Ook, she wrote

Nature Notes: Walk in the Park

2012-01-26T10:13:00.000+01:00

While there's still no snow, it has gotten quite cold. The frost made last year's fern into a beautiful sculpture.

A Eurasian Jay (Garrulus glandarius) was watching me, but seemed to feel that I wasn't worth screeching a warning.

Witch Hazel (Hamalelis virginiana) is sometimes called Winterbloom for obvious reasons. The witch part come from the Middle English word wice, that means bendable (wicker has the same source).

a Black Swan (Cygnus atratus) - an unusual bird for the Hamburg Stadtpark, usually there are only Mute Swans (Cygnus olor) and they are now all in their winter home - all swans living on the Alster (the Stadtpark lake is part of that) are captured and cared for during the winter. That's the job of the Swan Father (really, the job is called just that). I wonder where the Black Swan came from.

a Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

World Bird Wednesday: Superb Starling

2012-01-24T09:50:00.000+01:00

Superb Starlings (Lamprotornis superbus) are native to Eastern Africa. They are slightly smaller than Common Starlings, but just as bold and inquisitive. With their beautiful metallic plumage they are instantly recognisable.

Listen to a group of superb starlings chattering and calling here. The birds are not very fastidious when it comes to habitat, they are found in forests, grassland, savannahs and will also comfortably live near humans. They are equally broadminded when it comes to food. Insects make up the main part of their diet, but they will also take berries and fruit, nectar, seeds and table scraps. Superb starlings will beg for food and forage for crumbs near humans.

An almost adult juvenile, he still has white traces in the corner of his beak. Here's a photo of a younger chick with its parents.

Superb starlings are a very social species and are often found in huge flocks. During breeding season, a pair raises their chicks, but it's also possible that the female mates with several males and all work together to raise the chicks. This is called cooperative breeding.

More birds at World Bird Wednesday
Photos were taken at London Zoo, Wilhelma Stuttgart and Tierpark Berlin.

Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
Internet Bird Collcetion
Oiseaux Birds
Birdlife

ABC Wednesday: B is for Bongo

2012-01-24T09:24:00.000+01:00

Bongos (Tragelaphus eurycerus) are a fairly large (about 1m shoulder height) antelope native to much of Africa. They live in light forests that have enough ground vegetation for them to forage on, but are dense enough to hide in. The stripes help making the bongo invisible, they are also mainly nocturnal. Here's a video of a bongo, note the comparatively short legs - useful for getting around in a forest where long legs build for speed like other antelopes have would just be in the way.

Both sexes carry those long horns, the horns of the males are a bit more twisted than those of the females. Males are also much heavier than females. Adult males are usually solitary, although not territorial, while the females live in groups with their calves, led by an experienced female. A female gives birth to one calf that is nursed for about six months.

The Bongo is considered Near Threatened by the IUCN. The reason for this is mainly the destruction of its habitat, vast forests are turned into small islands and the bongos can no longer easily migrate from one area to the other for food or to find a mate.

More Bs at ABC Wednesday

Photos were taken at Wilhelma Stuttgart and Wuppertal Zoo.

Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
Arkive
Bongo Foundation
Animal Diversity Web

Nature Notes: Bullensee

2012-01-18T12:30:00.000+01:00

This weekend, we drove out of the city a bit to the Bullensee, an area with lakes and peat bogs. There were a huge number of greylag geese (Anser anser) circling over the lake, coming in for the landing.

(click to see bigger version)

lingonberry (Vaccinium vitis-idaea)

some fungus on a tree stump

there were a ton of birds around - tits, nuthatches and an amazing number of woodpeckers like this Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: A is for Anteater

2012-01-17T11:43:00.001+01:00

A Giant Anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), one of four anteater species. The others are the incredibly cute Silky Anteater (note the size in comparison to the hand holding the branch!) and two species of Tamandua.

The scientific name of the Giant Anteater means three-fingered anteater. The have five digits, but three of them carry very long and powerful claws - so big that the anteater walks on his knuckles. They can easily break open termite hills and ant nests and will then feed on the insects with their long (2ft) tongue, flicking it out of their snout about 150 times per minute. Anteaters have no teeth, but they can crush their prey against their palate and have a particularly muscular stomach to help with digesting their food. They will open and feed on a number of termite/ant hills during one day and will never eat so much that the colony is destroyed. You can see a video of a feeding anteater here, with a great view of the snout and claws. They will also take grubs and eggs if they find them.

Giant Anteaters have a very poor sense of sight, but smell and hear very well. When they sleep, they cover themselves with their big tail.
A female will give birth to one baby (sitting up, leaning on her tail) and will carry it around with her on her back. The baby stays with her for about two years.

When threatened, the anteater tries to just run away, they can also swim very well. If cornered, they can rear up and embrace an attacker - no joke with those strong arms and claws they have.
Giant Anteaters are threatened by habitat destruction and they are also hunted. Sometimes their tails are turned into brooms.

This is a Northern Tamandua (Tamandua mexicana), tamandua means insect eater. Unlike their bigger relatives, tamanduas have adapted to living in the trees and can climb very well.

More As at ABC Wednesday

Photos were taken at Wilhelma, Stuttgart (Giant Anteater) and Frankfurt Zoo (Tamandua)

Sources and further reading:
Arkive Giant Anteater
Online Anteater
Wikipedia Giant Anteater
Wikipedia Tamandua

World Bird Wednesday: Abdim's Stork

2012-01-17T11:42:00.000+01:00

(that's a stone next to it, not an egg)

Abdim's Storks (Ciconia abdimii) are native to much of southern Africa where they live on the veldt and open grasslands. They feed on insects and other invertebrates, but will also take carrion, frogs, lizards and small mammals. Watch a foraging bird. With a body length of only about 80cm, they are the smallest stork species.

They are a welcome sight to the people of their habitat because of all the insects they eat, but they are also considered to be lucky and to bring rain. The reason for this is that the stork migrate north to use the rainy season for breeding. In German, they are also called Regenstorch, rain stork.

The species is not considered threatened. Natural predators include servals, who can easily jump as high as nine feet. Here's a video of a serval bringing down an Abdim's Stork after several failed attempts.

More birds at World Bird Wednesday

Photos were taken at London Zoo.

Sources and further reading:
Biodiversity Explorer
Internet Bird Collection
Wikipedia
Lincoln Park Zoo
Arkive.org

World Bird Wednesday: Green Peafowl

2012-01-10T09:15:00.000+01:00

A female green peafowl (Pavo muticus), the closest relative of the much better known Indian Peafowl. As the name suggests, the plumage of this bird is green, a very bright green in the case of the males. Here's a video of a displaying male and an excellent photo of a bird in flight. Since Indian and green peafowl are closely related, there can be hybrids, which look quite striking.

Green peafowl live in much of Southeast Asia and can be found in forests, open grasslands, bamboo forests, farmlands ect., but they need a source of water nearby. They feed on pretty much everything: grass, seeds, fruit, insects, leaves and will also wade into the water in search of food. Occasionally, they will hunt snakes.

Listen to the calls of a female and a male

In the wild, females live in small groups of 2-6 birds and will wander widely, passing through the territories of the males. During breeding season, the males will display for the females and will gather harems. In captivity, the birds form monogamous pairs, though. A single clutch usually contains 3-6 eggs which are incubated by the female and will stay with the adults for about about a year.

More birds at World Bird Wednesday.

Photos were taken at London Zoo.
Sources and further reading:
Birdlife.org
Arkive
Wikipedia
Internet Bird Collection

ABC Wednesday: Z is for Zebra Shark

2012-01-10T08:52:00.000+01:00

A zebra shark (Stegostoma fasciatum) is a member of the order Orectolobiformes, the carpet sharks. They are so called for their distinct markings that apparently remind some people of carpets. Other members of that order are the Wobbegongs (my favourite shark name ever) and the Whale Shark, the largest living fish.

Zebra sharks look very different as juveniles and that is where their name comes from. It was thought for a long time that the juveniles were another species. Another name for the species is leopard shark, which fits the adults much better.

They live in the West Pacific and prefer coral reefs and sandy areas as their habitat. An adult shark reaches a length of 2,5-3 metres. During the day, zebra sharks often rest on the ground propped up on their pectoral fins (the ones on the side), usually in a current to help them with breathing.

Zebra sharks feed during the night, mainly on molluscs, but they will also take crabs, shrimps and small fish. They basically hoover up prey on the ground with their mouth, but they can also suck prey from small crevices.

They are powerful swimmers and their movements look a lot like those of an eel. You can see this very nicely in this video. They are not aggressive at all and may even allow themselves to be touched, however they are still wild animals and attacks have happened when divers grabbed a shark's tail to ride it. Which is just plain stupid, if you ask me...who wouldn't lash out when he was suddenly grabbed.

Zebra sharks are hunted for their fins and liver and the status of the species is considered vulnerable by the IUCN

More Zs at ABC Wednesday

Photos were taken at Hagenbecks Tierpark.
Sources and further reading:
FishBase
Biology of Sharks and Rays
Arkive
Wikipedia

Nature Notes: Birds and Apples

2012-01-04T16:25:00.000+01:00

A male eurasian Sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus). We occasionally see him and his mate in the backyard. The magpies were not amused and tried to mob him, but he returned when they had flown off.

A Great Spotted Woodpecker (Dendrocopos major)

Tea crabapples (Malus hupehensis), a tree often planted for its beautiful flowers and fruit. Like all crabapple species, the fruit is edible, but often too sour to be eaten. But it's great for apple sauce and jelly and the leaves can be made into tea.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Y is for Yellow-billed Stork

2012-01-03T16:56:00.001+01:00

The Yellow-Billed Stork (Mycteria ibis) is called Nimmersatt in Germany, which roughly translates to always hungry/never full. It's native to Madagascar and southern Africa and roughly the size of a grey heron.

They feed on invertebrates, fish, amphibians - including bullfrogs. Yellow-billed storks feed in groups and they may stir up the water with one foot or follow big animals like hippos around, feeding on flushed prey. Here's a video of a huge group feeding.

They often nest together with ibises, herons, other stork species spoonbills and other birds. The nest is built in trees and after about 30 days, 2-4 chicks hatch. The chicks may stay in the nest, cared for by their parents, for as long as 55 days and will occasionally return to the nest even after that.

More Ys at ABC Wednesday and more birds at World Bird Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Kenyabirds
Biodiversity Explorer
Wikipedia
Arkive

Nature Notes: Christmas Walk

2011-12-28T19:46:00.000+01:00

Christmas was white - white with fog. Snow nowhere in sight, but a lot of flowers for December. This bush is supposed to bloom in winter:

but this rose sure isn't

the shell of a white-lipped snail (Cepaea hortensis)

Nature notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

World Bird Wednesday: Sun Conure

2011-12-27T17:02:00.001+01:00

Sun conures (Aratinga solstitalis) are medium sized parrot with striking plumage and a loud, piercing voice. I'm not kidding about the voice.

They are native to the north and east South America, where they live in savannahs and forests. They feed on seeds, nuts, flowers and a variety of fruits and berries. Usually they are found in flocks of up to 30 birds who forage for food together. The calls are only heard during flight. A pair probably stays together for life and will raise three to five chicks each year. As juveniles, sun conures are green.

Sun Conures are popular pets - they look gorgeous, they are intelligent and inquisitive and bond with their owner easily. However, make sure you know what you are getting into. As all parrots, sun conures need a lot of entertainment or they grow bored, which results in screaming, feather plucking and other problems. Keeping a pair or a group of them is most natural for them, interacting with humans is fine but can never replace the company of another parrot (of the same species!). Even in ideal conditions, parrots are never quiet or won't make a mess - it's just what they do. Be sure that you can live with that.

A major threat for wild sun conures is being trapped for the pet trade, often the whole population in one region is trapped. The majority will die during transport, even before they reach a pet shop.
Check for parrot rescues near you, sadly many parrots are given up for adoption or are just abandoned when their owners grow bored or find out what they got themselves into with a parrot as a pet. Sun conures can live for 25-30 years in captivity.

