Nature pics

[bim]

sweated a bit on this one - pretty close - and he watched my every move!

 

[Lazarus]

Lovely little fellow!

We saw no (live) Snakes whatsoever during our recent trip to the South of France - despite the heat and despite the habitat.

 

[rolfw]

View attachment 66578 sweated a bit on this one - pretty close - and he watched my every move!

That's beautiful, is it a Bjelica (Aesculapian snake) ?

 

[bim]

Hi Rolfw, it is a aesculapian. I have seen them up to approx 4ft long and watched them go vertically up trees to get into the nest boxes I've installed. It is amazing how strong they are being constrictors. We also have 3 other types of snake; black snake which I have yet to find out the proper name, horned viper these boys are dangerous - hospital job! Picture is of the black snake (local name) but if anyone knows the correct name be much appreciated. No pictures of the viper yet - I wonder why!!

 

[Vipersan]

Ok ..
so what's this then ..
I've been alive almost 57 years and never seen one of these ..
Maybe cos I live in a town ..
Yeah ..yer gonna say ..
dead common ..but not in my kitchen they aint..
Anyway managed to capture it in a glass ..and about to let it fly free ..but grabbed a photo first ..
Smile please mr insect ..

looks to have one helluva sting in its tail..
;)

 

[rolfw]

That's not a sting, it's an ovipositor for egg laying. Looks like a black wasp of some sort, there are several different ones. Did it have any red on it?

 

[Vipersan]

Didn't see any red on the body Rolf ...just yellow/orange legs..
certainly an odd looking beastie ain't it..
and from head to tip of it's egg layer ..almost an inch long
lol

 

[rolfw]

I'll have a look tomorrow in my insect books, there are a lot of different ones.

 

[Vipersan]

..so long as it isn't Africanised...
;)

 

[Vipersan]

Well I sent the photo to a 'bug' site and received a reply about 10 minutes ago..
apparently it is fairly common ..but I'm surprised not to have seen one before that being the case..
here is the reply from Joe I received..

'
It's one of the ichneumons, in the subfamily Pimplinae... there are very many similar species, but Pimpla instigator is supposedly the most common. The 'sting' is actually an ovipositor, and is what the sting evolved from in social bees and waps; ichneumons are a related group, like the more primitive sawflies.
You probably noticed that our site is about bugs - the order Hemiptera. You want Hymenoptera for these things, so I'd suggest bwars.com if you want to take it any further. I'm starting to attempt identification of ichneumons and their thousands of little relatives as a sidelines, but they're incredibly difficult - it makes dissecting a 2-mm-long leafhopper seem a doddle.
Cheers, '

 

[skomedal]

Even more hiking trips in the norwegian mountains this time the " Kjerag boulder "



"" Be chairful: Eskil balances a pile chairs on a boulder lodged above a 1,000m gap on Kjeragbolten, Rogaland, Norway ""

A massive 5 m³ boulder wedged in to a crevasse on the edge of the Kjerag mountain in Lysefjorden, Norway. Without the help of any mountaineering equipment, brave visitors can walk on to the bolt – it is said to bring good luck.
Yet there are consequences for those unsteady of foot: the nearest ledge is 241 meters below. Once you bounce off that there is a drop of a further 735 meters. So, the question is, would you – like these mad fools brave souls – stand on the Kjeragbolten? There is absolutely no Photoshop used here, so if you don’t like heights, look away now!

http://www.kuriositas.com/2011/12/would-you-stand-on-kjeragbolten.html

Regards

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Me and the better half had a wander through our local wood last evening . There were loads of these butterflies on the top of grass stalks, 10's and 10's of them all over the place. Slightly blurred photo as i only took my 300mm zoom lens with me- I hate it when that happens....

 

[Lazarus]

Looks a bit like a Large Skipper, PDP: Roughly how big is it?

 

[rolfw]

It's a Skipper Butterfly, possibly a Small Skipper, they have offset vertical top wings, looking like the rear of a fighter jet.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Not too much bigger than your thumbnail.

 

[Lazarus]

OK. Large Skipper is about an inch and a bit, so I think Rolf gets the Blue Peter Badge.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Its good to see so many of them. Are they in decline or coping with our deforestation,pesticides,house expansion,global warming etc etc?

 

[RimaNTSS]

Couple of black swans living in city's park (I went there today to pick up one antenna). Zoomed too much with android, so picture is not good enough. View attachment 66723

 

[Lazarus]

At last, the elusive Kingfisher: First seen by SWMBO in a local pond about two days ago, we wandered along there just now and were amply rewarded.

Pic not too clever, but it's good enough proof!

 

[sonnetpete]

I remember having a picnic on the banks of the Mayenne (just south of the eponymous town) some years ago and three flashed over our heads.......