Wildlife August 2010

[KentGardener]

Spotted these twins on my garden wall yesterday afternoon - love the colouring but not sure what moths they are as I haven't seen them before.

[Gerdk]

Garden Tiger Moth - Arctia caja - perhaps?

Gerd

[mark smyth]

Gerd is correct.

I havent seen that moth for years but did find a caterpillar of that species on Tuesday. In N Ireland the caterpillar is called a woolly bear or granny grey beard.

According to my book all garden tigers have individual markings

[ruweiss]

 

Some time ago while sitting at the terrace of a restaurant in Stuttgart
we heard and saw two strange birds.

Our first thought was about crows or magpies, but when they came nearer
it was doubtless to see: two parrots had lots of fun with eating the unripe
fruits from a crabapple tree and my brother in law took the attached picture.
We already knew about the small population of these exotic birds living since
several years in a nearby park where old trees give them shelter in the
winter and space for raising their children. It is simply amazing how these exotic
birds can stand our cold climate.

[Anthony Darby]

Amazin!

[Maggi Young]

Is this a Ring-necked Parakeet -Psittacula krameri ?
I believe there are very large populations of these feral birds in England and across  in quite a lot of Europe..... it is extraordinary to think they can not only survive, but thrive, too.

[Gail]

I'm envious Rudi - we were in Stuttgart last year and I had hoped to see the parrots. There are thought to be up to one hundred parrots living wild in the area.  They are yellow-headed Amazon parrots (Amazona oratrix) that have made their homes in the parks on the edge of Stuttgart and in Cannstatt along the Neckar River. The origin of birds is thought to be something of a mystery as they are not thought to be descendants of escapees from Wilhelma Zoo in Stuttgart as they did not keep this species back in the mid 1980’s when the birds were first seen.

[ArnoldT]

WE have colonies of monk parrots living just a few miles outside of New York City.  The nest near electric poles and get warmth from the transformers.  Their nest are large bundles of branches.  They may have escaped from a ship that was docked nearby many years ago or from a pet shop.  The cold doesn't seem to bother them to much

[Maggi Young]

Aha, Amazona oratrix  eh? Hence Anthony's "amazin'" exclamation!!

yes, amazin' indeed!  Cheery looking birds...  

[Maggi Young]

I didn't know what a Monk Parrot was but following a search on the internet I discover they can be seen in Brooklyn and are really rather cute!

http://www.brooklynparrots.com/

[Anthony Darby]

Aha, Amazona oratrix  eh? Hence Anthony's "amazin'" exclamation!!

yes, amazin' indeed!  Cheery looking birds...  

Back in '83 I was staying in Mona, Kingston, Jamaica for a few weeks. A group of Oxford students arrived to study the two Jamaican species of Amazon in the Cockpit country. The day after they departed a flock of Yellow Billed Amazons arrived at the compound of university houses and stayed arround for a few days. They made a fantastic noise as they flew from tree to tree, especially in the mornings!

[Anthony Darby]

BTW, I felt honoured to be in such an august company.

[mark smyth]

I've been lucky to see Amazon parrots living in the wild in Belize

[mark smyth]

digital manipulation of photographs at its best. http://www.humandescent.com/

Some are ugly but some are very cute http://www.humandescent.com/?p=132.
Others are mind boggling

[Lesley Cox]

I feel a bit sorry for the gooslamb. He's going to crash heavily.