Wildlife July 2013

[Peter Maguire]

Susann, I think that the Triturus and other newts would be able to find a sufficiently damp environment by travelling at night and in rainy conditions - I'm sure it must rain occasionally in Sweden.  They hide out during the day under logs, leaf litter and the like where it can be surprisingly damp even on a sunny day. As to how they find new ponds, that I do not know, guesswork maybe?

My first guess with your butterfly was a Morpho butterfly, and after a little research, I'm going to go with Morpho peleides . Obviously you photographed this locally, somewhere in Sweden's tropical belt. 

By the way, when I found Tjörn on the map and it's a big island, with proper lakes! Vrångö Is slightly south of Göteborg, just about as far as you you travel on their tram/bus/ferry pass and tiny in comparison.

[Susann]

Yes Peter, you are right, I think I might have heard of something called "rain" Actually, I do believe we have an average of rain here in my valley, that is higher than in any spot in Scotland.

OK, lets leave our tropical belt for a while ( which is very nice by the way).  This one might be a little tricky, at least it was for me to find out what it was. I ask you to please excuse the bad picture. Butterflies does not always behave as nicely as Olga´s larvae.


@Athony, we are still waiting for the correct identification for the furry one!

[Peter Maguire]

I'm hampered by the fact that I'm currently at 'work' and have no identification book with me, but I'm going to say it's what we know in English as a White Admiral - Limenitis camilla. A somewhat faded form from late in the season.

By the way, if you are looking for a good website to help identification, I can recommend this one:
http://www.eurobutterflies.com/index.htm

[Anthony Darby]

I would say a tatty summer form of the map butterfly Araschnia levana. Tim identified the furry bee fly.

[Peter Maguire]

Oops, got that one wrong! 
It's one I've seen before as well.

[Susann]

Sorry Peter, Anthony was right. It is the summer generation -or 2nd generation- of Araschnia levana. It took me a while to understand the butterflies can look different not only because of the sex but also that one generation can differ from the next.

Thank you for the link, Peter. This far I have been able to do all the identifications thanks to our incredible government paid work of classifying all the flora and fauna existing in Sweden. They have discovered many new lifeforms while working on this project. Unfortunally the government decided this spring to not continue printing books, the rest- which is the mayor part- will be only in digital form.

you are teasing us with the furry fly (only one pair of wings) - Bombylius major? -

Dear Tim, I am so sorry, I totally missed your post! it was so short, usually you write long philosophical texts. Please excuse me. Bombylius is correct, the species I do not know. Actually it is not a Swedish one, the picture was shot in Czech Republic some years ago, in Mr Ota Vlasak´s garden. But we do have the genera here as well.

 Now I have run out of interesting pictures of insects. My last contribution will be this picture from Peter Korn´s garden, but it is not even photographed in July but in early spring.

I hope it is big enough to make all the frogs and their eggs visible?

[Mark Griffiths]

Went up to Bernwood Forest and saw one (or two) Purple Emperors. Didn't get a shot of the upper side but here is the underside

[Anthony Darby]

Looks like that was is a recent emergence, having overwintered as a caterpillar on that sallow bush.

[Mark Griffiths]

Anthony it was flying around (mainly the dog poo bins) and then going into the bushes. Not sure it it was a male or female, there was definately a male there but it's sometimes hard to work out if you are just seeing the same individual or not.

We saw about 30-40 silver washed frittilaries but sadly failed to see any White Admirals. They seem to be going through a bad time locally. Ironically it's now easier to find Purple Emperor's up at Bernwood than White Admirals it seems. We seem to have also lost the Wood Whites locally - I photographed several at a nearby site a few years ago and was dismayed to here they have now gone.

I'm learning not to take any butterfly for granted - even the small tortoiseshell is going /went through a bad time recently.

[Roma]

These were much easier to photograph than the damselflies.  I sat on the step at the back door and clicked the shutter when I heard a buzz.
Bumble bees - Bombus terrestris  (I think)

[Knud]

Nice pictures of the bumble bees, Roma. Interesting how one side of their entrance is cleared of 'debris', they must have a preferred direction of approach and take-off.

The bumble bees are easier to catch on camera than many other insects.  When they are as plentyful as they seem to be this year it is sometimes difficult to take pictures of a flower without getting one in it, as was the case with the one in the picture below. A bit surprising that there are so many, as they got off to a slow start after the cold and dry winter/early spring. Very few wasps, though, compared to an average year.

Knud 

[ranunculus]

Teucrium fruticans at Ness Gardens.

[illingworth]

An on line article from the New Yorker on the subject of bird egg collectors.  Some of you may find it of interest.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/07/22/130722fa_fact_rubinstein?currentPage=all

-Rob

[Anthony Darby]

Fascinating article. You must have had a time machine to get a copy as the date of the article is 22/7/13. 

[Maggi Young]

An on line article from the New Yorker on the subject of bird egg collectors.  Some of you may find it of interest.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2013/07/22/130722fa_fact_rubinstein?currentPage=all

-Rob

  Interesting, yes, and horrifying too. Extraordinary the obsession of these criminals.