Wildlife Autumn 2007 (spring wildlife Down Under)

[Anthony Darby]

Mmmm. I read the above with a wry smile. I can understand phobias, but as I type this the there are four sets of 8 eyes looking down at me, and that's just the spiders I keep in the study!

Lesley, I trust the chicken, like me, was past its sell-by-date. Would be a shame to waste good food .

[Maggi Young]

There speaks a man who doesn't have large meat-eating pets!

[mark smyth]

Ashley how is tiuf-teaf said?

[SueG]

There was a big flock of mistle thrushes in the Dublin Botanic Gardens on wednesday - first time I've ever noticed them in a flock.
Maggie you were right the cakes at the cafe there were almost worth the terror of the flight. I've got some pics and will post them later.
Sue

[Maggi Young]

Mark, I'd guess tuif teafsounds prety much like chiff chaff, only wihth a soft Irish accent!!

I've never seen mistle thrushes in a flock , either, Sue, more's the pity. Just not enough thrushes about here at a ll nowadays. Hope some of the cakes served well to celebrate your birthday ! Why was the flight frightening... a bad one or are you a nervous flyer?

[Anthony Darby]

The largest meat-eating pet I owned was a 9' Anaconda (Eunectes murinus). Just got a 4' Jamaican boa (Epicrates subflavus) and a Honduran Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis) which the children have called Tigger as it bounces about at night and is a Tangerine phase (the yellow bands are orange). I attach pics of Tigger; a large pet grasshopper; and two birdeaters (Brachypelma vagans and B. smithii).

[Carlo]

BirdeatersQ! Egad...keep them away from my house. All I've got for pets are birds (about 25 or so).

[Anthony Darby]

Don't worry Carlo. They get fed on crickets. The name 'Bird-eating Spider' was coined for the arborial Avicularia spp. from South America, which do take hummingbirds off nests and mine belong to the same family, but are ground dwellers. They are commonly called 'Tarantulas' but that again is a misnomer as the true Tarantula is a wolf spider (Lycosidae) from southern Europe. The above two should grow to about 6" leg span. Their bite is painful, but no more so than a bee sting, and yes, I have been bitten in the past.

[ashley]

Ashley how is tiuf-teaf said?

... something like 'tyuff-tyaff' Mark

Lesley, that information about the NZ godwit migration is truly amazing.  Where can we read more?

[Joakim B]

I must say that the Swedish name of the bird gransångare is more poetic/descriptice than the onomatopoetic ones in  England Irland. The Swedish name means singer in Pines (the christmas type of tree)
I here have a less pretty one but since it was not eating on my magnolia I let it stay there. I did not here any song from it but it might be just resting any name for it? Cricket?Or what is it. All the bigger grasshopper in Sweden are green so I do not recognise this Portuguese one.

Kind regards from a humid Portugal
Joakim

[Casalima]

Chiffchaff is Felosa-comum or Felosinha in Portuguese - no onomatopoeia.

Cool beasty, Joakim! Can you send some of that humidity up north? We are still roasting!!

Chloe

[Joakim B]

Chloe
It is just humid in the air here in central Portugal but that is now gone and the sun it out. It was the weather before a thunderstorm but there was only one black clound and it did not do anything.
I actually thught we would get rain after lunch but it did not happen

Kind regards from a sunnier Portugal
Joakim

[Anthony Darby]

Joachim, you won't hear that one sing as it is a juvenile female Egyptian Grasshopper (Anacridium aegyptium), and the males are 'silent'. They are common on trees and bushes but 'cause little damage'. The adults are grey and up to 65mm long. They can fly well, rather like locusts, to which they are related.

[Maggi Young]

"it is a juvenile female and the males are 'silent'"

non sequitur there, or am I missing something? Do the females never sing?

[mark smyth]

Anthony in the past you offered to look after me for the early bulb show and now you tell me you have spiders!!!