Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: mark smyth on September 05, 2007, 06:18:51 PM
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I thought I should start a new page because the last one is 40 pages long!
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This giant Tarantula nearly got me while I was moving pots. More hairs on it's legs than I have on mine
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...and more information than we needed to know...
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The baby five-lined skinks (Eumeces fasciatus) have been out and about for a few weeks, but so far too fast for a picture. They are stunning little reptiles; bodies black, striped with yellow; tails bright blue. They are carnivores, eating insects and arthropods (with an occasional bit of cannabalism mixed in). They love the rock walls and edges of pathways where they can occasionally be seen sunning, but mostly running.
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Your spider looks like Tegenaria domestica (House Spider). This is the one that spins cob-webs (those sheet-like structure found in your shed and garage and sometimes rockery) and it is the wandering males that wander our houses looking for mates. It is the smalles of four species found in the UK. The largest species T. parietina, the Cardinal Spider, so-called because Cardianal Wolseley was frightened of them. A London Bobby once stopped the traffic on London Bridge to let one cross the road. It can be 5" across.
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I'll take biting skinks before five inch spiders any day!
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I agree Maggi, though it looks as if Mark's spider is already having wasp for his lunch.
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That's its body, Lesley
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Well yes, now I've stood on my head I can see that it is. Sorry spider. It's a bit hairy for a wasp now I come really to look at it. How long are those legs Mark? Longer than yours?
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Can't see a wasp, but noticed the empty snail shell. It could of course be Tegenaria gigantia, which is the more northern and western equivalent to the Cardinal Spider. They are all creatures of the night, and possibly the largest of those likely to make up the 4 spiders we each swallow in our sleep annually. BTW, if you were to put all the flies eaten by spiders every year in the UK on one side of a two pan balance and the UK human population on the other, the fly side would go down. :o
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I would comment, Anthony, but I'm lying down in a darkened room :-X
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Ventured out of darkened room , only to be met by Ian, who opined that he doesn't beleive HE swallows four spiders a year, so I must be getting EIGHT! AARGH!
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Thanks for that Anthony! I'm now going to have to sleep with my head inside a pillow case! Where on earth did you get a statistic like that? Come to think of it, how could anyone come up with a statistic like that??!!! You wouldn't be having a bit of fun with us arachnophobes, would you?
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Thanks for that Anthony! I'm now going to have to sleep with my head inside a pillow case! Where on earth did you get a statistic like that? Come to think of it, how could anyone come up with a statistic like that??!!! You wouldn't be having a bit of fun with us arachnophobes, would you?
Quoting myself here, after correcting the typo in the above post - and adding that I once read something by the guy who draws the Dilbert cartoons, who said that one night his cat stood on the switch for his bedside light, coming for a bit of affection as the cartoonist reached for the glass of water he always kept on the bedside table.
The light went on, and he saw he has about to drink a huge spider floating in the glass of water. He turned to his girlfriend and commented on how lucky that was. The girlfriend replied: "But what about all the times the light didn't go on? You've probably been drinking spiders night after night." Then turned over and went back to sleep. ;D
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When I cleared my room for new carpet I found no spiders
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Mark, do you often wake up and feel too full to eat breakfast?
Re. other wildflife, I knew the something that's been digging up my snowdrops so thoroughly couldn't be just the usual blackbirds! Just went out to the garden and saw a huge fox on the roof of the lean-too. In broad daylight. Cleared off fast when it saw me, but not before I'd hit it on the bum with a windfall apple.
Probably coming for the plums as well as worms in my woodlandy soil. No greengages this year (referring to another thread) huge crop last year but only a handful this year and mostly half-rotten.
Strange year for fruit. The back-to-front seasons seem to have wiped out our apple and pear crops. Plums still okay though. Wonder why plums okay, but greengages a no-show? Probably different weather at different floweringtimes. Wierd year.
Back to wildlife, I hear there've been a lot of bears heading towards Scotland recently. Chased off by the RAF, though, so you're all safe for now. Anyone who doesn't know what I'm on about and thinks I'm barking may be enlightened by tonights's TV news and tomorrow's papers (not the first time in recent weeks either - it's not just the weather that's getting colder - ooh, I've come over all cryptic.)
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Martin, I was waiting there to read cyrillic, not cryptic!
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Right on the nose, Maggi! Yep, the 8 (!) Russian Tupolev-95 'Bear' long-range nuclear bombers intercepted by the RAF today heading for British airspace.
It didn't say on the news exactly where they were headed, but the last few times this has happened recently, they were heading towards Scotland, so I assume the same this time, or maybe northern England. Anyway, playing chicken with the northern Nato air defence system as part of Putin's response to plans for the new US anti-ballistic missile system planned for Poland and the Czech Republic (I could have sworn there was a treaty about not doing that - but both 'sides' seem to be tearing up treaties all over the place right now, including the conventional forces in Europe treaty that limits stuff like Russian tank regiments on readiness for a war in Europe).
They say it's sabre-rattling by the Russians. I remember in the early 90s saying to an American publisher over dinner in Amsterdam that the west was going to regret not coming up with the kind of of Marshal Plan that helped Germany recover and rebuild after the second world war. It was promised by the US but not delivered. Now they're facing a resurgent Russia with massive new economic clout thanks to gas and oil, a tough-guy ex-KGB leader and a determination to be a military superpower again and never be humiliated again as they feel they were in the 90s. Who could possibly have seen it coming?
Sorry for that rant. The security services are probably monitoring this forum now, so I'll shut up! ;)
Oh, Ivi can read and write cyrillic, Maggi, which comes in handy when communicating with the people who publish my books in Russia. And doesn't half impress the local post office person when she mails packets to Russia with the address in English and cyrillic.
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just heard it on Sky News. Bad Boys!!
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It couldn't be,could it, that they were perhaps invited by a certain First Minister to bolster his 'home rule' plans?? :o :o
As for spiders I can stand them, but meeces frighten me and always have done (think I inherted it from my Mum who used to go hysterical if she saw one). I had one in my garage a couple of years ago eating some dahlia tubers I had forgotten to plant out and it was some months before I would venture back in there for any length of time. :(
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It couldn't be,could it, that they were perhaps invited by a certain First Minister to bolster his 'home rule' plans??
Haven't we got enough trouble?
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And Bush is insisting the south Pacific combats global warming with nuclear power. Can't get to APEC myself so I've lined up an Aussie friend armed with a rotten egg.
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The security services are probably monitoring this forum now, so I'll shut up!
I don't know whether its that, orthe Bears, but there are explosions outside.....no, wait a second, , not bomb explosions... just some eejits with fireworks... had me worried for a minute, though. Hang on, just remembered, it is the end of the Offshore Europe oil exhibition, the fireworks are to mark that....bet I'm not the only one who got a bit of a scare, though!!
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Can't get to APEC myself so I've lined up an Aussie friend armed with a rotten egg.
His name wasn't Chas Licciardello was it?
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No, it wasn't but whoever he is, give him my best wishes for an accurate throw, if he's likely to be in on the act.
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Don't you guys have enough of your own politicians to bash?
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Yes, Carlo, we do :P, but we're generous folks so we are always game for a bit of international politician bashing ;)
Change is as good as a rest, and all that. 8)
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Good! Just wanted to make sure...
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No, it wasn't but whoever he is, give him my best wishes for an accurate throw, if he's likely to be in on the act.
The egg was probably in the Osama costume when he was arrested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chas_Licciardello
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Yes, rest assured , we are equal opportunity politician bashers, here, after all, it's what they're for, isn't it?
Not to mention being handy for giving us something else to moan about other than the weather and the slugs, snails and other slimy critters..... oh, we're back to the politicians again :P
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No, it wasn't but whoever he is, give him my best wishes for an accurate throw, if he's likely to be in on the act.
The egg was probably in the Osama costume when he was arrested.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chas_Licciardello
Oh, THAT Chas Licciardello :D
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I took these shots of Small Tortoiseshells in the garden. Every flower head of Verbena seems to have a butterfly feeding
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So who ate this Colchicum? Guilty Wood louse was present but did a runner
and an acrobatic Sawfly ?caterpillar
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Here is a Garden spider that scares me too! Last weekend I was out taking photos in the garden in my shorts. They have ties hanging on the side and they were moving even when I was standing still. A Garden spider was climbing my leg!!!!!!!
and while tidying Colchicum autumnale for photo this moth fall out. It's a Yellow Underwing who's caterpillar sleeps under ground during day and emerges at night to eat choice plants
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Mark,
to the colchicum: what's about slugs? My late friend Bernd Wetzel who cultivated a lot of colchicums told me that they (small black ones) have a preference for these plants. They are able to creep deep into the ground.
Gerd
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Yes, Gerd, and those slugs will eat orchid tubers as well if they can.
And as for Mark's pretty moth... their caterpillars will eat everything if they get a chance! Ian prowls about in the dark, muttering about nocturnal caterpillars... he hates 'em with a vengeance.
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I've seen small black slugs eating colchicums too, Mark. They also eat snowdrop flowers and buds in the winter if it's mild (lots of such damage last year). :(
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This sphinx moth has been appearing nightly at dusk. The white phlox seems to be their favourite. The darker it gets the more tolerant they are of the camera's flash
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What a beauty is the sphinx moth - such lovely colours and patterns. Whatever the caterpillar eats, I don't think I'd be unhappy to have a few around.
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The sphinx moth is very beautiful, I have never seen one.
Lesley, what if the caterpillars ate Junos?? :o
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Lesley, since you mentioned George W. and the APEC conference; just read a newspaper report today from the start of the conference - George W. kicking it off by thanking the Australian P.M. for being such a good host for the OPEC (!) conference, thanking him for the efforts made in Iraq by his Austrian (!) troops, and then walking off the stage the wrong way, only to be sent back the right way by the Australian P.M.
;D >:( ??? ::) :'( :-[ :-\ >:( ;D
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I just hope George W. doesn't spot the launch codes on his desk some day and decide to order Chinese (launch codes - lunch codes - Chinese...oh, suit yourselves.)
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I went to the Cotswold Wildlife Park last week and took this photo of a penguin getting it's lunch
The other two shots show an out of focus orange blob which was a hornet, taken at the wildlife park. It didn't settle and flew off when it saw me pointing a camera in that direction
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I just hope George W. doesn't spot the launch codes on his desk some day and decide to order Chinese (launch codes - lunch codes - Chinese...oh, suit yourselves.)
;D ;D ;D
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nearly killed myself tonight - a few minutes ago! Driving home from a bat survey a House Spider walked on to the inside of the wind screen. I had to do an emergency stop and jump out
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a House Spider walked on to the inside of the wind screen. I had to do an emergency stop and jump out
yeah, I knew they were dangerous :-\
Re: George Dubya.... does he still drink or is it just that he's thick? ???
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Rob and Sharon, your sphinx moth is a North American race of the "Striped Hawkmoth" (Hyles lineata). It is an irregular visitor to Britain and it larva, which varies from green to black, with yellow spots and lines and an orange horn feeds on various plants but mainly bedstraws and vines. I must say, that is a fantastic shot with everything in focus. A competition winner if ever I saw one. 8)
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I must say, that is a fantastic shot with everything in focus. A competition winner if ever I saw one.
Hear, Hear, Anthony. I love the way there is that elegant twist/sweep of the wingtips. A supermodel of the moth world, photographed for Vogue!!
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I just hope George W. doesn't spot the launch codes on his desk some day and decide to order Chinese (launch codes - lunch codes - Chinese...oh, suit yourselves.)
Good God Martin, you've got me REALLY worried now. I've looked on the man's boo-boos as laughable but the fact is, he's a real menace.
Maggi, if they were to eat junos, they'd have to have their taste buds re-educated - with a sledgehammer! - a la GWB >:(
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No, Maggi, George W. don' drink no more. So I guess it's all his own work. I swear sometimes I don't know whether to laugh or cry.
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Laugh, Martin but build yourself a bunker, too.
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Two actual wildlife notes here.
Last night our TV news reported that the first godwits had returned to NZ from their summer (southern winter) feeding gounds in Alaska. Much has been assumed about the time taken for this journey and the exact routes but now we know precisely as some 400 birds had, before leaving Alaska, been fitted with tiny (2 gram) satellite tracking devices as leg bands.
