Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: fredg on September 07, 2012, 02:31:16 PM
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There's a definite shortage of wasps around here this year, they're practically non-existent.
lAnyone else noticed the same?
edit to change title of split thread by maggi
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Yes, Fred, we've only seen a couple. Quite amazing!
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Thought the the same thing till about four weeks ago when my grandson got stung. I got stung myself when I disturbed one in a gentian flower I had cut to take to the SRGC summer show. Since then there seem to be plenty around. Every time the back door is left open longer than two minutes there is one in the house. When I am weeding in the garden one comes along and buzzes in front of my face. The berries are ripening on my late raspberries - Joan J but the wasps are eating them before they are ripe enough for me to eat. They hang around the beehives and my husband has been stung twice when feeding the bees with sugar syrup.
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A new record for this area today, Migrant Hawker, Aeshna mixta. 4 males and 1 female recorded at a nearby pond. This is an immature male as it has the lilac coloured abdominal markings. As it matures these areas will become a rich blue colour. They seem to fly endlessly, very rarely perching at all, consuming approx 20% of their own body weight, each day, of midges, flies, and mosquitoes as they do so.
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lovely looking dragonfly
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Saw one on Wednesday, Co. Down, and another last night in Co. Fermanagh. Not bad considering how rare barn owls are in N Ireland. Three in a year and hadn't seen any since the 80s.
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A new record for this area today, Migrant Hawker, Aeshna mixta. 4 males and 1 female recorded at a nearby pond. This is an immature male as it has the lilac coloured abdominal markings. As it matures these areas will become a rich blue colour. They seem to fly endlessly, very rarely perching at all, consuming approx 20% of their own body weight, each day, of midges, flies, and mosquitoes as they do so.
Superb Ron well done.
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Saw one on Wednesday, Co. Down, and another last night in Co. Fermanagh. Not bad considering how rare barn owls are in N Ireland. Three in a year and hadn't seen any since the 80s.
This followed Ron's dragonfly report, but I suspect that it's not dragonflies you are talking about Mark?
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oops how stupid of me :o. I forgot to say they were barn owls
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A species that's not reached New Zealand Mark. NZ's only species of owl, the laughing owl, is extinct. The barn owl form in Jamaica is quite spectacular.
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Not so many news about the wildlife this far in 2012...Moose, Roe deer but one really nice happening.....a couple of Falco subbuteo nesting close to my garden...3 youngsters left the nest...spectaculare flyers i must say......//Jonny
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Wow, three young from the Hobby nest? That's very exciting. We don't see Falco subbuteo (Hobby) around here. I would think three young is a great success for the pair.
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Any expert trackers on the forum? What's this track I found? The coin is £1
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My guess would be stoat or weasel.
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Could it be mink? http://web83.extendcp.co.uk/scottishmink.org.uk/Footprints%20Factsheet.pdf (http://web83.extendcp.co.uk/scottishmink.org.uk/Footprints%20Factsheet.pdf)
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Thanks Anne and Anthony
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Wildlife and geology
I saw a sand martin colony last week in a very interesting sand bank that was literally up a mountain. Was this bank at one time under water?
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Allium senescens montanum ssp. glaucum is in full flower just now and is an amazing food source for many insects. The air is just buzzing with things that I can't name. It's a pity I couldn't get a photo of them all on the flowers and in flight.
I had not realised until today that it has a very delicate scent.
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Lovely Allium and visting insects
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I grew that by mistake. Seeds sent as Tulbaghia violacea.
All sandbanks were originally the bed of a lake or slow moving river Mark.
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Best wishes from Garrulus glandarius :)
(http://cs302513.userapi.com/v302513879/2a78/ka-8US4zpn8.jpg)
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One of my favourite crows. 8)
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Only seen wild Jays once, on a visit to the local woods ( Sherwood Forest ;D)
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We used to get them visiting our bird table when we lived in Callander (Perthshire) in the early 70s.
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Jays are quite common here now with many in the local park. They are also moving in to housing areas with large well established gardens
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The Scottish wild cat is almost extinct
http://blog.arkive.org/2012/09/scottish-wildcat-could-be-extinct-within-months/ (http://blog.arkive.org/2012/09/scottish-wildcat-could-be-extinct-within-months/)
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Jays are common here. Big clever birds. I like them for blue marks on the wings (my favorite color).
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In the greenhouse yesterday morning I found two robins and a squirrel. I'm closing the door as well as the louvres at night now.
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The Scottish wild cat is almost extinct
http://blog.arkive.org/2012/09/scottish-wildcat-could-be-extinct-within-months/ (http://blog.arkive.org/2012/09/scottish-wildcat-could-be-extinct-within-months/)
This is so sad, but what can you do with huge feral* populations. *populations of wild breeding domestic cats rather than cats that a just free to roam. New Zealand has a large feral cat population too.
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In the greenhouse yesterday morning I found two robins and a squirrel. I'm closing the door as well as the louvres at night now.
Was it any consolation that it was a red squirrel, Roma? Guess they are just as destructive as the greys whether knocking things over or eating bulbs/plants?
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Roma thats so cute 8), must have been looking for a warmer place to have his lunch.
Angie :)
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I want to participate ;D ;)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-V_QXZDmkMU8/UDEyBqAM7YI/AAAAAAAAAl8/JXLp5u6EqUw/s576/IMGP0553-Ecureilb.jpg)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-garo-J4JIe4/UAwQS0hjhfI/AAAAAAAAAYE/dE5GT1LhQKU/s640/DSC01579.JPG)
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-h2x34X4fvCU/UECpjYzWJgI/AAAAAAAAAqU/xQJCwNZvK0U/s576/IMGP0897b.jpg)
So nice !!!
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Was it any consolation that it was a red squirrel, Roma? Guess they are just as destructive as the greys whether knocking things over or eating bulbs/plants?
The reds don't appear to eat bulbs or plants. It's a nuisance when they knock over pots with loose soil or disturb plants and bulbs when burying peanuts. Of course I could stop feeding them but I like to see them. There seems to be a lot around here just now. We often see as many as four trying to get to the peanuts or coconut.
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Roma,
I have a mental image of rather large red squirrels burying the coconuts you fed them. ;D ;D You really are making your squirrles work out, aren't you? ;) :D
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a recent new resident in our garden drying off between storms. Has a favorite perching post at the end of the garden
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Botanica is that a young dormouse?
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Much better picture.
Jean
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The large hooked beak, the big blank unblinking eyes, the ruffled unkempt plumage ...... that's scary !!
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Forgot to say Mark in my previous post
Jean
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Thanks Jean
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Botanica is that a young dormouse?
It's young Campagnol species. I don't know exactly but i see this animal in forest in Ardennes (France).
Very nice animal !
An other one for you mark smyth ;)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-u4JgfmFYF5Q/UAwQUIfe64I/AAAAAAAAAYM/bjx78IBg0Kg/s640/DSC01580.JPG)
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10 years ago I had the chance to see and hold a wild dormouse
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The large hooked beak, the big blank unblinking eyes, the ruffled unkempt plumage ...... that's scary !!
