Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: Roma on May 05, 2010, 10:51:15 PM
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I moan a lot about roe deer eating my plants, but it's sad to hear of them being injured on the road. My daughter, who lives near me heard a bang this morning about 7am and looked out to se a deer sitting on the road. She was going out to move it when a bus stopped and the driver got out to move it. She was getting dressed to go out and check it's condition when her neighbour across the road phoned to say it was on her patio. It was a heavily pregnant female and was bleeding badly from both ends. Yvonne phoned the vet but it had died before he came. It is not always possible to avoid hitting an animal but surely the driver who struck it could have at least moved it off the road.
Three weeks ago when driving home at nearly midnight a tawny owl flew into my car. I turned and went back to check its condition. It was lying at the side of the road. I wasn't sure whether to put it further off the road and leave it or take it home. I decided it was better to take it home and check for injuries so put it on the back seat of the car. By the time I got home it had recovered consciousness and was not wanting to be caught. I wanted to check it's wings and legs, but my husband opened the car and it flew off. I hope it found its way home.
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On Monday I followed a buff-tailed bumble bee (Bombus lapidarius) around the garden. It visited Aubrieta; Viola sp.; Vinca minor and finally Fritillaria meleagris.
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Following on from my earlier posting of the robin's eggs, I just got back from a trip to England and they have hatched.
It was not possible to photograph the four hatchlings without stressing them, but with a long lens, I managed to take this shot of one of them.
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Following on from my earlier posting of the robin's eggs, I just got back from a trip to England and they have hatched.
It was not possible to photograph the four hatchlings without stressing them, but with a long lens, I managed to take this shot of one of them.
Congratulations on the happy event - lovely picture too.
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swifts are back http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToqZSR-BGLg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToqZSR-BGLg)
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It's already May ;D
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/szia.jpg)
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I love all these wildlife pictures from around the world, so many animals and insects, arachnids and birds which I'd never see, otherwise. Specially like the black bumble bee, brightening up his life with a pair of orange knickers. ;D Many thanks to all who post pictures here.
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We call those Bumble bees "ginger bummed" can't think why their name is "buff", I though buff was neutral sort of beige colour?
Lesley, see this new thread for really big wildlife....
http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=5433.0
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Yes I think that heffalumps are FANTASTC and I hope we'll see many more of them on John's thread.
Perhaps the bumble is buff tailed as in "in the buff" or naked, the orange seeming naked compared to the black? :D
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Yes I think that heffalumps are FANTASTC and I hope we'll see many more of them on John's thread.
Perhaps the bumble is buff tailed as in "in the buff" or naked, the orange seeming naked compared to the black? :D
Ah, yes, that seems logical........... I'd never thought of un-frocking a bumble bee to find a little ginger body underneath!
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The Seasons on ITV just now is very interesting
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Yes I think that heffalumps are FANTASTC and I hope we'll see many more of them on John's thread.
Perhaps the bumble is buff tailed as in "in the buff" or naked, the orange seeming naked compared to the black? :D
Ah, yes, that seems logical........... I'd never thought of un-frocking a bumble bee to find a little ginger body underneath!
I must hold my hands up and say this confusing talk of things buff is because I have led yous astray. The Buff-tailed Bumble bee is Bombus terrestris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumblebee). My pics are of the Red-tailed Bumblebee. :-[ http://www.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk/bumblebees_id.htm
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Oh, Anthony, really! Tssk!
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Got my bumbee knickers the wrong way round. ;D
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Anthony,if a bumbee stung a bumbees bum what colour would the bumbees bum be? ;D
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I think it would bee colourful Michael. 8)
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(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/szitakt.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/szita.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/azira.jpg)
dragon fly on plant later identified as being a Sanguisorba.
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Oh, Erika- wonderful close up photos!! What is the plant?
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I bought a plant like a sort red flowering something ::) I will make a photo tomorrow, because i would like to know the mane too
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Brilliant dragonfly!
