Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: ranunculus on June 02, 2009, 08:18:50 PM
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Well folks - we are back from a magnificent week on the Turquoise Coast of Western Turkey and I will begin a series of postings with images of some of the wildlife we spotted during our sunny days in Olu Deniz.
BUTTERFLY
BUTTERFLY
DUNG BEETLES - TINY SPECIES
GRASSHOPPER
GRASSHOPPER
GRASSHOPPER
INSECT
TORTOISE
TORTOISE
TURTLE
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I have always loved tortoises and turtles are charming..... but those other critters have too many legs for my liking.....I feel strangely itchy :-\ :-[ :P
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Second batch from Olu Deniz on the coast of Turkey ...
GRASSHOPPER
GRASSHOPPER
GRASSHOPPER
INSECT
INSECT
SWALLOW
SWALLOW
SWALLOW - ON ELECTRICAL WIRES ABOVE SUPERMARKET ESCALATOR (UP & DOWN THREE TIMES TO CAPTURE IMAGE) ;D
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A whole new meaning to "bird on a wire", Cliff 8)
The detail visible in your bug shots is horribly fascinating :-X
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Superb photos though Maggi. I love the little tortoises. :)
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Great CU photos of the insect life, Cliff, the grass hopper is very handsome especially against the purple - Imagine the noise must have been quite something! Love the turtle treading water...altogether it looks hot ;D
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Interesting creatures, Cliff.
Paddy
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Great shots Cliff. The butterfly looks like a small skipper (Thymelicus flavus) but could be a similar species? The grasshopper is a bush cricket (Ephippiger sp. and seem to be all females. The large insect labelled 'insect two' looks like an immature female of Saga pedo, which is predatory on the bush crickets. Insect one is a robber fly and insect three a shield bug. Your turtle is a loggerhead (Caretta caretta) and the tortoise perhaps Testudo hermani boettgeri?
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The P5s at Newton Primary in Dunblane are doing a project on the environment, so as part of Lucy's biodiversity project I brought out the moth trap. Not many on Monday night, but here are some:
Peach Blossom (Thyatira batis);
Green silver lines (Pseudoips fagana);
Pale prominent (Pterostoma palpina) and
Peppered moth (Biston betularia.
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The P5s at Newton Primary in Dunblane are doing a project on the environment, so as part of her biodiversity project I brought out the moth trap. Not many on Monday night, but here are some:
Peach Blossom (Thyatira batis);
Green silver lines (Pseudoips fagana);
Pale prominent (Pterostoma palpina) and
Peppered moth (Biston betularia.
Wow, Anthony, what a lovely sight - these moths are every bit as diverse and beautiful as butterflies - each one seems to be very aptly named and next time I grind some pepper in the evening I'll think of the Peppered moth ;) I'm sure the P5s wll be fascinated too to see what gets up when they are sound asleep!
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Many thanks for the identifications Anthony ... and for the beautiful moths.
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I'll post some pics of last night's catch. I've had this trap for nearly 40 years and it still performs well.
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They are certainly very handsome creatures. I have to wonder what their caterpillars do though, in the garden. ???
I really like that name of the bush cricket, Ephippiger. :)
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Anthony,
Are you sure that your "moth trap" isn't really you contacting aliens on the sly? Sort of looks like it could be used for that as well. ;D
Very nice pics... love that little green silver lines moth, and the Pale prominent.
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I like the Peach Blossom.
Yesterday we had a trip into town, (necessitated by me dropping a dish while serving out and spraying glass shards into our entire meal..). Halfway there I noticed that I must have brushed against the spider nest outside the back door, because my jeans were alive with scurrying little beasties. I spent the rest of the journey trying to corral them in the region of my knees to keep them on the OUTSIDE of my clothes, whereupon they started webbing my knees together.
This all reminded me of one of our favourite Larsen cartoons, of a children's slide in a playground with two spiders spinning a web across the bottom, saying "We'll eat like kings tonight!".
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This all reminded me of one of our favourite Larsen cartoons, of a children's slide in a playground with two spiders spinning a web across the bottom, saying "We'll eat like kings tonight!".
...And the other one said; "They will only be child portions, but they will simply slide down".
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A bonus, which made smashing the dish worth it, was sitting by the river with fish and chips watching a family of mergansers feeding, mum and 9 babies. Sooooo cute! At one point she flew to the top of the weir and called the babies, who made several unsuccessful attempts at running up the weir to join her. She eventually took pity and flew down again. Every time one jumped on her back for a ride, she would dive from under them.
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gulls eat swifts!
http://www.commonswift.org/3963Firth.html (http://www.commonswift.org/3963Firth.html)
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A brief stroll this evening (after 5.30pm) onto the moors outside our front gate and these are the images that I captured during a pleasant fifty minute walk ...
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Final batch from this evening's stroll ....
The poppies were on a farm's high dry stone wall.
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I do like your spidery story Anne. Are you accident prone? :)
Lovely walk Cliff, the little photo essay is very endearing, the whole family enjoying the evening out.
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Lovely pix Cliff ! :D
Very relaxing...
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Are these two worms doing what I think they are doing!? :o
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Are they smiling? :D
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Worms are hermaphrodite so the male part of each worm fertilises the female part at the same time. This means it doesn't matter which worm the early bird catches. :)
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A brief stroll this evening (after 5.30pm) onto the moors outside our front gate and these are the images that I captured during a pleasant fifty minute walk ...
Lovely photos of your evening stroll, cliff, the goslings are cute trouping along between their parents - the colour of the poppies against the sky is magic are there strips of poppies in the fields as well?
Only 2 weeks until I'm strolling the the Highlands and i hope to see some flora and fauna too :)
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On my evening stroll I came across this beetly thing that shone like gold then emerald then gold... it wasn't fazed at all during the photo shoot as it was so busy eating ;D
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On my evening stroll I came across this beetly thing that shone like gold then emerald then gold... it wasn't fazed at all during the photo shoot as it was so busy eating ;D
It is a green rose chafer, cetonia aurata.
Quite common in Sweden and is unusual since it flies with the "shell" closed. There are openings at the side that allows the wings to stick out. This must give good aerodynamics and they are quite fast.
Göte
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We have some extra guests this year.
Part of the little terrace in front of our summer house is covered by a roof and on the wall hangs an unused basked originally intended for a pot.
In April I found that a Motacilla alba (Wagtail) had built a nest in it. I saw six eggs but forgot to take a photo.
Of course we have been avoiding the terrace all the time and will be glad when they are out flying.
In the first picture they are still blind and believe that i am a feeding mother.
Later they are less naive
Göte
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Since we are near the lake we have plenty of Natrix natrix (Grass snake?) sometimes they climbe shrubs. Last year one tried to (managed to?) get at some young birds sitill in the nest. This one is climbing a rose bush for no obvious reason.
Göte
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On my evening stroll I came across this beetly thing that shone like gold then emerald then gold... it wasn't fazed at all during the photo shoot as it was so busy eating ;D
It is a green rose chafer, cetonia aurata.
Quite common in Sweden and is unusual since it flies with the "shell" closed. There are openings at the side that allows the wings to stick out. This must give good aerodynamics and they are quite fast.
Göte
Thanks for the ID and info, Gote, it certainly was a fast take off!
What a perfect hanging basket full of Motacilla alba growing up - I love Wagtails, their smart feather outfit and the bobbing on the lawn; usually with a beak full :)
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Wildlife can take many forms!
Here are the girls (April, May, June and Iris) out for a walk.
Ducks, Jemima and Deefor are inclined to be flighty and are not trusted outside just yet.
Paddy
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These combined images of ours are really pretty fowl, Paddy.
A few more from the evening stroll near our house ...
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Ah, jeepers, Cliff, You've gone all artistic on us.
(Lovely images, though)
Aren't ducks, geese, swans a blasted nuisance to photograph. You always want them to form the perfect V or, at least, a straight line but there's always one who spoils the arrangement - the kind, if it were human, which would be a Scottish Rocker, I suppose.
Paddy
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What super pictures from everyone. They're all beautiful and I like the domestic ladies as well as the wild ones.
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Wildlife can take many forms!
Here are the girls (April, May, June and Iris) out for a walk.
Ducks, Jemima and Deefor are inclined to be flighty and are not trusted outside just yet.
Paddy
Great to see your girls free-ranging in your garden and having a bit of what they fancy Paddy - is there a pecking order amongst them ;D
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These combined images of ours are really pretty fowl, Paddy.
A few more from the evening stroll near our house ...
Do yo think they are practising for a new series called 'Come Swimming', Cliff ::)
They could swim away with the Title or fall fowl/foul of the judges ;D
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This morning the nesting material had been partially hauled out of our tit-box. Magpies! Only one dead chick left inside. :(
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Such a shame, Anthony. How common are they in your area? Is the loss of a nest going to affect the population?
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I wouldnt blame the magpies. Smart they may be but I dont think a magpie would/could stick it's head it a hole designed for tits.
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It is so, so, upsetting when you have witnessed birds setting up home, watched their comings and goings and the start of new life and got to know them in familiar sort of way and then - horror and devastation. Commiserations Anthony to you and the Tit family. Dare I suggest the culprit could be a cat?
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Sounds more like a weasel?
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Robin,
Most definitely, there is a pecking order but it seems well established and accepted so there is no squabbling. Peace reigns. They are a very quiet little group, will come and feed from the hand, and allow you to pick them up and sit them on your lap etc. Very domesticated. The ducks are a little more shy. They are a nice interest in the garden and the hens give us four eggs per day.
Paddy
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Heaven for all :)
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Magpie, or perhaps crow? A weasel removes the chicks. This smart bird just needed to put its beak in the hole and pull the nest out, some of which was on the ground underneath. The chicks would be conveyed to the hole on a moving 'carpet' of nesting material.
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Can I guess that the nest box wasnt deep enough?
New neighbours have brought two new cats to wind me up. My nest box for tits has been pulled down - young already gone. Today I bought some rat lime to catch the cats! :o
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Do yo think they are practising for a new series called 'Come Swimming', Cliff ::)
Could be 'Goose swimming', Robin with Jane McDonald, Coleen Nolan, Carol McGiffin, Andrea McLean, Denise Welch, Sherrie Hewson and Lynda Bellingham? Especially if one has a lisp!
Apologies to the non-Brits - this is quite parochial.
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A small group of pronghorns ("prong-horned antelope"), near Hanna, Alberta, today... There is a little history (very recent, by European standards!) at the same location... the sign commemorates the school district of Blairgowrie, which existed in the vicinity from 1922 to 1938.
The third photo is pure prairies... note the barbed wire fence and caragana windbreak!
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Lori,
Are the antelope endemic to Alberta? I don't sort of think of Canada and immediately think of antelope? Are they escapees?
We get deer wild not far from here (there is a herd of them that visit's my sister's property 40 minutes from here), but they are not native to Australia, just brought in for hunting/eating purposes and have gone wild. They can be a bit of a problem in some of the National Parks here in Aus as they breed too freely. I know that they are a big problem in the US too, particularly in many of the Trillium habitats where they are threatening to wipe out some colonies through repeated grazing.
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Friday evening, (5/6) I tried to take a look at my wagtails. They were still in the nest. They gave me a look and four of them flew away around my ears. The fifth had entangled its claw in the nest and was 1-2 seconds later to take off. All five obviously healthy and sure on their wings :)
We can now use the terrace :) :) :)
Göte
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Pronghorns definitely native to North America Paul.
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Fascinating, Anthony. I've never thought of "antelope" as outside of the African continent. You learn something new every day (thankfully, otherwise it would be pretty darn boring! ;))
Thanks for the info. 8)
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I should have been more precise... "antelope" is merely a common name, and very much a misnomer. They are actually the only surviving species of an entirely different ungulate family... quite fascinating...
Their behavior is also very interesting. Pronghorns are built for speed, very fitting to their grassland habitat (though I've only seen them lounging around in pastures!), and have phenomenal eyesight. Rather than jumping fences, as deer do, they crawl under the lowest strand. One used to see them only in the southernmost parts of Alberta and Saskatchewan, but in recent decades, they have made their way somewhat northward, and are a regular sight along that particular stretch of highway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronghorn
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Currently mobbing the various dianthus species in the garden are these beauties, Pandoriana pandora or the Cardinal Butterfly.
Large butterflies, comparable in size to the Swallowtail. Only problem, the food plant for the caterpillar is Viola and Pansy!!!!
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An evening walk in the meadow and the light was amazing, shimmering through the grasses where I ventured - then suddenly Parnassius Apollo was dancing there just in front of me displaying every angle of its fabulous butterfly body with gossamer wings :)
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How lovely to see these butterflies dancing. I am very fond of that scabious.... it's a real charmer I think.
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Cracking shots RR, was it an obliging subject?
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The Apollo brings back happy memories of Greece. Nothing like them here though.
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Maggi, Hristo and Leslie, thanks for looking at the Apollo butterfly dance and I'm glad you enjoyed it in situ with scabious at their peak of attraction. It certainly performed well as I waited for it to settle - it took some luck and guess work to decide which scabious to focus on! I'm wondering what flower attracted its attentions in Greece Leslie?
Hristo, your photo of the Cardinal Butterfly is a great sculptural shot - I love seeing the underside of butterfly wings and the different patterns and colouring of the scales - they are so animated at the moment, caught up in the joys of life :)
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Never seen a Cardinal, but saw apollos in the Italian Alps in 1988. I have bred them and the larvae are lovely and feed on Sedum album.
Here is a moth that emerged from its cocoon this morning: Coscinocera anteus (related to the Hercules moth of PNG and Australia) from wild collected eggs sent from New Guinea. I was sent a couple of caterpillars as the rearer was going to India. I took one back and kept the other.
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An incredible Moth, Anthony, such a rich, dark, velvet chocolate with white chocolate highlights - how long did it hang out to dry its amazing wings? 8)
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I didn't see it emerge as it was already out when I got up at 7.15 this morning.
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I'm wondering what flower attracted its attentions in Greece Leslie?
I can't remember Robin. I do remember there was precious little in flower at all (mid July) except the occasional salvia, thalictrum and Lilium chalcedonicum and L. martagon. And Morina. And Scutellaria orientalis.
A truly magnificent moth Anthony. If you'd kept both caterpillars, maybe you would have had male and female, so eggs to come?
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A real beauty Anthony, do you rear many butterflies and moths?
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It would be my primary hobby if I had more time and space. I have Antheraea polyphemus (USA) moths emerging from cocoons that I reared from eggs sent last June.
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Anthony, have you a dedicated Butterfly House? I am intrigued, wen living is Scotland I half seriously thought about applying for a grant from the HIDB to debelop a butterfly farm in Caithness and Sutherland! Ok mad idea, but it kept my brain ticking over during some seriously dull busibess meetings! :D :D
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[A truly magnificent moth Anthony. If you'd kept both caterpillars, maybe you would have had male and female, so eggs to come?
The other is a female, but as it was two weeks behind no point in keeping it. These moths have no mouth parts so cannot feed. Their life expenctancy is 10 days max.
Anthony, have you a dedicated Butterfly House?
Not really. The greenhouse would appear to be too cold overnight, even at this time of year, for the polyphemus to pair. :'( There was frost in Scotland last night! Don't have anywhere in the house either. The costs of heating a greenhouse 24/7/365 would be prohibitive! :(
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Magnificent moth, Anthony. Fascinating to see some of your moth and butterfly treasures that you (and others) post here. Thanks everyone.
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The warm rocks are attracting wildlife to sunbathe or rest (no sunscreen required ;D)
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Nice lizard shot RR!
This is a pic of ( possibly ) a very lucky Tortoise. This is the nearest one I have seen to my house, maybe 1.5km away. It was very lucky, I stopped picked it up out of the road and put it in the verge. This morning travelling out to get some stones, same tortoise crossing the main road 200m from the previous road. I was going too fast to stop but managed to straddle it, as did the Trabant driving behind me! On the return trip no sign of squashed tortoise so it got off the road or has ended up in the cooking pot, I am hoping for the first option!
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Hristo, I hope for the same option - tortoises are so full of character and defy the idea of anything untoward happening with their shell around them in another world...I wonder how old this one might be? Are there many in the wild or was this one an escapee?
Thanks for you comment about the lizard shot - it was certainly giving me the eyeball ;D
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RR, I am guessing it is fairly young, the other tortoises I have seen in Bulgraia were larger than this one!
I think this is one makes 4 seen so far this year. They have been half the size of tortoises we have seen in Greece.
The heat today had bought out the butterflies again, in the garden today Cardinal, Peacock, Tortoiseshell, Painted Lady, Brimstone, Swallowtail. Marbled White and other unidentified butterfly species.
Pics attached of the Swallowtail Papilio machaon and the Hummingbird Hawkmoth Macroglossum stellatarum which I have been trying to photograph in flight for weeks, this is the first half decent picture I have!
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Excellent picture Chris, considering the rate at which they dart about.
Hummingbird hawkmoths are unusually plentiful here too this year and are curiously attracted to (flowers on ?) a copper beech.
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The warm rocks are attracting wildlife to sunbathe or rest (no sunscreen required ;D)
cont.....
This little insect bee-thing is absolutely tiny and is busy building the second chamber to its home on the rock....in BCU it looks like cocoons of grains of sand - Anthony can you ID the insect and what it is up to? ::)
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Chris
Looks like your tortoise is the European Pond variety (Emys orbicularis)?
Nice lizard shot RR!
This is a pic of ( possibly ) a very lucky Tortoise. This is the nearest one I have seen to my house, maybe 1.5km away. It was very lucky, I stopped picked it up out of the road and put it in the verge. This morning travelling out to get some stones, same tortoise crossing the main road 200m from the previous road. I was going too fast to stop but managed to straddle it, as did the Trabant driving behind me! On the return trip no sign of squashed tortoise so it got off the road or has ended up in the cooking pot, I am hoping for the first option!
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Cheers Ashley, patience, perseverance, luck, and alot of very bad photographs!
Anthony,
You are quite right and as such it is a Terrapin and not a Tortoise, oops, only seen 3 Tortoises this year then! Strangely I have no recollection of seeing its tail before it pulled into it's shell! The tail is the big give away I guess, still not complaining as this is only the second Terrapin I have seen in the wild!
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The little bee thingy's into pebbledash as a building material. More lovely butterflies. I do appreciate these pics of northern species, that we never see here. Even the beauties in the Otago Museum's butterfly exhibit are tropicals so we still don't get the hardier types.
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Lesley,
Maybe Anthony could send you some! ;) ;)
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He could send but I couldn't receive. No chance. Butterflies and anything animal-related is as much a no-no as so many plants. :'( :'( :'(
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Robin,
I love the pics of your industrious little bee. Please keep us posted as to the home extensions please. ;D
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Robin,
I love the pics of your industrious little bee. Please keep us posted as to the home extensions please. ;D
Today the entrance to the final insect-bee chamber has been sealed and she (I assume) is rather flightly as I'm watching her and whatever is inside is a secret ;) Has anyone any clues as to what is going on inside the 'pebbledash' housie?
(sorry for quality of BCU)
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She must be building little nest chambers, don't you think? It's not going to be easy for the little ones to break free, though, is it? As well as an egg, there must also be some food source immured with it in the chambers....... ??? Alll MOST interesting. :)
and: [attach=1] to you, Robin! :-*
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Robin,
Probably in each chamber there is some insect that has been paralysed and an egg laid, or something like that. It will hatch, eat and pupate before breaking out? If fully sealed I assume it would work like that, as she can't feed it from outside after hatching.
If today is your birthday, you haven't put it into the calendar. Happy Birthday from me also!
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Thanks for the comments Maggi and Paul about the insect bee and am wondering how long before the little B will break out ;)
Also thanks for the Birthday Happys - gorgeous weather here today and lots of insects flying about in a most complex stacking system with no techology - glad to be on this planet ;D
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I concur with Robins comments about the weather, day one of three here in Switzerland has been glorious. Butterflies abound and in the cool of the morniing a Swallowtail kept still long enough for a photo. You will have to wait until I get home to see it :) Adelboden looks like a good place to spend a day or two, flowery places aplenty, Tomorrow I move up to Hahnenmoos pass ... just as the weather is forecast to turn thundery ... should be fun!
Oh and a very Happy Birthday from a fellow Swiss based forumist!
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Happy Hols, Tony! :-*
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I concur with Robins comments about the weather, day one of three here in Switzerland has been glorious. Butterflies abound and in the cool of the morniing a Swallowtail kept still long enough for a photo. You will have to wait until I get home to see it :) Adelboden looks like a good place to spend a day or two, flowery places aplenty, Tomorrow I move up to Hahnenmoos pass ... just as the weather is forecast to turn thundery ... should be fun!
Oh and a very Happy Birthday from a fellow Swiss based forumist!
Thanks for your greetings Tony, and have a wonderful time in Adelboden, we were supposed to have gone to Italy but business has kept us here and I'm hoping for a holiday soon - although with the weather as it is every day is a holiday :)
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I can appreciate the emotions displayed in the first two images (captured on a local walk on Friday).
... And the third image was taken on a trip to Edisford Bridge, near Clitheroe, Lancashire yesterday.
BUTTERCUP FRENZY
CLOSE ENCOUNTER
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Two more from the riverbank yesterday ...
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Lovely pics Cliff. Didn't you just LONG to go and scratch that wide expanse of tummy?
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Animals and birds in action are so difficult to capture successfully at the optimum sequence but you have really captured the humour of the "Buttercup Frenzy" and skill of 'Hover" in you own inimitable way - thanks for the great shots Cliff ! ;D
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Inbetween the thunderstorms the light is fantastic and picks out every pattern even in a meadow of flowers where this Black Veined White spent some time flitting from one Dianthus to another :)
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far behind on this thread as all...lol--should we be starting a 'wildlife mid 2009' thread by now?
the black veined white is very nice, robin!
a few things from past weeks here:
an ant on a leaf(and flower?) bud of Amelanchier, late may..
two shots of a sparrow (chipping sparrow?) in my yard
a slightly unnerving spider--i first saw it on a rail on an old fence where i am digging my veg garden; at first it retreated into the shadows when i came near, then as i stood there taking pics, it came closer and closer, dancing about and showing me its fancy backside, which i suppose was meant to impress or frighten? finally hanging its backside off the end of the rail, then jumping down to the next rail to get nearer, and finally onto the ground and toward me! at which point i went back to my digging a little ways off...lol
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Nice spider - its front end is very well camouflaged against the wood.
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Nice spider - its front end is very well camouflaged against the wood.
yes, though it doesnt seem too worried about hiding, for the most part...lol
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Do you reckon your spider is female, Cohan, as it's so feisty? ;D
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Wonderful creepy crawlies, everyone! :-\
far behind on this thread as all...lol--should we be starting a 'wildlife mid 2009' thread by now?
You are quite correct, Cohan, we are all falling behind.... I've split the topic to "mid" 2009!
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Do you reckon your spider is female, Cohan, as it's so feisty? ;D
might well be! though i confess to not knowing much about identifying the gender of individual spiders..lol
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Cohan,
ID is simple, place a piece of chocolate nearby and see what happens! ;) ;)
I have heard that the bum of the female spider is larger than the male. so if you see two together comparison may assist!
Latest hatching somewhere was of the Marbled White, Melanargia galathea, there have been around 15 of them
mobbing the various scabious species today! The caterpillars eat grass and given the scything season has started for us here any
help they can offer is appreciated!
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Cohan,
ID is simple, place a piece of chocolate nearby and see what happens! ;) ;)
I have heard that the bum of the female spider is larger than the male. so if you see two together comparison may assist!
i was reading the chocolate thing seriously, waiting to see how that would work...lol
i suspect the males stay prudently far from the females until mating time..
marbled is very pretty..
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Cohan,
ID is simple, place a piece of chocolate nearby and see what happens! ;) ;)
I have heard that the bum of the female spider is larger than the male. so if you see two together comparison may assist!
Latest hatching somewhere was of the Marbled White, Melanargia galathea, there have been around 15 of them
mobbing the various scabious species today! The caterpillars eat grass and given the scything season has started for us here any
help they can offer is appreciated!
