en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hare

  

The European hare (Lepus europaeus), also known as the brown hare, is a species of hare native to Europe and parts of Asia. It is among the largest hare species and is adapted to temperate, open country. Hares are herbivorous and feed mainly on grasses and herbs, supplementing these with twigs, buds, bark and field crops, particularly in winter. Their natural predators include large birds of prey, canids and felids. They rely on high-speed endurance running to escape from their enemies; having long, powerful limbs and large nostrils.

 

Generally nocturnal and shy in nature, hares change their behaviour in the spring, when they can be seen in broad daylight chasing one another around in fields. During this spring frenzy, they sometimes strike one another with their paws ("boxing"). This is usually not competition between males, but a female hitting a male, either to show she is not yet ready to mate or as a test of his determination. The female nests in a depression on the surface of the ground rather than in a burrow, and the young are active as soon as they are born. Litters may consist of three or four young and a female can bear three litters a year, with hares living for up to twelve years. The breeding season lasts from January to August.

 

The European hare is listed as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature because it has a wide range and is moderately abundant. However, populations have been declining in mainland Europe since the 1960s, at least partly due to changes in farming practices. The hare has been hunted across Europe for centuries, with more than five million being shot each year; in Britain, it has traditionally been hunted by beagling and hare coursing, but these field sports are now illegal. The hare has been a traditional symbol of fertility and reproduction in some cultures, and its courtship behaviour in the spring inspired the English idiom mad as a March hare.

  

Taxonomy and genetics

  

The European hare was first described in 1778 by German zoologist Peter Simon Pallas.[2] It shares the genus Lepus (Latin for "hare"[3]) with 31 other hare and jackrabbit species,[4] jackrabbits being the name given to some species of hare native to North America. They are distinguished from other leporids (hares and rabbits) by their longer legs, wider nostrils and active (precocial) young.[5] The Corsican hare, broom hare and Granada hare were at one time considered to be subspecies of the European hare, but DNA sequencing and morphological analysis support their status as separate species.[6][7]

 

There is some debate as to whether the European hare and the Cape hare are the same species. A 2005 nuclear gene pool study suggested that they are,[8] but a 2006 study of the mitochondrial DNA of these same animals concluded that they had diverged sufficiently widely to be considered separate species.[9] A 2008 study claims that in the case of Lepus species, with their rapid evolution, species designation cannot be based solely on mtDNA but should also include an examination of the nuclear gene pool. It is possible that the genetic differences between the European and Cape hare are due to geographic separation rather than actual divergence. It has been speculated that in the Near East, hare populations are intergrading and experiencing gene flow.[10] Another 2008 study suggests that more research is needed before a conclusion is reached as to whether a species complex exists;[11] the European hare remains classified as a single species until further data contradicts this assumption.[1]

 

Cladogenetic analysis suggests that European hares survived the last glacial period during the Pleistocene via refugia in southern Europe (Italian peninsula and Balkans) and Asia Minor. Subsequent colonisations of Central Europe appear to have been initiated by human-caused environmental changes.[12] Genetic diversity in current populations is high with no signs of inbreeding. Gene flow appears to be biased towards males, but overall populations are matrilineally structured. There appears to be a particularly large degree of genetic diversity in hares in the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. It is however possible that restricted gene flow could reduce genetic diversity within populations that become isolated.[13]

 

