Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: mark smyth on January 02, 2011, 01:12:50 PM
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some goldfinches at my feeders. Sorry for the poor quality the videos were taken through double glazing
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI3qYbvGSlU[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aJiMaD3qY0[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSDrYVa_bO8[/youtube]
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A while ago I saw a goldfinch doing something unusual. Because the chopped sunflower can stick the bird put it's beak in the feeding hole and shakes it's head. The same bird, I assume, kept coming to the same feeding point
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOQcz0sMi8I[/youtube]
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He looks greedy to me!
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Winter around here looks more "Tropical". Here are some pics of the Red-masked parakeet (Aratinga erythrogenys), the less common of the three species in the Parrot family now breeding "wild" in Spain. The three of them breed here in Valencia. The other two are: Monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus) with a population in our country over 1300 couples and increasing, and whose big, sometimes community nests are not rarely seen in palm trees , and the other one is the Ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri), with a fast, elegant flight. This one choses holes in trees for nesting, and has a population in Spain of over 250 couples. Red-masked parakeet choses also holes in trees, as you´ll see in pics. This is the seldom seen parakeet here, and this is the first time I have found a couple in an obvious breeding "state of mind". Mild temperatures (16/17ºC) seem to have warmed afections... Chosen tree is a Plane Tree (Platanus x hispanica).
Pictures are: the couple of red-masked parakeet inspecting two holes, and then the couple inspecting together both possibilities.
Last pic is a far Monk parakeet.
Sorry, pictures were taken in vertical and I haven´t been able to turn them up... :-[ >:(
Edit by Maggi..... those three pix have been turned the "right way up" by Mark and posted below :D
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native to S. America
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Juan, what other species of parakeet breeds in Spain? Rose-ringed/ring-necked?
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Hi Mark. In the text above the posted pictures I explain the three species breeding in Spain ::) ;D. The other two species are the Monk parakeet (Myiopsitta monachus), the most abundant, and yes, the Ring-necked parakeet (Psittacula krameri). Though I must admit it´s a great sight each time I can get near any of these species, one can never forget they are alien birds, with an increasing population. They are strong, competitive birds, and when fighting for holes to nest I think they will always win (mainly with shy Eurasian Scops Owl (Otus scops), and even the diverses bat species. When I was young, I remember hearing from home (I lived then in Valencia city) Scops owls singing endlessly in spring nights. It´s been a long since I heard the last one there: their distinctive mostly insect diet (as with bats, wich suffer same problem), makes them especially sensitive to insect-poisons, so widely/indiscriminately used in crops.
Pictures below are of a male Blackbird (Turdus merula) hidden among branches of a Sophora tree, and female on grass. Abundant, brave, great singers, native, impressive insect catcher in Spring and summer... What else can they be asked for?
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How strange to see butterflies and parrots in winter. :)
I am still feeding birds. Lots of snow and no natural food for them.
(http://cs10288.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_9d8867c5.jpg)
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Olga, just love your pic of the Nuthatch. Very different from the race that we get in Britain.
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Lovely photograph, Olga.
Also, unusual to see your photograph without a camera in front of your face!
Paddy
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Amazing bird and composition, Olga! I just love it!
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Gary, Paddy, Juan
Thank you! :)
Also, unusual to see your photograph without a camera in front of your face!
Think this image is better. :)
More Nuthatch. Just a few birds I saw today.
(http://cs10288.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_8d553fc7.jpg)
(http://cs10288.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_a196b8f6.jpg)
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Nice shots, Olga, I can't come so close to my nuthatches!
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Trond
Long focus lens could help you. :D
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Trond
Long focus lens could help you. :D
Yes I know, Olga, but my old zoom lens don't fit my new small camera :'(
All the cats have made the birds easily frightened too!
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Olga, your last picture of the Nuthatch! Great!
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Unfortunately, we don't have nuthatches in NE Scotland, but one of my childhood memories when living in W. Wales was of our bird table. We used to cut the crust off a whole loaf and put it upright on the bird table. The nuthatches (and other birds) would eat their way in from the top, leaving the crust as a shell, and eventually disappear right inside! It was comical to watch them disappear and then reappear when they had had their fill. It must have been protected from the rain, as I don't remember it going soggy and collapsing.
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Sadly no nuthatches here, too
Juan is that your greyhound?
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Yes, Mark: this is my male spanish greyhound, "López".
I´m posting in your "Plant hunting in Mallorca" thread... Wow! Great pics!
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Juan please show a photo of your dog here.
edit by Maggi : pix of Juan's canine family here : http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6476.15
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Howdy All,
I just realised we still had the old topic (and it is just SO last year!!), so thought I would start a new one.....
Here's a few pics I took at the Zoo here in Canberra the other day....