Internet Bird Collection
Arkive.org
Honolulu Zoo
Sun Conure Parrots
Conure Community
Wikipedia

ABC Wednesday: X is for Xenopus

2011-12-27T17:02:00.000+01:00

Xenopus means strange foot. These guys are Xenopus laevis (smoooth strange foot), African clawed frogs. They are often mixed up with African drwaf frogs when sold as pets, Xenopus grow much, much bigger, so take care when planning to get either species. The easiest way to tell the difference are the feet: dwarf frogs have four webbed feet, Xenopus have only webbed hind feet. If it's an albino, it's a Xenopus. Also, these frogs can live up to 25 years, so it shouldn't be a spur of the moment decision (well, not pet should be that).

photo via Wikipedia, note the claws on the hind feet

They are completely aquatic, very good swimmers and will eat almost anything. Since they have no tongue, they use their hands to shove foot into their mouths or just suck it in. They also have no ears, but can sense vibrations with lateral lines. Those also pick up the vibrations made by the frogs when they call during mating season.

Xenopus frogs shed their skin once every year and will eat the discarded skin, which looks very strange. The species has been a popular research subject for many years and at times, they were used for pregnancy tests, the hormones in the urine of pregnant women will cause Xenopus females to produce eggs themselves.

More Xs at ABC Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
Xlaevis.com
Krallenfrosch.de (German)

Nature Notes: Badger and Berries

2011-12-21T16:13:00.000+01:00

even badgers have bed hair, it seems (Meles meles)

brown bear

alpine ibex (Capra ibex)

fallow deer (Dama dama)

not sure what this is

Chinese lantern (Physalis alkekengi)

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Photos were taken at Wildpark Schwarze Berge, Hamburg. The Chinese lantern I found in my backyard.

ABC Wednesday: W is for White-Eye

2011-12-20T09:36:00.000+01:00

A Montane White-Eye (Zosterops poliogastrus), a sparrow-sized bird species native to Africa (Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenia and Sudan). They feed on nectar, fruit and berries and the occasional insect.

They have a soft voice and sing beautifully, you can listen to them here. Since they become tame very fast, they are popular cage birds, as are other species of white-eyes.

There's actually not much known about this species (there are eight subspecies) or about white-eyes in general. From what I have seen at Hagenbecks Tierpark, where I took these photos, it seems that pairs stay together even outside the breeding season and they are very affectionate. They don't seem very aggressive towards others, I've seen three or more birds cuddle together. After I took the photos of this pair, a third bird came and snuggled up to them, which they didn't seem to mind at all.

More Ws at ABC Wednesday and more birds at World Bird Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Internet Bird Collection
Bird Life
Wikipedia

World Bird Wednesday: African Jacana

2011-12-13T12:34:00.000+01:00

Jacanas are also called lily trotters for their habit of walking around on the big leaves of water lilies, which you can see here. This one is an African Jacana (Actophilornis africana), native to much of Southern Africa.

They feed on invertebrates they pick up from the leaves and the water surface. They can swim and dive very well, even chicks can already stay underwater for a while, with only the tips of their beaks showing. Flight is not the jacana's strong suit and African jacanas even lose all flight feathers when they molt.

A female mates with multiple males, lays eggs in their nests and then leaves the male to care for the eggs and the chicks, while she guards the territory. If eggs are lost, she will return to lay additional ones. The nest is a rather flimsy platform made from plants that floats on the water or is placed on top pf floating vegetation. The male leads the chicks when they have left the nest (which they do quickly) and guards them for 40-70 days.

African jacanas are social and live in large groups that forage together. They have a variety of calls and when threatened, they raise their wings to look bigger and more threatening. Predators are such animals as otters, snakes and water mongoose.

More birds at World Bird Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
San Diego Zoo
Ouiseaux Birds
Internet Bird Collection
South Africa Venues
Birdlife.org
Wkipedia

The photos were taken at Hagenbecks Tierpark.

ABC Wednesday: V is for Viscacha

2011-12-13T12:33:00.000+01:00

This is a Plains Viscacha (Lagostomus maximus), one of five Viscacha species. They are rodents, native to South America - the Plains Viscacha lives in the Pampas of Argentinia and Paraguay, the other species in the Andes.
Viscachas are closely related to chinchillas, but they are much larger, only slightly smaller than a hare and weighing up to 9 kilos.

Planis Viscachas build burrows they hide in during the day and they go foraging at night. They live in groups of mostly females with their offspring, with few adult males who keep watch over the group. A litter of two babies is normal, but there can be up to four.

Here's a video of the incredibly agile Southern Viscacha. Note the long eyelashes they have in common with chinchillas, those protect the animal's eyes from wind and sand and allow it to keep its eyes as open as possible (although it doesn't look that way).

My Viscacha photos were taken at Wilhelma, Stuttgart.
More Vs at ABC Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
Britannica.com
Arkive.org

ABC Wednesday: U is for Unau

2011-12-06T15:41:00.002+01:00

A Unau is a two-toed sloth (Choleopus didactylus). The Choleopus family has two species, the other one is Hoffmann's two-toed sloth), and both species have two toes on their forefeet, but three on their hind feet. You can see this very nicely here

Three toed sloths have three toes and three fingers. There used to be other sloth families, but they all died out (like the ground sloths). All sloths are native to the rainforests of Central and South America.

Unaus eat mainly leaves and that's the reason why they lead such a relaxed, slow life. Leaves are not very nutritious and so the sloth doesn't do much to conserve the little energy it gets from its food. Their stomach has multiple compartments and their gut flora contains a host of bacteria that help with digesting the leaves.

They are more active than the three toed sloths, though, and can be quite aggressive when threatened. Those claws are not only good for hanging from branches all day long. But usually they are not even spotted by predators, a sloth is very well camouflaged. Their fur often contains cyanobacteria and turns green, making the sloth even more invisible. Some sloths even are host to moths, who probably feed on the bacteria.

Sloths are very good swimmers, but they can only crawl along when they come down to the ground. They do that once a week or so to visit a midden where they bury their faeces. It's possible that they do that to avoid making any noise that would attract predators - during the rainy season they don't bother climbing down to defecate and the rain would definitely cover any noise that makes.

Sloths give birth to one baby and the mother carries it around with her for almost a year, although the baby will be weaned after only a month, feeding on leaves the mother already chewed at first and then finding leaves on its own. Mature at three years, Unaus can reach an age of 30 years. They are not considered threatened, since they are widely distributed - but considering the rapid destruction of the rainforest, I'd say it's only a question of time.

More Us at ABC Wednesday

The sloth photos were taken at Wilhelma, Stuttgart.
Sources and further reading:
Smithsonian
Wikipedia Unau
Wikipedia Sloth
Chou Ai, Sloth Health Centre
BBC News

World Bird Wednesday: Southern Screamer

2011-12-06T15:41:00.000+01:00

Crested or Southern Screamers (Chauna torquata) are birds that are, unlikely as it seems, related to ducks. There's a hint of webbing between their toes and other similarities. They live in South America, in swamps and estuaries, and they are good swimmers, but prefer to stay on dry land. They are also excellent fliers.

Crested Screamers feed on seeds, grass, leaves and the occasional insect. They live as pairs and stay together for several years, possibly for their whole life (which lasts about 15 years in the wild and twice that in captivity). A pair raises 2-8 chicks every year who leave their parents when they are around three months old.

Like all screamers, they have bone spurs on the inner side of their wings that they use for defence and in fights for females.

More birds at World Bird Wednesday

Photos were taken at Hagenbecks Tierpark
Sources and further reading:
Woodland Park Zoo
Wikipedia
Internet Bird Collection

ABC Wednesday: T is for Turaco

2011-11-29T09:40:00.000+01:00

a White-Cheeked Turaco (Tauraco leucotis)
Turacos are a family of African birds, usually with brightly coloured plumage and a fancy crest of feathers on their head. There's a group that is also known as go away-birds due to their habit of giving warning calls that sounds like go away and all turacos are fairly noisy birds.

They feed mainly on fruit and leaves, with insects as an occasional part of their diet. Turacos are important for many trees because they don't digest the seeds and so help with spreading them.

a Guinea Turaco (Tauraco persa)

A turaco's plumage gets its vivid colouring from two copper pigments that are only found with turacos, turacoverdin and turacin.

Turacos have a way of jump-gliding through the branches that looks very peculiar and it's a good first step to identify them. They can fly, but prefer to jump or just run. They also have a flexible third toe that can either face forward, to give the birds a better grip when perching, or backwards to make it easier to run along branches. You can see a bit of that in this video.

I don't have a photo of my favourite turaco species, the red-creasted turaco, but here's a video of those beautoful birds.

More Ts at ABC Wednesday and more birds at World Bird Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Turaco Society
Wikipedia
Internet Bird Collection

World Bird Wednesday: Shama

2011-11-22T09:09:00.001+01:00

Shamas are also called magpie-robins, I think it's easy to see why. This is a female White-Rumped Shama. The male is below:

These birds are native to Southeast Asia and their preferred habitat are bamboo forest, where they forage for insects on the floor. They will occasionally take fruits and berries as well.

They are very territorial, possibly with males and females each defending their own territory outside the breeding season. During courtship, the male displays his tail feathers for the female and sings. Males sing throughout the year, females only during breeding season. Shamas have a very melodious voice (listen here) and are also known to imitate other birds. The first recordings of a bird song (and of animal sounds in general) ever made in 1889 was of a white-rumped shama.

A pair will raise one, sometimes two clutches of 3-5 eggs per year, with the female incubating, but both parents feeding their young. Juveniles look similar to females and they can hunt for their own food when they are about 26 days old.

All my photos were taken at Burgers Zoo in Arnhem, where the walk-through Mangrove enclosure houses a pair of very relaxed shamas.

More birds at World Bird Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Honolulu Zoo
Whatbird.com
Wikipedia
Natural Sounds - on the history of nature recordings
Internet Bird Collection

ABC Wednesday: S is for Sea Squirt

2011-11-22T08:42:00.000+01:00

Sea squirts are also knows as ascidians (from their scientific name Ascidiacea). They are invertebrates, tubeshaped animals that attach themselves to rocks and feed by straining water through their body. In the photo, you can see the two siphons they use for that.

What makes them especially remarkable is their development from egg to adult animal. The larvae are free-swimming, they have a tail, a primitive eye, a notochord and a nerve cord with a small brain - they look strikingly like vertebrate embryos. With vertebrates, the notochord is eventually replaced by the backbone. Sea squirts have no need for all this once they have chosen a place to settle down and so they lose the tail with the notochord, almost all sensory organs and their brain.

an illustration from Ernst Haeckel's wonderful book "Kunstformen der Natur"

Sea squirts either live alone or in colonies and they almost all are hermaphrodites, they have both male and female sexual organs. Those living in colonies are often able to reproduce asexually as well, growing little buds that turn into new sea squirts.
Despite being invertebrates, they are counted among the Chordata,like mammals, birds, fishes ect. It's very possible that animals just like them were the link between invertebrates and vertebrates. You can see photos of a sea squirt larva and its development here

See what else S stands for with ABC Wednesday.

Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
Ascidians.com
Hannover University
Taucher.net
Reeflex.net

Nature Notes: Bittersweet

2011-11-16T14:44:00.001+01:00

Since you were all so helpful last week with my unknown flower, I remembered a plant I found a while ago. The fruit look a lot like chilis, I opened one up and the seeds are very similar as well.
Here are the leaves. I didn't get a photo of the flowers, but they were small and purple. If you know what this is, let me know :)

Edit: John identified the plant for me, it's Bittersweet, Solanum dulcamara, a member of the nightshade family.