Perhaps that's why Mark changed it? ;)
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Cool mark smyth.. the wild dormouse (and you ! ) ;D ;D
You are specialized in Galanthus plants culture..and collection ?
Not other species in your garden ?
In France we have galanthus nivalis, and Leucojum aestivum (in mountains) .
Have you Galanthus elwesii ? Very big one ! ..I search seeds or bulbs of that !
I've seen that certain species cost much money like yellow forms !
An other picture in forest ...
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-AtrebDkQxlE/UDJ0QuBpDmI/AAAAAAAAAmw/_SFEo2O-5dI/s720/DSC02811.JPG)
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Sympetrum sanguineum, The Ruddy Darter. These pictures from caught ( and released of course ) individuals in the garden during August and September. The males are so obvious, the females ....less so. :) In August there was hardly a female to be seen, now hardly a male! :-\
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Obviously from much earlier this "summer" - a Purple Emperor butterfly
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Super picture Mark. Male seeking salts. 8) 8) Usually up high in the tree tops making it difficult to picture. I belive its range is expanding. Hope it gets to East Yorkshire before I leave, ;D ;D
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One of the few British butterflies I have never seen in the wild. I have reared them on potted sallow from purchased over-wintering larvae.
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thanks, I didn't realise until last year (my first close encounter) that the purple emperor has that bright yellow tongue. It's a bit like disovering the original Mona Lisa had a red clown's nose.
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Hello
The place is taken by a small one ;D.
Verbascum thapsus attracts many insects.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-l-AN3iXenGM/UF3clWAohiI/AAAAAAAAA2E/8W602MUo0hQ/s640/IMGP1062b.jpg)
An other one Knautia arvensis it's a good one.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-ZWPIkyxeGRM/UECpOvGARzI/AAAAAAAAApU/j-hStMAj8EM/s640/IMGP0848b.jpg)
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Botanica, my garden is filled with plants in raised beds, troughs, (too many) pots and sand plunge
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Episyrphus balteatus?
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10 years ago I had the chance to see and hold a wild dormouse
Happy dormouse! ;D
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Happier Mark!
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Good photo Natalia
What is this beautiful plant Natalia ?
This arachnid have a yellow color for cypripedium i think ? good camouflage ;D
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-ykhE7r4Ex28/UErnyZ4lD5I/AAAAAAAAAw0/iT-34MFLl_Q/s512/DSC09768b.jpg)
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Cypripedium calceolus and a nice crab spider which could be Misumena vatia?
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A positive news story for today, ;D
http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/09/25/new-population-of-wild-orang-utans-confirmed/ (http://www.theborneopost.com/2012/09/25/new-population-of-wild-orang-utans-confirmed/)
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Getting a little exotic up there Maggi !!! ;D :o
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-19714236 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-19714236)
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In some parts of the city a snake in your drawers is, I would suspect, a common difficulty ::) :-X
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In some parts of the city a snake in your drawers is, I would suspect, a common difficulty ::) :-X
[attachimg=1]
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;D ;D ;D
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Been there, worn that t-shirt. The event even turned up in Andy Murray's autobiography! :-[ Not my fault the borrower of said snake failed to realise the significance of the rubber band round the snake's box! Different race of milk snake though. 8) This looks like Lampropeltis triangulum campbelli?
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Other Spider species in my Garden, a guardian or predator ??? ;D
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-_T7cUx4AfUI/UECpn4KnGrI/AAAAAAAAAqk/-80aiLd7wTg/s512/IMGP0753B.jpg)
The young fighters.
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-6p1Je94hdPU/UGNF-gp0QfI/AAAAAAAAA7E/RsVVK8m5h3A/s576/DSC03043.JPG)
A bambi in wild nature (in Alps)
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-kGlKVYxfXd8/UGNGJRYk7xI/AAAAAAAAA7U/VJMv5cGQZF0/s568/DSC03296-1.jpg)
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Anyone know who this smart fellow is? Picture taken in Hampshire in August.
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Stephen it's an immature shieldbug,here's a nice site http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/gallery/heteroptera/Pentatomoidea/pentatomoidea.html (http://www.britishbugs.org.uk/gallery/heteroptera/Pentatomoidea/pentatomoidea.html)
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I think these two plants are a little ambitious.
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A female of one of the Tipula sp. Who won this battle in the eternal struggle Fred?
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The plants still have her Ron
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I suspected they would, that glue is something else ;D
Great pictures Fred. The close up is amazing 8) 8)
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Better than the original glue used in the manufacture of Mosquitos. I saw one flying today. 8)
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Better than the original glue used in the manufacture of Mosquitos. I saw one flying today. 8)
I'd love to see one flying Anthony.
I understood that the glue was perfectly acceptable in the European theatre but suffered from bacterial attack in the Far East / Asia. The Beaufighter cointinued to fill that particular role there.
I know these are not exactly wildlife but they are taken from a Mosquito :D
( Not exactly tame life either )
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Here's some Youtube of the event and one of my pics. I had a flight in a de Havilland Dragon. Here is a report. One line says "Thousands of spectators turned out to see the Mosquito's flight with a cue (at this point I lose the will to live) of traffic nearly 3km long." I joined a virtually stationary queue of cars 7 km from the Airport and abandoned my car at a community hall 5 km out and walked the rest of the way, beating the traffic.
Mosquito Fly By - Ardmore Airshow Auckland NZ (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzJewwobCY#ws)
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And an Avro Anson, you lucky lucky man ;D
Loved the sound of those engines on the Mossie.
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The memory will linger Fred. The museum of transport in Auckland has a Lanc. It was flown in to NZ. Peter Jackson offered to restore it to flying condition if he could use it in a film. They refused, so it will remain for ever static! :'( As for engines. Just as the mossie apporoached for the last of the three outings that day the NZAF started up its helicopter, so that's all we could hear until someone suggested they taxi it up the field a bit! ::)
http://www.meetup.com/Auckland-Photography-Meetup-Group/photos/10965032/#164192712 (http://www.meetup.com/Auckland-Photography-Meetup-Group/photos/10965032/#164192712)
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Ever wondered how big a leaf cutting ant nest really is? http://www.dump.com/biggestant/ (http://www.dump.com/biggestant/)
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That is absolutely phenomenal Anthony, I'm dumbstruck :-X
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The wildlife in Ardennes !
(https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-igo9bJpfL04/UGicyy22UyI/AAAAAAAAA9I/y6XIFhWbO6s/s640/IMGP1303b.jpg)
What is that ?
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4BsRIyxjPDA/UGnglwMcArI/AAAAAAAAA_o/mkkm2Uo7ZDY/s576/IMGP1207b.jpg)
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What is that ?
(https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-4BsRIyxjPDA/UGnglwMcArI/AAAAAAAAA_o/mkkm2Uo7ZDY/s576/IMGP1207b.jpg)
Its the larva of the Privet Hawk moth, Sphinx ligustri Botanica. Probably seeking a nice quiet place to pupate, approx 30 cms underground!!