Not sure where the spider bum chat was going ::) However your photo of the Marbled White is fantastic, Hristo ;)
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Cheers Cohan, RR.
RR, the spider bum chat seemed to offer so many entertaining directions many of which offered the chance of offending 50% of the population. Inside every bloke is a Bob Monkhouse / Jim Davidson etc dieing to tell a risky joke, however, if we are lucky we have a touch of self preservation that stps us! :D ;)
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RR, the spider bum chat seemed to offer so many entertaining directions many of which offered the chance of offending 50% of the population. Inside every bloke is a Bob Monkhouse / Jim Davidson etc dieing to tell a risky joke, however, if we are lucky we have a touch of self preservation that stps us! :D ;)
Piffle, sheer piffle. Just resort to formal language and you can usually get away with murder. For example, in this case, it's not a spider's bum; it's the abdomen. And the reason it's so much larger is because it contains the ovaries, which are stuffed with eggs-to-be.
If you can find a big old orb weaver laying her eggs, watch closely. When she's done, her abdomen will be distinctly shrivelled, and having fulfilled her biological destiny, she will wander off to die.
See? Wasn't that easy?
Over at the Hancock Wildlife Foundation, I was just posting about the excretory practices of birds in general, eagles in particular, and by using formal terminology appear to have avoided giving offense.
Let me add that if you can catch a pair of spiders in the act of mating, it's a fascinating process to watch. The one time I saw it, the male ever so gingerly would pluck at the female's web until she succumbed to the romantic twanging of her silk and he had his way with her. I don't recall if he escaped intact or was eaten in a state of post-coital hunger by his mate.
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Let me add that if you can catch a pair of spiders in the act of mating, it's a fascinating process to watch. The one time I saw it, the male ever so gingerly would pluck at the female's web until she succumbed to the romantic twanging of her silk and he had his way with her. I don't recall if he escaped intact or was eaten in a state of post-coital hunger by his mate
'Oh what a tangled web we weave...' - great words Roger -
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D - I shouldn't laugh, should I? Carrying monogamy to the extreme - strange how they can be lured to the marital/deathbed :-*
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I appologise for the piffle, I shan't bother again. :'( :'( :'( :'(
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I appologise for the piffle, I shan't bother again. :'( :'( :'( :'(
I take it that means you have reformed and in the future won't be so concerned with "offending" people? Good.
As one hobbit said to another hobbit, factses is factses.
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Spotted these yesterday at the edge of a large patch of nettles next to where my ponies are grazing. The ponies eat nettles though not usually till late summer or autumn so I hope the caterpillars are safe. I've looked at two butterfly books but am still not sure if they are Peacock or Small Tortoiseshell
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I've looked at two butterfly books but am still not sure if they are Peacock or Small Tortoiseshell
Maybe both, Roma? Or is there variation in caterpillar colours as there is in flowers? ::) Looks like two types to me :-\
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Yes Maggi, I did mean to add 'or both' but was in such a rush to add the pictures before I forgot how to do it, that I didn't finish the sentence. They should be easier to identify when they get bigger if Ebony doesn't get too ravenous and eat them. She has a neck like a giraffe when it comes to leaning over fences.
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It may be time to feed her a protein supplement to keep her mind off nettle patches full of caterpillar protein, then ;D A salt and mince lick, perhaps? ;)
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Haven't seen any around but maybe I should suggest it to Norvite who already do licks to compensate for local mineral deficiencies. ;D
Still plenty caterpillars around 2.30 today but not so many to be seen at 4.30 after heavy rain and hailstones. Ebony is not to blame as she's got a bit more grass to eat and was shut away from the nettles for the rest of the day.
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We saw this cow moose and her calf in a boggy spot by the side of the highway the other evening as we were driving into town. Luckily I had my camera with me.
Sharon
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Very Cool! 8)
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Exceptional image, Rob!
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dragonfly....this year being MUCH drier than the last couple, we arent seeing nearly the numbers of dragonflies, still lots of them, just not so insanely many...lol..so how come the mosquitoes are still in such high numbers???
this shot from a few weeks ago..
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I don't recall if he escaped intact or was eaten in a state of post-coital hunger by his mate.
Perhaps male spiders should learn to offer a (very quick) post-coital ciggie? ;D
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We saw this cow moose and her calf in a boggy spot by the side of the highway the other evening as we were driving into town. Luckily I had my camera with me.
Sharon
nice shots, sharon..
when driving through northern ontario while crossing canada, my sister and her boyfriend explained that they called moose 'night danger', owing to the roadsigns warning of 'Night Danger!' with a picture of a moose silhouette (presumably intending to cross in front of a car)..so we still tend to think--'oh look, there goes a night danger!'..
here the danger is more commonly deer, but there are not as many signs..
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Spotted these yesterday at the edge of a large patch of nettles next to where my ponies are grazing. The ponies eat nettles though not usually till late summer or autumn so I hope the caterpillars are safe. I've looked at two butterfly books but am still not sure if they are Peacock or Small Tortoiseshell
Tortoiseshell Roma. Peacock larvae are jet black with tiny white spots.
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Here are the Robin moths as promised.
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Here's some pics of a hummingbird hawk moth taking a pit stop at some verbena on 20-6-09.
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Anthony,
wunderful moth images 8)
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Oh my golly! Those two are spectacular. Wonderfully marked and coloured. What a thrill to have them at your place Anthony.
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Very, very cool on both counts, Anthony. The colours on the mating ones are just amazing, aren't they?
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Fabulous images of the Robin Moth with her mate Anthony and so exciting to capture them so beautifully.
On down loading my photos my computer crashed and now I'm trying to recover them from my card - very upsetting :'( Hope to post them soon if I can ???
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wonderful moth pictures Anthony. Here is a dragonfly at Spetchley Park Worcs.
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Gorgeous picture, Tony. So wonderfully clear and perfect. Striking dragonfly, isn't it. :o
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I think they are wonderful insects,powerful and striking.Great to watch as they hunt their territory
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Some more "bug" pictures
- for which I take no credit as they were all photographed by my wife Lynn, a fellow SRGC member.
I particularly like the ladybirds secreted in the lichen.
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Great photos Lynn, thanks for posting them Frazer.... I Love the red of the ladybirds hiding in the silver lichen - quite a horde, or a hiding of ladybirds - wonder what a group of ladybirds is actually called ::)
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I've always used "rash" as the collective noun for ladybirds.
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That's an excellent name Frazer. I remember when my parents took me to Lowestoft (Suffolk) in the early 60s to collect our neighbours, who were on holiday there. We lived in Loughborough then. That year there was a plague of ladybirds and a cream hotel looked as if it had a very bad rash as there where huge patches of densely packed ladybirds all over the wall, giving it a very strange look from afar. Even the boating pond was ladybird soup. Only once have I witnessed so many, the year after workmen fled from the nearly completed Humber bridge because of a plague of greenfly in 1980.
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There's the connection I suppose? Many greenfly being a good food source so able to support a large ladybird population.
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Excellent Photos Lynn. Thanks. I too love the Ladybird shot. Such a wonderful contrast. Sort of like peeping into a hidden life. ;D
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Hi Here are some pics I took while on my enotomological field trips, actually included a pic of what maybe a new species of skink I discovered at the Takatimu Range which is in the province of Southland the South Island Of New Zealand, other pics are just for interest.
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There was not enough room for all pics so here is part II, should have done spell check also, as it is entomological trips not enoto.., Yikes
I really liked the pics of the hawk/sphinx moths earlier, they are one of my keen interest areas along with cicadas and now weevils and chafers, also have a decent collection of butterflies.
Here is the lizard pic, as mentioned it is either a new species or a new location for what is known as a Barrier Skink, currently in the process of being named-the Barrier Skink that is.
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Kees,
Nice pics. So is your Skink in breeding health, or just been eating too much. He/She seems awfully plump! :o
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:D I thought the same thing Paul but hesitated to say it was overweight!
Here is a Grasshopper thing that also looks a little rotund and appears to have lost a back leg - the green is amazing and it's feelers remind me of a water shrimp - can anyone tell me what it's called?
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A male bush cricket with a leg missing. :-[
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That's a jumping leg, so how will he get along? Just hobble around on the front legs?
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Maggi will enjoy the weta Kees.She LOOOOOVES creepie crawlies. ;D
I do like the skink, so sleek with longnitudinal stripes. It will be very exciting if it turns out to be a new species, or even a new location for an old one. Do skinks lay eggs or have live babies? Either way, this one seems to be heading for parenthood. :D
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That's a jumping leg, so how will he get along? Just hobble around on the front legs?
He's still got another! ::)
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So will he jump on just one leg?
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Yes it was a gravid female, which is good news as when DOC and I went back to find more we only found 8 in total.
That cricket might not need two legs, some species are predatory so may just wait for its lunch to arrive, a species in Australia actually calls like a cicada and catches approaching male cicadas for lunch.
Lots of grasshoppers found in our mountains have only one hind leg, I expect they drop a leg when caught by a predator.
I will have to post a few more pics from my ventures, I have lots of creepy crawlies.
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Although i get a view of the the Takitimu Range whenever i'm heading into/from town i have to admit i've only ever visited it's lower regions ---fishing recently and a number of years ago pig hunting.
Any interesting alpines sighted during your trips Kees ?.
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A few wildlife or related sightings today.......
A couple of pics of a crested pigeon on our birdbath. Finally managed to capture the green and purple in the wing feathers.... not that I've tried that many times. Was pleased to see the colours right when I loaded them onto the computer.
A Crimson rosella in a tree at the ANBG today.
A couple of pics of one of the Satin Bowerbird bowers at the ANBG. No sign of the resident male, who has apparently matured to full blue-black colouration this year, the first one to fully mature at the ANBG I have been told.
Enjoy.
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Great photos, Paul, I love watching birds bathing - the A Crimson rosella is very striking and the blue detail is eye-catching. Are the male and female so brightly coloured? Would love to see more of your exotic birds :o
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Robin,
Male and females of the Crimson Rosella are pretty much identical. This was a particularly strongly coloured individual, which is why I tried to get a photograph in the trees. Some of them are just "cleaner" in colour, I think to do with maturity and dominance etc.
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Dave, there were a few nice alpines on top of the Takitimu's, brought back a couple of branches of Hebe crawii, one for my garden that is doing really well and one for Robin Craw (who it is named after), others were Celmissia's, wipcord hebes and some interesting plants in a few wetlands. To be honest I am not the best on the plant names but will take some pics from now on for everyone. I like the Roulia's, scleranthus and other cushion plants in the alpine herb and fell fields, also the aciphylla and dracophyllums.
I was up in the St Arnauds a couple of years ago, some nice plants there, and cicadas hence why I was there, will like to go back there one day.
This summer I will in tropical North Queensland visiting my mother and doing some major entomological expeditions, not quite looking forward to the 35-40 degree temps and 85-100% humidity but it comes with the territory I guess, will take some habitat and insect pics for the forum.
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Look forward to your future pics Kees.
Hebe crawii is one i don't know .
Might have to have a poke around up there in summer i think.
Cheers dave
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I've always used "rash" as the collective noun for ladybirds.
I've been advised by those in the know that the "official" collective noun is a "loveliness" - that is surely a reflection of the sentimentality of the Victorians! Me, I'm sticking with a "rash".
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A rash full of loveliness at any rate ;D
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The Australian bower bird is, I think a relatively dull bird, but has this "thing" for blue objects, as in Paul's pictures. In the Blue Mountains garden of my friend, he (the bird) strips blue-flowered plants (and occasionally yellows as well) and also the beautiful blue fruit on the Tasmanian endemic, Coprosma moorei. Likewise ball-point pens, bits of plastic or string, bottle tops, you name it. ???
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The Australian bower bird is, I think a relatively dull bird, but has this "thing" for blue objects, as in Paul's pictures. In the Blue Mountains garden of my friend, he (the bird) strips blue-flowered plants (and occasionally yellows as well) and also the beautiful blue fruit on the Tasmanian endemic, Coprosma moorei. Likewise ball-point pens, bits of plastic or string, bottle tops, you name it. ???
Lesley, when I was searching for (food) recipes in the forum to transfer to the new Cooks' Corner thread, I found a quote from you about this very subject, stealing the precious coprosma berries .........you said you'd offered to send your friend a rceipe..... for cooking the bower bird!! :-X
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Now there's a thought. Give me a few days to think about it. ;D
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The Satin Bowerbird female is greens and browns, meant to blend in with the surroundings for nesting etc. Male young are similarly coloured but as they mature to around 3 years old then end up greener than the females and rather nice (although still not exactly spectacular! ;D). Once the male fully matures at 7 years he changes to a jet black colouration with a wonderful blue sheen over the feathers (hence I assume the satin epithet). As a mature male he definitely is not "dull". ;D Personally I think once he is 3 he is still notable enough with the lovely greeny tinge to him. They collect blue things from quite early on as they mature, and will build a bower for courting the ladies. The black males are usually dominant over the green males as far as I know, but if the dominant male is out and about the green males will practice tending his bower. I posted pics a while back of a green male tending a bower, but my camera wasn't as up to it as my new one is. Hopefully I can catch a male tending a bower again one of these days with my new camera, then can post more pics here. 8)
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Looking forward to more photos of the Satin Bower and other birds that live in your surroundings, Paul - tending the bower is a lovely idea - my male is shy of tending ours even if other males are around ;D
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My male is shy of tending ours especially if other males are around. ;D
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Lesley,
I posted exactly the same comment here last night, but it is another that seems to have gone missing again. Obviously for some reason these forums are rejecting postings of mine and deleting them after I have gone to bed at night. :o The second one I know of that has happened recently, but I am starting to wonder how many others I haven't noticed have gone missing?
My comment was along the lines of your comment, with the additional statement .... "A guy can't be seen doing housework when his mates are around.", or something close to that. I wonder why some of my posts are disappearing? ???
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I'm wondering if it just so happens that you are posting when the server is making updates, Paul, and this is why you're losing the odd post. The other night (night here in the UK, of course!) you found the site down fora while..... I'm guessing that could be a reason.
I often puzzle about the ways of the hamster in the box under the table that works this internet thingy...... why do posts get emailed out of the order they were made in, etc?? Mysterious wildlife and no mistake!
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Maggi,
The ones I talk about that disappear have definitely been posted here.... i.e I see the result complete in the topic. Something then appears to undo it and it disappears. The second one in a relatively short time which is why I am noting it. ::)
edit by M: Yes, Paul, this is strange... thanks for the "heads-up" on it. I'm not getting the notifications of your "lost" posts, either... hmmm..... curiouser and curiouser :-\
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Does anyone know what this is, please?
Out this evening as it was getting dark.
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Does anyone know what this is, please?
Out this evening as it was getting dark.
Looks like a Garden tiger moth. The caterpillars are called woolly bears.
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Giles,
Daine,
the moths latin name is Callimorpha dominula, Scarlet Tiger (engl.), Schönbär (ger.) ;)
A pity that it has been attacked...
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Thankyou both.
It was just one of those things that catches the eye.
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A second hatching of caterpillars on the nettles. From Antony's description these are definitely Peacock butterfly. There is a third lot on a different patch of nettles. I think they are also Peacock but will wait till they are a bit bigger to be sure.
I am seeing an occasional Painted Lady, the Ringlets and Meadow Browns are appearing and I have seen two or three Red Admirals in the past few days.
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Two photos tonight. The first is for Cohan, as he mentioned the "Night Danger" signs. These signs can disappear as tourists take them home as a souvenir.
The second is a mother grouse who was defending her young as I walked into their group.
Rob
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Rob - The signs in Newfoundland are bilingual.
johnw
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Thats my kind of bilingual John !! You're right, it is a much better sign.
I have a photo just like yours taken on the highway through Gros Morne.
-Rob
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Thats my kind of bilingual John !! You're right, it is a much better sign.
I have a photo just like yours taken on the highway through Gros Morne.
-Rob
Rob
As I recall that sign was on the last major mountain heading south out of Gros Morne.
We saw many moose on that highway including one dead on the roadside near St Anthony and guarded by an elderly lady. She was waiting for her son and a truck, destination - her freezer.
Moose are a real peril in Newfoundland. They've only been there since the early 1900's and are devastating forest regeneration.
johnw
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huh! i didnt know--or forgot, if i'd heard--that moose were new to newfoundland..certainly both they and deer can do a lot of pruning! between the two, hard pressed to find an unpruned dogwood here, among other things (and that includes the many many wild bushes), and a bit farther west, one spot i visited had all the saskatoons and chokecherries and even many willows trimmed low...
funny that tourists would take the signs, but must be costly for highways dept! the newfoundland version is cute, but may give a false impression that the moose comes out of it fine, as your hungry granny by the road could attest to....
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The second is a mother grouse who was defending her young as I walked into their group.
Rob
Rob your photo of the Grouse on the defensive is a thrilling action shot - lots of noise too I imagine! Thanks for showing it and I wonder if you got any of the young?
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Rob,
Fantastic shot of the grouse.
Everyone else.... I'm definitely feeling less stressed about the constant danger of Kangaroos on the roads around here at night (they are a big hazard at night, the larger ones can come through your windscreen if they clear the car bonnet). I'd rather the Kangaroos than hitting a moose! :o :o
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A second hatching of caterpillars on the nettles. From Antony's description these are definitely Peacock butterfly. There is a third lot on a different patch of nettles. I think they are also Peacock but will wait till they are a bit bigger to be sure.
I am seeing an occasional Painted Lady, the Ringlets and Meadow Browns are appearing and I have seen two or three Red Admirals in the past few days.
Lots of butterflies here on meadow flowers too, Roma, but very flighty so difficult to capture..... however I have worked out one place where they feed without noticing me! Love the black hairy conglomeration of caterpillars you show on nettles it's good to see a decent patch ;)
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Feeding at lunch time in one spot on the rockery as the sun went in I think this is a
Purple-shot copper - Lycaena alciphron
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..on the blue Scabiosa it's body looks even more velvety
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Excellent photographs, Robin,
Paddy
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Lovely, Robin. I love the details coming out in first and the last one in your first post. So delightfully fuzzy. It had obviously just been to the hairdresser for a tint. ;D
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Glad you liked the photos Paddy and Paul, i have been trying to capture shots of these fuzzy butterflies for quite a few days without success - then I read on a butterfly website tips about about stalking!!!!! :)
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Robin,
Would you mind sending me a summary of what you found out (if you have time to do so and don't mind taking the time). Stuffed if I can get the darn things to sit still for long enough to photograph them. Short of a can of fly spray I doubt I can photograph most of the things I would like to. ;D
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Robin,
Would you mind sending me a summary of what you found out (if you have time to do so and don't mind taking the time). Stuffed if I can get the darn things to sit still for long enough to photograph them. Short of a can of fly spray I doubt I can photograph most of the things I would like to. ;D
Pleasure Paul, I've found it very frustrating capturing butterflies too but love the challenge ;) this site is good for all sorts of general and specific info just look under Photography tab for Stalking! Let me know what you think - I am afraid the site deals mostly with ID of European butterflies....
http://www.butterfly-guide.co.uk/index.htm
Newly emerged butterflies often settle for a reasonable period and make a good subject. Early in the morning doesn't seem to work for me, I've been out an hour after dawn only to see things racing across the downs as if it were midday! Quite a good tactic, that requires some patience, is finding a favoured nectaring spot, get positioned so you can get to a number of possible landing sites and wait. This can produce excellent results if you have the time. Dull weather can also sometimes yield results, butterflies move less often, and once you find them they'll be an easy target, even better if the sun then comes out from behind a cloud with your subject positioned perfectly in the viewfinder
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Thanks Robin. Interesting about the cloudy days and them moving less often. We don't get a lot of butterflies around here, but I do see them from time to time. Thanks for the link.
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Rob,
Fantastic shot of the grouse.
Everyone else.... I'm definitely feeling less stressed about the constant danger of Kangaroos on the roads around here at night (they are a big hazard at night, the larger ones can come through your windscreen if they clear the car bonnet). I'd rather the Kangaroos than hitting a moose! :o :o
But a moose is such a little, inoffensive thing Paul, even small enough to have some in the hoose, though bigger than a loose of course. ;D
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Paul,
Re photographing butterflies. On lazy days, when I have time to fool about with the camera, I dissolve some sugar in water and put this onto a suitable flower to attract the butterflies. Of course, sedum will attract them when the flower develop further.
Then, there is another trick commonly used by professional photographers - never tried it myself - and that is to catch the butterfly and put it into the refrigerator for an hour or so. Then take it out and place it on the flower of choice. They take a while to warm up again and so will stay still on the flower, making photographer easy.
Paddy
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Lesley, you're a goose!! ::) But I still loves ya. :-*
Paddy,
I wouldn't like to catch them first. I wouldn't want to take the chance of damaging them somehow. Would rather photograph them "wild" that artificailly. 8)
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The only problem with the fridge method is the eyes, you can tell something is not right with them. I do that often to photograph my cicadas and it works really well.
The other thing that sometimes happens is moisture on the subject and by the time this has dissapeared so has the subject.
I will take some pics of the birdwings and Ulysses butterflies that breed at my mothers for you all when there in Jan next year.
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some more ladybirds from Lynn's camera......
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These little guys aren't into camouflage are they? :)
Kees, is your mother in New Zealand? The thought of birdwings bred here is very attractive. I've only seen them in the Otago Museum's butterfly display.
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My compliments to Lynn for these further super photos, Frazer.
Wood surfaces are so sculptural, are they not?
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Lesley, no unfortunately my mother lives 50km's north of Townsville in North Queensland. It would be fantastic to have these two specis of butterflies here in New Zealand but the only place we will see these is in Museums.
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I have a pot of Busy Lizzies sitting on old bricks by the back door. Today I moved the pot so I could dig up a couple of Begonia sutherlandii which I wanted to move. I found quite a mini menagerie on the bricks including this little newt which I think was one of last year's babies.I had the begonia at the back door in a pot three years ago an was quite surprised when little plants appeared the following year. I was even more surprised to see them this year as we had temperatures down to -12 on a couple of nights this past winter.
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Grand pictures of the wee newt, Roma.... one of my most favourite garden creatures.
Little dinosaurs, to my mind. Beautiful markings, soft skin, those adorable little feet and lovely eyes...... just the nicest wee things! We have a healthy population of them here, I am delighted to say. Their predecessors came from the curling ponds at Banchory nearly forty years ago and some have been moved around the family ponds ever since. 8)
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I have always wanted to see a newt, thanks for the pics. I envy you having them in your gardens.
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..on the blue Scabiosa it's body looks even more velvety
great shots, robin--the orange butterfly especially looks great on the blue!
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Roma, your newt is really cute and it's great to know that it's at home with you in the garden - it looks very happy :)
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..on the blue Scabiosa it's body looks even more velvety
great shots, robin--the orange butterfly especially looks great on the blue!
Thanks for your comment Cohan, I find it such a challenge to photograph butterflies and probably spend far too long just watching their wonderful flight patterns and social gatherings ;D
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I have a pot of Busy Lizzies sitting on old bricks by the back door. Today I moved the pot so I could dig up a couple of Begonia sutherlandii which I wanted to move. I found quite a mini menagerie on the bricks including this little newt which I think was one of last year's babies.I had the begonia at the back door in a pot three years ago an was quite surprised when little plants appeared the following year. I was even more surprised to see them this year as we had temperatures down to -12 on a couple of nights this past winter.
great to see the newt, less sure about the other critters ;)
interesting about the begonia... i guess the seeds are tougher than the plants?
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Thanks for your comment Cohan, I find it such a challenge to photograph butterflies and probably spend far too long just watching their wonderful flight patterns and social gatherings ;D
i know well they are not an easy subject..unfortunately, i don't too often have enough time(patience!) to follow them around--mostly i hope for a less 'flighty' individual to get some lucky shots.. time spent watching i'm sure is very good for the soul!
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Fabulous images of the Robin Moth with her mate Anthony and so exciting to capture them so beautifully.