Historically, up to 30 subspecies of European hare have been described, although their status has been disputed.[5] These subspecies have been distinguished by differences in pelage colouration, body size, external body measurements, skull morphology and tooth shape.[14] Sixteen subspecies are listed in the IUCN red book, following Hoffmann and Smith (2005): Lepus europaeus caspicus, L. e. connori, L. e. creticus, L. e. cyprius, L. e. cyrensis, L. e. europaeus, L. e. hybridus, L. e. judeae, L. e. karpathorum, L. e. medius, L. e. occidentalis, L. e. parnassius, L. e. ponticus, L. e. rhodius, L. e. syriacus, and L. e. transsylvanicus.[15] Twenty-nine subspecies are listed by Chapman and Flux in their book on lagomorphs, including in addition L. e. alba, L. e. argenteogrisea, L. e. biarmicus, L. e. borealis, L. e. caspicus, L. e. caucasicus, L. e. flavus, L. e. gallaecius, L. e. hispanicus, L. e. hyemalis, L. e. granatensis, L. e. iturissius, L. e. kalmykorum, L. e. meridiei, L. e. meridionalis, L. e. niethammeri, L. e. niger, L. e. tesquorum, and L. e. tumak, but excluding L. e. connori, L. e. creticus, L. e. cyprius, L. e. judeae, L. e. rhodius, and L. e. syriacus, with the proviso that the subspecies they list are of "very variable status".[5]

  

Description

  

The European hare, like other members of the family Leporidae, is a fast-running terrestrial mammal; it has eyes set high on the sides of its head, long ears and a flexible neck. Its teeth grow continuously, the first incisors being modified for gnawing while the second incisors are peg-like and non-functional. There is a gap (diastema) between the incisors and the cheek teeth, the latter being adapted for grinding coarse plant material. The dental formula is 2/1, 0/0, 3/2, 3/3.[16][17] The dark limb musculature of hares is adapted for high-speed endurance running in open country. By contrast, cottontail rabbits are built for short bursts of speed in more vegetated habitats.[5][18] Other adaptions for high speed running in hares include wider nostrils and larger hearts.[5] In comparison to the European rabbit, the hare has a proportionally smaller stomach and caecum.[19]

 

This hare is one of the largest of the lagomorphs. Its head and body length can range from 60 to 75 cm (24 to 30 in) with a tail length of 7.2 to 11 cm (2.8 to 4.3 in). The body mass is typically between 3 and 5 kg (6.6 and 11.0 lb).[20] The hare's elongated ears range from 9.4 to 11.0 cm (3.7 to 4.3 in) from the notch to tip. It also has long hind feet that have a length of between 14 and 16 cm (5.5 and 6.3 in).[21] The skull has nasal bones that are short, but broad and heavy. The supraorbital ridge has well-developed anterior and posterior lobes and the lacrimal bone projects prominently from the anterior wall of the orbit.[20]

 

The fur colour is grizzled yellow-brown on the back; rufous on the shoulders, legs, neck and throat; white on the underside and black on the tail and ear tips.[21] The fur on the back is typically longer and more curled than on the rest of the body.[5] The European hare's fur does not turn completely white in the winter as is the case with some other members of the genus,[21] although the sides of the head and base of the ears do develop white areas and the hip and rump region may gain some grey.[5]

  

Range and habitat

  

European hares are native to much of continental Europe and part of Asia. Their range extends from northern Spain to southern Scandinavia, eastern Europe, and northern parts of Western and Central Asia. They have been extending their range into Siberia.[5] They may have been introduced to Britain by the Romans (circa 2000 years ago) as there are no records of them from earlier sites. Undocumented introductions likely occurred in some Mediterranean Islands.[22] They have also been introduced, mostly as game animals, to North America (in Ontario and New York State, and unsuccessfully in Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, and Connecticut), South America (Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia, Peru and the Falkland Islands), Australia, both islands of New Zealand and the south Pacific coast of Russia.[5][21][23]

 

Hares primarily live in open fields with scattered brush for shelter. They are very adaptable and thrive in mixed farmland.[5] According to a study done in the Czech Republic, the mean hare densities were highest at altitudes below 200 metres (660 ft), 40 to 60 days of annual snow cover, 450 to 700 millimetres (18 to 28 in) of annual precipitation, and a mean annual air temperature of around 10 °C (50 °F). With regards to climate, the study found that hare densities were highest in "warm and dry districts with mild winters".[24] In Poland, hares are most abundant in areas with few forest edges, perhaps because foxes can use these for cover. They require cover, such as hedges, ditches and permanent cover areas, because these habitats supply the varied diet they require, and are found at lower densities in large open fields. Intensive cultivation of the land results in greater mortality of young hares (leverets).[25]