The first birds were seen leaving on the 11,000 kms journey on Monday and landed here in NZ early on Saturday morning, having flown at a steady 60kms an hour, non stop across and down over the Pacific Ocean, believed to be a record for such migratory flights. Before the birds leave Alaska they feed voraciously, doubling their weight but by the time they arrive here they have lost all that extra weight plus half as much again of their "normal" weight, so are close to starving and have to feed immediately.
This is quite natural to the godwits - birds viewed with great affection in NZ - and can be taken for granted by humans therefore, but it's very hard not to have huge admiration for what seems to be their courage and commitment in undertaking this long flight, twice every year.
Secondly - and from the sublime to the thoroughly ridiculous - last night, our neighbours threw a party as they do on such occasions, to celebrate the beginning of the World Rugby Cup in France. There are just half a dozen houses in Sproull Drive and we were all there, along with 20 or 30 people out from town. (I notice there are still half a dozen cars still parked on the roadside this morning.)
The road is a dead end so can be used when necessary as a playground, for children, dogs or, in this instance, by the party goers. Accompanied by a good deal of liquid refreshment, there was a chicken chucking competition!!! I think it had been frozen but by the time we started throwing it, it was limp and floppy and flew through the air with the greatest of ease. There were separate competitions for men and women (Roger and I were not winners) and needless-to-say there was much hilarity, bad language and general good natured abuse of each chucker in turn. Not something I'd want to do every day (or ever again, actually) but it was fun while it lasted. Afterwards, we all went inside to watch the All Blacks beat Italy rather thoroughly.
I'd already had my first slice of enjoyment from the World Cup, in the morning at the local Farmers' Market (where I'm Manager) by giving the glad news that Argentina had beaten France in the first match of the tournament, to one of our two coffee vendors. Olivier Lequeux is a Frenchman of great charm usually but had had a rough night out and really wasn't up to his job at 7 in the morning. As I bought my coffee, tears almost poured down his exceptionally good-looking cheeks. I'm not normally sadistic but have to admit to rubbing the result in, each time I passed his coffee stand. Of course every member of the public soon got the message and added to his misery. A small price to pay though, given his turnover each Saturday morning.
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Migratory birds are great full stop.
Talking to a man tonight who runs out bird observatory he tells me our bird migration is already well under way. They have seen 1000s of swallows heading for England and many warblers. In good weather like we are having the warblers, ChiffChaffs Phylloscopus collybita and Willow Warblers P. trochilus, can cross the sea without stopping but in windy weather they need a breather on the island. He has planted a one mile woodland corridor to help the birds feed.
In Europe what do you call the Chiffchaff? Our name is after it's song chiff, chiff, chiff chaff, chiff chaff
Whooper swans arrive here in 24 hours after leaving Iceland
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Thank you Anthony for the correct ID for the moth and your comment. I have posted more views on my Flickr site. It is a common moth in our garden at this time of year. They will be gone with the first heavy frost.
I give you and other Forum members credit for increasing my interest in insects in all their wonderful variety. We do need to get a good manual to assist in the ID.
-Rob
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Mark,
Never heared Phylloscopus collybita singing ' chiff, chiff, chiff chaff, chiff chaff '.
Our little beauties always shout ' zilp zalp ' according their German name Zilpzalp.
Gerd
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Mark,
An old field guide I have lists the common names of European birds in Dutch, French, German and Swedish. As Gerd says the German name is Zilpzalp - for completeness the others are Dutch - Tjiftjaf, French - Pouillot veloce, Swedish - Gransangare (The first 'e' in veloce has an acute accent and the second 'a' in Swedish has one of those little circles over it - I can't manage either of those on an English keyboard).
Now you have the full set for Phylloscopus collybita!
Peter
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Peter, go into 'Word' and 'Insert' 'Symbol'. Copy and paste does it, like Jānis rukāns.
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Mark,
You're not alone with your spider inside the car problems...... a number of years ago my sister and I were driving along and the long furry legs of a large huntsman spider started to curl around the edge of the sun visor in front of me. We quickly pulled over and got out of the car. With a quickness of wit I wish I could normally match (it rarely happens unfortunately) I looked across the roof of the car at my sister and said "OK, it's got the car. Now what do we do?"
We ended up being able to flick it out of the car and quickly drove off before it could bring reinforcements and take the car off for a joyride. <sigh> My arachnophobia is variable.... there are times where I can sit with my face a few inches from a hunstman and marvel at the way the mandibles are set up and how wolf-like the face comes across, then there are times where I can be on the other side of a room shivering over a spider sitting on the OUTSIDE of an external window of the house. I just never know quite how I'm going to react. ::)
Lesley,
I can get the first of the wildlife notes you mentioned (i.e the return of the Godwits), but where exactly is the second wildlife note you promised? Or do you regard a thawed frozen chicken as wildlife? ;D
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You've got it Paul ;D Of course the even wilder life could have been the idiots throwing it. Just in case anyone wondered, the chicken, by the time it was introduced to the game, was dead. Not only dead but plucked and gutted. I suspect it came from the supermarket's freezer.
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... and tiuf-teaf in Irish, so onomatopoeic in various languages ;D
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Mmmm. I read the above with a wry smile. I can understand phobias, but as I type this the there are four sets of 8 eyes looking down at me, and that's just the spiders I keep in the study! 8)
Lesley, I trust the chicken, like me, was past its sell-by-date. Would be a shame to waste good food :-\.
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There speaks a man who doesn't have large meat-eating pets!
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Ashley how is tiuf-teaf said?
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There was a big flock of mistle thrushes in the Dublin Botanic Gardens on wednesday - first time I've ever noticed them in a flock.
Maggie you were right the cakes at the cafe there were almost worth the terror of the flight. I've got some pics and will post them later.
Sue
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Mark, I'd guess tuif teafsounds prety much like chiff chaff, only wihth a soft Irish accent!!
I've never seen mistle thrushes in a flock , either, Sue, more's the pity. Just not enough thrushes about here at a ll nowadays. Hope some of the cakes served well to celebrate your birthday ! Why was the flight frightening... a bad one or are you a nervous flyer?
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The largest meat-eating pet I owned was a 9' Anaconda (Eunectes murinus). Just got a 4' Jamaican boa (Epicrates subflavus) and a Honduran Milksnake (Lampropeltis triangulum hondurensis) which the children have called Tigger as it bounces about at night and is a Tangerine phase (the yellow bands are orange). I attach pics of Tigger; a large pet grasshopper; and two birdeaters (Brachypelma vagans and B. smithii).
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BirdeatersQ! Egad...keep them away from my house. All I've got for pets are birds (about 25 or so).
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Don't worry Carlo. They get fed on crickets. The name 'Bird-eating Spider' was coined for the arborial Avicularia spp. from South America, which do take hummingbirds off nests and mine belong to the same family, but are ground dwellers. They are commonly called 'Tarantulas' but that again is a misnomer as the true Tarantula is a wolf spider (Lycosidae) from southern Europe. The above two should grow to about 6" leg span. Their bite is painful, but no more so than a bee sting, and yes, I have been bitten in the past.
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Ashley how is tiuf-teaf said?
... something like 'tyuff-tyaff' Mark
Lesley, that information about the NZ godwit migration is truly amazing. Where can we read more?
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I must say that the Swedish name of the bird gransångare is more poetic/descriptice than the onomatopoetic ones in England Irland. The Swedish name means singer in Pines (the christmas type of tree)
I here have a less pretty one but since it was not eating on my magnolia I let it stay there. I did not here any song from it but it might be just resting any name for it? Cricket?Or what is it. All the bigger grasshopper in Sweden are green so I do not recognise this Portuguese one.
Kind regards from a humid Portugal
Joakim
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Chiffchaff is Felosa-comum or Felosinha in Portuguese - no onomatopoeia.
Cool beasty, Joakim! Can you send some of that humidity up north? We are still roasting!!
Chloe
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Chloe
It is just humid in the air here in central Portugal but that is now gone and the sun it out. It was the weather before a thunderstorm but there was only one black clound and it did not do anything.
I actually thught we would get rain after lunch but it did not happen 8)
Kind regards from a sunnier Portugal
Joakim
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Joachim, you won't hear that one sing as it is a juvenile female Egyptian Grasshopper (Anacridium aegyptium), and the males are 'silent'. They are common on trees and bushes but 'cause little damage'. The adults are grey and up to 65mm long. They can fly well, rather like locusts, to which they are related.
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"it is a juvenile female and the males are 'silent'"
non sequitur there, or am I missing something? Do the females never sing?
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Anthony in the past you offered to look after me for the early bulb show and now you tell me you have spiders!!!
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Mark,
Never heared Phylloscopus collybita singing ' chiff, chiff, chiff chaff, chiff chaff '.
Our little beauties always shout ' zilp zalp ' according their German name Zilpzalp.
Gerd
My wife Ivi and I have a running disagreement about animal and bird sounds in different countries. She says the animals and birds in Slovakia actually sound different to in England. I say they just hear and anthropomorphise the sounds different. Whichever, in Slovakia cockrels don't go 'cock-a-doodle-doo' like in England, but (according to the Slovaks) 'kikareekee'. Dogs do 'how how', instead of 'woof woof', pigs go...no, I've forgotten what pigs do, but it's not 'oink oink' - and when people sneeze they go 'hapchee' instead of 'achoo'. Honest! Ivi actually says 'hapchee' when she sneezes, and so do most Slovaks apparently. So we end up having a row every time she has a cold and I spend all day telling her 'stop that! It's not hapchee! It's Achoo!'
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The Hungarians at work say dogs go half with the L pronounced. Ask Ivi how they call cats! It's not our wshing sound.
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Mark, Ivi calls cats by saying 'tsk, tsk, tsk'. I say 'puss, puss, puss' which is what I think most English people say. Pigs by the way (Ivi says) go 'crych, crych, crych' in Slovakia.
Another confusing language difference is, in Slovakia they say 'pssssst!' when they want you to be quiet, and 'sshh!' when they want to get your attention!!! I'm not even going to start on the misunderstandings that's caused! >:(
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we have great chat at work most days over thing like this. To scare feral cats away from out back door they say "hash"
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Females of most species are silent (certainly all female grasshoppers). Unusually, it's female ducks that quack. How does that translate? I seem to remember Donald Swan singing a song about animal noises here had learnt while in Greece (kokaraki kikirikiki etc).
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Females of most species are silent.
OOPS ! ::)
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Lesley, that information about the NZ godwit migration is truly amazing. Where can we read more?
I would guess there'd be something on the internet Ashley. Try googling NZ godwit and see what comes up.
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Dogs do 'how how', instead of 'woof woof', pigs go...no, I've forgotten what pigs do, but it's not 'oink oink'
"....and cat goes fiddle-di-fee"
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Martin, I quite believe Ivi about Slovenian animals sounding different from their UK relations. Just as humans do, animals and birds, especially birds, learn to "speak" from hearing those around them. Tuis and bellbirds, for instance, here in NZ have different songs and distress and social calls in the North Island, from those in the South Island, and even in different parts of each island. Birds which mimic others are very good at language variation. We have a couple of bellbirds here who say "pretty boy" having learned it from the caged budgies who live across the road from us. And once when my family was farming, we had a worker who called out "get away back Lass," to one of his dogs. I was puzzled to hear this one day when I knew Ian was away in town. It was a magpie, using the same words and the same tone of voice and later, even had the poor dog puzzled.
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Look what raided our camp in the Bain's Kloof (near Cape Town) last week and pinched our cheese!
Luckily it doesn't eat bulbs - the baboons take care of those!
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Overview http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6646091.stm (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6646091.stm)
Tracking maps http://www.werc.usgs.gov/sattrack/shorebirds/overall.html (http://www.werc.usgs.gov/sattrack/shorebirds/overall.html)
Shorebird migration to NZ http://www.nzshorebirds.com/ (http://www.nzshorebirds.com/)
Godwit migration paper (Gill et al., 2005; not sure if there's general access to this)
http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1650%2F7613&ct=1 (http://www.bioone.org/perlserv/?request=get-abstract&doi=10.1650%2F7613&ct=1)
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Rogan, I remember a Genet running along the rafters of the restaurant in Tsavo, Kenya on its way to the floodlit feeding station. Thank goodness the Leopard that was at a floodlit feeding tree at another restaurant we ate in didn't do the same! :o
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Thanks for the links Ashley. They make really interesting reading.
