Wildlife Corner

[Moh]

We have a baby collared dove in a nest in our cherry tree which is right next to the patio, I hope our being at home does not frighten the parents away!

[Wendyf]

Here's my white starling, I don't think it is an albino.

[Stanley]

I like collared doves Moh, There were about 30 regular feeders at Janet's in Perth when I was with them a few years ago. Never seen a white starling Wendy. Do the others mob it?

[Wendyf]

There was no sign of it being mobbed, but it didn't seem to join in with the squabbling that was going on between the others.

[David Whipp]

It's a fine photo Wendy.

[Stanley]

A sad and unusual sight in Valley Gardens this morning. This distressed rabbit has evidently been in the mill race and was recovering on the path. I didn't touch it for two reasons, I don't know what it's carrying and there was nothing I could do to help it. It looks poorly, I hope it recovers enough to escape.... Nature can be very cruel....

[Moh]

We have 4 or 5 hedgehogs (only seen 4 at one time so maybe 5th is one of those returning) who visit the grass at the side of our caravan each evening. Last week we saw two of them having sex - it looked a prickly & long drawn out affair !

[Stanley]

They seem to manage well enough Moh! I like hedge pigs but don't like the fleas....
A gamekeeper once told me that he had seen foxes gather a tuft of dry grass in their mouth and then back slowly into water until only their nose was showing when they let go of the tuft. He reckoned they were getting rid of fleas which retreated up their body to the tuft to escape the water.

[David Whipp]

When we've tried to deal with fleas, they seem unaffected by immersion in water.

Haven't tried a tuft of grass in my mouth though...

[Tizer]

Here's my white starling, I don't think it is an albino.

Mrs Tiz (once a biology teacher, always...) confirms it's not albino because it has dark eyes. Albinos have red eyes.

Some butterfly and bee photos I took recently here in our Somerset garden...

Tortoiseshell butterfly 18/07/14 Somerset, on marjoram...


Peacock butterfly 18/07/14 Somerset, on marjoram...


Bumble bee 18/07/14 Somerset, on Buddlea...


Gatekeeper butterfly 18/07/14 Somerset, on Saponaria...


Speckled wood butterfly 18/07/14 Somerset, on Cotoneaster leaf...

[Wendyf]

"Mrs Tiz (once a biology teacher, always...) confirms it's not albino because it has dark eyes. Albinos have red eyes."

I couldn't tell the colour of it's eyes from that photo which is why I expressed a little teeny weeny bit of doubt....they may be dark red!
It has been back to the feeder again each day.

[Stanley]

I used to work for Jack Harrison from Smearber at Elslack. He was pure albino, red eyes as well!
Later, after our walk. I was talking to Mrs Batley this morning and she had seen the rabbit in the gardens as well. She said she'd seen two of them earlier taking the sun on the opposite side of the beck on the upstream side of the Gisburn Road Bridge. I saw the other one this morning in the allotments on the opposite side of the road. It may be living dangerously in there!

[Gloria]

Our third nest of swallows fledged yesterday, and the last lot are all but ready, absolute bedlam for a couple of hours and then they settle down. I love watching how the parents "two one" them at first to try and direct them, how they miss everything at that speed is amazing.

[Gloria]

They are all out now and bedlam is not the word for it. There are about 10 young and 2 sets of parents all going everywhere------all good fun.

[Tizer]

We've just spotted a Jersey Tiger Moth in the garden and taken photos. The Somerset Wildlife Trust are interested in its distribution here so I've submitted the sighting and photos to their web site. They like to know the exact location and ask for an OS grid reference. Being an oldie I know how to work out the reference from our OS map but the Trust kindly suggested a quick way of doing it online at this `Grab a Grid Reference' web site, which looks useful: (adjust the map view to suit you, then drag the red marker to the spot required spot)
http://www.bnhs.co.uk/focuson/grabagridref/html/

The first photo is a dorsal view of the moth on the rendered house wall, and the second a ventral view through the glass of the conservatory window when it kindly sat on the other side. It's seen better days and is a bit bedraggled now!




Here's a link to a photo of a better specimen:
http://butterfly-conservation.org/51-13 ... tiger.html

[Wendyf]

Waiting for supper......

[Stanley]

Lovely, funny pic Wendy!

[David Whipp]

Like it!

[Cathy]

I like the tiny bird at the back best... It looks like a photo-bomber

[LizG]

Very cute.

[LizG]

A flock of about 50 yellow tailed black cockatoos flew over our house several times yesterday. We felt very privileged; not something we see very often.

[Stanley]

Are they as noisy as the green ones I used to see in Perth?

[LizG]

They are noisy when there a few of them but individually they make quite a pathetic noise for such a big majestic bird. Nothing like the big noisy white sulphur crested cockatoos.

[Stanley]

'Tweet of the Day' on BBC R4 is doing non-British birds at the moment. Lovely recording of the whooping call of the Australian Magpie this morning. Took me right back to early mornings in Oz having a coffee and a smoke on the verandah.
Lovely piece on R4 this morning about a clever Cockatoo who learned to use a stick the gather fruit and nuts and then he taught his male friends the same trick.... No sexism here, it appears that the different sexes learn only from birds the same gender as them.

[Tizer]

Have a look at the photos here and go "Aaaahhh"! Dormice, aren't they sweet?
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-29046275