Leopold and Rudolf Blaschka and their Marine Life glass collection

ivda marina collection by the Blaschka
Image Guido Mocafico

Leopold and his son Rudolf Blaschka created zoological models made in the XNUMXth century for scientific use, made from Bohemian glass.

It is one of those objects that could be in any cabinet of curiosities and that I would love to have.

They made 2 collections: Marine Life on marine invertebrate animals and a "herbarium" with plant species for Harvard University.

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Ceterach officinarum or doradilla

Ceterach officinarum fern from the Valencian community and Europe

It is a native wild fern of the Valencian flora, although it is not unique here. It is also found in much of Europe.

It belongs to the Polypodiaceae family, to which 80% of the ferns belong, which are divided into Pteridaceae, Aspleniaceae, Polypodiaceae, among others. and belong to the group of pteridophytes, pteridophytes ( pteridophyta), vascular cryptogams, or, generally, ferns and related

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The Mediterranean mount. A guide for naturalists

The Mediterranean mount. A guide for naturalists

Disclosure book by Julián Simón López-Villalta de la Tundra Publishing. A small wonder that has made me change my vision on many points.

In the book he reviews all the ecology of the mediterranean forest. Going through the history of the Mediterranean, its habitats and biodiversity where it tells us about trees, shrubs, herbs, carnivores, granivores, herbivores, pollinators, parasitoids, insectivores, decomposers, scavengers.

A section dedicated to survival (droughts, fires, frosts, etc.) and another to the relationships between species (predators and prey, parasites, competition, mutualism and symbiosis and diners and tenants)

As you can see, it is a complete look at plant and animal species and the relationships between them and the habitat where they live. All perfectly explained and integrated, giving an overview of how the ecosystem works, why it is so special and why it contains so much biodiversity.

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Sea Pottery

Sea Pottery, what it is, types, collection and more information

By Sea Pottery we understand all those pieces of ceramic or tiles that, like the Sea Glass, are eroded by the sea, by lakes or rivers, although the most common is to find them on the beaches. If you don't know what the Sea Glass see our guide.

Besides Sea Pottery they also call it Stoneware Sea Pottery. I do not know a name in Castilian, perhaps the translation is marine ceramics or sea ceramics, marine ceramics of grés. Any combination seems valid, but I think that in these cases it is better to continue using the English name.

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A geologist in distress by Nahúm Méndez

A geologist in distress by Nahúm Méndez

Small popularization test to introduce us to the wonderful world of geology Ideal for all those who want to start and discover what this science does.

A geologist in distress. A journey through time and into the deepest part of the Earth

The author is Nahúm Méndez, geologist and author of the blog of A geologist in distress. I have been following him for a long time on his twitter @geologoinapuros

I really liked it, but I would have liked him to get into field geology more. I hope that there will be a second volume already entering into the subject of types of formations, rocks, minerals, etc. A document that helps a naturalist to go out into the field and understand what types of formations he is seeing and why they have formed.

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Midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans)

Common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans)

It is a common midwife toad (Alytes obstetricans). A common amphibian in Spain with a few quirks.

This one has a little story. We found it, when cleaning the pool. After all winter without filling it, it came out of the filling tube and fell into the water. In addition to 6 tadpoles of a certain size. We let go of the frog and take care of the tadpoles, 3 of them reached adults.

I took advantage of this capture to teach my daughters to identify species with a key, dichotomous guide for the identification of amphibians in the natural parks of Spain. It is created by the Ministry for the Ecological transition. You can download it from this link and I also hang it in case it gets lost that these things are no longer available later. They love me.

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Lesser centaur, the gall of the earth

lesser centaury Centaurium erythraea

The centauryCentaurium erythraea) is an annual or biannual herb, typical of the Mediterranean areaa that grows in poor and dry soils, next to roads and in clearings in the middle of the forest, often forming mini centaury meadows.

detail of the 5-petal flower of the lesser centaury

It is a typical plant of the flora of the Valencian community where I live. I see it year after year and my daughters have learned to recognize it very easily. Here is a video of my 7 year old daughter introducing her.

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How to tell the difference between swifts, swallows and planes

differentiate, swifts, planes and swallows

Swifts, swallows and planes They are 3 very common birds in our cities and towns and that despite living with them, people confuse them and are not able to identify them.

We are going to leave a complete manual with all the tricks and aspects in which we have to look for a good recognition.

LSwifts are much easier to identifyBetween airplanes and swallows we will have to look a little more but you will see how it is very simple.

Swallows and planes are Hurindinidae of the family Hirundinidae while swifts are family aphid apodidae which literally means without feet.

If you want to know more about each one we have the individual files. Every time with more data, photos and curiosities

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Common plane (Delichon urbicum)

Photograph from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Sanchezn

One of the urban birds that we are most used to seeing along with the sparrows although we cannot identify it. The Plane is an inhabitant of our streets. We see them flying through them and nesting on balconies and corners.

They breed in colonies on farms, towns and cities and also in open land although it is attracted to houses.

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