What a lovely thing the genet is. His coat looks really thick and sumptuous. It would make a great jacket. (Only kidding ;D)
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I think you'd need more than one for a jacket Lesley. (I'm not casting nasturtiums, genets are not very big. ::))
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Mmmm, I realized that which is why I said jacket rather than coat. But for me it would only make a back panel probably and I have to accept that it looks better on the genet's back than it would on mine.
Of course I hate fur and wild skins used for human clothing (I don't have a problem with sheepskins) and hate fake fur as much as the real thing because no matter how expensive and sumptuous and real-looking and fashionable the fake is, while fake is available, someone will always want the genuine thing. Better not to have ANY kind of fur for clothing, except, and where the climate demands, animals farmed and killed for the purpose. Humanely killed at that.
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How about a nice mouse collar Lesley ;)
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For Heaven's sake John, I know you are sweet and loving to your mouse population, but do they really need collars? :)
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Is this why I am waiting in vain for my lorry load of possum pelts to make a bedspread with, Lesley? ???
Farm an animal, eat it; farm it, wear it... where's the difference? NZ possums are a pest, use their fur to keep warm... works for me! ::) I would ask for decent life and humane death.
I have heard that in some places Genets are kept as pets, because they are so nicely marked and furry and a conveniently small sized, I suppose. I cannot condone that, if you want a pet, get a grey spotty cat... a Genet, of course, while looking catlike is not a cat.... related to mongoose, I thnk.
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Average size for Genet, 20 inches, including long thin tail, so you'll need a few to make your back panel, Lesley :P ::) ??? :o
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Maggi I have no finer feelings for possums. They're pests with no redeeming features, in the NZ landscape at least. As native Aussies I guess they're OK there. As well as eating our native flora they carry and spread tuberculosis among cattle. When I have a lorry-load, you shall have them with my blessing. I could have sent 4 off at the weekend but Roger burned the bodies along with rose clippings et al. They'd been lying around for a week or two so were not in any condition to send around the world.
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Hands off my cute little genet you lot! ::) We don't have possum problems here, but I could certainly send you a few vervet monkeys which have developed a taste for my Babiana bulbs - cute and lovable as they are (...the vervets and the babianas) :-\
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Folks,
Litoria raniformis, in my garden yesterday.
Andrew.
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Wow! So bright, and yet so well camouflaged.
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definitely nicer than our frog
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All frogs are nice Mark. Andrew, next time forget the Oxalis or aroid bulbs. How about a package of Litoria raniformis ;D ;D
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Where is your garden Andrew?
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As a bit of an intro, I live in Palmerston North and grow mostly Oxalis, aroids and asclepiads along with a decent collection of carnivorous plants and assorted orchids/bulbs/whatever appeals.
Andrew is a New Zealander who was tempted out of hiding by Lesley!!
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I can't remember how we came across each other but Andrew has been sending me not only super pictures of his plants but many many Oxalis species and different aroids. Hugely generous, especially since I don't have much to interest him. So be nice to him :)
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I think fur coats should stay on the owners. I've seen dogs being skinned alive for the fur trade and it's not nice. The fur trade has wiped out many rare animals and introduced vermin to many countries e.g. the mink and the coypu in the UK. I find the banter about possum coats and genet jackets amusing, but deep down I know it is just that: banter. If the coat owners wore them for practical purposes they would be inside out. In this country cruelty is what happens to produce the coat. In certain other countries, where minds are simpler, and shallow is in, cruelty is not owning one. I don't think anyone could accuse the fashion industry of being populated with deep thinkers. I well remember models like Naomi Campbell (allegedly) saying she would never ever ever wear fur - that is until the following year, when 'fur was in' and they all sang the praises of fur.
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Here's the latest addition to my classroom. A captive bred Green Tree Python (Morelia viridis).
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If the coat owners wore them for practical purposes they would be inside out.
Can't understand how so many animals have got that wrong ,then Anthony! ??? ::)
What a fabulous snake and what a wonderful pose. Like a living sculpture, so perfectly placed.
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This morning the GTP is on the other side of the wee twig, proving it does move. Must find some water resistant silk-leafy twigs to decorate the cage. Not much use being camouflaged green it the cage is white with a brown branch.
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Can't the Green Tree Python have real branches with real leaves ?
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It has real branches, but real leaves soon go off and growing plants in any kind of substrate would introduce all sorts of pathogens. In a word, it would go fusty (pronounced foosty). Best to keep fairly sterile conditions (branches aside).
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This pic of Badgers (Meles meles) was taken on the back patio of a colleague's house in Linlithgow, West Lothian.
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WOW! A whole family, out visiting, how marvelous. That's pretty unusual, isn't it, even in these days of urban foxes making free with our facilities, to see badgers so close to houses?
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We have an active badger set nearly opposite our school and 50 metres from the busy Callendar Road, the main road into Falkirk from the east. It is dug into the north side of the Antonine ditch. These Linlithgow badgers visit this garden every night.
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Yahoo! Go Badgers! (They are the mascot of the University of Wisconsin--my law school alma mater...). I wonder if your badger is as seldom seen as our Taxidea taxus?
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Saw a dead one on the M9 motorway this morning. Generally they are seldom seen, unless you visit a set at about 9 p.m. and wait downwind.
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Wonderful, wonderful badgers. To see a whole family at once must be a fantastic thing. How big are these Anthony?
Could you train your tree snake to change colour like a chameleon and be in sinc with whatever his surrounding happen to be?
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Badgers are, well, sort of er badger sized Lesley. ::) Maybe nearly a metre long?
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Sorry Anthony, I thought with so many all at once like that, that they were a family of young ones, just part grown. And don't talk to me in that superior tone of voice anyway ;). We don't have badgers here so I've never seen a live one. I did once see a roadkill one in the UK and another, stuffed, in a pub somewhere.
After another look, I suppose the wheelbarrow gives a reasonable idea of their size. How marvellous to have them all visiting one's garden.
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Visiting badgers aren't always good news, Lesley - not if they decide to start excavating in your beds! I had an old brock who used to visit my garden almost every night and bulldozed his way through my plants and bulbs in an infuriatingly destructive way, looking for worms. I love badgers and love seeing them but it nearly drove me nuts trying to keep him out and finding deep holes and uprooted plants and bulbs day after day, year after year. No amount of filling gaps in hedges with netting, sticks etc. would keep him out. They're like little tanks, and can barge their way through and under anything you put in their way. He was killed by a car on the road three years ago, which was sad, but to be honest it was a relief to stop finding the holes and destruction every morning! No others from the set up the road (in someone's garden who treats them as pets) seem to ever have followed the old brock. It seemed to be his own personal nightime trail through the gardens, always exactly the same route.
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Just me, and I know it's romantic and naive, but if I a badger, or a cete of badgers, I'd garden AROUND them. I'd give up a fair bit of ground to have them here...
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Me too Carlo, though it's easy for ME to say, not having the problem in the first place.
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Sorry Lesley, these are youngsters, as the 3' x 2' slabs indicate. The 'wheelbarrow' is a recliner chair. I was just giving an indication of max size. When I lived in Huddersfield and visited a farm on a primary school outing my friends were gobsmacked at the size of cows. :o They'd just assumed that all farm animals were the size of sheep.
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I've seen a nice lawn destroyed by badger snuffle holes. The householder didnt know what caused it. A badger latrine in a garden isnt something anyone would ever want.
http://www.badgers.org.uk/badgerpages/pictures/meles-scrape-2.jpg (http://www.badgers.org.uk/badgerpages/pictures/meles-scrape-2.jpg)
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A badger latrine in a garden isnt something anyone would ever want.
http://www.badgers.org.uk/badgerpages/pictures/meles-scrape-2.jpg (http://www.badgers.org.uk/badgerpages/pictures/meles-scrape-2.jpg)
Too right, Mark! I'll never forget the first time I went to fill in a hole where the badger had decided to have a nice pooh. Thought I'd check the bottom of the hole for bulbs and found something else!! :P What a stink! And the quantity!!! After plunging your hand unexpectedly into badger pooh, finding cat pooh in your beds is a delight (almost!)
Carlo, if I had a really big garden I'd also be happy to live with badgers (and foxes) digging in the remoter corners. But when your main bit of garden is just 10m X 30m a full-grown badger can make a soul-destroying mess of it over the course of a year of nightime visits. I'd never have tried to hurt the old brock in any way, but I thought it fair game to try to divert him around my garden by blocking his routes - didn't work of course!
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....As I said, naive and romantic.
Oddly enough the most serious burrowing pest (in terms of plant destruction) was a TURTLE! While I was at the botanical garden we had a large female snapping turtle climb to the top of a scree bed to lay her eggs. She dug, tossing plants and labels aside with impunity. Soon, of course, she hit rock and could go no further. So forward she went and dug again. Same result, same response. This poor dear dug a trence about 20 feet long looking for a suitable spot to deposit her treasure. Ultimately she crossed the path, hunkered down in the cactus and succulent bed (essentially sand), and relieved herself of her load. That's where I found her first thing in the morning.
We had the fix the uphill damage before opening, but I left her and the future generation alone.
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Not a problem we have in the UK Carlo. In Scotland we only have three native reptiles and they are all live bearers.
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Well heavens! All my illusions about the "charm" of badgers are shattered. I'll be happy to see them on the Forum and elsewhere, but am pleased at last, we don't have them here. Plenty of problems with possums whose poo is like that of rabbits, small, round, very firm and easily (and cleanly) disposed of, if need be.
You have to admire the determination (instinct, I suppose) of the turtle. Presumably what your Point is named for Carlo. Where is that exactly?
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Turtle Point (for Lesley and anyone else even remotely interested) is about an hour outside New York City in the Hudson Highlands...
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Not good enough, Carlo, we need spoonfeeding here, remember.... so, an hour outside NY... North, South, West? Highlands suggest North, but there isn't always a clue! ???
Hudson... Hudson River, right? Geography not my strong point, what can I tell you :-\ :-[
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It would be north and a little west...just a few miles north of the New Jersey border. I'm surrounded (more or less) by Harriman State Park and Sterling Forest...and on the shores of Tuxedo Lake.
Sorry...no GPS coordinates.
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State Park, a forest and a lake just an hour from NY city? Sounds EXACTLY like Dunedin, pop. 110,000 ;D
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But for the fact that this is NYC and 11,000,000...
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Speaking of Dunedin, Lesley, there are some great gardens down your way to tell us about.
Isn't there a rock garden of note there? It should make its way onto my list.
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There are some very good gardens here Carlo, so if you're planning to visit us sometime, I'd recommend the private gardens of Dick King, Gavin and Daphne Clarke, and several others. Then there's the garden at Larnack Castle and as you mention, the rock garden in the Dunedin Botanic Garden is very good, the best public rock garden in NZ.
Nothing much at my place except heaps of pots at present, and we don't have a spare bed but could arrange something and I'd certainly want to give you dinner.
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It just occurred to me that you probably meant your list of gardens to visit, on your website. In which case, I'll talk to someone about it, maybe get something to you.
Sorry to be so dense. :-[
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Well I am trying to make the list (of the world's best rock gardens) a bit more representative--and the southern hemisphere is woefully under-represented. Thanks in advance.
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It would be north and a little west...just a few miles north of the New Jersey border. I'm surrounded (more or less) by Harriman State Park and Sterling Forest...and on the shores of Tuxedo Lake.
Sorry...no GPS coordinates.
Thought I might fancy a holiday home in your neck of the woods, Carlo, to be close to the Gardens... look what I found, sorry about HUGE URL:
http://www.myclassicrealestate.com/listings/detail.php?lid=15558648&limit=0&offset=0&&&posc=5&post=50&cfq=uri%3D%2FHomes%2FNY%2FOrange%2FTuxedo_Park%2FTuxedo_Park_Real_Estate_Listings.html%26SRSearchDate%3D1190040082%26SRRecordCount%3D24%26SRPage%3D1%26SRPageCount%3D3%26SRPageLinks%3D6
Built in 1890, an historic propery in American terms, I suppose..... nearly the smallest property I found, less than 3000 sq feet, it seems... others were as much as 10000 !!!
