wildlife

[ian mcdonald]

Not that either, Anthony.

[Matt T]

I thought Anthony had it there. What a teaser!

It's a fragrant shrub with a strong wind in it's name!

[Maggi Young]

Re posting Ian McD's quiz picture to this page ....
" The description of this flower in Clapham, Tutin and Warburg is very long, but what is it? Male flower to follow. img 0420."

[ashley]

Re posting Ian McD's quiz picture to this page ....
" The description of this flower in Clapham, Tutin and Warburg is very long, but what is it? Male flower to follow. img 0420."
(Attachment Link)

Myrica gale?      (bog myrtle)

[ian mcdonald]

That,s it Ashley.

[ashley]

A beautiful plant Ian, and fine photos. 
Years ago I learned from a Danish friend to pick flower buds from late summer onwards then extract them in vodka or schnapps to make a nice bitter

[ian mcdonald]

Ashley, I have just been to the "local patch" today and the bog myrtle is nearly in flower. A wonderful sight when they are out. All plants seen are male.

[Carolyn]

Today's photo of our red squirrel shows quite clearly that this is a female.  She has been busy for most of the day, getting peanuts from the feeder or searching for the beech mast which she buried last autumn.  She has also been fending off another more orange squirrel who has also appeared on the scene and who has been trying to steal the buried beech masts.  She was waving her tail, which I think they do when angry or under threat. We are keeping our fingers crossed for babies in the drey, which is about 10m from our living room window.

[Maggi Young]

Hello Anthony, I don,t think it is beetle. Perhaps Maggi could enlarge it?

Sorry, nothing I can do about that - it would need to be zoned in on and enlarged from a larger file sized photo.

[Anthony Darby]

Looks like a beetle larva to me. Oiceoptoma thoracica: http://www.agefotostock.com/en/Stock-Images/Rights-Managed/BWI-BS308511

[angie]

Just watched one of my favourite programmes Countryfile and they were ringing baby Grey Herons. Well I know where I would like to put a ring ( sorry ) on the one that has just picked holes in my twenty year old Golden Orfe. Time to put this poor boy out of his misery. Herons are beautiful birds but not when they are at my pond.
They say they are protected, is it because their numbers are low, they don't seem to be when it comes to my garden. Not a good picture and there was one in the pond already.

Angie 

[johnstephen29]

Hi angie I think it's time to invest in some netting before you loose anymore fish.

[ian mcdonald]

Thanks Anthony.

[Roma]

Just been sitting at the window drinking coffee and watching a couple of crows gathering nest material.  When I had my lovely birch trees chopped in 2013 I got the tree surgeon to cut an untidy Cryptomeria japonica elegans back to about 6 foot and trim off the remaining branches.  (I am hoping to get a rose to climb up it and maybe a clematis if the rose grows a bit better).  The dead bark peels off in strips so the crows were pulling off 2 or 3 strips and flying off to their nest. 

[brianw]

My partially prepared sand bed is a good indicator of who visited me during the night. A single row of Roe deer prints were obvious a week or so ago, but I was confused by disturbed sand in one part this week. Investigated today and dug up a squirrel corpse. Seems a fox thought my sand bed was a good place to store it. It is now openly displayed for the Red Kytes. A bit gritty though.