Wildlife February 2011

[Maggi Young]

Oi! Nick.... I thought we were getting away from the spiders?  

Great bird pix, all, butI love the shot of the reflective wren.

[Paul T]

Excellent pics.  I was going to post another spider pic, but perhaps not.    I got some great pics yesterday of a dragonfly as well..... it was most accommodating and posed for pics for a while before it flew off.

I'd always heard that our wrens were different to your wrens (not even vaguely related apparently) and now I can certainly see the difference in shape.

[Nick_the_grief]

Your're welcome Maggi - this is what I do when not gardening or working 

Be interested to see what your dragonfly look like Paul

Here's one of ours from the last summer ... 2003 I think

4 Spotted Chaser - Pooley NR by nick_the_grief, on Flickr

[Paul T]

Nick,

Yours is a much "chunkier" model of dragonfly than the one I photographed, although quite similar colours.  I love the little black and gold area of etching at the base of the hind wings.  I don't think I've noticed that on any of ours, but that doesn't mean it isn't there.    I'll sort the pics out of mine and upload tomorrow.  Off to bed now as nearly 11:30pm here.

[Hoy]

If it litterally is allowed to show flown cases I can contribute with two nice, colorful larvae of moths. The imagines are not that showy.
#1 Cucullia lactucae Lettuce Shark (what a name )
#2 Lasiocampa trifolii Grass Eggar

[Lesley Cox]

Beautiful pictures from everyone, especially your birds Nick. I love them all but the Great Tit does it for me. We have nothing like that here.

[annew]

This morning my husband watched 2 female blackbirds apparently trying to kill each other for a good three minutes. He said they were pinning each other down and pecking viciously. Never seen females exhibiting this behaviour (outside the city centre on a Saturday night anyway).

[Nick_the_grief]

Beautiful pictures from everyone, especially your birds Nick. I love them all but the Great Tit does it for me. We have nothing like that here.

Ahh but you've got the Kakapo Lesley

[Lesley Cox]

Well I don't have a flock of them in my garden Nick, that's for sure. In fact, I've never seen one except in TV docs, photos etc.

Anne, what HAS happened in my garden, a few years ago, was the deliberate murder by a bellbird of a tiny waxeye. They drink from the same sugar-and-water bottles, waxeyes giving way to the bellbirds who in turn give way to the tuis. While a waxeye was drinking, the bellbird swooped in and grabbed him in his claws (it was a male) and carried the little one to the ground where he pecked the eyes and chest viciously. I rushed out thinking to save the waxeye but it was already dead. The whole episode took less than 10 seconds. That spring we say a dozen or so waxeyes dead on the ground, all with similar wounds and then there were no more for a couple of years. We've had them recently though.

All NZers love their bellbirds and tuis. They're beautiful and both have fantastic songs but both are very agressive and territorial.

[Olga Bondareva]

Todays wildlife. 

Empty summer flat...


Little sparrow


Hiding in snow 

[arillady]

Olga what a stunning picture of the sqirrel.
On the way to work today there was a very young joey (kangaroo) standing in the middle of the road. I pulled over with intentions of shooing it off the road as I had a car approaching from my rear. Happily it hopped over a fence and into the trees. It was the youngest one I have seen on its own. I wonder if its mother is dead.

[Paul T]

Pat,

It may just have been such a good year that Mum has decided to produce another offspring before winter?  I know that kangaroos can turn their breeding on and off and produce multiple offspring in a good year, and I'm assuming that you've had a lot more rain this spring/summer like we have?  If so, I'd imagine that if the joey was eating grass Mum may just have evicted junior to prepare for the next junior? 

[galanthophile]

Great photos, I've often been to Bolam Lake to take photos of the birds there from the car window. The light is often dull so an excellent job with the bird pics. I'll have to try again.. Adorable squirrels. I took this one at Wallington last year (I think)

[Maggi Young]

I resized your squirrel, Ann ( that sounds rather impertinent, but I I hope you know what I mean! )

She really looks like she's giving you a  good look over to see if you've got anything tasty to hand.... she doesn't seem at all anxious.

[Nick_the_grief]

Well seeing as we're having a squirrel fest ... (and no spiders in view)


Caught in the act !! (Abernethey forest)