Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: daveyp1970 on June 01, 2011, 10:01:33 PM
-
Just a couple to start June with.
1 shield bugs enjoying the sun.
2 skipper
3 Damselfly
-
Are you sure it's the sun those shield bugs are enjoying?
-
Fred! :o :o I was hoping to gloss over that part..... :-X
-
It wasn't me.... I'm innocent.... honest
-
you two ;D ;D yes i think they are doing the deed,i hope they have used protection otherwise they will be on Jeremy kyle ;D
-
swifts - beginners luck. Only 8 days to attract a pair of swifts
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9zDElImhqQ[/youtube]
-
follow migrating cuckoos
http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking (http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking)
-
Interesting, Mark! Let us know later where they end up...
-
Each Cuckoo has it's own blog
http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking/meet-cuckoos (http://www.bto.org/science/migration/tracking-studies/cuckoo-tracking/meet-cuckoos)
-
Took the children to Waitomo caves on a less-than-half-price three cave deal with Treatme Auckland. Each cave is different, but they all have amazing stalactites and stalagmites. We saw glowworms in the first cave we went to. This was Ruakuri cave and walking in pitch dark was quite unnerving. No river in the Aranui cave so no glowworms there, but we did see cave wetas, which have a span greater than my outstretched fingers. The female is the right hand one. They are only found less than 20 metres from cave entrances. I admit I didn't take the pic of the mass of glowworms in the last cave as no photography in that cave is allowed, but our guide was the great granddaughter of one of the glowworm cave's two discoverers. The gentle boat ride in the dark at the end, with the cave roof looking like a million stars is one of those sights that everyone must see. It will stay with me and I'll definitely be back.
-
The picture of the glowworm cave gives me yet another reason to travel to New Zealand.
One day, perhaps, when work doesn't get in the way.... ;)
-
Them wetas are INCREDIBLE! you are sooooo lucky Anthony.
-
Just a few pictures from my frogs in the pond ....
-
Lovely pictures Kris, I've never seen them that close with inflated vocal sacs before.
-
Lovely pictures Kris, I've never seen them that close with inflated vocal sacs before.
Thanks Peter , it was not that easy to take the pictures and I still feel it in my bones ...You need a lot of luck too.
Also had a lot of pictures that are not worth to show , only a few are good anough.
-
any time I try to watch singing frogs they stop or jump away
-
I remember listening to singing frogs at a restaurant in Jamaica. The waiter told me they were crickets. He'd clearly never seen them singing either.
-
Mark: Saw my first swifts from home today, but I'm going away for a few days now... :'(
-
There will be plenty of time when you get back. On your return play it loud all day if you can or early morning, lunch, late eveing and last few hours before dark
-
I was taken tonight to a secret location to see three species of birds. Two would be a tick/first for me.
As soon as we arrived we had stunning views of a whinchat Saxicola rubetra with a beakfull of food for chicks http://birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=search&sp=130140&rty=0&r=1&v=0&off=306274 (http://birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=search&sp=130140&rty=0&r=1&v=0&off=306274) a couple of meters away. We then saw it's mate on a post. The link shows one of the birds I saw
We had given up on the second bird which would have been a first for me - the male I have never seen. Just as we were about to leave one came literally floating by. A male hen harrier Circus cyaneus http://birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=search&sp=30083&rty=0&r=1&v=0&off=296616 (http://birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=search&sp=30083&rty=0&r=1&v=0&off=296616)
The long-eared owl didnt show
-
Could somebody I.d this insect for me it was on the bottom of one of my pots,i think it's a fly larva of some sort.
-
looks like a hoverfly larva
-
On a hosta ...
-
Could somebody I.d this insect for me it was on the bottom of one of my pots,i think it's a fly larva of some sort.
You don't have any oak trees nearby Davey? Looks very like a hairstreak larva? If it's not slightly furry it won't be. How big was it?
-
Hope nobody minds but since I have never posted pictures before a little practice run would be nice . Not too many flowers here at the moment so I will try some wildlife pics taken earlier this year . Both are introduced animals to New Zealand and both do significant damage to our flora and fauna . Alien vs Predator
-
That's what practicing is for . Now I will try the other four pictures after I have had a wee think . What a ning nong
-
OK . Second attempt . Everything is so hard you have an IQ less than ambient room temperature
-
OK . Second attempt . Everything is so hard you have an IQ less than ambient room temperature
It is winter there Steve! :D Congratulations on posting the first of many images ... NZ buttercups next please?