And a sunset:

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: R is for Roadrunner

2011-11-15T08:56:00.000+01:00

A Greater Roadrunner (Geococcyx californianus) at Burgers Zoo. They are instantly recognisable bird, not just because of their cartoon counterpart. Roadrunners are cuckoos, but unlike other species in this family, the roadrunner much prefers running and walking to flying. They are capable of flight, though, and they are the fastest running birds who still can fly. 17mph seems to be a comfortable speed for them, the fastest roadrunner has been clocked at a speed of 24mph.

Roadrunners feeding on insects/invertebrates and some fruits and berries, but they will also prey on small reptiles and snakes, rattlesnakes in particular. It's also not uncommon for them to sneak up on other, smaller birds. Here are photos of a roadrunner stalking and killing a cowbird on The Birdchick's blog.

A pair stays together after mating and raises their chicks together. There's usually a clutch of 4-9, sometimes up to 12 eggs, but unless it's a very good year, only the chicks who hatch first survive. Any runts are often thrown out of the nest or even eaten by the parents.

Sources and further reading:
Desert USA
Wikipedia, German and English

More Rs at ABC Wednesday and more birds at World Bird Wednesday

Nature Notes: Late Bloomers

2011-11-09T10:13:00.001+01:00

I don't know what this is, I just know I didn't plant or sow it

Nicandra seed capsules - I sowed those in the spring, the plants all died and then others grew that had sowed themselves last year

the primula I bought in the spring, I'll try to bring it over the winter

I thought this was buckwheat, but the leaves are lance-shaped

and some leaves and seeds/fruit I found in the backyard

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: Q is for Quail

2011-11-08T08:20:00.001+01:00

A pair of Scaled Quail (Callipepla squamata), native to the Southwestern United States and much of Mexico. They like a dry habitat with small trees and shrubs for cover and will run rather than fly when they are disturbed.

Scaled quail feed on seeds and they take whatever they can get when its in season, with grass seeds making up a big part of their diet. They will also take insects, like grasshoppers, and will feed on insect galls. Despite the dry habitat, they need a water source in the vicinity and will readily use the water meant for livestock.

During breeding season, a pair lives together with its chicks, but the quails will gather in bigger groups of up to 30 birds during the winter. Scaled quail are hunted for food and also kept and bred for both eggs and meat.

My photos were taken at Burgers Zoo. I also took two videos of the pair that is kept there - they move like wind up-toys.

More Qs at ABC Wednesday and more birds at World Bird Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
All About Birds
That Quail Place
Scaled Quail

Friday My Town Shoot Out: Signs

2011-11-05T09:02:00.000+01:00

a warning not to go too close to the shoreline of a lake - more expressive than most of those warning signs

and a series of signs I encountered in the Netherlands while driving through a stretch of roadworks

More signs at My Town Shoot out

ABC Wednesday: P is for Pitta

2011-11-01T09:07:00.000+01:00

A male Banded Pitta (Pitta gujana), a species native to the Malay Peninsula.

Pittas are a family of birds first described by Carl Linnaeus in 1766. Most of them are about the size of a blackbird/American Robin, although there are smaller species.
They are forest dwellers who forage on the ground, looking for earthworms (a huge part of their diet) and other invertebrates. The method of finding prey is similar to that of a thrush: sweeping leaf litter aside and probing with their bill. Some species will also use stones as an anvil to smash open snails, also similar to thrushes.

A Hooded Pitta (Pitta sordida), a species common in Eastern Asia.

They are territorial birds and a pair will stay together to raise their chicks. Both sexes will incubate the eggs and will also both feed the chicks.
Pittas are popular cagebirds, but fairly hard to keep. They are quite often found in zoos, especially in zoos with walk-through aviaries. But due to their secretive lifestyle, they are often overlooked. I took the photo of the Banded Pitta at Hagenbecks Tierpark and of the Hooded Pitta at Burgers Zoo.

See what else P stand for with ABC Wednesday and more birds at World Bird Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
Birdlife.org
Internet Bird Collection

Friday My Town Shoot Out: Creepy Crawlies

2011-10-28T08:25:00.003+02:00

Let's begin with something almost everybody likes. A butterfly.
I love insects, invertebrates in general, I wrote about why in some length here. Let's just say that I find their diversity fascinating, they come up with such outrageous looks and strategies for survival.
Here's one with a particularly weird look:

That's a Wandering Violin Mantis (Gongylus gongylodes), who looks like a shrivelled leaf. Unlike most other mantis species, they are not aggressive towards each other and if kept as pets, can be kept in groups.

And here's one with a particularly weird strategy for breeding: a Jewel Wasp, Ampulex compressa. They supply their larvae with roaches to feed on when they hatch, but the wasp is less than an inch long and not strong enough to carry a dead or immobile roach. So they sting their prey, first to paralyse the front legs of the roach. The second sting is delivered with precision into a certain area of the roach's head and it modifies the roach's escape behaviour. The wasp can then just grab the roach's antenna and lead it, like on a leash, to a burrow where it will lay an egg and then wall up the burrow with small pebbles.
The larva will feed on the live roach and it will eat the internal organs in an order that keeps the roach alive as long as possible. It sounds gruesome, but it's absolutely amazing to me how complex all this is.
There are many examples of similar behaviour, parasites are a fascinating lot. Here's one that has a life cycle that involves going from a bird to a snail back to a bird and another who manipulates caterpillars into becoming protective of their eggs. There's even one who first feeds on a fish's tongue and then replaces the tongue with its own body. The fish can live with the parasite as a tongue perfectly well.

And now that I have probably grossed most of you out, on to some more soothing and beautiful butterflies.

And more creepy crawlies at My Town Shoot Out

All photos were taken at Wilhelma in Stuttgart, where I spent last week.

Nature Notes: Frost

2011-10-26T16:57:00.000+02:00

I spent the last week in Stuttgart in southern Germany and the nights are getting cold down there.

It takes a while for everything to thaw out, giving me the chance to shoot frozen roses in sunlight.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: O is for Okapi

2011-10-25T10:31:00.002+02:00

A pair of Okapis (Okapia johnstoni) at London Zoo. The male has horns, the female doesn't. Looking like a cross between a giraffe, an antelope and a zebra, okapis have lived in secret (as far as Europe and science was concerned) until 1887 - although it probably was known in Ancient Egypt. Here's a beautiful drawing British explorer Henry Johnston after whom the species is named made of a pair.

They are related to giraffes and share several characteristics with them: the long, purple tongue, the horns of the males (called ossicones) and the long neck, at least in comparison to their overall size. Okapis are the size of a horse, about 150-170cm shoulder height. The stripes camouflage them in the dark rainforests of the Congo where they feed on leaves.

Usually, they are solitary, but they will live together as pairs for a short time when the female is in heat. Males have a territory they will defend but will allow females to pass through it freely. If need be, they will tolerate other males - for example when there just isn't room for the males to have the space they would normally occupy. Habitat destruction is a great problem for okapis, even more so since they didn't have a wide range to begin with.

Not much is known about okapis in the wild. There are only 154 individuals in captivity (as of 2011 and no more than 30,000 in the wild. Captive breeding has been successful and the mother will care for her calf for more than half a year. Scientist believe that they communicate using infrasound - sounds too low-pitched for humans to hear (elephants do that as well). With their big ears, okapis certainly hear very well. Along with giraffes, they are the only two surviving species of the once huge Giraffidae family.

See what else O stands for with ABC Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
Brookfield Zoo
BBC
Okapi Conservation Project
Arkive

World Bird Wednesday: Barbet

2011-10-25T10:31:00.001+02:00

A Red and Yellow Barbet (Trachyphonus erytrocephalus), a species found in Eastern Africa.

They are omnivores and will feed on all kinds of berries, fruit, seeds and insects/invertebrates. Sometimes, eggs and chicks of other birds are taken. Usually, they forage on the ground and in groups.

They are very vocal birds and will mob predators such as mongoose or snakes. If not hunted, they are not shy at all and will even enter houses in search of food. Here's a video of a calling bird and a recording of a duet.

Red and Yellow Barbets nest in tunnels, with a up to 40cm long tunnel leading up to the nesting cave. The tunnel is dug into riverbanks, but the birds will also nest in termite hills. Only the parents brood the eggs, but all members of the group will care for the chicks. The males take over the bigger part of brooding and food gathering for the chicks.

a Black-spotted barbet (Captio niger), a similar bird from the Capitonidae family, the American barbets

More birds at World Bird Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Internet Bird Collection
Wikipedia, German and English
Photos were taken at Burgers Zoo and Hagenbecks Tierpark

My Town Shoot Out: Scavenger Hunt

2011-10-21T21:17:00.000+02:00

A neat new meme for me, via Scriptorsenex:
Friday My Town Shoot Out. This time with a scavenger hunt: something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue.

Something old:

the Christianskirche in Altona, built in 1738 and there has been a church there since 1548

Something new:

office building around the corner from where I live

something borrowed:

statue of Otto von Bismarck, slowly sinking into the ground and living on borrowed time

something blue:

the Köhlbrandbrücke, illuminated during the Hamburg Cruise Days

Visit other towns at My Town Shoot Out

Nature Notes: Galloping Giraffe

2011-10-19T10:18:00.001+02:00

Somali or Reticulated Giraffes (Giraffa cameleopardalis reticulata) engaging in a small fight. It's called necking and looks very graceful, like pretty much everything giraffes do. Males do it to establish dominance and injuries are very rare - but even though it looks slow and almost like ballet, a well-aimed blow can absolutely knock down the weaker giraffe. The horns (called ossicones, they're not real horns) help with that and are aimed at the neck and rump during a fight.

The calf of the group went for a run around the enclosure, bucking and throwing its legs like a horse - I have never seen a giraffe do that and it was an impressive sight. A running giraffe looks deceptively slow, probably because the legs don't have to move all that fast to cover the distance, but they can reach speeds of up to 60km/h (37mph).

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Photos were taken at Wilhelma in Stuttgart.
Sources and further reading:
Animal Diversity Web
Wikipedia Somali Giraffe
Wikipedia Giraffe
Arkive

ABC Wednesday: N is for Nutria

2011-10-18T17:03:00.000+02:00

Three nutrias (Myocaster coipus) also known as coypu or river rat is a large semiaquatic rodent. They were native to South America, but have been introduced all over the world and have become an invasive species.

They live near rivers and lakes and will spend the majority of their time in the water. With webbed feet, they are excellent swimmer and can also dive. Once out of the water, nutrias spend a lot of time grooming their fur to keep it dry and watertight. They look like muskrats (who don't have webbed hindfeet and a tail that#s not as round) and beavers (who have a completely flat tail).

Here you can see the rounded tail. Nutrias are herbivores and will eat almost anything, from grasses to crops to leaves. They have huge front teeth that, typically for rodents, continue to grow all their life. Allow me to demonstrate:

They live in groups of about 15 animals, usually a pair and their offspring, although bigger colonies with several adult pairs are possible. A litter has a size of 6-8 babies and a female can give birth two or three times a year, the babies are able to see and have fur when they are born. The group lives in a big nest either constructed from plants or dug into the earth. The entrance is always above water, another thing to tell them apart from muskrats and beavers.

I took all photos at Wildpark Schwarze Berge, where a big colony of nutrias is kept. At least one of the adults carries a gene that causes leucism, the nutria on the right is leucistic for example, it even has blueish eyes.

See what else N stands for with ABC Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
Nutria Fact Sheet
Georgia Wildlife Web
Animal Diversity Web

World Bird Wednesday: Pesquet's Parrot

2011-10-18T11:14:00.002+02:00

A Pesquet's Parrot (Psittrichas fulgidus) at the Wilhelma- that's a species I hadn't heard of before. It's not often shown in zoos because it's so highly specialised, it feeds only on a small number of fig species.

This one is a male, he has a small patch of red feathers behind his eye which females don't have. The naked face makes this parrot look a bit like a vulture, it's sometimes called Vulturine Parrot. The species is native to New Guinea and is hunted for both meat and feathers and also for the pet trade. All this has caused the population to decline rapidly.