On down loading my photos my computer crashed and now I'm trying to recover them from my card - very upsetting :'( Hope to post them soon if I can ???
After much heartache I have managed to recover some of the photos from my card and here are the photos of the Robin Moth - a bit soft but it gives an impression of the size of it on Anthony's finger and the wonderful patterns and furry legs.
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Wow! :o
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Wow! Indeed, WOW WOW! Really see how big she is in these shots.... and, while fancy wings are one thing, that super fancy patterned fur coat is another! Absolutely exquisite....... stunning!
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Exactly, Paul, she was full of eggs and had just hatched the night before I visited ;D
The photos Anthony took were on the following day when her mate joined her........I'll leave him to explain what happened next...... ;)
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A fabulous moth, really beautiful.
Paddy
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Fabulous images of the Robin Moth with her mate Anthony and so exciting to capture them so beautifully.
On down loading my photos my computer crashed and now I'm trying to recover them from my card - very upsetting :'( Hope to post them soon if I can ???
After much heartache I have managed to recover some of the photos from my card and here are the photos of the Robin Moth - a bit soft but it gives an impression of the size of it on Anthony's finger and the wonderful patterns and furry legs.
very fancy indeed! great colours and texture..
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Not at all what you would expect a moth to look like but just fabulous with her spotty body and and beautifully patterned wings :)
Glad you liked my recovered photos, Cohan - was devastated when they were corrupted but used a thing called Klix to fix them
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Glad you liked my recovered photos, Cohan - was devastated when they were corrupted but used a thing called Klix to fix them
good you could get them back! shame to lose photos, esp those you cant retake..
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An amazing moth. So big and such beautiful colours and patterns. Oh well, you've all said it already. Love her body too as well as the wings.
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And the red furry legs!
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And the red furry legs!
Who could forget those! It was seeing them that made me realise that this was not Yvonne T. in a fabulous, cuddly velvet outfit!! ;D ;)
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Yvonne T. in a fabulous, cuddly velvet outfit!! :o :o :o ???
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Yvonne T. in a fabulous, cuddly velvet outfit!! :o :o :o ???
Yes, Paul, I thought you'd really pushed the boat out and bought a fab designer velvet costume..... after Lesley's suggestions of a velvet cloak ( elsewhere on the Forum) ::) ;)
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Really smart furry bees flying in for a nectar breakfast on the newly opened Verbascum flowers......what a great way to start the day ;D
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Very cute. 8)
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Furry boots did ye see these Robin?
Back to the Robin moth. She laid several hundred eggs, which I have passed on to various people - in fact, 140 went to Robert Goodden at Worldwide Butterflies (http://www.wwb.co.uk) as he emailed me to say he was in desperate need of some.
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Furry boots did ye see these Robin?
Back to the Robin moth. She laid several hundred eggs, which I have passed on to various people - in fact, 140 went to Robert Goodden at Worldwide Butterflies (http://www.wwb.co.uk) as he emailed me to say he was in desperate need of some.
Anthony, I'm so glad your Robin Moth was so productive and that her eggs have found a good home at Worldwide Butterflies - I have been there several times and find it fascinating. As you can see from my recent postings of recovered images I took, whilst visiting you, the Robin Moth looks stupendous in all her pregnant glory and has attracted a lot of attention ;)
My visit to Scotland was so full of wonderful surprises and the Robin Moth on your finger is something I'll never forget - also the other moth vibrating its wings to warm up before take-off (so glad it came back!) thanks so much for spending the time showing us everything including your fantastic orchids. :)
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sparrowhawk v magpie - both very scary!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Ycdt-agOA&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0Ycdt-agOA&feature=related)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukYJs8P14FY&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukYJs8P14FY&feature=related)
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Amazing and sobering videos... from the pap we're fed by idiotic movies and such, we are led to believe that death is dealt quickly, but even in these tiny things, the life force is so strong... predators certainly earn every meal.
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Smart bird!
Here is a red-necked footman moth (Atolmis rubricolis). It's caterpillar feeds on lichens. My book says southern Britain, rare. I see it in the garden every year.
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Do you report your sightings? It's rare here but spreading fast
Have you seen the new book Butterflies and Moths of Northern Ireland. It is a large book with amazing photography by Robert Thompson. Well work £21 from Amazon. It is almost out of print. Some booksellers are offering it for £149 already. Amazon have one left
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Do you report your sightings? It's rare here but spreading fast
Mark and Anthony, I came across this site the other day which looks quite new and David Attenborough is behind it - thought it might be a good place to record sightings for the UK
http://www.butterfly-conservation.org/moth_identifier/37/identify_a_day_flying_moth.html
Anthony the red-necked footman Moth is very handsome - but why the footman bit?
Here is a moth today who has lots of character with shoulder tufts - seems to be looking out of the window over the valley wondering if it's worth staying up ;D
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Your moth is a Silver Y (Autographa gamma), which is resident in southern Europe, but migrates north in large numbers every year. It cannot survive British winters.
The Red Necked Footman, which is only about a centimetre long, is so called because of the black wings. Many footmen of the 19th century were dressed in black, and as its lower abdomen is yellow, perhaps they had yellow socks? Victorians have given British moths some fantastic names: 'Mother Shipton'; 'True Lover's Knot'; 'Great Brocade'; 'Old Lady'; 'Varied Coronet'; 'Merveille-du-jour'; 'Shark'; 'Miller'; 'Spotted Sulphur'; 'Burnished Brass' and 'Snout' to name a few.
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Thanks for the ID of the Silver Y (Autographa gamma) moth here this morning and for the interesting info on both moths - I love the background origins of the names of these wonderful insects as you describe them - i definitely think the yellow socks should be included!
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and mentioning Burnish Brass
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There is a first for everything and this year I have a lovely bird singing most days in my garden. It's a Goldfinch singing while his mate sits on a nest in one of my birch trees
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Thanks for the ID of the Silver Y (Autographa gamma) moth here this morning and for the interesting info on both moths - I love the background origins of the names of these wonderful insects as you describe them - i definitely think the yellow socks should be included!
More detail of Moth - does the Y refer to the tuft things on its shoulder Anthony?
Lovely images of your moth Mark ;)
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Aha. Looks more like a Plain Golden Y (Autographa jota) from that pic? Often the 'y' (middle of each forewing) is broken in this species, but it is complete in this specimen. This species overwinters as a caterpillar in the UK, and elsewhere.
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and mentioning Burnish Brass
Nice pic. I know Robert Thompson, so will see if he has copies of his book himself? I do report sightings to the BBCS local group. In fact, I tutored the secretary's son in H Biology.
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Took Heidi (the dog, remember ::)) up to The Gathering Stone on Sheriffmuir and noticed that many of the Spear Thistles (Cirsium vulgare) had larvae of the Painted Lady butterfly (Cynthia cardui). I think 2009 is going to be a bumper year for this butterfly. Some muppets had had a bonfire at the site where the stone, now protected with an iron grill, is. Looking at the history of the battle in 1715 made me shake my head. A wasted battle. Nobody won; nobody lost, but those who could have claimed victory left the scene and the Jacobite cause never again came close to a draw.
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Here are some pics of Painted Lady butterfly (Cynthia cardui) caterpillars and their hides on thistles and nettle. The jury's out on the nettle pic. While cardui caterpillars are found on nettles, it could be a Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta)?
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Anthony your caterpillar photos bring back good memories of me rearing 100s of Tortoishells, Peacocks, Red Admirals and Painted Ladies in a huge fish tank. I used to go out looking for caterpillars and bring them home. Once they pupated they were strung up on lines of thread in a wicker beside cabinet. I must have been under 12 years old
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Howdy All,
Some pics I took this morning.
Started with the Crimson Rosella, from about 5 metres away (thank goodness for my new camera, I couldn't have done this without it.... you should see the bigger version.... I have made this one a little larger to give you some idea). At that point the birdbath was full.
A little later I was filling the watering can from my tank and the magpie landed a metre behind me on the birdbath. I crouched down and took a few photos as he bathed and serenaded me. ;D
Then about 20 minutes later we had a couple of Eastern Rosellas land, with the water level now somewhat lower after the magpies energestic washing. ;) These pics were taken from about 6 or 7 metres away.... when I tried to get any closer they took off. I've included a couple of pics of them as we don't see them as often. I know that some of these pics are similar to others I have posted in the past, but I hope people still enjoy them?
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Paul I wish I had those coming to my garden rather than the hoards of starlings. Your photos are spot on for size. In the UK your parakeets are known as Pennants, also available in all blue and silver
http://www.avianweb.com/crimsonrosella.html (http://www.avianweb.com/crimsonrosella.html), and Golden-mantled Rosella, also avaialble in all red and yellow http://www.avianweb.com/goldenmantledrosellas.html (http://www.avianweb.com/goldenmantledrosellas.html)
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Oh Paul, you lucky thing!!
I wish I could import a few aussie maggies, there is nothing as sublime as being serenaded by a magpie with an endless repertoire.
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Great photos Paul and wonderful coloured plummage on the Eastern Rosellas you are so clever to have caught all these birds in action enjoying a bath ;D
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Some more peacock butterfly caterpillar pictures. There are still a few hundred in this group (I think. Haven't counted them.) Antony, how long from pupating till the butterflies emerge? another batch in a different patch of nettles disappeared two or three days ago.
Also a six spot burnet moth, the first I remember seeing, certainly locally.
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Great caterpillar shots, Roma
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Paul,
brilliant pictures from the Parakeets. 8)
Anthony,
I support your assumption the catapillar in the nettle could be an admiral ;)
Currently I have two shrubs of Buddeleia davidii in flower. The sweet scent of the flowers is attracting many butterflies and other insects.
Here some samples.
Inachis io: European Peacock / Tagpfauenauge
-male trying to mate the female. This is the most frequent butterfly. Usually several males chasing a female before sitting down a gain on the flower to take a nectar drink. How hairy they are?
-warming up in the sunshine on the ground
Cynthia cardui: Painted Lady / Distelfalter
-the second most frequent butterfly this year. After millions have immigrated from the mediterran area. Some samples is said to wander 3000km northwards! :o The tattered one may be one of them ::) It looks a bit sad ??? but the butterfly was still very active...
Peris brassicae: Large White / Großer Kohlweißling
-in my youth antagonized by gardeners who feared the voracities of the caterpillars on the cabbage... Nowadays no thread anymore. Only the female shows each 2 black spots on the anterior wings.
-certainly a Peris ssp. But the markings on the underside of the closed wings do not identify it clearly. Any suggestions?
Papillio machaon: Old World Swallowtail (Common Yellow Swallowtail) /Schwalbenschwanz
-always a highlight when appearing. Largest in size of all, elegant sailer and rare... I'm getting regular annoyed that meadows are cut too early. The caterpillars eating on wild carrots. I think it is the main reason for being so rare...
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Paul, I love the Crimson Rosella, beautiful bright colours.
Roma, lovely pics of the peacock butterfly caterpillars.
I found this hairy one today.
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Lovely butterflies Armin. Is your Peacock on the ground upside down?
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Armin, it's lovely to see your shots of butterflies in your garden as you say they are searching for nectar everywhere at present and one sees the full spectrum of young to aging butterflies! Isn't it incredible the journeys they go on, seemingly impossible? I wonder what the furthest distance is a butterfly has achieved and been recorded? I, too, am frustrated by meadow being cut often to early and have virtually the only patch in our road that hasn't been strimmed - consequently everyday I have a wonderful world of butterflies and insects to admire, observe and photograph right by the chalet ;D
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RR although not by their own ability Monarchs often arrive in Scotland after a strong wind from the west
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Some children brought this to me today. Do you recognise it?
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Some children brought this to me today. Do you recognise it?
Long-Tailed Tit chick?
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Pidgin!
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Colouration is ideal for adult cuckoo (non-hepatic) however ibecause children brought it to you I think that it is Woodpigeon because it lacks the red rim to the eye that is often found on Stock Dove. I suppose here is outside posssibility of Water Rail because of plumage but doubt it some how. I'll plump for Woodpigeon.
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Thanks Robin for the comments and sharing same opinion...
Mark, I would say Dove...
More samples...
Malanargia galathea: Marbled White / Schachbrett
- a frequent visitor on my Buddeleia shrubs. Prefers unfertilized meadows and saugers on Knautia and Thistles.
- a quite dark form (maybe a ssp. immigrated from the south?)
Aphantopus hyperantus: Ringlet (?) / Weißrandiger Mohrenfalter (Brauner Waldvogel)
- a quite frequent butterfly prefering high gras of unmown meadows. Always closing wings when sitting. Not easy to get a good picture with open wings. Remarkable, the number of ringlets on the wings can vary in number and arrangement on the wings.
Aglais urticae: Tortoise shell / Kleiner Fuchs
- this is becoming a very rare species here! The first one this year I saw :o (not a good shot because of being shy and continiously being attacked by the Peacocks). In my youth I remember it as one of the most frequent butterflies in our gardens. I suspect early mowing of meadows and use of weedkillers (larve eats on nettles!) are the reasons. :(
Vanessa atalanta: Red Admiral / Admiral
- last couple of year quite frequent. This year rare. Maybe last winters strong frosts killed the pupaes and too less immigrantion from the south this year. Is strongly attacked by the Peacocks.
Some other insects:
-Centonia aurata (Rosenkäfer)
-Eristalis tenax (Mistbiene)
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This was going to be clue 2. Anthony and Frazer you're good
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And then this
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and finally
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Lovely butterflies Armin. Is your Peacock on the ground upside down?
Mark, you are a pretty good observer. :D
Yes, I turned the picture by 180° degree for a better view.
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a quite frequent butterfly prefering high gras of unmown meadows. Always closing wings when sitting. Not easy to get a good picture with open wings. Remarkable, the number of ringlets on the wings can vary in number and arrangement on the wings.
These butterflies flit over the meadow flowers and grasses and hardly ever seem to rest but I think their dusky brown colouring with the rings on their wings is wonderful especially against a light colour - I have never managed a shot like yours Armin with the wings open - now there's a challenge ;D
Benefiting from your detailed ID's thanks!
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Thanks Armin.
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Tipsy fairy rings
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a quite frequent butterfly prefering high gras of unmown meadows. Always closing wings when sitting. Not easy to get a good picture with open wings. Remarkable, the number of ringlets on the wings can vary in number and arrangement on the wings.
These butterflies flit over the meadow flowers and grasses and hardly ever seem to rest but I think their dusky brown colouring with the rings on their wings is wonderful especially against a light colour - I have never managed a shot like yours Armin with the wings open - now there's a challenge ;D
Benefiting from your detailed ID's thanks!
Robin,
indeed a bit challenging - it took me some couple of minutes of motionless and quiet to get good shots with open wings of them. >:(
In the Alps there are several very similar looking specimen... another challenge for proper identification! Good luck! ;D
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Thanks all. Glad you enjoyed the pics. mark, I have never seen other colour forms of either of our Rosellas before. They look really weird!! ;D I just don't think of them being bred in captivity, but of COURSE they are when I think about it. ::) Thanks for the links.... totally unexpected colours from them I must say, particularly the silver form of the crimson.
Thanks to everyone else for their pics. The butterflies are amazing. :o
Interestingly Mark, even I would have guessed a pigeon for that eye. I don't know what else you have there similar in eye, but here that eye could only really belong to a pigeon. The little feathered rats infest people-inhabited places here as well, although not in the numbers that you see in travelogue shows overseas. ;) I just love the various colours in them, particularly the shimmers of electric greens and purples. :D
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Tipsy fairy rings
Mark,
concede now! ;) You've spread fertilizer and gave extra water ;D
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Interestingly Mark, even I would have guessed a pigeon for that eye. I don't know what else you have there similar in eye, but here that eye could only really belong to a pigeon.
Seems so obvious now I've been told.... but I was fooledby the grey colour of feathers in forst pic, didn't think about scale of bird and thought it might be a grey heron! :-[
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Gunilla, your caterpillar is that of the Grey Dagger moth (Acronicta psi), often found on hawthorn, but generally polyphagus.
Roma, I would suggest a couple of weeks from pupation to adult peacock butterflies. They are single brooded, so butterflies emerging in August won't lay until April/May 2010!
Armin, I have confined the nettle larva to satisfy my curiosity.
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Long-Tailed Tit chick?
I was, of course, joking. I've looked pigeons in the eye often enough on my mum's allotment as they stroll casually off before taking flight after kindly shredding the greens for us. But I did enjoy watching a bunch of long-tailed tit chicks cavorting in the 5-metre tall, flower-filled Genista aetnensis outside my first floor window as I worked today. Fantastic colour, glorious scent through the open window and those little fluffy balls with their long tails bouncing around just a few feet away. Then it started p*ssing down again! :-\
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Gunilla, your caterpillar is that of the Grey Dagger moth (Acronicta psi), often found on hawthorn, but generally polyphagus.
Thanks Anthony for the identification. I found it crawling on a cotoneaster.
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"Tipsy fairy rings" ?
Do you harvest mushrooms from the periphery of these rings, as we do here in South Africa, Mark? Mmmm, delicious if you do... :D
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Not much left of the Grey Dagger moth caterpillar today.
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I've never tried them Rogan. Could yours and ours be the same? In this case they were on a cricket and rugby grounds
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Not much left of the Grey Dagger moth caterpillar today.
Oh dear....very sad after seeing it in all its glory from the first photo you posted Gunilla. Were there others?
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I only saw this one but probably there are many more. You can see that it had time to taste the cotoneaster so at least it didn't die hungry ::) and spiders have to eat too.
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"Tipsy fairy rings" ?
Do you harvest mushrooms from the periphery of these rings, as we do here in South Africa, Mark? Mmmm, delicious if you do... :D
The commonest fairy ring fungus in the UK is Marasmius oreades. As they are only about an inch across they wouldn't but much use except for flavouring soups or omelettes?
Not much left of the Grey Dagger moth caterpillar today.
Oh dear....very sad after seeing it in all its glory from the first photo you posted Gunilla. Were there others?
These caterpillars tend to be solitary. The spider looks like Enoplgnatha ovata?
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After the rain, snow on the mountain tops.... now the sun is out and the blue butterflies are back, it's good to see them :)
I think this one could be Eros Blue (Polyommatus eros)
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A blackbird bathing in the sun!
Without a telephoto lens normally it is impossible for me to take a pic of bird which is smaller than an eagle. I catched this blackbird when it was nearly powerless while sunbathing.
Gerd
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Wonderful humour and a wonderful shot Gerd! I know the feeling of things being too far away just at the most interesting moment, professional wildlife photographers must have the patience of Job ;)
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After the rain, snow on the mountain tops.... now the sun is out and the blue butterflies are back, it's good to see them :)
I think this one could be Eros Blue (Polyommatus eros)
Not sure if the black border is wide enough for Polyommatus eros?
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After the rain, snow on the mountain tops.... now the sun is out and the blue butterflies are back, it's good to see them :)
I think this one could be Eros Blue (Polyommatus eros)
Not sure if the black border is wide enough for Polyommatus eros?
Any other clues as to which blue Anthony? - much brighter than the blues earlier this year which had a turquoise blue sheen
This BCU of photo 01 shows detail - it's the same butterfly in both photos - the light changes the colour depending on the angle and I wonder if the veining lines in the forewing wing is unique to each butterfly?
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The underside is key. Looking at the forewing, the inner row of six submarginal spots, one distal (top of the 'cell', half way from tip to thorax) and two basal ( three quarters of the way from tip to thorax) spots indicate Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus). The male Eros Blue would appear to have a row of five submarginal spots, one distal and one basal spot.
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The depredations of a leaf-cutting bee on a small hosta. Neither of the two other hostas immediately adjacent to the right were touched.
These bees are quite fascinating characters. Some years ago, one dug its tunnel into a crack in my (badly settled) patio. When I moved the hose I had (as usual) left out, the poor bee arrived home with either prey or another fragment of leaf and deprived of the landmarks it had been using, could not find the entrance to the tunnel. It then began a methodical sweeping operation until it found the tunnel. As an experiment, I took two old porcelain doorknobs and placed them on either side of the tunnel, perhaps 8" apart, as landing beacons. Mrs. Bee didn't take long to adapt to these new landmarks and when she came in, she'd sail directly into her tunnel with no hesitation whatsoever.
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Rodger,
And when you were in the mood for some folly did you start moving the doorknobs to different parts of the patio just to watch her head for the wrong place?
Insects really are amazing in how they adapt to situations. It's no wonder that they're one of the most plentiful lifeforms on this planet. 8)
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Amazing, Rodger! Here, it seems that leaf-cutter bees favour roses, and of the ones we have, particularly 'John Cabot' - for the thin pliable leaves, perhaps?
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And when you were in the mood for some folly did you start moving the doorknobs to different parts of the patio just to watch her head for the wrong place?
No, I didn't. In fact I was very careful to not disturb them. Having moved the hose and inadvertently confused Mrs. Bee was enough.
This is called "being kind to dumb animals",. but Mrs. Bee has an advantage in that I rather like leaf-cutting bees.
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Rodger,
I would actually be interested to see how much they do navigate from markers like that, and whether they did head to the same position between the doorknobs if you moved them. Not meaning to be mean to them, but just interesting to see whether they did use them that heavily.
We get leaf cutter bees here on our roses at times, but I have never observed the bees at work so don't know what they look like.
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Armin, I have confined the nettle larva to satisfy my curiosity.
Anthony,
I keep my fingers crossed it will develop to a Red Admiral. :D
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A blackbird bathing in the sun!
Without a telephoto lens normally it is impossible for me to take a pic of bird which is smaller than an eagle. I catched this blackbird when it was nearly powerless while sunbathing.
Gerd
Gerd,
I made similar observations just recently. I also took a shot of a female blackbird taking a shower...
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The underside is key. Looking at the forewing, the inner row of six submarginal spots, one distal (top of the 'cell', half way from tip to thorax) and two basal ( three quarters of the way from tip to thorax) spots indicate Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus). The male Eros Blue would appear to have a row of five submarginal spots, one distal and one basal spot.
Robin,
I second Anthony. Looks more Polyommatus icarus.
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The underside is key. Looking at the forewing, the inner row of six submarginal spots, one distal (top of the 'cell', half way from tip to thorax) and two basal ( three quarters of the way from tip to thorax) spots indicate Common Blue (Polyommatus icarus). The male Eros Blue would appear to have a row of five submarginal spots, one distal and one basal spot.
Robin,
I second Anthony. Looks more Polyommatus icarus.
Anthony, thanks so much for the detailed description you have provided so I now know what to look out for; and thanks for your confirmation of Anthony's ID, Armin. Even though a common Blue, Polyommatus icarus is still very beautiful when a freshly hatched arrival in the meadow flowers. :)
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Robin,
certainly I would haunt all butterfly species in the Alps meadows only to get good shots for this forum if I would live in such beautiful environment! ;D
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I'm so aware how lucky I am to be in this environment, Armin, every day a new surprise to share -
Yesterday evening a shot of red caught my eye.... quickly I tried to focus on this beautiful Red Admiral, gazing into the darkness and looking so handsome on the summer green of the forest.
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I noticed that one of the thistle-eating Painted Lady caterwallahs has pupated.
On last nights walk I checked out a burdock (Arctium minus) plant I'd passed earlier in the week. I had noticed that it was an alternative foodplant for these butterflies. Sure enough, one caterpillar tent.
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I would actually be interested to see how much they do navigate from markers like that, and whether they did head to the same position between the doorknobs if you moved them.
My own analysis is that they make full use of such markers. Mrs. Bee was much more precise and swifter entering her tunnel on the wing with the porcelain doorknobs as landing beacons. Remember that they were close to her tunnel, symmetrically disposed, and offered high contrast with the background.
Perhaps Mrs. Bee maintains a mental model of her territory something like the way electron microscopists record the location of anything interesting: a series of "photographs" at successively smaller scales, each one, say, twice as big as the one before, allowing them to return to an interesting spot at a very high level of magnification. When I had originally move the hose, she was able to navigate to the general vicinity of her tunnel, but then had to methodically scan the landscape until she saw a patch that matched one of the larger scale "photographs", skipping one or two intermediate stages.