The first is a native bird called the Buff Banded Rail (we get them locally apparently, although I have never seen them in the wild)
The next pic is of a white lion (we have a pride of 6 male white lions here at the zoo) eyeing off a duckling entree swimming in the moat. ;D
And the last 4 pics are of another Aussie native, a Tawny Frogmouth. This one was hopping around on the ground, sitting in sun patches and I assume sunbathing, looking as much like a piece of fallen bark as I think it is possible for a bird to look like. :o The turning the head down like it did was even more creepy, but it was definitely keeping an eye out at the same time. ;) When these are sitting in trees they put their head up and look just like a broken branch. They perfectly camouflage into the wood and virtually disappear. I've seen these a few times locally... they are just so cool. 8)
Enjoy.
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I came across this Little Egret while doing a goose count at Loch Ryan. Although not a rare bird in Britain now, not many make it this far North - especially in Winter. If the snow had still been about it would have been invisible. Although it is a long time until Spring, there are signs already amongst the birdlife. We watched Eiders, Wigeons and Goldeneyes starting to display and our garden Blue Tits have acquired their new pristine plumage. Our garden Blackbird is already starting to get territorial with threat displays to any interlopers. Roll on Spring- and some warmer weather !
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Roll on Spring- and some warmer weather !
yes please especially the end of April when s-w-i-f-t-s come home
I saw a skein with about 30 geese this evening. Geese flying as the crows fly get further than man chasing them by car.
There's a snow goose in N Ireland http://nibirds.blogspot.com/ (http://nibirds.blogspot.com/)
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The Little Egret is really smart.... what perfect plumage for this time of year.... you'd think it's look a bit tatty, wouldn't you?
Perhaps spring isn't so far away after all? :-\
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The other day when out with the dogs we were delighted to see a huge number of geese... (actually in smaller groups close together but not a single skein, if you follow my meaning....)who flew over us very low. Much lower than usual and it was terrific to "feel" the fast speed they were travelling at... those are speedy birds!
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Tom,
We are lucky here to have had egrets along the river for the past few years, all year round and breeding, and there have been spoonbills along the coast recently. Also, I saw a Water Rail, believe it or not, on the road near the house recently.
More significantly, Bitterns were spotted on the south east coast in Co. Wexford. The Bittern has been extinct in Ireland for quite a long while and the last one seen in the country was shot here in a bog to the south of the town.
People of my age will be familiar with an Irish poem about the bittern which starts...
A bhonnán bhuí, is é mo léan do luí,
Is do chnámha sínte tar éis do ghrinn,
Is chan easba bidh ach díobháil dí
a d’fhág i do luí thú ar chúl do chinn….
In short, the poet is saddened to see the bittern, dead and concludes that it was not lack of food but lack of drink which was the cause. The poet was more than fond of drink. He was Cathal Buí Mac Ghiolla Ghunna. The "Buí" part of the name means, "yellow", a description of his skin colour, a result of his drinking.
Paddy
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Paddy
I think jaundice is a more proper translation for bui when drink plays a part !
I was counting Brent geese on Loch Ryan to report back to Wildfowl and Wetland Trusts people at Strangford Loch. Some of the Irish population are now overwintering over here in increasing numbers.
Maggi was commenting on the speed of the geese she saw flying by. Two years ago, a Barnacle Goose left Caerlaverock on the Solway Coast in the morning and was in Norway in the afternoon. It picked up a strong tail wind and was clocked at speeds between 80/90mph. by satellite tracking. Quicker than Ryanair and all that on 2Kg. of grass !!- ( not the smoking variety )
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"Jaundiced" would be the better word, indeed, Tom.
Amazing speeds for the geese.
Paddy
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I was telling a well known N Irish ringer about having linnets in the garden for the first time and they are feeding at the nyger feeders. "Linnets dont feed in small gardens and havent been recorded feeding from seed dispensers"
Is anyone getting linnets are seed feeders?
I tried to get video footage today but my mother kept swearing and shouting because I asked her to keep quiet for a couple of minutes.
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Yesterday I meant to ask the US forum members whats with the reports of flocks of birds and shoals of fish dying?
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Is this a good reason to ban NYE fireworks? Every year when I watch the round up from east to west birds can be seen flying
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12135380 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12135380)
In Belfast there used to be a winter roost of about 30,000 starlings under a bridge. 1999/2000 New Years Eve there was a huge firework display off a barge beside the bridge. The starlings panicked and left the roost. They were flying everywhere, hitting building and people. Those that survived abandoned the roost and moved to a bridge about a mile away.
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I'm not sure what is wackier, the weird story, or the cockamamie explanations accounting for why thousands of birds in Arkansas dropped dead simultaneously, littering a highway. So, I'm waiting to hear even more inventive explanations as to why the bizarre occurence repeats itself three days after in neighboring Louisiana where "nearly 5,000 birds fell from the sky, dying in mid-air". It's all rather weird.
http://www.internetbits.com/blackbird-rain-death-from-stress-and-trauma/56495/
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/06/birds-dying-in-italy-thou_n_805541.html?ir=World
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Mark,
You can have some of our starlings.... they're considered a pest in Australia, particularly in the crop areas. Flocks of thousands of them do a lot of damage.
