Standing up for Nature
Tim writes: This is one of the largest King Penguin breeding colonies on the planet. It is at a place called Salisbury Plain on the British Dependency island of South Georgia. King Penguins take about 14-16 months from egg-laying to fledging, so only nest once every two years. But this means there can be eggs,…
Paul writes: I found this beetle a few days ago along the River Derwent at Weldrake Ings in Yorkshire. It was sitting on an old log, possibly looking for a mate. It’s a Red-breasted Carrion Beetle (Oiceoptoma thoracicum), which is fairly easy to identify once you get close to it. A very distinctive beetle, with…
Tim writes: This is a male Tibetan Macaque, sometimes known as Milne-Edwards’ or Chinese Stump-tailed Macaque (Macaca thibetana). They are the largest species of Macaque and occur mainly in Eastern Tibet and Western China. He was watching over his harem of females when I took this and did not like me stopping to take his…
Paul writes: the Early Thorn (Selania dentaria) is one of the commonest moths flying at the moment. I usually see them from mid March to the end of April, they have two broods so will appear again in the middle of July. I found this one a couple of weeks ago in my North Yorkshire…
Tim writes: superficially this looks like a Blackbird, but when you look closely you see the beak and tail are too long. This is a Plain Laughingthrush (Garrulax davidi), which is only found in the mountains of China (1600-3500m) and is not particularly common in the limited range where it does occur. Moreover, like other…
Paul writes: This is one for my “Insects seen while Birdwatching” list. It was at Titchwell at the weekend. After spending time in the first hide watching Avocets I had a quick check on a patch of flowering Alexanders in a sunny spot outside and this is what I found. It’s the first time I’ve…
Tim writes: I have posted photos of Red Pandas before but this was an unusually confiding wild individual that I thought it was worth sharing. They spend most of the year hidden in bamboo thickets, venturing into the trees in autumn in search of berries and rosehips. This one was down a bank so I…
Paul writes: There is a patch of Green alkanet (Pentaglottis sempervirens) that grows on the roadside verge outside my house. It came into flower last week, just at the right time to attract this, recently emerged, male solitary bee. The Buffish Mining Bee (Andrena nigroaenea) is one of the first mining bees to appear in…
Tim writes: that tiny white patch on the throat gives rise to the common name of this Redstart. It occurs mainly in China and Tibet at high altitudes (2500-4500m), descending to lower altitudes in winter. It feeds on insects in summer, but feeds mainly on berries in winter. It is particularly fond of Sea Buckthorn…
Beauty and the Beast If you read Erica McAlister’s recent blog here, about her love of flies, you will know now, if you didn’t before, their diversity and their importance in our ecosystems. I am a fairly recent convert to the love of flies and if there is a fly equivalent of a birder then…