wildlife

[Maggi Young]

[ian mcdonald]

A great spotted woodpecker at an alpine nursery, no longer selling plants img. 00050. Red squirrel at the same site img. 00052. Grey seals relaxing img. 00069. Reindeer with calfs img. 1020852. Does anyone know who owns this. It was on a nettle img. 1020803.

[ian mcdonald]

Heath spotted orchid img. 1020836. A goldfinch img. 1020817. Long leaved sundew img. 1020827. Pale butterwort img. 1020825. Wall rue img. 00015.

[ian mcdonald]

Dwarf cudweed img. 1020864.

[ian mcdonald]

I was sat down the garden this morning and noticed something small and black moving on the lawn. On close inspection I saw that it was two bees mating. The smaller one had a white tail, probably from the swarm in the sycamore. This is the first time I have seen bees mate. Perhaps this is something not seen too often? By the time I returned with the camera they had gone.

[François Lambert]

In an unused annex of the house we have some temporary guests.  Although I regularly pass there I hadn't noticed them until now.

So, after 2 years without swallows it looks like the local population is doing very well 

[ArnoldT]

praying mantis stalking on a Eucomis zambesiaca

[johnw]

We were out to friends' coastal garden near Peggy's Cove, Nova Scotia last night for a lamb roast.  Last week we heard of more & more reports of great whites sharks off our coast, the week before we were shocked to hear of Portguese Man of War threatening a beach very close to Halifax, so we should not have been surprised to hear yesterday our friend caught two sizeable Grey Triggerfish (Balistes capriscus) just a very short walk from home.  These are most unusual creatures which we've always associated with tropical waters such as the Carribean but they've been appearing here in greater numbers.  I hear that despite their formidable teeth the local fisherman love them as they eat all the barnacles off the hulls of their boats; from the wharf our friend saw them eating mussels & periwinkles if you can imagine.  They've also been seen eating the invasive European green crab which has been destroying estuarial eel grass stands. No question the climate and ecosystem are changing quickly.

Rather cartoonishly cute & highly observant - this video is 5 years old:



And a more recent one, poor thing appears to have had a bad nip from another triggerfish:



And a few shots of the same coastal garden which Ken maintains.

john
17c and rain all day long.

[David Lyttle]

Nice to see a Phormium at home in Novae Scotia - all neat and tidy in a pot! Are they taken indoors in winter?

[Lawrence]

Never seen this before. I am assuming slugs mating?

[johnw]

Nice to see a Phormium at home in Novae Scotia - all neat and tidy in a pot! Are they taken indoors in winter?

David  - The Phormius are great performers out on the cool coast, despite gusty winds at times they hold up perfectly.  They usually stay outdoors till mid to late November but must be wintered indoors before the temps approach about -5c.

john

[ian mcdonald]

The nest of a solitary wasp? in the greenhouse img 00241.

[Gerdk]

I guess this is the larvae of a swallowtail (Papilio machaon) - confirmation desired

This species is more than rare here - the caterpillar feeds on Seseli petraeum, an Apiaceae from
the Pontus Region/Turkey

Gerd

[admin]

Juvenile Water Rail. Very shy birds.  Taken in very poor light at ISO 7200. That says a lot for the quality of Nikon cameras, with many cameras the image would be unusable at such a high ISO.

[Matt T]

Great shot of a special bird. I have good memories of their distinctive porcine squealing calls and occasionally being lucky enough to spot them.