Category: This is America

 

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The Great Dance on a Frozen Lake?
Great Blue Herons are the largest wading bird in New Jersey. With a wingspan of about 73 inches the Great Blue Herons are indeed great dancers and fighters!
They have elaborate courtship rituals including complex displays that help paris for strong bonds. Their mating displays include bill snapping, neck stretching, moaning calls, preening, circular flights, twin shaking, twig exchanging, crest raising and bill duels.
During Territorial fight, adults Herons display show an aggressive upright display followed by a forward display. The two Herons stab with their bills and buffet each other with their long wings and grip the opponent’s neck using its feet. These extreme aggressions are due to limited access to foraging sites. Deep water in summer and ice in winter restrict the access of Great Blue Herons to their foraging sites and possibly intensify competition among Herons.
Though the Great Blue Heron’s population in North America is stable, it is still classified as a species of special concern here in New Jersey — as the wetland destruction has caused a decrease in Heron population from their historic numbers.
In 2009 a total of 586 nests were counted in New Jersey.
This motion picture and the following photograph were captured on a cell phone camera.
Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’. Visit @shravanregretiyer@regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.

 

 

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December is the month when winter truly begins in most of the Northern Hemisphere.
As the winter sets in, the full moon also called the Cold Moon sets in. In the ancient times it was a common practice to track the changing seasons by following the lunar month. For millennia the Native American tribes name the months after features they associated with the Northern Hemisphere seasons.
This year the full cold moon is falling exactly in line with the December solstice (Friday December 21 5:23pm EST). Also the moon will form a conjunction with bright star Aldebaran, meaning two celestial bodies appear to meet and pass each other in the sky.
In this video I attempted to capture the full glory of the full Cold Moon with the wolves howling (from my recent recordings in the background). Swipe left to see the Cold Moon up close.
Happy winter, stay warm! And wishing you all a Happy Holidays!
Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’ all new series. Visit @shravanregretiyer@regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.

 

 

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It’s Thanksgiving! The word evokes family reunions, roasted turkey with stuffing, pumpkin pie and more. Giving thanks was, and still is, the primary reason for ceremonies or celebrations.
And, here we are celebrating Thanksgiving in Colonial style at the 278-year-old Miller-Cory House in Westfield, New Jersey. The women and men on the museum’s cooking committee have ingenious methods of cooking without modern devices. The equipment used is itself fascinating and each has a purpose. The oven is built into the a wall, a method of cookery used two centuries before the modern-gas or electric range. The cooking committee of the museum has also produced a small booklet with Colonial recipes.
Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’. Visit @shravanregretiyer@regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.

 

 

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It’s Thanksgiving! The word evokes family reunions, roasted turkey with stuffing, pumpkin pie and more. Giving thanks was, and still is, the primary reason for ceremonies or celebrations.
And, here we are celebrating Thanksgiving in Colonial style at the 278-year-old Miller-Cory House in Westfield, New Jersey. The women and men on the museum’s cooking committee have ingenious methods of cooking without modern devices. The equipment used is itself fascinating and each has a purpose. The oven is built into the a wall, a method of cookery used two centuries before the modern-gas or electric range. The cooking committee of the museum has also produced a small booklet with Colonial recipes.
Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’. Visit @shravanregretiyer@regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.

 

 

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Increasing habitat loss and pesticide use has already put the world bee population at risk of extinction. In North America, as many as 700 bee species are headed towards extinction.
Along with the man-made problems, bees also face other challenges including pathogen (microorganism that can cause disease). Researchers have found that Pathogens such as (Crithidia bombi and Nosema ceranae) have implicated in slowing bee colony growth rates and increasing bee death.
Fortunately, researchers have found that Sunflower Pollen has Medicinal, Protective Effects on Bees. Recently, researchers found that two different species of bees that fed a diet of sunflower pollen had dramatically lower rates of infection by specific pathogens. While sunflower pollen alone cannot be considered meal for bee population, researchers says it could certainly be a good additional to a diverse wildflower population for bees.
Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’ all new series. Visit @shravanregretiyer@regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.

