Wildlife July 2011

[Peter Maguire]

Thought I'd round the month off with something taken today that won't give Maggi nightmares.  

Great Crested Grebe

[Lesley Cox]

A beautiful bird Peter.

[Anthony Darby]

Took these pictures last week at Te Mata Peak, just outside Havelock North. The yellow admiral (Bassaris itea) flew past me very fast and then settled on a rock.

[angie]

Looks lovely Anthony, ship that blue skies over here please.

Angie

[Anthony Darby]

Here's a view of the Craggy Range Winery and the Tukituki River. The picture from below was taken from the car park, which is to the immediate right of the lake and the queen wasp was sunning itself on one of the row of little beech trees in the middle of the car park. Cape Kidnappers (where Captain Cook's Tahitian translator was nearly kidnapped) and its famous gannet colony is off to the far right in the first pic.

[jandals]

Hi Anthony . Thanks for the pics . Was at Te Mata Peak in May . Went up in a bus which was a fairly exciting experience . We only just found out about queen wasps They are all through my firewood stack ( eucalyptus spp ) . Some are hibernating between the pieces of wood and others are hiding under the bark and when I bring the firewood in they come to life and fly round the house . I think the count is around 50 now

[Anthony Darby]

It's a beautiful spot. European wasps are a real pain and in milder parts of New Zealand the nests continue to grow from year to year, so can get really enormous! The largest wasp nest on record measured twelve feet long with a diameter of five feet nine inches! It was discovered on a farm in New Zealand in 1963.

[Maggi Young]

It's a beautiful spot. European wasps are a real pain and in milder parts of New Zealand the nests continue to grow from year to year, so can get really enormous! The largest wasp nest on record measured twelve feet long with a diameter of five feet nine inches! It was discovered on a farm in New Zealand in 1963.

 Oh great.... just when I was relaxing with Peter's  lovely photos of the grebes.....

[annew]

While I was sorting out trillium seeds today on my kitchen table, a wasp was trying to pinch the seeds from the capsules right under my nose. Cheeky blighter!

[Anthony Darby]

While I was sorting out trillium seeds today on my kitchen table, a wasp was trying to pinch the seeds from the capsules right under my nose. Cheeky blighter!

Anne, like emails, it's the attachments the wasp wants. The seed is then discarded, which must be one way they are dispersed in nature?

[Roma]

I know it's August but these were taken in July.

Most of my squirrel pictures are taken on the windowsill or peanut feeder which gets a bit boring, but I managed to catch this one on the shed roof with her arms folded on her chest.  I love to see them in this pose.

I don't often see a treecreeper this close.

This poor juvenile crossbill hit the kitchen window on Saturday

[annew]

Anthony, I've tried and tried to train my wasps to clean my trillium seeds for me, with the elaiosome as their wages, but they don't seem interested. I don't know, young wasps today, eh?

[Anthony Darby]

 

[ranunculus]

Anthony, I've tried and tried to train my wasps to clean my trillium seeds for me, with the elaiosome as their wages, but they don't seem interested. I don't know, young wasps today, eh?

Probably don't get that same old buzz?   

[shelagh]

Oh Cliff, always the sting in the tail