-
Just for you Cliff . Taken in mid summer . I think T00lie might have shown this already . Promise to do more buttercups this season :) :) :)
-
Very, very nice ... thanks mate!
-
Alien versus predator...... but aren't they both aliens ( introduced) to NZ ?
-
Maggi,
Yes, but one IS a predator!! It really is a great sequence of photos. 8) Well done "Jandals". :D
-
Introduced fauna and flora are called exotics, but are regarded as aliens. Hard to imagine NZ Bittercress in the UK as exotic!
-
Whilst washing the windows this morning I came across this tiny Brimstone moth. It was optimistically waiting for some sunshine and heat to get it started -fat chance !!!
I had to hold the camera down at my feet and 2 inches from it to take the picture, so it is not sharp.
-
Anthony,
According to one of the online dictionaries, Alien applies just fine as well.....
5. Ecology An organism, especially a plant or animal, that occurs in or is naturalized in a region to which it is not native.
And in the photos they really do look a bit like fighting aliens. ;D
I think that stoat/weasel (sorry, I can't tell them apart... we don't get them here thankfully) is evaluating the cameraman in one of the pics.... working out whether they're next on the menu. ;)
-
Steve,
A nice sequence of photos - the bunny does not really stand a chance despite being physically larger. I have a similar set of photos of a stoat killing a rabbit but not as good as yours. The last stoat I saw was in a reserve for yellow-eyed penguins. The volunteer who was showing me around was not thrilled to see it.
-
Anthony,
According to one of the online dictionaries, Alien applies just fine as well.....
5. Ecology An organism, especially a plant or animal, that occurs in or is naturalized in a region to which it is not native.
Exotic is the one that would get the marks in the test Paul, abut, as you say, alien describes it perfectly. I remember getting my first US visa in 1983 when I was officially called an alien by the US authorities. I don't think they us that term for non-US citizens any more?
-
Steve,
A nice sequence of photos - the bunny does not really stand a chance despite being physically larger. I have a similar set of photos of a stoat killing a rabbit but not as good as yours. The last stoat I saw was in a reserve for yellow-eyed penguins. The volunteer who was showing me around was not thrilled to see it.
The yellow-eyed penguin is the mascot of my son's whanau at Botany Downs Secondary College. They raise funds to help its conservation. I hope the idiots who saw fit to introduce stoats to New Zealand at not resting peacefully"! That and cats! >:(
-
I know you didn't mean it, but I read that as you chastising the idiots that introduced the yellow eyes pengiuns which your is raising funds to conserve. ;D
I think that you should add possums to the stoats and cats list, Anthony. So many bird predators introduced to islands that have almost no natural bird predators. ::) I can only imagine what it must have been like when so many of the wonderful NZ birds were plentiful..... must have been amazing to hear the Kakapo booming away during breeding season. :'(
-
Sorry Paul, I meant stoats, not yellow eyed penguins. It was late.
-
Thanks guys and yes Paul, I did feel like I was on the menu at one point and for once , I was pleased to be wearing boots . The pictures are stills from my video camera so you don't get to hear the harrowing soundtrack . The action happenend right beside the Sealy Tarns ( roughly 1300m altitude ) in the Mount Cook National Park . I suspect the hare had been sunning himself in the tussock when the stoat came along . I have heard that stoats will kill just for fun
-
Sorry Paul, I meant stoats, not yellow eyed penguins. It was late.
Anthony,
No need to apologise.... I wasn't meaning you had to. I realised how you meant it, but it gave me such a chuckle that I had to comment on it. ;D
Yeah, I know. I have a sick and twisted mind. ::)
-
How to put up swift nest boxes - the wrong way. I had a meeting with the local biodiversity officer, architect and builder. I explained that swifts need a clear way in and out
-
An Ulster cow has learned how to let herself and friends escape
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaD67sj1UfQ[/youtube]
-
Mark, a very skilled cow ;D
My subject is different: found two quite large sized (~60 mm) of empty cocoons in my raised bed.
One cocoon stuck in the hole (unter a Aubrieta hybrid) and the other cocoon layed on the ground just beside an earth cocoon.
Never saw this before.
Which moth or butterfly could this be?
-
The pupae are big enough to be a goat moth (Cossus cossus), the caterpillar of which feeds in the solid wood of various trees, especially elm, ash, birch and willow. It takes three to four years to complete growth and leaves its burrow in search of a suitable place for pupation. They make a cocoon under vegetation and would probably incorporate soil particles in it? The key to identification is the smell - very like that of a billy goat. :P
-
Anthony,
thank you very much for your reply - I think it is a bull's eye. ;D I checked the smell - brrr :P
And there is a big willow in one of the neighbours garden...
