Wildlife spotting

[shiftwork2]

Ladybirds on the rise in south Norfolk this morning.  Haven't seen so many in a long time.  Too few bugs to eat or too few birds?  Beautiful fellas regardless of how you eco-balance it.

[Attila]

If you want me to GAS that badger, I'll do it for free, like.

I'd take up your offer of the hit, given what s/he did to poor Mr Hedgehog, but then I've have to contend with Brian May in my garden. That's not a risk I'm prepared to take, I'm afraid.

[BlodwynPig]

[paruses]

Really enjoy catching up on this thread.

Question for Atilla - what camera did you go for? I would like to get something similar.

[Ferris]

White-tail deer! Bloody massive

[Attila]

Really enjoy catching up on this thread.

Question for Atilla - what camera did you go for? I would like to get something similar.

Looking at the box here, it sez

HSS Trail camera. Apeman. 16 MP. 16MP image resolution. 40 PCS hidden IR LEDs.

No idea what any of it means, as Mr Attila did the buying, but it looks festive in his painfully English garden, nestled amongst thje foxgloves, lavendar, and dog roses, all camo'd up (it looks, from a distance, like a small head wearing some sort of camoflage gear.)

Excellent detail of Mr Gus's nose hairs and arse whiskers. We have about 457,000 shots of him patrolling the garden about every hour the past few nights.

[BlodwynPig]

No big critters today except for the lesser spotted QDRPHNC

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

It being a nice day, I went for a paddle on the river. Other than a tense encounter with a GBH of swans*, it was lovely and peaceful. That is until I got a bit further downstream and witnessed a buzzard having a fight with a moorhen. I think the buzzard was preying upon the moorhen's chicks. Magnificent animal, even if it was a bit of a bastard.

*like 'a murder of crows'.

[ZoyzaSorris]

Ladybirds on the rise in south Norfolk this morning.  Haven't seen so many in a long time.  Too few bugs to eat or too few birds?  Beautiful fellas regardless of how you eco-balance it.

I was literally thinking about how I hadn't seen any of those little yellow ladybirds with loadsa black spots (twenty spot ladybirds I believe?) for years a day or two ago and came to the conclusion it probably boded ill, and what should I see today? One wandering blithely about on my mildewy goji berry bush. And what should I see only an hour later on the very same mouldy superfood plant? Two of the jolly little buggers fucking. Made up I was. Maybe they need a fungal patina to get their juices going.

edit -on further research they were 22-spot ladybirds going by the snappy scientific nom de plume of Psyllobora vigintiduopunctata and they actually eat mildew, as opposed to aphids like most of their kith and kin. Well that clears that up. Great to see they aren't extinct anyway.

[Spoon of Ploff]

Lots of small butterflies and moths round these parts. Small Copper, Brown Argos, Mother Shipton, Common Blue. Spotted a chrysalis on a grass stalk near the path where I walk. I was tempted to bring it home and watch it do its thing, but no - best leave it to mother nature and all that. I'll keep checking up on its progress. Hopefully it won't get eaten by hedgehogs or foxes (if they eat chrysallisis I dunno).


^{Common Blue getting stuck in yesterday}

[BlodwynPig]

Not wildlife but nice totem

[Mr Banlon]

Found this sneaky stray stalking the birds on my shed roof

[Dex Sawash]

Woodpecker going after the carpenter bees in my pergola.

[ZoyzaSorris]

Butterfly rocking its aggy owl-face. Bit of a cheat, as this is one of ten peacock butterflies I reared myself to try, probably in vain, to boost the local population (from zero, I haven't seen a single one in the two years I've been here, despite the abundance of food plants). Still, it will be wild in the next few days! 

[BlodwynPig]

Woodpecker going after the carpenter bees in my pergola.

I think that's an upside-downy woodpecker <- woodpecker joke

[Spoon of Ploff]

Butterfly rocking its aggy owl-face. Bit of a cheat, as this is one of ten peacock butterflies I reared myself to try, probably in vain, to boost the local population (from zero, I haven't seen a single one in the two years I've been here, despite the abundance of food plants). Still, it will be wild in the next few days! 

lots of virtual karma.

i've seen two or three of these about this year... of course it could just be the same one following me, but i don't think that's the case

[Dex Sawash]

I think that's an upside-downy woodpecker <- woodpecker joke

You should have seen his red cock-aid

[paruses]

Butterfly rocking its aggy owl-face. Bit of a cheat, as this is one of ten peacock butterflies I reared myself to try, probably in vain, to boost the local population (from zero, I haven't seen a single one in the two years I've been here, despite the abundance of food plants). Still, it will be wild in the next few days! 

Thanks for the reminder. Usually do some butterflies but forgot this year. Will get some ordered.

[Brian Freeze]

Thanks for the reminder. Usually do some butterflies but forgot this year. Will get some ordered.

Please can you explain about this "growing your own butterfly" malarkey. Sounds interesting.

We had an angle shades moth knocking about last week and that was a very bonny beast. Will try to post a picture when at a computer.

[ZoyzaSorris]

Just buy some little caterpillars off the old e-bay, search peacock butterfly caterpillars for example, get yourself a nice net cage, also off the bay (search butterfly cage), pop the caterpillars in the cage with some suitable leaves (nettles in this case), let the whole very hungry caterpillar thing you've probably read about in the books run its merry course, Eric Carle isn't wrong, they are right greedy little bastards, few weeks later - butterflies. Its an interesting process to witness and I'm trying to see if I can get some local wild colonies going.