McMark,
I can't access that first link unfortunately. The second link you gave linked to quite a few of the other reports as well. The US cases are quite scary, and even stranger in that the events were relatively close to each other? Has there been any real reason put forward as to why? As you say, there are a lot of possibilities, but most sound a bit far fetched?
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Do you think mail order bird food companies have wildlife as a priority. No way!
I used to buy kibbled sunflower hearts mail order from CJ Wild Foods. I now buy a bag of hearts and do my own.
They sell them for a £9.50 for 2.5kg plus £2.50 and that equals £120 for 22kg. I bough a full bag a of sunflower hearts yesterday for ...... and I hope my math is OK ..... £24
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McMark,
The second link you gave linked to quite a few of the other reports as well. The US cases are quite scary, and even stranger in that the events were relatively close to each other? Has there been any real reason put forward as to why? As you say, there are a lot of possibilities, but most sound a bit far fetched?
Exactly, the reasons cited thus far are so far fetched, not one plausible theory as to why thousands of birds suddenly die in the air at the same time and fall to the ground littering a highway. I don't know the answer, but I'm still waiting for any plausible theories.
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Ah, but the conspiracy theorists would say that it is clear evidence that (insert suitable country name here) is testing their new super weapons. ;)
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Continuing...
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Today I visited Moscow Botanic Garden. Lots of birds and some squirrels.
(http://cs11449.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_27216f08.jpg)
(http://cs11449.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_ab408b1c.jpg)
Jay likes bread most of all.
(http://cs11449.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_3843f78e.jpg)
My friend showed me pinus-sibirica-bird (kedrovka). It prefer peanuts!
(http://cs11449.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_1eef3c64.jpg)
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Great photos! Your pinus bird is a Nutcracker (Nucifraga caryocatactes)
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Yes thanks Mark. I was too lazy ti find it's latin name. :)
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Love the squirrel photos!
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Interesting that your red squirrels are grey Olga.
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I love those little squirrels
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Ducks wear dog masks ;D
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HkImzSgHpek/THN2ll_6a9I/AAAAAAAAEbY/RH-2rtBuR9w/s1600/XSVIy.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HkImzSgHpek/THN2ll_6a9I/AAAAAAAAEbY/RH-2rtBuR9w/s1600/XSVIy.jpg)
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anyway, it is a carnival season ;D
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My friend showed me pinus-sibirica-bird (kedrovka). It prefer peanuts!
Superb picture of the Nutcracker Olga!! I wonder which subspecies you have there? We have two subspecies in Norway. In the South of the country (mainly around Oslo) there's the "Thick-billed Nutcracker" or Nucifraga caryocatactes ssp caryocatactes (literal translation from the Norwegian) which is a shy mainly sedentary species, mainly seen when it is harvesting and hiding hazelnuts in the autumn. The other is ssp macrorhynchos, the "Siberian or Narrow-billed Nutcracker". Traditionally this was an irruptive species occurring in my area and elsewhere in the country only in years when its main food in Russia/Siberia which is Pinus cembra failed. In this part of Norway, Pinus cembra had been planted quite a lot as an ornamental in parks and large gardens in the 1970s.
When nutcrackers arrived here on the last large irruption about 10-years ago, they found that our area had a lot of Pinus cembra nuts available for the picking as the trees had by this time matured. They decided this time to stay and we've since that time had a small breeding population, although they are so shy in the breeding season only a few breeding sightings have been made. However, we now see the birds each autumn when they come down to the town to gather cembra pine nuts and hazel nuts! Every day you see a steady stream of birds as they fly 10km or more up into the woods from the cembra furu trees in the town - to store their nuts for winter provisions, some days up to 100 birds can be seen as a steady stream to and fro! My garden has natural Hazel trees and I therefore get Nutcrackers visiting in the autumn. There is also a small Pinus cembra plantation a couple of kilometres away and they must fly between the two sites as several Pinus cembra trees have arrived in my garden (“planted” by nutcrackers - Genuine WILDLIFE GARDENING - and I noticed the first cone a couple of years ago on my largest tree). So, this species is effectively spreading its food supply to make our area even more attractive..…
Olga mentions the Pinus sibirica bird (Pinus sibirica is I believe synonymous with P. cembra ssp sibirica Correction: I now see that P. sibirica is recognised as a separate species; not sure which it is we have - they are separated by the seed having a wing or not - have to get to a seed before a Nutcracker!). I’ve never been able to get close enough to them to get pictures though shy birds!
Here's a couple of pictures of my Pinus cembra getting to the reproductive stage and the first nut which I'm pretty sure the Nutcrackers made off with...
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Interesting that your red squirrels are grey Olga.
I see the odd grey one here too. They vary enormously in colour (have also seen almost black ones - I think they are darker when younger). In some areas, the adults are almost all grey..