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Ever wondered how big a leaf cutting ant nest really is? http://www.dump.com/biggestant/ (http://www.dump.com/biggestant/)
Amazing but I kept waiting for the discalimer at the end..........'no ants were harmed in th emaking of this film'. My mind works in mysterious ways ::)
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I suspect "all ants were harmed in the making of this film". These huge colonies can devastate the vegetation surrounding the nest, but target different trees each day. A friend used this to design the big exhibition in the Glasgow Science Centre of leaf cutting ants for the BBC documentary Planet Ants. It's getting shown in December.
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On a you tube posting of the video it was stated that the nest was abandoned.
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I would be surprised. They are regarded as pests and if the nest was abandoned it would be due to pest control.
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Anthony:
do you know where the video was shot?
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I had a flight in a de Havilland Dragon.
I see there's a DH84 Dragon missing on the sunshine coast Anthony. VH-UXG
Is that the one you flew in at the weekend?
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Can someone please identify these ducks on a small island in the river Nith which flows through Dumfries?
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Can someone please identify these ducks on a small island in the river Nith which flows through Dumfries?
Young Red-breasted merganser as a guess
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Thanks Davey. I do have a few bird books but I thought it would be quicker asking here than looking them up ;D
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I see there's a DH84 Dragon missing on the sunshine coast Anthony. VH-UXG
Is that the one you flew in at the weekend?
No, the one I flew in is blue and silver. ZK-AXI It's not looking hopeful for the 6 people on board this plane.
Update: very sadly, the plane crashed with no survivors. The pilot was the only survivor of a crash involving the same type of plane in 1954, which killed his father (the pilot) and brother.
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Have they found the plane finally Anthony? I too heard that his father and brother or uncle died in one too.
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They traced the plane's position by mobile phone tracker but what they found was described as a "high impact" crash and not recognisable as a plane. http://www.smh.com.au/queensland/no-survivors-in-vintage-plane-crash-20121003-26y34.html (http://www.smh.com.au/queensland/no-survivors-in-vintage-plane-crash-20121003-26y34.html)
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At least they would not have suffered.
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They traced the plane's position by mobile phone tracker but what they found was described as a "high impact" crash and not recognisable as a plane. http://www.smh.com.au/queensland/no-survivors-in-vintage-plane-crash-20121003-26y34.html (http://www.smh.com.au/queensland/no-survivors-in-vintage-plane-crash-20121003-26y34.html)
Oh dear, what a sad story.
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Channel 1 here on Sunday night is a bit about the poaching of New Zealand's native geckos for sale abroad.
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I know that the current trend is very much towards 'Grow Your Own', but the local wild bird population seem to have taken this to heart! ;D ;D ;D
n.b. the Goldfinches also grow their own under their Niger seed feeder!
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I know that the current trend is very much towards 'Grow Your Own', but the local wild bird population seem to have taken this to heart! ;D ;D ;D
n.b. the Goldfinches also grow their own under their Niger seed feeder!
;D ;D ;D ;D i love the gargoyle dude whos trying to stay off the grass Ron,your wild area looks very nice.
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No, No.. that's the bowling green ;D ;D
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No, No.. that's the bowling green ;D ;D
;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
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Aren't those sunflowers, not niger?
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Niger - Guizotia abyssinica and clearly not a thistle
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8)
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Channel 1 here on Sunday night is a bit about the poaching of New Zealand's native geckos for sale abroad.
Worrying programme showing how poachers from Europe, Germany in particular, are arriving in New Zealand and targeting Jewelled Geckos. One chap was caught 4 days into a 33 day trip and had several in his camper van. He received a jail sentence for his troubles. Carey Knox, a researcher of these beautiful little lizards, has a databank of photographs. Each individual is unique, so he can spot it when it turns up on a reptile dealer's website. In the time he has been studying this particular site the population has been reduced by a third. Poachers, cats and rats will eventually make some populations become extinct. http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/126610/captured-geckos (http://www.odt.co.nz/news/dunedin/126610/captured-geckos)
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Kicking myself for not bringing my MV moth trap to NZ, so decided to bite the bullet and order one from the UK. Went for a Skinner trap, which is one step down from my Robinson but superior to a Heath. Ordered it on 2nd October and it arrived today! http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/mercury/skinner/index.html (http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/mercury/skinner/index.html)
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Kicking myself for not bringing my MV moth trap to NZ, so decided to bite the bullet and order one from the UK. Went for a Skinner trap, which is one step down from my Robinson but superior to a Heath. Ordered it on 2nd October and it arrived today! http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/mercury/skinner/index.html (http://www.pwbelg.clara.net/mercury/skinner/index.html)
I think we're in for a treat! ;D 8)
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Who knows, I may even get both species of New Zealand moth in the trap in one night? ;D
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Who knows, I may even get both species of New Zealand moth in the trap in one night? ;D
;D ;D
You have some beautiful and interesting moths there Anthony ( as we know you are aware ;) ;D ), including the amazing Aenetus virescens, a cracking looking species. I believe it is quite strongly attracted to light??
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I wondered had you seen the "Sunday" item about the lizard poaching Anthony. I could hardly keep from weeping. Those filthy b......s taking them in such numbers and coming back again and again, mostly from Germany, to plunder our beautiful geckos and other lizards. Transporting them in tiny pouches and even in their underpants for God's sake. The penalties at this end for such crimes are pitiful and pathetic.
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Does this "Sunday" have a web page Lesley?
I must admit I had a quick peep, ;D. This ( maybe different?) newspaper certainly seems to cover the environmental stories well. More in one week than we see all year! 8) 8)
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10808400 (http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10808400)
Certainly added to my bookmarks. Well done NZ Herald ;D ;D
And from the leads there, this amazing page! :o :o
http://species.asu.edu/Top10 (http://species.asu.edu/Top10) :o :o 8)
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I wondered had you seen the "Sunday" item about the lizard poaching Anthony. I could hardly keep from weeping. Those filthy b......s taking them in such numbers and coming back again and again, mostly from Germany, to plunder our beautiful geckos and other lizards. Transporting them in tiny pouches and even in their underpants for God's sake. The penalties at this end for such crimes are pitiful and pathetic.
Yes Lesley, it is very sad. The jewelled gecko must be New Zealand's finest species. All bar one of the native lizards (geckos and skinks) produce live young, maximum two per year, so they are slow breeders. I used to get 8 eggs per year from my Madagascar green (and blue) day geckos (Phelsuma madagascariensis grandis and P. standingi). I am so pleased that my geckos are breeding and that there is a thriving captive breeding programme.
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Who am I? :
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I would suggest poplar hawk moth (Laothoe populi) caterpillar? They feed on poplar, willow and sallow.
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Thanks, Anthony! Picture taken in Chelsea Physic Garden in London.