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Last night there was a fight between swifts, like a MMA competition, over ownership of a nest box at a house in Cookstown N Ireland. It lasted 40 minutes. Although we can't tell sexes apart males fight males and females fight females never each other.
Turn up the speaker loud enough to hear what's going on.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIUnY_a7sw4 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UIUnY_a7sw4)
Phil says - An unusual series of events in one of my nest boxes. A pair of swifts have laid an egg here, but today a third swift tried to move in. There are five parts:
1 - Intruder enters (or is the bird in the box the intruder?)
2 - Some time later it gets pushed out.
3 - And then comes back! At 21:07:30 a third swift enters the box.
4 - The three seem to have a truce, even preening eachother.
5 - After finding a spot at the far end of the box to roost, the swift suddenly gets pushed out at 11pm. It's pitch black outside.
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Don't think swifts have a problem flying in the dark Mark. 8)
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I agree but first it has to get up there and avoid trees and wires. They normally fly high soon after sunset
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Very few places are that dark Mark that they won't see objects.
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Here is the nameless plant the dragonfly was on:
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/ismere.jpg)
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Erika it looks like a Sanguisorba, probably officinalis.
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Thank you!
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I have created a MAY page and moved a couple of posts about the plant (Sanguisorba) that Erika's beautiful dargonfly was pictured on to the correct place. ;)
Sorry for not splitting the May posts off before now. :-[
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Erika, Sanguisorba minor will be more likely.
Wonderful wildlife pictures!
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Erika, Sanguisorba minor will be more likely.
Yes I think you're right Luit.
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I found a few pupae while re-potting bulbs and this moth hatched out of one!
[attachthumb=1]
Any idea whay it might be and is it likley to do damage to the bulbs?
cheers
fermi
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Looks like a geometrid of some kind Fermi. Possibly Oenochroma vinaria , the Pink Bellied moth? The caterpillars are called 'loopers' here and 'inch worms' (as in the Burl Ives song) in the USA. They munch the leaves of Grevillea, Banksia and Hakea spp., so not likely to damage bulbs.
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I hate mistakes in wildlife programmes. Two stupid mistakes on The Seasons.
froglets were actually toadlets - I think :-\
flying swans were spoonbills
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Looks like a geometrid of some kind Fermi. Possibly Oenochroma vinaria , the Pink Bellied moth? The caterpillars are called 'loopers' here and 'inch worms' (as in the Burl Ives song) in the USA. They munch the leaves of Grevillea, Banksia and Hakea spp., so not likely to damage bulbs.
Thanks, Anthony!
It makes sense as the pots were under a Hakea suavolens - how anything could eat its foliage is a mystery!
cheers
fermi
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rat catches a starling
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N5CtFEhM5k&feature=player_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1N5CtFEhM5k&feature=player_embedded)
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Seems like the starling flew away?
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oops wrong link. This one is pulled in
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6JPPQPezvE (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6JPPQPezvE)
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My goodness.
Saw my first Lily beetle yesterday on a Cardiocrinum seedling. :( A friend in Dunblane, coincidentally, produced another in a poly bag last night at a quiz night I was at. This is worrying: http://www.rhs.org.uk/science/plant-pests/lily-beetle
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A neighbour just called me over to see a spider in case it is not from here. I dont look closely at spiders but this one is different. The colour is dark orange with pale orange legs. The abdomen is tapered. The only photo I have is on the mobile phone. I'll take it off in a while
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I took a walk along the Antonine Wall across the road outside out school this morning. There are two oak trees on the south bank of the wall (ditch really) and several within touching distance in a row about 10-15 metres from the wall. One of the first two is heavily infested with oak apples (caused by the wasp Biorhiza pallida, many of which emerge from these spongy golf-ball sized structures). I can see none on any of the other oak trees.
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The spider
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Thought my fat balls were going real fast.
Angie :)
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The spider
How big is it Mark? Could be a male Coelotes atropos?