I can't say if the doorknobs were so prominent that had I moved them Mrs. Bee would have bumped her head on concrete.
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I also took a shot of a female blackbird taking a shower...
Armin,
She looks as if she is enjoying an environmentally friendly wing-power shower ;D
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Fascinating the way your leaf-cutter bee find her way home, Rodger.
We have bumble-bees under the floor of a garden shed. They enter through a gap between the door and the ground. If I leave the door open they can't find the passage to their nest and fly into the shed and bump into the windows trying to get out.
I have my garden tools in the shed and if I leave a spade or a rake outside against the wall that will also confuse them. At this time of year there are many bumble -bees in the nest and they fly in and out all the time so it is not easy to go into the shed without disturbing them.
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I noticed that one of the thistle-eating Painted Lady caterwallahs has pupated.
On last nights walk I checked out a burdock (Arctium minus) plant I'd passed earlier in the week. I had noticed that it was an alternative foodplant for these butterflies. Sure enough, one caterpillar tent.
Is this an exclusive camp site for Painted Ladies? ::)
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I think if anyone was to take a close look spear thistle plants they would find Painted Lady caterpillars. This is going to be one of those years. Europe is going to be awash with them in August.
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Rodger,
interesting analysis. Maybe Mrs. Bee also uses a scent(s) to find its home. I'm convinced at least solitare bees have an individual scent to mark their hole entrance. I derive it from observing the hundreds of holes of my bee hotel. Once wrongly landed it is amazing how quickly bees find their individual holes just by "smelling" the next neighbours holes and decide wrong or right scent.
Robin,
thanks for your comments. Nice Admiral.
Today was warm and sunny. Unbelieveable hundreds (!) of butterflies visited my Buddeleias today. It was a great pleasure to observe the colorful bustle. Here my best shots for you.
Coenonympha pamphilus: Small Heath / Kleiner Heufalter (Kleines Wiesenvögelchen; Kälberauge)-very common and usual flitting in low level over in meadows
Note: -correction- images 1918 and 1928 show Maniola jurtina: Meadow Brown / Großes Ochsenauge (Kuhauge) rgds Armin
Gonepteryx rhamni: Brimestone / Zitronenfalter
- I was a bit surprised to see them. Usually they fall into a summer numbness when temperatures are high.
Papilio machaon: Swallowtail / Schwalbenschwanz
- always a delight
Argynnis paphia f. valesina: Silver-washed Fritillary / Kaisermantel
- my absolute bombshell today. This forma valesina is a rare dark form (in Germany) of females only. Usual the speci's habitat are woods. More unusual to meet it in the open garden.
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Argynnis paphia f. valesina: Silver-washed Fritillary / Kaisermantel
- my absolute bombshell today. This forma valesina is a rare dark form (in Germany) of females only. Usual the speci's habitat are woods. More unusual to meet it in the open garden.
What an amazing sight fantastically caught on your buddleia Armin - you must have been over the moon to see this Silver-washed Fritillary ;) The shot looking up (1968), showing the metallic sheen, shows the full character of this lovely butterfly :)
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Robin,
I'm pleased you appraise the beauti of such little flitters. ;D
For you and the forum: Vanessa atalanta: Red Admiral from today.
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Your buddleia is certainly proving to be attractive - what do their antennae buds make of it all do you think???? ;D
I really like the first shot,1974, because again it shows the character of the butterfly in the stance - the shots with open wings are better than mine as the sunlight seemed to make the white flare and the true red is not easy to catch either ::)
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I spotted a Painted Lady in the Lofoten Islands on my trip in early June, and one appeared in my garden last week, looking ragged and pale as though it had flown an awful long way.
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Lovely butterfly pictures, Armin. I wish I had room for a buddleia. I will have to wait for my sedums to bloom to see more butterflies. I did see a Small tortoiseshell today on a wild valerian which I hadn't got round to weeding out. Maybe it was from the caterpillars I saw about a month ago on nettles about quarter a mile from my house.
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Hi Robin and Roma
I have 2 Buddeleia shrubs growing side by side. They are a part of a hedge surrounding my garden.
The strong sweet scent and the high number of violet buds make them certainly attractive for butterflies.
I like shot 1974 too. But believe me - it took me some efforts, time and sweat to get good photos.
The Admirals are quite rare this year and the supernummery Peacocks permanently attacking them right when Admirals try to sit down on a bud. >:( Together with 50 and more flittering Painted Ladies surrounding my had I stood close to the shrubs in full sun and had to wait patiently quite a while to get shots with opened wings... :P
But all efforts because of passion... In the end I had a "Happy Day".
Stephen,
that is quite north. Amazing how far distances Painted Ladies can achieve.
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A treat to see so many flutterbyes !
I have to comment on image 1992....SO unusual to se from that angle... and so much detail.... wonderful!
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Maybe it's just old age creeping closer, but I keep reading the name of this topic as midlife (as in crisis). The mind plays some daft tricks! On a similar vein, for some wierd reason the first time I saw Annew as a profile name I read it as a-new (as in a new car) not knowing its was the profile name for Anne Wright, and now every time I see a post by Anne I still think of it as a-new. My dozey little brain just won't make the switch-over to Anne-w without a conscious effort!! I'm going to have a little lie down now.
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Coenonympha pamphilus: Small Heath / Kleiner Heufalter (Kleines Wiesenvögelchen; Kälberauge)
-very common and usual flitting in low level over in meadows
Coenonympha pamphilus (Small Heath) is a much smaller butterfly (wing length <2cm - about the size of a Common Blue) than the ones you have photographed Armin. They look more like Meadow Browns (Maniola jurtina) (wing length >2cm, so the size of a Small White). Image 1918 is a female; 1928 is a male.
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Hi Maggi,
1992 gives an image of the "flutterbyes" aerodynamics. We had an aerobatics event on our local airport the last weekend before.
There are some similarities in construction between butterflies and airplanes. Who copied from whom? ::)
Martin,
maybe cold water splashed into your face may help to recover.
Otherwise sleep well! ;) ;D
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Coenonympha pamphilus: Small Heath / Kleiner Heufalter (Kleines Wiesenvögelchen; Kälberauge)
-very common and usual flitting in low level over in meadows
Coenonympha pamphilus (Small Heath) is a much smaller butterfly (wing length <2cm - about the size of a Common Blue) than the ones you have photographed Armin. They look more like Meadow Browns (Maniola jurtina) (wing length >2cm, so the size of a Small White).
Anthony,
you might be right for image 1928 and I made an oversight (reviewing the original image there are 2 small black dots (without a ring) on the rear wing which indicade possibly a male for this Meadow Browns).
Indeed the butterfly on image 1928 was larger then 1918. The size of butterfly of image 1918 is as you discribe. I checked image 1918 first for identification. I'm confident for the right identification of 1918 even quite often a darker form is pictured in the literature. Both species are common and have a wide distribution and with many local forms. Can be quite tricky as they do not usual open the wings when sitting and we do not see the coloration and samples on the top of the wings!
Many thanks for your support and help!
Note: have reviewed other sources. Image 1918 shows Maniola jurtina too!rgds Armin
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Here is a Common Frog (Rana temporaria) I found when fixing my waterfall.
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Here is a Common Frog (Rana temporaria) I found when fixing my waterfall.
Your waterfall? That sounds very grand, Anthony. Can I come round for a spot of deer stalking? ;D
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No problem Martin. We saw one on our walk. Too dark to photograph clearly, but she was standing in amongst the farmer's neeps! Yesterday I met Nimrod with his rifle up near the Gathering Stone on Sheriffmuir, but this time the mysterious Belgian hunter had been unlucky.
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No problem Martin. We saw one on our walk. Too dark to photograph clearly, but she was standing in amongst the farmer's neeps!
Ah! Fields of neeps! When I lived in Broughty Ferry, we used to go into the raspberry fields behind Broughty Ferry that grew fruit for Roberstons Jam and stuff our faces with raspberries when we were out on our bikes as kids in the summer. In the winter when there were no raspberries, we'd stop and use our penknives to carve chunks out of farmers' neeps to eat. Raw neeps. We'd be cyclling like mad afterwards to get home to a toilet!
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The depredations of a leaf-cutting bee on a small hosta. Neither of the two other hostas immediately adjacent to the right were touched.
These bees are quite fascinating characters. Some years ago, one dug its tunnel into a crack in my (badly settled) patio. When I moved the hose I had (as usual) left out, the poor bee arrived home with either prey or another fragment of leaf and deprived of the landmarks it had been using, could not find the entrance to the tunnel. It then began a methodical sweeping operation until it found the tunnel. As an experiment, I took two old porcelain doorknobs and placed them on either side of the tunnel, perhaps 8" apart, as landing beacons. Mrs. Bee didn't take long to adapt to these new landmarks and when she came in, she'd sail directly into her tunnel with no hesitation whatsoever.
very interesting... i havent observed any such precision work around here...
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A regular appearing guest at my garden terrace, flashed last night on the back of a chair.
Tettigonia viridissima (female): Great Green Bush-Cricket / Großes Heupferd
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Great shot of a Great Green Bush-Cricket she's very friendly Armin, gorgeous green too ;D
Your garden in the evening must be full of chirruping noise!
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I love the sound. Not found in Scotland, but over 35 years ago I released some into my garden in Callander. They stayed nearabouts until October. I did find a couple of nymphs two years later, so eggs must have gone through two winters.
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I did find a couple of nymphs two years later, so eggs must have gone through two winters.
That's amazing, Anthony - talk about survival! However from your photos it seems you have plenty of frogs in your garden, which are scarcely in mine though they must be about ::)
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A pristine new Small tortoiseshell on a plant of Valeriana officinalis which I haven't got round to weeding out of my garden. The nettle patch where I saw the caterpillars is about quarter of a mile away so maybe it is from there. I saw another two today on the wild valerian nearer to the nettle patch.
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It is perfect, isn't it? Since it likely did come from your nettle patch, you can surely make the "Blue Peter " claim, Roma..... you know.... "here's one I made earlier" ...... ;D
Super photo, by the way. :)
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I found a patch of nettles on this evening's walk with small tortoiseshell caterpillars, so yours are well ahead Roma. It is generally single brooded in Scotland, so your butterfly will hibernate and mate in the spring.
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Today while in the shed a tortoiseshell flew in. I tried to chase it out because there are too many nasties lurking in the corners. It wouldnt go and insisted in checking every nook. I caught it and put it out. It wouldnt be thinking of hibernating already!?
Anthony one of my swifts nests is now empty because the chicks fledged over the last few days. A couple of weeks ago when my chicks were ringed their nest was disgusting because the parents didnt keep it clean. There are maggots eating the droppings but they aren't blow fly maggots. How well do you know your maggots?
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Difficult to identify, but several species of Ophyra scavenge in decaying waste matter?
On this evening's walk I came across a patch of giant puffballs (Calvatia gigantea). I brought the biggest (11" across) home to show the kids, and may go back for a smaller one for the pot!
I also saw another couple of roe deer - only one close enough to take a pic, but it was quite dark. Heidi was more interested in catching flies! :P
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Roma your Small tortoiseshell looks wonderful on the wild white Valerian and the wing patterns are so pretty - lucky the V survived so you had this wonderful sight! Persanally I love seeing Valerian (white and pink) on the verge and in rough spots - it certainly attracts insects of all sorts. I bet Stephen grows it in his garden in Norway!
Couldn't resist this snippet from Wikipedia:
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Ace shot of the roe deer leaping over the fence, Anthony, they move so quickly! Heidi really is a character leaping to catch flies - ours used to snap at wasps - not such a good idea!
How do you cook puff balls? I did know you could eat them but after eating a huge field mushroom in Scotland once I was desperately unwell - I should have know it was too perfect and obviously another variety - we picked them every year but they were smaller :P
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I love the smell of Valerian and found a couple of plants on my walk last night.
According to The Observer's Book of Mushrooms, Toadstools and Other Common Fungi "The flesh of young specimens is very tender and delicious. It should be sliced and fried in egg and bread crumbs and served with a good sauce (white parsley, or brown onion, etc.), but should be eaten before the flesh begins to turn yellow". I have tried the Common Puffball (Lycoperdon perlatum) and it tasted like omelette.
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Valerian is a very common wall plant here, growing wild, and some white-flowered plants are regularly seen.
Puffballs! - "Horse's Farts" to us!
Paddy
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I love the smell of Valerian and found a couple of plants on my walk last night.
Valerian root is cat-attractive, in case anyone's pussycat is getting tired of being handed catnip when it wants to get stoned.
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Anthony to my nose Valerian smells of stinking socks
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You must have such nice socks Mark? :P You certainly can't be thinking of Valeriana officinilis, which is very sweetly scented.
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Roma your Small tortoiseshell looks wonderful on the wild white Valerian and the wing patterns are so pretty - lucky the V survived so you had this wonderful sight! Persanally I love seeing Valerian (white and pink) on the verge and in rough spots - it certainly attracts insects of all sorts. I bet Stephen grows it in his garden in Norway!
Couldn't resist this snippet from Wikipedia:
i knew the sedative properties, but warding off the envy of elves is quite interesting!
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Roma,
nice colorful picture of Small Tortoiseshell. I'm pleased to see. So rare now in my area.
Anthony,
very good shots of the jumping roe deer and your dog.
You just pushed the botton at the right time ;) ;D
The puffball is realy large. :o
Today I bother you all with another moth I found by chance resting on my house wall.
Emmelia trabealis: Spotted Sulphur / Ackerwinden-Bunteulchen
-a species of small moth of the family Noctuidae. It is found in Europe, its range is bordered by the Ural Mountains.
It is said to be extinct in the UK? (Anthony - any comments?
The wingspan is 18-24 mm. The moth flies from May to August depending on the location.
The larvae feed on Convolvulus arvensis (Field-Bindweed / Ackerwinde).
In Germany the population numbers seem to shrink and the specis is set on a prewarning list of endangered species.
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What a wonderful combination of colour and markings on that Spotted Sulphur Moth, Armin - Does it fly by day?
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Robin,
the moth is night active and hiding during day.
The larvae eats during the night on the flowers of Field-Bindweed.
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Not one I've seen Armin. Spotted Sulphur (Emmelia trabealis) was found in eastern counties (Breck district of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire) in the 19th century (The Moths of the British Isles Richard South, 1907). Bernard Skinner (The Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles, 1984) confirms this, adding that it may have been resident only in Kent, around Darenth, Dover and Folkestone. It has not been seen in Britain since 1960.
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I find the scent of valerian quite pleasant at a distance but not close to.
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Persanally I love seeing Valerian (white and pink) on the verge and in rough spots - it certainly attracts insects of all sorts. I bet Stephen grows it in his garden in Norway!
I do indeed :) and here it is. It was covered in moths earlier this evening, but I've never seen butterflies on it. By the far the most popular butterfly plants in my garden are 1) Eupatorium cannabinum 2) Buddliea davidii
I tried to get our cat interested in valerian root a few years ago, but it was totally uninterested. It grazed my catnips to death though. It was less interested in Lemon Catnip, Nepeta cataria citrata, but that one wasn't reliably hardy, so I have neither now...
The talk about Valerians reminded me of some pictures of misfit Valerians which I had been meaning to post - I'll post them in a more suitable place later.
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Methinks Mark is referring to Centranthus ruber?
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An absolutely appalling day here with thunderstorms, lightening, torrential rain but when I went for a walk in a forest clearing in a brief interlude this gorgeous butterfly was carrying on as normal :)
I think it is a Large Ringlet and love its dark chocolate furry coat with orange pieces!
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You're correct, Anthony. How did it get the same name?
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RR, Love your butterfly shots - remind me of happy days in the south!
Gerd
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Glad they gave you happy memories Gerd ;)
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Robin,
nice shots from Erebia euryale Large Ringlet / Bergmohrenfalter.
A pity this species is not available around my area (Spessart/Odenwald mountains).
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Not one I've seen Armin. Spotted Sulphur (Emmelia trabealis) was found in eastern counties (Breck district of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire) in the 19th century (The Moths of the British Isles Richard South, 1907). Bernard Skinner (The Colour Identification Guide to Moths of the British Isles, 1984) confirms this, adding that it may have been resident only in Kent, around Darenth, Dover and Folkestone. It has not been seen in Britain since 1960.
Anthony, thanks for the detailed information.
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This is Yponomeuta evonymella or the Bird Cherry Ermine. Bird Cherry (Prunus padus) is a common tree in this area and this moth’s caterpillars have the last 3 years almost completely defoliated most of the bird cherries in this area. (spinning a larval tent - second picture). It’s astonishing that the trees withstand this treatment year after year, putting out new leaves later in the summer. The moths are now very common in my garden, particularly on a small leaved lime – wandering about on the leaves feeding on something microscopic. Anyone know what they would be eating?
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You're correct, Anthony. How did it get the same name?
They are related and the flowers are similar.
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Stephen could the moths be drinking honeydew?
Some mini 2cm caterpillars have been eating my Dianthus seeds inside the ovary. There is no obvious way in so the moth must be laying her eggs on the ovary and the hatched caterpillar eats a tiny hole to get in
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After a massive thunderstorm last night a Tortoiseshell has found the perfect sunbathing spot on a sunny centre spreading its wings like petals
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Stephen could the moths be drinking honeydew?
Some mini 2cm caterpillars have been eating my Dianthus seeds inside the ovary. There is no obvious way in so the moth must be laying her eggs on the ovary and the hatched caterpillar eats a tiny hole to get in
Wonder what species does that? Will try to find out.
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Anthony and Mark,
A couple of years ago I have my Clematis afoliata flower for the first time ever. About 6 or 9 flowers, solitary in "leaf" axils (it actually has no leaves, but does have tiny petioles where the leaves should be), and every single one of them had a little thin green caterpillar inside that had eaten out all the stamens and style etc. I didn't even get to see one perfect flower. It hasn't flowered since then either, and I have no idea what the difference was that year that lead to flowers. ::) I was NOT happy with those caterpillars, let me tell you. :o
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Stephen could the moths be drinking honeydew?
I wondered that, but hadn't seen any aphids/ants. However, today I noticed that the tree is now in flower - perhaps honeydew was falling from flowers higher up onto the leaves. Now the moths are both on the leaves and the flowers (see below). There are now several species of moth and flies crawling about the leaves.
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Great photos of the Moths Steven - maybe the honeydew is somewhat like Mead? :D
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Robin,
your butterfly has certainly chosen a good background to show off its colours. I had a wander yesterday round the fields near where I saw the caterpillars and saw several Small Tortoiseshell butterflies on creeping thistle flowers but they were a bit flighty and it was windy so did not get many pictures. I found three possible Painted Lady caterpillars on spear thistle and masses of blackfly on the creeping thistle.
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Spot on Roma.
Stephen, Lime trees (Tilia spp.) are notorious for dropping nectar from their flowers. Never park your car under one!
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Roma, glad you liked to the Tortoiseshell photo - I was trying to enlarge your photos to look at the caterpillars and there is a wee problem with them not loading but think it is the internet connection to the site so will try again tomorrow as I would like to have a closer look!
Managed to enlarge them just now and you've captured a great action shot of a Tortoiseshell with the thistles, Roma...
caterpillars clinging on in the wind it seems!
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I collected a dozen or so Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars to rear and release. This protects them from the braconid wasps that lay a single egg in the pupa which then undergoes mitosis (cell division) resulting in a large number of cloned wasps emerging from a single pupa.
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I always thought the parasitic wasps laid multiple eggs or does it vary?
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I collected a dozen or so Small Tortoiseshell caterpillars to rear and release. This protects them from the braconid wasps that lay a single egg in the pupa which then undergoes mitosis (cell division) resulting in a large number of cloned wasps emerging from a single pupa.
My reaction can be expressed in exactly one word: Wow!
I have never before heard that wasps could do this; sounds like some kind of hymenopterous octomom!
Incidentally, for those interested in the private life of wasps, a couple of book recommendations, both popularizations but well worth reading:
"Wasp Farm" by Howard Ensign Evans
"The Hunting Wasp" by John Crompton
Bookfinder.com coughs up lots of copies of both.
Evans' book is a more informal book than Crompton's but both are worthy; good reading for long, dark, winter evenings when summer and warmth and real life are dim memories.
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I found a dead hornet on my garden path today. The size of it is impressive, 30mm.
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Why does this species of 'beetle', Anthocoris nemorum, the Common Flower bug keep biting me. It causes a huge hot bump a couple of days after biting and it hurts!! The actual puncture has a raised pimple
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2101/2253646692_031f7df047.jpg?v=0 (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2101/2253646692_031f7df047.jpg?v=0)
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Wasn't sure which critter you meant... is this it? From http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Anthocoris_nemorum pic below
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Not a beetle but a bug: order Hemiptera, sub-order Heteroptera, family Cimicidae, which includes bedbugs! It is a predator of aphids and red spider mites, and presumable anything it can get its beak into! "Will pierce human skin and suck blood if handled".
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Handle! Since my very first encounter while in the Czech Republic I have been very wary of them. While repotting my bulbs one got me on the back of my hand and the other at the side of my upper arm.
WARNING if you see this insect on you flick it or swat it!
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It is a useful predator that kills a lot of pests.
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Not when it bites me.
And changing the subject what has laid the large clusters of round white eggs in my pots? I havent seen them there before this year.
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what has laid the large clusters of round white eggs in my pots?
Sounds like snails..... :'(
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..............or slugs.
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Mark,
please stop lamenting about this little bug bite ;D Yesterday evening I forgot to bring my insect spray and black flies attacked me while I was trying to fish for walleyes until midnight - result no fish but 17 stings I counted on my calves and arms. Today it is itching like hell >:(
After some medical treatment of my stings, today morning while doing some PC work in the 1st floor at opened window I noticed a sudden hue and cry in my garden. After a first view down the garden I went to ground floor to get a closer sight and to take a cary view through the window.
Troops of mainly young Sparrows (Passer domesticus) and some Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) overrun my garden and sand beds looking for food, picking here and there, chasing and playing, taking a sand /sun bath or shower in my old pan...Overall a placid moment.
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more...
Finally a little puzzle for you: How many birds to find in the last picture?
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Armin,
We've had a young crested pigeon constantly begging food from it's parents for the last couple of weeks here. Never seen them do it before, but this one just won't give up. Doesn't make a lot of noise, but sits and shimmers it's wings and flattens itself to the ground while doing it. We get them breed in a pittosporum out the back every year, but I have never seen one hang around with it's parents like this after it is out of the nest. Normally we never see them again after that. Maybe they've been watching humans and worked out that it is better if they stay at home and cadge off their parents until they're middle aged, which is a growing trend apparently. ::)
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Paul,
my son is now 15 - I notice some similarities in behavior... ;D
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Armin that's a fine looking cock sparrow on the table. His black breast shows he is probably top bird in the area with lots of female admirers. All the sparrows around my house have gone off for their summer holidays. Not a peep at their night roost
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Mark,
you might be right with the cock sparrow. The high number of young sparrows is the result of 10 nest boxes I fixed around my house/our street trees. This is a successful breeding program I would say.
Now the troops of youngsters straggle around to learn and break away from their parents.
Some neighbour cats and sparrow hawks have caught already some incautious.
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Would the pale starling be a youngster moulting out his juvenile plumage?
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They are lovely when the spotty waist coat comes through. All the my local starling chicks look like that
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I found a swallow's nest in a disused old 'shed' type thing (looks like an old railway container with a door in the side and boarded up windows at the ends) two days ago. There were some very young chicks in it. Judging by the empty plastic bottles and crisp packets, some young people must have been in, perhaps sheltering from the rain. Either they didn't spot the nest, which is seems to be only attached to a roof beam by its edge, or they left it alone.
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About 25 & a 1/2 (in birdbath) or so, Armin, but my eyes were going round in circles - it's like counting sheep in a field (a shepherd can do it easy peasy but me, never!)
Thanks for the great action shots of the sparrow flock in your garden - very amusing and definitely would take your mind off itchy bites.....for a few seconds! When you say they were small black flies, what type - midges? And what on earth are Walleye fish?????