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This summer we were on an expedition to the area of Lake Baikal - this is one of the inhabitants of the Baikal Forest - Tamias sibiricus - these funny animals are very curious
[attachimg=2]
[attachimg=1]
[attachimg=3]
[attachimg=4]
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Natalia,
I had to go and look that one up. The Siberian Chipmunk..... an invasive species in places. Cute little tykes, aren't they? ;D
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No, Paul, Tamias sibiriсus - the indigenous inhabitants of Siberia and the Urals. Spread from the north-east of the European part Russia to Kamchatka. Differs from the American species - it is often identified as a separate genus - Eutamias.
I agree, very cute cookie thief and pine cones. ;D
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Natalia,
I realised it came from Siberia etc...... that I assume is why it has the common name of Siberian Chipmunk. Apparently the only chipmunk species outside of North America. 8)
Or are you saying that Tamias sibiritsus is different to Tamias sibiricus? I can only find T. sibiricus on the Net, if I try sibiritsus it redirects me to sibiricus? ???
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I'm sorry Paul - my typo :-[ correctly - Tamias sibiricus
I meant that the Siberian species differs from its American counterparts and often isolated in a separate genus. But this is a case of zoologists, here I can not judge.
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mass exodus of chaffinches and bramnblings out of Sweden after a beech mast failure.
Over 2000 blue tits ringed in one day http://www.falsterbofagelstation.se/index_e.html (http://www.falsterbofagelstation.se/index_e.html)
Migrating "Chafflings (Chaffinch/Brambling) @ Falsterbo 2012-10-02 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UATZywvcsM4#ws)
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Where are they heading?
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Out of Sweden I assume. It could be a great year for Bramblings in the UK and Ireland and I get a chance to see one for the first time
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Falsterbo Lighthouse, where the video and ringing took place, is on the southern tip of Sweden and beside Denmark so these Blue tits, Chaffies and Bramblings are heading to Denmark and Germany
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Out of Sweden I assume. It could be a great year for Bramblings in the UK and Ireland and I get a chance to see one for the first time
Bramblings turn up here in the garden Mark, usually among chaffinches in late winter. Beautiful birds.
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Mark, thank you, very interesting!
Another photo from expedition on Lake Baikal - Parnassius apollo - if I'm not mistaken ...
[attachimg=1]
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Natalia very very nice,stunning.
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Mark, thank you, very interesting!
Another photo from expedition on Lake Baikal - Parnassius apollo - if I'm not mistaken ...
Although Parnassius apollo is in the area Parnassius nomion, is the true beauty from there Natalia. And this is it. :) 8) 8)
It is very variable across its range which extends into China etc. Please don't be fooled by the degree of red markings which can mislead.
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I was going to say I'd not seen apollo with red on the fore wings. I used to breed these in the green house.
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I was going to say I'd not seen apollo with red on the fore wings. I used to breed these in the green house.
Thats certainly the tell tale. ;D
Did they breed relatively ok Anthony? I really hope to breed any sp. of Parnassius one day. They are amazing butterflies. We have seen them flying wild in Switzerland and they were certainly memorable moments.
Any breeding hints please?
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Wow, Natalia. Gorgeous picture!!
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Mark: Re- Falsterbo - astonishing, never seen anything like this and had no idea blue tits flocked on this scale!
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I didnt know blue tits did this either
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Thats certainly the tell tale. ;D
Did they breed relatively ok Anthony? I really hope to breed any sp. of Parnassius one day. They are amazing butterflies. We have seen them flying wild in Switzerland and they were certainly memorable moments.
Any breeding hints please?
I bought eggs. The eggs over winter in the fridge and often hatch there, but just leave them be. In the spring they feed well on Sedum album. I kept them in an open plastic tank in the sunny part of the greenhouse by the door. Pairing is not easy, unless you have unrelated stock.
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Thanks Anthony. Thats most useful information. Now to build up stocks of Sedum! ;D
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I reared Parnassius phoebus, which fed on yellow saxifrage. That's not easy to grow in Dunblane!
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Spotted some empty cocoons in the local football park car park. I can only think they are emperor gum moth (Opodiphthera eucalypti) which does feed on birch. Strange, as there are plenty of suitable eucalyptus trees nearby.
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A flock of 200+ Bramblings are on the Shetlands
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=473505792671895&set=a.280995618589581.66938.274049239284219&type=1&theater (http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=473505792671895&set=a.280995618589581.66938.274049239284219&type=1&theater)
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Excellent news for Skippy and his / her chums! ;D
http://www.leathermag.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/15250/Kangaroo_population_reaches_new_heights.html (http://www.leathermag.com/news/fullstory.php/aid/15250/Kangaroo_population_reaches_new_heights.html)
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All year we have a pair of Australian magpies (Gymnorhina tibicen) at the local 'reserve', usually on the football pitches, but often on the goal posts or nearby trees. I've never seen where their nest is, but they often 'bomb' Heidi on her walks. This week Heidi and I spotted three youngsters. Heidi didn't see them at first, and when she did, she behaved herself. Two were out in the open, although number three scuttled under the tall privet bushes. Number two was in a pine tree, but at shoulder height.
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Anyone seen this? https://secure.38degrees.org.uk/page/s/ban-the-pesticides-that-are-harming-our-bees#petition
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Can't sign it unfortunately if you're in Australia. It won't accept our postcodes as valid. :'(
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I use FK15 0DZ. Works every time. ;D Post codes in New Zealand don't really work. 36 FK15 0DZ would find my old house in Dunblane. 55 2013 would find dozens here in New Zealand. :-\
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Look out for Planet Ants on the BBC in December and Discovery Channel in 2013. http://www.tropicalhouse.co.uk/page14.php?view=thumbnailList&category=1 (http://www.tropicalhouse.co.uk/page14.php?view=thumbnailList&category=1) I've known the owner Andrew since he was a pupil at the school I taught in. I got a free trip to Trinidad to collect leaf cutting ants for sourcing a colony of wood ants for him to use in the 2004 film Trauma.
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Not many butterflies or other insects here now, but I saw a small harbor dolphin (Phocoena phocoena) and some harbor seals (Phoca vitulina) the other day. However farther north they were visited by a flock of dolphins (Lagenorhynchus).
(http://gfx.nrk.no/n9om000QuimyjW8_OrXuQQjXIis-ic9MCHTHPd69P7DQ.jpg)
Picture from this site: http://nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nordland/1.8364506 (http://nrk.no/nyheter/distrikt/nordland/1.8364506)
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The Japanese in Taiji, Higashimuro District, have been killin :'(g all the dolphins they can get their hands on :'( :'(
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Good Lord Trond, I thought for a moment there that a small penguin had travelled north! ???
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I use FK15 0DZ. Works every time. ;D Post codes in New Zealand don't really work. 36 FK15 0DZ would find my old house in Dunblane. 55 2013 would find dozens here in New Zealand. :-\
Post codes in NZ seem to apply to quite large districts, whole suburbs, or in my case, a whole RD number (that's a Rural Delivery, not a Road) not single streets. It is assumed I guess that anyone posting an article would have the gumption to put the delivery address as well as the post code.
I found the security had expired when I went to the bee petition.
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Good Lord Trond, I thought for a moment there that a small penguin had travelled north! ???
