Birding / nature / photography ~ Older Asexuals for light walking and hiking nature adventures ~

[Tunhope]

Re @Skycaptain's list, I love Trosley  ( where Skycaptain was) especially in Spring because the leafage isn't too dense  in Spring and so you get good views. Haven't been able to travel , of course, but there was a cinnebar moth in my garden on Saturday. It didn't settle, but I don't think anything else has those wonderful red wings so I'm pretty sure.

[Skycaptain]

@Tunhope, agreed, the five and six spot Burnet are similar, but don't have the distinctive red underwings. 

[Muledeer]

On 5/8/2020 at 2:54 PM, Mz Terry said:

A self-sown foxglove in the front garden is smothered in blackfly.  The blackfly have attracted ants and it was interesting to see the ants "milking" the aphids.  They also move aphids to other plants and protect them from other predators.  I have stopped intervening much in the garden and let nature take care of things.  I never spray the roses, and they never get obvious infestations of greenfly.  

That relationship between ants and aphids is truly remarkable.  I only learned about it a few years ago when an experience gardener told me that ants love aphids because they are juicy.  "milking" them sounds more sustainable.  However you view it, the ants really do manage their aphid assets carefully.  I stopped intervening with chemical insecticides several years ago as well.  Now, I just introduce ladybugs  to manage the unwanted pests.

[pickles.]

I had a lovely walk on my local butte last night and saw a pair of lazuli buntings!

 

Here is the male (image from internet):

 

 

The female flew off into a tree at my approach, but the male stayed on the side of the trail for a good long while nibbling plants or finding worms, or whatever he was doing.  I couldn't get very close or he would have flown, but I could still so easily see his bright blue head.  Very cute bird.

[Tunhope]

What a lovely little bird @pickles mcgee .

[LVG]

I've seen 3 Baltimore orioles in the past two days. One of them was just in my backyard. They're such vibrantly colored birds. 

 

 

 

Not my pic. 

[Tunhope]

My garden birds seem so boring compared to @LVG 's and @pickles mcgee 's, but when I look closely, I can see that they have more colour than I think. Maybe not as dazzling as those buntings and orioles, but pretty, none the less. I often have a couple of dunnocks, for example. From a distance they just look like little brown birds, but when the sun is on them, their chest feathers are a bluish-grey, not brown at all, and sparrows... (loads of sparrows this year) their feather patterns are really intricate. Then there's the starlings - they just look dark , but their feathers fluoresce and the colours can be wonderful. I suppose that the only birds I get that are obviously bright are the jays though I don't see them too often. 

[Muledeer]

Today I watched a fuzzy medium-sized black spider with blue eyes descend from the roof of my Greenhouse. when he saw me he started climbing back up the strand that he spun to climb down on ,Gathering up it up in a ball on his chest. I also watched a pair of robins and a Uinta ground squirrel foraging on my lawn.  There are some little birds that have inhabited a new birdhouse that I recently installed as well , I'll have to try getting a photo of them. 

 

Sorry if this sounds convoluted .  normally I type my posts ,but today I am speaking into my phone because my puppy chewed the power cord of my Chromebook.

[Skycaptain]

Yesterday southwest of Tunbridge Wells on a hike I saw six species of butterfly, the usual ones for around here, and more interestingly two buzzards. This is suggesting that their range is expanding, because we don't usually have them in this area. 

[LVG]

I went birding yesterday at a local county park. I saw two new species: magnolia warbler, and an ovenbird, which is also a species of warbler. I also saw a massive honey bee hive inside a tree. I actually heard them before I spotted the hive. 

[Muledeer]

I had a purple-throated male hummingbird dance in my face while I was looking out over the river.  I've seem him at the feeder quite frequently lately.  I think it was a calliope.  

[Skycaptain]

I've now seen Cinnabar moths in three different locations in four days, which is rather promising as I often don't see any in a given year 

[daveb]

7 hours ago, Skycaptain said:

Cinnabar moth

Pretty colorful for a moth! Like a red and black Dracula cape.  

[Muledeer]

That's a pretty moth.

A baby bison has ben born at our local state park.  I saw this little guy last Friday.  The entire bison herd, about six animals, was laying down in a circle surrounding the calf.