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dragon flies love my garden
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/szita-3.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/kk-9.jpg)
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A large red damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) and a male small blue damselfy (Coenagrion puella).
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how can you see it is a male? :o thank you anyway
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how can you see it is a male? :o thank you anyway
The female is mainly black with some green on it.
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years ago when i when i was a child i used to collect and preserve butterflies(not pc know)i would have given anything to have caught or even seen a grizzled skipper,while on my plants walks to two different locations i have noticed them in large numbers both sites being old coal spoil heaps that have been made into nature reserves now its a fantastic success story i will get some pics of them as soon as i can.
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thank you!! Now I could tell to my friend: it is a famele, this is a male ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Anthony the spider, now dead and thrown away, was less than two cm long.
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Anthony the spider, now dead and thrown away, was less than two cm long.
Sounds about right. Mind you, less than 2 cm covers most British spiders. Shame it died. :-\
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The New York Times has a nice article on tracking long-distance bird migration, here (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/25/science/25migrate.html).
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First Swift observation in Scandinavia, near Stockholm - this is early, I dont normally see my first for a month yet!
http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=481&year=2010&month=4 (http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=481&year=2010&month=4)
Still haven't seen a swift this year although there are a few spread sightings now in my area, expecting an influx tomorrow with temperature due to reach a dizzy 18C! Icterine and Sedge Warblers are also overdue, also late migrants.
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hi, since yesterday my turtles are in their natural home again, after the long cold winter...
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/Bild010-35.jpg?t=1274864021)
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/Bild011-29.jpg?t=1274864042)
here home ist very natural planted, with plants of the natural habitats in greece etc.
it´s a big preserve with very big lime stones at border...
cheers
chris
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We call those tortoises Christian.
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Wow they're beautiful, Christian, I love the nature reserve you have for them in your garden 8) How old are they? Are they male and female? I have only ever seen one living in a garden - this is like a sanctuary!!!!
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I think these posts should be in May's wildlife thread?
Edit by Maggi: Quite correct, Anthony.... now moved there!
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robin, four female, three male...
anthony, sorry......
cheers
chris
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What species Chris? I have a friend who breeds Tt. hermanni (hermanni and boettgeri), marginata and graeca.
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hi anthony,
mine are testudo hermanni boettgeri...a form from ex jugoslawia...i breed every year....
cheers
chris
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I have two female boettgeri and one male hermanni (grand parents from Mallorca). Thankfully two subspecies don't seem to want to breed together. I have been offered a male of one and a female of the other but not sure if breeding these fits in with my plans?
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anthony, all the testudo species can hybrid each other, that´s the problematic...you must seperate the hermanni, and boettgeri...
female breed at the eight year.....
cheers
chris
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I'll consult my friend Bob. Here's a pic of Pebl (female hermanni boettgeri) and Rocky (male h. hermanni), and a male Goliath beetle thrown in for good measure.
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anthony, fantastic, exspecially the goliath :D
cheers
chris
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Anthony that is one scary beetle :o
Every morning I have the same deer in my pony paddock. I think he has got used to me as he just stands and looks at me.
Angie :)
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I'll consult my friend Bob. Here's a pic of Pebl (female hermanni boettgeri) and Rocky (male h. hermanni), and a male Goliath beetle thrown in for good measure.
Anthony, you put a smile on my face :D with your two tortoise this morning.... what great action shots! Their shells have lovely clear markings and Bob too looks really smart - did he give sound advice? 8)
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Anthony that is one scary beetle :o
Every morning I have the same deer in my pony paddock. I think he has got used to me as he just stands and looks at me.