 

In the United Kingdom, hares are seen most frequently on arable farms, especially those with fallow land, wheat and sugar beet crops. In mainly grass farms their numbers are raised when there are improved pastures, some arable crops and patches of woodland. They are seen less frequently where foxes are abundant or where there are many buzzards. They also seem to be fewer in number in areas with high European rabbit populations,[26] although there appears to be little interaction between the two species and no aggression.[27] Although hares are shot as game when they are plentiful, this is a self-limiting activity and is less likely to occur in localities where they are scarce.[26]

  

Behaviour and life history

  

Hares are primarily nocturnal and spend a third of their time foraging.[5] During daytime, a hare hides in a depression in the ground called a "form" where it is partially hidden. Hares can run at 70 km/h (43 mph) and when confronted by predators they rely on outrunning them in the open. They are generally thought of as asocial but can be seen in both large and small groups. They do not appear to be territorial, living in shared home ranges of around 300 ha (740 acres). Hares communicate with each other by a variety of visual signals. To show interest they raise their ears, while lowering the ears warns others to keep away. When challenging a conspecific, a hare thumps its front feet; the hind feet are used to warn others of a predator. A hare squeals when hurt or scared and a female makes "guttural" calls to attract her young.[21] Hares can live for as long as twelve years.[1]

  

Food and foraging

  

European hares are primarily herbivorous. They may forage for wild grasses and weeds but with the intensification of agriculture, they have taken to feeding on crops when preferred foods are not available.[1] During the spring and summer, they feed on soy, clover and corn poppy[28] as well as grasses and herbs.[21] During autumn and winter, they primarily choose winter wheat, and are also attracted to piles of sugar beet and carrots provided for them by hunters.[28] They also eat twigs, buds and the bark of shrubs and young fruit trees during winter.[21] Cereal crops are usually avoided when other more attractive foods are available, the species appearing to prefer high energy foodstuffs over crude fibre.[29] When eating twigs, hares strip off the bark to access the vascular tissues which store soluble carbohydrates. Compared to the European rabbit, food passes through the gut more rapidly in the hare, although digestion rates are similar.[19] They sometimes eat their own green, faecal pellets to recover undigested proteins and vitamins.[20] Two to three adult hares can eat more food than a single sheep.[21]

  

European hares forage in groups. Group feeding is beneficial as individuals can spend more time feeding knowing that other hares are being vigilant. Nevertheless, the distribution of food affects these benefits. When food is well-spaced, all hares are able to access it. When food is clumped together, only dominant hares can access it. In small gatherings, dominants are more successful in defending food, but as more individuals join in, they must spend more time driving off others. The larger the group, the less time dominant individuals have in which to eat. Meanwhile, the subordinates can access the food while the dominants are distracted. As such, when in groups, all individuals fare worse when food is clumped as opposed to when it is widely spaced.[30]

  

Mating and reproduction

  

European hares have a prolonged breeding season which lasts from January to August.[31][32] Females, or does, can be found pregnant in all breeding months and males, or bucks, are fertile all year round except during October and November. After this hiatus, the size and activity of the males' testes increase, signalling the start of a new reproductive cycle. This continues through December, January and February when the reproductive tract gains back its functionality. Matings start before ovulation occurs and the first pregnancies of the year often result in a single foetus, with pregnancy failures being common. Peak reproductive activity occurs in March and April, when all females may be pregnant, the majority with three or more foetuses.[32]

 

