my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[Tristan_He]

Three more to identify A is img. 1291. B is img. 09 185. C is img. 2597.

A is tricky Ian. Reminds me of a Sparganium but I'm not sure.

B: one of the tiger beetles.

C: Utricularia vulgaris or australis. Either way a nice plant for a garden pond, or even an aquarium.

[ian mcdonald]

Three birds, what is img. 041. I,m sure you should have hatched, we are waiting img. 040. An avocet img. 3152.

[ian mcdonald]

If you don,t like spiders look away now. Garden spider, Araneus diadematus img. 3320. A. quadratus img. 09 127. Apologies if I have posted these before.

[Steve Garvie]

Image 041 looks like a Woodlark, not that I see any in my neck of the woods.

[ian mcdonald]

Correct Steve.

[ian mcdonald]

Tristan, right with the birds. The flowers are C, Gentianella campestris and D, G. amarella.

[ian mcdonald]

Green Tiger beetles and U. vulgaris. The plant is rather rare and only found in Scotland in the UK.

[Tristan_He]

Green Tiger beetles and U. vulgaris. The plant is rather rare and only found in Scotland in the UK.

Re Utricularia I didn't know that  Ian, though certainly true for the U. intermedia complex.

Found this great guide on separating vulgaris and australis, and in fact I did think the flowers in your photo had rather narrow 'skirts'http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=33122]
[url]http://www.cpukforum.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=33122[/url]

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Tristan, the rare plant in Scotland I referred to is image 1291. It used to be more common throughout the UK but has been lost in English sites due to drainage. Last published record from the local patch was in 1870.

[ian mcdonald]

Among wildlife seen on the local patch today were Wheatears img. 1010198. 20 adders img. 1010202 and img. 1010205. one common lizard img. 1010207.

[Anthony Darby]

First two adders coming up for a moult. Second pic shows the result.

[ian mcdonald]

Right Anthony, of the 20 about a third were about to moult. Two skins were also found.

[ian mcdonald]

Among the birds seen today were blackcap img. chiffchaff img. 1010224. Also a sedge warbler, whitethroat, redshank and a short eared owl.

[ian mcdonald]

On the local patch were found a teals nest with 6 eggs img.1010278. Also a mallards nest with 8 eggs img. 1010279.

[ian mcdonald]

Among the birds seen today were these three marsh harrier. Two male and one female. One of the males is about to pass food to the female img. 1010289.