Oh, no, Lesley, the real penguin went extinct in 1850ies ;)
The real penguin (or geirfugl in Norw., great auk, penguin fowls, Pinguinus impennis):
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f8/Keulemans-GreatAuk.jpg/220px-Keulemans-GreatAuk.jpg)
http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geirfugl (http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geirfugl)
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Usual story. Museums and collectors realise it's becoming rare, so they hunt it to oblivion before it's too late. :'(
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How's the moth light going Anthony??
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Not tried it yet. We have had a lot of wind and rain lately, and the weather has been unusually cold.
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I can't wait to see what happens when you do. As I said before I think we might see something special. 8) 8)
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Waxwings have arrived on the Shetlands. I hope it will be a Waxwing year
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Post codes in NZ seem to apply to quite large districts, whole suburbs, or in my case, a whole RD number (that's a Rural Delivery, not a Road) not single streets. It is assumed I guess that anyone posting an article would have the gumption to put the delivery address as well as the post code.
It makes return addresses on parcels more obscure to the casual observer and filling in of addresses for internet use very quick. Just insert post code and street number. Adding extras, like putting 'by Stirling' into my address when I lived in Dunblane would delay a letter by a day.
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Beluga style: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14MJXC0h4TU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14MJXC0h4TU)
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If Corvids, parrots, parakeets, dogs and cats on Youtube can I'd say whales can also.
Has everyone seen chimps solving puzzles quicker than humans?
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I'm still getting over singing mice...
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Waxwings have arrived on the Shetlands. I hope it will be a Waxwing year
A week ago waxwing numbers here were way down on last year , but just the last week there has been a large influx with numbers now well up on last year with flocks of over 1,000 birds seen in the north. I had a small group flycatching over the house at the weekend! Wonderful to see how dexterous they are in the air. Perhaps bad news for UK sightings is that there's a lot of rowan berries for them to eat this year over here...
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I've just let out an almighty girlie scream. The biggest house spider I've ever seen was on the wall beside the front door. It's body was 2.5 or 3cm long :o ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
I was brave enough to take a photo :D
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Don't keep us waiting Mark, where's the photo?
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Perhaps we ought to send smelling salts?
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He's a wus! ;D
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The sight of the photo has sent him over the edge. ;D
I saw a very large garden spider the other day when moving and cleaning up some potted hostas for relocation. It was a kind I've seen often but only a fraction of the size. It had a soft, shiny body, brown with reddish legs. It was maybe 3cms long and to my great shame, I stood on it.
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SPIDER!!!
There was no way I was putting my finger in the shot for comparrison
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It's ever so slightly blurred. Surely your hand wasn't shaking? ;) ::)
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Nice spider. 8) I've yet to find an Avondale spider. I suspect they took all the NZ ones for use in 'Arachnophobia'? :-\
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Peter was I was shaking. It might have attacked me. The size was approx the same as making a C shape with finger and thumb
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These spiders regularly appear in our house in Autumn. Often in the bath in the morning or coming in under the living room door. Totally harmless but they tickle when lifted.
I even stepped on one in the bath and only noticed when I was emptying it
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I'm a bit like you Mark..... not into spiders at all. Huntsman spiders are the worst, because they're big and furry and FAST!! They're up your arm in a millisecond if you're not careful. :o
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For Mark: It's snowing here in Trondheim today and there's a lonely Swift still flying around!
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It would certainly be worth checking it for Pallid Swift at this time of year.
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For Mark: It's snowing here in Trondheim today and there's a lonely Swift still flying around!
Wow that's extremely late. Is it a Common swift?
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He's a wus! ;D
I second that :D
It's only a spider ;)
Last week mrsg and I were both assisting one to clear cobwebs from its legs , it was that size or bigger.
Now I could have understood it if it was the spider screaming.
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Sigh! It's the one thing about phobias.... if you don't have any, you can't understand those who do. ::)
I regard myself as a wus too I might add. ;D I don't like the spiders much, and at times I'll run the other way, but thankfully it isn't TOO bad a phobia. Thankfully. :-[
So what happened to the spider, Mark? Did it survive. Depending on the mood I'm in at the time I'll either try to catch the huntsman and put it outside, or else I'll drown it with a can of bug spray. I do use the term drown deliberately there.... it usually end up looking like it's been caught in a very bad snowstorm by the end of it. ::) Phobias are not fun! (particularly not for the spider I guess! :-[)
Generally otherwise I try to harm nothing. I make the exception for snails and slugs, and aphids etc. ;)
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I used to keep spiders of the big and hairy variety. The bigger the better. I've been bitten by three. When the fang puncture holes are two centimetres apart you'll know what I mean by big! Oh, and it hurts! Went hunting for baboon spiders in Kenya one day. That was fun!
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Talking of spiders - can anyone tell me what this is?
It is high up on our pvc fron door!
The wasp? or bee? is clearly entangled in the web and may be feed for the eventual emergence of progeny.
Any ideas?
JohnnyD
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Wow that's extremely late. Is it a Common swift?
It seems to be a common swift. Some experienced birders have been to see it, hoping I guess it was a pallid. Here's a picture:
(http://www.artsobservasjoner.no/artportalen/gallery/images/swe/birds/2012/large/297831.jpg)
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Interestingly the latest ever record of young in the nest was also from this year to the south west of here - young were found in a nest as late as 24th September.
And the latest record of swifts in Norway was a Pallid Swift on 30th October one year.
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Jonny it's a flightless female moth laying eggs as soon as she emerged from a cocoon. Anthony can tell you more.
I'm only scared oh house spiders and not too keen on fat heavily with eggs garden spiders
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Stephen thanks for posting the photo.
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Jonny it's a flightless female moth laying eggs as soon as she emerged from a cocoon. Anthony can tell you more.
Looks like a Vapourer, (Orgyia antiqua)? I've always wanted to find a female moth.
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Talking of spiders - can anyone tell me what this is?
It is high up on our pvc fron door!
The wasp? or bee? is clearly entangled in the web and may be feed for the eventual emergence of progeny.
Any ideas?
JohnnyD
Good grief!! :o With that number of eggs I'd be worrying about the impending invasion. ;D Glad to know it is a flightless moth, and therefore probably a "good guy". Whew!! ;)
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Thanks Guys.
We did have a lot of vapourer caterpillars so no surprise really.
J.
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So I'm considered a wus, an Australian word?, for not liking spiders.
What do you not like? Please be honest? Cotton wool? Pigeons? Mice / rats?, Bees? ...
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Actually Mark, David N used the word Wus a full page before I did in reply #600 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=8945.msg258336#msg258336). For some reason I thought it would be wuss, but then again I don't think I've ever seen it written until now. I never would have used the term as I thought it may have been an Aussie one, but when David used it I figured it must be international.
And I've already admitted to being with you in the wus stakes as I am an arachnaphobic as well. No problems with snakes, cotton wool (I would have questioned that one, except I had a friend years ago who could not cope with wet cotton wool. Dry was fine, but the feel of wet cotton wool freaked him out!), Pigeons, Mice/Rats (I used to own pet rats)... I'm at least partially allergic to bees but have no issues with them at all...... but spiders can have me cowering in the corner if they appear at the right time. :-\ A shiver just went down my back from thinking about it. :o
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For some reason I thought it would be wuss, but then again I don't think I've ever seen it written until now.