They are large birds, much bigger than an African Grey Parrot for example, more than 40cm long. This guy here was very interested in the movement of my camera lens and eventually flew in for a closer look. I would have loved to pet him, but that impressive beak made me think twice about that.

I took a ton of bird photos at the Wilhelma, but two birds I cannot identify. Maybe you can help me. The first is some kind of shore bird. Unfortunately, I cannot tell you where it is supposed to live, since shorebirds from all over the world where group together in this exhibit:

John identified this bird for me, a Blacksmith Lapwing (Vanellus armatus).

and here's one that is native to Africa (I know, not that much help) - from its overall shape, I would think it's some kind of thrush. The breast is coloured light grey. I looked through the thrush section of the Bird Photos website but didn't find it (it's a great resource nevertheless).

Sources and further reading on Pesquet's Parrot:
Wikipedia
Birdlife
Papageien.org
Arkive

More birds at World Bird Wednesday

Nature Notes: Jenischpark

2011-10-12T19:18:00.001+02:00

A Sweet Chestnut (Castanea sativa), somewhere between 100 and 200 years old. The Jenischpark was originally the private park of the Jenisch family, designed as an Ferme ornée and there are many gorgeous old trees.

I believe those are snail eggs.
Edit: As John points out, it's probably a slime mold, maybe Tubifera spec.

burdocks

two eyes and it's a Muppet

hawthorn (Crataegus spec.)

the dew hadn't yet evaporated

meadow saffron (Colchicum autumnale)

apples ripe for the picking - the trees are on public land and anyone can harvest there. There are also quince trees, but those were already all gone.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: M is for Mandrill

2011-10-11T13:32:00.002+02:00

a male Mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx)
Madrills are Old World-monkeys, related to baboons and much closer to Drills. Males weigh about 30 kilos, females only half of that. An adult male is only little smaller than a Rottweiler for example, with a shoulder height of about 50cm. They are the largest monkeys worldwide. The madrill in the photo is the dominant male of his group, which is why he has those striking colours. All mandrills are coloured that way, but it's much less bright with females and subordinate males. If a male loses his dominant position, the colours fade.

They live in huge troops with several hundred members, the biggest troop on record had 1300 individuals. Those hoards will split into smaller groups with one male and fifty or so females, depending on the season.

juveniles during a playfight

Mandrills live in tropical rainforests and wooded savannah areas in Cameroon, Gabon and Congo. They feed on plants and flowers, but will also take fruits, invertebrates and even birds or small mammals if they can get them. Unlike baboons, mandrills can climb very well and go up into a tree to sleep at night. Adult males usually stay on the ground during the day, but juveniles and females will also climb in search of food.

another juvenile

An age of 30 years is not uncommon in captivity, 46 years is the record. Leopards are the most common predator in the wild, Crowned Eagles will prey on juveniles. The biggest thread is once again destruction of habitat and being hunted for bushmeat.
Rafiki from Disney's The lion King is a Mandrill. Franz Marc painted one in 1913.

See what else M stands for with ABC Wednesday

Photos were taken at Hagenbecks Tierpark, published with kind permission.

Sources and further reading:
Animal Diversity Web
Arkive - lots of photos and videos
Primate Factsheets
Wikipedia

World Bird Wednesday: Cuckoo Roller

2011-10-11T13:32:00.001+02:00

Cuckoo Rollers (Leptosomus discolor) are also known as Courols. They are rather large birds, reaching a size of 40-50cm. The above is a female, the male is seen below.
They are endemic to Madagascar and the Comoro Islands and even in the wild, they are not shy at all. There's not that much known about them - they feed on all kinds of invertebrates, hunting from a perch and they are usually found in pairs. Here's a video of a calling male and here's one of a female. Cuckoo rollers are neither cuckoos nor rollers, although they may be related to one or the other - it's not exactly known at this point,

More birds at World Bird Wednesday

Photos were taken at Vogelpark Walsrode.
Sources and further reading:
Wikipedia
Internet Bird Collection
Tetrapod Zoology - an essay on the position of Cuckoo rollers in bird taxonomy.

Nature Notes: Flowers at the Botanical Garden

2011-10-05T20:06:00.000+02:00

Borage (Borago officinalis)

runner beans

some kind of dock/sorrell (Rumex spec)

exploding cucumber (Ecballium elaterium) - it wasn't ripe yet unfortunately. There's an amazing slow motion shot of one in David Attenborough's Private Life of Plants, but I couldn't find it online.

Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

echinaceas

dahlias

nasturtiums

glorybower (Clerodendrum trichotomum)

Natues Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

World Bird Wednesday: Coot

2011-10-04T16:52:00.000+02:00

A pair of Eurasian coot (Fulica atra) and their chicks. The chicks are so ugly they meet cute coming from the other direction.

I can never watch coot chicks without feeling a little bit afraid for them, even when the parents are caring for them as well as those two.

The reason for this is that when the brood is very large and/or food is scarce, the parents will start to chase their babies away, pecking them hard when they beg for food. This goes on until the chicks are either killed by the pecks or don't dare to beg for food any more and starve. Only the strongest survive. I know that this makes a lot of sense, but it's still heartbreaking to watch.

But when there's enough food, coots are great parents and will take on much bigger birds in defence of their chicks. Actually, coots are a bit of a bully anyway, I've seen swans steer clear of them. Here's an older chick - still not very elegant, but at least the feet fit a bit better.

More birds at World Bird Wednesday

ABC Wednesday: L is for Lionfish

2011-10-04T15:51:00.000+02:00

A Broadbarred Firefish or Lionfish (Pterois antennata), one of a number of lionfish species. They all have those impressive fins and the long barbs that can cause painful wounds in humans. The spines are also venomous, if you get stung, it will be an excruciating experience, but usually not deadly. Heat destroys the venom, so often the wound is soaked in hot water (absolutely go to a hospital if you do get stung!). The colourful markings and the strange shape help make the fish almost invisible in the water, especially when they move between corals.

a red of common lionfish (Pterois volitans)
Lionfish are predators and feed on smaller fish. They use their big fins to drive the fish before them and then suddenly open their mouth wide, sucking their prey in. Here's a video. The fins and special swim bladders also give them excellent control over their movements in the water

Since they have almost no predators themselves, lionfish turned into an invasive species when they were introduced to the Atlantic and Caribbean. They can also breed once a month, all year round. Here's a photo of a baby lionfish - it will grow to a size of about 40cm, weigh almost half a kilo and may reach an age of 15 years.

See what else L stands for with ABC Wednesday
Photos were taken at Hagenbecks Tierpark, published with kind permission.

Sources and further reading:
Arkive
Fishbase
Wikipedia

Nature Notes: Animals at the Botanical Garden

2011-09-28T12:17:00.000+02:00

We used the gorgeous weather this weekend for a visit to the botanical garden and apart from lots of flowers (I'll show you next week), there were a ton of critters around.

Two mating hoverflies, maybe Eristalis arbustorum. You can see how the eyes of the males meet while the female has a gap between them, that's how you can tell male and female hoverflies apart.

Another hoverfly, Eristalis tenax - a drone fly. They imitate honey bees, but like all hoverflies they cannot sting. The larvae of this species live in mud and even in liquid manure, which earned the species the German names Schlammfliege (mud fly) and Mistbiene (Manure Bee).

The squirrels were very busy harvesting nuts and seeds and burying them for the winter.

A harvestman enjoys the sun (possibly Phalangium opilio). They are arachnids, but not spiders. Typical for them is the small hill with the eyes on top (although not all species have it). Harvestmen are omnivores and will eat anything from insects to carrion to plant matter. All species have scent glands and if disturbed, will secrete a substance with a peculiar smell. They cannot produce silk and they don't have venom glands. The myth that harvestmen are the deadliest animal worldwide is just plain wrong.
I quite like them, with their body suspended between those endless legs and their button eyes.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: K is for Kudu

2011-09-27T08:25:00.000+02:00

This is a male Greater Kudu (Tragelaphus strepsiceros), a big antelope species that lives in most of southern and eastern Africa. Only the males carry those horns and it takes about six years for them to grow into their final shape.

a female

Kudus prefer their habitat to be covered with trees and bushes for cover. They are not as fast as other antelopes and don't have the stamina to outrace a predator over a long distance, so they need cover to hide in. A hunted kudu tends to stop and look back over its shoulder when it has reached cover, which is often fatal when the hunter is a human. Other predators are lions, leopards and African wild dogs. Kudus can jump up to three metres high, that's twice their own shoulder height.

Kudu females live with their offspring in groups of up to 20 individuals, the males are usually solitary, although younger males may live together in bachelor groups. During mating season, the males will fight with their horns, mostly without hurting each other. Fights only occur when the males are of the same size, otherwise the smaller and weaker male will withdraw.

Kudu horns have been used as musical instruments by various African people. Robert Baden-Powell encountered it during a stay with the Matabele and used it at Boy Scout meetings and Jamborees. Yemenite Jews traditionally made Kudu horns into Shofarot, here's a photo.
On a weird note, there's a sport called Kudu dung spitting. Yes, really. I'm as sure as I can be with only online sources, at least. There's a world championship even. So far, this is the most odd thing I have learned while researching my ABC Wednesday posts.

Photos were taken at Hagenbecks Tierpark and Burgers Zoo. Sources and further reading:
Honolulu Zoo
Ultimate Ungulate
Animal Diversity Web
Wikipedia

Nature Notes: Autumn

2011-09-21T16:48:00.001+02:00

A late rose.
Things go bump in the night in my street and I know autumn has arrived. The street is lined with oaks and the acorns make quite a noise hitting the cars parked there, especially at night. It's a bad year for chestnuts, though, there are only very few. But I have already filled my pockets with them.

a big Diadem Spider (Araneus diademantus), it had build its web tethered to a motorcycle and there were already two abandoned ones, I guess the owner doesn't take his bike out much

Orphan John (Hylotelephium telephium) is a good pee pasture, especially this late in the year. The many names of this plant made me smile: Orpine, Livelong, Frog's-stomach, Harping Johnny, Life-everlasting, Live-forever, Midsummer-men, Orphan John, Witch's Moneybags - one more fanciful than the other

I don't know what this flower is called, but I pass it on my way to work every morning and I always enjoy the lovely flowers.

huge mushroom, easily as big as my whole hand

A hoverfly sipping nectar. I think it's Eristalis interrupta, but I'm not sure. It was a big one in any case, larger than a honeybee.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: Jumping Spider

2011-09-20T08:58:00.000+02:00

This is a zebra spider (Salticus scenicus), one of 5000 species of jumping spiders (including the only mainly herbivorous spider). They don't built webs, but will hunt actively for prey, stalking it - a bit like a cat. They can also jump up to 10cm/4", that's about 20 times their own length (they do rely on a silk thread to keep them from falling).

Like all jumping spiders, zebra spiders have excellent vision. They can tell apart different insect species and will not try to catch ants or other insects with a bad taste. If you happen to meet a jumping spider and take a closer look, there's a good chance that it will observe you just as closely. They will turn to follow a finger (or a camera lens) and can even raise their head to look at you. Jumping spiders are completely harmless to humans.

unknown species, photographed in Florence, Italy
Jumping spiders have very elaborate courtship rituals. The males will perform a complex dance for the female and with many species, they will show off their beautiful, iridescent colours (not all of them in the visible range for humans). They also produce sounds, here's a video of that - the sounds are amplified, normally they wouldn't be audible for humans.
Deviant Art has many lovely photos of jumping spiders and here are some more videos of courtship dances.

See what else J stands for with ABC Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Tree of Life
Dick Walton jumping spider page
Jumping-spiders.com
Wikipedia

ABC Wednesday: I is for Ibex

2011-09-13T18:32:00.000+02:00

A male Alpine Ibex (Capra Ibex) - both sexes have horns, but they only grow that long with the males, up to 1m/40" and continue to grow throughout the ibex's life. It takes six years for a buck to grow horns that are impressive enough to have a chance in the fights during rut season. It's not uncommon to see males scratch their own backs with those horns.

