Author Topic: Local Wildlife  (Read 528068 times)

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Offline Blodyn

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #345 on: September 12, 2011, 11:40:19 am »
CurlyCap, good luck with your wasps' nest.  I'm glad you've found the bumblebee discussions interesting.  Honey bees are more aggressive than bumblebees.  The bumblebees are the big, furry, colourful ones. 

Stephen, I've checked that information on bumblebees flying around people and they're most likely to be red tailed or buff tailed bees.  As you had several red tailed bees buzzing around in quite a short distance, it does indeed sound as if they were on a route to or from their nest.  The book says:
"Try standing in a flowery meadow or flowering crop on a fine day in the summer; every few minutes you will be circled by a worker bee; typically the bee flies around at a height of ~2m in two or three small circles of perhaps 2 - 5 m radius before departing.  ....  Exactly what this tells us is debatable, but it seems probable that the bees are investigating and memorizing a novel landmark ..." (Goulson, D, 2010, Bumblebees: Behaviour, Ecology and Conservation, 2nd Edition, OUP.)

Fester, you be careful with that rolled up magazine!

Offline snowcap

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #346 on: September 12, 2011, 11:14:20 pm »
if i was you stephen i would change my aftershave, lol


Offline stephenprudence

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #347 on: September 13, 2011, 11:09:08 pm »
Ahhh I see Blodyn, so the bee likely thinks I am a landmark (even though I'm not as I'm dynamic). I always though because they came up to you and kept on buzzing, they were warning me off the nest area, which would make sense. I usually walk on and they leave me alone, perhaps thats because they don't recognise me as a landmark anymore. Next time I'll stand still and see if they do anything else.

Snowcap, it's actually quite funny, I was in Southport this summer and me and my girlfriend were out enjoying the sun, but we put a lot of suncream on, and the hoverflies and ladybirds would not leave us alone! They must love the smell of the cream.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #348 on: September 20, 2011, 07:55:52 pm »
Plenty of Ducks and Swans by the lake on the Prom at Llanfairfechan today.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #349 on: September 22, 2011, 06:23:38 pm »
I was mowing the grass this afternoon and a pair of Red Admiral Butterflies were hovering around some bushes for ages. This one landed on a statue and stayed there just long enough for me to go indoors and get the camera and take a quick picture.

Offline snowcap

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #350 on: September 23, 2011, 12:21:27 am »
isn't mother nature wonderfull, she even waited for you to get your camera

Offline DaveR

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #351 on: September 24, 2011, 04:56:45 pm »
I saw this little chap on the beach at Colwyn Bay last week. It's not a great image as he flew off before I had time to get a decent shot but...can anyone tell me the name?

Offline Nemesis

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #352 on: September 24, 2011, 05:22:13 pm »
Nearest I could guess would be a chaffinch, but the few blue feathers are throwing me off the scent a bit.
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to know.

Offline Merddin Emrys

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #353 on: September 24, 2011, 06:22:07 pm »
possibly a female wheatear, but I'm no expert!

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/wheatear/
A pigeon is for life not just Christmas

Offline Jack

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #354 on: September 24, 2011, 08:34:41 pm »
Yeah your right ME, a female wheatear!  A Summer visitor they will be feeding up and heading off on their migration soon and hopefully be back in March.

Offline Fester

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #355 on: September 25, 2011, 09:38:57 pm »
possibly a female wheatear, but I'm no expert!

http://www.rspb.org.uk/wildlife/birdguide/name/w/wheatear/

No one knows birds (and loves them) as much as YOU, Merddin.... but you are spot on, its a Wheatear.
At first I thought it was a Chaffinch, but that would have been slightly more orangy in its plumage.

Fester...
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Offline Blodyn

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #356 on: September 26, 2011, 12:01:59 pm »
There was, apparently, a firecrest in St. Tudno's churchyard yesterday afternoon.  There was a group of birdwatchers taking a lot of interest in the trees when we arrived to get ready for a service.  After the service we were told that there was a firecrest in one of the pines so we all trooped out but didn't manage to see it. 

There's an account of the day's birdwatching on this blog about birds on the Orme.  I don't know much about birds, so it's interesting to know what the experts have spotted - though I have to get out a book to find out what some of them look like (the birds, that is, not the experts!). 

Offline Hugo

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #357 on: September 26, 2011, 07:31:19 pm »
I had a short walk today to Angel Bay hoping to see some seals but only managed to see one.   The Grey seals normally have their pups about a week or two after the September equinox but there was no sign of any today.
The last time I was there I was lucky enough to see 27 adult seals and 18 of them were actually on the beach. I've never seen them in such large numbers before, it was a remarkable sight.

Offline Blodyn

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #358 on: September 27, 2011, 03:05:57 pm »
Do let us know if you see more seals, Hugo.  Even if I miss them again it's nice to know that they're there. 

Here's a picture of the Great Orme's answer to cattle egrets!

Offline Blodyn

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Re: Local Wildlife
« Reply #359 on: October 02, 2011, 04:24:14 pm »
I heard this morning from a taxi driver that there was a very large bird by the side of the road in Rhos on Sea, near the college.  He said that it didn't look fully fledged, was very tall, had a very long neck and that the police were keeping an eye on it!  Did anyone see it, identify it or get a picture of it?