The mating system of the hare has been described as both polygynous (single males mating with multiple females) and promiscuous.[33] Females have six-weekly reproductive cycles and are receptive for only a few hours at a time, making competition among local bucks intense.[31] At the height of the breeding season, this phenomenon is known as "March madness",[32] when the normally nocturnal bucks are forced to be active in the daytime. In addition to dominant animals subduing subordinates, the female fights off her numerous suitors if she is not ready to mate. Fights can be vicious and can leave numerous scars on the ears.[31] In these encounters, hares stand upright and attack each other with their paws, a practice known as "boxing", and this activity is usually between a female and a male and not between competing males as was previously believed.[21][34] When a doe is ready to mate, she runs across the countryside, starting a chase that tests the stamina of the following males. When only the fittest male remains, the female stops and allows him to copulate.[31] Female fertility continues through May, June and July, but testosterone production decreases in males and sexual behaviour becomes less overt. Litter sizes decrease as the breeding season draws to a close with no pregnancies occurring after August. The testes of males begin to regress and sperm production ends in September.[32]

  

Does give birth in hollow depressions in the ground. An individual female may have three litters in a year with a 41- to 42-day gestation period. The young have an average weigh of around 130 grams (4.6 oz) at birth.[35] The leverets are fully furred and are precocial, being ready to leave the nest soon after they are born, an adaptation to the lack of physical protection relative to that afforded by a burrow.[21] Leverets disperse during the day and come together in the evening close to where they were born. Their mother visits them for nursing soon after sunset; the young suckle for around five minutes, urinating while they do so, with the doe licking up the fluid. She then leaps away so as not to leave an olfactory trail, and the leverets disperse once more.[21][36] Young can eat solid food after two weeks and are weaned when they are four weeks old.[21] While young of either sex commonly explore their surroundings,[37] natal dispersal tends to be greater in males.[33][38] Sexual maturity occurs at seven or eight months for females and six months for males.[1]

  

Mortality and health

  

European hares are large leporids and adults can only be tackled by large predators such as canids, felids and the largest birds of prey.[20] In Poland it was found that the consumption of hares by foxes was at its highest during spring, when the availability of small animal prey was low; at this time of year, hares may constitute up to 50% of the biomass eaten by foxes, with 50% of the mortality of adult hares being caused by their predation.[39] In Scandinavia, a natural epizootic of sarcoptic mange which reduced the population of red foxes dramatically, resulted in an increase in the number of European hares, which returned to previous levels when the numbers of foxes subsequently increased.[40] The golden eagle preys on the European hare in the Alps, the Carpathians, the Apennines and northern Spain.[41] In North America, foxes and coyotes are probably the most common predators, with bobcats and lynx also preying on them in more remote locations.[35]

 

European hares have both external and internal parasites. One study found that 54% of animals in Slovakia were parasitised by nematodes and over 90% by coccidia.[42] In Australia, European hares were reported as being infected by four species of nematode, six of coccidian, several liver flukes and two canine tapeworms. They were also found to host rabbit fleas (Spilopsyllus cuniculi), stickfast fleas (Echidnophaga myrmecobii), lice (Haemodipsus setoni and H. lyriocephalus), and mites (Leporacarus gibbus).[43]

 

European brown hare syndrome (EBHS) is a disease caused by a calicivirus similar to that causing rabbit haemorrhagic disease (RHS) and can similarly be fatal, but cross infection between the two mammal species does not occur.[44] Other threats to the hare are pasteurellosis, yersiniosis (pseudo-tuberculosis), coccidiosis and tularaemia, which are the principal sources of mortality.[45]

 

Relationship with humans

  

In folklore, literature, and art

  

In Europe, the hare has been a symbol of sex and fertility since at least Ancient Greece. The Greeks associated it with the gods Dionysus, Aphrodite and Artemis as well as with satyrs and cupids. The Christian Church connected the hare with lustfulness and homosexuality, but also associated it with the persecution of the church because of the way it was commonly hunted.[46]

 