Ibexes can jump severel metres from a standing start and they are incredibly surefooted, with hooves that are soft in the middle and cling to the slightest imperfection in the rock. You may have seen these photos before, but they really show how well Ibex can climb: Some spots on a wall show themselves to be Alpine Ibex and if you think that the dam doesn't look so steep after all, here's a another view. The photos were taken at the Diga del Cingino in Italy.

They live all over the European Alps, at elevations of 1800-3200 metres/5,900-10,200ft. Most of the year, the sexes live apart. Fermales and they offspring will gather in groups, while old males will remain solitary. Young males will also live in groups, with a very pronounced hierachy that is either judged by horn length or by fighting. Males remember past fights and will act accordingly when they meet a stronger or weaker male. During breeding season from December to January, both sexes live together.

Ibexes migrate depending on the season, they will climb up to greater heights in summer, when the snow melts. They feed on plants: grass, moss, twigs, flowers and they can feed standing on their hind legs if a plants is out of reach.

The Ibex was hunted almost to extinction. It was believed that Ibex bodyparts had magical qualities and could cure pretty much anything. At one time only 100 individuals were left and came under the protection of Victor Emmanuel III of Italy, who declared the region where those animals lived his private hunting reserve. Some animals were stolen and brought to Switzerland and today, an estimated number of 20,000 ibexes populate the Alps. Adult ibexes have no enemies (except humans), but golden eagles are perfectly capable of snatching a kid.

See what else I stands for with http://abcwednesday-mrsnesbitt.blogspot.com/ABC Wednesday

Photos were taken at Wildpark Schwarze Berge, Hamburg.
Sources and further reading:
Ultimate Ungulate
Wikipedia

Nature Notes: Autumn Colours

2011-09-07T09:03:00.000+02:00

Summer is slowly winding down, I already put the first chestnut in my pocket where it will stay until next year. The tea crabapples (Malus hupehensis) are getting ripe, they will make good food for song thrushes that migrate down from Scandinavia. They are edible for humans as well, but they are better as apple jelly than raw.

water lily

rose hips...I wish they didn't have those hairy pips

I'm not sure what this is, it grew at the edge of a pond

reeds - it started to rain right after I took this shot

I'm hoping for a sunny autumn, there's nothing quite like a sunny autumn day with colourful leaves, mushrooms and chestnuts everywhere.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Wiids

ABC Wednesday: H is for Hammerkop

2011-09-06T09:20:00.001+02:00

Hammerkops /Scopus umbretta) are also called Anvilhead or Hammerhead Stork. Although they do look and behave similar to shoebills, ibises, herons or storks, they are not closely related to any of them. Hammerkops are a family all of their own.

They feed on fish, tadpoles and frogs, but will also take insects. Sometimes a hammerkop will use a hippo as a lookout and waits for frogs ad other prey to be flushed by the hippo. Unless prey is plenty, they are usually found in pairs or alone. Here's a video of a group feeding on fish guts thrown away by fishermen - a photo cannot show how strange these birds really are.

During breednig seasons, bigger groups of hammerkops will take part in a sort of mating dance. Once a pair has bonded, they will build an enormous nest and sometimes more than one in one year. Other animals will share the nest or will take over abandoned nests, like weaver birds, owls and pigeons or even small mammals and bees. The nest is many times bigger and heavier than it would need to be for the adults and their 3-6 chicks and it's unknown why the hammerkop builds such huge structures. It enables the parents to leave the chicks alone for a long time since they are so well protected inside the nest. Monitor lizards still manage to rob a hammerkop nest fairly often.

See what else H stands for with ABC Wednesday
More birds at World Bird Wednesday

Photos were taken at London Zoo, Berlin Zoo and Frankfurt Zoo.
Sources and further reading:
Honolulu Zoo
Philadelphia Zoo
Wikipedia
Internet Bird Collection

Nature Notes: Baby Animals

2011-08-31T08:50:00.000+02:00

This is a newborn muntjac (Muntjacus reevesi) - it was a few hours old at most when I saw it. I first spotted the mother nearby, probably relaxing after giving birth, and then I saw the baby, hidden very well in a flower bed. The muntjacs roam free in the zoo and may even allow visitors to pet them. I kept my hands off the baby of course.

A baby Ring-Tailed Coati (Nasua nasua) looks down from his tree. The tree grows outside the enclosure, but the trunk is too wide and smooth for the coatis to climb down and so the zookeepers gave them access to the branches. The coati group is often found up there.

A young orang utan (Pongo pygmaeus) is having breakfast. Sitting down while eating is for cissies.

Basja, a North Chinese Leopard (Panthera pardus japonensis) and her cub, born in January.

A young Himalayan Tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus), a relative of the ibex and wild goat.

African lion (Panthera leo) Tembesi and one of her cubs, born in March

Emil, a two months old Thüringer Waldesel. The breed is very rare, there are less than twenty purebred individuals left. He will turn grey as an adult.

Mother Mascha plays with her babies Wanja and Misho, they are Kamchatka brown bears (Ursus arctos beringianus). The cubs were born in January and they are growing like crazy - I saw them last month and they were noticeably smaller then. Mascha still nurses them.

All photos were taken at Hagenbecks Tierpark, published with kind permission.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: G is for Giant Otter

2011-08-30T07:25:00.001+02:00

Giant otters (Pteronura brasiliensis) are also called River Wolfs and they are the largest of the Mustelidae, the weasel family - adults can reach a length of up to 6'/180 cm. In the wild, they are found in South America, for example along the Amazon. Only about 50 individuals live in captivity and only about 5000 animals in the wild, although the number may be much smaller.

They are very social, which is extremely unusual for mustelids. A groups normally has a breeding pair and their offspring, although several family groups may live together. The young otter leave the group when they are sexually mature at two or three years of age. Normal group size is about eight individuals and they do everything together, hunting, playing, sleeping ect. The white patch on the throat is unique for each individual.

They enjoy playing even as adults and interact with each other a lot. Giant otters are a very vocal species, here is a video where you can see a group playing with each other and you can hear some of the sounds they make.

These sleek, muscular animals are excellent swimmers and underwater hunters. They feed mainly on fish, including piranha, but will also take crabs, birds and small mammals. A group hunts together and will cooperate to catch their prey and so they can take on much bigger animals such as caiman or anacondas. Their huge webbed feet and fan-like tail, which you can see very well in this video, give them a great turn of speed underwater.

They have no natural enemies, but humans destroy their habitat by logging and polluting the water. Another problem is that the otters are shy and easily disturbed, especially when raising their young. Even a group of tourists that do nothing but watch may be too much. In zoos, a breeding pair needs a lot of privacy even though they are normally used to humans being around. My photos were taken at Hagenbecks Tierpark, the first zoo outside of South America who managed to breed Giant Otters in 1990 and has a successfully breeding pair since 2005, with their offspring living in many other zoos.

See what else G stands for at ABC Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Giant Otter Research
Wikipedia
Arkive.org
Otternet
International Otter Survival Fund

Nature Notes: After the Rain

2011-08-24T10:11:00.001+02:00

We had a thunderstorm with heavy rain last evening and I went out afterwards to catch the waterdrops clinging to the plants.

My pitcher plant, Sarracenia purpurea. I don't weed the pot and I counted seven different plants not counting the pitcher plant growing in there. Yellow woodsorrel, narrowleaf plantain, a plant I cannot identify (the one no the left behind the plantain, it returns every year), barley, something I believe to be a pansy, moss and a little oak - I believe that a jay may have forgotten about storing it in the pot last winter.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: F is for Fairy Bluebird

2011-08-23T09:10:00.000+02:00

This is a male Fairy Bluebird, Irena puella. There are two species, the Asian Fairy Bluebird you can see here and the Philippine Fairy Bluebird.

Only the males have those striking blue feathers, the females are dark green. Until I wrote this post, I never realized that I did take a photo of a female.

Wikipedia has a much better one, though.

They feed mainly on fruit, but will also take nectar and insects. Despite their bright colours, they are quite hard to see hidden in the foliage unless a ray of sunlight makes their feathers sparkle. If you do see one, there are probably more around, they live in pairs and even small flocks outside of the breeding season. A fig tree may attract a large crowd of these birds.

Here's a video of a pair calling together as part of their courtship. Each pair builds a cup-shaped nest and while only the female broods the eggs, both of them will feed the young insects. Usually, there are two chicks.

all photos were taken at Burgers Zoo, Arnheim

See what else F stands for with ABC Wednesday

Sources and further reading:
Oiseaux Birds
Birding in India
Honolulu Zoo
Wikipedia

Nature Notes: Bunny and Mushrooms

2011-08-17T17:56:00.000+02:00

A bunny that sat behind the library - we all gathered at the window and went aaww at it. And some mushrooms that grow in my front garden.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Camera Critters: Persian Jirds

2011-08-13T09:28:00.000+02:00

Three Persian Jirds were looking for a new home since their original owner could not keep them and they have moved in with me. I fell in love with Persian Jirds about a year ago when I fostered one.

They are about the size of a small rat, easily twice as big as a Mongolian gerbil, and very intelligent. I've started clicker training with them and they already wait for me in the evening to be entertained (there is a question of who is training who).

Persian Jirds are very active animals that love to run, climb and dig. Mine live in a converted wardrobe, 100x70x200cm long, wide and high - Persepolis. The photo below shows one of three compartments. You can find out more about Persian Jirds as pets here

I bought a kong for them and they found out very quickly that they had to throw it around to get at the sunflower seeds inside. I only give it to them when I'm around to keep an eye on them, though - a kong is tough and meant to be chewed, but it's better to make sure they don't.

Nature Notes: Flower, berry, spider

2011-08-10T17:59:00.000+02:00

A flower:

Impatients glandulifera, Himalayan Balsam - an invasive species, but beautiful

a berry:

Bay laurel, Laurus nobilis, in varying degrees of ripeness

and a spider:

Araneus diademantus, the European Garden Spider, a very common spider in Germany. They are called Cross Spider, Kreuzspinne, in German. She's eating something (the black thing, a fly I think).

More Nature Notes at Rambling Woods

Nature Notes: Wasteland Animals

2011-08-03T13:51:00.001+02:00

Last week, I showed you all the different wildflowers I found at a wasteland created by a construction site. This week, I want to show you the animals I found there.

a seven spot ladybird (Coccinella septempunctata)

a small bee species, I think Halictus tumulorum

a grasshopper, one of a huge variety - they were hard to photograph because they would jump away before I got close enough

Bombus lapidarius, the Red-tailed bumblebee

Bombus pratorum, the Early bumblebee

Bombus terrestris, the Large Earth bumblebee - all the bumblebee species were busy collecting pollen, especially from various thistles and from Black Medic. If you want to make your garden bumblebee friendly, plant thistles (they really are beautiful flowers) and let the clover flowers grow instead of mowing the grass, especially in the late summer.

a female redstart, but I can't tell whether is a Common or Black redstart - in any case, there is a whole family there, I've seen them every time I've been back there

and something I had never seen before:

A European Beewolf (Philantus triangulum) - it's a wasp species and the females will prey on bees, paralyse them and store them in a brood chamber as food for their larvae. Each larva will be supplied with several bees.
This one is a male, though, and he is only in search of pollen and nectar (the female feeds on those as well). The females have hairs on their front legs for digging which the males are missing. Take a look at the ocelli on his forehead, the simple eyes many invertebrates have in addition to their two compound eyes, and at the little crown-shaped mark between the antennae - it's unique for each individual.

Natures Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Nature Notes: Wasteland

2011-07-27T13:17:00.000+02:00

There's a wasteland a few minutes walk from my home, the spoil heaps of a construction site left alone for a bit more than a year now.