And only £1 million pounds, 2.2 million dollars... looks pretty, though!
A gated community, I think, too.. that must be to keep the underpaid Garden Directors out! ::)
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That's the Cook's house. They are my neighbors across the street (many a nice barbecue there...). I'm doing my best to convince them to stay...
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Good grief.. is that the house of the cook as in chef or the Family Cook?
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NO MAGGI! Just a family named Cook.
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Darn, and I was just about to apply for the job!
So, the whole place is beset with Turtles, then? Raccoons?
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Some turtles and racoons, mink, all manner of small rodents, deer, turkeys, many other kinds of birds, skinks, frogs, snakes and bear.
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That's a cottage?! :o
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It was the gardener's cottage on one of the estates. Now it's quite a lovely home.
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Bit like Dunblane. Down the road is a stone built two story detached house called 'Newton Cottage', which was the gardener's house for the mansion opposite. Probably worth nearly a million quid now? :o
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Had a little trip out to Grange over Sands which has a super tearoom with mouthwatering cakes and famed for its tea. Opposite is a little park with a collection of waterfowl, some of which are wild and others part of a collection. Here are a few pics of what I 'think' I can identify and later some which the resident experts can help me put names to. Unfortunately they had all lined up on the wrong shore so that Iwas facing into the sun.
1 General pic
2 Pochard
3 Shelduck
4 Australian Shelduck
5 Eider
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Maggi, when you move in, I hope you'll expect the occasional visitor!
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certainly, Lesley but first i need Carlo to confirm that there are skinks but no skunks!
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Duck are SO photogenic, aren't they? Also delicious, which makes me feel very guilty. Sorry.
Have you seen the very elegantly shaped Duck in the Southern Hemisphere Daffodill pages... don't know what type they are but they seem tallish though not in the Indian Runner Duck way. Nice fat Kookaburra there, too.
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Sorry Maggi...there are skunks and skinks...the garden's a veritable zoo!
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Skunks, too, eh? I thought as much... still, my sister Frances developed a modus vivendi with skunks at one time, though her cats didn't get on so well, so I suppose it can be done. :-\
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Here are some more of the wildfowl, geese this time. Please correct me if any names are wrong.
1 Bar Headed Goose
2 Barnacle Geese
3 Emperor Goose & Ruddy Headed Goose
4 Hawaiain Goose
5 Red Breasted Goose ?male
6 Red Breasted Goose ?female
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These are lovely birds John and a pleasure for me to see them. Do you know the NZ native Paradise ducks or Parrys as we often term them? They are a kind of shelduck, a little like the Australian above but the male is blue black with white under his wings when he flies and just for once, the female is more spectacular with a beautiful glossy tan body and a bright white head. She too is white under the wings as she flies. A pair feeds on our rather paddock-like lawn sometimes but always manages to keep a little ahead on my camera when I go towards them.
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John the two geese Emperor Goose & Ruddy Headed Goose RE .jpg are a pair of Upland Geese from Chile
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I like the Ne Ne (Hawaian Goose). Note the reduced webbing between the toes.
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Water birds are obliging in being relaxed in the main,about being photographed, aren't they? This place has a great collection, I am most impressed.
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Beautiful images John, many thanks. Been absent from the forum for a while as my computer (or more precisely perhaps my broadband connection) has been playing up....still can't conquer it unfortunately (until 'super son' pays me a visit), so I must travel to my daughter's house every couple of days to access these pages with her machine....SO frustrating! Got the odd picture or three to post as well!
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Good luck with the computer Cliff. I have only just beaten the gremlins out of mine after changing providers. The last one took about a month to resolve.
Thanks for the positive comments guys. Now for your help with the ones I couldn't find on the poster at Grange.
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Can't help, John but my hair used to be the rich chesnut red colour that No. 2 DSC0049 hass along the side !Those were the days, it is so dark now that it only really looks red in strong bright light, and now the grey begins... not a worry that lovely duck has.
The last two were perfect twins, I thought at first, now i see they are a pair... lovely. They're geese of some kind, are they? Judging by the neat beaks/bills?
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That middle one just looks like a ruddy Shelduck to me?
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What? ANOTHER ruddy shelduck? :)
John, I remembered 2 more this morning. Aquilegia scopulorum making buds already and the gorgeous Lilium chalcedonicum. Just 3 but doing very well. I'm thrilled to have this since seeing it in Greece in `93. Love the shape and the colour. Many, many thanks.
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Anthony,
They all look like ruddy ducks to me...... or were you meaning that as a name or description, rather than an expletive!! :o ;D
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photo one could be an eclipse Cinnamon Teal
photo three shows two female Upland geese
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What do YOU think Paul?
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If I'm the Paul you're asking..... no idea. They look like ducks to me, nothing more specific!! LOL The third pic does have different shape to the heads, enough to make me doubt that they ARE actually ducks, but I'm no expert on ducks.... in fact far, far, far, far, far, etc.... from it.
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Folks,
Some kind of Mayfly (Septemberfly?).
Hard to get a good picture but an interesting looking critter.
Andrew.
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No Paul. Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis) are different from Ruddy Shelducks (Tadorna ferruginea) ::) ;).
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Paul, you're thoroughly confused now. Anthony's was a Ruddy (red) mine was a ruddy (sanguinary).
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I still have no ruddy idea!! ;D I'm sure I'll live though. :P
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upland spider
I was up a mountain today surveying a site for a wind farm. Nearly every sedge had a strange spider cocoon among the flowers/seeds. What are they, Anthony?
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I also found this very shiny dung beetle
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How very undignified! :o
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Not sure about your spider Mark, but it could be Larinioides cornutus. You one is much hairier than the normal upland species Araneus quadratus.
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thanks Anthony. I've just noticed an extra leg behind the spider
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Bit late catching up with all since I posted my pics.
Maggi, Your hair looks good to me and no need to hide it under a Cag. If the colour is from a bottle can you lend me some, together with a bit of a graft for filling in. ;D
Lesley, It's lovely to know that the seed has been successful in your expert hands. I've always found it one of the great joys raising from seed, particularly because they sometimes produce unexpected surprises.
Paul, Nice to know your 'chuckle button' is still turned on ;)
Mark & Andrew, thanks again for coming up trumps with the IDs. I Googled your suggestions and they all proved positive.
What a glorious colour underneath the Dung Beetle. Bearing in mind its name, I hope you washed your hands afterwards!!
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up a mountain so I didnt. Those thoughts didnt enter my mind and seldom do :-[
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Thanks, John... hair colour all natural, changing of its own accord... there is plenty of it, I'll send some after next haircut... graft sounds painful so Ill send tube of superglue, too. ;)
Amazing how beetles, whether Irish dung or Egyptian scarab,have such wonderful iridescent colours...you'd really wonder why, wouldn't you? Mark's one has most of its shiny bits underneath.. what does it do, flash its belly to attract a goodlooking lady beetle? There has to be an easier way, surely? :-\
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I like dung beetles. Where would we be without 'em?
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I like dung beetles. Where would we be without 'em?
Anne, sounds like you're unusually reliant on dung beetles! Me, I'm on mains sewerage. ;D
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Your dung beetle also rejoices in the names Dor Beetle and Lousy Watchman - because it "ticks" and is commonly heavily infested with mites - (Geotrupes stercorarius). It is mainly found on (in? :P) cow dung. You should get a pat on the back for finding it Mark. ;) It is not really related to the scarabs. I remember seeing scarabs in Kenya. Nearly as big as cricket balls.
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yes it did tick when I kept rolling it over to get an underside shot. No cows where I found it just lots of sheep
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Just as well. You wouldn't want a (cow) pat on your back anyway--you'd wind up taking those beetles home with you...
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Some more hornet pictures. I found a nest in the local woods and having read here that they are docile I crept to within a few metres of the nest.
Unfortunately it was on the shady side of the tree trunk and there were loads of overhead branches so there wasn't enough light to get decent photos
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very brave, Rob!! I dont think we have Hornets over here
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The hornets nest is in a local country park with full time rangers.
A lot of school trips go there and the nest was only about 30M from the path, so I thought the rangers would have exterminated the nest if they attack people.
Having said that, they are still scary so I didn't want to disturb them too much!
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I don't think I'd have taken the risk that they WERE docile, Rob. Super to see how beautifully the nest fits in with its surroundings. Glad you're here to show and tell, though!
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I always understood that bee stings could be bad, wasps much worse and hornet stings could kill, at least in susceptible people. You wouldn't get me near a nest for love nor money. I saw a hornet once years ago in Queensland, Australia. I thought it was a helicopter! :o
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No hornets up here either. I think if the rangers exterminated a nest in a country park they would quite rightly get their 'jotters'! These insects are rare, especially in the midlands.
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Hornets are quite common in Slovakia where my wife Ivi comes from. I saw a small swarm in her parents' house one night - just found them buzzing around the landing - and they scared the pooh out of me (even wasps freak me out after a childhood encounter with a wasp nest - bike? - which involved me being stung on the bum amongst other places!).
Many people kill them on sight in Slovakia 'cos they say hornet stings can kill - especially children and especially multiple stings. Ivi's mum chased them out the window with a newspaper.
Don 't know if they were a different sub-species to English hornets, but they were massive - never seen anything like that in Engla nd.
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Hornet stings, I have it on good authority, are 'surprisingly mild'; no worse than a wasp sting and while it may be more painful than a bee, the volume of poison released is less. See http://www.vespa-crabro.de/hornets.htm
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It's good to know that their stings are surprisingly mild.
Usually when bees swarm are they less aggressive because they haven't got a home to defend, so maybe it was safe to chase the Slovakian hornets out of the window with a newspaper.
One last picture as the one at the bottom looks to be staring at the camera.
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The volume may be lower but if more people are allergic to the hornet sting than bee sting it would lead to more deaths. That's just a possible explanation as to why they are known for killing? I have no idea as to reality, but that WOULD explain it.
Apparently one of the most dangerous insects is the Jumping Jack ant from Tasmania. It is one of the few ants that will chase attackers, rather than running around until it finds them. They can jump up to 15cm repeatedly so they can cover ground quite quickly. The sting isn't that poisonous but there are a lot of people who are seriously allergic to it, so it kills more people than most insects I am not sure whether these figures are "number of people" or "number of people in relation to amount of people stung". I saw a documentary at one point on the 10 top insect killers and they were at the top. Interestingly a week later I found a nest of them, so they are obviously here on the mainland as well. They were identical to the pictures and they definitely jumped, and unlike any ant I have ever seen prior to that they came out of the nest hole and stood and "looked" around them then headed straight in my direction. Never seen an ant that looked at the big picture like that before, the obviously recognised me as the problem and ran/jumped straight towards me. Quite freaky. I left rather quickly and disposed of the nest shortly thereafter. I would never have believed what I had seen except that I'd seen that TV show. :o Just such a coincidence seeing them so soon after it, and never having seen them in the years before or since. Theyir jumping and behaviour was just SO distinctive. If it wasn't them then it was something closely related, and given my various allergies I was not taking a chance and finding out whether I was allergic to them or not!! ;D
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I think allergies really negate the 'dangerous' argument. You could say that a hornet is no more dangerous than a peanut....to some people. A butterfly could be lethal - if it got stuck in your throat and you choked on it. ;)
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OK, if every single person in the world was allergic to peanuts, wouldn't you say that peanuts were dangerous? ;) If a reasonable number of people are allergic to Hornets (and as I said, this is a hypothesis as to why they could be regarded as dangerous if their sting is mild) then I think you'd be classifying them as dangerous.... at least until you'd been stung by one and knew that YOU weren't one of those allergic to them!! ;D
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The Horntail (Urocerus gigas) is regarded as dangerous and hawkmoth caterpillars too, because of their appearance (they both have great big horns at their rear), and unless you dance the tarantella you will die from a tarantula bite. All myths I'm afraid and the first two don't sting and a true tarantula bite is painful (ditto for the great big bird-eaters - I've been bitten three times) but harmless. You are more likely to suffer from tetanus. I'm allergic to hairy caterpillars but they aren't dangerous either. It is people's perception and the insect's deception. I'm you want dangerous, go for certain snakes or funnel-web or brown recluse spiders or box jellies. Some of these will make the flesh drop off your arm, always assuming you survive that long. I certainly haven't met anyone who died from a hornet sting. :D
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Well, you wouldn't have if they died would you? :'(
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I knew there was a flaw in my argument. Just like the one where they say you are more likely to be hit by a meteorite than win the lottery. Well, I know that dozens of people have won the lottery, so where are all these people that have been hit by meteorites? ::)
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Hello,
a Mantis sp# putting the eggs in deer's horns
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A surreal incident Rafa...lovingly captured. Thanks.