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I wonder which subspecies you have there?
We don't have Nutcrackers here. Sometimes birds come from north area and stay for some time. My friend make images of birds for many years. At the last time he saw Nutcracker in Moscow in 2004. The bird we photographed is alone. It has stood at Botanic garden since November.
they found that our area had a lot of Pinus cembra nuts available for the picking as the trees had by this time matured. They decided this time to stay
There are some Siberia pines at BG and some other places in Moscow. But not so much to feed birds. Interesting the bird prefer peanuts when has a choice. It’s breakfast: :)
(http://cs11449.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_710ca7e7.jpg)
Many wildlife photographers go to make images if the bird and to feed it.
I now see that P. sibirica is recognised as a separate species
Yes. But could you see the differences? I couldn’t. :)
Here's a couple of pictures of my Pinus cembra getting to the reproductive stage and the first nut
Pretty young cones!
I do not have species P. cembra or sibirica, only some WB grafts. Some of them should produce early cones but I still waiting.
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We don't have Nutcrackers here. Sometimes birds come from north area and stay for some time. My friend make images of birds for many years. At the last time he saw Nutcracker in Moscow in 2004. The bird we photographed is alone. It has stood at Botanic garden since November.
I saw a single nutcracker once in my life in our municipal park more than fifty years ago (!). It was an unforgettable sight because the bird had nearly any flight initiation distance. So I was able to watch him calmly. Obviously it was a specimen of the Siberian subspecies.
Gerd
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I have seen nutcrackers on several occasions when the nut crop fail (we call the "nuts" of Siberian pine "russenøtter" = "Russian nuts" from the pomor trade) but not recently. I don't think they stay here in summer as it is few Siberian or cembra pines here - but lots of hazel though. Maybe they'll come this winter?
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Interesting that your red squirrels are grey Olga.
I see the odd grey one here too. They vary enormously in color (have also seen almost black ones - I think they are darker when younger). In some areas, the adults are almost all grey..
Anthony, Stephen, I don't know what to say. ::) This squirrel looks usual as for me (of course I am far from zoology). Here are some squirrels from different Moscow places and different times:
(http://cs1758.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/45874243/x_664e6cab.jpg)
(http://cs1680.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/92164489/x_a4577c70.jpg)
(http://cs1864.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/95825191/x_2d329b11.jpg)
(http://cs311.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_4be821c0.jpg)
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Those little tufty ears are just SO cute. ;D
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Olga: To explain. In the UK, there are Red Squirrels (a native species) and Grey Squirrels (introduced species). There are nowadays many more greys than reds in the UK. I guess most people think of red squirrels being "red". However, even UK Red squirrels are sometimes grey it seems (see http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/redsquirrel (http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/redsquirrel) )
..and, yes, some excellent pictures showing the variation in colour! Perhaps the darker animals are youngsters?
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Love the photographs, Olga, especially the last two. Paddy
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quote author=Juan Fornes link=topic=6484.msg179461#msg179461 date=1294833405 :
"- Tom: beautiful pic of your Little Egret. Such a pristine look!
- Olga, great pics as always! Nutcrackers are very seldom seen in my country: very few individuals in extremely cold winters. Such a pity, as it is a very beautiful bird indeed. And the squirrels, lovely. In Spain we have three subespecies of Red Squirrel, and the subsp. alpina, wich inhabits high nountains chains in the north (Pirineos and Montes Cantabricos mainly) also get a very grey colour in winter. Thank you for sharing all those beauties!
- Mark: I send a picture of my complete "Gardening Team" as requested. **"
** Edit by maggi... I have moved Juan beautifulDogs to the new Doggy Friends pages: http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6476.15
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Olga - I notice in your lovely squirrel pictures the variation between them, in particular one has rounded ears whereas the others have tufted ears. Is the one with rounded ears a different species from the others?
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Stephen, your red squirrels are really RED! I’ve never seen such color here. I think they change color seasonably. I read we have only one squirrel’s species. And it is variable in color.
Maureen, you are very observant! I think the one with rounded ears is changing its fur from summer to winter. May be it lost his ear brushes temporary?
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Wake up, wake up little sparrow
Don't make your home out in the snow...
(http://cs4743.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/97713647/x_6fd2bac1.jpg)
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Nice tree sparrows, Passer montanus, Olga
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Olga,
very nice pictures indeed! The sparrow is familiar! It is one of the commoner here in my garden where I feed the birds. But I can't picture them like that.
The squirrels are beautiful too, here they steal nuts from the birds, however, I let them do it! They are mostly brown only with some grey hue.
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Olga, that poor sparrow is saying, "Oh my God, it's freezing here."
Paddy
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The first recorded breeding of Tree Sparrow in my area (Trøndelag) was in my garden in 1995! 15 years on and it is quite a common breeding species in the agricultural areas around the fjord..