-
Armin, if you spread some honey on a tree trunk or fence post and check during the night, although the females don't feed, they are attracted to it. You are very lucky. I've always wanted to see one of these moths.
-
Took the children to Waitomo caves on a less-than-half-price three cave deal with Treatme Auckland. Each cave is different, but they all have amazing stalactites and stalagmites. We saw glowworms in the first cave we went to.
Just catching up on a few posts .....
Anthony --less then 20 meters from our house behind the garage is a bush creek where hundreds and hundreds of glowworms reside. At night they light up the banks of the watercourse --a wonderful sight.
At one time ,maybe 3-4 years ago we had quite a number of people wanting to view them ,so i built steps down into the small gorge at the top end of the property.
Your comments are a timely reminder to check on how well the population is doing.
Might see how i can capture the scene in the next night or two, on my SLR.
In the meantime i managed to get a decent shot last weekend of this 'fella' having a feed on top of one of the walk in frames--seems it's easier for 'him' to peck at the fallen fruit/seed rather than try and obtain a meal from up high in the trees.... .(New Zealand Pigeon or kereru)
Cheers Dave.
-
I got a shock when I saw this pigeon on Stewart Island. Compared to our varieties it is enormous - about the size of a Common Buzzard
When I was tidying up in the glasshouse an hour ago, I came across this Elephant Hawk Moth on the bench. At first I thought it was a leaf which had fallen off a plant and was about to crunch it and throw it in the bin. Luckily I stopped just in time. I think it looks quite spectacular in close up. It seems to want to stay where it is but I had to move it by putting it on my finger and depositing it on a dwarf Rhododendron
-
The elephant hawk was the first moth I reared, from two caterpillars found at Stratford upon Avon. Boy, those caterpillars made an awful noise in its cardboard box in the caravan!
Dave, I wonder if there are any places in and around Auckland where glowworms can be found? I briefly saw a native pigeon at Shakespeare Point but it's turtle doves that are around here.
-
Like Anthony,the elephant hawk is the first one i reared from caterpillars found on some willow herb,my school teacher allowed me to take them to class and rear them there,what a star that teacher was.
-
Mother Nature continues to amaze me so much with her artistic skills. :D
-
I've just been given about 30 emperor gum moth (Opodiphthera eucalypti) cocoons. Must make a list of all the handy eucalyptus trees nearby. It's an Australian import, so no rules governing it. Contrary to many YouTube and Flikr sites it's NOT found in the USA. Just about the only silk moth found in NZ. They say Samia cynthia, an escapee from the University of Auckland, is found in and around Albert Park but I couldn't find any Ailanthus trees, its main food plant, there.
-
Anthony what a stunning moth that is.Can i ask do you mount set any specimens?
-
I don't usually Davey. I used to have a big butterfly collection from old collections, some dating back to the 19th century, but it had to go before I came to NZ. My ambition is to visit the jungles of PNG or the Solomons to see birdwing butterflies. I have some specimens of these from the IFTA where they farm them for such purposes. I have books on birdwings and they're not cheap. One, written by a Japanese doctor Hirotaka Matsuka, was written and photographed by him showing all but one species in all its stages in nature. He describes himself as "a collector of tropical diseases". A friend, who has also written a book on birdwings called "Fluttering Encounters in the Amazing Archipelago", is moving back to Cairns and I hope to visit him and see the Cairns birdwing (Ornithoptera priamus euphorion). I have a dentist friend in the US who breeds silkmoths and sets them in his spare time. My good friend Robert Goodden (www.wwb.co.uk) can supply live and dead stock and I recently bought a spring frame net to catch flies and moths to feed the geckos from him. A good source of livestock from amateur breeders is the Entomogical Livestock group ( http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/index.html), although it's not much use to me, as imports are virtually banned.
-
Stephen any reaction to the swift CD? Any neighbours complaining?
-
swifts at my house this morning
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrIssJvh6oQ[/youtube]
-
Sunshine and showers, so I was checking the jade plants to see if there were any flies for the geckos. Spider this face off between a small house hopper spider (Trite parvula) and a blue bottle. I reckoned the spider had no chance! ::) The spider would gradually inch forward, and eventually the fly would spot it, turn round and then fly off to another position nearby. The spider would then repeat the process.
