Every year in the fall, this beautiful tree sheds, and leaves behind a beautiful ocean of yellow leaves. The Ginkgo tree, also known as the maidenhair, is sometimes referred to as a “living fossil” because, despite all the drastic climate changes, it has remained unchanged for more than 200 million years. 

It is a living link to the times when the dinosaurs ruled the earth. This specimen has more than 1,400 years of life.
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When amateur photographer Risto Mattila went for a Sunday stroll along Marjaniemi beach on Finland's Hailuoto Island recently, that was exactly what he found. Lucky for us, he took some snaps, which quickly spread through social media. 

"I was with my wife at Marjaniemi beach. The weather was sunny, about -1 Celsius (30 Fahrenheit) and it was quite a windy day," Mattila told the BBC. "There we found this amazing phenomenon. There was snow and ice eggs along the beach near the water line." 

A stretch of roughly 30 metres (about 100 feet) of sand was littered with frozen spheres that ranged from golf ball-sized to the circumference of a football.

 

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A post shared by Risto Mattila (@rismatti)

The bizarre sight might look like carnage after a serious snowball fight, but it actually has more in common with your garden variety hailstones, because the formation of these 'ice eggs' requires a near-perfect set of meteorological conditions - not too warm, not too cold, not too windy, not too still. 

First of all, you need relatively calm water. It also has to be just cold enough for ice to form, given the opportunity. That opportunity requires something small for that close-to-freezing water to cling to, such as small ice crystals or grit floating in the water. Hail forms when water condenses and freezes onto particles blown up inside storm clouds, for example. As they fall and rise, the stones collect layers of ice, until finally they grow too heavy and drop. 

In the case of these ice eggs, it's not the chaotic blast of rising air currents that lead to the slow build-up of ice, but the gentle churn of water, blown by a suitably stiff breeze that helps layers of ice form on the floating ball as it rolls through the freezing currents. 

Take a look at these grittier ice rocks being washed up on the shore of Lake Michigan in the US a few years ago to get an idea of how they develop:

  Given enough time, the frozen rocks can grow to become virtual boulders. In 2016, similar giant snowballs washed up on a beach in Siberia, some measuring a meter (about 3 feet) across. 

It's not the kind of thing most of us would see while out on a winter walk on our favorite beach or river bank, but Mattila wasn't the only one to appreciate this unusual phenomenon, with local resident Ritva Rundgren capturing this footage below.

ICE BALLS cover Beach in Finland!!!! 😮😮

Permission: Ritva Rundgren
Hailuoto, Finland - Bothnian Sea@WeatherBug - Download the weather app today! pic.twitter.com/F9fe1K8tcd

— Live Storm Chasers (@LiveStormChaser) November 7, 2019

Meanwhile, another odd assortment of icicle-laden 'eggs' has washed up on the banks of the Wulik River in Alaska.

Interesting formation of ice on the banks of the Wulik River near Kivalina. We suspect a combination of strong waves and super cold water created these ice balls. pic.twitter.com/oIM19Jle2N

— NWS APRFC (@NWSAPRFC) November 6, 2019

Thanks to so many people out there with easy access to cameras, and easy ways to share their discoveries around the world, we all get to experience the awesome moments nature serves up.
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The lovely scene was caught on camera by Laura Keene, a 57-year-old amateur photographer, on Barrier Islands in Alaska. Though the incredible snap show the one-year-old cubs appearing to wave to the camera, the story behind it explains what really happened. 

As it turned out, the bears – a female and her two cubs – were actually spotted another polar bear family far behind. So the youngsters stood up on their hind legs to better notice what was happening. “It was such a surreal moment for me as a photographer when I saw that wave movement, Laura who works as a clinical pharmacist, said. 

“Though intellectually I knew it was simply the cub moving to keep his balance as he stood upright, I pressed the shutter desperately hoping that I could capture that scene in focus as our boat rocked and pulled away.” 

The two polar bear families got alerted by a massive male they’ve been spotted sleeping in the area. So the mother became extremely vigilant as the males are extremely aggressive with the cubs. “That day, our bear guide Ketil Reitan scanned the islands and noticed two families of bears, each with a mum and two cubs,” Laura explained. 

“From a distance he could see unusual behaviour, the mother bears were occasionally standing. “He navigated the boat to the area and when we arrived he saw the reason – there was a huge male polar bear sleeping nearby.”
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Reniala is a malagasy name of baobab, “reny” means mother and “ala” means forest so baobab is called Reniala or mother of the forest due to its height and shape bigger than other trees surrounding her in the forest. This reserve is held by an association called Reniala that gives the name of the area like their association. 

Not only the association’name makes the reserve called Reniala but the place is known as home of many species of baobabs within just 60 ha . From Tulear to the reserve, you’ll cross some Mahafaly(one of Malagasy ethnics) typical villages where you’ll see houses that are quite similar to each other build with dry bulrush.( a tall reed-like water plant with tall leaves) Arrived at the reserve you’ll have opportunities to learn more about the Baobab and other endemic vegetal species in the dry area of the South. 

Notice that Baobabs tree grows 1 millimeter per month so imagine how old are those big trees in front of us. If you are lucky enough you might taste its delicious fruit that falls in every December. Then learn about those four different species of trees that local use to build their boats and also the “Music tree” or the yellow flamboyant that is served to fabricate musical instrument like maracas, djember or mandolin. But the highlights of the day is to be in front of the biggest baobab of Ifaty Mangily area inside the reserve that looks like a coffee pot. 

This biggest baobab has over 1200 years with her 7 meters of height and 12 meters of circumference. It belongs to the species of “Adansonia robrostipa” called also “Baobab FONY”. This baobab bears leaves from November to April and flowering between February and April although sometimes as late as June. 

The flowers are large, showy and sweet-smelling, and open just before or soon after dusk, producing copious amounts of nectar but remaining reproductively receptive for just one night. Reniala reserve presents an exceptional faunistic richness that live inside the deciduous forest. 

During your visit you’ll meet many endemic birds including Uratelornis and Monias, lemurs, reptiles, lizards that has the head of dinosaur and caiman’tail, and also turtles. On your way back, you’ll meet the herders with their livestock of goats that cross the road through the sunset of the South that will be a real unforgettable painting tables on your mind.
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