In Northern Europe, Easter imagery often involves hares or rabbits. Citing folk Easter customs in Leicestershire, England, where "the profits of the land called Harecrop Leys were applied to providing a meal which was thrown on the ground at the 'Hare-pie Bank'", the 19th-century scholar Charles Isaac Elton proposed a possible connection between these customs and the worship of Ēostre.[47] In his 19th-century study of the hare in folk custom and mythology, Charles J. Billson cites folk customs involving the hare around Easter in Northern Europe, and argues that the hare was probably a sacred animal in prehistoric Britain's festival of springtime.[48] Observation of the hare's springtime mating behaviour led to the popular English idiom "mad as a March hare",[46] with similar phrases from the sixteenth century writings of John Skelton and Sir Thomas More onwards.[49] The mad hare reappears in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll, in which Alice participates in a crazy tea party with the March Hare and the Mad Hatter.[50]

  

Any connection of the hare to Ēostre is doubtful. John Andrew Boyle cites an etymology dictionary by A. Ernout and A. Meillet, who wrote that the lights of Ēostre were carried by hares, that Ēostre represented spring fecundity, love and sexual pleasure. Boyle responds that almost nothing is known about Ēostre, and that the authors had seemingly accepted the identification of Ēostre with the Norse goddess Freyja, but that the hare is not associated with Freyja either. Boyle adds that "when the authors speak of the hare as the 'companion of Aphrodite and of satyrs and cupids' and 'in the Middle Ages [the hare] appears beside the figure of [mythological] Luxuria', they are on much surer ground."[51]

 

The hare is a character in some fables, such as The Tortoise and the Hare of Aesop.[52] The story was annexed to a philosophical problem by Zeno of Elea, who created a set of paradoxes to support Parmenides' attack on the idea of continuous motion, as each time the hare (or the hero Achilles) moves to where the tortoise was, the tortoise moves just a little further away.[53][54] The German Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer realistically depicted a hare in his 1502 watercolour painting Young Hare.[55]

  

Food and hunting

  

Across Europe, over five million European hares are shot each year, making it probably the most important game mammal on the continent. This popularity has threatened regional varieties such as those of France and Denmark, through large-scale importing of hares from Eastern European countries such as Hungary.[5] Hares have traditionally been hunted in Britain by beagling and hare coursing. In beagling, the hare is hunted with a pack of small hunting dogs, beagles, followed by the human hunters on foot. In Britain, the 2004 Hunting Act banned hunting of hares with dogs, so the 60 beagle packs now use artificial "trails", or may legally continue to hunt rabbits.[56] Hare coursing with greyhounds was once an aristocratic pursuit, forbidden to lower social classes.[57] More recently, informal hare coursing became a lower class activity and was conducted without the landowner's permission;[58] it is also now illegal.[59]

 

Hare is traditionally cooked by jugging: a whole hare is cut into pieces, marinated and cooked slowly with red wine and juniper berries in a tall jug that stands in a pan of water. It is traditionally served with (or briefly cooked with) the hare's blood and port wine.[60][61] Hare can also be cooked in a casserole.[62] The meat is darker and more strongly flavoured than that of rabbits. Young hares can be roasted; the meat of older hares becomes too tough for roasting, and may be slow-cooked.[61][63]

  

Status

  

The European hare has a wide range across Europe and western Asia and has been introduced to a number of other countries around the globe, often as a game species. In general it is considered moderately abundant in its native range,[13] but declines in populations have been noted in many areas since the 1960s. These have been associated with the intensification of agricultural practices.[64] The hare is an adaptable species and can move into new habitats, but it thrives best when there is an availability of a wide variety of weeds and other herbs to supplement its main diet of grasses.[1] The hare is considered a pest in some areas; it is more likely to damage crops and young trees in winter when there are not enough alternative foodstuffs available.[21]

 

The International Union for Conservation of Nature has evaluated the European hare's conservation status as being of least concern. However, at low population densities, hares are vulnerable to local extinctions as the available gene pool declines, making inbreeding more likely. This is the case in northern Spain and in Greece, where the restocking by hares brought from outside the region has been identified as a threat to regional gene pools. To counteract this, a captive breeding program has been implemented in Spain, and the relocation of some individuals from one location to another has increased genetic variety.[1] The Bern Convention lists the hare under Appendix III as a protected species.[26] Several countries, including Norway, Germany, Austria and Switzerland,[1] have placed the species on their Red Lists as "near threatened" or "threatened".

