Wildlife summer 2012

[Anthony Darby]

Part of a balance(d) diet?

[scilla]

Now the swifts are back here too.

[Anthony Darby]

A couple of pics taken from my garden. Starling pinching next door's olives and a kingfisher on my other neighbour's TV aerial.

[Menai]

Found a recently dead hedgehog on drive the other morning, obviously attacked by something. Local naturalist suggests one of the random egg laying mallard that haunt my garden. Anyone seen anything similar?
Sad as we had never seen it before in the 10 years we have been here although I have always seen droppings.

Erle

[mark smyth]

Here's my new set for watching 16 of my 20 swift cameras. All 16 can be viewed and recorded in real time. Motion detection can be set up also.

[mark smyth]

Planet Earth Live has just started in BBC and already I hate it.

Why must wildlife programmes be about jeopardy.

Will Moja the lion cub live another day, he is very weak blah blah and more blah will the black bear cubs live, will the polar bear cubs live, will the meercat ..... enough already!!

[Anthony Darby]

Perhaps doom and gloom is what people want, but it's not very comfortable for the cameraman, so they give you doom and sunshine?

[mark smyth]

Did you watch Fox Live last night? The black fox made famous in March wasnt a fox. It was a Racoon dog an exotic pet that escaped or was set free

[Anthony Darby]

Oh dear. It seems to be spreading through Europe. Introductions?

[mark smyth]

Anthony the Russian fur farmers are domesticating them and crossing them with silver foxes.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox

They are selecting the tamest and crossing them. Amazingly they are starting to change colour, get curly tails and other similarities with dogs.

There was a programme all about dogs on TV last year. Something that I didnt know is .. when we talk to each other we look at each others right eye mostly. When we talk to our dogs and they also look at our right eye and look at theirs.

[Natalia]

I beg your pardon, but a bit out of topic ... from the world of insects

[Anthony Darby]

Not out of topic at all Natalia. I'm curious as to why the ants are there. Looking for prey?

[Maggi Young]

Not out of topic at all Natalia. I'm curious as to why the ants are there. Looking for prey?

I wondered that as well.... since there is no sign of any aphids.  But Ants also collect pollen and nectar, do they not? So perhaps they are looking for flowers?

[Natalia]

I do not know what they're looking for, but it looks like they collect something from the edges of the leaves - as with peony buds.
Here's a little different perspective photo...

[Hoy]

Many plants secrete a sweet fluid to attract ants, not only from the flower parts. In payback the ants protect the plants from attacks of other insects. Some plants even have specialised glands on the petioles, like for instance many Prunus species.