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Many thanks Cliff, this is a clear example that dead means life to other animals.
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What extraordinary pictures and how clear. Amazing how in a photo that seems at first glance to be rather plain, without colour, there is suddenly so much detail.... every tiny piece of Madame Mantis ( and I admit those beasts with long legs and such eyes are not my favourites :-\ ) and the wonderful hues and patterns of the lichen on the stone. Riveting! Thank you.
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Your mantis (Iris oratoria) hides a secret Rafa. Unlike the common praying mantis (Mantis religiosa) her hind wings are brightly coloured.
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I got stung once by a hornet when I lived in Adelaide. Near the eye if I remember, it hurt when it first happened but soon wore off. I wonder what would happen if I got stung again. Not that I normally react badly to stings.
Brian Wilson Aberdeen
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Ausralian 'Hornets' are really big hunting wasps of the genus Exeirus. Their sting is painful. It is the Japanese Giant Hornet Vespa mandarinia japonica that is the most dangerous with about 70 deaths per year. The Asian subspecies is "known colloquially as the Yak Killer Hornet". It is huge at 2" long! :o See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespa_mandarinia_japonica
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Hang on, I thought Anthony was trying to convince usthat hornets were relatively harmless? And now we find these Asian giants account for around 70 people a year... that sounds pretty dangerous to me, even if their cousins are less toxic. Yikes!
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These hornets have an extra sting in the tail: a neurotoxin, called mandaratoxin. It is interesting that the native bees (Apis cerana japonica) which are the prey of these hornets, have evolved a neat way of killing the 'scouts' that discover the nest. They entice a hornet into the hive and then ambush it, completely covering it. They then vibrate their wings and 'bake' the hornet at 47oC, a temperature which the bees can just tolerate but which is lethal to Giant Hornets. The introduced European Honey Bee (Apis mellifera) has no such defence. (Arrg someone's switched the overwrite on again!!!! >:()
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They can't take the heat, Eh? well ,well, the first recorded case of a hot flush being potentially useful ! :-[
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Aye, these bees are all female too.
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I would mind seeing a preserved specimen of a queen Giant Hornet. They can be 7cm long.
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(I'm a lot bigger than that, though pretty well preserved.)
I'll bear your wishes in mind, Anthony, if I ever find myself in possession of said preserved critter. I'm sure you will be most welcome to her! All I know is that when something the size of a samall bird is zubbing around you, the last thought on your mind is that it is probably not vey dangerous..... anything with a zzzzubb likethat MUST pose a risk, if only of deafening you at close quarters... oh, we're back to me again ::)
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I've caught hornets in my butterfly net on holiday (both Vespa crabro and V. orientalis). Certainly gave me a buzz. :o I've now got a large sweep net (this one really is the dog's nuts) for Trinidad, so who knows what I'll catch there? 8)
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lord knows, Anthony... you'd better pack the Tea Tree Oil!
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Hello,
Anthony, could you please Id this spider?
Thanks you very much, it is about 1cm.
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now that is very cute
Anthony you get about dont you! When are you off to Trinidad?
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Before I go to bed I just Googled it. It's actually also native to the UK and confined to one 50m square heath in Dorset. Ladybird spider
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Didn't need to look that one up. As Mark says, it's the Ladybird Spider (Eresus niger). Only the male is red. Rafa, that is a really superb pic. What a privilege to be able to share it. :)
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I think this Forum is doing me good in improving, if not curing, my distaste of spiders and assorted beasties with over-long legs. (No, I do not have a problem with Giraffe) I have actually enjoyed studying Rafa's ladybird spider. He is beautifully marked... an idea of scale would be interesting...if he's found in the UK, I can assume he's not very large ?
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Great pic of the Ladybird spider.
Do you carry a tripod everywhere to get such superb pictures?
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the little smiley face on his back is quite cute.... even if 4 "eyes" in it. Very cute spider (and that is saying something, given I don't like spiders! ;D)
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I would say 5 - 7 mm long? It is similar, but not related, to the wee Zebra Spiders (Salticus spp.) we see on house walls.
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My apologies....I didn't know whether to post these images on the 'American Holiday' thread or the 'Wildlife' one so opted for the easiest to find.....these images were taken in June in Zion National Park, Utah and feature a nest....well, I'm sure the images speak for themselves.....
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Beautiful bird Cliff, is it a Zosterops species?
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It looks too big for a Zosterops aka White Eye. It could be a Flycatcher
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This is a Diprion pini, the name explain something, they eat Pinus sylvestris leaves distroying huge extensions during kilometers of forrest from level 1400m high
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What a performer Rafa (does he mean the Diprion or the photographer.....or both)?
Another shot from America, this time Monterey....lots more to follow when time and tide allow....
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A wonderful bird that last one. I especialy like the pattern on his/her back. All the birds are delightful. Have you been back to the States Cliff? or are these leftovers from the last trip?
I could use some Diprion pini in the garden (though MAF would have kittens at the thought). Our pines are getting way too big and everything in and out of the house has a pale yellow film of pollen on it. And I have hay fever. :'(
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Looks like a Black-tailed Godwit to me. Limosa limosa
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So long at both ends then :)
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Just had my rabies and yellow fever jags this afternoon. Arms a wee bit sore. Hope to be able to take pics in Trinidad, so watch this space.
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A bit of a coincidence here after seeing Cliff's possible Godwit. This morning I received an email showing the migration route of a tagged Godwit.
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A couple of butterflies enjoying the weekend sunshine.
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A Comma Polygonia c-album
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and Red Admiral Vanessa atalanta.
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Your butterflies are as obliging as Cliff's bird, in posing for the camera, Andrew. :)
That is some migration pattern for the Godwit, isn't it? I didn't realise they were that busy.
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This little wader, about the size of a starling, snapped yesterday at Aberdeen beach:
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
I know I should know what it is, but one of you will tell me! ::)
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A comma turned up in Dunblane last year but not many Red Admirals made it this fare north this year. Commas are residents and their distribution had shrunk to the county of Herefordshire by the end of the 19th century. They have been spreading outwards ever since.
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Looks like a Sandpiper (Actitis hypoleucos)?
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A few more from the U.S. .... Monterey and Vegas....the large cats were 'on display' as part of a resident magic act at one of the casinos. Unfortunately the mesh caging is quite clearly visible as grey ghosting over the entirity of the images, but was totally unavoidable....the poor creatures were immaculately maintained, but still seemed so very sad.
The birds, frog and otters formed part of a series of superb living displays at Monterey aquarium.....
The squirrel and the chipmunk were spotted in Yosemite and Zion N.P. respectively....
...And Lesley....these ARE extras to those posted from June...not lucky enough to have two trips in one lifetime.....(unless Maggi is paying)?
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Great photos Cliff, I wish my squirrel was as good!
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bird 3 is a female Grey Phalarope Phalaropus fulicaria. She attracts mates, lays eggs and leaves him to it
bird 6 looks like a Turnstone going out of breeding colours
Googling Phalaropes it seems the grey one is the red-necked and the red one is the Grey. A bit Irish I think
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Brilliant pictures from everyone, thanks so much.
Yes Cliff, it's impossible to imagine any sort of a smile breaking out on that poor lion's face. Just that gentle, accepting, long-suffering. How tragic. what possible justification could there be for keeping such animals at a casino, magic act or not?
Cute froggie though.
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The tree frog is very like a White's treefrog (Litoria caerulia), but it is Australian, and although widely kept in captivity the Americans have enough of their own without importing any more?
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Found this on a hiking tour yesterday - Anthony can you tell me how it looks when adult?
The red thing on the right side is a tail, not a horn ;)
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Your caterpillar is that of the Pale Tussock Moth (Calliteara pudibunda), which is not found in Scotland. It is a very hairy moth which is pale grey in colour. Its larvae feed on many deciduous trees.
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You'll find pics here: http://www.bioimages.org.uk/HTML/R154616.HTM
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Hmmm, seems like the larvae is much prettier than the moth :-\
Thanks Anthony!
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There are lots of Comma butterflies about just now, and hurray! Squirrel 0 - 1 Me !!! ;D
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Have just had a chance to look at Cliff's parent bird and nest - several posts back: Re: Wildlife Autumn 2007 (spring wildlife Down Under)
« Reply #219 on: October 02, 2007, 04:32:21 PM » Page 15 of this thread.
I checked a couple of my field guides, and I think that this is a blue-gray gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea).
-Sharon
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Sharon, I think you are correct
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There are lots of Comma butterflies about just now, and hurray! Squirrel 0 - 1 Me !!! ;D
Anne, you finally got the squirrel - and now? What are you going to do with it?
a) maybe squirrels enjoy a short trip to another environment (ok)
b) send it to the US where it comes from (better)
c) send it to the continent (absolutely prohibited)
d) have a nice dinner with an unusual taste (poor squirrel)
Please let us know your decision.
Gerd
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He went for a trip in the car to a wood away from any houses. Probably fighting the resident population, but better than squirrel sandwiches with a hazelnut stuffing :-X
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I love Thomas's hairy caterpillar but the moth looks nice too, really soft and velvety. And I do wish we had comma butterflies here They are stunning.
Anne would you stuff the sandwich or stuff the squirrel first?
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I say, I say, I say! What's got a hazelnut in every bite? Squirrel poo! Ba-boom! I thank you!
Sorry, couldn 't resist (with all the talk of squirrels) that old schoolkid joke from the sixties, based on an old tv ad for...what's the choccy bar with lots of hazelnuts? Marathon? Didn't it used to have a different name? Uh-oh! Senior moment!
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Anne, where'd you get the trap from? Beats sitting around with an air-rifle for hours on end! The little b***ers don't have move fast!
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Your jokes made me snicker Martin. Never mind, it'll all be done by Friday. :)
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adarby said...
> The tree frog is very like a White's trefrog (Litoria caerulia),
> but it is Australian, and although widely kept in captivity
> the Americans have enough of their own without importing
> any more?
The frog is almost certainly Lit. caerulea, it's very common in the US pet trade.
Interestingly, it (along with 6 other species) were deliberately released in NZ many years ago. The last one of these was apparently seen in the 50s. Three of the species (L. ewingii, L. aurea and L. raniformis) have become established in the wild. In the case of L. aurea, they're more common here than in their native Australia (NSW, around Sydney mostly).
Andrew.
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Mark said...
> This morning I received an email showing the
> migration route of a tagged Godwit.
I was at a BBQ last Saturday (must be spring!) and met the guy who tagged the various godwits for the migration study. Interesting stuff.
Andrew.
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Shows you how small the world is. :)
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Thanks Sharon, Andrew, Anthony et al for your identifications, etc.
I agree about 'it being a small world' Anthony....whether one is a godwit, a nitwit or, in my case, a halfwit...
Just one more birdie from the U.S. of A. to post....from the magnificent aquarium at Monterey once again.....
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Your jokes made me snicker Martin. Never mind, it'll all be done by Friday. :)
:D Tee Hee! I got it completely round my neck of course. Just checked Wikipedia (wonderful invention!!) and of course Marathon bars were those ones that lasted forever. It was the Topic bar that had a hazelnut in every bite! I also found a site where you can order old-fashioned choccy bars from your childhood to be sent mail-order, even packed in ice to prevent melting in the mail!! Nostalgia gone nuts! (Boom-boom!) : ;D
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Just one more birdie from the U.S. of A. to post....from the magnificent aquarium at Monterey once again.....
What an absolutely gorgeous photograph, Cliff!!
