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The Great Tit

Another of the common garden birds is the Great Tit (Parus Major). With its yellow breast and belly, black cap, throat and breast line and the white cheeks, it’s unmistakable. Like the Blue Tit, it changes diet according to season and becomes one of the most frequent visitors at the feeder and the bird table during winter.

It is very fond of sunflower seeds, which are rich in oil. If you grow sunflowers in your garden, you can take the entire flower and dry it when the seeds have developed. Then, during winter you can hang the dried flower in a tree or a bush and enjoy the sight of the Great Tit, amongst others, visiting the flower, pick a seed and fly off to eat it in a nearby bush.

These small birds are likely to be chased off the bird table by sparrows, finches and other larger birds. And stripping a sunflower seed is a task that takes both time and concentration, leaving the Tit vulnerable to attack from the Sparrow Hawk. All the Tit species – be it Great-, Blue-, Crested-, Coal- or Marsh Tits – that come to the bird table have solved both problems by just picking a single seed, fly off to eat it elsewhere and then return for another one.

A soldier beetle/leatherwing larva

(Cantharis sp. – most likely fusca)

The larva of the straight-sided, rather soft-bodied soldier beetle is one of nature’s more curious sights during winter. The larva is terrestrial, and being very cold-resistant it’s possible to find it crawling in the snow, owing it the nickname ‘snow worm’ in Danish. This specimen was photographed crawling along the wall of the house.

The larva’s skin looks ‘velvety’ brown with black markings. The adult (imago) has an orange-red abdomen that protrudes from under the leathery black wing covers. The latter also has orange-red antennae and legs

Both larva and imago are carnivorous and feed on other insects and invertebrates and their eggs, making it a great ally alongside the lady bug for the garden enthusiast in the battle against pests like aphids, slugs, small caterpillars, mites and many others. The imago supplements its animal food with an insignificant amount of pollen.

The Blue Tit

The Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) is an easily recognizable and very common bird throughout Denmark and Europe. It inhabits all habitats with trees in them to provide hollows for the Blue Tit to breed in.

The Blue Tit does not migrate. Instead, it survives by changing its food source from insects during summer to seeds in winter. In the wild, it’s suggested by some sources, they predominantly feed on beechnuts. My own observation, though, is that they go for the seeds of different weeds, even in habitats where beechnuts are in abundance.

If you have a bird table or a feeder in your garden, this little bird will certainly be amongst the daily guests. They are not at all afraid of people. In fact, the Blue Tit is one of the more curious garden birds. It keeps its distance, yes, but you can easily stand a couple of meters from the feed without scaring it off. It will still come to the feeder, pick a seed and quickly fly off to eat it in a tree or a bush nearby.

This bird was photographed less than a minute after I had set up my tripod. In a very Blue Tit kind of way, it’s trying to decide if it’s safe to visit the feeder with a human being standing so close.

#birds #Cyanistes #photo #winter

New place - new theme

Having recently moved to the countryside, I´ve decided to do a theme on the wildlife that seeks out gardens and people´s houses for food and/or shelter.

During winter, quite a lot of different animals come close to where people live in order to find food. Others do it in order to find good places to hibernate in. This theme will try to cover as many as possible across the two groups. First up is the Dunnock.

The Dunnock (Prunella modularis) is a drab and somewhat elusive bird. It spends most of its time on the ground under bushes and hedges in search of its food – insects, spiders and worms. Though it’s a widely spread garden bird, you’ll hear it more often than you’ll see it. Its call is said to resemble that of a squeaky wheelbarrow.

During winter, the Dunnock supplements its animal food with seeds and berries and that’s when you may be lucky to see the Dunnock on the bird table. This bird was photographed while feeding on the ground under one of the feeders in the garden.

#Photo #Prunella #Birds #Wildlife #Winter

Sloe bug (Dolycoris baccarum)

This shieldbug is very common. It feeds off varoius plants and later in the year off fruit as well. You can find it in most habitats with bushes and tall weeds.

The Slowe bug utilises its colouring to escape potential predators. When disturbed, it lets go of the plant it's sitting in and drops to the ground where it blends in perfectly with dead leaves and twigs.

#Shieldbug #Dolycoris #Summer #Camo theme

Revisiting the Common newt

On one of my rescent walks, I came across this young Common newt in the middle of the path. It is about ten weeks since I photographed the newt tad pole with its external gills (see my Sep 8 2011-post), and the specimen shown here is just over two inches long - about two thirds of its adult length. Notice that the gill patches are all but gone.