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Anthony I guess they didnt see it
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RR I see 25 also.
Armin do you feed the sparrows? I feed mine with parakeet seed mix
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Robin,
Mark,
thanks for the puzzle replies - quite good. That was also my first result. On the original high resolution image I counted finally 32 birds after several recounts! lol ;D
I admit the lower resolution of the image posted makes it a bit hard to find the rest of them ::) And the sparrows earth brown colouration melts with the background and gives them a very good camouflage on the sandy ground. ;) ;D
Mark,
no I do not feed any birds during summer/breeding season. Only in winter/frost periods I use a bird box with a mix of sunflowers, oat flakes, raisins and hacked haselnuts.
Anthony,
it must be a juvenile starling as Mark wrote. The others around looked evenly darker brown.
Did not recognise the paler colouration of juvenile ones earlier because usually we see them only in their showy plumage singing from a roof.
Never stop learning. :D
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In amongst the symphony of wild flowers a butterfly duet :)
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RR they look like Meadow Browns Maniola jurtina
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Thanks Mark, seems so - just so amazing to see two in the same pose on the same meadow flower in the same shot!
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Both males.
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Both males.
Does that signify anything Anthony? ;)
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What a surprise when I came up the steps to see a snake on the rocks - it slithered past me and was just under a metre long!!! Is it a grass snake? Longer than I thought but a greenish head and dark back, very beautiful.... anyway I think I'll be rather cautious about weeding in the rockery as it seemed to disappear into the wall ::)
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Both males.
Does that signify anything Anthony? ;)
Not really.
What a surprise when I came up the steps to see a snake on the rocks - it slithered past me and was just under a metre long!!! Is it a grass snake? Longer than I thought but a greenish head and dark back, very beautiful.... anyway I think I'll be rather cautious about weeding in the rockery as it seemed to disappear into the wall ::)
The only dark snake that I can find living in Switzerland is the black phase of the Asp (Vipera aspis) :o. Grass snakes are characterised by the yellow neck (collar) marks and are usually well patterned.
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oOOO errrr...better be more careful in future - was surprised at the size of the snake :o - quite comical watching i try to negotiate the steps and we only caught the middle section slithering away - can't think that the holes in the rockery are big enough to house a snake but will not be sticking my fingers in any ;) thanks for your quick response, Anthony. I'd better read up on snakes here but it was difficult to search for info about snakes found in Alps on Google.
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Be very careful, Cleopatra :)
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Anthony & Cleopatra may be interested in the melanistic snakes on a small island in Halifax Harbour known as George's Island and the site of Fort Charlotte. They come in a fantastic array of colours.
The island:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Island_(Nova_Scotia) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Island_(Nova_Scotia))
The snakes:
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/snakes/melanist.htm (http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/snakes/melanist.htm)
johnw
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Fascinating John. [I prefer the island's original name. :)] A similar situation occurs with inbreeding in the colony of Meadow Brown butterflies (Maniola jurtina) on Crammond Island. This tiny island is connected at low tide by a causeway to the mainland, is a small island in the River Forth. Forms of the butterfly with multiple spots occur in larger numbers than on the mainland.
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I have the last 3 years had a snake (Natrix Natrix) in the garden. It is a melanistic form.
Last year changed the snake skins on the terrace. This skin was 96cm long.
This year, my cat had a fight with the snake, then moved it over to a neighbour’s land.
Ulla
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Anthony & Cleopatra may be interested in the melanistic snakes on a small island in Halifax Harbour known as George's Island and the site of Fort Charlotte. They come in a fantastic array of colours.
The island:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Island_(Nova_Scotia) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Island_(Nova_Scotia))
The snakes:
http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/snakes/melanist.htm (http://museum.gov.ns.ca/mnh/nature/snakes/melanist.htm)
johnw
John, thanks so much for posting the links above - really interesting and very well documented....we are still unsure of the snake we saw but
as Anthony demonstrated to Cleopatra this morning it was actually over a metre long! Funnily enough to Cleo (from below) it had a creamy under chin very like the Garter snake in the pic and to Ant (from above) it looked very black (like the black garter snake pic) However the size is not the same (as Anthony pointed out!) Anyway it is fascinating to investigate a species of wild life with which one had a close encounter :)
Atttached for interest is a CU of the snakes skin on its back/side
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The head is the key. Adders have a slit pupil, indicative of nocturnal activity; whip snakes, rat snakes and grass snakes all have round pupils.
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I'm pretty sure it had round pupils, Anthony, set on a streamline head and it didn't look sinister just alarmed at my presence....it moved in a meandering way....but quite speedy! Anyway, thanks for your input - I'll just be more aware of what is lurking on/in the rocks :o
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Nothing moving today as the weather is cold and wet again - hard to believe that yesterday my lavender was covered in bees of all bee-shapes and sizes...
and a butterfly :)
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I'm pretty sure it had round pupils, Anthony, set on a streamline head and it didn't look sinister just alarmed at my presence....it moved in a meandering way....but quite speedy! Anyway, thanks for your input - I'll just be more aware of what is lurking on/in the rocks :o
Some kind of colubrid then?
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Some kind of colubrid then?
Anthony,
Looking at the Wiki page for your suggestion:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Coluber_caspius.jpg
When I first saw it at the top of the steps it was coiled in a loose heap just like this and the photo is remarkably similar (but darker) to what I remember about its head and proportions but I have no idea if this type of snake lives here?
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Hallo Robin & Anthony,
in below link (sorry in German language only) it is written that black coloured forms of the Grass Snake (Natrix natrix natrix) is occasional seen all over the Swiss. In Simmental there is a population of only black form.
Female snakes can reach 1.30m in lenght.
http://www.reptiles.de/Natrix%20natrix.htm (http://www.reptiles.de/Natrix%20natrix.htm)
The picture I've from wikipedia.
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Thanks for the info on the black grass snake Armin - I think your suggestion is the nearest to what we saw and as you confirm it is a Swiss resident!
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Robin,
I'm glad to have helped you.
A note reg. coluber: Hierophis viridiflavus (Gelbgrüne Zornatter) is available in the south and southwest of the Swiss too. Rarely there are single dark (black) forms without any pattern but with a white throat.
Check box in the previous link to see pictures of the ordinary form.
Added a picture from wikipedia
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The pale collar is clearly visible in Armin's pic (in the link to the black grass snake). It would be yellow in the normal green form. Fascinating how many species have the melanic forms.
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So while we're on snakes, can anyone identify this one, taken in the Arlberg area of Western Austria last week
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Diane,
nice Adder (Viper berus).
What was the length?
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nice Adder (Viper berus).
Thanks, Armin, yes, we did wonder if it was.
What was the length?
It wasn't very long, about 25cm, here's my sister Carol photographing it. You will see that it was in danger of getting squashed by the next vehicle, so my sister bravely moved it to the side of the road, using her trekking poles. I stayed at a safe distance!
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We get very few butterflies/moths here... very strange. :( But the other day, I was thrilled to see a police car moth, Gnophaela vermiculata, which I haven't seen in years!
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At the weekend I took part in a botanical survey of our local area. See here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3959.msg104171#msg104171 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=3959.msg104171#msg104171)
I’ll post here a few insect pictures taking during the weekend. There wasn’t too much time for stalking, but here’s what turned up.
1) What are these guys taking pictures of?
2) Here it is – this Giant Wood Wasp (Urocerus gigas – I think) kept on landing on my colleagues’ boot. It repeatedly flew round and landed in the same spot.
3) The commonest butterfly at this time of year is the Arran Brown (Erebia ligea). Is it named after the Scottish Island? If so, why - anyone know?
4) Less common and found mainly near the coast is the Comma butterfly, here on a Marsh Thistle (Cirsium palustre).
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Stephen does the wasp have a broken ovipositor?
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We get very few butterflies/moths here... very strange. :( But the other day, I was thrilled to see a police car moth, Gnophaela vermiculata, which I haven't seen in years!
Lovely shots of the police car moth, Lori, wonder why you see so few moths and butterflies? One would think with all the flowers in the wild and tempting array in your garden it would be a very attractive place to be!
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Stephen does the wasp ahve a broken ovipositor?
It seems that the guard that encloses the ovipositor is a bit bent?
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On our recent trip to the Burren area of Ireland, I was thrilled to see a Banded Demoiselle - I've been hoping to see one for years. We sat and watched several fluttering about for some time. At the same site were a Black-tailed Skimmer, and a beautiful fly we couldn't identify (probably a horse fly or something!). Later on at the site of a triple ring fort, we saw a Pearl-bordered Fritillary, also my first long-awaited sighting.
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Great photos Anne - so clear - the Banded Demoiselle is so attractive, no wonder you were thrilled to spot it. I looked up the Burren area in Ireland and will return later as it looks really interesting for flora, fauna and geology :)
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nice Adder (Viper berus).
Thanks, Armin, yes, we did wonder if it was.
What was the length?
It wasn't very long, about 25cm, here's my sister Carol photographing it. You will see that it was in danger of getting squashed by the next vehicle, so my sister bravely moved it to the side of the road, using her trekking poles. I stayed at a safe distance!
Diane,
well done! It would be a pity if this beautiful reptile would have been squashed by a car. But this little animals still need our respect. Even the amount of poison of a young snake is less it is more poisoness compared to an adult one. Just in case somebody accidentally gets bitten. Did it start to attack when pushed by the trecking poles?
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Anne, your pretty fly is a type of horse-fly - perhaps Chrysops caecutiens? Your butterfly is a female Dark Green Fritillary (Argynnis aglaja).
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Camouflaged and keeping quiet a very handsome hopper!
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Handsome indeed. Not a British species, so I don't recognise it.
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It's interesting that Chrysops spp. are called "horse flies" there. How big do they get? Here, we refer to them, logically, as "deer flies", since they are sort of the mid-size model of blood-sucking flying pests... The term, "horse fly", is reserved for the full-size model, Hybomitra spp., which get to an inch long here, with sabre-toothed, flesh-eating mandibles. :o
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It's interesting that Chrysops spp. are called "horse flies" there. How big do they get? Here, we refer to them, logically, as "deer flies", since they are sort of the mid-size model of blood-sucking flying pests... The term, "horse fly", is reserved for the full-size model, Hybomitra spp., which get to an inch long here, with sabre-toothed, flesh-eating mandibles. :o
Either genus inspires me to recite the prayer begging God to spare me from boggles and beasties that go bump in the night - and from biting flies of all types, but especially the very little ones (noseeums) that emerge at dusk and make you feel like you are being dipped in acid, the blackflies that breed in running streams and painlessly gnaw holes in your integument, then inject an anticoagulant so that you still drip blood (in memory of the Passion, perhaps) after Mr/Mrs Blackfly has sucked your essential bodily fluids, and the deerflies that fly round and round and round and round hoping for an opening in your defenses, making it impossible to concentrate on the beauties of nature as you are more interested in protecting your physical integrity. God protect me from them all!
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Roger, in your moment of agonising over biting flies you made me recall an incident in Cameroun, buried in my Psyche, when I thought I was going to be eaten alive with no help at hand! We were heading through the rain forest jungle on a mud road with deep ruts and I was pretty impressed with my other half's driving skills until suddenly we skidded on top of a long rut and were left suspended with 4 wheels spinning.....we got out to discuss what to do ::) (no contact with the outside world and night drawing in) :o :o :o
Suddenly we disappeared in to a cloud of tiny black flies - thousands/millions of them - biting, biting, biting and it was impossible to get away....impossible to make any decisions....impossible to survive, from madness at least.....then through blurred vision we saw a cinque cento coming along the road, more importantly it stopped, and out popped 4 portly African Nuns!!!!!! They literally helped bounce our car off the rut and saved our skins.... ;D ;D ;D
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Handsome indeed. Not a British species, so I don't recognise it.
Anthony, when I saw your comment by you new Avatar for a split second I thought it was someone else! Then I thought the comment made a good caption and fitted nicely - if it was changed to the positive ;)
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all makes me grateful for 'only' mosquitoes! ;)
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It's interesting that Chrysops spp. are called "horse flies" there. How big do they get? Here, we refer to them, logically, as "deer flies", since they are sort of the mid-size model of blood-sucking flying pests... The term, "horse fly", is reserved for the full-size model, Hybomitra spp., which get to an inch long here, with sabre-toothed, flesh-eating mandibles. :o
The term 'horse-flies' refers to the family Tabanidae which includes clegs. We have Tabanus sudeticus in Scotland, which is huge. T. bovinus is further south and not as big. One 'put the willies' up me in the Norfolk Broads 30-odd years ago before I manage to net it! :o
Handsome indeed. Not a British species, so I don't recognise it.
Anthony, when I saw your comment by you new Avatar for a split second I thought it was someone else! Then I thought the comment made a good caption and fitted nicely - if it was changed to the positive ;)
Spent the last week making the cap ready for the next ashes test. Good job it's not a big pic! I was going to show more than head and shoulders, but my bodyline is even less photogenic than my face.
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Tabanus sudeticus http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pictures/showphoto.php/photo/63043/size/big (http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pictures/showphoto.php/photo/63043/size/big) I hate them
T. bovinus http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pictures/showphoto.php/photo/82001/cat/external.php (http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pictures/showphoto.php/photo/82001/cat/external.php)
Anthony which is the one that bites us? Brown with rainbow eyes
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A few butterfly shots from a short walk on the moors this evening ...
Butterfly Identifications appreciated
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Anyone watching "Wildest Dreams" on BBC1? Brillant programme - imho. 5000 Amur falcons roost in one tree in the Drakensbergs
Anthony I've been talking cr*p with others for the last few days because of dirty swift nests. Swifts re known to eat 300+ species of insects here in the UK. Some of us are reporting very dirty wet nests this year and it has been suggested they are feeding on too many Lough Neagh flies resulting in diarrhoea. So today I broke some down in water and left of a slate to dry. The good news is there are many beetle cases present, lots of light relective bits, a ladybird wing case and some small bits I dont recognise that are very shiny and turquoise blue. Any idea what they are from?
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Cliff,
picture 1 to 3: Maniola jurtina: Meadow Brown / Großes Ochsenauge (Kuhauge)
4 to 5: Aglais urticae: Small Tortoiseshell / Kleiner Fuchs
Both species nicely photographed.
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Anyone watching "Wildest Dreams" on BBC1? Brillant programme - imho. 5000 Amur falcons roost in one tree in the Drakensbergs
Anthony I've been talking cr*p with others for the last few days because of dirty swift nests. Swifts re known to eat 300+ species of insects here in the UK. Some of us are reporting very dirty wet nests this year and it has been suggested they are feeding on too many Lough Neagh flies resulting in diarrhoea. So today I broke some down in water and left of a slate to dry. The good news is there are many beetle cases present, lots of light relective bits, a ladybird wing case and some small bits I dont recognise that are very shiny and turquoise blue. Any idea what they are from?
Oulema melanopus is a small, common beetle in meadows, and can even be a minor pest of cereals. The elytra can be blue?
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Many thanks Armin and Anthony for your welcome identifications.
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Visiting a raised lowland bog at Ynys Llas in Wales today we met some interesting characters. Sadly I do not have a pic of the Bog Cricket or the Raft Spider but here are a couple of beauties.
I think this is an emerald damselfly but would welcome help from the bug buffs.
The highland cattle are gorgeous .... and there hair is always immaculate :) This one appears to be trying to tell me something.
Sundew and Bog Myrtle were the plant interest.
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A beautiful Highland cow (or?) and looking very conversational. :)
Anthony if your new Ashes cap produced THAT result, what are you going to go for the 5th test? Many will be worried.
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We had a couple of 17 degree days here in Dunedin. I heard a cicada-Kikihia subalpina at the botanical gardens which is unheard of for this time of year, my previous record was 25 June.
Its good to see and hear more bugs around the place, I have my fingers crossed for a fantastic spring and summer.
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While in Townsville we went for a day-trip to Magnetic Island (known colloquially as "Maggi island"!) where we saw what appears to be an eagle under its nest high in a pine tree,
[attachthumb=2]
and for the first time I saw the small "Rock Wallabies" at a feeding area,
[attachthumb=1]
A few days later we visited the Ross Dam and saw the wallabies again! This one appears to have a joey in her pouch.
[attachthumb=3]
The few butterflies we saw were mostly too quick for me to capture (on film) but this one settled on a fallen African Tulip tree bloom ,
[attachthumb=4]
(Ed. identified by Kees Green as: chocolate Argus butterfly, Judonia hedonia)
cheers
fermi
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A beautiful Highland cow (or?) and looking very conversational. :)
Anthony if your new Ashes cap produced THAT result, what are you going to go for the 5th test? Many will be worried.
More shocking umpiring decisions, but I don't think that would have affected the result? :-\
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...... and even more irresponsible English cricketers.
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Too right David. I thought for a while SB was going to do a Botham, but he swashed his buckle once too often, and after the next shocking decision the team just went down the Swannee! :(
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Sundance (male Panther chameleon) was on his holidays, until a week ago, at a pupil's house. He has been wandering the greenhouse ever since. I had to remove Etta, as she was getting stressed (see second pic - the dark stripes indicate high emotion), having had the run of the place for the previous 5 weeks!
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My caterpillar rearing scheme has allowed me to release over a dozen small tortoiseshells, 10 painted ladies, one red admiral and so far, one peacock, as shown in the pic.
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Anthony, what fabulous creatures and colours and what a fantastic achievement with your butterfly repopulation in Dunblane :)
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Hi Fermi
That chocolate Argus butterfly, Judonia hedonia, looks like he has been around a while. They do seem to get damaged quite quickly that species. Still nice to see an Australasian butterfly.
Magnetic Island is fantastic, I remember the huge fig trees, they made me look tiny.
Hope you had a great time in the tropics.
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Hi Kees
thanks for the ID on the butterfly.
Yes, Maggi island was great, unfortunately I was coming down with bronchitis at the time so didn't do anything too energetic ;D A great place for a lazy holiday!
cheers
fermi
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The peacock is truly beautiful. I wish our early settlers had introduced more butteflies along with sparrows, rabbits et al.
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Nice to see your Peacock butterfly, Anthony. I saw the first fresh one near my house today but the rain came on before I had time to investigate nearer to where the caterpillars were feeding. I have seen 15-20 or maybe more Small Tortoiseshells on the creeping thistles round the fields near the nettles where I saw the caterpillars. Difficult to count when they keep moving and are in several places. Good to see so many and it is quite close to the village so some may have found their way to gardens there. The wild scabious - Succisa pratensis is coming into flower and it is good for butterflies so I hope to see more next sunny day.
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Over the past three days a handsome friend has decided he/she wants to know more about the Forum so he/she looks out to see what's what, flutters on the window and sits on my mouse mat trying to get my attention - so this is his/her contribution to wildlife today ;)
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RR will you take a photo of the view from that window?
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Mark, not a good time to take a photo in the light but this way we look up towards Mont Blanc (evening is better) and below is the ravine by Salvan
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Fabulous outlook Robin. Your moth is a Jersey Tiger (Euplagia quadripunctaria), which is the moth that gives the Valley of the Butterflies on Rhodes its name! ::)
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I hoped you might ID the Moth, Anthony, and a really interesting link with Rhodes...what is so strange is that the Jersey Tiger sometimes looks as if it is on its last legs and then revives ::) wondering whether I should put it outside tonight? It is such a character and not at all fazed by my presence and loves the view too ;)
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Robin,
Lovely view - and lovely moth.
Here, I am looking out on a field of barley but there was added interest today when five young pheasants walked along the top of the fence.
Paddy
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Barley is a beautiful feathery crop, Paddy, lovely to watch swaying in different lights - what a coup to see the young pheasants on the fence - 5 seems incredible, i have only seen them dashing along hither and thither on the road and not making up their mind where to go :D
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Anthony, I'm so excited but don't know if I'm correct ::) Mid June I took this photo of a caterpillar trying to crawl up the slippery stainless steel edging by the chalet steps (where I also met the snake!) is it the caterpillar of the Jersey Tiger Moth? It looks similar to the one on Wiki (it would be an incredible co-incidence if it was 8) )
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This is the caterpiller of the Oak Eggar (Lasiocampa quercus alpina?). The strange thing about this moth is the Scottish race (the Northern Eggar - L. q. callunae) feeds on heather and spends its first winter as a small caterpillar and its second as a pupa, so you would see large caterpillars from now until late autumn. The English race (the Oak Eggar - L. q. quercus) feeds on heather, but also bramble and hawthorn and is on the wing now. The males are fast day fliers. I don't know much about the Swiss race, sometimes given subspecific status, but this may indicate behaving more like the Northern race?
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what is so strange is that the Jersey Tiger sometimes looks as if it is on its last legs and then revives ::) wondering whether I should put it outside tonight?
Anthony... if Robin's moth looks poorly, would it be any use to give it a wee dish of sugar water to sip as a pick-me-up? If it's been indoors for any length of time it must be hungry? Or is this another of the hatch , mate, die, brigade?
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Most tiger moths (Arctiidae) have incomplete mouth parts so cannot feed (drink), but the Jersey Tiger is an exception. It can be seen feeding on Buddleja spp. and other garden flowers both day and night. A 10% honey solution on cotton wool would be a good pick-me-up for a moth. This moth aestivates in very hot weather in southern Europe, hence the huge assemblies in cool woods on Rhodes. In the UK it is confined to the south coast of Devon, West Dorset and the Isle of White. During the day it will fly in hot sunshine. Its caterpillar feeds on Nettles and Hemp Agrimony among others.
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Thanks, Anthony, for all your help - the emergency pick-me-up is on its way and I just need to find where the Jersey Tiger is hiding ::)
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Very nice view RR - is your name Robin/Robyn? Do you stay there all winter?
I'm calling in tomorrow for a coffe and to soak in the view ;D
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Mark to answer your questions:
Robin
Yes
Do you like Expresso, cappuccino or cafe latte? 8)
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not too strong espresso, milk and two sugars
Anthony some moth news from Portland Bird Observatory http://www.portlandbirdobs.org.uk/aa_latestnews.htm (http://www.portlandbirdobs.org.uk/aa_latestnews.htm)
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Would baby bats be flying now, Mark? We have bats in the loft and they access the roost from the crack between the lintel and window frame above the lounge window. I see or hear them as I sit at the computer. There seem to be a lot more of them this last few nights. I counted 21 last night . Tonight I went outside and counted 20. More went out before and after. I like to see them but they make an awful mess of the window.
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Roma baby bats, called pups, are born from the end of May to late June. Warmer weather usually means earlier births. They fly roughly 6 weeks after birth which is mid to late July. You should be aware of of increased noise while the young grow. Noise should start to go down by the end of this month when the females go off to party with the males. The roost should break up totally sometime in late September. Do you have pipistrelles?
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I can advise you how to close them out but I'm not licensed for Scotland. Your local bat group will advise you. They are based in Aberdeen http://www.nesbats.co.uk/ (http://www.nesbats.co.uk/)
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Maggi, I can't believe it! - thanks to your suggestion for 'Moth Recovery' First Aid and Anthony's 'how-to' - the lovely Jersey Tiger had a honey drink and was very grateful ...these photos tonight say it all ;D
Thank you both so much ;)
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Oh, wow, that is such a delight! He is really enjoying that..... I'm SO pleased!!
Don't you just love it when a plan comes together?!! ;D
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Unbelievable - I am so pleased and relieved as he/she is so lovely and quite at home with us warming up on the lamp over the table after supper which I decided was better dimmed :D
Imagine the experience is like eating chocolate when your blood sugar levels are down ;D
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Yes!! It's little triumphs like this that make life worthwhile, isn't it? :D :)
The variety of "looks" this moth has... from a camouflage aircraft when the wings are closed to this exotic dandy with the wings spread.... and I think the finishing touch of the row of black "buttons" down the middle of its back are just the thing to turns heads in Paris or Milan..... that might have been an outfit bought from the swanky boutique in Diane's thread... St Anton in Arlberg! ;D
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The bats are pipistrelles as far as I know. I usually hear quite a bit of scuffling before they go out at night. When I went outside tonight I could hear them chirping away as they decided who was going out first.