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The first recorded breeding of Tree Sparrow in my area (Trøndelag) was in my garden in 1995! 15 years on and it is quite a common breeding species in the agricultural areas around the fjord..
Congratulations! How did you persuade them?
I have seen neither tree sparrow nor house sparrow nesting here, but I suppose they do as there are huge flocks in winter.
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Olga, that poor sparrow is saying, "Oh my God, it's freezing here."
Paddy
Paddy,
I think you may have cleaned up a little what the sparrow is ACTUALLY saying. ;D :o
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After all, Paul, it is a public forum. Some restraint is needed.
Paddy
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Congratulations! How did you persuade them?
I might talk to my plants, but my neighbours would really begin to wonder if they saw me striking up a conversation with a Tree Sparrow... ;)
It came as a big surprise when they started nesting as I'd only seen them a couple of times previously. Tree sparrows use next boxes and I had a couple of vacant boxes and they obviously liked what they saw!
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Birds in Romania die from alcohol poisoning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12170571 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12170571)
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Birds in Romania die from alcohol poisoning
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12170571 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/12170571)
That makes sense!
I have seen drunk waxwings! They couldn't flysteady at all but collided with everything. Some of them got killed.
Leftover berries often start fermenting after the first autumn frost. Birds seem to prefere eating such food!
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Lots of dead frogs in my pond as the ice thaws. :'(
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Lots of dead frogs in my pond as the ice thaws. :'(
Anne,
you showed us a photo some time ago of the frogs under the ice which was surprising but to find lots dead seems very strange given that the weather was consistently freezing. I could understand it if there had been a mild period that had brought them out of hibernation and then a sudden freeze. Do you have any thought on the situation.
The first Ladybird of the year seen at lunch time today.
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No, I was wondering if anyone else had. I tried to keep a hole open in the ice most of the time for the birds, and the frogs seemed to come to it. Was the temporary localised warming disturbing them? I can't think it would have reached animals more than a few cm away. Also, I don't think there would have been significant oxygen depletion or build up of toxic gases at that kind of temperature. We've never had such thick ice in the pond before. What would happen if it froze right down to the bottom?
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Ponds here are live with frogs in the spring and in the fall but I have never seen any dead due to frost. However, scores are massacred by cars in the spring when they cross the road.
Have your frogs been squeezed from the icesheet?
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Isn't there a virus killing a lot of frogs in the UK?
Normally they would just burrow into the pond mud and hibernate.
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Out on a cross-country ski today and a shrew tried to commit suicide by crossing the ski track just ahead of me. I snowploughed and saved its life. Do I get a medal? :) This reminded me that years ago I found a decapitated lemming beside the ski track (lemmings are known of course for their suicidal tendency, but deliberately putting its head over the ski track.....? ;) )
When out skiing recently, I'd noticed that there were a lot of mouseprints in the snow and it should therefore be a good year for owls. Our commonest owl is the Tengmalm's Owl and it's already been heard singing this year. Also a Great Grey Shrike was spotted a week ago near where I ski. I've only ever seen them in winter along the coast including once in the garden.
The shrew in the picture was found in my potato cellar.
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Isn't there a virus killing a lot of frogs in the UK?
Normally they would just burrow into the pond mud and hibernate.
If they have mud to dig into - if I remember right, the pictures showed a rocky bottom!
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Are you skiing, stephen? Here almost all the snow has melted, +8C last night and rain, rain, rain.
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Any ideas what this is. Feasting on Hymenocallis
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That could be the answer! The frogs made a mistake choosing a mudless pond...
Yes, it's the best year I can remember for skiing with about 1m snow only 10 minutes drive from the fjord. Went out twice at the weekend and did about 30 km together. However, it was a bit strange skiing in drizzle today (plus two) and difficult waxing conditions..
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Any ideas what this little fellow is.
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These four bellbirds have been having a liquid lunch. We put sugar and water in 3 different upended bottles, small holes in the tops.
[attachthumb=1]
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No, the photos were on the 'beach', there is a deep layer of mud in the bottom.
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Are they nturally nectar feeders?
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Yes they are Mark, specially from native plants like the flaxes (Phormium species) but also from many Australian trees and shrubs. They're also fond of the nectar from Salvias (I've had a dozen bellbirds at a time on the S. confertiflora that knocks against my kitchen window) or anything they can get their feathery tongues into. The song is glorious too, somewhere between a clarinet and a very pure, mid-range bell. Different populations have different songs.
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Nothing quite as exciting as bellbirds here, Lesley - just a couple of bugs! But 2 I haven't seen before and I wonder if someone can identify them for me.
The first might be some sort of "Assassin Bug" as it has an "Elm-Leaf beetle" impaled on its proboscis!
[attachthumb=1]
The second is sort of like a beige version of a Harlequin bug but on steroids as it's about 3cm in length! It has a distinctive "X" on its back and appears orange when in flight.