The Common newt hibernates from around November until March, depending on the weather. It is possible, though, to see them out and about during mild winters when it's dry.

#Newt #Lissotriton #Autum

Large bee fly (Bombylius major)

In spite of its name, the bee fly doesn’t really resemble a bee very much. It has a fairly uniform golden brown colour and only its wings show an actual pattern. In my experience, it’s a solitary insect that is found in many different types of habitat. The adult animal lives off nectar which it sucks from a hovering position using its long proboscis, thus playing a vital role as a pollinator. The larvae on the other hand parasitize on solitary bee or wasp larvae and on a number of beetle larvae as well.

On the ground, this bee fly isn’t easy to spot but as soon as it’s in the air, you’ll notice the surprisingly loud buzzing sound it makes. It is a shy animal and will often take flight at the slightest disturbance.

Generally you won’t find the Large bee fly flying more than about half a metre above ground and according to some sources, it won’t fly at temperatures below 17 degrees Celsius. It’s very agile in the air though, and for a very good reason. Given its preference to sunny spots with flowers, it often shares habitats with some of the fastest and most agile predators of the insect world – the dragon flies. Also a variety of birds will pose a threat as do spiders of cause.

#Bee fly #Bombylius #Summer #Camo theme

Water measurer (Hydrometra stagnorum)

This long-legged insect is found on the water or near the water’s edge in ponds, ditches and slow running streams. As other insects moving on the water surface, it has hydrophobic hairs on its legs. Unlike most other insects with the same choice in habitat though, the water measurer is a slow animal.

Its mouth parts are shaped as a needle which is turned up under its head when not hunting. It feeds off small insects and larvae that either end up on the water surface by accident or emerges to get air. It’ll often stand on the water and wait for the chance to impale a mosquito larvae on its needle-like mouth.

It itself will fall prey to birds, other insect and spiders that also use the water surface as their hunting ground. This is where its unremarkable colouring and slow movements come into play. It is virtually invisible when standing still, both from above and from the sides.

This animal was found in a stream in the woods.

#Water measurer #Hydrometra #Summer #Camo theme

Common or Viviparous lizard (Zootoca vivipara)

As the first name suggests the most widely spread lizard in the country. Feeding on various invertebrates, ranging from earthworms over slugs to insects and spiders, it can be found almost everywhere with sufficient places to hunt, hide and bask in the sun. Being an ectothermic – or cold-blooded – animal, it needs a place to lie in the sun to warm up before going hunting. Preferably an undisturbed place, but if disturbed it will most likely return to its basking spot even if you stay close as long as you don’t move about or make noise. Some sources claim that in gardens or other places with regular human activity, the lizard will grow accustomed to this activity and be less likely to take flight if disturbed - unless you try to touch it of cause.

The name Viviparous lizard refers to the fact that this reptile actually gives birth to live young as opposed to the Sand lizard (Lacerta agilis) who lays its eggs in a shallow hollow.

This individual came ‘sneaking up’ on me as I was taking a break on a photo trip in the woods. It took a while to locate the source of the sound of rustling leaves. As you can see it blends in just perfectly, hiding it from its enemies counting kestrel, fox, badger, pheasant, crow, viper and quite a few others.

#Lizard #Zootoca #Summer #Camo theme

Bog bush-cricket (Metrioptera brachyptera)

This shy and elusive cricket spends almost all its time either on the ground or in low vegetation. This specific specimen was photographed in Troldeslugten just north west of Hald Sø in Mid Jutland. In this area the species is fairly common though not commonly seen due to its dark colours and the fact that it rarely ventures very high in the vegetation. As its ‘song’ is also somewhat subdued, listening for it isn’t easy either. During hot sunny days, a good way to get to see this species is to use a pair of binoculars to search to tops of the heather. Here you will be able to see the males performing from the vantage point of a heather branch. If disturbed, it’ll utilize its camouflage by simply letting go of the branch and fall to the ground and disappear in the grass.

The Bog bush-cricket lives off both plants and small insects which it catches in between the low vegetation of its habitat. Its camouflage helps it evade predators like shrikes and other birds.

