most important functions. Learn how the master hormone gland regulates growth, metabolism, reproduction, stress, sleep, hydration, and signals other endocrine glands. – A Facebook post by ‘Human Scope’

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Your body isn't the same body it was yesterday.

Blood cells, gut lining, skin — replaced constantly, around 3.8 million cells every second. That adds up to roughly 330 billion cells rebuilt in a single day. You're not aging in place. You're being continuously rebuilt. – A Facebook post by ‘Inside Biology’

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Your blood pressure is constantly changing with every heartbeat, movement, and breath.

Baroreceptors in your arteries detect these changes, while the brainstem rapidly adjusts heart rate and blood vessel tone to keep pressure within a safe range.

This automatic system works every second, without conscious effort. – A Facebook post by ‘Inside Biology’

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Hyaline cartilage is the smooth, glass-like tissue that lets your joints move with remarkably low friction. It cushions the ends of bones and absorbs shock with every step.

Because it has almost no blood vessels and no nerves, damage often develops silently and heals very slowly. Your knees, hips, and shoulders depend on this thin layer more than most people realize. – A Facebook post by ‘Inside Biology’

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Your gut lining doesn't let everything in.

Molecular transport proteins recognize specific nutrients and decide, millions of times a day, what crosses into your blood — and what gets left behind.

Not everything that reaches you deserves access. – A Facebook post by ‘Inside Biology’

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Your cornea is one of the most remarkable structures in the human body.

It’s the transparent outer layer of your eye that helps focus light — and unlike most tissues, it has no blood vessels. Instead, it gets oxygen primarily from the air through your tears and the surrounding environment.

Even more fascinating: the cornea contains an incredibly dense network of sensory nerves, making it extremely sensitive to injury and irritation.

Your eyes are doing extraordinary work every second—without you even noticing. – A Facebook post by ‘Inside Biology’

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The idea that your exact existence had odds of roughly 1 in 400 trillion is often shared to illustrate just how many circumstances had to align for you to be here. The precise number, however, isn’t a scientifically established probability and depends heavily on what events are included in the calculation.

Think about the chain behind a single human life. Your parents had to meet at a particular time, one particular sperm had to fertilize one particular egg, and countless genetic combinations could have produced someone entirely different. Go back another generation and the possibilities multiply again. Continue through hundreds or thousands of years of ancestry and the number of alternative outcomes becomes almost impossible to comprehend.

Change just one meeting, one decision, one journey or one moment anywhere along that chain and the person reading these words might never have existed.

That is why the “1 in 400 trillion” figure is better understood as a thought provoking illustration rather than a literal biological statistic. Whatever the true mathematical odds might be, your particular combination of DNA, ancestry and circumstances represents an extraordinarily specific outcome among an enormous number of possibilities.

Out of billions of years of cosmic history and generations of human lives, somehow the chain continued all the way to you. When you look at existence from that perspective, simply being here is pretty remarkable. – A Facebook post by ‘Astrophilesz’

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Star Gazing in Arroyo de la Miel

In the evenings, when we are not out, we sit out on the balcony to enjoy the night view of the villages at the base of the mountain ranges. I never get tired of the view. The peaceful and serene view is beautiful and very relaxing.

There will be drinks and some light snacks.

From the balcony, I also get a good view of the night sky. This allows me to star gaze. There are not many stars to be seen though – due to the pollution in the sky. If I stare long enough at the sky, I could spot a brief twinkle here and there before they disappear again.

There are about half a dozen of the brighter ones – one of them we identified as Arcturus, the fourth brightest star in the entire night sky and the brightest in the Northern celestial hemisphere.

In the early evening, we see Venus, and when there is a new moon, we will get to see the moon for a few nights.

This is the moon and Venus quite close together. Each night, the moon comes into view an hour later. It also sets later and further away whereas Venus sets earlier each day until we don’t see them together anymore.

The moon and Venus drifting further from each other every night.

This was the last night we saw the moon. The following night, when it came round the corner, we were already in bed.

We once saw an unidentified object zoomed across the sky. Since then, we are always on the lookout for unidentified objects. We did see a couple of bright and brief flashes. But we had no idea what caused them. Other than that, we saw planes coming in and going out. Once in a while, we saw a seagull or two flying pass. And occasionally, we saw fireworks in the distance.

We were accompanied in the evenings by ‘Ocean Radio’ - a radio station that plays very nice hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and today. It is a joy to listen to songs we grew up, and are familiar with. They sure brought back memories of days gone.

If you are a fan of oldies, you can try and see if you can get ‘Ocean Radio’. They play non-stop music all day. No commercials and it is free.

So, very pleasant evenings at home.

You can click on the picture for a better view.

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