-
I checked the windowsill a couple of minutes later. The more I looked, the more the spider and fly weren't there, so I checked the ground under the window. :o I guess I underestimated its ability as a hunter! 8)
-
Went for a walk with Heidi just after 4 p.m., so there was plenty of daylight left. Met Mrs Tiggywinkle snuffling through the short grass at the entrance to the football pitches up the road from our house. She was still there rooting around when I walked back 15 minutes later, so I took Heidi home and brought back my camera. By this time it was after 5 and the light was now starting to fade. She (he?) totally ignored me and continued to look for grubs and worms between the grass roots. Nearby there is a bank of New Zealand flax plants (Phormium tenax) which harbour hundreds of snails. What a pity someone saw fit to bring hedgehogs to New Zealand! :( Their niche is ably filled by the kiwi, even if a lot more secretively. Interestingly, I saw no fleas between the rows of spines. I would expect a Scottish one to be crawling with them. :P
-
Anthony here's my pair of birdwings,they bought as a present for me.
-
I checked the windowsill a couple of minutes later. The more I looked, the more the spider and fly weren't there, so I checked the ground under the window. :o I guess I underestimated its ability as a hunter! 8)
:o how fantastic is that,lovely shots and what a spider
-
Bug on Orchis italica ... from a previous June in the Dolomites.
-
Looks like a chafer - possibly Oxythyrea funesta Cliff?
Beautiful birdwings Davey. I've seen similar in the wild in Bali.
-
Cliff I saw that beetle on Majorca last year
-
Cliff I saw that beetle on Majorca last year
Crikey, he gets about doesn't he! :D
-
LOL
-
Cliff I saw that beetle on Majorca last year
Crikey, he gets about doesn't he! :D
He benefits from Frequent Flyer Miles, I expect :D
-
Here's a frequent flier: a katydid or kiki pounamu (Caedicia simplex) and a springbok mantis (Miomantis caffra) I found today. I don't see many insects now, although I did hear one of the smaller cicadas singing away. Lovely in the sun - nice enough to sit outside a wee café with a long black and a newspaper while Lucy had her violin lesson, although the air temperature was only 13o Celsius.
-
Delved into the archives and found these from Bali, 2004. Troides helena is wild on Bali; Ornithoptera priamus would have been imported as pupae from West Papua or bred elsewhere on Bali and hatched in the pupa cage. This subspecies is not found west of New Guinea. Both species of birdwing demonstrate different island forms and subspecies.
-
Is the mantis carrying eggs?
-
today a new swift checked out one of my nest boxes for 20 minutes. Hopefully it will return with a mate
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWF77Yt7a0s[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5jsYt2Lhwo[/youtube]
-
I'm not very good at identifying plants and even worse at identifying birds....but I believe these are Northern mockingbirds.
The baby was just sat on the grass....not sure how it got there....and the mother was up in the dwarf buddlieia, that is until she started buzzing me !!!!!
-
This chap doesn't know much about camouflage ;D
-
Pity your green guy wasn't nearer Kentucky, Roma.... fat snack like that might have cheered up that grumpy looking baby bird!
-
Pity your green guy wasn't nearer Kentucky, Roma.... fat snack like that might have cheered up that grumpy looking baby bird!
You'd be grumpy too Maggi if some idiot with a camera wanted to take a photo of you when you'd just fallen out of your nest ;D
-
True, Alan, true. :D :D
You mean he's not just "wild" ... he's absolutely furious.... ::)
-
True, Alan, true. :D :D
You mean he's not just "wild" ... he's absolutely furious.... ::)
... in fact ... he's out of his tree!!! :P
-
Was he the only baby bird or was it a family tree Alan?
-
Dreadful.... just dreadful... I fine us all chocolate. No more jokes till we've all had at least three bars of quality chocolate.... understood?
-
Dreadful.... just dreadful... I fine us all chocolate. No more jokes till we've all had at least three bars of quality chocolate.... understood?
Snickers, Snickers, Snickers! ;D
-
Three bars on the snickers scale? Is that a marathon?
-
[attach=1] [attach=2]
-
Three bars on the snickers scale? Is that a marathon?
Certainly off Topic, Mr. D.
-
Oh dear.... Ian says it's my fault that we are subjected to this Bounty of comments because I showed you a picture of me rolling a giant Malteser up a hill.... that lad is one of Five Boys who understand nothing.....
-
What you need is a break away Maggi.
-
I've only one thing to say to this ...
