Wildlife November 2010

[Anthony Darby]

I prefer twit as a twite is an innocent wee birdie, whereas a twit is an innocent wee daftie.

[Stephenb]

I prefer twit as a twite is an innocent wee birdie, whereas a twit is an innocent wee daftie.

OK, then:
"While the Twitter posts may be twites, the people who post them are twits"

[mark smyth]

The rare fen raft-spider has been bred in captivity. 1500 spiders are kept in test tubes. They are fed several times per week and it takes one person a week to feed them all.

Check out The One Show on BBC iplayer

Almighty gasp when you see the adult female on the presenters finger

[Lesley Cox]

I hope there's a more long-term goal of keeping the spiders other than in test tubes. I don't love spiders but wouldn't condemn even the rarest to that life. (Don't hate 'em either, just choose to avoid where possible.)

[mark smyth]

Lesley, they were bred to be released in a nature reserve

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00w124t/The_One_Show_11_11_2010/
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1322755/Spiders-bred-kitchen-released-wild.html

[Lesley Cox]

That's a relief Mark.  

[Lesley Cox]

From the list of European birds in NZ that you posted Mark, I've seen many though not all. We have several in our garden, the skylark, the blackbird, thrush, dunnock, chaffinch, goldfinch, greenfinch, redpoll, yellowhammer, sparrow and starling. A North Island friend has a little colony of Californian quail in his garden along with mynahs, and we all know the swans, Canada geese, mallards and pheasants and rooks but the others I've not seen. Canada geese are a pest and so are the rooks in mid Canterbury grain crops.

I like that the Cape Barren geese are Coreopsis and the dunnock is Prunella, because I have those growing in my garden.

[Lesley Cox]

The boat trip to New Zealand took anything from 6 to 12 weeks depending on the ship itself, the weather and the season, also the route. It amazes me too, that birds could have arrived safely, probably kept in cages I suppose but many wild birds can't stand that and would normally die.

[David Nicholson]

Check out The One Show on BBC iplayer

... thats one programme to avoid like the plague

[Paul T]

I'm not surprised that she is excited about having her kitchen back. 

[Lesley Cox]

Check out The One Show on BBC iplayer

... thats one programme to avoid like the plague

Why is that David? It's not available here anyway.

[mark smyth]

OMG did you see the waxwings on Autumn Watch?

[mark smyth]

I am soooooooooo jealous
http://fair-isle.blogspot.com/2010/11/waxwings-oct-25th-2010-day-well-always.html

The birds were so hungry they had to feed

[Anthony Darby]

The rare fen raft-spider has been bred in captivity. 1500 spiders are kept in test tubes. They are fed several times per week and it takes one person a week to feed them all.

Check out The One Show on BBC iplayer

Almighty gasp when you see the adult female on the presenters finger

Curiously, this spider (Dolomedes plantarius) is of the same genus as the New Zealand Nurseryweb spider.

[Lesley Cox]

Roger saw a programme this morning on BBC I think, about killer whales herding grey whales and their calfs, as they migrated, and described to me - over lunch - the tactics used to capture the babies and the damage done internally and externally, in order to catch them. I wish he hadn't.