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Maggi, I can't believe it! - thanks to your suggestion for 'Moth Recovery' First Aid and Anthony's 'how-to' - the lovely Jersey Tiger had a honey drink and was very grateful ...these photos tonight say it all ;D
Thank you both so much ;)
Well done Robin. It would be grinning from ear to ear, except that its ears are probably on its legs or some other such ridiculous place! ;D
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So glad you've seen the result, Anthony, this is the internet rescue at its best! ;)
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So glad you've seen the result, Anthony, this is the internet rescue at its best! ;)
Those who are tee totallers now know how it feels to consume a really good gin and tonic after a period of prolonged drought. ;D
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"...the row of black "buttons" down the middle of its back..."
Is that the "quadripunctaria" part Anthony?
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Must be Rogan? I've often wondered, but your quote solves that puzzle! :)
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So glad you've seen the result, Anthony, this is the internet rescue at its best! ;)
Those who are tee totallers now know how it feels to consume a really good gin and tonic after a period of prolonged drought. ;D
The perfect tonic Lesley! If your G & T had a similar effect, I imagine you are refreshed in the parts tea never reaches! ;D
So glad you are feeling more bubbly 8)
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Anthony some moth news from Portland Bird Observatory http://www.portlandbirdobs.org.uk/aa_latestnews.htm (http://www.portlandbirdobs.org.uk/aa_latestnews.htm)
I notice the influx of diamond back moths at Portland - the most damaging pest on brassicas in my garden, more or less annually and can occur in enormous numbers. As I understand it, they don't survive the winter in the north, but each year they invade from the south (oil rape fields in Europe?) - it's difficult to conceive that such a tiny moth could migrate over such large distances, but I guess they're blown north with the winds. I've seen them in the Norwegian mountains far from any brassicas. Have they become an important pest on brassicas in the UK. It doesn't seem to be mentioned in my old UK vegetable gardening books.
Enjoying the alpine moth rescue mission pictures...
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Just to let everyone know JT haas made a full recovery and is hanging out by my computer on the curtain ;D :P
Glad you're enjoying the rescue mission Stephen!
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"...the row of black "buttons" down the middle of its back..."
Is that the "quadripunctaria" part Anthony?
See, there IS often a clue..... and look in Robin's most recent photo.... he has more "buttons" down the side as well... it must take him an age to get dressed in the mornings ::)
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Hi all ,
I saw this afternoon this big caterpillar on a wall ...any idea what this is ?
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At that magnification I'd just call it scary :o
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(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/szrny.jpg)
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Not as scarey as the pic Erika has posted above, Martin!! :o :o :-X
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Hi all ,
I saw this afternoon this big caterpillar on a wall ...any idea what this is ?
The blue horn suggests an Eyed Hawkmoth (Smerinthus ocellata caterpillar shortly before pupation? Its foodplants are Salix spp. and apple. The caterpillar should be green with oblique yellow stripes.
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Not as scarey as the pic Erika has posted above, Martin!! :o :o :-X
Let's try this one, then. It turned up in our garden and to increase the effect I'll use its Norwegian name.
MEET Hr. STOR GAFFELSTJERT:
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No excitements in the wildllife department these days, but two hemi-semi-excitements:
In the garden, the rufous and Anna's hummingbirds are enjoying various late summer flowers:- Agastache 'Apricot Sprite'
- buddleia (a volunteer seedling of 'Nanho Blue')
- crocosmias in variety
- phygelius
Hummingbirds are very territorial and as I sit at the computer looking out at the big buddleia, it's quite common to see two of them squabbling and chasing.
And out at Patricia Bay (http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=48.657748,-123.461781&spn=0.023472,0.055103&z=14) in the northern exburbs of Victoria, the youngest of three eaglets hatched in early April has finally flown away, 17 days after the disappearance of his siblings and 3 days shy of being exactly 4 months old. Bald eagle, btw. Magnificent birds, esp. once the white head and tail plumage develops about their fifth year.
The nest is equipped with a webcam you can view via streaming video and has provided endless hours of entertainment these last four months. The weeds have thriven with the resultant neglect.
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The blue horn suggests an Eyed Hawkmoth (Smerinthus ocellata caterpillar shortly before pupation? Its foodplants are Salix spp. and apple. The caterpillar should be green with oblique yellow stripes.
Thank you Anthony !
I was shure you will know this caterpillar :D
now I have to wait if I will see anytime this moth in our garden ....
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Not as scarey as the pic Erika has posted above, Martin!! :o :o :-X
Let's try this one, then. It turned up in our garden and to increase the effect I'll use its Norwegian name.
MEET Hr. STOR GAFFELSTJERT:
Seems like it's the time of year for caterpillars to get ready to pupate. This one is a Puss moth Cerura vinula). It makes a very tough cocoon by chewing the bark off its preferred site on a tree, usually poplar or willow, and incorporating it into the silk. When I bred these moths many years ago, I followed L. Hugh Newman's advice and confined each to a wooden match box. (Newman ran "The Butterfly Farm" near Ashford in Kent until the 1960s. It was founded by his father L.W Newman in 1894. The larva would chew the inside of the box and make a cocoon inside.)
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Wunderful moths, caterpillars and little scary monsters :o 8) ;D
The Yellow Meadow Ant, Lasius flavus, is one of the most common ants in Central Europe. The species lives primarily underground in meadows and very commonly, lawns. The Yellow Meadow Ant feeds on the honeydew from root aphids, which they breed in their nests.
Alates (winged ants) can be seen on warm days now. Workers push the young winged ants out of the nest.
The life of many alates can be short:
Tree Sparrows (Passer montanus) picked hundreds directly from the ground to feed their chicks. Obvious a delicious dinner :-\
Some other alates got caught just after take off... It seems the spider was quite happy showing me a smiling face...;D
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Incredible shots, Armin, and very interesting comments about these ants....we had about a month where they were everywhere too but maybe a different type as hundreds of them appeared in the evening?
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Dunblane was hit last week, so much so, an article appeared in one of the local free weekly newspapers. The species there was described as Lasius niger (the "Black Garden ant"). Armin's look more like the Yellow Meadow ant (L. flavus), which makes small anthills out of soil crumbs. Both species can produce large mating swarms.
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I only ever did get that one female Hyalophora cecropia (Robin moth), and 10 males! ??? The other day a female Eupakardia calleta, a moth from New Mexico. Yesterday this male emerged and they'd mated by lunch time! This is him today. 8)
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(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/IMG_2075.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/IMG_2050.jpg)
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I only ever did get that one female Hyalophora cecropia (Robin moth), and 10 males! ??? The other day a female Eupakardia calleta, a moth from New Mexico. Yesterday this male emerged and they'd mated by lunch time! This is him today. 8)
A fabulous looking Moth, Anthony, such handsome colouring and pattern - almost looks hand painted! - is it much smaller that the Robin Moth?
Can't believe the 10 to 1 odds!
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I only ever did get that one female Hyalophora cecropia (Robin moth), and 10 males! ??? The other day a female Eupakardia calleta, a moth from New Mexico. Yesterday this male emerged and they'd mated by lunch time! This is him today. 8)
A fabulous looking Moth, Anthony, such handsome colouring and pattern - almost looks hand painted! - is it much smaller that the Robin Moth?
Can't believe the 10 to 1 odds!
More or less the same size.
Erica, your beetle looks like a Bee beetle (Trichodes apiarius); the butterfly is a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)?
Here's a pic of Sundance eating a locust. I dust his food with Calcium and vitamin D3 supplement. Took me a while to find him, parked on the greenhouse light. He took the locust from my hand.
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Angelicas are magnets for bees and wasps. Here is my Angelica gigas with a couple of (I'm guessing) White-tailed bees.
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Erica, your beetle looks like a Bee beetle (Trichodes apiarius); the butterfly is a Painted Lady (Vanessa cardui)?
Yes, we call bogáncs lepke - but the Painted Lady sund so much nicer ;D They are coming in big groups, like clouds
Trichodes apiarius is szalagos méhészbogár /almost the same in Hungarian - is very often come in my garden
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Angelicas are magnets for bees and wasps. Here is my Angelica gigas with a couple of (I'm guessing) White-tailed bees.
What a great shot of your purple angelica with the bees, Stephen, how tall does this angelica grow? Would like to try here if it is hardy enough
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A Scottish Golden Eagle was poisoned last month http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-223556 (http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-223556)
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The Angelica gigas will grow to a metre if it has ample moisture. Mine grows to about 70cms as it doesn't get watered. I mean they rather than it as it is monocarpic (biennial with me, dying down the first year but coming back to flower) and dies after flowering/seeding but is well worth going on with year by year. I've counted 80 honey bees on one flower head at one time. They just adore it. It should be reasonably hardy because of that dying down thing.
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I've had them get to 2m here when I've grown them (and they are hardy biennials here). In this area, the flower heads are extremely attractive to wasps, rather than to bees (which perhaps just avoid the wasps! I certainly would!)
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The plants shown are about 1.3m and self-sows (in moderation), taking 2-3 years to flower here depending on location.
However, when I first started growing this I had expected a giant of a plant as I assumed that the botanical epithet gigas means giant and it's sometimes called Giant Angelica. However, it's quite a small plant for an Angelica...
This is the biggest I've grown, the 3m+ Angelica heterocarpa from SW Europe - unfortunately, it self-sows in a big way too:
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Thanks for all the information everyone, I shall definitely try Angelica gigas as the colour and form fits in with the wildness of our garden and hope will attract more bees :)
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A Scottish Golden Eagle was poisoned last month http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-223556 (http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/details.asp?id=tcm:9-223556)
Sad indeed. Some gamekeepers only work at reflex level.
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Some pics at a friend's bird feeder (or below it) the other day....
I love the Rosellas, but the pic of the two Galahs was just so perfect. ;D
Please click on the pic for a larger version. If pics are too large, please let me know.
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makes a good change from the armies of starlings over here. I used to breed Crested pigeons
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................and galahs cost about two grand in the UK! I have a friend with two females!
At long last, the last of the 'big five' in my garden - a Comma (Polygonia c-album). This butterfly hibernates exposed to the elements in amongst dead leaves in hedges and bushes. The ragged outline of the underside is very leaf-like, including a wee c-shaped "crack" to complete the disguise. Also a newly emerged Painted Lady showing the lovely salmon-pink colour.
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Beautiful butterflies as always but I love your galahs Paul. This could be an entry in the AGS photo competition surely.
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Paul,
These are all wild birds? I imagine they are as they seem free in the garden. What good fortune to have such beauty coming freely to your garden.
Paddy
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Lesley,
Thanks for the compliment. Not nearly good enough for that though. :o
Paddy,
Yep, they're all wild birds that come down for the seed when they put it out. Huge glass picture windows along the house there, so you can stand or sit inside and watch them. The Galahs and the larger bird group were taken from inside the house, while the one of the Parrots I took outside a few metres away from them.
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Our Buddleias were already in full bloom but apart from a load of Green-veined whites, the Admirals and Painted Ladies were missing. Reports up and down the country were also pointing to it being a poor year for this migratory species which brighten up the autumn garden. Then suddenly they were there - 4 Admirals and a Painted Lady, presumably newly emerged locally as the weather has not been conducive to longer movements recently.
1. Admiral on Hemp Agrimony (Eupatorium cannabinum) - I collected seed from along the River Itchen in Hampshire many years ago as I had noticed that butterflies are attracted to it. It has proven hardy. It blooms slightly later than Buddleia and it seems that the Admirals etc, actually prefer it.
2. Admiral on Grindelia robusta (Gumweed) - I hope it minds its feet and doesn't get stuck in the gummy flowers....
3. Anyone identify this fly please (I did know but have forgotten)
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Not the hoverfly, Stephen?
Paddy
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Dronefly I think
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Yup, Dronefly.
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That's the one - thanks..
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Went out to find some buddleia for Jersey Tiger Moth, who is still hanging around, and found that this Hummingbird Moth was having a feast - so it must be good 8)
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I especially like the last shot: "air to air refuelling" 8)
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So do I Maggi, what a proboscis :o
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It's been many years since I saw one of those moths. The potential was here in June but the weather rapidly deteriorated soon after. Do you remember the weather people saying this was to be a glorious summer?
This spider 'attacked' me today. Well, not really but it did scare the be Jesus out of me when I nearly put my hand on it. What is it Anthony or whoever?
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Amaurobius similis, which commonly makes those untidy nets on windows, sheds and walls.
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I am very envious of you Robin, we only have one species of hawk/sphinx moths here in New Zealand and not even anywhere near where I live.
I do have quite a few though in my collection from all over the place, there really is nothing like seeing them in action.
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Because of problems with logging on to the Forum, I have to use Google Chrome. Alas, I have yet to find a reliable way of accessing the PDF files of the bulb log. In some free time I caught up today. In the bulb log before last Ian shows a grub. It's not a chafer grub but the caterpillar of a Ghost Swift moth (Hepialus humuli). They are underground root feeders. One species even specialises on Braken roots!
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Thanks for the bug ID, Anthony..... I told the BD it was a caterpillar.... but he is deaf to my words!
No idea why you should have such difficulty with the pdf accessiblity .....perhaps some of the IT boffins around can advise? Perhap give help on loogin in probs as well as the pdf thing? A query in the Techy area, Eh?
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Went out to find some buddleia for Jersey Tiger Moth, who is still hanging around, and found that this Hummingbird Moth was having a feast - so it must be good 8)
Fantastic! The holy grail of the moth world in my world.... I hope every year to see one of the very few "Hummingbirds" to make it up into Norway..... However, there really are only a handful of sightings here every year and none at all this year...
Butterfly numbers are building up now and I counted 5 Admirals, 3 Painted Ladies, 1 Tortoiseshell and 1 Peacock. The latter is expanding its range and my garden is now the most reliable place this far north to see the species with sightings in 2004, 2008 and now for the first time this year today. Here it is on one of my Oplopanax horridus plants (the Beauty and the Beast, perhaps?)
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It is amazing how some species, like the peacock, have really spread! I only wish our Scottish hills had Apollos! Parnassius phoebus feeds on yellow saxifrage!
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One species even specialises on Braken roots!
We could do with a few of those here then. A few billion that is.
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Many years ago (1920s?), L. Hugh Newman at 'The Butterfly Farm' in Kent was commissioned to breed Cinnabar moths (Tyria jacobaeae), a close relative of the Jersey Tiger, to control Ragwort in New Zealand. The larvae feed exclusively on Ragwort (Senecio jacobaea), but in Scotland the moth is found only near the coast. 10,000 were bred and sent but I think success was only limited as the New Zealand birds had not been told that the black and orange caterpillars were distasteful! :(
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I'm not getting many butterflies visiting my garden yet even though the sedum telephium varieties are flowering. This Small Copper was here on Thursday on a dwarf Knautia.
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The cinnabar moth breeds well in North Canterbury and Nelson areas in New Zealand. I brought back a couple of dozen of caterpillars a few years ago and got them reared through.
The following year I found a female at mt own place . A first record for Dunedin but my guess is it arrived in a vehichle from up north, our winters must be two cold I would think-is a shame as it is a very beautiful moth.
A bit like the Australian painted lady butterflies we see here almost every summer but there has never been a record of them breeding in New Zealand.
Still we live and hope.
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I wouldn't think your winters are too cold as it is widespread in most of England, Wales and Ireland. They overwinter as pupae so the colder the better. It is the constant damp that kills them.
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A series of pics taken of one of our resident Red Wattlebird investigating the flowers of Tropaeolum tricolor. We've never noticed it feeding from them before, but they are now part of the regular patrol of the backyard (the Prunus campanulata, Camellia quercifolia, and the Trop). Quite a large bird, for such tiny flowers. These were taken on two different frames that I have the Trop growing.
I hope there aren't too many, but I figure if people aren't interested they just won't open them. ;D
Please click on the pic for a larger version. If pics are too large, please let me know.
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Is it nectar they are going for?
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Anthony,
Yep, I forgot to mention they are a honeyeater, although they tend to eat whatever they can find insect-wise and scavenging stuff form tables at cafes etc as well. They're adaptable. ;D
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We don't have any specialist nectar feeders in Scotland, or the UK, for that matter.
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The Red Wattlebird is predominantly a honeyeater.... they spend their days cycling through everything in our garden. About every hour or so they visit everything, although I am sure that they are more often than that at times. At the moment there are Ericas, Camellias, Correas, Grevilleas, Clematis, Prunus campanulata and more to feed on, so plenty to eat. ;D We try to plant winter flowering stuff so that they have food all winter for the honeyeaters. There are a number of different ones that we see regularly in the garden here, and some that travel through twice a year while in migration.
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They're lovely Paul, not too many.
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Great shots, Paul.
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Thanks All.
I just thought the gymnastics were cool, which is why I showed a few pics. He certainly did make sure he tasted every flower he could, no matter how upside-down he was. ;D
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The Red Wattlebird is predominantly a honeyeater.... they spend their days cycling through everything in our garden. About every hour or so they visit everything, although I am sure that they are more often than that at times. At the moment there are Ericas, Camellias, Correas, Grevilleas, Clematis, Prunus campanulata and more to feed on, so plenty to eat. ;D We try to plant winter flowering stuff so that they have food all winter for the honeyeaters. There are a number of different ones that we see regularly in the garden here, and some that travel through twice a year while in migration.
So where does it get the honey? Bee hives?
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If the question is serious...... "honeyeater" is a generic term for those birds which are nectar feeders. I didn't realise it wasn't a term used overseas?
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The term "honeyeater" seems to be used in Australia and Africa... the same niche is filled in the New World by hummingbirds and sunbirds.
EDIT: Nope, I'm wrong... sunbirds are Old World too.
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Thanks Lori. Until Anthony's question I had no idea it wasn't a "universal" term.
Thanks again.
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Yes Paul, honey is made by bees; nectar is made by flowers. There is a bird in Africa called the honey guide which feeds on bees wax, but leads a honey badger to the nest (wild bee hive). The badger wrecks the nest, feeding on the honey and grubs and the honey guide feeds on the scattered remains.
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"If the question is serious...... "honeyeater" is a generic term for those birds which are nectar feeders."
Lori's right, here we have sunbirds to harvest our nectar and "honeysuckers" to empty our septic tanks!!! ;D
My distant, blurry shot (Paul, where's your camera!?) of a colourful sunbird on an aloe flower:
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may be a bit blurry Rogan - but still very colourful !! :D
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A friend was in Ireland and observed a flock of Starlings feeding on Phormium nectar in a hotel garden. Are there other species that have learnt feeding on nectar of southern hemisphere species?
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Yes Paul, honey is made by bees; nectar is made by flowers. There is a bird in Africa called the honey guide which feeds on bees wax, but leads a honey badger to the nest (wild bee hive). The badger wrecks the nest, feeding on the honey and grubs and the honey guide feeds on the scattered remains.
Yes Anthony, I was aware that bees make honey and I was aware that nectar was made by flowers, hence my comment that "honeyeaters" was a generic term for nectar feeding birds. The term is so commonly used here and I have heard it used on foreign documentaries at times, so I was unaware that it was not used in all countries.
It is difficult to not offend people by using colloquial terms when one is not aware that something IS a colloquial term. ::)
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Hey Paul, not trying to take or cause offence, just clarifying matters.
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Here are two photographs taken today while visiting a herd of wild goat which are located almost right in the centre of the town where I live. There is a warden who cares for them and they have several acres in which to roam. It is throught they were introduced several centuries ago, became feral over the years and have lived as wild goats since then. There is another wild herd about ten miles away.
Despite their rather fierce looks they are relatively quiet; not quiet enough to allow you to come very close but they are calm in one's presence once you don't come too close and those horns would encourage you to keep your distance.
The first photograph shows a new bridge being constructed over the river. Construction is almost complete. I live just to the left of the bridge.
Paddy
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Hey, maybe there's an opening for a retired person under that bridge next to the gruff goats? ;D
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A few bugs for Anthony' comments, taken on a walk near home recently.
Paddy
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Finally, you may now breathe your sigh of relief, a group of bees feeding on Echinops ritro seen in a garden visited recently and a photograph of my dog, Sid, running back towards me in a field of barley.
Paddy
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Hey, maybe there's an opening for a retired person under that bridge next to the gruff goats? ;D
OK Anthony Darby, Mr. Smartypants. There already is a retired gentleman in residence under that bridge and is staying there.
Paddy
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Super photos, Paddy, looks like you are still getting very nice weather.
The goats are very handsome aren't they? Great horns and impressive beards.
What does Sid think to them? He looks so happy running through the field to you.... that's a wide smile he has!
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Stephen, quite a lot of birds sip the nectar from NZ's Phormium species, especially the native tuis and bellbirds and we grow a few plants ourselves for that purpose. Later the native wood pidgeon eats the large black, fleshy seeds as well. I've not seen starlings or other northern birds there though. (I don't mean the seeds are fleshy like, say, a daphne, more like a hosta or zephyranthes but with a thick, meaty part inside.)
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One I forgot from earlier, a caterpillar on ragwort, which is a peculiar combination. A caterpillar so brightly coloured is normally presumed to be indigestible/poisonous to birds while the plant, ragwort, is poisonous to livestock yet the caterpillar seems happy to feast on it.
Anthony, I hope you may take a moment to identify the blue butterflies on the yellow vetch and the butterfly on the purple loosestrife. What of the caterpillar?
Paddy (who lives with the billy goats gruff under the bridge)
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Hey, maybe there's an opening for a retired person under that bridge next to the gruff goats? ;D
OK Anthony Darby, Mr. Smartypants. There already is a retired gentleman in residence under that bridge and is staying there.
Paddy
;D
One I forgot from earlier, a caterpillar on ragwort, which is a peculiar combination. A caterpillar so brightly coloured is normally presumed to be indigestible/poisonous to birds while the plant, ragwort, is poisonous to livestock yet the caterpillar seems happy to feast on it.
Anthony, I hope you may take a moment to identify the blue butterflies on the yellow vetch and the butterfly on the purple loosestrife. What of the caterpillar?
Paddy (who lives with the billy goats gruff under the bridge)
There are many caterpillars that eat poisonous plants, and by so doing, gain double protection. Burnets (Zygaena spp.) cannot be killed by cyanide as they themselves accumulate this from vetches they eat as larvae. The giant birdwings of Australasia feed on aristolochias and also gain the same protection.
Your blues will be Common Blues (Polyommatus icarus). The one on the Purple Loosestrife is a female. The moth looks like a Shaded Broad-bar (Scotopteryx chenopodiata). Notice it is being held there by a crab spider! The only brightly coloured caterpillar I know that is associated with ragwort is the Cinnabar moth (Tyria jacobaeae). The caterpillar is orange and black hooped, warning off possible predators. Not many British birds would tackle it. Not sure how poisonous these caterpillars are? The adult moth is bright pink and grey and a day-flyer. Perhaps, like the Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) they retain poison in there bodies? Monarchs certainly do from eating Asclepias spp. - enough to kill a starling. Any bird foolish enough to try soon spits it out and doesn't repeat its mistake.
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Wonderful pics, Paddy. I love the closeup of the goats.... those horns are incredible! :o I love the bees on the Echinops too.... they look so happy collecting there! 8)
I was at my friend's place with the bird feeder yesterday..... amongst the things I posted last week, there were this pair of Pacific Black Ducks.
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A friend was in Ireland and observed a flock of Starlings feeding on Phormium nectar in a hotel garden. Are there other species that have learnt feeding on nectar of southern hemisphere species?
Despite Lesley's assertion to the contrary I have frequently observed starlings in New Zealand feeding on Phormium nectar. It would seem they have learnt that behaviour independently in both hemispheres. They are basically the rats of the sky here - mostly they feed on insects in pastures but also feed on small berries such as elder and Coprosma repens which they are instrumental in spreading far and wide.
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Very nice ducks with lovely face colours.