St Aidan's Nature Park

This Orthodox Jewish man walked across the stones and water and seemed to be about to end it all. But he looked up to the sky for a few moments, turned round and walked back to the beach. Just a phone snap.

New edit a little gaussian blur treatment in photoshop, at least I'm getting some editing practice.

Introduced to Australia in 1860 these myna birds are now considered pests as they are impacting on our native birds by aggressively pushing nesting native animals from tree hollows.

Despite knowing this I personally have not seen any of this behaviour in the myna birds I have on my property.

In fact all the native birds will allow them in for a time but will also chase them away.

So in my area the native birds rule.

Cormorants diving for fish and Egret catching the fish that almost escaped ... :-D

 

Taken at Rye Harbour, East Sussex, UK.

Possibly a Tench.

Fabulous encounter with a wonderful, totally relaxed mountain hare in the Scottish Highlands, July 2019.

they are both quarrelsome and affectionate.

and mate for life...

20+ lightpainted domes in a row, down a flight of steps off a footbridge, in a heavily light polluted area.

 

Single exposure.

 

Do you dome? Here's how

_____

» LongExposures website

» @LongExposures on twitter

» LongExposurePhotography on facebook

Is he eying up the car radio?

  

Common Blue Damselfly resting on a Southern Hawker Dragonfly.

A sequence of 3 photos illustrating courtship feeding. The actual encounter lasted a couple of minutes and involved food offered, ignored, removed, begged for and finally shared. Playing hard to get!!!

One of the most obvious features of the Brolga’s behaviour is its courtship display, an elaborate dance. The dance begins with a pair of birds picking up grass, tossing it into the air and catching it again. This is followed by the birds repeatedly leaping a metre into the air with wings outstretched, followed by stretching their necks upwards, bowing to one another, bobbing their heads, walking about and calling. Sometimes the dance is done alone or in a group, with the birds lining up opposite one another.

 

I was driving along the Fogg Dam wall and spotted this pair of birds seeking some midday shade. The big male was making a few dips and springing up to his full impressive height and opening his wings but no full on leaps. still to be able to step out of the car lay flat on the wall and this pair are less than 50m away and they just slowly dance away

 

It is very disheartening to see a dry dam and flood plane at a time when this area should be at least 1m deep under flood water. just hope that the rain today has helped...

Black Headed Gull behaviour

Two sets of intimate trumpeter swans couples engaging in various courtship behaviours. Aww...looks like love is in "the water"! Central Saanich, Vancouver Island, BC

Two young bison strutting their wares at Elk Island National Park, Alberta

If there’s one thing we know beyond any doubt, it’s that all of life is an evolutionary process. Everything, from the smallest particle in existence to the universe as a whole is in the process of evolution. Immutability is the only truth. Expansion is the point. The only question is whether or ...

 

chooselife.me/5-behaviours-show-higher-level-consciousness/

I don't know what's gotten into the Canada Geese lately! They are all very vocal & looking for a fight! : )

 

Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade

Activists for birds and wildlife

Algarve Portugal 26-04-2022

 

Scientific classification

Domain:Eukaryota

Kingdom:Animalia

Phylum:Chordata

Class:Aves

Order:Piciformes

Family:Picidae

Genus:Jynx

Species:J. torquilla

Binomial name

Jynx torquilla

 

[order] Piciformes | [family] Picidae | [latin] Jynx torquilla | [UK] Wryneck | [FR] Torcol fourmilier | [DE] Wendehals | [ES] Torcecuello de África Tropical | [IT] Torcicollo eurasiatico | [NL] Draaihals

