Wildlife Corner

[Tizer]

Judging from Wendy's post and our experience here in Somerset, climate change is sending the butterflies north!

When we lived in the Somerset Levels we saw lots of starlings, not just the big winter flocks going back and forth to their roosts but small flocks around the village and landing in gardens. Since we came to live in town we can't recall seeing a single starling here. Wherever we've lived in towns in the past there have always been starlings. Now it's all pigeons and gulls.

[Tripps]

We had an outdoor family gathering with meal on Sunday. The star of the show - leaving aside the new baby who won hands down - was a wasp who took a fancy to a small piece of roast chicken, and after inviting all his friends, had the best Sunday lunch they'd had for a while, closely observed by the family. We didn't know that wasps ate chicken - we went back later and it was totally gone.

No photos since I found the missing camera on a table in the garden after several days being rained on. It's drying out now. Hoping for the best.

PS. Next door diagnosed the lack of plums on my plum tree. He says the root stock has grown better than the plum graft since I have two types of leave on the tree. Big pruning session indicated.

[Tizer]

They were probably taking the bits of chicken back to their nest to feed the larvae which need a lot of protein.

Life is getting difficult for bees...and in the longer term that will make life difficult for the producers of foods like fruit that require pollination...
`Why 500 million bees have died in Brazil in three months' LINK

[Stanley]

I have seen a lot of butterflies in the last few weeks, even on the wetter days.
We had a wake of crows on the Green yesterday all day. They were feeding each time I saw them, up to 50 at one point in the morning. Never seen so many before. (I thought the collective noun was a murder but when I checked I found that if they are feeding it's a wake.)

[Tripps]

I cut the front grass yesterday, and noticed that there were no butterflies at all on the Buddleia. Well actually just one. Ah thinks I - I'll photograph that and present it as evidence of global warming / second ice age . (Take your pick).

The photo was rubbish - not good enough to post , and whilst I was engaged, next door came out and we spoke. He said he had seen on Sunday, the bush covered in butterflies, of many differrent types - including fritillaries' . He knows about lots of stuff.

Collapse of stout party. Fritillary

I'll tell you more about the grass cutting another time - it's still a developing saga.

[Stanley]

I always sided with Roy Strong on lawns. He reckoned they were an English obsession and hated them. I have heard many good reports of Camomile Lawns, much less maintenance. (RS also thought dogs and children should be banned from gardens.....)

[Tizer]

I'm glad we no longer have a lawn to look after. Instead we have lots of beautiful flowering perennials and shrubs and they're attracting in lots of insects. Blackbirds don't miss the lawn - they enjoy turning over our bark mulch to pick out the worms and other invertebrates.

[Stanley]

I'm all for low maintenance gardens!
I have had phases of gardening enthusiasm several times but on the whole I found the most satisfying was growing vegetables and fruit. A good cabbage or row of Parsnips can be so satisfying in more ways than one.

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz brought this to my attention for OGFB - it's from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).
`Avian malaria-mediated population decline of a widespread iconic bird species' LINK
`England’s House Sparrow population fell by 70% between 1977 and 2016, and this once ubiquitous species is now absent from many urban areas. New research involving the BTO has found evidence that malarial parasites may be linked to this species’ decline....'

[Stanley]

Yes, we used to call them 'Flying Mice'. They frequently came indoors in the mill and the engine house.

[Wendyf]

Last night I rescued a peacock butterfly from the poly tunnel and have seen 3 more on my field walk this morning.

[Stanley]

Nice. The next few days will favour them.....

[Tripps]

and noticed that there were no butterflies at all on the Buddleia

Looked again today, and there were loads. Got the best camera out, and here's the result

P1000570.JPG

P1000570.JPG

Next door says they are painted Lady and Red Admiral. Not sure what a Peacock looks like.

The lawn mower saga is resolved. More later.

[Wendyf]

Peacocks have 2 large blue spots like eyes on their wings.

[Stanley]

Many mornings as I go to open the back gate in the dark to let Jack out for his early morning pee I walk into a spider's web strung between the small shed and the workshop, a distance of about five feet.
How the hell does it do it! Scaling up it's like stringing a wire across Niagara Falls.

[PanBiker]

They use the wind and ride on their line like the antics of spiderman with out the casting element. Once they make a connection at the other end the rest is easy. The casting off into the breeze must be a bit of an act of faith in our terms that there will be something to latch on to at the other side. Mind you they can always haul themselves back in.

[Tizer]

How the hell does it do it! Scaling up it's like stringing a wire across Niagara Falls.

It's due to factors such as gravity, pressure, wind resistance etc not being amenable to scaling up or down.

[Stanley]

[plaques]

A mixture of 'wildlife' and mystery Insect. What is it?

Ugly little beast. about 6cm long and 1 cm thick.

.
.

[PanBiker]

Elephant Hawk Moth caterpillar.

[Tripps]

I came across one of these today - coincidence?

cake.jpg

Are they by any chance related? - I think we should be told as they say in the Eye.

[Tizer]

Chocolate Hawk Moth caterpillar!

Plaques, I hope your caterpillar survives to become a moth. We've had an Elephant Hawk Moth regularly in the garden for the last couple of weeks and they're wonderful to watch, just like a miniature humming bird. Yesterday I was watering it's favourite plant and it was hovering around my legs, as if to say `Come on, get out of my way!'

[Stanley]

What strange creatures they are!



This is my Caterpillar picture. Smallest and largest at a dealer in LA in 1982.

[Stanley]

I can't find it online but badgers are in the news again as a study shows that thousands have suffered severe pain in the cull and there is no conclusive evidence that the cull is reducing the rate of TB infection in cattle.
I have never supported this slash and burn policy, I believe it is aimed more at protecting beef exports than any viable effect on the disease in cattle. A succession of reports have said the same thing, that there is no evidence that it is working and now we have these accusations of cruelty and bad supervision of the cull. At the very least, we should have a moratorium on this medieval approach to the problem which nobody can prove is working.

[Tizer]

Here's today's BBC news on the topic...
`Vet says badger culls caused 'immense pain'' LINK

...and this from Saturday's Guardian:
`Thousands more badgers face cull as number of killing zones surges' LINK