Wildlife Corner

[Moh]

The swallows at the caravan park arrived Thursday - same date as last year.

[Stanley]

They timed it well, forecast is for weather to warm up as we go into next week.

[Wendyf]

Looked out the window yesterday and there was a jay on the gatepost and this morning there was moorhen beside our little duckpond....that was a surprise.

[Stanley]

We had moorhens on the dam at Bancroft as well as ducks. They are funny little birds but good mothers....

[Tizer]

This is one of the best Springs we've seen for plant growth. Somerset apple trees are covered in blossom and the moors have a carpet of Ladies Smock. Greenery and flowers everywhere. The yellow gorse in Cornwall is fantastic too.

[PanBiker]

Just seen a male and female pair of either Bullfinches or Chaffinches in or front garden. Not long enough to see the difference, very brightly coloured and not very frequent visitors to our patch.

[Stanley]

Tiz, we have the latest Spring in the country here in Barlick. Not a lot stirring yet.... Just the usual quiet progress.

[Wendyf]

Spotted this hare hunkered down across the field this morning, he didn't move for a couple of hours at least.

[Stanley]

Taking the sun and thinking about hormones......

[Tizer]

Mrs Tiz thought you'd all enjoy this brief video
`Koala strays into Australian hospital' LINK

[Tripps]

That's the first time I've ever seen a koala walking. They are always shown up a gum tree, or being cuddled by a tourist.

[Cathy]

FB_20150104_11_59_34_Saved_Picture.jpg

A thirsty Koala during one of our recent bushfires. Bless him.

[Stanley]

When Katie and Laura met this koala at Perth Zoo the keeper told me that she only had two in her flock that were good tempered enough to be handled by the public....

[Tizer]

That koala looks bigger than the ones in the pictures, Stanley, or maybe it's just because of being alongside kids not adults.

Cathy, did your koala go for skimmed or full-fat?

On Saturday I posted, writing: "..Somerset apple trees are covered in blossom..". Well, it's not the same now. We've had 24 hours of gale force winds and rain and it's the ground that's covered in blossom now. There's a big old ornamental cherry in a local garden that was heaving with flowers and now the garden's lawn is deep in blossom. The flowers are more vulnerable to the wind when they are wet and therefore heavier. I'm glad I'm not a commercial fruit grower.

[Stanley]

As long as they have been pollinated.....
The Koala was a big fat lass. Probably the reason she was so placid.....

[Tizer]

I took this photo of a caterpillar of the Drinker moth on 9th May 2015 in our garden in Somerset. It's about 5cm (2.5 inches) long and the big end is the head (on the right). We've seen five of them so far, on leaves of sedge, hawthorn and beech - and that's without searching for them!

[Stanley]

Wonderful pic! Are the hairs designed to make them unattractive to birds?

[Tizer]

Yes, against birds and parasitic wasps, according to this web site... LINK. The hairs are called setae. Mrs Tiz is of the view that the hairs make the caterpillars difficult to swallow. I ought to point out that she hasn't personally tested this! The web site has some beautiful photos of more caterpillars.

[Wendyf]

Weeds in the garden can be an advantage! Through the kitchen window......

[Stanley]

Lovely! Cheered me up no end. As for 'weeds'.... I remember a farmer's response to an ICI salesman who told him that his meadows and pastures were full of weeds. He said "Aye. But we call them herbs Lad!". I agree with him, they all have their uses. I used to have a heifer at Hey Farm that loved docks, it sought them out and grazed them off. Best asset I had for a tidy pasture....

[Stanley]

I just heard an interesting fact about Australian wildlife on World Service. Kangaroos can't move backwards, they can only go forwards. Now there's a little known fact for you, store it away in the memory banks!

[Tizer]

And the mighty musk ox, despite being called an ox, is related to sheep rather than cows.

[Stanley]

Well I never.......

[Marilyn]

Of course Kangaroos can't move backwards...
But we've never considered it unusual.
They can do a U-turn pretty darn quickly though

[Stanley]

It wasn't quite as obvious in Barlick Maz. The question arose when an expert was asked what the best thing to do was if confronted by a big angry kangaroo. He said to avoid eye contact and slowly back away...... The danger being that the animal can't move backwards, only forwards so it had a problem.