[attachthumb=2]
cheers
fermi
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The second one looks a bit mediaeval Fermi, maybe off to take part in a crusade, or perhaps to shine at Agincourt. Sorry, I've been reading Bernard Cornwall. Whatever, a real bug....er?
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Any ideas what this is. Feasting on Hymenocallis
Arnold: looks like your caterpillar is Xanthopastis timais, called Spanish moth (although it doesn´t live here in my country ::)) We do have a very similar one, Brythis crini: it also feeds on amarylidaceae, Pancratium maritimum.
- Lesley: your bellbirds are :o Such a show at home!
- Mark: I love your birds at the zoo! Tawny frogmouth must be almost impossible to see in the wild with its perfect camouflage! Lucky you!
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Paul:
Thanks, I also thought that's what it was.
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Arnold,
I think you may have meant Juan, not Paul in your last posting?
There is a discussion of what sounds like exactly your caterpillar, currently taking place on the PBS forum. Once consensus is reached I'll share any names info here. Apparently someone has had thousands of local Hymenocallis wiped out by a caterpillar that matches the description of yours. So far the main thing suggested has been Xanthopastis timais, just as Juan suggested. 8)
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What a fabulous bug, Fermi! I like bugs. Never seen one that size though.
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Fermi your second bug is a shield bug. They are sap suckers.
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A Collared dove (Streptopelia decaocto), a widespread bird but the pic, although not too good, might be interesting for the early of the breeding season (in fact it can breed almost 12 months a year here). Unknown before ´60s in Spain, it was first recorded in 1960, and the first record of breeding is as late as 1974. It´s thought to be in Balearic and Canary Islands from 90´s. Now it is very widespread in almost the whole country, but mainly in coastal places. Nest is located on a very tall Chorisia speciosa.
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nesting early and very exposed. They are now in the USA and spreading http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/eudove.htm (http://www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/eudove.htm)
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The collared dove even nests in northern Norway! But I don't think they breed in the winter season ;)
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Amazingly adaptable bird able to cope with anything from Florida to the Arctic (observations here north to 69N)! It arrived in my area in the 1970s, but began to decline again in the 1990s. It's still seen around in a few places, but it's some years now since I've seen one.
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I dont know where to put to put this but thought here would be OK. It is nature.
I read this in a mens magazine.
Blue eyed men are more likely to have blue eyed wives/girlfiends. No mention of men with male partners.
I Googled it and found this http://www.wellsphere.com/general-medicine-article/blue-eyed-men-prefer-blue-eyed-women/342758 (http://www.wellsphere.com/general-medicine-article/blue-eyed-men-prefer-blue-eyed-women/342758)
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Well, Mark: I think theory exposed in the link is quite twisted (has this sense in english also?). Gay couples shouldn´t follow this theory, as no son/daughters from both parents can be expected (well, unless extra twisted-minded!). I´m brown eyed and so is my partner, so I can´t tell you. We´ve been living together for more than 21 years, so maybe a theory could be exposed: "Do Brown-eyed couples last longer than hetero-eyed" :) or furhter: "Homo-eyed against hetero-eyed couples: who last longer?" ;D I see a potential film here: "Blue eye Gentlemen prefer dark eyed women, but marry blue eyed ones"
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Well, Mark: I think theory exposed in the link is quite twisted (has this sense in english also?). Gay couples shouldn´t follow this theory, as no son/daughters from both parents can be expected (well, unless extra twisted-minded!). I´m brown eyed and so is my partner, so I can´t tell you. We´ve been living together for more than 21 years, so maybe a theory could be exposed: "Do Brown-eyed couples last longer than hetero-eyed" :) or furhter: "Homo-eyed against hetero-eyed couples: who last longer?" ;D I see a potential film here: "Blue eye Gentlemen prefer dark eyed women, but marry blue eyed ones"
This could all be great fun.... but we must take a modern twist into account... it is possible now to have coloured contact leneses to change the look of one's eye colour...... who might be cheating with this ? ;D ;D
Anyone know what colour eyes Elton John, David Furnish and their new son have?
Elton John bought his hair.... maybe he bought his eye colour, also. :-X
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bird trapping in Cyprus is at an all time high :'(
http://migration.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/final-trapping-report-autumn-2010.pdf (http://migration.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/final-trapping-report-autumn-2010.pdf)
One person made a comment that says
"What surprises me is that the locals haven't picked up on the fact of poor male performance and high sterility rates in people who eat them, caused by radiation pollution picked up by the birds on their breeding grounds around Chernobyl. Contamination from the recent Hungarian mining waste pollution incident is also implicated."
Good news
Following the cessation of shooting migrating birds in Malta common swifts bred for the first time in many years http://www.swift-conservation.org/news.htm (http://www.swift-conservation.org/news.htm)
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This could all be great fun.... but we must take a modern twist into account... it is possible now to have coloured contact leneses to change the look of one's eye colour...... who might be cheating with this ? ;D ;D
;D ;D ;Dbird trapping in Cyprus is at an all time high :'(
http://migration.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/final-trapping-report-autumn-2010.pdf (http://migration.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/final-trapping-report-autumn-2010.pdf)
One person made a comment that says
"What surprises me is that the locals haven't picked up on the fact of poor male performance and high sterility rates in people who eat them, caused by radiation pollution picked up by the birds on their breeding grounds around Chernobyl. Contamination from the recent Hungarian mining waste pollution incident is also implicated."