Either spelling is allowable Paul. See the Urban dictionary
Wus - http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wus (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wus)
Wuss - http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wuss (http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=wuss)
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Paul
I don't blame you as Australia has some scary specimens. My wife used to be scared stiff of even the smallest spider until I talked her round. She can pick them up and put them out with no problem. She even allowed a Mexican red kneed tarantula to crawl over her hand at a Butterfly farm. These spiders are 6" across and quite scary looking - I had to steel myself to handle it
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Please do not make me even think about that. Please!! :o
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not good news for migrating birds
http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?c=11&cate=__13158 (http://www.birdwatch.co.uk/channel/newsitem.asp?c=11&cate=__13158)
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According to Shetland Wildlife a pod of 50 Orcas was seen off Shetland last week
On Shetland just now is a Bobolink Dolichonyx oryzivorus from N America, an Arctic Redpoll Carduelis hornemannii and a Chestnut-eared bunting Emberiza fucata that lives in west Himalayas, China and Siberia and should be in Korea and Japan now.
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One housing estate in Cambridgeshire has 72 pairs of swifts in nest boxes
http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/casestudies/fulbournswifts.aspx (http://www.rspb.org.uk/thingstodo/surveys/swifts/casestudies/fulbournswifts.aspx)
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Dont know how common this is but i had a Lanius excubitor hunting Parus major here in my garden today...Seen it years ago up north and once here in the south......nice bird.........//Jonny
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Great Grey Shrikes often feed on small birds as well as rodents and insects. What a bird to see in your own garden. Wow.
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Check out this amazing looking moth larva, :o :o
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2224727/The-incredible-skull-caterpiller-fighting-life-Australian-rainforest.html (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2224727/The-incredible-skull-caterpiller-fighting-life-Australian-rainforest.html)
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That's what I call a smart Halloween outfit, Ron! Quite apart from the skull markings and the great colours, it's a pretty extraordinary shape, too. :o 8)
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Unfortunately the adult moth shown is incorrect. The larva is that of Phyllodes imperialis -
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/cato/imper.html (http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/cato/imper.html)
The moth shown by the Mail Online is Catocala concumbens, a North American species, ::) ::) ::) - the larva of which, whilst being interesting to me, is a rather dull brown grey 'stick', :( -
http://eolinterns.lifedesks.org/node/971 (http://eolinterns.lifedesks.org/node/971)
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Thanks for the extra info - the Mail online is not exactly famous for its accuracy!
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Bohemian Waxwings Feeding on Apples - Fair Isle
Bohemian Waxwings Feeding on Apples - Fair Isle (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih32I-avXko#ws)
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- the Mail online is not exactly famous for its accuracy!
This time they missed by about 9,000 miles !!! ::) ::) ::)
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As soon as I saw the caterpillar I knew the moth was wrong. Catocala spp. caterpillars are extremely well camouflaged and don't mimic snakes. The UK has several Catocala spp., including the Red Underwing, Blue Underwing (aka Clifden Nonpareil), Rosy Underwing, Light and Dark Crimson Underwings. http://www.hantsmoths.org.uk/species/2452.php (http://www.hantsmoths.org.uk/species/2452.php)
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I didnt think it was correct but accepted it because I didnt know the species of moth
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Bohemian Waxwings Feeding on Apples - Fair Isle - thanks for posting this Mark - I just love waxwings, they are probably my favourite "visiting" birds. Remarkable footage of them- a pleasure to see.
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Can someone tell me what this is please? I assume some sort of spider since it has 8 legs but it also had two long, much thicker-than-the-legs feeler things from the front of its head, pointed almost right up towards the sky. Mostly they were together but sometimes he opened them apart, about as far as I can open my first two fingers. That angle I mean. I never saw one before but this one kept me company for a while yesterday while I was tidying up old trays of plants. He emerged from the rotting beech leaves. He could be a contender for the NZ rugby team, being All Black. :D
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It's one of the black Long Clawed Harvestmen species Lesley, Megalopsalis sp.
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Thanks Ron, I thought it looked like what we call harvester spiders but hadn't seen those horns before. What are they useful for? Just for feeling their way around?
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Thing is Lesley that it appears that there are many species in NZ but they haven't been really been studied and very few have names. Yours is more than likely an un-named sp.!!
Those long appendages at the front are the Chelicerae. These are the mouthparts, and in this genus they are sometimes particularly elongated.
Like many things we discuss the nomenclature appears to be constantly changing and referring to an individual is difficult unless one chooses to keep up with the science of New Zealand harvestmen ;D
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Oh well, if I see another I'll call it the rugby harvestman. ;D I believe you about many species of all sorts of things being unstudied here as yet. I usually find out about them in a national geographic or something similar in either the doc's or dentist's waiting room. Some years ago, our govt of the time reckoned that scientific research was not that important and many botanists, entomologists and others in their various fields were made redundant. Most had world-class reputations and there was outcry among the international as well as the local scientific community. But to no avail; they were gone. Our R and D have suffered badly ever since. The present govt values R and D only if it has probable commercial outcomes.
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Unlike spiders, harvestmen eat solid food, so need a good set of chelicerae to pull their prey apart.. I'll be on the look out for more of these Lesley. 8) http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-henui-group/spiders/harvestmen.html (http://www.terrain.net.nz/friends-of-te-henui-group/spiders/harvestmen.html)
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So they're not actually spiders then? The one is your link Anthony - thanks for that - is more fearsome looking than mine and with thicker, shorter horns. Makes my one look quite friendly on the whole. What do they eat?
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They only have one body part and scorpion-like chelicerae. They are reputed to have a poisonous bite, but only tackle small invertebrates. In my honours project I had to identify over 6000 spiders, and 1500+ harvestmen. Fortunately there were only half a dozen species of the latter!
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That ones a spider, that ones a harvestman, that ones a spider, those two are harvestmen. Not really that hard, Anthony. :P ;D
Of wait, you mean different TYPES of them. ;)
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I was getting into my car at the rear staff car park of Sancta Maria College, Flatbush, Auckland this afternoon and noticed a pair of noisy Masked lapwings (Vanellus miles - the books call them spur-winged plovers, but don't all plovers have spurs on their wings, and not all plovers are lapwings and have masks?) just at the edge, about 20 metres from my car. I wondered why the were calling but not flying away, then I noticed 4 tiny chicks. I went home and fetched my camera and as I was photographing the groundsman drove past. He pointed out the nest in the uncut circle of grass. He'd gone to the Auckland War Memorial Museum to try and identify them. The nest is about 100 metres from where I photographed them. When I approached the chicks just 'vanished', and were very difficult to spot crouched in the grass.
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Very cute.
We've had Banded Plovers nesting in Canberra this year.... been reported on the Ornithologists Group email list. They're nesting next to one of the runways at the airport.
