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Slim



Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6533
Location: New England (In the US of A)
PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 20 12:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

A little searching suggests my critter was a wasp mantidfly.
Fascinating little thing. Hopefully it was able to mate, I'd like to see more.
https://uwm.edu/field-station/wasp-mantidfly/

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 20 2:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

not mantis but a very cool dude
nice disguise

mantis are full on critters, i rescued one from a swimming pool which we both managed ok and polite.

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 20 8:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Weird looking creature. Wasp mantisfly does seem a good name for it.

Dpack, you slow motion films will be fascinating I would think. Birds actually seem to adapt rather better than they are given credit for. We often see buzzards flying through the wood, although they are not supposed to. The birds don't read the books any more than bees or small children do.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 20 10:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

the burgess shale has nowt on some of the oddness of critters we have pottering about




he aint odd, he is justin's brother
and mrs justin's brother

the eye make up thing with the boys does seem to be from first moult and then for life in subsequent moults.

if folk recall i added a bit of diacot earth to a dust bath, i throw a few bits of feed on it, that gets eaten and dust returns to nests as well as verminates the feeder

less scratching than there was
less bathing rather than having a drink as well.
what works for chooks works for this crew

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sat Jun 27, 20 4:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

just after i said less bathing.....


low fat does not represent the original tweaked full fat version which has detail but the timing was funny

he was having some "me time" and very much enjoying it

little bracket is a good hunter, out of the two she is the one with the "fresh worm", dad is ok with dried and easy now they have a maid/daughter, and he does shopping rather than hunting and shopping

Shane



Joined: 31 Oct 2005
Posts: 3467
Location: Doha. Is hot.
PostPosted: Sun Jun 28, 20 5:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Might be worth looking into a polarising filter, dpack - should allow you to cut down on the glare from the feeder when snapping at high ISO. I use a Nikon polarising filter (on my Canon lenses!) - once it's screwed on, you can rotate the polarising part to the correct angle to filter out reflected sunlight. Essential for photographing birds on or fish in water, but also massively cuts down the glare from other reflective surfaces. Also adds a real richness to photos with blue sky in them.

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sun Jun 28, 20 8:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

i was thinking about feeder glare, i had blackboard paint in mind, i do have some

polarising filter might be useful for dealing with the issue and as you say nice for skyscapes and water

i need to talk to the shop about the other tripod head so i will price up polarisers for the gp and big lenses at the same time

the first time i went to real mountains in about 1974 i put my polaroid sunglasses over the lens of the 120 film, top viewfinder and improved on the first roll rather a lot

my sunglasses are not wide enough to cover a fraction of these glass lidded dustbins

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Sun Jun 28, 20 12:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    



this fierce wee thing got papped in bad light and i was mixing it for print play rather than screen colour so it is a little saturated in the purples and oranges on this screen

i rewarded it for its cooperation by transferring it from an empty supermarket to a 5 star restaurant of aphid dishes

no idea what spp of ladybird it is apart from a fairly chunky one, tis smaller than harlequin so probably one of the larger "natives"

a few years back my lb count of spp in a year got to double figures with adult id which is much easier
young ones are far harder to tell apart, not least in that iirc they have several instars while getting bigger

lb larvae have a similar shape to dragonfly larvae, form follows function perhaps as they are both predators with a need not to be eaten, although afaik dragonfly ones use stealth, looks and prickles to stay safer but are not rather "tasty and toxic" like lbs

inverts are fun

less bees this year in both the number of white tails(see apocalyptic attic clearance) and in number of spp, so far i have only seen a handful

i have a feeling that quite a few habitats went when the hotel started to be restored structurally(needed) and converted to housing(not sure about that bit), it took out the bats(and most of the rats from the outbuildings, result) and new roofs, gutting a building etc etc etc is a bit disruptive of urban micro habitats

batless might mean lots of moths , i have not had a proper look to compare to when there were bats
i am a bit cross about the bats, a replacement roost in the winter would have been plausible, at an instinctive guess they were ignored or deliberately ignored, if there were survivors they have moved

Mistress Rose



Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15539

PostPosted: Mon Jun 29, 20 7:11 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Bats are a protected species, so if they ignored them or purposely destroyed a roost, the builders were in breach of the Habitat Regualations. A survey has to be carried out before building work on suspected roosts is carried out, although I am pretty sure it often isn't. They are the ones that really get to me as you can have a survey done, then some rare bat moves in the next day just to be cussed. We have to be careful felling trees too, so any we suspect of being a bat roost have to stay, or get special permission to fell.

We have a beehive not far from our front door, and there is a box under it where bumbles have taken up residence. We hope to move the honey bees to the woods soon, but the bumbles will stay where they are for the season, and clear the nest out in the winter.

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 20 1:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

Not that you can make out any ants but they have been busying away in one of my raised beds.



dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 20 2:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

there might be a couple of them on the timber

busy wee beasts

any obvious damage?
are they an asset?

pends what sort they are, most are no bother or rather useful, a few are "unwelcome due to behaviour"

climb in the air vent and find a way to nip me in my sleep i will id you as aliens and feed you sugar and borax flux

fair enough for the big red one that bit me and squirted me with formic acid on the scrotum in the middle of the night, i had chosen a wrong place to sleep, on his queen's house as it looked soft and dry in almost total darkness
"if nobody hears the shrieking in the forest did it really happen?"
ditto, if no one saw etc the mad dance in and out of a sleeping bag

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 20 6:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    



I can't see any obvious damage. They are in a bed that is staying undercover until next spring, so I'm happy to leave them there.

Not sure on the asset side of things. I've not seen them wandering anywhere away from where they have setup camp.

If any get anywhere near my scrot, they'll be hell to pay!

dpack



Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45377
Location: yes
PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 20 10:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    



a colleague of the beetle that made me blind for a few days made my chum squeak rather a lot when it was most of the way up his bum at 4 am

The invertebrates should never be underestimated for a sense of humour

sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Jul 10, 20 7:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
    


sgt.colon



Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.
PostPosted: Fri Jul 10, 20 2:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
    

We were out on a walk and saw these two having a nap.



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