Angie :)
The moment when you look eye to eye is wonderful isn't it Angie 8) I love deer of all sorts although I know they can be a nuisance with trees and plants - does anyone hound us for what we eat :P :-\
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- does anyone hound us for what we eat :P :-\
My doctor and Luit van Delft hound me for what I eat, Robin....... :P
Though they say it's for my own good :-[
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- does anyone hound us for what we eat :P :-\
My doctor and Luit van Delft hound me for what I eat, Robin....... :P
Though they say it's for my own good :-[
;D ;D ;D
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- does anyone hound us for what we eat :P :-\
My doctor and Luit van Delft hound me for what I eat, Robin....... :P
Though they say it's for my own good :-[
My words still hound you Maggi ?
In that case it should be: My doctor Luit van Delft...... ;D ;D ;D :-*
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My words still hound you Maggi ?
In that case it should be: My doctor Luit van Delft...... ;D ;D ;D :-*
Oh, yes, Luit..... and your little reminders.......
I like the colour of the Cornus 'Sweetwater' too.... like crushed raspberrie s in cream ;)
What is the cream for……? ;D ;D ;D
::) :-X
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Robin, I have a pine wood two feet from my back door there are deer there all the time but since I no longer have my shetland ponies that deer has took over the pony paddock.
We have been here for 16years and at no time have I had a deer in my garden, but we are in the process of doing a vegtable garden so maybe it might be different next year.
I do love watching them and also there babies.
Angie :)
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Anthony do you let your tortoises hibernate?
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Hibernation should be compulsory for ALL European tortoises, even hatchlings, even if it is only for a couple of months. Mine have always been hibernated. This is what happens in nature and I would suggest anyone who tells you otherwise is wrong. This year, due to the cold, I placed their box full of shredded newspaper on a heat mat, which was connected to a thermostat, in a large orchid cabinet and set to 4oC. This was in the garage. The temperature never got as high as 10oC. A reptile incubator, which works to raise or lower temperature dependent on whether you are incubating or hibernating and set to 4oC, would be the ideal. In the past I have used a cardboard box inside a shredded paper-lined polystyrene tropical fish box on the floor of the greenhouse which was set to 4oC, but this year I set the GH on a frost stat. They were hibernated from the end of November to April, then I raised the temperature and switched the light on and kept them fed and watered inside until they were moved to their outside area in May.
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They were hibernated from the end of November to April, then I raised the temperature and switched the light on and kept them fed and watered inside until they were moved to their outside area in May.
[/quote]
Wish I was a tortoise and I could hibernate from Nov to April, then I could miss out our cold winter and think of it what a easy way of losing weight ::)
Angie :)
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hi, picture from may last year...the beginning of a new generation...
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/bildereigenergarten002-35.jpg?t=1274996487)
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/bildereigenergarten003-34.jpg?t=1274996515)
also in my garden, a big population...
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/bildereigenergarten003-35.jpg?t=1274996552)
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/bildereigenergarten006-19.jpg?t=1274996603)
in my xeric field...
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/bildereigenergarten012-3.jpg?t=1274996639)
cheers
chris
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Hi Chris,
Fantastic wildlife - however in the last photograph, the piece of timber at bottom could pass as an angry dragon or even a wild boar. Somewhat like the 'old Woman' sketch -let your imagination run wild!
Cheers srgs14
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hi, thanks...your right, looks like a dragon....
cheers
chris
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I found this skipper butterfly while i was walking the other day could somebody ID it for me please.
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I was visiting a friend in Charlottetown, PEI yesterday. He lives in a subdivsion. There were foxes everywhere. I finally decided to stop and take a picture. This fellow was sitting on a front lawn and stared while I focused in the extreme wind. I thought he'd run away but no, instead he curled up and had a nap.
johnw
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I found this skipper butterfly while i was walking the other day could somebody ID it for me please.
Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages), which has a strange distribution in Scotland: south west (Ayrshire, Dumfies & Galloway) and north east (Black Isle, Aberdeenshire, Moray coast).
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I found this skipper butterfly while i was walking the other day could somebody ID it for me please.
Dave,
It looks to me like a Dingy Skipper (Erynnis tages) - the underwing shot with the relatively plain markings is helpful here.
