Wednesday, 17 June 2015
STOP PRESS wednesday 17th June 2015
Four Ravens over the garden again this morning, then an adult HOBBY through the garden this evening.
Wednesday 17th June 2015
Been quite busy with other stuff today so just a quick update from the garden.
Even though the garden flowers are "going over" there are still some nectar and pollen rich flowers to be found by any intrepid insect, here's a selection.
Even though the garden flowers are "going over" there are still some nectar and pollen rich flowers to be found by any intrepid insect, here's a selection.
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| Mullein moth caterpillar shedding its old (on the left)skin |
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| This beetle is remarkable look at those thighs!! its called ???noblis |
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| This is a Brown Carder Bee |
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This a "fly" doing its best to look like a bumble bee, but since all my books are packed away I am unable to give it a name |
Tuesday, 16 June 2015
Tuesday 16th June 2015
Last night (15th) I set the moth trap in the garden, the first time this year!
After a nice warm day and the first evening when it had been warm enough to sit outside until 10pm it seemed like I would have a decent capture.
Well there were not loads, but the variety was great,
The highlights were four species of "hawkmoth" this family are perhaps the largest moths we have in the UK and they are spectacular.
The usual plain looking moths can themselves be quite smart when viewed closely,
The species I caught last night were: Scorched wing: Spectacle: Flame: Heart and Dart: Small Elephant Hawk moth: Elephant Hawk moth: Eyed Hawk moth: Striped Hawk moth: Peppered: Magpie: Common Wainscot: Buff Ermine: White Ermine: Hebrew character: Buff Tip: Grey Arches: Bright Line Brown eye:
Some fantastic names don't you think.
Here are some photographs, apologies for the quality the flash on my phone camera kept coming on it was quite glum at 5am!!!
After a nice warm day and the first evening when it had been warm enough to sit outside until 10pm it seemed like I would have a decent capture.
Well there were not loads, but the variety was great,
The highlights were four species of "hawkmoth" this family are perhaps the largest moths we have in the UK and they are spectacular.
The usual plain looking moths can themselves be quite smart when viewed closely,
The species I caught last night were: Scorched wing: Spectacle: Flame: Heart and Dart: Small Elephant Hawk moth: Elephant Hawk moth: Eyed Hawk moth: Striped Hawk moth: Peppered: Magpie: Common Wainscot: Buff Ermine: White Ermine: Hebrew character: Buff Tip: Grey Arches: Bright Line Brown eye:
Some fantastic names don't you think.
Here are some photographs, apologies for the quality the flash on my phone camera kept coming on it was quite glum at 5am!!!
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| Buff Tip Moth, looks just like a twig! |
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| Striped Hawk Moth |
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| Eyed Hawk Moth |
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| Peppered Moth, depending on the amount of pollution this moth will be pale or dark |
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| Elephant Hawk Moth |
Saturday, 13 June 2015
Saturday 13th June 2015
Spent the day (10 hrs anyway) with friends from the North Wilts Ringing Group on what we cheekily call a "safari" on the downs in North Wiltshire.
Having a great relationship with landowners is really important and today was no exception.
Most ringers would have stayed in bed today, in fact we had a ball with plenty of nest boxes checked and two impromptu mist netting sessions.
As I will be leaving the area shortly today was quite special with some of my favourite birds ringed
Having a great relationship with landowners is really important and today was no exception.
Most ringers would have stayed in bed today, in fact we had a ball with plenty of nest boxes checked and two impromptu mist netting sessions.
As I will be leaving the area shortly today was quite special with some of my favourite birds ringed
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| House Martin |
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| Kestrel nestlings |
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| Kestrel nestling |
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| Little Owl - owlets |
Thursday, 11 June 2015
Thursday 11th June 2015
This ,morning had been set aside to ring some Canada Goose goslings, originally there were two broods to ring on a private Cotswold estate, unfortunately Mr Fox beat me to one of the broods so only a brood of 6 left to ring.
Geese obviously need larger sized rings, the opportunity to use large rings doesn't come along too often so I invited Anna another ringer to help with the session.
When I last saw the goslings they were cute and yellow, today at four/five weeks old they were grey and much bigger than I imagined but perfect for ringing.
With the assistance of the gamekeeper and his wife, manning the boat, we managed to trap just three of them, given the size of the lake and the sloping ground I was happy with three.
We checked a coupe of nest boxes and found Stock Doves using two of them and a female Barn Owl roosting near another.
Geese obviously need larger sized rings, the opportunity to use large rings doesn't come along too often so I invited Anna another ringer to help with the session.
When I last saw the goslings they were cute and yellow, today at four/five weeks old they were grey and much bigger than I imagined but perfect for ringing.
With the assistance of the gamekeeper and his wife, manning the boat, we managed to trap just three of them, given the size of the lake and the sloping ground I was happy with three.
We checked a coupe of nest boxes and found Stock Doves using two of them and a female Barn Owl roosting near another.
Wednesday, 10 June 2015
Wednesday 10th June 2015 FLOWER QUIZ
Hi, taken a day off from house sorting and packing so here are some flowers/plants to identify use the comments box to reply or use the contact page on my website
nativewildliferesearschandnaturallesvos.com. Plus some cute Lapwings
nativewildliferesearschandnaturallesvos.com. Plus some cute Lapwings
Sunday, 7 June 2015
Sunday 7th June 2015
Today saw me out with the team from the North Wilts Ringing Group (NWRG), for the fourth CES session of the season, a 4am start on site and it was already light!!
Much quieter today we think that the poor weather in May has had a negative effect on the early nesters, the beauty of the CES science is that it can monitor such an event.
There were a few highlights with young Robins, Dunnocks and Great Tits evident plus smart, recently fledged, Greenfinch, Reed Warbler and a family of four Chiffchaffs and best of all a Lesser Whitethroat which had clearly left the nest this morning.
Lesser Whitethroats are remarkable warblers spending the summers in the UK and Europe then migrating south of the Sahara for the winter, the entire world population is thought to follow the eastern Mediterranean coast into Israel/Jordan before hitting Africa... amazing
Much quieter today we think that the poor weather in May has had a negative effect on the early nesters, the beauty of the CES science is that it can monitor such an event.
There were a few highlights with young Robins, Dunnocks and Great Tits evident plus smart, recently fledged, Greenfinch, Reed Warbler and a family of four Chiffchaffs and best of all a Lesser Whitethroat which had clearly left the nest this morning.
Lesser Whitethroats are remarkable warblers spending the summers in the UK and Europe then migrating south of the Sahara for the winter, the entire world population is thought to follow the eastern Mediterranean coast into Israel/Jordan before hitting Africa... amazing
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| Tree Creeper fledgling |
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| Reed Warbler Fledgling |
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| Common Blue butterfly, female |
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| Slow Worm, female |
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| Lesser Whitethroat fledgling |
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