Originally published February 3, 2009 by Tamara Colloff-Bennett Mandarin ducks breed in densely wooded areas near shallow lakes, marshes or ponds. They roost high in trees and nest in tree hollows found near bodies of water in eastern Siberia in Russia, China, and Japan. During the winter, they migrate to southern China and Japan. The … Read more
We queue for tickets and go into the Church of The Spilled Blood. There’s a monument inside marking the spot where Alexander II was assassinated. As I explained in Part I of this diary, assassins threw a bomb at his armoured carriage and succeeded only in hurting some people who were nearby. Alexander got out … Read more
350 million years ago, Scotland was part of a much bigger land mass and lay slightly south of the equator. When the Scottish summer feels very little different from the Scottish winter, it is time to ponder Scotland’s journey over millions of years from the equator to its present position. On its way north, Scotland … Read more