Wildlife Corner

[Stanley]

Does that make Tiz Dougall?

[Stanley]

I realised yesterday that what I thought was an owl in the back street a couple of days ago was a dove cooing! Never trust an engineer to identify a bird!

[Tizer]

It's easy to confuse coo coo with hoo hoo!

[plaques]

Back to the delinquent budgies. I manged to talk, shout, across the road to the budgie man. He told me he was adjusting a wire net window when they made their big escape. Three returned and started nesting the rest made pals with the local blue tit and sparrow population in the adjacent hedge. They seem to have hit it off so much so that he now has four nesting plus two blue tits. He leaves the window open and they seem content to come and go as they please. He also mentioned that each time he passes B&Q the car park is empty and the barrier down so he can't do a full repair even if he wanted to.

[Tizer]

B&Q...I've just tried to visit their web site and it told me I'd have to wait 59 minutes for my turn to have a look. Tried Wickes and it was 9 minutes. How strange it seems when we have fast internet connections!

[PanBiker]

29 mins for me just checked. Obviously the servers they use can't keep up with the level of access. So they are throttling the number of users.

[Stanley]

No restrictions at this tome of the morning......
P, those must be some very happy budgies!

[Stanley]

I've been noticing for a while that the birdsong seems to be louder in the morning. I heard the question asked yesterday, I think it was on 'More or Less'. A lady who has been researching this very matter said that the data they have collected shows a definite increase in volume, in some cases twice as loud. It seems that the lower ambient noise levels encourage them. Nice to know my hearing wasn't deceiving me.

[Stanley]

It's a measure of how things are these days that this became a project!



For the last couple of days there has been a caterpillar on the workshop window cill outside. It hasn't done a lot and so this morning I put it on the leaf of a very healthy weed in the back yard. If you look very closely you'll see it under the edge of the top leaf. I think it is happier because as soon as I put it on the leaf with its head in a raindrop it started moving and exploring, by the time I got my camera it was on the next leaf down. I've had a look since and it's three leaves down now, we may have done good.
Why does this make me so absurdly pleased with myself?

[Cathy]

This is a pic of an Albino Tortoise , first one I’ve seen. Lots of other ones on Google.

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[Gloria]

Well done Stanley, looks like you've made a caterpillar very, very happy. So you've every right to feel pleased.

[Stanley]

Thanks Gloria! I've looked since and can't find it, I am pretty sure it's on the same plant but well hidden!

[plaques]

When I'm cleaning windows.
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Its doing no harm, leave well alone.

[Cathy]

Not so bad as long as the window has a really good fly/insect screen. If it was a door, it would have to go.

[Tizer]

Oooh, I hope that isn't a nest of Asian Hornets! LINK

[chinatyke]

Yesterday I spotted 3 baby fish in my pond but there may be more. One has just turned orange and so was easier to spot. Not sure if they are goldfish or Koi carp. I'm glad at least 3 have survived this year's spawning, we only got one survivor last year, and too many the year before! The bigger fish eat the eggs before they hatch.

[Tizer]

All of our tadpoles were eaten by gigantic dragonfly larvae. They're like miniature submarines prowling about the pond!

[PostmanPete]

When I'm cleaning windows.
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P6010004.JPG
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Its doing no harm, leave well alone.

Stanley is the man to ask about this.....

He is reading "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest"

[Stanley]

Destroy the buggers! Pete's right and I have nearly finished it.... Lisbeth wouldn't hesitate!

[plaques]

My wasps are teeny weeny size wasps not the giant hornet monsters. Carnivores like all wasps but feed on equally small pesky things that are best rid of. They can't get into the house so they cause no bother. Most years we have a couple of wasps nests somewhere in the garden you get used to them. They are only a nuisance when you are eating your jam butties outdoors.

[Stanley]

"They are only a nuisance when you are eating your jam butties outdoors."
Now there's an image to treasure! Can't remember when I last did that, probably during the war! (Can you remember how squishy they used to get after they'd been in your pocket for a couple of hours?)

[PanBiker]

I had the start of a nest on the inside of the backyard shed door, that one had to go. I managed it during building, waited till she went for more material then treated it with Wasp killer to discourage reconstruction, she came back once, slightly angry then cleared off. Used to raid wasps nests for fishing, the grubs are a killer bait for large Perch.

[Stanley]

Saw two Red Mite on the shed window cill yesterday running about in the sun. Wendy will be doing her eradication drill!

[Wendyf]

Red spider mites are plant feeders Stanley and a different species to the blood sucking red mites that I am keeping an eye out for in the hen house!

[Stanley]

I didn't draw a distinction Wendy, just saw red mites and thought of you attacking the hen cabin!