 

 

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The American Foxhound is a very active and very high energy breed of dog. They are also called scent hounds and are bred to hunt foxes by scent. They are the cousins of English Foxhound. Dogs of this bloodline remained in the Brooke’s family for almost 300 years. In the USA, the American Foxhounds are said to have originated in the states of Maryland and Virginia. It’s also considered as the state dog of Virginia. The American Foxhound is famous for its musical bay that can be heard for miles. They are one of the rarest breed in the American Kennel Club. This is a dog bred to run full throttle over hill and dale, hot on the heels of a fox!
Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’ all new series. Visit @shravanregretiyer@regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.

 

The first ever hot air balloon was launched in September 1783, around 235 years ago. The passengers were a sheep, a duck and a rooster and the balloon stayed in the air for about 15 minutes before crashing back to the ground. 
Today hot air balloon technology has seen great advancement and across the USA hundreds of hot air balloon festivals are held  especially during the fall season where hundreds of tourists take the ride for some breathtaking landscapes and fall foliage. 
Happy World Tourism Day 
Join me Shravan Regret Iyer @shravanregretiyer3lenses and explore ‘This is America’ all new series. Visit @shravanregretiyer @regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.

 

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A Painted Lady Butterfly just emerged from chrysalis after approximately 7~10 days. It takes an hour or two to dry off and stretch its wings. After the wings harden, it is about to explore a whole new world!
Painted ladies are found in most part of the United States, Europe, Canada, Asia and South Africa. Their worldwide distribution account for the common name ‘Cosmopolitan Butterfly’
After two or more generations, adult butterflies hibernate and may survive the winter. Occasionally painted ladies survive winter temperatures in their chrysalis, suspended between caterpillar and butterfly.
The total life span of a painted lady is 12 months from egg to death in the wild.
Join me @shravanregretiyer and explore ‘This is America’ all new series. Visit @regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.

 

 

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The Mountain man’s camp, a living history station in New Jersey. In the 1800’s mountain men were common in the North American Rocky Mountains. While they were free trappers, most mountain men were employed by major fur companies. They hunted and trapped in brigades and always reported to the head of the trapping party. Their life was rugged and many did not last for several years in wilderness. They faced hazards like wildlife, bad weather, biting insects, diseases, injuries and more – while expiring the unmapped areas. In order to survive in the wild the mountain men mastered herbal remedies, first aid, hunting, and surviving in brutal winter!
During the 1840s when the fur trade began to collapse, there were motivated to change jobs and the trails they had explored were later turned into reliable mule trails and gradually improved. The mountain men were later hired as guides and scouts.
Join me @shravanregretiyer and explore ‘This is America’ all new series. Visit @regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.

 

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This is one of the oldest American breed of hog, known as the Hampshire Pig. They are characterized by erect ears and a black body with whitish band around the middle, covering the front legs. They are the fourth ‘most-recorded breed’ of pig raised as livestock in the United States.
In the US hog and Pig farming is a $22.5 billion industry. An estimate suggests that there are nearly 72 million hogs and pigs on U.S. farms. Such large-scale pig farming poses immense threat to the natural environment. Pig waste largely contributes to the groundwater pollution and in turn causes respiratory, ailment, decreased quality of life and higher blood pressure.
Join me @shravanregretiyer and explore ‘This is America’ all new series. Visit @regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.

 

 

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Old School: This is how a well equipped one-room rural school in the United States looked like in the colonial times. The classroom had desks, blackboard, books, globe, artwork, stove, piano and lanterns. Textbooks were imported from England in the 17th century and in 1690 Boston publishers started reprinting the same. Webster’s speller was the pedagogical blueprint for American textbooks and it was so arranged that it could be easily taught to students, and it progressed by age. Only 3.68 million Americans attended primary schools in 1840’s
With limited number of students most communities relied on one-roomed school houses like this one.
As older children in the families would teach younger ones, the abler pupils in these schools become helpers to teachers and taught other students what they had learned.
Join me @shravanregretiyer and explore ‘This is America’ all new series. Visit @regretiyerproductions and https://shravanregretiyer.com for more immersive stories.