Here's the article and a photo:  https://uintacountyherald.com/article/baby-bison-born-at-bear-river-state-park

[Tunhope]

What a beautiful photo of a cinnabar, @daveb

[daveb]

53 minutes ago, Tunhope said:

What a beautiful photo of a cinnabar, @daveb

Just to be clear, it's not my photo, just one I found online.  

[Muledeer]

A 24 year old grizzly bear has just given birth to FOUR cubs in Grand Teton Park:

https://buckrail.com/her-majesty-makes-the-scene-kodak-kodiak-is-den-mother-for-the-ages/

[Skycaptain]

NSFW joke based on the above post

 

Spoiler

With four cubs, Grand Tetons are essential 😋😋

 

[Abigail Rose]

I saw a squirrel attack a rabbit today. It was the strangest, funniest thing I've seen in a long time. The rabbit was just sitting there eating grass and this squirrel crept up to about five feet away from the rabbit. They both just sat there, seemingly ignoring each other. Out of nowhere the squirrel springs into the air landing on the rabbit and the two wrestled for a few moments. The rabbit runs off and the squirrel starts digging. Turns out the rabbit was sitting on a walnut. 🤣

[Skycaptain]

I went to Jevington on the South Downs today, and saw a Kestrel taking oft with a small animal, vole?, in its talons, and the following lepidoptera 

Small heath, common blue, green hairstreak, red admiral, dingy skipper, cinnabar, brimstone butterfly, clouded buff 

[LVG]

I found a baby snapping turtle today while biking. I moved it safely off the trail so it wouldn't get run over. 

[Tunhope]

Not my walking and hiking adventure, but that of a cuckoo that I read of today . ( Do flying adventures count on the thread?) It was one of 5 that formed part of research on migration supported by the Mongolian government( I think) and the British Trust for Ornithology. This bird flew all the way from Mongolia to Zambia and has just arrived back where it started. One of the others got back as far as China but then, sadly, nothing further known. I always find migration stunning, but cuckoos arent guided by parents so it seems all the more remarkable. 

A shame but, because of lockdown, I havent been to any of my normal walking areas lately and so I havent heard a single cuckoo call. It's such a wonderful sound.

 

[Myssterry]

I haven't heard the cuckoo this year yet as I haven't been to the area where I often hear them.  The wren has been flitting about the garden and the robin has been singing all morning.  I love being surrounded by bird song.

[LVG]

I found a Luna moth yesterday. The first I've seen since I was a kid. 

[Muledeer]

I found a bird's nest in an electrical control box last night.  It had one tiny brown egg in it.  It was a bad idea for the bird to build its nest there for several reasons.  The bird could get shocked when the power is turned on, I could get shocked when I turn it on, it could cause a fire, and it interferes with the operation of the breaker switch.  Sadly, I will have to remove it today.  

I have trained a trail camera on the birdhouse with a new nest in it - it will be interesting to see what kind of bird lives there.

[Skycaptain]

My sister and I went for a short hike near Brightling in East Sussex. Saw the first Meadow Browns and Small Tortoiseshells of the year, but nothing else because the gusts were close to gale force. By South England standards 188m is high and exposed. 

[PositivelyAce]

Anyone else here from the UK and watch Springwatch?

[Myssterry]

I do. 

[Abigail Rose]

Got rabbits nested ten feet from my front door.

This one seems determined to know my plans. LOL

[Muledeer]

14 hours ago, Muledeer said:

I found a bird's nest in an electrical control box last night.  It had one tiny brown egg in it.  It was a bad idea for the bird to build its nest there for several reasons.  The bird could get shocked when the power is turned on, I could get shocked when I turn it on, it could cause a fire, and it interferes with the operation of the breaker switch.  Sadly, I will have to remove it today.  

I was nature-shamed by the pair of birds whose nest I destroyed today.  I apologized to them whilst they sat in the dead tree and watched me move their nest.   I did move it to an empty robins nest from last year, with at least some hope they may find it and continue nesting.  It had to be moved, these electrical boxes control my water pump.

Oh, and the nest was lined with bird feathers, sticks, grass and and elk hair.

Here is the photo essay:

Spoiler