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That ones a spider, that ones a harvestman, that ones a spider, those two are harvestmen. Not really that hard, Anthony. :P ;D
Of wait, you mean different TYPES of them. ;)
Yep, down to species level, and no not different types. About a hundred different spiders and six harvesters. Some spiders were instantly recognisable, but not the wee ones. In 1978 I spent £550 on a stereo microscope so I could identify them at home. Having decided the sex, you then looked at the reproductive parts and compared them with a drawing in one of two text books. One species, of which I caught the third Scottish specimen and first ever male, was actually described in British Spiders (Locket and Millidge) vols I & II as belonging to a different genus from the female! Volume three had sorted that out! ::) Most of the spiders I caught were 2 mm long or less and were collectively known as money spiders! I collected from 85 pitfall traps set in 17 sites on Inchcailloch, and Island in Loch Lomond. The one time I had to row across to the island (I usually was ferried across in the post boat, but it was iced in) I took three pals from the honours lab, thinking many hands would make the job of collecting and refilling the traps (with formaldehyde and Teepol) easier. Fat chance! They vanished when we landed and ran off to play at commandos in the woods, occasionally bursting out of the trees to 'mow me down' in a hail of imaginary bullets!
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Impressive. Fascinating that the male was thought to be a different species to the female in one case.
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The distribution of the spiders was weird too. It suggested that these guys lived in the home counties and holidayed in northern Scotland, as several species were found in both areas but nowhere in between! When volume two came out the female of Wideria polita was unknown. In 1970 Wunderlich discovered the male, then described as Erigone polita, was in fact the the male of Neriene incisa. Both genera were sunk into the genus Walckenaera, so the male Walckenaera polita became Walckenaera incisa. The names of these insignificant spiders are larger than they are, and yes, I would much rather have joined the commandos, even if they did miss the white fallow deer that live on the island!
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Anthony,
You were in your early 20s at the time I am assuming? Given you were doing honours, I'm figuring not later post graduate?
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No, not a post graduate, but the fourth year of an honours degree, and NZ Ministry of Education take note, this is a Scottish degree, not a fictitious "British conjoined honours degree". I was in my mid twenties then. Should have worked a bit harder. :-\
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These Eastern Rosellas didn't seem too bothered by Heidi and I on our afternoon stroll today.
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Such a sad way to make an opening appearance, :( :(
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/9655994/Worlds-rarest-whale-seen-for-first-time.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/wildlife/9655994/Worlds-rarest-whale-seen-for-first-time.html)
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What a shame there is no picture. Five metres plus is a reasonable size of whale to been virtually unknown.
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I wonder if this is the actual whale? http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11/06/worlds-rarest-whale-seen-for-the-first-time-ever/ (http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/11/06/worlds-rarest-whale-seen-for-the-first-time-ever/)
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The Waxwings have reached Ayr. This afternoon we saw a group of 60 plus feeding on rowan berries in the car park opposite the station in the centre of town.
I hope they stay long enough to see them in sunshine.
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How sad, only to see and identify a creature after it has died by whatever means. It would be great to think some more are still alive and swimming freely in the oceans. Perhaps they are best protected by never being seen by humans.
Talking of which, for the first time ever, yesterday I saw 4 shining cuckoos, a native species related to the northern hemisphere cuckoos but nothing much like them except that they heave out the eggs from the grey warblers' nests (which we also have in the garden) and replace with their own. I knew we had them because I hear their very distinctive call every day - a sort of rising whistle tew, tew, tew, a few times then a falling similar sound but hadn't seen them except a few years ago, a dead one which had crashed into a window which it thought it could fly through. We lived in what amounted to a large glass box, windows floor to ceiling on 3 sides and when the curtains were open in the day, many birds crashed, mostly tuis and pigeons but most sat stunned for a while then flew off.
Yesterday's quartet were in the beech tree singing madly then I saw (only in silhouette) 4 birds fly from the beech to the Turkey oak and the singing started again immediately, so the silhouettes MUST have been the shining cuckoos. The dead one was olive green on the top part of its body, lighter than a bellbird, creamy on the underparts with tan bars or stripes, a beautiful bird about the size of a thrush, maybe a little smaller.
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Had a very welcome visitor last week to my garden
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Wow. 8)
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Paul,
Wow! Given how rare they're becoming, that is pretty amazing.
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Lucky you Paul. Do you have the right Eucalyptus species for him?
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Just heard about the deaths of a lot of migrating birds off the UK coast - http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/327453-migrating-birds-lost-at-sea (http://www.rspb.org.uk/news/327453-migrating-birds-lost-at-sea)
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Anne,
That's awful. :o Particularly bad given they're saying that some threatened species could be further endangered by this. Must have been dreadful for the fishermen just watching them fall out of the sky. :'(
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The ''WOW'' word came to mind too, when I saw the koala, with its ungainly gait, approaching the gum tree just before 8PM.
Paul T, they aren't so uncommon in Victoria as they are further up the east coast.In fact, they are subject to a contraception implant program of slow release progesterone (sp?) hormone.The reason they are becoming rare imo, is due to their habitat being cleared for housing, also dog attacks and road deaths. As their food source is removed, they weaken and become prone to disease, the main one being a chlamydia organism that can lead to blindness, conjunctivitis, pneumonia and reproductive tract infections.
Lesley, I'm not accurate with correctly identifying eucalyptus species, but do know koalas appreciate in my area, blue gums (globulus), manna (viminalis), swamp (ovata) forrest red gum and grey gum. The first 3, I have in my wind break. Just over the road, 100 metres down, lives a wonderful elderly Irish/Australian lady who has turned her 10 acres into a wildlife friendly habitat.Her house and garden is perhaps 100 years old, with all mature trees native to our area.Surrounding us on all four sides are dairy farms, all over 400 acres each.The only vegetation there are huge cyprus trees planted as wind breaks against the ocean gales.Our 2 properties are like an oasis for birds and animals.As the cyprus trees are past their prime, many are now being blown over and so are gradually being replaced with mixed natives. Much more accommodating for wildlife.Around the dense cypres trees it gets pretty dry and huge branches are torn away during gales.Left to rot, they provide habitat for ants, fat grubs and the like.Directly opposite is such an area.Perfect for this fat little echidna.
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Sounds like paradise. 8)
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It does indeed. We know Fermi loves echidnas. :)
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Had a few visitors arrive yesterday on our apple tree
[attachthumb=1]
[attachthumb=2]
So we called BeeBusters and they sent a wee man around . He parked a new house underneath ...
[attachthumb=3]
...and then shook the branch vigorously
[attachthumb=4]
They all fell into their new home . I had a look there this morning and they seem very happy .
Later in the week he will come back one night and shift the honey bees to a new location .
I have been replacing a macrocarpa and gum tree hedge with Pittosporum colensoi and some of them are now big enough to flower and they have been providing a good food source for the bees
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Mark, have you been for the Buff-bellied Pipit at Tyrella?