#Cricket #Metrioptera #Summer #Camo theme

Camo - don't be seen, don't get eaten

I've decided to do a small camo theme. When walking in nature, you see a lot of different plants and animals, but not nearly all of them. Over the next week or so, I'm going to post pictures of some of the quite common animals that you normaly wouldn't notice, if not looking for them. Naturally, the majority of these postings will be about invertebrates, but just to start out with an exception, I´ve picked an amphibian - the common frog.

Here in september it wont be unusual to meet this animal quite far from its normal wet habitat - the pond or even the slow running stream. This specific frog was photographed at least 500 yards from the nearest body of water.

Right now the common frog is working to build up fat in order to survive the winter when it's hibernating. It'll eat just about anything that moves and is small enough to be swallowed. Earthworms, caterpillars and all kinds of mosquitoes and flies are the main food source, but lots of other species find themselves on the menu as well.

#Frog #Rana #Autum #Camo theme

Common/Smooth newt (Lissotriton vulgaris) in the garden pond, finally!

When I bought my allotment garden last year, I was pleased to see that the previous owner had established a small pond. A pond like this is a haven for all sorts of interesting little critters – and larger ones too, of cause.

Last year I had frogs and toads in abundance but no newts which I found a bit curious as they would normally seek out precisely a small sunny pond like this. It was rather overgrown with Water Pineapple, Water Crowfoot and Water Lilies, I have to admit, and that may have had something to do with it. The pond didn’t have fish so that was not reason for the lack of newts.

In the early spring this year, I removed quite a lot of the water plants, leaving more than half of the pond´s surface open. I couldn’t think of anything else that could be the reason why the pond apparently wasn’t attractive to newts last year.

And voila! Less than a month later, I spotted a female Common newt while I was removing a bit more of the water vegetation. On a few plants I spotted what I was pretty sure were newt’s eggs – at this point the pond was already brimming with frog’s eggs.

Finally, during the first week of July, I found a single newt tadpole still with its external gills but apart from that, looking just like the adult newt.

Again about three weeks later, I found a small newt but this time on land under a stone on the edge of the pond. Fully developed, though with clear markings where the gills had been.

Once again a couple of days ago, I came across a small newt. This one was several yards from the ponds, out in the open.

#Newt #Lissotriton #Summer

Mushrooms everywhere

Anywhere you go in nature these days you see mushrooms and other fungi thriving. We've had an extraordinarily wet summer this year and it shows.

This is a small collection of the species I photographed in the woods yesterday. Plenty more were available, but since I'm not entirely certain I called those species correctly, I won't post them just yet - no poisonings because of me if I can help it;-)

#Boletus #Calocera #Fungi #Leccinum #Summer #Russula

Digiscoping made easy

Often, when going bird watching, I don’t bring my dSLR camera because of the added weight. But from time to time it’s nice to be able to document a sighting or a specific behavior.

A few years ago, I bought an adapter for my Nikon CP P5000 in order to do some digiscoping, but as with the dSLR camera it just became unwanted extra weight and it was a bit troublesome to use.

During a birding trip earlier this summer, I had quite a few Red-necked Grebes rather close to where I had put up the spotting scope. Wanting a picture of this beautiful bird, but as usual not having brought my camera, I figured I’d give the built-in camera of my Desire HD a try.

This picture is the unedited result (has been compressed, though) of digiscoping with the Desire HD. The heavy vignetting is due to the small lens of the camera and the distance between the camera and the spotting scope’s eyepiece. Of cause, you don’t get the same crisp image you would with proper digiscoping equipment, but this is easily as good as or even better than my old N. CP P5000 setup.

It takes a few shots to get the hang of it, but after that it’s just point ‘n’ shoot. Nice!

#Grebes #Podiceps #Summer #digiscoping

Amethyst deceiver (Laccaria amethystina) is found in abundance in all types of forest throughout the country right now. Here, photographed in a beech forest.

***

Violet Ametysthat (Laccaria amethystina) findes i øjeblikket i stort antal i alle typer skov over hele landet. Her fotograferet i en bøgeskov

#Laccaria #Fungi #Summer

For a long time, I’ve wanted to make a plamp for flower and other close-up/macro photography. Finally, yesterday I got around to it and here is the result.

#close-up #photo #macro #field equipment #diy

Broad-Bodied Chaser (Libellula depressa) - needed a hand to rest on during its hunt around the garden pond.

#Chasers #Libellula #Summer

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