Whilst we're asking for help with identification, I came acroos this caterpillar last weekend when out photographing orchids. Found in a disused limestone quarry (now a nature resrve) in Co Durham, NE England. It's about 1.5ins/4 cms long - anyone able to hazard a guess as to waht it might be - Anthony?
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Peter will we see your orchid photos?
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Yes, Mark. I'm busy editing them now!
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Peter your caterpillar is a drinker (Philodoria potatoria).
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Thanks Anthony, I'm not terribly good with moth identification, there's just too many of them. :P
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hi, from today, testudo boetgeri in the sun...
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/Bild022-4.jpg?t=1275135145)
hard at work...
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/Bild021-6.jpg?t=1275135176)
the result....first eggs for this year....
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/Bild006-53.jpg?t=1275135217)
cheers
chris
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Do incubate the eggs Christian? I notice that 'X' marks the top, as the eggs need to stay in the same position.
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hi anthony, yes with an incubator...i collected the eggs, when all female are finished with breeding, i will incubate all the eggs...
cheers
chris
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Some dung beetles having a good time on a substantial deposit. They were flying in from all directions no doubt drawn by the smell which was eye watering.
One of them trying to roll a ball of dung up an almost vertical slope with no success
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Tony are you in the UK just now? I have only seen single dung beetles. I had a first last weekend when I saw my first cock chafer
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Tont are you in the UK just now? I have only seen single dung beetles. I had a first last weekend when I saw my first cock chafer
Mark I am at home but those pictures were taken on a mountain in northern Greece a couple of weeks ago. Some horses had gone up the road a little time before and dropped deposits every hundred yards or so. Each one was covered in beetles.It was a banquet.
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Here's a female orange tip (Anthocaris cardamines) resting on an aubrieta in the garden today.
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I see it is still cold enough in Dunblane for a girl to be wearing her fur coat, Anthony ;)
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(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/IMG_9190.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/bkar.jpg)
(http://i69.photobucket.com/albums/i76/arykana/szemek.jpg)
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arykana, lovely picture...looks so nice :D
cheers
chris
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I see it is still cold enough in Dunblane for a girl to be wearing her fur coat, Anthony ;)
Maggi, it was photographed yesterday lunch time and, even though the sun shone, it was so cold in the shade yesterday where the orange tip was that it was still there this morning.
Arykana, your toad is a green toad (Bufo viridis) and is not found in the UK.
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hi, a road runner herein germany ??? ;) ;D...
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/bildereigenergarten003-8.jpg?t=1275295073)
and the male...
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/bildereigenergarten001-8.jpg?t=1275295113)
i´ve marked them on paper, my father in-law, mould them about a sheet of metal....
cheers
chris
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Chris can I see a close of the dog in the background.. just being nosy.. like the road runner.
Angie :)
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angie, an mexican antique replica dog....
cheers
chris
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meep meep!
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Looks a bit like Grommit
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When the swifts arrive turn out the green house
Mark: Great excitement, swifts arrived in force here yesterday with a flock of some 200 seen over Trondheim... I guess they are finished breeding in southern Europe by now? What are we supposed to do with our green houses?
http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=481&year=2010&month=5 (http://www.artportalen.se/fennoscandia_birds.asp?speciesid=481&year=2010&month=5)
(Click "show map" for all swift records in Fennoscandia in May this year)
There are only a few breeding records further north than our area in Norway
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I think Mark is referring to the arrival of the swifts is the time he switches off his greenhouse heater? ???
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The sun?
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hi, looks pretty in sun 8)
(http://i610.photobucket.com/albums/tt188/yuccajoe/Bild003-64.jpg?t=1275395545)
cheers
chris
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It's a quote from ? and means when the swifts arrive it's time to empty the greenhouse of plants
Stephen have you thought about nest boxes? I put up six new nest boxes last year and have birds in them already.