Over here I have seen starlings, Blue and Great tits and house sparrows taking nectar from pokers. I have seen tits feeding on nectar from flowering currant flowers - Ribes sanguineum
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Anthony,
My thanks and my apologies - thanks for the identifications and apologies for leaving you the impossible, well almost impossible to you, task of identifying a caterpillar without a photograph. I have posted the photograph this morning with the caterpillar orange and black hooped, as you expected, referred to here as a "Kilkenny caterpillar" as the colours are the same as those worn by the hurling teams from County Kilkenny (arch rivals and just across the river). I associated the Cinabbar moth with the seaside and sand dunes and have rarely, if ever, seen one in my own neighbourhood. This photograph was taken in sight of the river so perhaps the moth came along the waterway?
I wondered about the blue butterflies, whether they were the Common Blue or a Holly Blue. Also, I am amazed that I didn't spot the crab spider with the moth. Now, that you mention it, I have gone back and can see it quite clearly.
On another topic, like Mark, I have regularly seen blue and great tits taking nectar from kniphofias.
Many thanks for the identifications, Anthony. It makes the enjoyment of a walk and the greater.
Paddy
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A few goats for Paul and further information for anyone with a particular interest in goats: http://bilberrygoats.wordpress.com/
There are about 50 goats in the herd at the moment which is an increase of numbers over the past few years. In fact the goat minders are now taking steps to curtail the increase in population - nothing drastic, simply keeping the billies and nannies separate.
Paddy
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Those are great loooking goats
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Those are great loooking goats
You need to get out more, Mark ... :D Super photos as usual, Paddy!
... And now for something COMPLETELY different ... peacocks! Captured in Tenerife and Florida a while ago.
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Ooooh,
I've never had a white peacock oblige by fanning its tail, great shot. Noisy blasted things thoug, aren't they?
Paddy
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Oh Cliff.... I adore peacocks. I've had a thing for them for years. Just love them, and the albino versions of them too. Fantastic pictures!!!!!
Interestingly, they rather like me as well it seems..... I've had them a number of times totally ignore other people and come over and start displaying for me. I have always tended to attract birds and animals (not that I mind that in the slightest, as I love em!! ;D).
Now now smarty comments about needing to bathe more regularly, or anything like that please. ::)
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Those are great loooking goats
You need to get out more, Mark ... :D
And not to the Billy Club.
johnw
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I suspect I am not the only person enjoying the continued high quality of photographs.... and laughs, provided by this thread.........thanks to you all!
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Oh Cliff.... I adore peacocks.
Mark likes goats ... Paul adores peacocks ... anyone for fish? :D
Shoal captured in a huge cylindrical aquarium tube at a nature park on Tenerife.
Loner was spotted in an equally gigantic aquarium in a shopping mall in Las Vegas.
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That's a beautiful pic of a Grey Angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus) Cliff. 8)
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Help needed with this one's real identity. It was walking around sluggishly until it found the thyme flower..
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I would suggest the Red Wasp (Vespula rufa)? The facial markings are characteristic, and you couldn't get a better pic! 8)
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A friend was in Ireland and observed a flock of Starlings feeding on Phormium nectar in a hotel garden. Are there other species that have learnt feeding on nectar of southern hemisphere species?
Despite Lesley's assertion to the contrary
I didn'ty say starlings didn't, I said I hadn't seen them doing. In fact, we have very few starlings here now or anything else either, except bellbirds and tuis both of which are very agressive and they have seen off most of the others. I haven't seen a blackbird or thrush for over two years in the garden here. The little birds have gone too with the exception of a couple of dunnocks.
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I like fish Cliff, preferably dipped in egg and breadcrumbs then fried in butter. :)
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Got so carried away with the peafowl yesterday that i forgot to thank Paddy for his extra goat pics. They're very handsome goats aren't they.... much better than the scruffy wild goats we get here in Aus. They must have body builders neck muscles though..... those horns must weigh a ton! :o
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I like fish Cliff, preferably dipped in egg and breadcrumbs them fried in butter. :)
Lesley - Agreed and especially haddock. Do you use Panko or your own crumbs? And why is it the Japanese make the world's best breadcrumbs?
johnw
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On our last camping trip we were visited by this agile little creature. After sniffing about our camp for some time it dove into the back of our car and made off with a block of cheese - never to be seen again! This episode certainly lightened our mood after enduring several days of gloomy weather.
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I would suggest the Red Wasp (Vespula rufa)? The facial markings are characteristic, and you couldn't get a better pic! 8)
Yes, that looks right - thanks!
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Rogan,
What a cute little thing, although I would hazard it could do some damage if cornered. ;) Glad you didn't try to stop it taking the cheese, although it obviously looks like it does it on a regular basis. ::)
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Over here I have seen starlings, Blue and Great tits and house sparrows taking nectar from pokers. I have seen tits feeding on nectar from flowering currant flowers - Ribes sanguineum
Your mention of Blue and Great Tits learning new foods reminded me of the following. I've had Opium poppies volunteering themselves all over my garden for at least 20 years. About 5 years ago first Blue Tits and now Great Tits have learned that the seeds make a great little snack and now all the seed heads get hacked to pieces before I can harvested any myself. I just wonder if there are sufficient opiates in the seeds that these are happy little addicted tits....;)(their behaviour seems to suggest this as they are absolutely crazy after these seeds) Should I remove all my poppies and start up a "Tit Rehabilitation Centre"?
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On our last camping trip we were visited by this agile little creature. After sniffing about our camp for some time it dove into the back of our car and made off with a block of cheese - never to be seen again! This episode certainly lightened our mood after enduring several days of gloomy weather.
Look a bit like the Quolls that I remember trying to get into my tent in Tasmania (at Mt. Field)
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[/quote]
I didn'ty say starlings didn't, I said I hadn't seen them doing. In fact, we have very few starlings here now or anything else either, except bellbirds and tuis both of which are very agressive and they have seen off most of the others. I haven't seen a blackbird or thrush for over two years in the garden here. The little birds have gone too with the exception of a couple of dunnocks.
[/quote]
What have you done Lesley to be so bereft of birds? There is nowhere in Dunedin where blackbirds are absent. As for starlings they have all been up here over the winter as they roost in my brother's eucalypt plantation. In the evening you see flocks of hundreds returning. They tend to disperse in the spring and build nests in peoples roofs. I have been seeing silvereyes recently despite people saying they have all disappeared this year.
Rogan,
It is a lovely little creature hopefully worth the loss of a block of cheese.
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It is now crayfish season.
This guy was quite tasty.
Should I post in the cookery section ??? ;D
Cheers Göte
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What eats toads?
I always thought they were not very palatable but over a couple of days I have found 3 dead toads, all partially eaten. The first seemed to have part of the head missing but was too dried up to really tell. The second was minus the head. The third was just legs and bits of skin, too little to be certain it was not a frog. I know we have a hedgehog and stoats. They did not die from eating slug pellets as none have been used recently in the areas concerned. Any ideas?
Brian Wilson
Aberdeen
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Spiders are not as good-looking as the goats or as showy as the peacocks and certainly not as sweet as the little Genet (lovely pics all of them) but still fascinating in many ways.
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They're very handsome spiders Gunilla, especially the one with spikey legs.
David, we've had no waxeyes this year either, not a single one. I think we have so many bellbirds and tuis (8 nesting pairs last spring) because Roger puts out sugar and water for them. We have upturned lemonade bottles in 6 places and it costs a fortune in sugar but I suspect because of the nonstop food supply the adults are maybe raising more babies. And as I said, they are very aggressive to smaller birds. I have seen a bellbird literally murder a waxeye, grabbing it in its claws and pushing it to the ground then stabbing its face and eyes with its beak. When I tried to rescue the waxeye it was too late, already dead and the whole process had taken only about 5 or 6 seconds.
I did see a male chaffinch yesterday on the alder tree and we have larger birds flying over, wood pigeons, hawks, plovers, herons and gulls of course.
Previously the bellbirds and tuis have been winter birds, coming around the house and garden when we've put out their sugar-water but the last two years they have stayed right through the whole year and continued to be fed. They have become quite tame and it's easy to stand and chat to a who is less than a metre away.
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Unfortunately my Teddy has become very adept at catching the little brown skinks which abound here. I frequently find a mangled little body and some he eats altogether. He also brings the remains inside which I wish he wouldn't. We don't have toads in NZ so far as I know and he hasn't started on the recovering frog population yet. In fact, I haven't seen any for months but I am hearing some at night now so they must be around, even if not in their previous numbers.
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John, I don't know Panko so no, I don't use that. We can buy breadcrumbs but I prefer to make my own, whizzing some bread slices in a food processor.
As to the Japanese, I hadn't given them a thought, in connection with breadcrumbs. :D
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Spiders are not as good-looking as the goats or as showy as the peacocks and certainly not as sweet as the little Genet (lovely pics all of them) but still fascinating in many ways.
The first is a 'Garden Spider' (Araneus diadematus); the second is the hunting spider Pisaura mirabilis.
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A friend sent me a pic of some jelly, which I can only think is the egg mass of an arboreal snail? Anyone any ideas?
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Well I wouldn't be offering it with ice-cream ;D
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John, I don't know Panko so no, I don't use that. We can buy breadcrumbs but I prefer to make my own, whizzing some bread slices in a food processor.
As to the Japanese, I hadn't given them a thought, in connection with breadcrumbs. :D
Do try it, you may never go back, quintessential crisp and crunch. And cheap too.
johnw
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John,
May not be cheap down here though...... a lot of the specialist chinese and japanese food here in Aus is not at all cheap due to the transport costs of relatively small lots being brought in. Not sure whether the same in NZ or not.
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I'll try it if I find it sometime. A lot of stuff can be bought in Auckland that never sees the South Island. Oatmeal is a good crumb coating too. Or oatmeal and crushed bran flakes.
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What eats toads?
I always thought they were not very palatable but over a couple of days I have found 3 dead toads, all partially eaten. The first seemed to have part of the head missing but was too dried up to really tell. The second was minus the head. The third was just legs and bits of skin, too little to be certain it was not a frog. I know we have a hedgehog and stoats. They did not die from eating slug pellets as none have been used recently in the areas concerned. Any ideas?
Brian Wilson
Aberdeen
I found a partially eaten toad up Sheriffmuir last Christmas. I suspect the poison glands around their head may give the perpetrator a "high", which is why this part was eaten? Must investigate.
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John, I don't know Panko so no, I don't use that. We can buy breadcrumbs but I prefer to make my own, whizzing some bread slices in a food processor.
As to the Japanese, I hadn't given them a thought, in connection with breadcrumbs. :D
I haven't heard of Panko either.
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Anthony I just caught a huge hoverfly in the garden. I have never seen one so big. I tried many times to photograph it and failed so it is now in the fridge :o
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2cm from head to abdomen tip
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Not one I've seen but could be the Bog Hoverfly (Sericomyia silentis)?
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Should I keep it or let it go?
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Don't be cruel, you've frozen it, taken it's picture and you haven't even given it the sweetened cotton wool treatment. Let the poor we soul out into the world where he/she belongs
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I don't think it will be a pest species? Most hover-flies have carnivorous larvae which feed on aphids and the like.
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(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/cickny.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/IMG_2640.jpg)
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/IMG_2629.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/IMG_2633.jpg
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An amazing pic of the moth Syntomis phega. This moth is so similar to the burnet Zygaena ephialtes coronillae that it would be interesting to find out if it is also distasteful, or whether co-evolution has produced a mimic that gains protection by resembling the distasteful and poisonous burnet? Neither species is found in the UK.
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I tried to make some research, about your question but I did not find an answer unfortunately
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/paradics.jpg)
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Good grief! Shield bugs! :( This is a serious pest of many vegetable garden plants, such as peas and potatoes, and evidently tomatoes (which are also solanaceae). This looks like the nymphs of Nezara viridula? They have a piercing proboscis with which they suck sap. :P
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Isn't this the new threat to UK farms?
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ugly and stinky bugs! those Nezara viridula-s are first time in my garden!!
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Anthony, are there different forms of Shield Bugs? I have always had one or two in my garden but haven't noticed the markings on them shown in the pic?
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David these are 'babies'
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David, there are dozens of species with a variety of colours and patterns in the UK. There's even one in Europe which is red with black stripes!
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I've never seen a live one anywhere in my garden but see the occasional dead one, with its toes turned up, lying on my seed or bulb pots. They are always coffee-coloured.
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do you think this one?? (http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/bodo.jpg) Pyrrhocoris apterus
We have grape in the garden and Forficula auricularia like army - those are most ugly insects
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Fire bugs (Pyrrhocoris apterus ) not only feed on vegetation, such as fallen seeds, but also attack other insects.
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Anthony, are there different forms of Shield Bugs? I have always had one or two in my garden but haven't noticed the markings on them shown in the pic?
I don't think you need worry about them David - by now they must all have drowned in your neck of the woods... ;D ;)
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At the weekend, I recorded 8 species of butterfly on my Buddleias: Admiral 9, Painted Lady 2, Comma 1, Peacock 2, Small Tortoiseshell 2, Large White 1, Small White 2 and only my second Brimstone (at the far north of its range here and moving north).
Here's an admiral on Silphium perfoliatum:
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I wish the effort to plant Buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus) and Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus) throughout central Scotland hadn't foundered! :( Its absence from Scotland is the reason the Brimstone (the original 'butter coloured fly') cannot colonise Scotland. I have one of each in my hedge, but there would need to be one in every 50 yard stretch of hedge from here to the Lake District to have any effect! ::)
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What's the link, Anthony?
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Going back to the sheild bug shown by Arykana
From this month's RHS Garden magazine "New sheild bug gets a firm footing in Britain". The southern green sheild bug was first seen in 2003 feeding on tomatoes. Experts thought it wouldnt survive the winter but young ones have been seen every year. It feeds on soft fruits, potatoes and beans
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profiles0900/green_shield_bug.asp (http://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profiles0900/green_shield_bug.asp)
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Going back to the sheild bug shown by Arykana
From this month's RHS Garden magazine "New shield bug gets a firm footing in Britain". The southern green sheild bug was first seen in 2003 feeding on tomatoes. Experts thought it wouldnt survive the winter but young ones have been seen every year. It feeds on soft fruits, potatoes and beans
http://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profiles0900/green_shield_bug.asp (http://www.rhs.org.uk/Advice/profiles0900/green_shield_bug.asp)
Picture this scene from a radio station.... somewhere in the UK a few weeks ago.......... letter from listener..."I've got funny shaped green ladybirds in my greenhouse" ....Bulb Despot:"oh, dear, you've got Shield Bugs"...... two TV gardening celebrities... "we think these bugs are a new form of ladybird...."
:P ::) Give me strength!
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Anthony, are there different forms of Shield Bugs? I have always had one or two in my garden but haven't noticed the markings on them shown in the pic?
I don't think you need worry about them David - by now they must all have drowned in your neck of the woods... ;D ;)
Very true Luc, very true indeed! :( :(
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I wish the effort to plant Buckthorn (Rhamnus catharticus and Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus) throughout central Scotland hadn't foundered! :( Its absence from Scotland is the reason the Brimstone (the original 'butter coloured fly') cannot colonise Scotland. I have one of each in my hedge, but there would need to be one in every 50 yard stretch of hedge from here to the Lake District to have any effect! ::)
I have one of each in my hedge too! This hedge was planted about 20-years ago with a multitude of species found in old hedges in Southern England (as a little reminder of the old country) - inspired by reading the Collins book on Hedges and how you can age a hedge by counting the number of species I instantly created a 1,000 year old hedge ;) Elsewhere in this area, Rhamnus catharticus has naturalised in a few areas. I had forgotten that Rhamnus was its food plant. The species' fortunes will depend then on whether Rhamnus expands its distribution further.
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What's the link, Anthony?
I don't think there is a link. It was when Martin Feather was manager of the Butterfly House at Dobbies Garden Centre in Edinburgh 20 odd years ago and was meant to be for publicity. They had dozens of both species of buckthorn in 6" pots, which is where mine came from, and I know some were planted at the top of the hill at Embra Zoo (no doubt the area has long since been ripped up and redeveloped ::)). It all came to nought! :(
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One of the Beechgrove Potting Shed Team, Donald McBean from Forres, is involved in a project to use sea buckthorn in large scale plantings to harvest the berries for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.... ironic that, since in many places there are projects to eradicate the plants as being pests! :-X
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The fire bug is wonderfully handsome.
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One of the Beechgrove Potting Shed Team, Donald McBean from Forres, is involved in a project to use sea buckthorn in large scale plantings to harvest the berries for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.... ironic that, since in many places there are projects to eradicate the plants as being pests! :-X
The exotically named Wanaka Lodge (used to be a steading at Dykedale Farm, now converted to a dwelling) half a mile up the hill from me has some very vigorous sea buckthorn bushes. Not sure of the species (perhaps Hippophae salicifolia?), as along from my house there is poor specimen of the British Hippophae rhamnoides and it struggles.
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Where does the name derive from Anthony? Lake Wanaka is in Central Otago, New Zealand, and is the habitat of sometime Forumist Doreen Mear.
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Is the Sea Buckthorn planted for Brimstones? I thought they needed ivy?
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Poor bugs, always getting a bad name :'(, could be why you guys have so little cicadas over there in Great Britain :P.
I love bugs, It looked to me that there was infact an adult in that picture on the right hand side, the all green one.
This year I will post some pics of the fascinating cicadas I find on my travels, just remember that cicadas are also bugs and how could summer be summer without the chorus of the cicada.
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I will try to post a pic of my little friend I found at Awakino Ski field, this is a new species of cicada for New Zealand. I thought that I had made a great discovery only to find it had been found years before. It is still not named along with a lot of other cicadas in both Australia and New Zealand.
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Is the Sea Buckthorn planted for Brimstones? I thought they needed ivy?
Brimstone larvae won't feed on sea buckthorn. They feed on Rhamnus and Frangula spp. Dense growth of ivy is used by the adults as a hibernation site only.
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Leaping out of the dry grass in Italy this amazing Praying Mantis was perfectly camouflaged and when picking wild figs one peered round a leaf to look at me that was bright green! It's the first time I have ever seen them in the wild - great insects ;)
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One of the Beechgrove Potting Shed Team, Donald McBean from Forres, is involved in a project to use sea buckthorn in large scale plantings to harvest the berries for medicinal and cosmetic purposes.... ironic that, since in many places there are projects to eradicate the plants as being pests! :-X
In Scandinavia (notably Estonia and Finland) there have been breeding programs to develop improved larger berried, higher yielding and sweeter forms of Sea Buckthorn (Hippophae rhamnoides) suited to the milder Scandinavian climate, based on material from breeding programs in Russia. Although, it is largely a coastal plant in Europe, which may make one think that it is not that hardy, it is extremely hardy. For example, here in Norway there are relic plants also in the mountains at 1,150m from a once much wider distribution. It can only survive (i.e., compete) in poor soils at the outermost coast and at the tree limit.
In recent years, thornless varieties have started to appear in Scandinavia from the breeding programs further east. If you’ve ever tried to harvest the berries, you’ll know that the thorns are not to be messed with, so this is a major advance. Martin Crawford of the Agroforestry Research Trust is now offering 6 cultivars.
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The bushes up the hill from me are thornless. I'll try to remember to take a pic.
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Last year Ray Mears was on TV harvesting the berries. They are supposed to have the highest levels of vitamin C
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Bottled sea buckthorn juice
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2307/1551161659_7a4847d31f.jpg (http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2307/1551161659_7a4847d31f.jpg)
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The other day I spotted a slug behaving rather oddly. When I looked more closely it seemed to be being attacked by a small black insect which I thought was a staphylinid beetle (thin with short wing cases, the most famous being the Devil's Coach Horse - Staphylinus olens). Having looked at the pics closely, it appears to be a small Violet Ground beetle (Carabus violaceus) larva that is giving this slug a slow and violent death. :P
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we went a good 10 miles hike yesterday, started with a big ;D and came home like :P
but! here is some pics
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/mk3.jpg)
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/mk2.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/mk1.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/mk-2.jpg
http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/mkus.jpg
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/bog-2.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/bogncs.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/csaln.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/kiker.jpg)
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Anthony: What does the adult violet beetle feed on?
Erika: good that your camera felt really ;D ;D and not :P !
8)
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Bigger slugs. ;D
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Bigger slugs. ;D
good news, good news!
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These appeared in my neighbours lawn yesterday. The larger one is about 10 inches across.They grew for the first time two years ago and gave last year a miss.
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They look a little like the fungus we know as "Slippery Jack," edible (but don't try these on my say so) and the Russians eat them with garlic and lemon juice. A fungus-loving friend asked what they tasted like and was told "Garlic and lemon juice." :)
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This wasp was probing/laying eggs in my troughs today. I watched it ?smelling with its antenna and then arching it's back to push it's ovipositor in to ? Its jerking movement wasnt good for photography. I lost sight of it when it walked in to a dwarf compact conifer
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A very handsome wasp without stripes - is it a wood wasp Mark? Lots here whilst I was gardening and digging not sure what was attracting them on the ground...in Italy the wasps are vicious stinging on the wing before they give you a chance to move out of the way - they made a nest in the shutters!
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This wasp is Pimpla instigator, or a related species. Its larvae are ectoparasites of moth caterpillars.
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Anthony why would it have been pushing it's ovipositor in to the soil? Would there be caterpillars of the swift moth or similar present?
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Since it's on the Forum, it's probably wanting to take up gardening but couldn't find a spade. ;D
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They have long antennae for detecting caterpillars, but I wouldn't put it past it to be using the ovipositor sheath as a lever. The actual ovipositor itself is considerably longer than the sheath,
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Anthony, another test, sorry. I found a cluster of grubs inside a snowdrop today while I was repotting. They are small, look like Narcissus fly grubs but they have 'copper wire' sticking out of their head/a$$
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I'm afraid those are maggots of the Lesser Bulb Fly (Eumerus tuberculatus) Mark. The 'copper wire' is the breathing tube, which is normally black in the Narcissus Bulb fly.
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:o Not another enemy to cope with. I didnt think they were in the UK. This fly obviously managed to get through the chemical warefare
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From the internet
"The lesser bulb fly can also attack the same types of bulbs in addition to onion, shallots, garlic, parsnips, potato tubers, cabbage roots"
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Here's the only good photo I can find
http://www.fugleognatur.dk/wildaboutdenmark/gallery_wad.asp?mode=ShowLarge&ID=61747 (http://www.fugleognatur.dk/wildaboutdenmark/gallery_wad.asp?mode=ShowLarge&ID=61747)
I think I've seen these in the garden and assumed they were wasps. The good news is they lay their eggs on weak/dying bulbs. Another good reason for repotting every year.
I'm thinking these might be what ate my Colchicum kesselringii last year
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Bats are mainly insectiverous but recently Noctule bats, Nyctalus noctula, have been recorded eating bird/s after feathers were found in droppings. The tables have now turned. Hungarian Great tits, Parus major, have been recorded eating the brains of pipistrelle bats, Pipistrellus sp.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17749-killer-birds-bite-off-bats-heads (http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17749-killer-birds-bite-off-bats-heads)
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Amazing news, Mark!
This puzzled me.... Nevertheless, it is a considerable feat for the tits given that a pipistrelle weighs approximately 5 grams and a great tit only four times as much.
..... yes, I see that the Great Tit looks very much bigger than the bat, but I'm suprised at this 20gm weight.... I thought that the bird would weigh much less than that? :-\ ???
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I'm thinking me means - could I run while carrying 1/4 of my weight
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Does anyone know how to deter (or eliminate) squirrels? After years of fighting cats, I now have urban squirrels - the rats with bushy tails variety.
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Unusually coloured birds
http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=album&rty=0&r=1&album=19&v=0 (http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=album&rty=0&r=1&album=19&v=0)
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Gerry if I was in your situation I would try to feed them rat poison or lead
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Spotted this heavily disguised as a twig.
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Anthony,
Found one of these on my T-shirt today in the garden. Have a photograph in the camera; must post it here when I can get round to it. Have you a name for it?