Chloë
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Martin, have you been celebrating your book a little too much?! Whatever it is you're on I could do with some! The trap came from ebay see http://stores.ebay.co.uk/DENNINGS-DIY. Happy hunting
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Mark said...
> This morning I received an email showing the
> migration route of a tagged Godwit.
I saw this on a Norwegian birding site a few weeks ago and the following link was given:
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1774
I found this feat absolutely astonishing - had no idea that Godwits flew non-stop over 8 days across the Pacific! Note also the different spring and autumn routes, taking advantage of the westerly wind belt of the North Pacific.
By the way, look out for an invasion of Waxwings this winter in the UK and further south in Europe. Our first flocks have arrived this week here in central Norway (near Trondheim), but there has been a disastrous Rowan year, so the birds will not stay here for long this year.
Another interesting site we are following just now http://www.hint.no/hint/fagportal/foelg_fiskeoernenes_trekkrute. Ospreys have returned to our area over the last few years after a long absence. 3 of them are being satellite tracked and you can see the very different routes they have chosen so far. One crossed the North Sea arriving in East Anglia whilst one has already arrived in its sub-Saharan overwintring area! The third bird has either died or there are problems with the antenna.
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Amazing picture Cliff, excelent sharpness!!
This is an unidentified beattle
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It is is Hister quadrinotatus Rafa. It is predatory, as is its larvae, on other insect larvae associated with horse and cow dung. It is a warmth-loving species not found in Britain.
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Many thanks Rafa,
These are not as clear I'm afraid, but they were taken from a viewpoint high up on the promenade at Hoylake (on the Wirral) today of an egret on the estuary sands....I presume this pretty little thing is a uncommon winter visitor but I'm certain that the experts on this forum will put me right on that. I love the third image of it dancing.
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Lovely pics Cliff. All that heron/egret/crane group of birds seem to leap and dance. I remember seeing a Japanese TV thing once with their beautiful cranes jumping up and down and having a whale of a good time.
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Little Egrets are now breeding in the UK and spend the winter around the entire British and Irish coast
The LBJ might be a Dunlin
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Thanks Mark....I knew somebody would put me right.
Just along the coast from Hoylake is West Kirby and the unusual offshore Hilbre islands which can be reached at certain times of the day by striding out across the estuary sands. A haven for migrating seabirds this unusual destination also proved a magnet for day trippers and birdwatchers on a warm autumnal Sunday. Our first visit and we were particularly struck by the wonderful erosion patterns in the rocks on the islands. We could almost have been in a miniaturised Bryce Canyon.
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Are you SURE that last photo isn't of something sinister, Cliff?
The rock formations are fascinating, that woman, Nature, is very clever, isn't she?
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Are you SURE that last photo isn't of something sinister, Cliff?
The rock formations are fascinating, that woman, Nature, is very clever, isn't she?
I thought 'Nature' was a bloke! Surely women aren't capable of all nature's wonders, they would spend too much time worrying about colours clashing ;D
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they would spend too much time worrying about colours clashing
But for Nature, no colours clash, that is a human "problem" :-[
Besides, Nature must be a "she", because there is so much to do in Nature and "blokes" are always in the pub or at the golf club :P
Gardeners of the male gender are much nicer than "blokes" , though much less talented than Nature ;)
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This question of gender is apt, though, since I have just been sent am email which helpfully illustrates an answer to the vexed question of how to tell the gender of a bird..... I quote.....
"HOW TO TELL THE SEX OF A BIRD.....
This Is AMAZING!!!
Until now I never fully understood how to tell The difference Between Male and Female Birds. I always thought it had to be determined surgically.
Until Now.
Which of The Two Birds Is a Female??? Below are Two Birds. Study them closely...See If You Can Spot Which of The Two Is The Female.
It can be done. Even by one with limited bird watching skills. "
[attach=1]
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LOL does that make you a gull, Maggi? Going by the amount of chat at the auction
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Well, I like to think of myself as a fairly magnificent old bird, Mark! ;D
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Doesn't take a lot of guessing which is the female, and since I married one and fathered two I should have lots of experience :P
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When I clicked 19 to go to the following page, the seagull stopped yapping and her mouth stayed wide open. The wind must have changed.
David, did you ever hear anyone mention "Father nature.?"
Cliff, I suppose next time you go to photograph in that area, someone belonging to SRGC or AGS will have planted a very attractive trough. Nothing sinister about that. In fact, I'm surprised you haven't done that already.
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Couldn't get enough compost in Sue's rucksack Lesley....and how would she have carried three trays of plants in her two free hands?
I, of course, would have looked after both labels and pens....!!!! ::)
Have to save some energy for watching the SEMI-FINAL on Saturday evening!
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One of my colleagues brought in a very much alive adult male Diving Beetle (Dytiscus marginalis). He lives in Wallacestone, near Brightons, Falkirk and his garden pond is overrun with them (he has killed over 30 larvae this summer). Apparently they have killed all his fish, several newts and all the tadpoles. What a pond it must be, as he also has dragonflies too. :P
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Wouldn't like to dip my toes in there. We had a pond dipping session for children at our local nature reserve and the first two things caught and put into the tray for study were a diving beetle larva and a newt tadpole. The children were very quickly educated in the concept of the Food Chain'. :-\
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Have to save some energy for watching the SEMI-FINAL on Saturday evening!
Yeah, yeah, all right! It's rubbed in really deep now so you can stop any time.
I suppose I'd better support the Brits rather than the French.
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Anthony, your note about the diving beetle (have you a pic?) does highlight NZ's and Australia's biosecurity policy. Although we rant and rail at it, pests and diseases are kept out and our flora, fauna, habitats and economy are protected as a result. I think if one brought in foot and mouth disease, as an example, all one could do is go off and shoot oneself (after paying the fines and serving the prison sentence which would result from breaking the rules).
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I suppose I'd better support the Brits rather than the French.
But in this case they are not playing as Brits, they're English and I hear my Francophile chum saying loudly, "what about the Auld Alliance".... referring to the old connections between Scotland and France!! Yup, this is a tricky one and no mistake! ::) :-\ :-X
My pond is without diving beetles and I am grateful: I am far too fond of the frogs and especially the newts, to contemplate their wholesale slaughter at the hands ( jaws!) of these monsters >:(
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what's rugby?
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Squashed football I think ???
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To what group of people did Goliath belong? I don't think they played rugby either. ;)
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Nice to see on our news tonight that despite the drubbing the media etc gave the All Blacks they came home to cheering crowds at the airport. Nice to see that the NZ people have things in perspective, unlike the news media who want to blame everyone. Some of them when interviewed said they expected to be greated by no-one, or else heckled. You could see them all look so relieved when they were greeted by cheers and congratulations. Good on you NZ fans...... great sportsmanship!!
And the crowds were pretty wild.... so you could stretch it to call it wildlife in spring Down Under? ;)
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Here's a link to Dytiscus marginalis (the Great Diving Beetle): http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_terrestrial_and_freshwater/Dytiscus_marginalis/more_still_images.html
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what's rugby?
Wash your mouth out Mark :o
The ABs looked positively bemused when they came through the airport at Christchurch (flight diverted from Auckland because of expected media and public hostilty). Thousands of cheering fans and the looks on their faces gradually changed from very down-in-the-mouth to quite cheerful and pleased to be home. I think they were better received than the Aussies when they got home. And of course if South Africa win the darned cup we'll have to cope with Rogan being uppity. Bad enough the buttercup man ;D My hopes are pinned on Argentina.
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a joke comes to mind but I dont think I can put it one here
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There are some days when your journey into work is just brilliant - today was one of them as I stopped to watch a red squirrel going about it's business - in case there are a few people outside the UK who don't know what they look like this links to lots of images http://www.redsquirrels.info/squirrelpics.html (http://www.redsquirrels.info/squirrelpics.html). (I didn't take pictures as driving whilst using a camera is generally frowned upon by the local police!!)These animals were at the front of the queue when they were handing out cuteness but in England they are under serious threat due to the usual habitat degredation and the impact of the imported grey squirrels which cary a virus the reds are susceptible to. Only a few places in England now have the reds and Northumberland is one of them. The tiny scruffy woods by my house have at least 3 animals that I've seen together so they are still hanging on. Oh well, off to log my sighting on the Northumberland squirrel web site.
Sue
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Sue, Police; what are they ? All we seem to get down here are a couple of Boy Scouts in lookalike police uniforms Thank You Mr Blair.
Derek
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Paddy Irishman is said to be shocked to find out his cattle have got Blue Tongue. "By Jesus" he said "I didnt even know they had mobile phones!"
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Well played France!
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Some of the best jokes are about the most serious subjects... thanks, Mark,your "Blue tongue" one is a hoot!
Oh, Cliff, I wish I could be pleased for England ::) but they really did not play that well, did they? ;) I am feeling rather murderous towards the French atthe minute for not playnig better, too!! :-\
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Before the South Africa v Argentina game kicks off just a moment or two to post a few images of fungi captured today at Dovestones Reservoir near Saddleworth in the North West of England....not alpines but quite pretty.....
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The fungi are beautiful Cliff. Are they edible?
What's the difference between an arsonist and an All Black?
The arsonist doesn't waste five matches.
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Always dubious about categorically stating that any particular fungus is edible....knowing my luck I will poison half the population of Great Britain!! I will leave it to the experts Lesley, but they certainly were quite pretty but not abundant in the woods today.
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I should point out that Paddy Irish man isnt our Paddy
Saw lots of Fungi while out and about today.
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....knowing my luck I will poison half the population of Great Britain!!
Well Cliff, it wouldn't be your luck in question, but the luck of half the population..... wouldn't it?
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The shaggy ink cap, Coprinus comatus is edible, Lesley. Best before it gets inky! Those are the ones in Cliff's post 292, (except the number Five pic... I'm not sure what that is.)
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Paddy Irishman is said to be shocked to find out his cattle have got Blue Tongue. "By Jesus" he said "I didnt even know they had mobile phones!"
That one really tickled me, I'm still laughing ;D ;D ;D ;D
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It's odd isn't it, that so many of the edible mushrooms are those which look the most sinister.
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I confess I have not been reading this thread. Now that I have, I find it the best kept secret on the site, lots of laughs hereabouts, such fun. Particularly liked the Paddy joke, still smiling to myself about that one.
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Last week I had some wonderful days in Zingst ' on the Zingst '
(a part of the peninsula Fischland, Darß, Zingst) in McPom (modern German slang for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern).
Although my photographic equipment lacks a telephoto lens I'll add some pictures of the region and the cranes which are gathering there in September/October.
Gerd
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Super...thanks Gerd.
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And of course if South Africa win the darned cup we'll have to cope with Rogan being uppity. Bad enough the buttercup man ;D My hopes are pinned on Argentina.
Let's wait and see :) We did well against the Puma's, but our scrumming "sucks" (...as my teenage boys would say). What will England do? They seem to have improved dramatically since the last time we played them, so who knows? NZ's: you don't hate us THAT much now do you - we all live in the southern hemisphere after all... ;)
The "buttercup man" - surely you mean the forget-me-not man? ::) Don't worry, my quip about Eritrichum being an undernourished Myosotis is born out of pure envy - I would dearly love to be able to grow more plants from cooler climates in my hot and humid summer garden.
First photo: how's this for an "English" style garden replete with sundial not too far from where I live.
Second photo: another magnificent creation in the midlands of KZN. Sundials are one of my great passions.
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Last week I had some wonderful days in Zingst ' on the Zingst '
(a part of the peninsula Fischland, Darß, Zingst) in McPom (modern German slang for Mecklenburg-Vorpommern).
Although my photographic equipment lacks a telephoto lens I'll add some pictures of the region and the cranes which are gathering there in September/October.
Gerd
Great pictures Gerd, you have an 'artistic eye'
I wonder why it is, and no offence meant here to German friends, that so many German place names (eg. Zingst) remind me of the Goon Show (1950's cult comedy radio programme- http://www.thegoonshow.net/downloads/other/what_time_is_it_eccles.mp3
A programme that, as a schoolboy, I could (and frequently did!) regurgitate huge chunks of scripts to entertain! friends and family. Zingst strikes me as a place where Henry Crun and Minnie Bannister might live or where Bluebottle might valiantly defend. Those were the days. ::)
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I totally agree David.....Zingst would resemble the sound made when; 'He's fallen in the water'! Only old Goon buffs (or BUFFgOONS) will understand this thread....though I suspect Lesley and Fermi may get the gist....even with their 'incredibly' hairy legs.
