Wildlife mid 2009

[Ragged Robin]

A very handsome wasp without stripes - is it a wood wasp Mark?  Lots here whilst I was gardening and digging not sure what was attracting them on the ground...in Italy the wasps are vicious stinging on the wing before they give you a chance to move out of the way - they made a nest in the shutters!

[Anthony Darby]

This wasp is Pimpla instigator, or a related species. Its larvae are ectoparasites of moth caterpillars.

[mark smyth]

Anthony why would it have been pushing it's ovipositor in to the soil? Would there be caterpillars of the swift moth or similar present?

[Lesley Cox]

Since it's on the Forum, it's probably wanting to take up gardening but couldn't find a spade.

[Anthony Darby]

They have long antennae for detecting caterpillars, but I wouldn't put it past it to be using the ovipositor sheath as a lever. The actual ovipositor itself is considerably longer than the sheath,

[mark smyth]

Anthony, another test, sorry. I found a cluster of grubs inside a snowdrop today while I was repotting. They are small, look like Narcissus fly grubs but they have 'copper wire' sticking out of their head/a$$

[Anthony Darby]

I'm afraid those are maggots of the Lesser Bulb Fly (Eumerus tuberculatus) Mark. The 'copper wire' is the breathing tube, which is normally black in the Narcissus Bulb fly.

[mark smyth]

  Not another enemy to cope with. I didnt think they were in the UK. This fly obviously managed to get through the chemical warefare

[mark smyth]

From the internet
"The lesser bulb fly can also attack the same types of bulbs in addition to onion, shallots, garlic, parsnips, potato tubers, cabbage roots"

[mark smyth]

Here's the only good photo I can find
http://www.fugleognatur.dk/wildaboutdenmark/gallery_wad.asp?mode=ShowLarge&ID=61747

I think I've seen these in the garden and assumed they were wasps. The good news is they lay their eggs on weak/dying bulbs. Another good reason for repotting every year.

I'm thinking these might be what ate my Colchicum kesselringii last year

[mark smyth]

Bats are mainly insectiverous but recently Noctule bats, Nyctalus noctula, have been recorded eating bird/s after feathers were found in droppings. The tables have now turned. Hungarian Great tits, Parus major, have been recorded eating the brains of pipistrelle bats, Pipistrellus sp.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17749-killer-birds-bite-off-bats-heads

[Maggi Young]

Amazing news, Mark!
This puzzled me....

Nevertheless, it is a considerable feat for the tits given that a pipistrelle weighs approximately 5 grams and a great tit only four times as much.

..... yes, I see that the Great Tit  looks very much bigger than the bat, but I'm suprised at this 20gm weight.... I thought that the bird would weigh much less than that? 

[mark smyth]

I'm thinking me means - could I run while carrying 1/4 of my weight

[Gerry Webster]

Does anyone know how to deter (or eliminate) squirrels? After years of fighting cats, I now have urban squirrels - the rats with bushy tails variety. 

[mark smyth]

Unusually coloured birds
http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=album&rty=0&r=1&album=19&v=0