The Frye Fire was a wildfire that burned 48,443 acres (19,604 ha) in Graham County, Arizona, United States, from June 7 to September 1, 2017. The fire was ignited by a lightning strike on Mount Graham, within the Coronado National Forest, and spread rapidly until it was mostly contained on July 12. The fire destroyed three buildings and briefly threatened the Mount Graham International Observatory. It cost $26 million (equivalent to $32 million in 2023) to contain and suppress, and involved more than 800 firefighters. There were no fatalities, but 63 firefighters were quarantined with strep throat. During seasonal rains beginning in July, ash and debris from the Frye Fire's burn scar washed off the mountain slopes, then clogged creeks and damaged infrastructure within Graham County. The fire particularly impacted the endangered Mount Graham red squirrel, whose remaining habitat on Mount Graham was devastated. (Full article...)
... that Sergei Eisenstein's Ivan the Terrible(scene pictured) has been named as both one of the worst films and one of the greatest films of all time?
... that Olympian Sydney Francisco was named after the city where her mother competed at the Olympics?
The spinifex pigeon (Geophaps plumifera) is a bird in the pigeon family, Columbidae. It is endemic to Australia, occurring throughout much of the arid and semi-arid northern and central parts of the continent. It lives in stony habitats on rocky hills and mountainous terrain, gorges, dry rocky creek beds and nearby gibber plains. The spinifex pigeon weighs 80 to 110 grams (2.8 to 3.9 ounces), with a mean body length of 200 to 235 millimetres (7.9 to 9.3 inches) and a wingspan of 300 to 350 millimetres (12 to 14 inches). Its plumage is distinctively rufous-brown with thin black bars on the wings and back. The forehead, the sides of the crown and the ear coverts are grey, while the bill is black, and it has distinctive facial markings including a bright red facial mask and a white band extending from the chin to behind the eye. This spinifex pigeon was photographed in Watarrka National Park in Australia's Northern Territory.