There is a huge number of wildflowers there, it's amazing. This is Imperforate St John's Wort, I think

some kind of willowherb

brambles, attracting all kinds of insects

no idea what this is

curly dock

I liked this miniature mountain

a wet corner produced Cattails and a small, creeping Genista species

Bindweed

I believe this is a Deadnettle

Black Medic, the bumblebees were going crazy over it

and I can't identify these last two, but I love their colour and the contrast between the jumble of flowers that makes up the first one and the delicate single flower of the second one.

All those flowers naturally attracted a great number of insects and other animals, I will post my photos of them next week for Nature Notes.

Camera Critters: Squirrel

2011-07-23T12:23:00.001+02:00

I discovered a strange thing in my string beans on Thursday:

This squirrel lives in the trees that line my street and comes to visit my balcony in search of pine seeds. Recently, it has discovered the suet I put out for the birds. At first I thought the robin was eating it all, but then a big chunk was gone after 10 minutes, no way the robin eats that much suet. I'll need to get a feeder so that the birds actually get the suet, the squirrel has to make do with the pine seeds.

It's a Red or European Squirrel (Sciurus vulgraris), the native species in Europe. Introduced grey squirrels from North America have begun to displace the species, in Great Britain in particular.
The fur is thinner during the summer and both the tail and the ear tufts will be much bushier during the winter. Some squirrels loose the ear tufts completely during the summer.
Norse mythology features a red squirrel that runs up and down Yggdrasil, carrying messages. It's called Ratatoskr

See more animals with Camera Critters

Nature Notes: Balcony Birds

2011-07-20T12:30:00.000+02:00

One of two pigeons (Columba livia) that visit me every day. At first they both came alone, but now they always turn up together. I'm happy to see that because I'm fairly sure that one or both had lost their partner during the winter.

A female blackbird (Turdus merula). I spilled seeds from the feeder this morning and she's cleaning up.

A European Robin trying the suet I bought. Since it already came back five times in the last 30 minutes of so, I'm declaring it a success.

A Blue Tit (Cyanistes caeruleus) on top of the feeder. There are also a number of Great Tits (Parus major) who come every day and they are not very tolerant of the Blue Tits.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Camera Critters: Hagenbeck

2011-07-16T12:53:00.001+02:00

Last time, I showed you Schwarze Berge, this time we'll visit Hamburg's second zoo Hagenbecks Tierpark.

Taiga, a 16 year old female.

baby South American Coatis (Nasua nasua)

prairie dog

one of four baby lions born this year

a Chinese Muntjac (Muntiacus reevesi), a small deer species - they range free in the zoo and this one allowed me to scratch its head and totally blissed out

South American Tapir (Tapirus terrestris)) - they love being petted as well

a baby Angeln Saddleback pig, a rare German breed from Schleswig-Holstein. The adults grow over 80 cms tall and reach a weight of more than 300 kg.

a juvenile scarlet Ibis (Eudocimus ruber), still changing into its adult, all-red plumage

a Green-Winged Macaw (Ara chloropterus) - Hagenbeck owns the biggest captive group of them worldwide. Housed in an enormous 4000 m³ enclosure that allows them free flight, they breed successfully most years.

Northern Carmine Bee-Eater (Merops nubicus), free-flying in Hagenbecks Troparium,a big hall modelled after a tropical jungle with animals in enclosures and free-ranging

a Southern Stingray (Dasyatis americana)

the big shark reef, 14 metres long and housing several shark and ray species as well as a huge number of smaller tropical fish

Kamchatka Brown Bear (Ursus arctos beringianus), the second biggest subspecies from the Russian Far East. After a bit of waiting around the pile of fur showed itself to be the female with her two cubs, born in January

All photos published with kind permission by Hagenbecks Tierpark

See more animals with Camera Critters

Nature Notes: Take a Walk

2011-07-13T12:04:00.000+02:00

There's a canal only a few minutes from where I live and it's always a good place to see birds and other animals - I even saw a kingfisher once.

less spectacular than a kingfisher, but still cool to watch: a Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) and a Common Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus)

A pair of Tufted Ducks (Aythya fuligula), the male is the black one. They are my favourite native duck species, with their bright yellow eyes and the crest of the male (which you can see better here)

A red eared slider turtle - someone abandoned their pet, it seems. They can survive fairly well in lakes that are deep enough even during the winter and have become an invasive species, all because people can't be bothered to do some research before buying that cute tiny turtle or take responsibility later and give the turtle up at an animal shelter when - surprise! - it grows to the site of a soup plate. If you think about getting one, consider adopting, there are countless sliders looking for a new home. Redearedslider.com has all the info you need.

and here's a bug nymph I found - I have no clue what species it is. Bugs can radically change from one instar to the next and the nymphs often look totally different that the adult insect. But anyway, I dig the colourful markings.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Camera Critters: Schwarze Berge

2011-07-09T17:19:00.000+02:00

Hamburg has two zoos: Hagenbecks Tierpark (a normal zoo) and Wildpark Schwarze Berge, where only native animals are kept, in very big, natural enclosures.

European Ibex, playfighting

a peacock, just chilling

Eurasian lynx - love the ears

one of the two females, woken by the sound of my shutter

a juvenile Great Spotted Woodpecker

a horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), really gorgeous animals that can differ greatly in colouring, we saw another individual that had dark black markings

fallow deer (Dama dama)

European brown bear, taking a break from digging for roots

moose calf, about a month old

a male chaffinch (Fringilla coelebs)

nutrias or coypus (Myocastor coypus) - the whole group had very different colours, from normal ones like the animal on the left to the leucistic one on the right and all degrees in between

Eurasian wolf

European badger (Meles meles) - even though they stand only 12 inches or so tall and weigh only around 15 kg, they are very powerful animals. This one here charged us and I wouldn't want to experience that without a fence between us. But European badgers are very, very shy and only rarely seen in the wild. He seemed to be that bad tempered because he had something caught in his hind foot (we told a zookeeper).

See more animals with Camera Critters

Nature Notes: Summer

2011-07-07T10:45:00.000+02:00

my balcony in full bloom, the only ones missing are the runner beans and the potatoes

across the streets, the hydrangeas flower in several different colours

bees are going nuts over the poppies - I'm going to harvest some seeds and grow my own next year

this year, I have viper's bugloss and they get a lot of visits from bumblebees

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Camera Critters: Harpy Eagle

2011-07-02T14:14:00.000+02:00

A harpy eagle at Tiergarten Berlin - a South American raptor species that feeds mainly on tree-dwelling mammals such as monkeys, porcupines and sloths. They are very powerful and can grab and carry prey that is almost as heavy as themselves.

Here's a great photo of a harpy eagle in flight. The wings are relatively short for their size which enables them to fly and manoeuvre in the dense forest. Quite impressive for such a big bird, reaching a length of up to 3ft and a wingspan of 7ft.

The head feathers are usually laid back and are only displayed when the bird is agitated. It was named for the Harpies of Greek mythology, from the word harpazein which means to snatch.
The Arkive and the Internet Bird Collection have more photos and information about these beautiful birds.

see more animals with the Camera Critters meme

Nature Notes: Schnakenmoor

2011-06-16T04:46:00.000+02:00

The Schnakenmoor is a nature reserve in Hamburg. The name comes from the many mosquitoes and midgets that live there in the summer (Schnake is an old word for mosquito, today it's usually used for crane flies).

It's a fairly big piece of land and there are two trails you can follow to explore it, both about 3 kilometres long. The landscape changes from wood to fen to grasslands to heather.

The cotton grass is in full bloom, as are the floxgloves.

and this flower, which I can't identify for sure, but it was very popular with butterflies, hoverflies and beetles.

We saw some big animals (deer in a game reserve that's part of the Schnakenmoor reserve)

and a lot of small ones like this solder beetle (Cantharis spec.)

a ladybug larva - they eat aphids and hundreds of them every day, even more than the adult beetle

a hoverfly (Syrphus ribesii) - the eyes are the key to telling the hoverflies and the bees or wasps they imitate apart. Also, neither bees nor wasps can hover.

a red apion weevil (Apion frumentarium), often found on dock plants (sorrel)

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Camera Critters: Pelicans

2011-06-11T17:53:00.000+02:00

A group of Australian pelicans (Pelecanus conspicillatus), a medium-sized pelican - but it has the largest bill of all birds, the longest being almost 20 inches long. They are known to feed on almost anything that will fit into that beak: fish, insects, water fowl and I wouldn't stray too close if you own a small dog.

In German, they are called Brillenpelikan, spectacled pelican and you can see why.

A Peruvian Pelican (Pelecanus thagus), with 500.000 adult individuals left in the wild - the El Nino of 1998 caused a huge part of the population to perish. The species is recovering from this, but it is still listed as Near Threatened on the IUCN Red List and a similar event may have a disastrous effect.

They nest on the ground and will scoop up sand in the beak to make a nest. If the pelican are disturbed by humans while nesting, they may well abandon the nest, which makes it important to protect breeding sites from tourists and other people who would trouble the birds, either on purpose or by accident.

Photos were taken at Vogelpark Walsrode.

Nature Notes: Nightjar

2011-06-08T19:55:00.001+02:00

European Nightjars are rare birds in Germany, but there is one area where they live and breed near Hamburg. So Mr Ook and I went there on the weekend to see if we could spot them. We did a guided tour last year, along with 50 other people, and while that was a lot of fun, we thought we'd try on our own this year. A woman we met told us that the guided tour on the day before had 90 participants! I love it that so many people come to heard one bird.

We arrived at dusk and had plenty of time to enjoy the glorious sundown.

Even at ten in the evening, it was still fairly light.

A very new moon was already up.

And finally, the nightjars started calling. We heard at least three different birds and managed to get fairly close to one of them, who even flew right over our heads. Here's a video of the call, it really is one of the strangest things I have ever heard (you may need to turn up the volume):

We left at around 11pm, with the nightjars still calling from all over the valley and the sky slowly fading to a deep blue.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Camers Critters: Leafy Sea Dragon

2011-06-04T15:47:00.000+02:00

The Leafy Sea Dragon (Phycodurus eques) is related to sea horses and pipefish. It lives on the coast of Western Australia, hiding in sea weed where its tattered appearance is very effective camouflage.

It feeds on shrimp, small fish and plankton, but it doesn't have any teeth. It sucks its food down its snout instead.

Unlike sea horses, it cannot hold on to plants with its tail. AnLeafy Sea Dragons swims with the help of two small fins on its back and tail. It relies on the camouflage for protection.

Photos were taken at Sea Life Berlin.

Nature Notes: Lapwing

2011-06-01T18:46:00.000+02:00

On Sunday, Mr Ook and me went on a walk and we saw a bird I had not seen in the wild before: a Peewit or Lapwing (Vanellus vanellus), there were at least two pairs looking for food on a piece of fallow land, with chicks hidden away in the high grass.

I went back on Tuesday, brought my camera and managed to get some photos despite the very rainy weather. Look at the metallic sheen on the wings, I had no idea lapwings had that, I always thought that they had plain black wings. I was also surprised by how big they are, bigger than the jackdaws that were also around.

Nature Notes is hostes by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Camera Critters: More Pets

2011-05-28T17:48:00.001+02:00

The budgie introduction went well. At first Emily and Maggie couldn't find their way out of the transport cage and when they did, all four birds started flying around the room - whenever I though they had settled down, one of them took off again and of course the others had to follow. I though that Ernst (the blue one on the left) would have a heart attack (he does have heart problems and he tires quickly), but they did settle down and he got his breath back. It's too early to tell if they will bond, but they go get along just fine. Ernst and Igor (green) have already taught the girls that basil and dandelion are great to eat.

I also got two new bushy-tailed jirds this week and introduced them to my group. That also went well, they accepted each other right away. Bushy-tailed jirds are a gerbil species and my favourites in that huge group. They are lighter than Mongolian gerbils and much more agile. A bushy-tailed jird can jump 2ft high easily from a standing start and they can climb the thinnest branches. They are also very inquisitive and while they don't enjoy being petted because of their fine fur, they will climb around on their owner and come to check on you the minute you open the cage.

