Wildlife mid 2009

[Paddy Tobin]

Robin,

Not even one Clouded Yellow spotted here this year. Pity!

Paul, lots of rabbits here on surrounding farmland but no snakes - could the rabbits have wiped them out. Here, Saint Patrick, our patron saint, has traditionally been credited with ridding the country of snakes but now we may have to reconsider this in light of your posting.

Paddy

[Arykana]

Arykana I dont think I have seen all brown sheild bugs over here.

  I happily send you, if you wish

[mark smyth]

barsteward cats!

[Arykana]

they are so much visitors:

[Michael J Campbell]

barsteward cats!

Mark,if you put a good layer of coarse grit or pea shingle on your troughs the cats don't like it.  Fresh bark mulch on shrub beds  also keeps them away for about three months.

[Roma]

The first geese flew over yesterday.  About 8 or 10 heading south.  Saw 2 small flocks today and heard a third.  Winter must be on its' way.

[David Shaw]

Roma, they first flew over here several days ago (en-rout to Aberdeen?). I was noting that last year we saw the first ones in Orkney on my birthday (Sept 19) but that it was a couple of weeks before we saw them in Moray! Sign of a hard winter to come?

[mark smyth]

Autumn colours are coming in way too quickly this year. I saw geese this week but they were just gone wild greylags. Yesterday I saw the first golden plover of the year

[Hristo]

Thanks Anthony and Paul for commenting, the Balkan saw Cricket sounds likely, the head is defo a cricket from the side aspect ( sorry no pic ) and the two 'appendages' at the posterior are like many of the grasshoppers and crickets here in Bulgaria. The scale of this chap, and the 'knobbles' on the bug are much more reminiscent of a stick insect!

Arykana. lovely shots of the red admiral!!

[mark smyth]

Arykana many butterflies here also. I have never seen a red admiral on ivy flowers.

[Lesley Cox]

The godwits are arriving back in northern New Zealand, direct from Alaska but each year fewer arrive. It is thought that the birds are not able to feed as well on their northern trip by way of China as the Chinese are building long sea walls to reclaim land.

[mark smyth]

I think I read that godwits fly all the way non stop or is just the section China to NZ?

[mark smyth]

I'm wrong you are correct
http://bird-watching.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_flight_of_the_godwits

[Stephenb]

Mark: I mentioned this here:

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=793.msg20168#msg20168

Non-stop from Alaska to New Zealand in 8 days must be one of the wonders of the world...

[Lesley Cox]

We had something about them and the general decline in numbers on the telly on Sunday night. Apparently they fly from Alaska direct to NZ for our summer then back by way of eastern China, for the northern summer. The Alaska-NZ flight is apparently the longest migratory flight of any bird.