Friday at the Flicks - Wren Activity + Juvenile GSW

The Wren spends the occasional night roosting in the roosting pocket. About 10.40 a.m. last Monday morning I spotted activity. The first in daylight hours.  She gave the inside and outside a close look. At one point disappearing behind the pocket. Some of the activity certainly looked like nest building:



Unfortunately there doesn't seem to have been any other activity since then.

As promised here is the video of one of the juvenile Great Spotted Woodpeckers which visited a few days ago. It sat on the fruit cage for a while, went away, came back and slowly got neared the peanut feeder. The video starts where the GSW is trying to reach the peanuts and finally lands on the feeder. This has been the first time I have seen any bird get the better of the Starlings. A quick thrust with that sharp beak made them choose another feeder:



I have only spotted a juvenile once more in the garden.

A Lucky Escape

Just happened to look in the greenhouse and spotted movement in one of the plant saucers. An inquisitive black ground beetle had fallen in the water and was swimming round trying to find a way out.





With the slippery vertical plastic there was no way it could escape without a bit of help so I scooped it up so it could reach the top:





It stayed there quite a while to dry off and partly opened its wing covers to let some warm air in:



All the above cropped photos were taken with the Nikon Coolpix S9050.

As it looked as though it would stay in one place for a bit longer I grabbed the Canon 50D fitted with a Raynox macro lens and took a few hand held shots which were focus stacked with Zerene Stacker:



I don't know how long it stayed there but by the time I checked again it had disappeared.

Tuesday Twister - Guess What

Congratulations and virtual gold stars to Adrian, TexWisGirl, Wilma and Ragged Robin for successfully identifying last week's twisted face of a clock. In fact my garden clock:

   


An unseasonal twister for this week's Guess What:




Please put any guesses in the comments.
They will be revealed next Tuesday along with the answer.
No prizes, just for fun and a virtual gold star.

Arachnids Inside and Out

In the conservatory a House Spider, Tagenaria duelica which feeds on small insects caught in its web:





On the back door of the garage a Common Harvestman, Phalangium opilio,. Sometimes called a daddy long legs. These will eat almost anything though they are mainly carnivores. They do not produce silk, spin webs or produce venom though they do have impressive fangs for their tiny body size. As with some other spider species the male has to hurry away after mating as the female is liable to eat him.

The Red Tops Visit

I had hoped the frequent visits by the female Great Spotted Woodpecker meant she was feeding a family. Well, 6.20 a.m. on a dull, misty Saturday morning two juveniles were spotted in the garden. Not very good photos as high ISO and small crops means grainy piccies:



A juvenile is easily identified by the red top to its head. At first one made a tentative visit, flew away and then came back to attack the peanut feeder. The second only made a brief visit.



I hope they come back another day when the light is better for some sharper photos.
I did manage some reasonable video which I will probably save for Friday.

Drone Fly

Spent a happy hour in the Sunshine photographing the insects attracted to my Buddleia bush which was coming in to full flower. One flying insect I spotted behaved like a hoverfly but looked like a bee. What caught my eye was the size of its eyes which wrap round a large portion of its head:



Fortunately a quick Google for hoverfly brought up a matching picture of this creature which turned out to be a Drone Fly. So called because they imitate a drone bee (the male hive bee).





All photos taken with the Nikon Coolpix S9050, usually around four or five inches from the subject.

BTW, don't go getting the idea it's always sunny here. I tend to be a fair weather photographer and as I write this it has been raining for the past seven hours and is forecast to go on for many more hours.

Friday at the Flicks - Female Great Spotted Woodpecker + Juvenile Blue Tit

I keep saying it is pot luck if I see a Great Spotted Woodpecker in the garden. This occasion proved it. I had been photographing outdoors and was setting the 70D on its tripod in the kitchen. Just as I had focussed it on a peanut feeder Mrs GSW arrived. One quick photo and then switched to video:



I had often thought she was just collecting bits of peanut rather than eating them and that can be seen clearly in the video. As soon as she had a full beak off she flew. She may be eating elsewhere or more probably taking the food for a brood somewhere nearby. Total visiting time just one minute.

Just back from our afternoon perambulation when I spotted a Juvenile Blue Tit at another peanut feeder. Luckily it stayed long enough for a few shots before a House Sparrow chased it off. Fortunately it came back a short while later when I had things set up for a bit of video;



You can tell it's a juvenile by the way its cap hasn't turned blue yet.
Interesting to see the size difference when a Great Tit makes a brief visit.