Why are they called bushy-tailed? Because:

The white tip is normal, the white streaks further up the tail are places where the jird has been bitten and where the hair grows white now. They look a bit greasy because they don't have a sandbath while they are being introduced.

See more animals at the Camera critters meme

Nature Notes: Budgies

2011-05-19T07:57:00.000+02:00

Recently, two of my four budgies died. One from a liver tumor and I was expecting it. One I found in the morning barely able to hold on to the perch and all the vet could do was put her down, we have no idea what happened.
Both remaining budgies have lost their partner now and are very quiet. Luckily, the shelter had two females that are around six years old, about the age of my two. I introduced them to the males and things seemed to work pretty well, they quickly shared perches after flying around the room after each other. I'm curious if they will form pairs when they have gotten to know each other better - budgies are less picky than other parrots and usually will live peacefully with just about any other budgie, but choosing a mate is not done so easily. I don't want to breed them, but seeing a budgie feed and groom its mate is just so adorable.

meet Emily

and Maggie

I never had a budgie with that particular colour, it's somewhere between grey and a light violet, especially in the sunlight.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

My World Tuesday: Burg Rheinstein

2011-05-16T21:02:00.000+02:00

I spent a few days at the Middle Rhine Valley which, among other things, is famous for its many castles.

Rheinstein Castle towers 90 metres over the valley. It was built in 1316, but it was already falling into disrepair in the 16th century.

It changed owners many times and had many famous visitors, Queen Victoria for example.

Finally, it was sold to an opera singer who lived there and invested a lot of time and money into rebuilding the castle. These days, it is still privately owned, but it is open to the public and you can explore it own your own, which I enjoyed very much. I'm not that much into guided tours (at least not when it's the only way of seeing a place).

the view from the tower

a lovely courtyard with wine growing all over it

the interior has been rebuilt as far as possible as well

Travel the world with MyWorld Tuesday

Camera Critters: German Wasp

2011-05-14T16:35:00.000+02:00

A German Wasp (Vespula germanica) is gathering wood fibres to build its nest.I've learned as a child that they are not aggressive at all and when you keep a minimum distance, they will ignore you. I got fairly close when taking the photo and the wasp wasn't bothered at all, it was much more intent on getting enough wood as possible. The scraping noise it made while shaving off the wood was quite loud.
Check out the dorsal ocelli on the top of the head, simple eyes that help with flight stability and possibly with a number of other things.

See more animals with the Camera Critters meme

Nature Notes: Wittenbergener Heide

2011-04-20T14:19:00.000+02:00

the Wittenbergener Lighthouse marks the starting point of our trip through the Wittengbergener Heide, a nature reserve in Hamburg that includes inland dunes, heath and light forest.

a spider cocoon (I think) from last year

there were many of those holes in the dune area - we didn't see what made them, but I suspect Typhaeus typhoeus, a species of dung beetle that builds tunnel of up to 1.5 metres and feeds its larvae with rabbit dung

a view over the heather, right after we were screamed at by a group of 15 Eurasian Jays (Garrulus glandarius)

a Eurasian Nuthatch (Sitta europaea), making it clear to everybody that this was his territory

You can listen to a call here

the view over the Elbe - the opposite shore is the island Neßsand

a horse ant (Formica rufa), it's quite a big species with workers measuring 5-9mm and queens 9-11mm

a sand bee, I think Andrena cineraria / Ashy Mining Bee, but I'm not 100% sure. It was warming up and not yet ready to fly.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

Nature Notes: Leaf Scorpionfish

2011-04-06T17:13:00.000+02:00

This is a Leaf Scorpionfish (Taenianotus triacanthus). They come in many colours and can change colour when they molt (they don't have scales). When they feel threatened, they sway, like a leaf or a plant in the water. The fins on their chest can be used to walk over and to hold on to the bottom of the sea.
I like their eyes in particular.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: L is for Laeiszhalle

2011-04-05T17:15:00.000+02:00

The Laeiszhalle is the biggest concert hall in Hamburg and one of my favourite buildings. It was built after the shipowner Carl Laeisz (who owned for example the Pamir and the Passat) left 1.2 million Mark to the city of Hamburg, asking that a concert hall should be built.

Two reliefs show Händel, who lived and worked in Hamburg for some time and Brahms, who was born here.

I've been to the Laeiszhalle for the first time when they showed the 1925 Phantom of the Opera, with the original score played by a full orchestra - it was amazing.

There's room for 2023 people in the main hall, which you can see Here and there are several smaller rooms. It also houses a museum where you can try out various instruments.
Laeisz is pronounced similar to the English lies, with a sharp s, but to make things easier, you can just say Musikhalle and everyone will know what you are talking about.

See what else L stands for with ABC Wednesday

Nature Notes: Leaf Beetle

2011-03-30T17:47:00.000+02:00

Chrysomela populi is a species of leaf beetle who specialise in feeding on willows and sallows and can do quite a lot of damage to their host trees.

The larvae have a defense mechanism that's very stiking. When you touch them, they push up their abdomen straight into the air and press out small drops of a liquid that smells like carbolic acid through their pores. If nothing happens, the drops are absorbed into the body again and the larva relaxes.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: K is for Köhlbrandbrücke

2011-03-29T16:45:00.000+02:00

The Köhlbrandbrücke bridges the Elbe, the southern arm of the Elbe to be exact which is called Köhlbrand, giving the bridge its name. Köhlbrand comes from the fact that charcoal was burned on the river island Gorieswerder (Köhl = Kohle = charcoal, Brand = fire).

It was built from 1970-1974 and it's 3618m long and 53 m high. You can cross it by car and once per year with a bicycle or inline skates, if you take part in certain races/marathons. Pedestrians have been allowed onto the bridge only twice, in 1974 and 2004.

this is a model, on display at the Miniatur Wunderland

It's widely visible when you are driving towards Hamburg or when you are looking towards the port. There are rumors that it will have to be torn down since container ships are getting too big to pass beneath the bridge.

This was taken during the Hamburg Cruise Days with the Köhlbrandbrücke illuminated

see what else K stands for with ABC Wednesday

Nature Notes: Botanical Garden

2011-03-23T08:58:00.000+01:00

The weather was gorgeous and so we, along with half the population of Hamburg apparently, went for a walk in the Botanical Garden. There were already a ton of flowers, for example irises in many colours

some leftovers from last autumn

I don't know what this flower is called, but I love the delicate petals and the colour

and so does this hoverfly (Dasysyrphus albostriatus, I think)

the bees preferred the heather - the Botanical Garden has five or six beehives and there's heather planted all around them because it's a good bee pasture

Nature Notes if nosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: J is for Johannes Brahms

2011-03-22T16:46:00.000+01:00

Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg and lived here for a while. Unfortunately, all the houses he lived in were destroyed during WWII. Wikipedia has a photo of the house he was born in, though

There's a Johannes Brahms Platz right in front of the Laeiszhalle, the main concert hall of Hamburg with two sculptures in his honour, a Brahms museum a short walk from there and opposite of the Laeiszhale is the Brahms Kontor. A Kontor is an office building and they are typical for Hamburg, built with red bricks.

The Johannes Brahms Platz is about a ten minute walk from the Israelitische Töchterschule I showed you last week - Hamburg is a city that can be explored in foot very well and you'll find interesting things along the way. I certainly do, I came across a number of things I hadn't seen before while taking the photos for this meme.

See what else J stands for with ABCWednesday

Spring, finally

2011-03-17T09:36:00.000+01:00

Spring is finally on the way with very warm weather this weekend.

croci and an already busy bee

a suspicious coot

and an interested goose

people were feeding the gulls and I got some action shots

they are Black-Headed Gulls (Chroicocephalus ridibundus) called Laughing Gull, Lachmöwe in German and they are just changing into their summer plumage with the black head. Keehar in the beautiful novel Watership Down was a Black-Headed Gull.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle over at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: I is for Israelitische Töchterschule

2011-03-15T18:36:00.000+01:00

The Israelitische Töchterschule was a school for Jewish girls, opened in 1884. It offered education at primary and secondary school level (equivalent to junior high school) and it was very modern, with its own specialist rooms for chemistry and physics, a kitchen and a gym.

In 1939, the school was closed, but education continued on a smaller scale at the Talmud-Thora Schule (with 600 students both girls and boys). When I studied to become a librarian, the library science branch of the university was housed in that building and I loved being there. It's a beautiful old building, with high ceilings and big windows that let in sun and air, here's a photo. It has been given back to the Jewish community a few years ago and is now a Jewish school again.

The school moved back again into the building of the Israelitische Töchterschule and continued until 1942, even though air raids were a constant threat and the deportations had already begun. At the time the school was closed, only 76 students were left and most of them and their teachers were murdered. The headmaster Dr Alberto Jonas died at Theresienstadt. The building is now named in his honour.

It's only a short walk from the Heinrich-Hertz-Turm I showed you last week, by the way. It hid itself in the clouds today.

See what else I stands for with ABC Wednesday

ABC Wednesday: Heinrich-Hertz-Turm

2011-03-08T10:26:00.000+01:00

The Heinrich-Hertz-Turm is a radio and telecommunication tower named for the the physicist Heinrich Hertz, who was born in Hamburg.
It's a very distinctive part of the skyline, with 279,2 m (916 ft) the highest building in Hamburg and can be seen from just about anywhere in the city, once you get up in a building with a view.
There used to be a restaurant in the second platform, the lower one used to be a revolving observation platform. Both are closed due to asbestos contaminations and problems with fire regulations. So far, the city has tried in vain to find someone who is willing to pay for the restoration. I have never been up there and I would love to, so I hope the will find someone.

Here is a great photo that shows just how big the tower is and the big version makes a lot of the details visible.

See what else H stands for with ABC Wednesday

Nature Notes: Shoebill

2011-03-02T18:49:00.001+01:00

A shoebill is an impressive bird, up to five feet tall and with a massive beak. They will prey on fish, small mammals and even baby crocodiles.They can even manage lungfish and those are up to 5 feet long themselves (although most are smaller, but at least 1 ft long). The hook at the front of the beak help the shoebill to hold on to its prey once it's caught.

They nest in marshy areas, sometimes on heaps of plant material that are adrift on the water, but usually on land. To keep their eggs from overheating, both parents turn them around at regular intervals and bring water in their beaks to keep them cool.
Photos were taken at Frankfurt Zoo.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ARGH! If you don't see the comment form, please check back later. It seems that Disqus, the comment system I switched to a while ago, it experiencing some downtime at the moment.

ABC Wednesday: G is for Große Freiheit

2011-03-01T20:06:00.001+01:00

The Große Freiheit is probably the most famous street in Hamburg, together with the Reeperbahn. The name means Big Freedom and derives from the fact that craftsmen did not need to belong to a particular guild or religion in Altona (these days part of Hamburg, then a town of its own). Now the Große Freiheit is offers nightclubs and stripclubs to party in as well as music clubs like the Große Freiheit 64, where the Beatles played their first gigs. I made the photo just now, it I made in on a weekend, the street would be full of people, it's always packed with visitors from all over the world (and many from Hamburg as well).

This is the Große Freiheit 36, one of the most famous music clubs in Hamburg. It's one of my favourite locations for concerts since it's comparatively small (I'd say for about 1000 people), with parquet flooring and a balcony.

The St. Joseph's Church is directly opposite the Große Freiheit 36 and only a short walk from the nearest strip club. It was build in 1660, destroyed, rebuilt in 1718, again destroyed in 1944 and then rebuilt as you see it now. You can see some more pictures and how the inside looked before it was destroyed during WWII on Wikipedia

The Große Freiheit plays a part in my family history. My grandfather was a sailor during WWII and he was to board his ship in Hamburg. But he still has one last night and of course he goes to the Große Freiheit to have some fun. He opens the door to a pub and the first thing he sees is a huge beer glas flying towards him. It hits him in the head and he's knocked unconscious, getting hurt badly enough to miss the departure of his ship. The ship is torpedoed only a few days later and lost with all men on board.

