Internet Archive (Free ebooks)

Don't know about you but I love browsing through old books but there aren't many of the old type 'junk' shops about these days and the modern 'antiques' dealers know how to charge. Just a few days ago I discovered the Internet Archive where there are copies of about two million old books, all out of copyright as I don't think I have seen one dated later than the 1920s. They are all available for downloading in a few different formats which would suit many of the available ereaders.

If you have nothing else then for the Windows PC, Linux and Apple there is a free program called Calibre which can not only read many different formats of ebooks but can also make a good try at converting them to suit many ereaders. Calibre can be found HERE. Of course Adobe Reader is all you need on the PC to view the pdf version of the books.

I have tried a few of the books in the Biodiversity Heritage Library section. In this library you can find a tag cloud which speeds up the search for your choice of topic. First I downloaded a few illustrated British bird books in pdf format for transferring to my ipad but it couldn't display them properly. Don't know why as it manages other pdf documents perfectly. Next I tried the standard epub format and that seems to work OK.

If you are going to read the books on a computer then pdf versions are more accurate as they are usually scanned. Epub versions seem to have used text recognition software which is not always accurate.

Other sections available in the Internet Archive include American and Canadian Libraries, plus a Children's library - all very old books remember! You will also find access to a few electronic lending libraries which I haven't investigated as yet. Additionally the site will store freely available text material under the Creative Commons Licenses so there may be some more up to date texts to be found in some sections.

There is more to the site but I will leave that for you to explore if you are interested.

Here is a view of Adobe Reader showing the pdf download of Birds of the British Isles by John Duncan, published by Walter Scott Ltd in 1898



... and this from the pdf version of Birds of Britain by J. Lewis Bonhote, published by Adam and Charles Black in 1907




Where can you find this Aladdin's Cave?   HERE

Macro on Monday - Guess What

Yes, last week's mystery object was a bit hefty to be a fly swatter. Wilma and Keith are awarded the virtual Gold Stars this week for identifying it as a butterfly feeder. I bought it last year with the idea of tempting some flutters to stay in one place long enough to be photographed but, of course, it went on the 'Round Tuit' pile. I finally put it up when some butterflies appeared a week or so ago but haven't seen once since so maybe I bought a butterfly scarer.

  

On to this week's Guess what:



Clue: Maybe Prince Charming is sat near it in disguise.
No prizes. Just for fun.


The Great Tit family are all well with Mrs GT spending most of her time sat on her six eggs and Mr GT making frequent visits with food for her.

Hordes of Starlings are rapidly emptying the feeders each morning as they grab food to take back to their nestlings. It won't be long before the noise levels increase dramatically when they bring the fledglings

Also visiting now are fledgling Blackbirds and House Sparrows and one or more Hedgehogs visit every evening. Maybe there will be some babies in the near future. From time to time I check the camera in the Hedgehog House but there has been no sign of occupation. Once the GTs have flown the nest I will move the hog box to a more secluded spot behind the shed..

The Missed Meal

Mr GT arrives with a juicy grub for Mrs GT but she had nipped out for a minute or so.



Fortunately she was at home the next time he dropped in with a meal for her.

Definitely Friday the 13th yesterday. Went to the fridge first thing this morning to find it warm! Must have conked out late yesterday. Zoomed in to town to buy a replacement as the other was quite old  The new one has an A+ efficiency rating so that should save a few farthings on running costs.

Friday at the Flicks - Blackbird, Stretch Spider, Collered Dove, Great Tit

You can tell it's Friday the thirteenth! Blogger having been pretty well unusable for many hours since an attempted maintenance update to the system seems to have gone drastically wrong. As the service manager at our local garage used to say, "If it aint broke, don't fix it!".

Official explanation of the outage can be found HERE.

Very recently I spotted a female Blackbird pulling pieces out of my 'natural' fencing at the bottom of the garden to use as nesting material.



It is a bit late in the scheme of things as only this morning I saw the first juvenile Blackbirds visit the garden.

Most days I have checked the garden pond to see if any damsels are emerging but so far have only seen the Common Stretch Spiders busy building their webs towards dusk ready for a night of insect captures. I spotted the first damsel having emerged on 25th May Last year so there may be some about in the near future.



There is at least one Collared Dove which has become impatient waiting for seed to fall from the feeders and worked out that it can balance on the round perches.



All seems to be well in the Great Tit nest box. Mrs GT is very attentive to her eggs and Mr GT frequently brings food for her They are both very good at using the rim of the nest for moving about the box taking great care not to stand on the eggs. I would think hatching should start in the week beginning 22nd May.



Have a great weekend observing the wildlife around you.

Early Morning Corvids, Great Tit Nest, Moth

Among the earliest visitors each morning are the corvids. Even though there are two or more visits from hedgehogs each night there is often some food left in the dish. This never goes to waste as there are plenty of feathered visitors up at the crack of dawn.



Mrs Great Tit spends most of her time sitting on her eggs with an occasional visit from her mate.



Yesterday as I was checking the pond for any emerging damsels I spotted a large moth resting on the half logs which surround the edge of the pond.  Probably quite a beauty but with my aversion to moths it sent a shiver down my spine. As yet I haven't got round to identifying it, just making sure there was no way it could find its way indoors.



My thanks to Jan of ShySongbird's Twittering for identifying the moth as Angle Shades (Phlogophora meticulosa).

Great Tit - Incubation Started

Still six eggs in the nest box today so it looks like she has finished laying and has started incubating them. This morning she left the box for a short while so it was easy to count them. Soon after she returned the male brought a tasty morsel. I had to laugh as once she had taken the food it looked as though she bumped him out of the nest. Then she spent a while as though she was looking for mouths to feed before she ate the grub herself.

Macro on Monday + Nest Box Update

Virtual Gold Stars go to Wilma, Adrian and Glo for the correct identification of one of the flowers on a Cymbidium orchid which flowers well in spite of all the very sitcky blobs of sap which appear round the buds every year.

   

I did think that was going to be the last macro for a while as I had run out of ideas - until I remembered something I bought last year and didn't get round to using so here is a close view of part of it:

Guess What:


Clue: You would have to be all of a flutter to use it.
No prizes for a correct identification - just for fun.

Nest Boxes

The daily increase in Great Tit eggs continues as there are now six eggs to be seen.



As for the roosting pocket I am now sure the photo I took a while ago does not show a Wren on the nest she built. I have taken a couple more shots at different times and they all look exactly the same. What looked like the wing markings was, unfortunately, the woven straw at the back of the pocket. Neither of the Wrens have been seen for over a week now. I am not surprised that it hasn't been used. It is a very exposed position for a bird which normally sticks to the shady parts of a garden.

There is also a Robin nest box hidden in a bush in the garden which I saw had a new nest a few weeks ago. Whether it is in use I have no idea as I have kept well away from it so as not to scare off whoever built the nest.