Another folly for today....
Had a walk through a nearby nature reserve with my little grandson yesterday and couldn't resist filling the buggy tray with fallen leaves.....the following images resulted......like Playschool for adults with cameras......
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I totally agree David.....Zingst would resemble the sound made when; 'He's fallen in the water'! Only old Goon buffs (or BUFFgOONS) will understand this thread....though I suspect Lesley and Fermi may get the gist....even with their 'incredibly' hairy legs.
Another folly for today....
Had a walk through a nearby nature reserve with my little grandson yesterday and couldn't resist filling the buggy tray with fallen leaves.....the following images resulted......like Playschool for adults with cameras......
Just glad I,m not the only fruit and nut case on the Forum ;D Pictures up to the usual (very high) standard Cliff.
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Wow, Cliff! I love autumn! :D
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No Rogan, I DID mean the Buttercup man, Mr Ranunculus or Cliff Booker as some know him. He gives me a hard time when I've shot my mouth off prematurely. But that's all right. I'll get my own back some time soon, when SA win the cup because no, NZers don't hate you at all, except on the rugby field, but since WE won't be there, we're all for the southern connection.
To show there's no ill feeling Cliff, I need to thank you again for your seed some of which is coming through now, two Androsaces and the little plant called desert willow, but Bignoniaceae apparently with large purple flowers. That will be interesting.
I love your leaf arrangements. I'm soon going to start to make a rag rug. Wish I could duplicate the pattern.
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Lesley I would not drink any alcohol with the mushroom in MR buttercup's post since it gives the hangover of a lifetime. It is edible but without alcohol to drink!
It is given to people with alcoholism/problem with alcohol so that they would not be able to drink.
I am not 100% sure but in Sweden it is called ink mushroom and looks very similar and had similar name in English.
I have enjoyed all the pics so thank You all.
Regarding Rugby I must say that we in Sweden generally are totally indiferent to it.
Kind regards
Joakim
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Regarding Rugby I must say that we in Sweden generally are totally indifferent to it.
You are probably very wise Joakim ;)
If I can have ink caps OR alcohol, I'll go for the alcohol thanks. Roger has taken himself and the dog away for a few days (Today is Labour Day, a public holiday celebrating the introduction of the 40 hour working week - I should be so lucky! and he has a few days due from his job as well) and has omitted to leave me a bottle of wine (though he left the weedeater ready and all primed up and ready to go). A bad mistake as he forgot to take with him, the bottle of Glenfiddich we broached recently.
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Today is Labour Day, a public holiday celebrating the introduction of the 40 hour working week - I should be so lucky!
I think our prime minister is thinking of introducing a 40 hour working DAY!
Anyway, can someone identify this white and black butterfly on the saponaria flowers?
Sorry for the quality of the pic, I'm NOT a wildlife photographer!
[attachthumb=1]
cheers
fermi
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Gerd are the cranes grouping to winter in Germany or to fly off to winter in another country? The UK now has breeding cranes again after a long absence
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Tony G do you live near the huge Rook and Jackdaw roost featured in last week's Nature of Britain? It's a great wildlife programme.
I'll add a great joke in here.
Paddy Irish man, Paddy English man and Paddy Scotsman were discussing their childrens names. Paddy English man says "I named my son George because he was born on St. Georges day." Paddy Scots man says "by coincidence I named my son Andrew because he was born on St. Andrew's day. Paddy Irish man says "just wait 'til our Pancake hears this"
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Gerd are the cranes grouping to winter in Germany or to fly off to winter in another country? The UK now has breeding cranes again after a long absence
Mark, most of them will fly to sw France, Portugal, Spain (Extremadura) and nw Africa, but I was told that a few will stay here - everything is in change. Last week a flock was seen here over Solingen. We have breeding cranes in Germany also.
I was very excited to hear that the number of cranes which are gathering
near Zingst (now up to 40.000!) has increased a lot.
Gerd
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40,000 must be a good sight
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I cannot imagine so many Cranes... I thought the large number shown in Gerd's photos were amazing enough. Super to see such large numbers of these big birds.
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40,000 must be a good sight
Yes, but even 1000 are impressive. They are distributed over a large area, some were arriving and others left. But to watch around 1000 in the late afternoon landing is no overstatement.
Gerd
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The butterfly (remember that) looks like a Delias sp. It is a member of the Pieridae (like the Cabbage White) and sometimes called Union Jacks.
see here: Re: Wildlife Autumn 2007 (spring wildlife Down Under)
« Reply #311 on: previous page.
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40,000 must be a good sight
Yes, but even 1000 are impressive. They are distributed over a large area, some were arriving and others left. But to watch around 1000 in the late afternoon landing is no overstatement.
Gerd
Hi Gerd,
super trip (I guess) & pics.
Last year ~Oct/Nov. I watched ~50 impressive cranes (actually recognized their noise first) crossing my house in low altitude (40-60 meters estimated) late evening 11:00PM. Temperature was close to zero and sky was cloudy.
I found this unnormal as I experienced they usually take a pause overnight staying in silent places like wet meadows or wild fields until they continue their trip next morning.
Does anybody know cranes fly usually midnight - in the dark?
Is this a normal behaviour?
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Geese often fly over us in Dunblane at night in very large skeins. Quite noisy they are.
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[/quote]
Hi Gerd,
super trip (I guess) & pics.
Last year ~Oct/Nov. I watched ~50 impressive cranes (actually recognized their noise first) crossing my house in low altitude (40-60 meters estimated) late evening 11:00PM. Temperature was close to zero and sky was cloudy.
I found this unnormal as I experienced they usually take a pause overnight staying in silent places like wet meadows or wild fields until they continue their trip next morning.
Does anybody know cranes fly usually midnight - in the dark?
Is this a normal behaviour?
[/quote]
Armin,
During the week in Zingst I noticed cranes in the air even around midnight - very loud - but to me it was a beautiful sound.
Here around Solingen I saw most of these birds during afternoon and very rarely at dusk and sometimes heard them during the night. Sorry, don't know what is normal for them.
Gerd
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Thanks for the Butterfly i.d. Anthony.
cheers
fermi
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I've done a bit more digging, and whilst it is a 'white', I think it is the Caper White
Belenois java teutonia?
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Hi Gerd,
super trip (I guess) & pics.
Last year ~Oct/Nov. I watched ~50 impressive cranes (actually recognized their noise first) crossing my house in low altitude (40-60 meters estimated) late evening 11:00PM. Temperature was close to zero and sky was cloudy.
I found this unnormal as I experienced they usually take a pause overnight staying in silent places like wet meadows or wild fields until they continue their trip next morning.
Does anybody know cranes fly usually midnight - in the dark?
Is this a normal behaviour?
Armin,
During the week in Zingst I noticed cranes in the air even around midnight - very loud - but to me it was a beautiful sound.
Here around Solingen I saw most of these birds during afternoon and very rarely at dusk and sometimes heard them during the night. Sorry, don't know what is normal for them.
Gerd
Gerd,
thank you. It seems flying in the dark is not a phenomena I thought. I share your impressions the sound of cranes is loud but beautiful. It is an amazing performance of all migratory birds how they manage the long travel distances twice a year.
It is a pity we humans can't accompany them now on their way to the south... :-[
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This afternoon at around 3 o`clock a swarm of 50 cranes passed my hometown.
Gerd
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Lesley I would not drink any alcohol with the mushroom in MR buttercup's post since it gives the hangover of a lifetime. It is edible but without alcohol to drink!
It is given to people with alcoholism/problem with alcohol so that they would not be able to drink.
I am not 100% sure but in Sweden it is called ink mushroom and looks very similar and had similar name in English.
I have enjoyed all the pics so thank You all.
Regarding Rugby I must say that we in Sweden generally are totally indiferent to it.
Kind regards
Joakim
It's the Common Inkcap, Coprinus atramentarius (Gråblekksopp here in Norway) which shouldn't be eaten unless one is teetotal (even alcohol drunk the day before can have unfortunate consequences). The Shaggy Inkcap doesn't contain the active chemical (coprine?) and these are excellent with a beer, but only eat the very young mushrooms before the ink appears....
Rugby: Like Norway, Sweden has a national team: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Rugby_Union. Our team was most recently ranked 79th in the world! An ex-pat friend of mine won a national cap in Rugby a few years ago - he had played at school years before (his only qualification!). They lost 79-0 to the Estonians. Our only team locally is all-women. The plan is to field a women's team in the next world cup ;)
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That's super information Stephen, about the Swedish rugby team, and the Wikipedia link. Just 70-0 to the Estonians? You'll be beating the All Blacks any time soon. :(
As for a women's rugby team, that's REAL wildlife. ;D
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A few pictures taken on a trip to Macrihanish on the Mull of Kintyre 4 weeks ago.
I don't know of any animal that can relax like a seal hauled out on the rocks. A cat seems positively jumpy compared with it.
We counted approx. 500 sheep coming up this single track road followed by three border collies.
The full moon was so bright that I had to take a picture of it. For our forum members in the southern hemisphere, compare it with yours. You should see it upside down.
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how did you take such a good shot of the moon?
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I forgot to add the picture of the full moon on the last posting
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Paps of Jura? Is that slang? It would mean something else over here
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No Mark, it means exactly what you think it is !! There are several conical hills in Scotland with the same name - the most famous being the Pap of Glencoe.
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Lovely shots Tom....I'm sure Martin B. has already considered a cartoon strip featuring these splendid island attributes!! ;)
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how did you take such a good shot of the moon?
The picture of the moon was taken through a Swarovski AT 80 HD telescope using a 20x60 eyepiece. The camera is a Nikon Coolpix P5000. This combination can produce high quality results within its limitations, these being camera shake, setting up time and and lack of light transmission. I had tried this using a digital video camera some years ago and all I could get was about a quarter of the moon's surface in view. Another set back is that the moon traverses the sky faster than you think By the time you have centred the scene and played about with the settings, the moon has moved out of the screen. Cindy will use the camera for general photography and I will pinch it for digi-scoping birds at long range.
The picture of Ballycastle was taken from the top of the Mull of Kintyre, just above the lighthouse. It suffers from vignetting which can happen with a long zoom lense.
Attached are a few of my most recent pictures of birds
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Brilliant photos. Thank you. Would you mind if I download one to use as a reference to paint?
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Brilliant photos. Thank you. Would you mind if I download one to use as a reference to paint?
Please feel free to do so. My wife regularly uses our photographs at her art group. Here is one she finished about two weeks ago. Myself, I can't paint or draw for toffee but admire those who can.
I see that you live in Acklington. My brother lived in Alnmouth for ten years when he was an air traffic controller at Border Radar in RAF Boulmer between 1967/77. We used any excuse to come and stay with him so we could wander round the beautiful Northumberland coast. I remember regularly going into "Yemble" , (Amble) for fish and chips and listening to the local dialect which I found fascinating. We were there a few years ago and were disappointed to see the harbour had been changed into a posy marina. It has gone the way of most of the fishing towns in the U.K.and is the worse for it.
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That's very good Tom. I love gannets.
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Yes, I like Cindy's gannet, too. Got a bit of a soft spot for Kittiwakes, as well....neatly shaped birds.
Just loving Tom's moonshot, by the way!
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Many thanks, Tom. Yes, Amble is not far from here, our local shopping oasis (lol). And Alnmouth is the same as it ever was, very pretty and quiet. We go there sometimes, but they charge now for you to take your car down to the beach, though not in winter, think its too cold to stand out there collecting a pound from every car. Lots of little art groups hereabouts. I belong to two, one in Warkworth, the other in Hauxley. We just putter around, nothing very professional but we enjoy the challenge. Here is one of mine:
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Did you see the Kittiwakes that nest in Newcastle 10 miles from the sea? Nature of Britain is a fantastic programme
We call Kittiwakes because of their call kitty-way-k kitty-way-k. What do you guys in Europe know them as? I know they possible arent nesting with you
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Couldn't help noticing a couple of visitors,(a pair?),to the garden this afternoon.