Apparently masonic lodges are very popular in the Picos de Europa. ;D
-
Dreadful.... just dreadful... I fine us all chocolate. No more jokes till we've all had at least three bars of quality chocolate.... understood?
Snickers, Snickers, Snickers! ;D
A whole bunch of Mars jokes spring to mind, but I'll be good. ::) Honest! ;D The humour here has gotten really Flakey recently. :o Must be because I haven't been here much of late. ;)
-
beware of gulls!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIu5B3Fsstg&feature=mfu_in_order&list=UL[/youtube]
-
All I did was post a photo......you guys are just a load of "smartie" pants !!!!!
-
All I did was post a photo......you guys are just a load of "smartie" pants !!!!!
Did you put it on You 'Tube' 'cause it worked a Treet?
-
Talking about You Tube...and I know this is off topic....but if you don't all appreciate young kids and how they spend their time these days....just watch this.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3qbB4Kq3Y0&feature=youtu.be
-
Holy moly! Don't know if I should let Ian watch this... he may get too depressed at such a display of talent and smash a banjo :-X Clever kids and great tune. Flatt and Scruggs have two devotees in this house, anyway.
Oh crikey... there's video of them doing Foggy Mountain Breakdown too... will Ian cope with this?
-
well let me know soon Maggi and I'll put my banjo on ebay before Ian does ;D
-
Just keep taking the tablet Maggi.
-
could somebody id this pretty little bee for me.
-
Looks like a leaf cutter Davey. Possibly Megachile centruncularis?
-
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3qbB4Kq3Y0&feature=youtu.be[/youtube]
Unbelievable how fast those fingers are working. The kid on the bed has been playing for only 2 years
-
another day and another swift in box 2 and one in box 4. The bird in box 4 to screaming at the bird in box 2 and the screaming birds outside. Both birds are a bit nervous especially the one in box 4. This is probably the first time in 3 years that they have stopped flying. They are happy to enter a nest box but they dont know what is inside. It could be in use already
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3BpqgzqRBjA[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nISsLl1bn8c[/youtube]
-
Looks like a leaf cutter Davey. Possibly Megachile centruncularis?
cheers Anthony.
-
A squab on our fence about an hour ago ...
YOUNG PIGEON
-
Yesterday Amy & I cycled a few miles alongside the Bure Valley railway. Lineside flowers were nice but bettered by lineside butterflies.
-
Comma - the 'comma' is on the underside of the wing
-
Comma obligingly still long enough for me to get intimate!
There are more pics but can only attach one at a time tonight (don't know why) so I'll save them for another time.
-
Great shot, Cliff. Paddy
-
I bet you came to a full stop when you saw that Tony?
-
I bet you came to a full stop when you saw that Tony?
:-))) (would use emoticons but they're not working for me today:-(
-
In the garden today this creepy crawlie landed on me :o, pushed him off quickly, what is it and is it a goodie. poor chap has creepies on him.
Angie :)
-
EEEEEEK! :o A bug with bugs..... :P
-
Here are some more lineside butterflies.
Ringlets and Meadow browns aplenty in the sunny margins. Not so many Small Skippers ... and they really are small! Lots of perfect Red Admirals and we also saw one Tortoiseshell.
-
That's carrion beetle - find dead things bury them and lay eggs
Great fleas have little fleas upon their backs to bite 'em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas, and so ad infinitum.
And the great fleas themselves, in turn, have greater fleas to go on,
While these again have greater still, and greater still, and so on
-
Did anyone see a skipper on Countryfile tonight? The voice referred to moths and they cut to a skipper
-
Next day we went to Catfield Fen to get our first look at Norfolks most famous butterfly.
Confined to a few Broads where the Milk Parsley, foodplant for the caterpillars, grows we saw several Swallowtails fly over before one obliged by feeding at the edge of our path. :)
-
I've been there Tony, and remember in 1976 the caterpillars were everywhere. I saw some opposite the Horning Ferry Inn. Came back a couple of days later to find the whole lot had been flayed flat. I asked why: "to enclose the fen they were digging a dike parallel with the river to protect the swallowtails". ::)
Like the burying beetle Angie. They excavate under small dead mammals or birds to bury them and lay their eggs on the corpse.
Did anyone see a skipper on Countryfile tonight? The voice referred to moths and they cut to a skipper
Bet you said "I eye, that's not a moth!". ;)
-
Like the burying beetle Angie. They excavate under small dead birds to bury them and lay their eggs on the corpse!
Good job you legged it Angie ... :o :o :o
-
Is that not a large skipper Tony?