 

spanwidth min.: 25 cm

spanwidth max.: 27 cm

size min.: 16 cm

size max.: 17 cm

Breeding

incubation min.: 11 days

incubation max.: 14 days

fledging min.: 18 days

fledging max.: 22 days

broods 2

eggs min.: 6

eggs max.: 10

 

These birds get their English name from their ability to turn their heads through almost 180 degrees. When disturbed at the nest, they use this snake-like head twisting and hissing as a threat display. This odd behaviour led to their use in witchcraft, hence to put a "jinx" on someone. The genus name Jynx is from the Ancient Greek name for this bird, iunx. The specific torquilla is Medieval Latin derived from torquere, to twist, referring to the strange snake-head movements. The bird was used as a charm to bring back an errant lover, the bird being tied to a piece of string and whirled around. The English "wryneck" refers to the same twisting movement and was first recorded in 1585.

 

A "Twisting" Video Here . . .

www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD52NLJw4Pk" rel="noreferrer nofollow">www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD52NLJw4Pk

  

Physical characteristics

 

They are small sparrow-sized birds, appearing greyish overall, with brown and buff mottling. They have a contrasting dark band running down from the back of the head onto the back. Their bills are shorter and less dagger like than in the true woodpeckers, but their chief prey is ants and other insects, which they find in decaying wood or almost bare soil. They re-use woodpecker holes for nesting, rather than making their own holes. The eggs are white, as with many hole nesters. These birds get their English name from their ability to turn their heads almost 180 degrees. When disturbed at the nest, they use this snake-like head twisting and hissing as a threat display. This odd behaviour led to their use in witchcraft, hence to put a "jinx" on someone

 

Habitat

 

Breeds in west Palearctic from boreal subarctic through temperate to Mediterranean zones, strongly favouring continental rather than oceanic climates but avoids true steppe, desert, mountains, and wetlands. A lowland bird, but in Switzerland a few breed in favourable valleys above 1000 m. Does not favour dense or tall forest, preferring fringes, open woodlands, clearings, or, especially, parks, orchards, cemeteries, large gardens (even in towns), avenues, riverside trees, and heaths with colonizing pines. Prefers deciduous to coniferous trees, and is less interested in trunks than in branches, often fairly close to ground. Importance of ants in diet leads to frequent occurrence on warm dry ground, either bare or with short herbage; presence of such foraging areas as well as of suitable nest-holes (which it is unable to excavate) is critical for choice of breeding habitat. On migration, occurs in variety of strange habitats with little or no tree cover, even in deserts and low scrub, while wintering birds even found in broad-leaved or thorn scrub, semi-desert, and cultivation.

 

Other details

 

Jynx torquilla is a widespread summer visitor to much of Europe, which accounts for less than half of its global breeding range. Its European breeding population is large (>580,000 pairs), but underwent a moderate decline between 1970-1990. Although several populations in eastern Europe were stable during 1990-2000, and the trend of the key population in Russia was unknown, the species continued to decline across most of its European range, and probably underwent a moderate decline (>10%) overall. Consequently, it is provisionally evaluated as Declining.

 

Feeding

 

Principally, and sometimes exclusively, ants, but also other insects. Ants usually taken from nests; may be dug out with bill, or nest broken up. Prey in holes adhere to long, glutinous tongue and are drawn out. Usually pecks at immediately available adults and larvae and uses tongue for more inaccessible prey.

 

Breeding

 

Wrynecks usually nest in a natural hole in a tree, but they will also make use of holes in walls and nest boxes. They have been known to evict other species of birds already in residence and their noisy activities at the nest site sometimes give away their presence. They lay up to ten pale grey-green - almost white - eggs during May, which are usually incubated by the female bird for 12 to 14 days. The young wrynecks are fed on ants and ant larvae for about three weeks, both parent birds attending to the task. If food supplies are good, the birds may attempt a second brood during July and August.

