Bog Standard Blog: Dances With Wolves

The Grassland Hunter

Foxes - I adore them. What's not to adore? Well, sadly, there are some people who don't adore or even like them at all. Some of these people live in my neighbourhood, where this youngster was hunting one early summer evening. I was captivated for a whole 10 minutes whilst balanced in socks on the window ledge. She chased, jumped, sat, scratched, rolled and pooed before staring motionlessly at the houses and sauntering off through a snicket. The problem for the Fox however, is that these grassland areas are at risk of being lost because more and more people are becoming interested in land grabbing. This, without mincing words, really pisses me off. And so I started to fight to try protect the remaining grasslands. Well, I try. I try, to explain (politely) to people and the council, why it is so important to us and the wildlife. I explain and show them photos of the vulnerable biodiversity of our neighbourhood and to protect such increasingly rare pockets of wonder for nature and wildlife is actually a duty, not a passing phase or interest. But my efforts just seem to fall on deaf ears. I've even been ostracized by some for my interventions and efforts, which is pathetic, I know. I just don't understand why these people don't care. What makes people uncaring ? If I had the answer to this then I'd have more hope... In the meantime I'm going to have to hope that schools will adopt a more responsible educational approach by starting to teach children about their local environment and the natural world we have to share. How vulnerable it actually is and our impact on it. Nature and biodiversity should be part of the curriculum. Perhaps if it was, then future generations could start to teach their miserable, destructive, 'kill that spider' parents a thing or two, about harmony. Have to live in hope.

If you don't like Spiders...

Scavenging Scorpion

Female Scorpion fly in a field of Meadow Buttercups. Feeding on the Cuckoo spit Frog hopper larvae & maybe hydrating it's self with their foam. Camera shy males were nearby. I gave up trying to photograph them however after creeping around the meadow for about 20 mins only for them to beggar off completely and myself to emerge in cuckoo spit & spider web covered jeans - not a sexy look. Scorpion flies are a very interesting species in that they are not technically flies at all. Mecoptera -' long wings', are an order of insects belonging to some of our earliest known pollinators. Courtship ritual includes male displaying & emitting pheromones from his abdomen and waving his non-venomous 'scorpion' tail (which is actually his genitalia) He also brings her dinner by way of a dead insect as a nuptial gift. If she's impressed she's all his! Bit like the difference between a man taking a woman out for a romantic meal however the wooing success will depend if the males idea of romantic is a candle lit dinner, or a greasy kebab & chips takeaway. Common insects not to be overlooked. I like 'em.

A Sleepy Hollow...

Holloways... in this case, a Medieval Hollow which used to be a road hundreds of years ago are seldom found but when they are provide some of the most beautiful walking experiences. This one is now taken over by Holly,Alder,Hazel and Elderflower to name a few of the plant species along the walk which used to be 15 miles long until modernisation over the years. There are old cobbles to walk on most of the way but part of the lane turns into a stream further down, which is redirected into the side before joining an underground stream system, before it then reaches the connecting modern roads at the bottom. This lane called 'Magna' is in Calderdale, West Yorkshire and has been granted Ancient Monument status in the UK as it's one of the few and last remaining well preserved holloways we have. Thankfully only likely to encounter birds, rabbits and the odd dog walker en-route, rather than a headless horseman.

Sunday, 7 August 2016

Dances With Wolves

Wolf spider courtship is fascinating.

In fact I'd say that the Wolf spider is fascinating full stop. A small, fast running arachnid who chases down it's prey. No howling sadly.
The male of the species however, has some other pretty nifty moves. These two I saw a few years back and it was one of the rare occasions I had seen their display up close, whilst sitting with a cuppa on a gardening break. Again, a cheapo camera was at hand, so excuse the quality here.
The browner female watching I liked to imagine with a Bacardi and coke at the side of the dance floor, did seem interested in him, as he waved his pedipalps or boxing gloves, in Travolta style semaphore fashion to the female, for about five minutes. Until she got bored in the fourth minute and started to wander off.

He even waved her goodbye.

Sometimes the mating game, is a waiting game.

Our Kez

Rare!

...This was the first of two Hedgehogs that I had seen for nearly 4 years (2011/2012) He'd just finished... well... y'know. 'Getting Busy' with a female at the side of my house. I heard them first the saucy devils. But I was So very glad to see (and hear) them back in the neighbourhood. Lots of reasons for Hedgehog decline - increase in cars, poisonous slug pellets used by careless gardeners and habitat loss. Far too many people rip out old hedges because they just can't be asked to look after them. Replacing them with god awful fences does little to help these animals. New house build developers and planners also have a lot to answer for by not incorporating green boundaries, as opposed to fencing which is something I have raised on many occasions on numerous planning proposals in my home town. So if you are lucky enough, yes, lucky enough, to have hedges near where you live, please go out of your way to help protect and promote them and keep them there. Do your bit. It not only keeps you fit cutting them back a little in Summer, but you will also be doing an honorable and invaluable service to countless species of wildlife that depend on them - from spiders, bugs, moths and birds, to the Hedgehog.

31/12/2009 ..a Full & Blue Moon...

Food for thought...Jan,2010..

I was watching a pair of Thrushes fighting off any other feathered visitor to my garden. The war for food was well and truly on and it became very apparent this particular winter that the battle for survival was well and truly on. Sub zero temperatures hardening the ground for days on end and water sources frozen, this winter proved utterly merciless to our wildlife. Fresh food and water was put out everyday. I basically risked broken limbs crossing the paths covered in 4" thick ice to make sure the wild visitors to my garden didn't starve. It's the least we can all do, if we're mad enough and able, when such hard times fall upon them.

Partial leucistic Black bird at the back?...

Well I decided, that because this pic was taken in my garden in Winter - early Jan 2010, that perhaps the Blackbird was just going through it's moult but if I were to see it again in Spring/Summer looking the same I would guess it to be partial leucistic. It is commonly thought, that Leucism from the Greek 'leukos' meaning white only relates to animals being either partially or fully white in colour. But more recent studies revealed that it could also mean that an unusually white animal is actually albino - even with dark or black eyes not just necessarily pink eyes. Of course, this may all be a complete load of rubbish but I liked the idea.