[paruses]

Just buy some little caterpillars off the old e-bay, search peacock butterfly caterpillars for example, get yourself a nice net cage, also off the bay (search butterfly cage), pop the caterpillars in the cage with some suitable leaves (nettles in this case), let the whole very hungry caterpillar thing you've probably read about in the books run its merry course, Eric Carle isn't wrong, they are right greedy little bastards, few weeks later - butterflies. Its an interesting process to witness and I'm trying to see if I can get some local wild colonies going.

Yes - this is pretty much it. Can never remember who I buy off - never thought of ebay.

Only intervention is pinning them to the side / top of the cage. You think they're not going to hatch then wobble, wobble for a day or so and then BLAM - looks like it's exploded and you panic but it's just red caterpillar powder sprayed up the cage and you have a butterfly. Would recommend.

@Zoya - would be interested in your local colony project - how's it going?

[gib]

Please can you explain about this "growing your own butterfly" malarkey. Sounds interesting.

We had an angle shades moth knocking about last week and that was a very bonny beast. Will try to post a picture when at a computer.

Kids found 2 chrysalises and one of them hatched into an angle shade (looked it up) and the other one was a cool moth too, with orange and black bands. Will get hold of the pics and post on here now i know someone else knows what an angle shade moth is.

[Brian Freeze]

 Cheers for the caterpillar advice, will definitely look into it for next year. Dont want the haching to coincide with our summer holiday.

[ZoyzaSorris]

I always go mad into things. First I bought some painted lady caterpillars in a self-contained tub with artificial diet from worldwide butterflies, who with hindsight are very overpriced, though they do have a much bigger range than anyone else. I bought them for my kids school but they already had some on order so thought we'd do them at home instead.

Then, appetite-whetted, I thought about introducing species to my local area that I haven't seen here despite it on the face of it being good habitat (I have been working on turning my garden into a mini nature reserve and it backs on to a small stream with wild woodland habitat  all along it, loads of nettles and brambles and other Lepidopteran delights). I know some formerly common species have dramatically declined.

Started with small tortoiseshells a few weeks back. Released ten, never saw them again. Now I will try out the peacocks. Will release ten, probably never see them again. Have ten brimstone in the post as have planted a bunch of their food plant, alder buckthorn. Will probably release ten and never see them again. Would like to try brown hairstreaks as have planted a bunch of blackthorn. May have more luck at getting them established in the immediate locality as they don't tend to wander far.

I think next year I may try breeding them in captivity for a larger second generation to release. We'll see how it goes though. My caterpillars just attached their pupae to the netting and food plants, I didn't have to do anything. One fell off though and I glued its cremaster (tail) to a piece of paper which I hung up. Apparently if they aren't attached to something the butterfly has a hard time getting out and is likely to be all Cronenburged.

[gib]

I think next year I may try breeding them in captivity for a larger second generation to release.

If you get it right i reckon you could produce a huge cloud of butterflies. How much space do you need per 100 caterpillars?

[Dex Sawash]

Really disappointing to learn that you don't have to get your butterfly gear on dark web.

[paruses]

Ladybirds on the rise in south Norfolk this morning.  Haven't seen so many in a long time.  Too few bugs to eat or too few birds?  Beautiful fellas regardless of how you eco-balance it.

Which ones are the dirty foreign ones that we need to send back? I read an article on native species recently but sadly can't remember anything outside of "count the spots and some are even yellow".

[...]  First I bought some painted lady caterpillars in a self-contained tub with artificial diet from worldwide butterflies, who with hindsight are very overpriced, though they do have a much bigger range than anyone else. [...]

My caterpillars just attached their pupae to the netting and food plants, I didn't have to do anything. One fell off though and I glued its cremaster (tail) to a piece of paper which I hung up. Apparently if they aren't attached to something the butterfly has a hard time getting out and is likely to be all Cronenburged.

Yes! Worldwide Butterflies - I agree they are ovepriced. I will look around I think for more. I like your project. Like you I tend to go a bit mad on things or do nothing so this seems worthwhile. I wonder how many you would realistically have to put out there to make a difference. Must be in the thousands. I like the idea of establishing a local colony though. I could build a compound and be king of the buterflies.

Need to find what species should be in mid-Wales.

[Attila]

About 95% of our wildlife camera photos are Mr Gus on his patrol of the garden, but we've captured a few other creatures as well, in addition it the badger.

Few of Gus









A few birds that have hove into view







Mr Attila's scarred up shins





And from last night





Not as lovely as Blodwyn's shots, but it's fun to sift through the memory card every morning to see just how many times Gus looped around through the garden and if anyone else came to visit. Haven't seen any hedgehogs lately at all, though.

[BlodwynPig]

"not as lovely" just as special. Love that fox and foxy sox

[ZoyzaSorris]

If you get it right i reckon you could produce a huge cloud of butterflies. How much space do you need per 100 caterpillars?

100 peacock caterpillars or similar would eat a LOT of leaves, is the tricky thing. It was quite a job keeping ten topped up with nettles once they reach the last couple of instars.