Very ponderous in flight, it would appear these native wood pigeons are a late arrival this season as i've never seen the leaves of the blossom tree they are pictured in so well developed.(The birds normally have stripped the top 2/3rds of the tree by now).
I was able to get within approx 4 metres of them before they started to get edgy.Sorry all my real close up pics turned out rubbish.
Cheers Dave.
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It looks like they've got their aprons on ready for the feast!
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Yes, I like Cindy's gannet, too. Got a bit of a soft spot for Kittiwakes, as well....neatly shaped birds.
Just for you Maggi, here are two Kittiwake shots
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I wouldn't get that close if they were Fulmars Tom :P
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Kittiwakes are very smart looking birds but by gum ( yes we do say that in Yorkshire, but not very often) they are NOISY! The colony at Bempton Cliffs in East Yorkshire is deafening, but sitting on top of the cliffs and watching the gannets hovering at eye level in the wind before transforming themselves into underwater missiles is magic.
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Tom, I stood on my head to view the northern moon but I'd have to say it looked much like ours. I know this can't be right so I'm about to turn the computer monitor upsidedown and see if that makes a difference. :)
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does this help?
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Apparently I'm being raided by a squirrel that can read plant labels (b!!**y squirrels!!).
At ground level on my patio are:- a large gravel tray full of 9cm square pots which is most of my potted bulb collection-so far untouched; a couple of gravel trays of 7cm square pots with all kinds of potted seeds, some germinated some not-so far untouched. One ex bread tray crammed with 7cm pots of Lewisia species seed sown a couple of weeks ago, plus 2 x 9cm pots each containing a couple of Narcissus species bulbs from batches I have planted in the garden in order to have a go at hybridising. I thought it was odd when I went out this morning to find that one pot of Lewisia seeds had been moved from the tray and set down about a meter away and this had obviously made room for said squirrel to tip out both pots of Narcissus bulbs, none of which remain.
I say again b!!**y squirrels!!
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Would you like this posting to be repeated (and emphasised in red) in the 'Moan, Moan, Moan...Get it off your chest' section David....or would you prefer to join the Squirrel Defence League?
The address is:-
Care of Tufty Nutkins,
Elm Cottage,
Hazel Drive,
Walnut-on-the-Naze,
Suffolk.
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I had a cousin who suffered from walnut on the naze ... but he's okay now.
Your pesky squirrels are no doubt greys... why not eat them... they may not taste terribly good but you'd feel you were getting some revenge!
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First, catch you squirrel!! I forgot about the 'Moan' thread.
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For my ruminations on the rodent:
http://www.botanicalgardening.com/squirrels.html
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I know, Carlo, I know :-\.... but nobody said it was easy. :(
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.....Now if you could kindly nip over to Devon with your car please Carlo.....?
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did you watch Wild Gourmets last week? The last in the series. They ate fried squirrels
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Missed that , Mark. Not a lot of eating on a squirrel, though, is there? More a starter than a main course.
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For my ruminations on the rodent:
http://www.botanicalgardening.com/squirrels.html
Well written Carlo, wish was as erudite!
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Ah, Cliff...
the death-mobile is out for hire...
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Missed that , Mark. Not a lot of eating on a squirrel, though, is there? More a starter than a main course.
Maggi,
But if you got enough of them you could get a decent main course I'd imagine!! ;D
I just need to work out the recipe for the "4 and 20 blackbirds, baked in a pie" from old nursery rhyme. Then of course I've got to catch the b..gers. ::)
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The 4 and 20 blackbirds are, if my memory is right, black birds and that = crows. Thats another wild food no longer eaten
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Not even when you are ravenous eh, Mark?
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So happy not to be able to share in the squirrel angst. ;D Enjoyed your article Carlo.
We have a great TV series currently running (series 2) called "Hunger for the Wild." Two Wellington restaurateurs take to the bush, mountains, sea, rivers and anywhere there's a decent meal in the offing and find it then cook it. They have a great time and some declicious food. There seems to be a good bit of alcohol consumed in the process. My kind of people. :)
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I never tried them while I was in Louisiana but I was told that people did have delicacies just as fried squirrel brains for breakfast!! Like the man said "first catch your squirrel"!
cheers
fermi
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At the end of August a friend sent me some larvae of a cross between the Chinese Moon Moth Actias sinensis and the American species A. luna. This wee male is the first to emerge. It shows more of its Chinese parent.
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do you have photos of the parents?
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Anthony,
what a fabulous moth! reminds me of the (Original) Dr Doolittle Movie i saw as a child!
Lesley asked about pictures of the echidna which rampages through our garden; here is a series of pics I took yesterday evening of "Erroll" (he has a swaggering gait!) - but "he" could be a "she" in which case it would be "Edna"!
cheers
fermi
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I hadn't realized he/she would be quite so hedgehog-like. A little pet. And what a lucky echidna to have such a beautiful and interesting habitat to live in. :D
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Lesley,
I must admit, Fermi's is remarkably hedgehog-like. Those I have seen around here are much less prominent head-wise, looking more like a ball with a snout, rather than having a definite head as Fermi's does. I took some pics at a friend's palce a few months ago when one wandered in while I was there. I can post some of those pics as well if you're interested. And they really aren't that little either... The one I photographed would have been a good 18 inches long, plus the snout. It was acutally bigger than I recalled them being, but it had been a while since I last saw one in person.
Great pics Fermi. Yours was being MUCH more co-operative than mine was..... mine kept trying to hide instead of ambling around helpfully like yours did!! ::)
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Fermi, I have died and gone to heaven. ;D Those pics are fantastic. Just what the doctor ordered. Mind if I show them to my 5th year class as we are starting "genetics and evolution" soon? :)
Mark, I'll dig some photos out.
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Some wonderful animals, folks - Anthony, that moth!! And the Echidna is really cute. (Also thanks for the chuckle, Cliff).
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Anthony, what a beautiful moth... I didn't know that moths would hybridise, another lesson learned here.
Errol Echidna is a smart fellow... very impressive to see such clear photos.....I am intrigued by the way the spines form that perfect chevron pattern down the middle of his back as the spines from east and west meet, so to speak....our hedgehogs (which are armoured much less sturdily) don't have that line.
Judging by the size of the Dianthus plants, Errol is much smaller than the example Paul met recently.... is there more than one species?
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Here is a pic of a hedgehog in my garden for comparison with Errol
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Yes Paul, we'd like to see your echidna too please.
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Me too Paul.
Fantastic pictures Fermi, the spines along the 'spine'??? are beautifully arranged and much more like the porcupine's quills than our hedgehog's little prickles.
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Here is a link to Actias lunahttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0f/Luna_moth01_800x600.jpg and a link to A. sinensis http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.insectes.org/base/tbl_elevage/00/00/00/57/principale_1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.insectes.org/question/fiche_elevage.md%3Fcle_elevage%3D87&h=359&w=207&sz=53&hl=en&start=9&um=1&tbnid=Hrb65q9EmwvTHM:&tbnh=121&tbnw=70&prev=/images%3Fq%3DActias%2Bsinensis%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN. Male and female luna are very similar, but sinensis is sexually dimorphic.
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Lesley and John et al,
As requested, here's some pics of the Echidna. As you can see, somewhat more substantial and a much darker colouration than Fermi's one. Could be age or subspecies difference between our areas. Mine definitely does not have as pronounced a head, even when it was wandering off later on. The first pic shows the front arrangement of the spines plus one of the feet as it tried to dig under a log, then two pics of the spine arrangement on the back (one of these more clearly shows the tail on the right, as usually people don't think of it has having a tail) and lastly a pic of the face (which reminds me of Paddington Bear for some reason! ::)). Quite a different look to the earlier posting, which was why I commented. Definitely was a tad camera shy too unfortunately, but I think I still managed to capture most of the features.
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Definitely had a very bad hair day, or maybe the sight of Paul absolutely terrified the wee beastie.
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Hi Anthony,
you're welcome to use the pics. I can send you the originals if you like (about 1MB each). just e-mail me or send me a PM.
Lesley,
any manner of thing might've frightened it, rather than Paul! Actually when frightened they are more apt to hunker down and bury their faces rather look up. It is more likely to have been intrigued rather than terrified.
cheers
fermi
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So I needn't be really afraid of meeting Paul then, whenever that may be? Sorry, I've just been to a book launch and had more than a little to drink. Great book, using fresh foods from Farmers' Markets, including mine. The book is called "Dinner in a Basket."
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Lesley,
Well you have to remember that my image was enough to blur that photo that Graham took at the Daffodil show..... so who knows what it would to your eyes directly!!!!! ;D
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Howdy All,
Anyone want to help with identifying the little butterfly thingy? I am assuming butterfly relative as it is out during daylight quite freely, plus it has the simple antennae which I think indicate it isn't a moth (or do the day flying moths have simple antennae?). It is totally unlike any other I have ever seen because when it is at rest it's wings sort of shift into a delta wing pattern (or at least that is how I think about it) instead of the traditional wings sitting up straight. The butterfly alights and you see a grey underside to the wings, then as it relaxes each pair of wings splits apart, with the back pair sitting stright out sideways, and the upper pair sitting vertically. It's a flightly little bu**er too, rather difficult to catch a picture of the little dear. The whole insect is only a little over 1cm in length, making the job even more difficult. I'm hoping the picture is clear enough to give some idea of what it may be?
I think I have a couple of others photos I took of them previously, but I am not sure they're any better. The advantage to them is that they may be from a different angle. These insects do seem to be regularly in my garden at certain times of the year, so I may still be able to get a better photo at some time in the future. Any takers as to ID? If so, thanks in anticipation.
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Paul,
Looks like a Skipper. That stance (forewings up & hindwings spread) is characteristic of Ocybadistes sp. inhabiting east coast grasslands.
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Rob,
I'd never seen it until about a year ago, so I'm assuming they became more prevalent here sometime fairly recently. The colours are so noticeable that I think I would have seen them before then if they'd been in my garden. I don't notice them actually heading for flowers or anything, just meandering around the place. The wing stance is just so strange compared to anything else around here, so as soon as they settle they are immediately identifiable. In the air the colours catch your eye as well. I'm just hoping they're a "good" thing not a bad one. ;D Thanks for the name info.... now I can look it up.
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Yep, definitely a skipper. Often separated into a group of their own, i.e. neither butterfly nor moth. Many are grass feeders as larvae. It is very similar in pattern to the Large Skipper (Ochlodes venatus) which just crosses the border into Scotland on the Solway Firth. Two other skippers (the Dingy Skipper - Erinis tages and the Chequered Skipper - Carterocephalus palaemon) are also found in Scotland. The former feeds on Bird's Foot Trefoil, the latter, which is no longer found in England, on Molinia caerulea.
Interesting how variable the Australian Short-beaked Echidna is.
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There's a Long-beaked echidna?
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Yes, indeedy! Three varieties, it seems! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Long-beaked_Echidna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-beaked_Echidna I've been learning all sorts of things about these spiky chaps... what I haven't been able to discover yet is why their "snout" is referred to as a "beak"... is it only because they lay eggs, so there's a bird/word/connection?
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I'm assuming they became more prevalent here sometime fairly recently
You've had fires & drought Paul; The pattern of grass distribution must have changed; changes in numbers/distribution would seem to follow.
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Jolly nice to see your spikey friend Paul.
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There's a Long-beaked echidna?
Only one species in Oz though and that's the short-beaked.
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I found this little 'creature' in my garden the other day - cute isn't he? ;)
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"Will Work for Peanuts" a new programme starting tonight on Ch 5 at 19.30 where wild animals go through assault courses and do tricks
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"Will Work for Peanuts" a new programme starting tonight on Ch 5 at 19.30 where wild animals go through assault courses and do tricks
Sounds riveting ::) ::)
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Time will tell. I'm recording it just now
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quite amusing. Goldfish taught to play football and score (own) goals, fishing for grey squirrels ...
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Autumn Watch starts Monday November 5th 8pm (local time) BBC2
http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/nature/uk/autumnwatch/ (http://www.bbc.co.uk/earth/nature/uk/autumnwatch/)
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Peter Korn is looking for work for next winter. I'm hoping he'll work for peanuts too, plus b and b
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Is he heading down your way?