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The European rock pipit (Anthus petrosus) is a small species of songbird that breeds in western Europe on rocky coasts. It has streaked greyish-brown upperparts and buff underparts, and is similar in appearance to other European pipits. There are three subspecies, of which only the Fennoscandian form is migratory, wintering in shoreline habitats further south in Europe and northwest Africa. The rock pipit is territorial at least in the breeding season, and remains so year-round where it is resident. Males will sometimes enter an adjacent territory to assist the resident in repelling an intruder, behaviour only otherwise known from an African fiddler crab. Rock pipits construct a cup nest under coastal vegetation or in cliff crevices and lay four to six speckled pale grey eggs which hatch in about two weeks. The pipits feed mainly on small invertebrates picked off the rocks or from shallow water, and occasionally catch insects in flight. The bird's population is large and stable. (Full article...)

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Did you know ...

Coronation of the Virgin by Pollaiuolo

... that the six saints in the Coronation of the Virgin (pictured) by Piero del Pollaiuolo are "poised between ecstasy and migraine"?
... that Israeli journalist Ayala Hasson is the first woman to head Channel 1's news division?
... that the notorious gambler Richard Albert Canfield stayed in the Elihu Akin House for a summer when he was thirteen years old?
... that New Zealand footballer Grace Wisnewski's bottom-ranked team upset the defending league champions when she scored what an A-League statistician called an "acrobatic" 99th-minute equalising goal?
... that the toroidal solenoid was the first fusion-power device to be patented?
... that leading Sacaba's largest drivers' union was José Mendieta's second choice of career, after teaching?
... that Melanie Golding's theory that changeling folklore was an attempt to explain postpartum psychosis inspired her horror novel Little Darlings?
... that a mural created to honor the late YouTuber Etika was added as a PokéStop in the mobile game Pokémon Go?

In the news

Mohamed Bazoum

In Niger, soldiers stage a coup d'état, detaining President Mohamed Bazoum (pictured).
The Israeli Knesset approves a judicial reform bill after months of protests against it.
In golf, Brian Harman wins the Open Championship.
In cycling, Jonas Vingegaard wins the Tour de France.

On this day

July 28: Statehood Day in Ukraine (2022)

Negroes' Protest a Silent Parade 1917, Universal Animated Weekly newsreel

1148 – Crusades: The siege of Damascus ended in a decisive victory for the Muslims, leading to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.
1821 – Peruvian War of Independence: Argentine general José de San Martín declared the independence of Peru from the Spanish Empire.
1917 – In New York City, the NAACP and church and community leaders organized a silent march (newsreel footage featured) of at least 8,000 people to protest violence directed towards African Americans.
1976 – An earthquake registering 7.6 M_w, one of the deadliest in history, devastated Tangshan, China, and killed at least 240,000 people.
2001 – At the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Australian Ian Thorpe became the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single FINA world championship.

Athanasius I Gammolo (d. 631)
Marguerite Louise d'Orléans (b. 1645)
R. A. B. Mynors (b. 1903)
Huma Qureshi (b. 1986)

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From today's featured list

Birnbeck Pier

There are eighty Grade II* listed buildings in North Somerset, a unitary authority in the ceremonial county of Somerset, England. In the United Kingdom, the term listed building refers to a building or other structure officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance; Grade II* structures are those considered to be "particularly significant buildings of more than local interest". The oldest in North Somerset are Norman churches. From the Middle Ages onward there are more churches and some manor houses, such as Tyntesfield, Clevedon Court and Leigh Court, with their ancillary buildings. More recent entries include Birnbeck Pier (pictured), which was designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867, and the Waterworks at Blagdon, which were completed in 1905. (Full list...)

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The Bubble Nebula, formally known as NGC 7635, is an H II region and emission nebula in the constellation Cassiopeia. It lies close to the direction of the open cluster Messier 52. The "bubble" is created by the stellar wind from a massive magnitude-8.7 young central star, BD+60°2522 (visible in the centre left of this image). The nebula is near a giant molecular cloud that contains the bubble's expansion while itself being excited by the hot central star, causing it to glow. It was discovered in 1787 by William Herschel. This photograph of the Bubble Nebula was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in 2016. The image is a composite of separate exposures acquired by the telescope's Wide Field Camera 3; the colours are a result of assigning different hues (blue, green and red) to each monochromatic image associated with an individual filter used to sample a particular wavelength of light.

Photograph credit: NASA, ESA, Hubble Heritage Team

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