Paddy
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This is the caterpillar of the Peppered moth (Biston betularia). I must admit, I had to look at it twice, and that was on a bare road surface. It's not just the moth that has adapted to fool predators through natural selection. It had fallen from a Pussy Willow (Salix caprea) tree and looked for all the world like a twig. (BTW the head is at the left end.)
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Anthony,
Have you a name for it?
Paddy
Lesley Hornby? :D
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Anthony,
Have you a name for it?
Paddy
Lesley Hornby? :D
Who is?
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Anthony,
Have you a name for it?
Paddy
Lesley Hornby? :D
Who is?
It will Google and all will be explained, Lesley! :D
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Gorgeous :D
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Anthony,
Have you a name for it?
Paddy
Lesley Hornby? :D
;D ;D ;D
AKA Twiggy
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Of course. I'd completely forgotten abut that lady. Thanks.
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And here's Twiggy, photographed in the garden yesterday afternoon after I discovered her clinging onto my T-shirt as I was going back into the house. These women; I simply have to beat them off.
Paddy
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These women; I simply have to beat them off.
Paddy
Count your blessings Paddy. :)
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I suppose the other end could also be described as the 'business end', Paddy? :D
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Perhaps, part of the business continuum.
Paddy
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A new wildlife programme 'Living the Wildlife' has started on RTE1/Sky 161 in Ireland. Well worth watching at 20.30 on Mondays.
http://www.rte.ie/tv/livingthewildlife/av_index.html (http://www.rte.ie/tv/livingthewildlife/av_index.html) to catch up
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News from my bee hotel.
Today I could observe up to 6 female Ichneumon wasps parallel parasiting the solitary bee larvas.
Ichneumon wasps are important parasitoids of other insects, therefore I do not interfere in the natural regulation process, even I'll lose some potential pollinators for my spring crocus :'(
It is very exciting how the female Ichneumon wasps proceed.
After landing the wasp is 1st. sensing or smelling (this is not yet scientifically cleared) a living larvae behind the closed camber.
Then the wasp turns around and starts sensing with its ovipositor the right sting position. In a 3rd. step the ovipositor is carefully pushed and drilled into the breeding chamber. The process of pushing and pulling the ovipositor, often the wasp is moving in cycles, took more then 5 minutes. Then one egg is layed per larvae.
After job done - the next chamber will be screened... ??? 8) :o
There are more then 60.000 species worldwide. I'm unable to identify the species name. Any help is welcome.
I believe my wasps could belong to the subgroup Branchinae, maybe a Lissinota sp..
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Hi Armin,
What a sequence of firstclass pics, showing an fascinating behaviour!
Gerd
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Hello Gerd,
thanks for the compliments.
3 more pictures from this unknown species.
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brilliant. That looks like the wasp that was in my garden this week
Last year we saw photos on spiders webs where the spider had used grit as an anchor for parts of suspension lines. Today in my green house one has used grit
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Mark,
looks a bit magic!
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Armin, that is a superb set of pics. May I use them with my Advanced Higher biology pupils? Parasitism is in the course.
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Armin, that is a superb set of pics. May I use them with my Advanced Higher biology pupils? Parasitism is in the course.
Anthony,
please go ahead, I'm very glad. If you need "high resolution pictures" please send me an e-mail.
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Is anyone in the UK watching Tough Guy or Chicken on BBC3. The editors must think were are stupid. Picture this - tough guys are in Namibia, it's night and a Great northern diver aka loon for North America is calling ::)
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two different hover flies on a pot of Crocus hadriaticus.They appeared to be eating the pollen.
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Tony,
nice shots.
The first hoverfly looks like Eristalis tenax (Mistbiene), the second Helophilus pendulus (Gemeine Sumpfschwebfliege).
Sorry don't know English common names.
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Summer goes to end - and butterflies become rarer...
Here some impressions from recent 2 walks I did in the local fields.
Colias hyale - Pale Clouded Yellow/Goldene Acht: A typical butterfly of the open field and meadows. Often sits on Trifolium.
Lycaena phlaeas - Small Copper/Kleiner Feuerfalter: A wee beauti often to find on dry meadows. The last picture shows one sitting on the seed heat of a rare endangered plant in Germany, Armeria maritima ssp. elongata -?-/Sand-Grasnelke.
Armeria maritima ssp. elongata flower: growing in alkaline sandy, dry meadows.
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two different hover flies on a pot of Crocus hadriaticus.They appeared to be eating the pollen.
I suspect these flies barf over the pollen and suck up the dissolved liquid? :P
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Summer goes to end - and butterflies become rarer...
Plebicula dorylas - Turquoise Blue/Wundkleebläuling: a wee beauti too. Not easy to photograph - very nervous and shy. Often sits on Trifolium in dry meadows.
Dianthus carthusianorum -Carthasian Pink/Karthäuser-Nelke: still in flower, in dry meadows. The first picture is the typical flower form. But I found one single plant showing lots of brown pollen - I question if this this specis is bisexual? Or is it a decease i.e. fungus? ???
Can anybody explain?
Evonymus europaeus -Common Spindle/Pfaffenhütchen: This deciduous shrub/small tree can grow up to 6m height. Now full of bright cherry-red fruits. But attention! Fruits are poisonous/toxic :o Ingestion can result in liver and kidney damage and even death.
Unknown yellow moth: A bit curious pictures. I took it in the evening around the outdoor lamplight. A large yellow moth is sitting on a small yellow one, and a very small fly was sitting on the edge of the moths wing! :D
I have no idea why that piggy-pack.
Anthony or any other, any possible ID of the yellow larger moth, please?
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The moth is a Large Thorn (Ennomos autumnaris), which I have not seen in Scotland. The larvae feed on hawthorn. The fly is a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), though why it's there is anyone's guess!
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On Friday there was a silver Y moth feeding on my Crocus and Colchicums in the green house. It got scared every time the camera tried to focus
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The moth is a Large Thorn (Ennomos autumnaris), which I have not seen ins Scotland. The larvae feed on hawthorn. The fly is a fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster), though why it's there is anyone's guess!
Many thanks for prompt IDs ;) ;D
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Despite three weeks of sunshine over here I have seen very few butterflies.
Your clouded have very nice green eyes
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Here's something a bit bigger than a butterfly; our "friendly" echidna "Errol" (unless it's actually an "Edna") quite intriquing to young Lachie!
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
[attachthumb=3]
But this is the sort of damage he can do in the rock garden! >:(
[attachthumb=4]
[attachthumb=5]
cheers
fermi
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That is a funny looking animal 8) but shame about the damage in your rock garden, Fermi. I hope Lachie is sensible enough to keep a safe distance to those spines.
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I hope Lachie is sensible enough to keep a safe distance to those spines.
Yes, he lives up to his Scottish heritage by being very canny and careful and gave the pointy end of the echidna a wide berth.
cheers
fermi
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Tony,
nice shots.
The first hoverfly looks like Eristalis tenax (Mistbiene), the second Helophilus pendulus (Gemeine Sumpfschwebfliege).
Sorry don't know English common names.
Armin thank you,I do not know any names other than hover fly so every little helps
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I dont know my hoverflies either.
About 15 years ago the insect expert in the Ulster Museum told me "forget bats and make a name for yourself studying hoverflies"
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(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/lepke-3.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/bka.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/brekkancs.jpg)
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After a quiet spell the butterflies are back looking for late flowers and finding Asters in my rockery. This Painted Lady was parading its colours and was so perfect it must have just hatched.... a Clouded Yellow is proving more elusive but is so fabulous I am hoping to see it again on the dark purple Aster :)
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A butterfly is lovely from any angle, I know... but that side view where the colour patches and veining make it look as though it has been perfectly crafted in stained glass is just FAB!!
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'Fab' is just the word to describe it Maggi - a word not used enough today! This butterfly could have been strolling the day away down Carnaby Street and turning a few heads ;D
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Robin,
I have a photographs of a very young self, dressed ever so stylishly in purple flairs and purple turtleneck, walking down Carnaby St., late '60s or early '70s. Fab or what!
Paddy
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let's see Paddy. I had red flares in the 70's, denim bell bottoms with an inset of a different colour on the bell, skinners, Birmingham bags, Gatsby Jumpers, yellow Paisley shirts ....
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Paddy & Mark what Fab memories - I had to giggle :D Flower Power is still here today - in our gardens ;D
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I tried to thumb a lift from Stirling to Callander late one Saturday night in the early 70s (I'd already walked the two mile from the Westerton Arms in Bridge of Allan to Stirling). I was wearing a pair of high-heeled snaked skin shoes. 8) I eventually took them off and walked in my socks because my feet were killing me! :'( 14 miles and four hours later, at four in the morning, I got a lift for the last 2 miles from a couple of fishermen heading north. They apologised for being late, but they'd had a rest at Southwaite, otherwise they'd have been there a couple of hours earlier! ;D
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let's see Paddy. I had red flares in the 70's, denim bell bottoms with an inset of a different colour on the bell, skinners, Birmingham bags, Gatsby Jumpers, yellow Paisley shirts ....
No way, Mark. I couldn't take the embarrassment.
Anthony, snake skin shoes, now that's serious fashion.
Paddy
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Anthony, snake skin shoes, now that's serious fashion.
Paddy
Were they Adderdas, Anthony? :D
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YooooooHoooooo!
Still firing on all cylinders even though you were posting around 3a.m. this morning. Such endurance!
Paddy
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YooooooHoooooo!
Still firing on all cylinders even though you were posting around 3a.m. this morning. Such endurance!
Paddy
Ah, sleep ... the haven of the good, the saintly, the unimaginative and the heartburn free ...
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something from today
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Quite an admirable pic Mark.
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Thanks Anthony. One more.
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Anybody out there recognise this caterpillar ? I found it this morning where it had probably been feeding on the Lonicera above the area that I was clearing up. Its about 30mm long.
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Melvyn, are you quite sure that this is a not a David Shilling hat, left behind by a very fashionable lady visitor? :o ::)
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http://www.uksafari.com/paletussock.htm (http://www.uksafari.com/paletussock.htm) It eats Oak, birch and lime and hop leaves
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Melvyn, are you quite sure that this is a not a David Shilling hat, left behind by a very fashionable lady visitor? :o ::)
Could well be Maggi but rather itchy to wear I think!
http://www.uksafari.com/paletussock.htm (http://www.uksafari.com/paletussock.htm) It eats Oak, birch and lime and hop leaves
Thankyou Mark, there is a mature birch growing about 25 feet away from where I found it.
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Thanks Anthony. One more.
Same Red Admiral Mark?
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Robin,
I have a photographs of a very young self, dressed ever so stylishly in purple flairs and purple turtleneck, walking down Carnaby St., late '60s or early '70s. Fab or what!
Paddy
let's see Paddy. I had red flares in the 70's, denim bell bottoms with an inset of a different colour on the bell, skinners, Birmingham bags, Gatsby Jumpers, yellow Paisley shirts ....
I tried to thumb a lift from Stirling to Callander late one Saturday night in the early 70s (I'd already walked the two mile from the Westerton Arms in Bridge of Allan to Stirling). I was wearing a pair of high-heeled snaked skin shoes. 8) I eventually took them off and walked in my socks because my feet were killing me! :'( 14 miles and four hours later, at four in the morning, I got a lift for the last 2 miles from a couple of fishermen heading north. They apologised for being late, but they'd had a rest at Southwaite, otherwise they'd have been there a couple of hours earlier! ;D
Can you all post pics ;D ;D ;D
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Today I finally managed to capture a ray of sunshine when this Clouded Yellow stopped for a second and had a drink :)
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Robin,
I have a photographs of a very young self, dressed ever so stylishly in purple flairs and purple turtleneck, walking down Carnaby St., late '60s or early '70s. Fab or what!
Paddy
let's see Paddy. I had red flares in the 70's, denim bell bottoms with an inset of a different colour on the bell, skinners, Birmingham bags, Gatsby Jumpers, yellow Paisley shirts ....
I tried to thumb a lift from Stirling to Callander late one Saturday night in the early 70s (I'd already walked the two mile from the Westerton Arms in Bridge of Allan to Stirling). I was wearing a pair of high-heeled snaked skin shoes. 8) I eventually took them off and walked in my socks because my feet were killing me! :'( 14 miles and four hours later, at four in the morning, I got a lift for the last 2 miles from a couple of fishermen heading north. They apologised for being late, but they'd had a rest at Southwaite, otherwise they'd have been there a couple of hours earlier! ;D
Can you all post pics ;D ;D ;D
Have you explored this topic, Maggie? :D
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=136.0
Lovely image Robin.
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Ahh clouded yellows, now they take me back to the summer of 1979....shimmer shimmer, tie dye etc!!!!
Cheers RR!!
On a parched hillside in the Sredna Gora came upon this 'BUG', I would have picked him up but decided he looked hungry!
My knife is 13 cm or 5 inches long, with antennae I gues this chap is 6 to 7 inches in length!
I reckon he might be a cricket but I have no reference material for Southern European insects.
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He's certainly big and I would have left him alone also!
Maggie - spare my blushes!
Paddy
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Anthony yes. There was one feeding on asters that was very clumsy and not scared by the camera so I caught it, took photos and set it back
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Cliff, thanks so much for the link, what a hoot!!
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It's spider time!! :'(
A giant house spider the size of a tarantula ::) just made a dash from under the sofa
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EEEK! Last week a big, long-legged spider sprinted out for cover , across the sitting room floor, when my eye caught the movement I was horrified, 'cos it was so big my first thought was cockroach! :o :'( I was relieved to find it was just a spider.... I really need my life to be free of roaches!
There was just that moment when I thought- I'm never buying bananas again! It always seems to be in bananas that we hear of these big bugs come into UK homes, doesn't it ?!! :-X :-\ :P
I have been getting braver of late... able to remove smaller spiders outside but for this giant I did ,however, insist that Ian do the gentlemanly thing and save me from it ..... he wasn't going to bother until I pointed out that a spider that big might devour the wee dog..... that got him moving after it pretty sharpish! ::) ;)
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My mother once met a large spider in a grass hut, on an island in the Great Barrier Reef. She said it was so big she thought of it as a small animal - and therefore not scary - rather than a spider. It JUMPED off her bed and vanished out the door.
The partial butterfly wing pics are just lovely, with the scales so visible, the patterns exquisite and I do love the caterpiller in Melvyn's pic. It would make a delightful hat especially with that little red feather on the side. :D
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Ahh clouded yellows, now they take me back to the summer of 1979....shimmer shimmer, tie dye etc!!!!
Cheers RR!!
On a parched hillside in the Sredna Gora came upon this 'BUG', I would have picked him up but decided he looked hungry!
My knife is 13 cm or 5 inches long, with antennae I gues this chap is 6 to 7 inches in length!
I reckon he might be a cricket but I have no reference material for Southern European insects.
The only one I know that is this big is Saga natoliae, the Balkan Sawing cricket.
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Anthony what is the cranefly that hides away in dark damp places and fly out in groups when disturbed? The wings are held togther over the body.
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Anthony what is the cranefly that hides away in dark damp places and fly out in groups when disturbed? The wings are held togther over the body.
Not sure. Could be Limonia sp.?
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Insects are very busy on the last remaining flowers and this little whitish bee is not one I have seen before...very sweet and obviously loves thistles, like me :D
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brown shield bugs
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As ever Anthony you are spot on.
Arykana I dont think I have seen all brown sheild bugs over here.
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On a parched hillside in the Sredna Gora came upon this 'BUG', I would have picked him up but decided he looked hungry!
My knife is 13 cm or 5 inches long, with antennae I gues this chap is 6 to 7 inches in length!
I reckon he might be a cricket but I have no reference material for Southern European insects.
Chris,
I don't think anyone has commented on your insect at the top of the page. I think it is one of the 'Stick Insects' (Phasmids), but I am not familiar enough to be sure which one? Maybe a troll through somewhere like http://www.phasmid.freeservers.com/ might give you a full ID.
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Anyone think that Australia is a namby pamby country when it comes to wildlife? Even our introduced rabbits are bred tough here.....
http://www.cairns.com.au/article/2009/09/15/63975_local-news.html
Apparently happened in Cairns in far north queensland a couple of weeks ago..... a guy who kept finding dead snakes on his lawn every morning with teeth marks in them, discovered that a pair or rabbits were killing them. Absolutely amazing.
They say that Australia is the lucky country. I'm just lucky I'm not a snake on the receiving end of rabbits like those ones!!
Definitely not my local wildlife, but I wanted to share this news story as I thought some here might be intrigued. I think it is just amazing. The video link is pretty impressive too.... that bunny certainly is quick!!
Anyway, back to normal programmes now.... ::)
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Robin,
Not even one Clouded Yellow spotted here this year. Pity!
Paul, lots of rabbits here on surrounding farmland but no snakes - could the rabbits have wiped them out. Here, Saint Patrick, our patron saint, has traditionally been credited with ridding the country of snakes but now we may have to reconsider this in light of your posting.
Paddy
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Arykana I dont think I have seen all brown sheild bugs over here.
;D I happily send you, if you wish ;D
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barsteward cats! :'(
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they are so much visitors:
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/lepke3.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/lepke2.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/lepke1.jpg)
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barsteward cats!
Mark,if you put a good layer of coarse grit or pea shingle on your troughs the cats don't like it. Fresh bark mulch on shrub beds also keeps them away for about three months.
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The first geese flew over yesterday. About 8 or 10 heading south. Saw 2 small flocks today and heard a third. Winter must be on its' way.
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Roma, they first flew over here several days ago (en-rout to Aberdeen?). I was noting that last year we saw the first ones in Orkney on my birthday (Sept 19) but that it was a couple of weeks before we saw them in Moray! Sign of a hard winter to come?
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Autumn colours are coming in way too quickly this year. I saw geese this week but they were just gone wild greylags. Yesterday I saw the first golden plover of the year
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Thanks Anthony and Paul for commenting, the Balkan saw Cricket sounds likely, the head is defo a cricket from the side aspect ( sorry no pic ) and the two 'appendages' at the posterior are like many of the grasshoppers and crickets here in Bulgaria. The scale of this chap, and the 'knobbles' on the bug are much more reminiscent of a stick insect!
Arykana. lovely shots of the red admiral!!
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Arykana many butterflies here also. I have never seen a red admiral on ivy flowers.
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The godwits are arriving back in northern New Zealand, direct from Alaska but each year fewer arrive. It is thought that the birds are not able to feed as well on their northern trip by way of China as the Chinese are building long sea walls to reclaim land.
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I think I read that godwits fly all the way non stop or is just the section China to NZ?
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I'm wrong you are correct
http://bird-watching.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_flight_of_the_godwits (http://bird-watching.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_flight_of_the_godwits)
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Mark: I mentioned this here:
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=793.msg20168#msg20168 (http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=793.msg20168#msg20168)
Non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand in 8 days must be one of the wonders of the world...
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We had something about them and the general decline in numbers on the telly on Sunday night. Apparently they fly from Alaska direct to NZ for our summer then back by way of eastern China, for the northern summer. The Alaska-NZ flight is apparently the longest migratory flight of any bird.
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Re birds: I have never seen as many ducks around here before. One morning during the week I was walking across a field where barley had been harvested and a flock of 40+ mallard flew up from the field. Previously, I would have seen small clutch-sized groups, say 7 birds, but never as many as this together. Obviously several local clutches together. I did come on several duck nests during the summer, again something unusual in number.
Mark, re cats - a dog or a gun, or an Australian rabbit, of course.
Paddy
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The first geese flew over yesterday. About 8 or 10 heading south. Saw 2 small flocks today and heard a third. Winter must be on its' way.
We have large numbers of Geese in our area in central Norway at the moment, with flocks of several thousand Pinkfeet and Greylags dominating. Our area is used as a staging post for the Pinkfeet on their way south from the breeding grounds on Svalbard and Denmark/Belgium/Netherlands.
Here are the sightings in Norway over the last week, the largest red circles show the largest flocks.
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Perhaps the geese have been staying nearer the coast, Roma, because we have been seeing them.... and hearing them, of course, for the last two, nearly three weeks.
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These poppies (Papaver anomalum 'album') flower from spring until killing frost, they are fantastic and the bees go troppo in them.
I've seen up to 6 bees trying to squeeze into one flower at times. They are very noisy while diving in and rolling around, almost like they are drunk.
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Maybe a low-dose opium in there Helen? ;D
Here's something odd, though hardly wild. This morning my Teddy refused his (tiny) bite of toast and honey that Roger gives each dog. Usually he comes close to taking R's hand with it. A few minutes later he was outside chomping on something and to my horror I though it was Euphorbia myrsinites which is in full bloom outside the kitchen door, But then I realized there was a thin plant of cleavers growing through the Euphorbia and Teddy was pulling on that - it's very elastic - and eating each bit as it emerged.
I believe cleavers is a medicinal herb so does Teddy know that, and if so, what's wrong with him that he feels the need to eat it? He's now lying beside me and his tummy is making very odd noises. If it were the pipes making the same noise, I'd be calling in a plumber! ???
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Lesley, maybe Teddy is eating the cleavers(? never heard of it before) to bile himself out?
Dogs normally eat grass to do this.
http://www.anniesremedy.com/herb_detail215.php
Says here that it has been used to treat urinary infections in cats.
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Just did a quick Google and will go back there later. Cleavers (Galium aparine) is a medicinal herb used in many cultures apparently. (I first heard of its medicinal use in one of Ellis Peters' books, about Brother Cadfael.) Said to be edible but not especially palatable. Both Teddy and Cain eat grass almost daily but they are both very hairy dogs and no amount of brushing gets rid of the loose stuff so I suppose their own licking/washing gets them clogged up inside and in need of a clean out from time to time.
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Stephen looking at a map of Norway, to see where the biggest concentration is, are they on Kraksjoen?
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I haven't noticed them eating Cleavers at all, but our dogs have always regularly eaten grass. We always used to joke that our Cavalier was part bovine due to his eating grass so regularly. He lived to 14 1/2 years old (3 years over the average age for the breed), so he can't have been harmed by it. Our Maltese grazes regularly, although hers does seem to be more when she has a stomach irritation. She definitely does regurgitate at times after eating the grass, but definitely not always. I think at times the grass can help bind things together and pass them through the system. Our Maltese is now over 14, so it can't be doing her too much harm either. ;)
Hopefully it works for your Teddy as a cure-all and he feels better. 8)
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Our dogs have eaten couch grass regularly when feeling a bit 'sick' and have always been selective in which blades they pick. Having lived mostly in the country this has not be a problem but on one occasion Jazzy ate the variagated form in the garden, which somewhat surprised me, but then I imagine it is the same family?
A story I heard about trying to breed wolves and re-introduce them into the wild in Canada had a major setback when they found that as they were in compounds they had no access to grass and therefore became sick. 'Greens' are definitely part of the diet in the wild and domestic scenes for canines - are cats the same?
Get well soon Teddy from Jazzy :P
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Stephen looking at a map of Norway, to see where the biggest concentration is, are they on Kraksjoen?
Kråksjøen is I guess what you mean (a couple of funny letters in there) - it means, I think, just Crow Lake. This is in the same area as most of the geese but is a mountain lake and the geese are feeding on agricultural land at low altitude near the fjord. No observations of geese on this lake this autumn as far as I can see.
Rather obscure lake - how do you know it?
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Teddy is fine again today - was, in fact, after only an hour off colour. His toast and honey vanished very quickly this morning.
Yes, cats too nibble on grass sometimes, and subsequently heave up a ball of fur, usually on the sitting room carpet. >:(
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Google maps, Stephen ;D
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Just did a quick Google and will go back there later. Cleavers (Galium aparine) is a medicinal herb used in many cultures apparently. (I first heard of its medicinal use in one of Ellis Peters' books, about Brother Cadfael.) Said to be edible but not especially palatable. Both Teddy and Cain eat grass almost daily but they are both very hairy dogs and no amount of brushing gets rid of the loose stuff so I suppose their own licking/washing gets them clogged up inside and in need of a clean out from time to time.
Cleavers, or Goose-grass, is called 'Sticky Willy' here.