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Is that a starter, main course or dessert? ::)
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Sounds like a course of treatment with the word unmentionables thrown in for good luck? :o
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;D ;D
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When I came back from feeding the ponies tonight about4.20 I saw one or possibly two bats flying near the garage door.
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Door open or closed? Security Light?
Bats can be seen flying most months of the year
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Door open, no lights and almost dark.
A few weeks ago I rescued one which had got stuck in the bottom of a bucket in the garage. I put it on the wall (rough concrete blocks) so it could hang on. It stayed there for a while but had disappeared when I came back. It made loud clicking noises when I picked it up and when I picked the cobwebs off its front claws
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There could be a small roost in the garage
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its the woluf, its the woluf - said Lambsey
http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10151545780047627&set=pb.157954817626.-2207520000.1353580357&type=3&theater (http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=10151545780047627&set=pb.157954817626.-2207520000.1353580357&type=3&theater)
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Sorry, no pictures (it was too busy flitting to sit still), but I think I saw a Macleay's Swallowtail butterfly today at the Botanic Gardens here in Canberra. Something I've not seen before, and such lovely pale green markings on the undersides of the wings. I didn't get to see the upper sides of the wings as it was moving them so quickly.... you just ended up seeing the undersides in the moments that the wings were "closed". Very cool to see something a bit different. It was feeding rapidly between flowers on Pelargonium australe.
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I am happy, they are all going east in this map!
Lina.
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No they are going west
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No they are going west
The little wolf icons are all shown going east ...... ;D
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But Mark is right, in reality they are coming west.
Very close to my area. 🐕🐕🐕
Lina.
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Oh yes, the wolves are spreading west for sure.
I don't think they will swim the channel or North Sea though......... want to come here, Lina? ;)
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Oh yes, please! But not swimming!🏊
Lina.
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Now there really is a tunnel they can come through!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolves_of_Willoughby_Chase (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wolves_of_Willoughby_Chase)
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Just a thought. 'Wildlife summer 2012'. Is it still summer?
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Hmm.... summer..? I suppose it is rather wishful thinking! I'll split the thread.
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Summer here. It was still 21oC at 7 p.m. yesterday. Almost too hot during the day! 8)
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Envy, envy envy!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)
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Sorry, no pictures (it was too busy flitting to sit still), but I think I saw a Macleay's Swallowtail butterfly today....
They are a beautiful thing Paul and incredibly fast flyers as you say. 8) 8)
We used to breed Graphium sarpedon by the hundreds when we lived in Taiwan. Another, very similar, and very beautiful insect. ;D ;D
Here are some nice pictures of your Graphium macleayanus -
http://www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Macleay's-Swallowtail/Graphium/macleayanus.html (http://www.ozanimals.com/Insect/Macleay's-Swallowtail/Graphium/macleayanus.html)
http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/papi/macleay.html (http://lepidoptera.butterflyhouse.com.au/papi/macleay.html)
p.s. - I know you know them as swallowtails, but around the world they are also known as swordtails, ladies, and kite swallowtails !
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A whole family that never made it to New Zealand. :-\
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Anthony,
So tempted to say put em on a boat and they'll make it..... but I won't. ;)
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Summer here. It was still 21oC at 7 p.m. yesterday. Almost too hot during the day! 8)
SO soooooooooo jealous.
Angie :)
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Forecast of 29 tomorrow then 32'C here on Sunday. Next Friday they're forecasting 35'C at this stage (whether that happens remains to be seen of course).
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That's seriously hot Paul. We had 21oC and a barbecue tea today. 8)
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Finally got to see some Waxwings ..
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Mark,
excellent photo - I've only once seen Waxwings some 40 years ago. They ate up not fallen off seed of Acer platanoides.
And it was one of the snowier winters I remember. Usually they don't range here.
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Mark:
If that's the new camera I think you've mastered it.
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Cracking image Mark, you've really got the hang of it now.
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Armin are these birds not found in Germany?
Arnold and David you didnt hear me swearing this afternoon. Ruined 20 shots of the closest birds
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Waxwings are not native in Germany, single swarms from the north-scandinavian countries range from time to time in winter.
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WE dont have them either as a native bird but there is a large invasion in to N Ireland just now with them in most large town. They have reached Cork already
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For some reason Waxwings passed quickly through this area this year despite the fact there are masses of berries left..
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Lovely closeup Mark of the waxwing - never seen anything like it here.
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No waxwings here but I can't get rid of this fellow and as you see he/she had an early breakfast.
Angie :)
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I hope that's not the remains of one of your koi Angie, it could prove expensive.
Mark, that's a great waxwing picture, it just shows what a little practice with the new camera can do. ;)
We had a large (200+) flock of waxwings near here recently. I was shown some good photos of them, given precise directions as to where they were - just outside Toys R'Us at the Metrocentre shopping centre actually. "There were 200 there two days ago, at least fifty yesterday" - by the time I got there: none :-\
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I wouldn't have thought a heron attack would leave any evidence at all? Don't they just swallow whole, or is there more to it?
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I thought the same Anthony. I'm think a mammal did it.
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I thought the same Anthony. I'm think a mammal did it.
Hmmmm....... are we back to Angie's Pine Martens? The Heron may be just in the wrong place at the wrong time, to get the blame?
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Hmmmm....... are we back to Angie's Pine Martens? The Heron may be just in the wrong place at the wrong time, to get the blame?
You might be right as when I have seen the Heron get one of my fish he normally has it down his throat before I get the window open. There was paw prints in the snow the other night. Next time I have snow on the ground ( hopefully thats a long way off ) I will go and look at the paw prints.
Peter it wasn't one of my Koi as they are all tucked up in there new home, keeping cosy with a cover on. Don't laugh and I know you all know how silly I am. Pond is heated, fed prawns for their breakfast and the light is on a timer, it gets dark here at 4.30pm so I give them another few hours of light. Ok I can hear you all saying has she lost the plot.
Here is my new baby. I hand feed her prawns. Next week the heater will be slowly lowered and then they will be like me freezing, well not quite. Hubby said he is going to grow a tail as the fish get cared for more than him :-X.
Sorry not a good picture but I cant figure how to take a good photo with the water. I bet Olga could :)
Angie :)
ps The new one is the biggest one and he is always there first to grab the food.
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The new one is the biggest one and he is always there first to grab the food.
Maybe there's a clue there? ;D
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Maybe there's a clue there? ;D
Yes, I think you are right and this koi has the biggest mouth. I think my mouth needs stitched up a little :-X
Angie :)
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I think there is often a clue , it's true, ;) but I'm also a great believer in a big body needing a bigger meal than a little one! 8) ;D ;)
That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.
Been making holes though the icy slush on my pond today - not that I have any lovely koi.
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I think there is often a clue , it's true, ;) but I'm also a great believer in a big body needing a bigger meal than a little one! 8) ;D ;)
That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it.
I agree ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D
Angie :)
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My pond in Dunblane was about 3' deep. I kept an outside box filter and waterfall running 24/7 and the pond never froze over at all, even in the last two winters we were in Dunblane. A friend had a huge koi called Edgar as it just hoovered up any food offered! 8)