wildlife

[Roma]

Any ideas on this insect.  Looks like a wood wasp but smaller and doesn't seem to have any yellow on the body. I think the appendage at the rear is an ovipositor not a sting but did not pick it up to find out

[Roma]

I'm seeing lots of Peacock butterflies in the ponies' field just now. There are a few large patches of Devil's bit scabious (Succisa pratensis) which they love.  I counted 17 Peacocks and one Small tortoiseshell this afternoon.I see an occasional Red Admiral too.

Peacock



Small tortoiseshell

[ian mcdonald]

Roma, it could be a sawfly.

[Tristan_He]

Any ideas on this insect.  Looks like a wood wasp but smaller and doesn't seem to have any yellow on the body. I think the appendage at the rear is an ovipositor not a sting but did not pick it up to find out

Hi Roma, it's an ichneumon (you can tell from the narrow waist). There is a good guide here:
Guide to British Ichneumons.

Pimpla rufipes seems to match fairly well.

[Roma]

Thanks Tristan.  That does look like it.

[fermi de Sousa]

We're disappointed with the amount of grass sprouting in the gravel driveway so we've had some locals in to clean up some of the excess seed.

Neochmia temporalis

Red browed finch (AKA red bums)

cheers
fermi

[cohan]

Any ideas on this insect.  Looks like a wood wasp but smaller and doesn't seem to have any yellow on the body. I think the appendage at the rear is an ovipositor not a sting but did not pick it up to find out

(Attachment Link)

(Attachment Link)

Does look waspy.. we have many species of the tiny predatory sorts here, I haven't even tried to sort them out.. most also pollinate flowers at times.

[cohan]

We're disappointed with the amount of grass sprouting in the gravel driveway so we've had some locals in to clean up some of the excess seed.
(Attachment Link)
Neochmia temporalis
(Attachment Link)
Red browed finch (AKA red bums)
(Attachment Link)
cheers
fermi

That's a cute one!

[cohan]

Lucily no venomous spiders or scorpions in my area! Watched 72 Dangerous Animals- they have versions for various countries/regions, often rather over dramatised, but the one for Australia seemed especially worrisome...lol

[cohan]

Pheasants just outside the kitchen window today, between Showers.
(Attachment Link) 2 young on the left, female adults on the right
(Attachment Link) young.
The only remaining young from this years nest(s). 2 or 3 nests in 3 adjacent gardens, reduced by the local Red Kytes, Buzzards, Sparrow Hawks, or Foxes. A typical nest here has ~12 eggs, so not a good survival rate. The most we saw at any one time was 11 chicks.

hard to see them disappear as young, but I guess one would be overrun, otherwise.. same here for all small creatures- grouse, hares, squirrels-- all seem to maintain more or less stable populations , no doubt thanks to predators (hares are supposed to have natural fluctuations, but we are never overrun).

[fermi de Sousa]

I was alerted to the presence of the yellow tailed Black Cockatoos (Calyptorhynchus funereus) by their screeches from the top of the pine tree at the bottom of our garden.
At first two, then three then at least 5. Then as quickly as they arrived they were off.
Their powerful beaks have evolved to tear open banksia pods to get at the seeds so the cones of the Monterey Pine are no match. http://birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/Yellow-tailed-Black-Cockatoo
cheers
fermi

[brianw]

I have to live with Green necked Parakeets at times but the thought of a bird getting into the Banksia nut I have on the shelf takes some thought. Approx. 10" long by 3" diameter. Can I assume they attack them before they take on the properties of hardwood; i.e. the wood-turning stage?

[fermi de Sousa]

Hi Brian,
I think they could chew through concrete!
Those beaks are pretty fierce. They would have to wait till the seeds are ripe so the exterior of the cone would have hardened considerably,
cheers
fermi

[cohan]

Hi Brian,
I think they could chew through concrete!
Those beaks are pretty fierce. They would have to wait till the seeds are ripe so the exterior of the cone would have hardened considerably,
cheers
fermi

that's some serious beak power the most anything has to manage here is spruce cones, which you could break apart easily in your hands, and most of the seed just falls out, anyway.. the squirrels toss them down while they are green and closed so they don't lose the seed!

[Gerdk]

It seems wasps have a special fondness for ivy!

Gerd