Wildlife 2007

[Carlo]

Yup...I think of them as shrimp with wings...

[mark smyth]

I havent seen any yet nor Painted ladies.

Carlo how are the Geraniums I sent you? They should be flowering by now

[Gerdk]

Hans,
Congratulations for the difficult hawk moth picture. What a pretty German name for this moth - Taubenschwänzchen = little tail of a dove. I came along this fascinating day active sphingidae when I noticed from a Spanish publication that it is the only pollinator of Viola cazorlensis. Unfortunately it visits my region only during long hot periods.
Gerd Knoche
Solingen, Germany

[Hans J]

Hello Gerd ,

Thank you for your compliments
I did not know that this animals also pollinate Viola !
If you like so I could catch some for you and send it to Solingen .

Greetings
Hans

[mark smyth]

I have a problem Wood Pigeon with a taste for my 'bulbs'. It's digging quite large holes to get them. At first I blamed a cat until I saw it in action this morning with the evidence. Can you guess what it's eating?

[TC]

On our trip to see the orchids, I took pictures of a moth and butterflies for interested parties.  The tiny Chimney Sweeper moths -3cm across- were in their dozens, feeding on clover.  I had to get within 30cms of them - not an easy task.  The expletives have been deleted !
The other two are the small heath and the ringlet, unless anyone knows differently.  My butterfly book was published in 1970 and contains all the species in Europe which can be confusing

[Gerdk]

Hans,

Thank you for your offer - unfortunately the flowers of Viola cazorlensis are over - no seeds expected. But please catch some of your carpenter bees and your bee-eaters plus a little bit of your surplus sunshine and send it to the north.

Gerd

[Hans J]

Gerd ,

No problem with carpenter bees -we have enough ,but I never saw a bee-eater here in my garden .I know they are descriptet from the "Kaiserstuhl" -if you visit me again so we could look for it.
Have you problems with the wether last nigth ?

Greetings
Hans

[Gerdk]

Hans,
ok, please send me the whole Kaiserstuhl and I'll have a lot of interesting plants and animals.
No problems with thunderstorms here so far.
Gerd

[Hans J]

Gerd ,

Do you think your garden is big enough ?

Here until now 35 mm of rain ......


Hans

[Peter Maguire]

I thought that people might like to see something a little more sinister than the pretty butterflies and moths that have been posted lately. This chap was basking on a road side in the Kielder forest (English side of the English/Scottish border for our overseas readers). I suspect that he/she may have recently shed his/her skin as the markings on the body were immaculate.

Adder (Vipera berus)

Peter

[Rob]

That's a great shot of an adder. I have never seen one basking in the sun, I've only caught glimpses of them disappearing into the undergrowth.

Rob

[Peter Maguire]

My only previous experience was seeing 'something' disappearing under a tuft of grass. Lifting up the grass (as you do, when you are young and foolish) revealed a large adder coiled up and glaring at me from a distance too close for comfort. The grass was hurredly replaced (dropped) and a hasty retreat seemed in order.

This encounter was rather more leisurely, and a long lens gave some sense of security! They are meant to disappear into the undergrowth when they sense the vibration of footsteps, but both my wife and daughter walked past within two feet of this one and missed both seeing it and scaring it away.

Peter

[Lesley Cox]

He/she is beautiful Peter. I must admit to a sneaking affection for snakes, though with another admission that I've not seen one in the flesh outside of zoos. I have a photo of my mother with one of the Australian species draped around her neck, head and tail in her hands so it couldn't get a purchase to coil.

[Mick McLoughlin]

A picture of ants farming aphids on a cosmos flower stem taking between the showers yesterday