See what else G stands for with ABC Wednesday

Nature Notes: Smile!

2011-02-23T20:22:00.000+01:00

My friend keeps Death's Head Roaches (Blaberus craniifer), a pretty big (2 inches) and very fast roach species that has markings on its back that are supposed to resemble a skull.
Maybe it's just me, but I think it's more a happy smiley face. Okay, a vampiric smiley face. But it's definitely very happy.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: F is fo Feuersturm

2011-02-22T15:58:00.000+01:00

On the night of 27. July 1943, 793 bombers of the Royal Air Force attacked Hamburg as part of Operation Gomorrha. The intense bombing in combination with the dry and warm weather created a firestorm (Feuersturm), a tornado of fire that reached temperatures of 800°C (1500°F) and a height of up to 1000 ft.

The fire was so huge and so intense that there was no chance of extinguishing it and it created winds that were strong enough to suck in trees, cars, debris and of course humans. 30.000 people were killed that night, many of them were caught in air raid shelters by the fire or simply died from lack of oxygen when the fire consumed it all.

Source: Wikipedia
The Feuersturm shaped Hamburg very much. Hamburg doesn't have an historic centre any more and neither has Altona (at that time not yet part of Hamburg). Some residential neighbourhoods were so severely destroyed that they were not restored after the war, instead turned into industrial parks, and many of the big streets in Hamburg could only be created because the houses that once were there were too damaged to be rebuild.

The Nikolaikirche was destroyed and left as a ruin, to serve as a memorial. On many houses you can find memorial plaques like this one showing the year the house was destroyed and the year it was rebuild under the cot of arms of Hamburg.

Find out what else F stands for with ABC Wednesday

Nature Notes: Volksdorfer Teichwiesen

2011-02-16T18:06:00.000+01:00

We used the nice weather on Saturday for a walk at the Volksdorfer Teichwiesen, a nature reserve not far from where I live. It may look a bit bleak with spring still to come

but winter does have its own beauty.

We also saw some mallards that were already paired up and preparing to chase an intruder

and a species I hadn't seen before, Common Mergansers. The ones with the brown heads are the females.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: E is for Elbtunnel

2011-02-15T17:24:00.001+01:00

This is the entrance to the old Elbtunnel. It was built from 1907 to 1911 and allowed the people who worked at the dockyards and in the port to reach their workplace on foot and for free. Before the tunnel was built, the 45.000 workers (a rough estimate) had to use ferries and of course pay for them.

a view up from the stairs

To this day, using the tunnel is free if you're on foot or using a bike and it is open at all times. If you want to drive through it with a car, you have to pay and it's only possible at certain times. But you get to ride an elevator with your car, which I think is pretty cool. In 2008, 300.000 cars, 63.000 bicycles and 700.000 pedestrians used the Elbtunnel. If it looks somewhat familiar, you may have seen it in the thriller "The Odessa Files"

the entrance to the elevator

a view from below

The northern side of the tunnel gives you a great view of Hamburg. It's usually much less crowded than the Landungsbrücken, so if you want to watch the Hafengeburtstag (Harbour Birthday) or other big events in the harbour, this is a good place.

See what else E stands for with ABC Wednesday

Nature Notes: First Flowers

2011-02-09T19:12:00.000+01:00

Primroses are my favourite flowers in the spring. The one I have on my windowsill has been blooming for a while now (it doesn't seem to know that it's supposed to be annual), but this is the first one I saw outside.

the rhododendron is preparing fresh leaves

a view of the backyard, I made a photo from the same spot a while ago

These croci are not quite ready

but these have more sun and are in full bloom. It's been quite warm for the last week or so, but I think that we will have at least one more snowfall before spring really comes. Meanwhile, I enjoy the flowers.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at RamblingWoods

ABC Wednesday: D is for Davidwache

2011-02-08T17:42:00.000+01:00

D is for Davidwache, the most famous police station in Hamburg and maybe in Germany. It has the smallest precinct of all police stations in Europe, only 0,92 km², encompassing less than half of St. Pauli. 14,000 people live there, but about 200,000 people come every weekend to party on the Reeperbahn and Große Freiheit.

It's right on the Reeperbahn which of course if the reason why it is so famous. Davidwache is actually the official name since 1970, usually police stations have numbers (the Davidwache is Hamburger Polizeikommissariat 15).

It was founded in 1840, when St Pauli wasn't even inside the Hamburg city walls. The station moved to the place it is located now in 1868 and the famous Davidwache was build in 1914, designed by Fritz Schuhmacher who has shaped the face of Hamburg considerably with his brick buildings. You can see a couple of old photos of the Davidwache here. The last photo shows the emblem of the Davidwache, designed by Richard Kuöhl, who also designed the decorations on the side of the building.

See what else D stands for with ABC Wednesday

Nature Notes: Meet Arti Morty

2011-02-02T20:10:00.000+01:00

Arti Morty is a Syrian hamster, about 8 months old. He was given up for adoption at the shelter along with his siblings and extended family, I think there were more than 20 hamsters. The hamster rescue I volunteer for took them all in and Arti has stayed with me.

He's a teddy hamster which means that he has really fluffy, long fur. That may look cute, but he can't really keep himself clean all that well and has bedding and poop stuck to his back all the time. Which is why I cut his fur every two weeks or so, he doesn't seem to mind.

Arti has had bad luck with finding a new home, the two people who were interested never got back to me. I wouldn't mind if they can't take him for some reason, but is it too much to ask to write a short mail to say so?
Anyway, if he's still here when my own dwarf hamster isn't around anymore, Arti will stay for good. Syrian hamsters were my first furry pets and I have a special place in my heart for them.

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: C is for Cap San Diego

2011-02-01T10:20:00.001+01:00

The Cap San Diego is a bulk carrier. She used to make the run between Hamburg and South America, often Buenos Aires, taking such things as chemicals, and livestock on the way to South America and coffee, meat and textiles back to Hamburg. A small number of passengers could also travel on board in surprising comfort.

In the 1980, the big container ships replaced the bulk carriers and in 1986, the Cap San Diego was to be scrapped, but the city of Hamburg bought her. She was restored and is now a museum ship, currently hosting an exhibition about immigrants who started into their new life overseas from Hamburg.

The Cap San Diego is still seaworthy and leaves Hamburg every year for a trip to Cuxhaven and for other trips. You can book a stay on the Cap in one of the passenger cabins and if you want to spend a bit more money, you can actually charter the whole ship.

This is the second big museum ship in the port of Hamburg, the Rickmer Rickmers. She's a three masted bark launched in 1896 and made runs to Asia and later mainly to Chile for salpetre. From 1924 to 1962 she was a training ship in Portugal, after having been confiscated after WWI. She returned to Hamburg in 1983. Here's a stamp that show her under sails

By the way, you tend to have a much more spectacular view of the port from where I stood to take those photos. I had waited for sunshine for three weeks, this was the last possible weekend and the fog just wouldn't lift. It was like a white wall someone erected right on the middle of the Elbe. Good thing I hadn't planned on getting any clear photos of the Blohm & Voss docks.

See what else C stands for with ABC Wednesday.
I'm going to try for a complete Hamburg ABC, after my animal ABC. Some letters are tricky (Y...), but I hope I can come up with something for each one.

Nature Notes: Tree Fungi

2011-01-26T18:08:00.001+01:00

I love tree fungi. They tend to be overlooked because they are (mostly) not edible and not as flashy as, say, the Fly Agaric. But they are beautiful.

I don't have a picture, but Tinder Fungus (Fomes fomentarius) was and is used for making fire. It can also be used to make hats and even cloaks and as a hemostatic.

I don't know what species I have photographed, but I like how different they all are and how colourful.
Edit: I identified at least this one, I think, as Trametes versicolor

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Rambling Woods

ABC Wednesday: B is for Binturong

2011-01-25T14:31:00.000+01:00

Binturongs (Arctictis binturong) are also called bearcats, but they are neither bears nor cats. They are related to civets and genets, sharing the family of the Viverridae with them. It's unknown what the word Binturong means because the language it's from is no longer spoken.
The pose in the photo is pretty typical for a binturong during the day and they don't move all that much during the night when they are most active.

They can climb very well using their tails and claws and they are able to rotate their hindlegs so that they can hold on even when they climb down a tree head first. Binturongs mainly feed on fruit, but will also take small rodents, birds, eggs and leaves.

Native to South East Asian rainforest, the binturong's habitat is threatened by deforestation. The animal itself is sometimes hunted for food. They live in groups or as single animals and give birth to 1-6 babies twice a year. It is believed that the females can delay pregnancies so that they give birth when the conditions are best for raising the litter.

The Binturong is the last entry in my animal ABC (I started with C is for Chulengo)! I'll try to do a Hamburg ABC next, although I'm not sure if I can find all the letters.

See what else B stands for with ABC Wednesday.

All photos were taken at Burgers' Zoo.

Nature Notes: Walk in the Park

2011-01-19T22:35:00.000+01:00

Sundown seen across the lake in the Stadtpark, the biggest public park in Hamburg. The photo was taken a little more than a week ago, the ice is all gone now.

The magnolia is already waiting for spring, ready to unfurl its leaves

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at RamblingWoods

ABC Wednesday: A is for...

2011-01-18T11:58:00.002+01:00

Can you guess the animal? It's not a pig, although if you translate its name, it means earth pig. It has no close relatives, but it is related to elephants, manatis/dugongs and elephant shrews. If you want to know if you have guessed right,take a look behind the break:

It's an aardvark (the name is Afrikaans). The extremely elongated snout and the sticky tongue are an adaptation to its diet: ants and termites. Aardvarks are powerful diggers who can break open a termite mound without problems. heir thick skin makes them impervious to the insects' bites. They even sometimes sleep in ants nests they have just robbed.

They have four toes on their front legs, but five on their back legs. An aardvark weighs between 40 and 60 kilograms and including the tail, they can reach a length of over 2 metres.

Source: Wikipedia
They give birth to a single baby that stays with the mother for six months, sometimes a year. They can reach an age of 25 years in captivity. Aardvarks have a powerful sense of smell and very keen hearing, the big ears are useful to listen for predators such as leopards or lions while the aardvark is busy digging up an ants nest. They are also very fast runners and will try to run for cover into their burrow (or quickly dig a new one) if attacked. Once inside, they attack with their claws.

There are a few famous fictional aardvarks, for example Cerebus and Die blaue Elise (The blue Eliza). It it's original form (The Ant and the Aardvark), the aardvark was male and had no name, but for some reason in the German version it's female and named Elise. Probably due to the awesome voice acting of Marianne Wishmann (who also voiced the German Miss Piggy), the series developed a cult following here.

See what else A stands for with ABC Wednesday

Photos of the mounted aardvark were taken at the Zologisches Museum Hamburg, of the sleeping aardvark at Burgers Zoo.

Nature Notes: New Year's Walk

2011-01-12T18:45:00.000+01:00

Some impressions I captured on a walk we took on New Year's Day:

male blackbird (Turdus merula)

Nature Notes is hosted by Michelle at Ramblingwoods

ABC Wednesday: Z is for Zebu

2011-01-11T09:06:00.001+01:00

A Zebu is a species of domesticated cattle descended from the Auerochs. They are mainly kept in South Asia and Indian in particular.

There are many different breeds, the ones shown here are dwarf zebus. Some breeds have been interbred with taurine cattle. Taurine cattle is the cattle that's common in Europe and North America, it's possible that zebus and taurine cattle have been bred from different subspecies of the Auerochs.

Zebus are also called Humped Cattle, although the hump is not as obvious with the dwarf zebus here than with other breeds. They are bred for both milk and beef, but can also be used as draught animals and sometimes, zebus are seen in rodeos.
All photos were take at Hagenbecks Tierpark.
Find out what else Z stands for with ABC Wednesday