SUMMER IN THE SUBURBAN FOREST PARK

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There is a forest just outside the city of Pula. It starts with the pine trees behind the last suburban homes, and then the vegetation gets more varied after a hundred meters or so. The core of that forested area it's a nice mix of evergreen and deciduous trees.

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I visit that place only when I have to do something in the city or buy some stuff in the supermarkets and shopping malls not far from there. Since that happens relatively often, I have plenty of photographs that show the suburban woods.

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Photographs in this post were taken on a couple of occasions during the July of 2021.

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Here you can see the introductory pines ...

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... and the path that leads deeper into the forest.

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These markings on some of the trees signal the perimeter of the forest park.

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I was a bit dipper in the woods, in the area with denser vegetation, when this photograph was taken.

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I was far enough from the suburban traffic at this point, but the forest was far from being quiet. The cicadas were singing loudly high in the canopies.

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They are usually too high on trees to be visible, but this time ...

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... a mating pair somehow ended up on the ground ...

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... so I was able to take a couple of shots. Tibicina haematodes is the name of this species.

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With this photograph, the post is folding backward, following the same path that brought me to the cicadas, and in the following shot ...

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... you can see the place where I usually leave the car.

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Here you can take a look at the road that passes through some small villages and leads back to my hometown.

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In this photograph, a fragment of suburbia is trapped inside the traffic mirror.

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Here you can see an old box mounted on the old utility pole.

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This photograph was taken on another summer day, back then in July of 2021.

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It's the same place, but the sky above it looks different.

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With this photograph ...

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... the post is suddenly teleported deeper into the forest ...

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... where I came across this dead, dry branch of a pine tree ...

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... that looked very interesting in the lush, green environment.

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A bit later ...

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... I was on the narrow path surrounded by small trees and various thorny shrubs, and there ...

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... I found this feeding point for whoever likes a bit of corn for breakfast or dinner.

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There was a camera attached to the small tree. This is part of a program that monitors the population of wild pigs that live at the edge of the city and sometimes visit the suburbia, mostly at night or early in the morning.

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On the blackberry shrub not far from there, I photographed a pair of beetles.
These are Coraebus rubi, beetles from the Buprestidae family.

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Sometimes, while rambling through the woods ...

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... I reach various stretches of the road that leads towards my hometown, usually two to three kilometers from where I parked my car.

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Here you can see the beautiful cork oak tree (Quercus suber). This isn't a common species in this area. It can be found only around the city, in the forest parks planted about 200 years ago during the Austro-Hungarian administration. Not far from that tree ...

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... I found an interesting insect.

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This is a nymph, a young, wingless version ...

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of the Gonocerus acuteangulatus, bug from the Coreidae family. I didn't find any adults around, so I can't show you how this species looks in its adult stage. But I can tell you that they are brown, and look more "normal" than these strange babies.

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Here you can see some interesting shapes that I found ...

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... while following one of the main paths that lead through the forest park.

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They looked like parasitic plants or fungal growths.

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Some leaves were completely covered with these things.

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The protuberances in these photographs are produced by the tree ...

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... but are triggered by arachnid activity.

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Minuscule mites caused the formation of these galls.

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Infected by the salivary secretions of a mite, the plant tissue forms a protuberance inside which the small arachnid can feed safely.

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Some aphids also use this feeding technique, but the galls are larger and look different.

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With this photograph, the post has reached the edge of the forest ...

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... the area near the cultivated fields and open meadows.

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I took only a couple of shots here.

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Photographed the Crepis vesicaria plant ...

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... and this lovely little cockroach.

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Ectobius vittiventris is the name of this elegant, amber species. It lives in forests. Eats only decomposing foliage, and cannot survive in urban environments where the usual city cockroaches thrive.

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And now, with this photograph taken while driving back home, is time to end this walk through the city forest park in summer. As always in these posts on HIVE, the photographs are my work - THE END.



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26 comments
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The forest must definitely be a thick one where you took this amazing pictures

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Lovely pics and adventures... I love nature

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You write very well, and I am amazed that every picture you show is absolutely beautiful. Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to see this beautiful post.

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Nature is indeed very extraordinary. And your camera shots are also very beautiful

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It's one of my most frequent sightings in July and August, cicadas mating and they're on the trees like you said, but the sounds they always make give them away.

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Beautiful green forest 💕 colors are really the smiles of nature 🌴

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Great to have a forest close to the city.
The forest looks nice to wander through, it is also great to see they monitor the wildlife and have put up some food next to the camera.

The things on the leaves are very interesting to see. Never saw anything like that. Very strange….
Beautiful captures of the insects.

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(Edited)

I liked the path inside the forest, it looks like a crossroads but full of green, I see the insects and I try to drink coffee ha, ha, ha, ha, you know I don't like them, but I see them ,and how not to see them , there is a lot of variety and the sentences make me immerse myself in what you are describing.
I wish you a happy start of the week

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🙂 Thank you, have a great week.

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Thank you @borjan you always entertain me with your beautiful pictures, friend @borjan if you are willing to go to aceh Indonesia, don't forget to let me know, I want to be able to have coffee with you. Thank you friends for sharing your good pictures, have a nice day

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Thanks for the invitation. 🙂 For now I can't travel to distant places. But who knows, in next years maybe I will visit Southeast Asia. I saw many fantastic natural landscapes, plants, and animals from Indonesia here on HIVE, so I'm sure that will be a great photographic experience.

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yes friend, maybe in the coming year there will be an opportunity to go to Aceh Indonesia, don't hesitate to call me, I will honor a good guest. I also thank you very much for your support.

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Very beautiful forest, some photos look like tropics.
Your photos are so gorgeous that I would buy a book with similar pictures! And insects are amazing!

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Thanks for your contribution to the STEMsocial community. Feel free to join us on discord to get to know the rest of us!

Please consider delegating to the @stemsocial account (85% of the curation rewards are returned).

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We appreciate your work and your post has been manually curated by zoology team (oscurity,nelinoeva) on behalf of Amazing Nature Community. Keep up the good work!

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Hello @borjan!

very nice post! thank for sharing
We appreciate your work and your post was manually curated by @none! from the DNA team!

Reach us on Discord to learn more about the project!

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Wonderful fauna and flora. The nature can be truly amazing.

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True. And many interesting things can be found even near the city.

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