wildlife

[angie]

Then you may not like me either Angie, whenever we meet
Best wishes for the rest of your holiday.  I hope these misadventures have a funny side and bring happy memories too.

Ashley can you run fast as well  You are so lucky living in such a beautiful place and the people are so friendly. Weather was perfect and we had only one misty morning. Already planning my next visit. We got up to a bit beyond Galway so there is still more for us to see.  Next year I am coming over for a few weeks instead of five days.

Angie 

[angie]

Us Australians are all laughing out loud after reading the above discussion about spiders..    Angie I recommend you think carefully about wildlife before you consider immigrating to Australia. 

Warning - do not click the link below if you suffer from arachnophobia. A very common spider in Australian houses and we consider it harmless. (ish).

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=Lesquerella&safe=off&rlz=1C1KMZB_enAU578AU578&es_sm=93&biw=1920&bih=979&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=1d4hVLabJsfi8AXZwoKAAQ&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ#safe=off&tbm=isch&q=huntsman+spider

Ok how do you expect me to sleep after looking at those pictures. I have checked my roof for any little spiders  that might fall on me when I am sleeping  Are there really a lot of these spiders over there with you or would it be unusual for these to be around the house.

Angie 

[Jupiter]

Yes a lot Angie although they are much more active in the summer months. They come into the house regularly and run around on the walls and ceiling. It's my job to catch them release them outside. In their natural habitat they live on and under the peeling bark of Eucalyptus and don't spin a web, catching insects by stalking them. That's why they don't sit in one place but hunt, wandering into houses and sheds and even into cars! It's a nasty shock to have one run across the inside of the windshield while you're driving along! Happened to me a few times... it's something Australians can all relate to having experienced something similar.

[angie]

Wow its bad enough when there is a wasp in the car let alone a massive spider. Well I can now say that there is something good about staying in a cold, windy place like Aberdeen. Little spiders  I will have to remember if I ever get the chance to visit Australia to take along a big net, not for catching spiders its for covering me up when I am sleeping.
This reminds me of another story, I have a lot of frogs and toads in the garden and some are what I describe as being big. Well my American friend said that they weren't big you should see the ones that we have back home. I just though here we go everything is bigger over there. Well, she was right as we were boating down the lake she said to me look I told you so. I couldn't believe my eyes. This thing was enormous. I think she said it was a bull frog, never had the camera such a shame. One thing for sure you would know if you stood on that 

Angie 

[Karaba]

Nearly 11 cm long, is it a big one ? 
Toad of Pelobatus cultripes, southern France

[Karaba]

Karaba you know your bats! Do you study them?

Indeed, it's a part of my job 

From last night
Leisler's bat, Nyctalus leisleri, calling from a sing post

Funny  I can't analyse the record with a software so that I can be sure but it looks like that the Leisler's bat is responding to the social calls of a common pipistrelle.

[Chris Johnson]

Nearly 11 cm long, is it a big one ? 
Toad of Pelobatus cultripes, southern France

That's a chunky tadpole, Karaba, and I love the common name of Western Spadefoot (Pelobates cultripes).

... but still a dwarf compared to Cane Toads (aka Marine Toads).

Chris

[Karaba]

Oups, I made a confusion between poad and tadpole (my poor english...)
Yes, the Spadefoot is not very big but it has big tadpoles, isn't it ? Even big female of Bufo spinosus look dwarf compared to Cane Toads 

[Maggi Young]

I fell in love with that fat  tadpole   

Found  some info about this small furry critter, which I thought would cheer up the arachnophobes by showing something incredibly cute ----  a western pygmy possum (Cercartetus concinnus) pic by Amanda McClean
Just look at those whiskers!

[Anthony Darby]

The balance of the Universe has been upset. Time to fix it.  Was trying to catch flies for my geckos yesterday and one ended up in the web of a White Cobweb Spider (Achaearanea tepidariorum), a recent immigrant to NZ although it is found worldwide.

[Jupiter]

I was lucky today and snapped a photo of our resident blue wren, affectionately known by us as 'Bluey'. He and his little lady have chicks at the moment which have just flown the nest and are hopping all around the garden. Blue wrens are notoriously hard to photograph. They just never sit still long enough to get a decent shot. I was sitting in the front garden with my camera in hand and he landed in front of me on the lawn.

[vivienr]

A cloud of ladybirds has just descended here this afternoon. There are several hundred of them crawling all over the outside of the house.
Had to run round quickly closing all the windows which was annoying as it is warmer outside than in.

[Roma]

The mild weather we are having just now is bringing out the butterflies, mainly Red Admirals.  I saw 13 on Sunday.  I am still seeing an occasional Small Tortoiseshell or Peacock but they are usually faded or have damaged wings.  I had a less common visitor today, a Comma.

[Matt T]

The mild weather we are having just now is bringing out the butterflies, mainly Red Admirals.  I saw 13 on Sunday.  I am still seeing an occasional Small Tortoiseshell or Peacock but they are usually faded or have damaged wings.  I had a less common visitor today, a Comma.

I was squashing newly hatched caterpillars on my broccoli plants yesterday. Don't think they'll have stood much of a chance being so late in the season, but they could have had time enough to strip my brassicas.

[Anthony Darby]

It's amazing how the comma has spread throughout the UK. A hundred years ago it was confined to three counties in the west of England, having shrunk from a wider distribution to as far north as Fife, but not the west of Scotland in the 1850s. Its spread started in the 1930s, but has been more dramatic in the last 5 years. I saw my first comma in Dunblane in 2009.