Wildlife early 2009

[mark smyth]

There is a Great Spotted Cuckoo, Clamator glandarius, in Cork. I'm guessing this bird should be in Africa at this time of year. It is a Portugese bird so maybe one of our forum members can give more information

[Anthony Darby]

A friend has just sent me some eggs of a huge moth (Coscinocera anteus) from Papua New Guinea, so I decided to Google it and came up with this! http://www.papua-insects.nl/insect%20orders/Lepidoptera/Saturniidae/Saturniidae%20list.htm At least my name is on the pic.

[Maggi Young]

Very nice pic it is, too. Got to be careful, though, Anthony.... you don't want to be googling yourself too much......

[jomowi]

A consolation for not being able to go to Dunblane on Sat was a bit of excitement in the garden viewed from the kitchen window.  Brian spotted a weasel - we think it was a weasel and not a stoat, and yes we do know the difference (the real difference and the jokey one!).  The reason we could not be positive as to which was because we only got quick glimpses as it darted from one bit of cover to the next.  It emerged from behind an overhang of Dryas octopetala at one stage  clutching a rodent, a vole Brian thinks which appeared to be wriggling.  It disappeared from sight behind the raised bed, only to return about a minute later to dive into the Dryas again.  This time it emerged with another vole - I had binocs on it this time.  No sign of life in the vole. I was concentrating on the vole, which means I still did not get a positive ID on the weasel/stoat question. It then disappeared for the last time.

Puzzle: Were both voles already dead and was the weasel just moving his stash from one store to another?  Can’t imagine a second vole hanging around after the first got murdered.  In any case, voles are solitary, are they not?  Any theories?

[Paddy Tobin]

Brian,

I had noted your comment under the Dunblane Show reports and yes, indeed, a good view of a stoat/weasel is a nice compensation.

Here in Ireland we don't have weasels, only stoats. I can tell you that they are very efficient hunters/killers and two voles wouldn't surprise me in the least. A few years ago we had fields of wheat all around us and when they were harvested we had an invasion of rats. This was happy hunting time for the stoats and we would regularly see a stoat dragging a dead rat much bigger than itself off to be eaten.

Happy watching.

Paddy

[Anthony Darby]

Here are some pics of my male rainbow stag beetle (Phalacrognathus muelleri). They come from Queensland Australia, but are bred by Daniel Kunte of 'Coleoptera XXL' in Germany. The female is smaller without the huge mandibles.

[Maggi Young]

Oooh, errrrrr, I suppose he's very fine?? The metallic paint job is most impressive, that's for sure.

Does rather make you see why it has been at times the fashion to wear such beasts as living jewels, attached to one's jacket by a little chain and clasp   stuck to it.......

[annew]

WOW - it is like a jewel!

[gote]

Puzzle: Were both voles already dead and was the weasel just moving his stash from one store to another?  Can’t imagine a second vole hanging around after the first got murdered.  In any case, voles are solitary, are they not?  Any theories?

In my experience (gained the hard way ) Voles are solitary animals. I once saw a mink( Mustela vison which is established in the Swedish fauna as escapee.) during cleaning out of the living quarters.
It moved carcasses of fish from one hole to another and then moved its young. Moving one of the young it spotted us and rushed into the hole. The young got stuck crosswise at the hole entrance so it looked like a movie farce for a couple of seconds before the presumed mother got a better grip on her offspring and disappeared into the hole. We gave them some leftover salmon omelet and they took it but moved to safer quarters.
Since the mink is a close relative I assume it has the same habits.
We used to have many coots Fulica atra but they gradually disappeared I presume due to predation from the minks which arrived to our place some forty years ago 

Göte

[Anthony Darby]

Mink are vermine and have virtually wiped out the water voles in some parts of the country.

[TC]

Can anyone tell me what this beetle is ?  I photographed it in Corfu about 16 years ago.  It reminded me of the character  called the "Rose Beetle Man" in Gerald Durrell's book "My Family and other Animals".  He had a hat to which he had tied several multi coloured beetles.  These flew around as he walked and gave the impression of moving jewels.

[Anthony Darby]

They are rose chafers (Cetonia aurata) Tom. The adults nibble all kinds of flowers, including roses. The larvae live in rotting timber, especially old willows. They are found throughout the UK.

[Stephenb]

Mink are vermine and have virtually wiped out the water voles in some parts of the country.

Here in Norway, the Water Vole (Jordrotte = Earth Rat) is Vermine and something that sends a shiver down the spine of any gardener as it causes enormous damage from its tunnelling after precious Erythroniums etc...  No, the Water Vole would never have made it into Wind in the Willows as Ratty if it had been written here.... How many Water Voles would you like? I'm coming over in April

On the other hand the Mink is now quite a rare sighting here, and Otters and Beavers now both quite common again having almost disappeared completely.

[Lesley Cox]

Beautiful beetles, both stag and chafer.

[Carlo]

Fabulous stag Anthony. PM me with details on how you raise them....