Your swifts are not as far as we know north Africa or Israeli birds. Last year 9 Swedish birds left for Africa carrying a geolocater back pack. This is carried much the same as we carry a back pack except theirs is around their legs. Last year these finally became small enough, 1.5g, to be attached to swifts and similar sized birds. The geoloacter has a tiny light sensor on the tip that records sunrise and sunset every day. So far 5 of these birds have arrived back at their nest box colony and have had their back packs removed. The added weight didn't affect their weight and they arrived back in peak condition. It will take a while for the reseachers to work out where the swifts have been. Maybe northern European swifts breed further south first. Time will tell.
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It's a quote from ? and means when the swifts arrive it's time to empty the greenhouse of plants
Bedding plants? What other kind of plants would you take out during the summer? Certainly not bulbs or orchids.
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It's a quote from ? and means when the swifts arrive it's time to empty the greenhouse of plants
Stephen have you thought about nest boxes? I put up six new nest boxes last year and have birds in them already.
Your swifts are not as far as we know north Africa or Israeli birds. Last year 9 Swedish birds left for Africa carrying a geolocater back pack. This is carried much the same as we carry a back pack except theirs is around their legs. Last year these finally became small enough, 1.5g, to be attached to swifts and similar sized birds. The geoloacter has a tiny light sensor on the tip that records sunrise and sunset every day. So far 5 of these birds have arrived back at their nest box colony and have had their back packs removed. The added weight didn't affect their weight and they arrived back in peak condition. It will take a while for the reseachers to work out where the swifts have been. Maybe northern European swifts breed further south first. Time will tell.
Nest boxes: I put up a swift box up on my house over 25 years ago, it's still there and has never been used :( Likewise a House Martin next box I bought off the RSPB in the 80s.
I was inspired to put up a box when, as a member of the local RSPB or SOC group in Edinburgh, we had a field trip to the Borders (about 1979) including the Hirsel (the home of the Douglas-Hume family) – I remember the house being covered with occupied swift boxes… I haven’t thought of this for years. Googling the net now, I see that a certain design of Swift boxes are nowadays known as Hirsel boxes! See http://www.concernforswifts.com/Opportunities.asp
Satellite tracking: Yes, will be interesting to see where they’ve been (not hibernating at the bottom of a local pond?). The technology has certainly changed. I work as an oceanographer and we use satellite tracking to monitor our equipment and I remember scientists beginning to use the same system in the 80s to track first Whales and, then, sensationally, Albatrosses. I once provided wind and wave information following an Albatross to a group of scientists trying to interpret its satellite track in the Southern Ocean!
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It's a quote from ? and means when the swifts arrive it's time to empty the greenhouse of plants
Bedding plants? What other kind of plants would you take out during the summer? Certainly not bulbs or orchids.
Well, I actually do empty my greenhouse at this time of year. I grow a multitude of vegetables/ salad crops sown early April and over by the end of May/early June (Cress, Radishes, Mustard Greens, Rocket etc.) - they thrive in a cold greenhouse as they are all plants of Mediterranean origin liking cool conditions. They are chucked out about now and replaced by Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Yacon and other wierd and wonderful warmth loving vegetables... Good advice I say, Mark!
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Stephen we have learnt so much about swifts in recent years. They have difficulty finding hidden nest entrances but when they do they literally have practice runs to get in and out. What we think is obvious isn't to them.
The BTO crescent entrance is no longer the best type.
Swifts don't know your box is there until you tell them. PM me your address and I'll put the CD in the post for you
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Stephen we have learnt so much about swifts in recent years. They have difficulty finding hidden nest entrances but when they do they literally have practice runs to get in and out. What we think is obvious isn't to them.
The BTO crescent entrance is no longer the best type.
Swifts don't know your box is there until you tell them. PM me your address and I'll put the CD in the post for you
Thanks for the CD which arrived today. In the meantime, a pair of House Sparrows have taken up residence. Haven't seen a swift near my house this year yet, just in the town. Still very cold here and it hasn't reached 20C at all....