Wildlife 2007

[mark smyth]

exactly what it was doing

[annew]

Great photo of the green bottle, Mark - the new camera obviously works very well indeed. And spiders are not nasties!

[Maggi Young]

Well.... TOO GOOD a photo of the greenbottle, for my liking! I can do without such clear details of all those hairy bits 

I have to say , Mark, you probably needed a new camera like I need a new pair of shoes! Naughty naughty!

[mark smyth]

well ...

[Peter Maguire]

I thought that it might be a pleasant change to see some larger wildlife. I've just returned from a trip to Denmark and thought that the following photos may be of interest (plant photos to follow tomorrow on the 'Flowering now' pages):

White wagtail - male (Moticilla alba alba) in Lund Botanic Gardens. Ok, so it's in Sweden, but only a short ferry ride.
Red eared terrapins in Copenhagen Botanic Gardens. Not really "wildlife" as it's a north American species, but obviously thriving there, as they do in ponds in north east England near my home where they have been dumped by their owners once they outgrew their tanks.
Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea)
Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) - both in Copenhagen Botanic Gardens

Peter

[Peter Maguire]

Just a few more:

A magnificent slug, species unknown, but magificent in size (6-10 cms long), colour and due to the fact that I saw them eating other slugs (I need some for the garden!)
Lesser Black-backed Gull, adult and juvenile (Larus fuscus)
Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus)

All taken 'in the wild' - including the slug.

Peter

[mark smyth]

Peter your Black-backed Gull maybe a Greater Bb due to it's pink legs. Lesser have yellow legs but I know Scandinavian gulls are larger and slightly different in colour

[Peter Maguire]

Oops, that'll teach me to try posting images at midnight.

Peter

[gote]

In Sweden we have a black big slug that keeps in the forests and harms nothing in the garden.
Then we have a brownish big one that is more rare (at least in my area and does not visit (my) garden.
Both are in the 10 cm range.

However, in the last few years we have got the Spanish species which is orange. We call it "Murder slug" because it eats other slugs at least dead ones.
Unfortunately it also murders everything else in the garden.  (OK i exaggerate - it does not kill large trees ).
Unfortunately it has no natural enemies and it likes the climate here much better than in Spain.
It is probably one of the worst pests we have got.

I do NOT think that you need one for your garden.

Göte

[Lesley Cox]

This is a similar situation to that of the NZ flatworm which has become a real problem in the UK. Here, where it is native, it is no problem at all, eating only other small sluggy things and not the earthworm on which it apparently feeds in the north. Moreover, it is rarely seen, and does no damage at all, so far as I'm aware, in our gardens. I see one occasionally curled up under a tray of plants when I move it but I've never seen one on the move (except when I put it in the sun) or eating anything.

[fermi de Sousa]

It's the middle of winter here and for some reason we still have swallows nesting/roosting in our carport! Gone are the days when we come out one spring day to find "the swallows have returned to Carport-strano" - because the silly things never leave! Maybe it doesn't get cold enough here?
I risked my camera lens to get this shot for the forum!
The second pic is of one of our Aussie robins at a neighbour's place - sorry, I couldn't get much closer to it.
cheers
fermi

[mark smyth]

15 swallows is good. two adults and 13 young for the season. Are they resident?

[Rafa]

Hello, this is Rhinechis scalaris

[Maggi Young]

A handsome snake, Rafa. I think his name in English is 'Ladder snake'.

[TC]

I thought that this might be of interest to the older members of the forum who can remember "A Ring of Bright Water".  This statue is a memorial to Gavin Maxwell who wrote a series of books on keeping otters in Glenelg and latterly at Kyleakin in Skye.  It is on the Monreith headland in Wigtonshire, near the family home at Elrig. Quite an understated but moving tribute to a man who gave pleasure in his writings, to millions.