Good news
Following the cessation of shooting migrating birds in Malta common swifts bred for the first time in many years http://www.swift-conservation.org/news.htm (http://www.swift-conservation.org/news.htm)
well done for the swifts! Terrible news from Cyprus, though. These middle mediterranean islands, such blessed resting stops for migrating birds, becoming deathful traps and just because of human´s rapine...
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I went to the local shop a couple of days ago. When I got back this was lying at the door :'(
http://saveourswifts.co.uk/goldfinch.htm (http://saveourswifts.co.uk/goldfinch.htm)
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Sadly I'm editing photos of another bird that hit the window. Here's a clue
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goldfinch and redpole mark i could be wrong though
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You are correct. The link shows 15 photos from lots of angles of the goldfinch. The redpoll has died
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such a shame Mark, they truly are feathered jewels,i think i have never been that close to a redpoll(notice i spelt it right this time).As a kid i would of put those dead birds at the bottom off the garden for the flies to lay there eggs and for the maggots to strip there meat and then i would bleach the skull,i had a collection of bird skulls as well as small mammals.
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LOL I didnt notice
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Ducks wear dog masks ;D
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HkImzSgHpek/THN2ll_6a9I/AAAAAAAAEbY/RH-2rtBuR9w/s1600/XSVIy.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_HkImzSgHpek/THN2ll_6a9I/AAAAAAAAEbY/RH-2rtBuR9w/s1600/XSVIy.jpg)
The one on the lower left looks distinctly foxy. ;)
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Mark, sounds as if you regularly have birds hitting the windows. Have you ever tried those black paper kestrel-shaped silhouettes to hang in the windows and put the birds off? Or more importantly, have you ever heard from anyone who has proved that they work?
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A glass manufacturing company in our region offers an innovative new coated
glass which really prevents birds from flying against it. Normal glass is invisible
for them and the usual silhouettes of big birds glued at these pains are not
useful at all. More information under www.ornilux.de
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Bird stickers in the windows to deter birds flying into same do not work for me. Worst time is during the breeding season when adults are working flat out and less careful. Also fledglings are very vulnerable, woodpeckers in particular. I always disable the window settings on the burglar alarm at this time of year after the embarrassment of having it set off by a woodpecker at 7.30 am on a Sunday when away from home. Neighbour was not best pleased!
Had the thrill of watching a goldcrest in my Chamaecyparis lawsoniana erecta viridis today. It spent a long time disappearing in and out of the dense vegetation which is no doubt rich in creepy-crawly pickings inside. No chance of photos, it is such a furtive little bird.
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Just realised my series of repoll photos are missing ??? Did I post them in the wrong place? ???
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redpoll
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Just realised my series of repoll photos are missing ??? Did I post them in the wrong place? ???
You said you were editing them, Mark, but you haven't posted them before now.
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I must be losing my mind
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A glass manufacturing company in our region offers an innovative new coated
glass which really prevents birds from flying against it. Normal glass is invisible
for them and the usual silhouettes of big birds glued at these pains are not
useful at all. More information under www.ornilux.de
This is one of my excuses for not cleaning my windows as often as I should ::) ;D my windows have there own coating. Joking apart I get a lot of birds flying into my windows I act fast when this happens as I have seen the magpies and the crows pick up these little chaps up before they come around. I put them in a tea towel and leave them on my utility room until the come around.
Just thinking maybe if my windows were polished and shiny they might not fly into them so much, who knows.
Angie :)
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Mark - I thought that you may find this interesting; http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/01/carnivorous-plant-feasts-on-bat-.html?ref=ra
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Thanks very much.
The banana pipistrelle does something similar except the plant doesnt benefit. It roosts in the tubes created by new banana leaves. How does it hang on? It has suckers on its thumbs
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Here are a pair of Cardinals feasting on seed heads of a Clematis paniculata ( autumn flowering) which I have rambling over a box
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Oh, that's snow in the background. We're expecting 8 to 10 inches today
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Oh, that's snow in the background. We're expecting 8 to 10 inches today
Smart Cardinals the snow makes a good background for the photos.... but, Arnold, please keep that snow, and any more you get, to yourself. :-X
I wouldn't have thought that clematis seed were especially nutritious, being often fairly "skinny" looking sort of things, but I suppose in that weather those birds are just glad to find a meal above the white stuff.
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Maggi:
I guess it's the volume of seeds that are an attraction as well. In the fall it's a sheer blanket of fragrant white blooms.