-
Is that not a large skipper Tony?
Like Edward Heath? :D
Sorry ... I promise to behave ... for a while anyway! ::)
-
Like Edward Heath, you'll have to conduct yourself in moderato.
-
Like Edward Heath, you'll have to conduct yourself in moderato.
;D ;D ;D
-
Like the burying beetle Angie. They excavate under small dead birds to bury them and lay their eggs on the corpse!
Good job you legged it Angie ... :o :o :o
Cliff that's what I was thinking before I read your post, he might have seen that I had started down the road of decay ;D
Mark thanks for the identification, it's horrible to think of all those creepy crawlies that I can't see :o
Angie :)
-
I found this critter sitting on an iris leaf in the pond the other day, looks like it may be a grasshopper, but I'm not sure. Was about 2 inches long.
-
Is that not a large skipper Tony?
Not being an expert myself - it is if you say so! Just assumed it was a Small since it was ... well small.
-
Chris your photo is very small but I'd say it's a dragonfly or damselfly nymph that is about to change from an ugly duckling to something beautiful.
-
I agree - a dragonfly nymph, judging by the size.
-
Looks empty, so already hatched.
-
Here's a family I found while cutting back some ivy.
-
Maggi will love that one Arnold.
-
David:
Any ideas what it is!
-
I think it's a spider Arnold, they all look the same to me ;D Anthony will know.
-
Quick look at the Insect book.
Pisaurina mira, Nursery web spider.
-
Chris your photo is very small but I'd say it's a dragonfly or damselfly nymph that is about to change from an ugly duckling to something beautiful.
I happened to see just that when I visited my daughter. Her pond is rather big and the dragonfly was on a leaf in the middle of it so I couldn't get a sharp photo. It was really fascinating to watch.
-
Quick look at the Insect book.
Pisaurina mira, Nursery web spider.
Similar to one in the UK called Pisaura mirabilis.
-
Hey, I think you folks are right, and it all makes a lot more sense than a grasshopper. It sat there for over a day. What a joy to have a dragon/damsel fly in my pond. First time I've noticed one. Must be this warm weather.
-
Chris, that will be resident in your pond and would have spent a couple of years feeding on invertebrates at the bottom. When it has completed its growth it crawls out, dries off and the adult emerges from the nymphal skin like the one Gunilla posted.
-
That's amazing, Anthony, I just wish I'd known and I'd have watched for it emerging. Wonder what colour it is... and if there are more....
-
one of my swift chicks
-
Lovely... :)
-
one of my swift chicks
Incredible Mark,just think your hand is one of the very few things that bird will touch in its lifetime.
-
Don't they grow up fast? ;)
-
it's just under 4 weeks old and will fledged in two weeks
I can almost guarantee it will never sit in a hand again and it will fly for 3 years before landing.
Not sure if this link works but here it is with a nest mate http://www.ustream.tv/broadcaster/8203460 (http://www.ustream.tv/broadcaster/8203460)
-
Mark that's really cute 8)
Angie :)
-
Something else fascinating - see the line that runs from the bill and under they eye? That is how far back the mouth opens - over 90o
-
Three years without landing????
-
Once they start shoulder-shuffling (exercising their wings) their appetite increase ten-fold!
-
Something else fascinating - see the line that runs from the bill and under they eye? That is how far back the mouth opens - over 90o
I suppose when you are competing for food the bigger your mouth opens the more chance you have of getting fed.
I told my husband that it can be three years before they land. He said never. Off course I said the expert knows, he said I thought this forum was about plants. I just smiled and said you would be amazed at what goes on in this forum ;D
Angie :)
-
;D ;D ;D
-
Mark
Just wondered if your Swifts chicks get ringed?
-
TV camera, personal service, phone, what next? ::)
-
Yes they were ringed on Saturday
-
During the 1970s we, as a ringing group in Barnsley, South Yorkshire ringed thousands of Swifts on cool summer days when they had to fly low for insects. We had recoveries in southern Europe and the odd one in Africa. Most impressive for me were the birds that we caught year after year at the local reservoirs. Some of these were well over 10 years old. Have you had any recoveries of your ringed Swifts yet Mark?
-
No recoveries from mine so far.
I was hoping to mist net all the bangers/non breeders this year. The idea was to put up a net across the garden and catch them as they fly by. They mostly leave the nest boxes via the same route swooping low at head height. I had lined up a guy to come early around 6am. BTO now say swifts cant be caught near nest sites. My breeders leave their nests in a different direction.