View allAll Photos Tagged behaviour
Hornet
Spotted some interesting behaviour yesterday , but no macro lens ( never leave home without one ). Went back in what can be described as not ideal macro conditions. But a long held ambition to photograph one of these stunning insects was fulfilled. Kay stood by with the anti histamine injection in case of stings. :0)
Kept reminding myself they are not aggressive.
Canon EOS-1D Mark IV
EF100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM
Æ’/4.0
100.0 mm
1/250
1250
Size 25 to 35 mm. The hornet is an impressive insect and is Britain's largest social wasp. Queens (reproductive females) are larger than the males and workers (non-reproductive females). The thorax area is brown and it has alternating bright orange-yellow and brownish-black stripes along the abdomen.
It is rarely aggressive unless the colony is threatened. Queens emerge from hibernation during the spring, and they search for a suitable location in which to start a new nest. The queen begins to build the nest with chewed wood pulp, and a few eggs are laid in individual paper cells; these eggs develop into non-reproductive workers. When 5-10 workers have emerged, they take over the care of the nest, and the rest of queen's life is devoted solely to egg laying. The nest grows throughout the summer, reaching its peak size towards mid September. At this time the queen lays eggs that develop into males (drones) and new queens, she then dies shortly after. The new queens and males mate during a 'nuptial flight', after which the males die, and the newly mated queens seek out suitable places in which to hibernate; the old nest is never re-used.
There were lots of bees and wasps on the sunny side of a fountain. I presume they were eating the algae that was growing at the edge of the water rather than drinking the water. Thanks for your comments - so they are drinking the water then.
August 2016
All rights reserved. This photo is not authorized for use on your blogs, pin boards, websites or use in any other way without specific written permission.
Squirrel behaviour: a few movements to stay clean. Today it was second time in two days that I saw our squirrel to clean herself in our apple tree. Yesterday I tried to film through the window, but it didn't quite work out. This time I run for Nikon D610 and managed to get outside and some three metres distance from the squirrel. It was hard to keep Nikon D610 + Nikkor 28-300mm at 300mm steady while in live view and little upward. Unfortunately I don't really know how to use Adobe premieres stabilization feature, but at least got out this version. Video end short because I wanted to take a few still images also. This is fabulous stuff and I just hope to catch it some time stationary 120fps HD. This one is only 30fps HD. Hyvinkää, Finland. 23.7.2017
Fair question! I suppose I'm looking at a ruddy turnstone. Sure, I've seen them before. They were all wild, living off their wits, spread out.
Here there are flocks. Not just flocks. Flocks of habituated urban birds scrabbling for crumbs; scraps of a livelihood. I'm cautious of them about my feet they are so ingenuous.
I can't say I like this experience. I don't suppose these birds were trained for this lifestyle. Instead they've likely evolved behaviours; adapting to the economy of scrounging in a tourist-popular fishing port. They don't add to the scene in the way they do on a wild coast.
Oh well, this is another thing to note down and move on. I have St Ives for a short while and I'm not keen to waste it on what were once shorebirds.
The adult falcon looked in 2 sides of the large windows in different areas (top and bottom). It's almost looking for a pigeon to grab which is very unusual for them as they are ariel predators. Be interesting to know. I've never seen this before. Deliberate attempts to look where Feral Pigeons are nesting
Enjoy watching the behaviour of a flock of Magpie Geese. One or two usually remain on watch while the rest are resting, then the slightest sound results in all heads shooting upwards and increased vigilance until they see that they are safe. Once common around here they became extinct due to draining and hunting, but were reintroduced from the 1970s and are gradually increasing. Hopefully one day we will see them in huge flocks once again. Always a joy to see
While watching what I now understand are Wall Lizards on Portland, I noticed this sequence. The larger lizard on the right, as quick as flash, raced across the stones and grabbed the smaller one. It then disappeared down under the stones, only to reappear quite quickly without its prize. I have no idea what happened to the smaller lizard. It might well be part of the breeding pattern but can you help with this behaviour?
It's waiting for you across the street. Keep it fresh.
Minolta Autocord
Chiyoko Rokkor 75mm f/2.8
Kodak Ektar
------------------------------------
I was fascinated by these two. For as long as I could keep them in sight, one fed and the other hovered just above as if on lookout!
Any info would be greatly appreciated!
Album Title: Exotic Behaviour
Model: 虹羚
Photographer: Edwin Setiawan
Place: 士林官邸
Date: 2009/07/12
Just about Photography: edwinsetiawan.wordpress.com
Edwin Setiawan Photography: www.edwinsetiawan.com
While in Ohio at the Midwest Birding Symposium we saw ring-billed gulls landing in dog wood trees and eating the berries.
Gulls are scavengers but I didn't know they would eat fruit.
It may be possible they were eating insects and not the berries but that isn't what it looked like.
Scientific stuff
Larus delawarensis
From Cornell Lab of OrnithologyFamiliar acrobats of the air, Ring-billed Gulls nimbly pluck tossed tidbits from on high. Comfortable around humans, they frequent parking lots, garbage dumps, beaches, and fields, sometimes by the hundreds. These are the gulls you're most likely to see far away from coastal areas—in fact, most Ring-billed Gulls nest in the interior of the continent, near freshwater. A black band encircling the yellow bill helps distinguish adults from other gulls—but look closely, as some other species have black or red spots on the bill
Many, if not most, Ring-billed Gulls return to breed at the colony where they hatched. Once they have bred, they are likely to return to the same breeding spot each year, often nesting within a few meters of the last year's nest site. Many individuals return to the same wintering sites each winter too.