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The cardinals are really beautiful Arnold and I wish them full tummies through the winter but the clematis is not C. paniculata. I don't know where to look for the information but there was a American species given this name at one time when the true species is evergreen, spring flowering and a native of New Zealand. I don't remember what the American species is properly called. I'll try Google. Ours was called C. indivisa at one stage.
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The American plant is apparently Clematis terniflora, an Asian native, naturalized (and invasive) in the USA, just as C. vitalba (the Old Man's Beard') is here. Google seems in doubt about C. paniculata, saying aka terniflora for the plant you have but also saying aka indivisa for our plant. The NZ Flora gives paniculata as correct and indivisa as an invalid synonym.
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Lesley, you're correct. It grows like a weed. Sometimes reaches twenty feet growth in one season. I usually trim back to a five foot length.
Also hold the Box together during snow falls.
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Arnold: beautiful couple of cardinals. That white sorrounding makes them look even nicer, but also kind of helpless...
Mark - I thought that you may find this interesting; http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/01/carnivorous-plant-feasts-on-bat-.html?ref=ra
Very interesting mutualism! Looking dangerous for the bat, but surely worth for him! Well, for both of the associated species!Thanks very much.
The banana pipistrelle does something similar except the plant doesnt benefit. It roosts in the tubes created by new banana leaves. How does it hang on? It has suckers on its thumbs
Mark. I remeber when visiting Costa Rica we always searches for the new, rolled leaves of Heliconia plants. We could often find bats, but any surprise could appear: spiders, insects. Pictues shown are from my last journey there in 2007. You can see bats, grasshopper and spider hidding. Costa Rica simply seduced me: nature was so amazing I never got tired of taking pictures and each journey I took there just made me want for more...
I´m posting also two videos: one is the couple of Aratinga erythrogenys breeding wild in Valencia, and the other, the show of the sterlings (Sturnus vulgaris) coming to roos in Valencia (at the end of the video, birds can see looking for places to "land" among the leaves)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SJfYaKwtrI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjqPlTtIyIU
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Thanks Juan. I will look at your videos soon.
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A turnstone Arenaria interpres - a small brown, black and white shoreline wader - has flown a migration trip of 27,000km / 18,000 miles twice
http://www.birdlife.org/community/2011/01/ruddy-hell-turnstone-flies-27000-kms-%e2%80%93-twice/ (http://www.birdlife.org/community/2011/01/ruddy-hell-turnstone-flies-27000-kms-%e2%80%93-twice/)
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If nearby there is forage Erithacus rubecula does not depart on the south, this birdie lives probably not bad. :)
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This bird is number 1 favourite in the UK
The bird that lives in my garden now has a new boy or girlfriend.
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I'm sure some of you have read or heard about a Latvian slaty-backed gull that is the first record for the species in the UK
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I know them so well, Mark. Six appeared in my garden yesterday for the RSPB big garden birdwatch event. ;)
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There's a robin red breast inthe Scottish news at the minute, he's inside a supermarket. It's a little one just along the road from me. No surprise to see pigeons or other birds in the bigger giant sized supermarkets... the last time I was in the nearby ASDA there were two male blackbirds perched in the rafters singing at each other... but this 'supermarket' is not much bigger than a corner shop.... so smaller entrances for the robin to have flown in through.... quite brave of him really.
Ian was across at the shop this morning and the place was seething with news crews, radio and tv, to see the bird.
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and a robin living in a church. My local ASDA have a wagtail and a blackbird. Both went in during the heavy snow in December
I think it was Wyevale garden centre who were in the news a year or two agofor shooting all birds that enetered their stores.
Anne was it slaty-backed gulls you had? ;D
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Mark
I may be wrong but I thought in respect of Robins you could tell apart because only males sing in the spring.
In respect of the Slaty-backed Gull I think it was called Latvian Slaty-backed Gull because there was a first sighting in Latvia of the first western hemisphere tick. However, the S-b Gull species overlaps with Herring Gull and hybrids are known.
Frazer
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Male and female robins sing during the winter. I must check my two tomorrow but I think one has a flat head and the other is rounded
I'm confused now about the gull ???
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This is the map showing where the turnstone flew. On one trip it flew non stop for 7 days! :o
http://www.birdlife.org/community/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Screen-shot-2011-01-31-at-08.27.27.png (http://www.birdlife.org/community/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Screen-shot-2011-01-31-at-08.27.27.png)
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This is the map showing where the turnstone flew. On one trip it flew non stop for 7 days! :o
http://www.birdlife.org/community/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Screen-shot-2011-01-31-at-08.27.27.png (http://www.birdlife.org/community/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Screen-shot-2011-01-31-at-08.27.27.png)
Interesting, Mark! In my eyes, this is truly one of the wonders of the world! I remember a Godwit having performed the same feat a couple of years ago - here it is http://www.microwavetelemetry.com/newsletters/winter07page5.pdf (http://www.microwavetelemetry.com/newsletters/winter07page5.pdf)