Wildlife 2007

[Maggi Young]

I have just discovered that the Bank Vole's "real" name is Clethrionomys glareolus.... now, I know very few common, or english, names for flowers but I know very  few  latin names ( almost none.... well, okay none) for animals... this chap shows me why.  A classic case of the name being bigger than the critter
Voles are very cute to look at but have enormous appetites , plus, they bite!

[Anthony Darby]

I would go with bank vole, but it is rather grey in colour. My description says "upperside has a characteristic reddish colour with more or less grey on the flanks; rather long tail" - a bit like the ruddy vole that's found in the arctic - but what else can it be with tiny wee ears like that?

On the theme of Latin names: how's this: Craseonycteris thonglongyai (I wouldn't dwell on its pronunciation, or the meaning of the specific name) for the world's smallest mammal. The Bumblebee Bat from Thailand.

[mark smyth]

That's right. Smaller than our wee pipistrelle

[mark smyth]

Here's more on the bat with a 3cm/1.25" body and 8cm/3.25" wing span
http://www.thewebsiteofeverything.com/animals/mammals/Chiroptera/Craseonycteridae/Craseonycteris/Craseonycteris-thonglongyai.html

[mark smyth]

I was at Crom Esate in Fermanagh last Thursday giving a lecture on bats. I like the venue because it has all 8 species of N Irish bat present, Pine Martens, lots of dragon flies and butterflies and Swallows that think they are House Martins. They nest in the corners of the farm and stable yards and it the barn louvres

[ranunculus]

A few mundane items from a short walk taken today in Healey Dell Nature Reserve, just a quarter of a mile from our house in Whitworth, Lancashire. England.

[mark smyth]

Moorhens, Cliff, or as we call 'em water hens

[mark smyth]

a tame Green-veined White flutterby Pieris napi

[fermi de Sousa]

Mark,
it looks a lot like the "Cabbage White" that decimates the trpaeoleums as well as the Brassicas!
cheers
fermi

[Susan Band]

Cliff, Coots are always bald

[Rob]

Here is a photo of a coot I took at Slimbridge last week.

It is a great place to visit as the birds are tame and don't mind posing for the camera.

[Paul T]

We get moorhens around the local lakes etc as well.  Obviously they've been carried around with people, or else they just spread naturally very effectively.  It's always funny watching them in the water, totally dwarfed by the black swans in competetition  for the handouts, yet usually beating them to it (and occasionally being beaten by them literally!!  Anyone standing between a black swan and food is usually in for it!!  )

[mark smyth]

There's a Black Swan here in Strangford Lough right now. It's not a dirty Mute but a true Black Swan

Fermi I'm not sure if that white also eats cabbages

I was in America yesterday and took a shot of these rodents

[mark smyth]

they are actually escapees from a private collection

[Anthony Darby]

The Green-veined White (Artogeia napi) does eat brassicas, but not usually cabbages. More usually Cardamines spp.; Nasturtium officinale (Watercress); Lepidium heterophyllum and Lunaria rediviva (Honesty). It is not regarded as a pest species.