 

Migration

 

Mainly migratory. European population winters in very small numbers or irregularly in Mediterranean basin and Middle East; otherwise in Africa south of Sahara. Found there in acacia steppe across northern tropics from Sénégambia and Sierra Leone east to Ethiopia, and south to c. 3°N in Cameroun and Zaïre. Migrates on broad front across Europe and North Africa. Main autumn passage period is mid-August to early October (stragglers into November or even later); from early September onwards south of Sahara. Spring passage begins early March, though minority still in Afrotropics in early May. Vanguard commonly reaches west and central Europe in second half of March (occasionally earlier), but major reoccupation of European breeding range early April to mid-May, averaging later to north and east.

 

Ibiza. 08-07-2018

Leica M10; 50mm Lux

Shottisham, Suffolk, 21 April 2020

Shottisham, Suffolk, 6 February 2020 (other hoverflies were also seen exhibiting this behaviour - a second E. tenax, three Episyrphus balteatus and a Syrphus torvus)

Hardcastle Crags

From BeSpoke available at DISTURBED Event

 

StarSpawn Cthulhu mesh fantasy head

- Evo X only

- Male and Female neck fittings

Includes:-

- Female and Masculine skins for body and head (different skins can purchased individually and in fatpack)

- Tentacles

- Teeth

- Ears

- Eyes

- Materials

- Advanced HUD with bento animations

- Skins available separately and in fatpack as well

- Discount during event : head 10% off

Materials/Mod/Copy

 

BeSpoke - Mainstore

 

From Killjoy available at LEVEL Event

 

"Raven" Bodysuit

 

- Rigged to Reborn / Waifu / R V-Tech / Legacy / L V-Tech / Lara X / Petite X / Flat X

- Bulge option included with each fit

- PBR textures only

- Latex, Leather & Satin textures - 10 solids + 5 patterns each, 45 in total

- Alpha layer included for convenience

- Sold by body type - body complete packs & megapack also available

- Copy/Mod/Materials

 

KILLJOY mainstore

 

From Amadeus

 

"Dark Side" PBR backdrop

- Includes backdrop, EEP sky settings and PBR Material for modding

- Materials/Mod/Copy

 

Amadeus Mainstore

 

From TREVOR available at their Mainstore

 

Spiritual Sphere

Interactive item

 

Features

• 9 Different Sphere Colours

- 1 Fatpack Exclusive

• Includes 2 different styles - compact and expanded, both with unique animations

 

TREVOR - Mainstore

TREVOR - Marketplace

 

From Normandy available at Normandy Mainstore

 

"Irune Boots MK2"

- Includes HUD with 24 colours, 9 neon textures

- Supports Maitreya, Legacy, Reborn/Kottr Squishy thighs

- Materials/Mod/Copy

 

Normandy Mainstore

 

Other stuff:-

{ MoonPhase } - Ecchi Enhancements_Crease_80% flesh darker greeb

SAXO - Butt Veins Unisex (Tintable) Soft Revenant tint

[Calli] - Veins - BOM - 30%

TF - Body Veins:: Subtle :: Medium (BoM)

HANZ - Electrical Discharges Upper [Light] BoM

SAXO - Dead Veins Body Unisex (Tintable) Soft

SAXO - Face Veins lel EVOX Unisex (Tintable) Dark

Lumen - Metallic Ear Fade - Purple 21

polarbunny - onyx dyed fingers. reborn. purple A

Aii - Forbidden Ritual Animesh Tentacles (basic) + {Aii&Ego}

-PL- Bimbo Boobs LEVEL 2 + Cleavage

enkeli - clawsies eBody Reborn [GROUP GIFT]

Lyrium - Collar Bone Reducer lvl 3

eBODY - REBORN, Waifus

[Kottr] - Squishy Thighs: Normal Reborn

REPULSE - Ghost 2 Eyes - 04

Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide with Jim Wilson.

www.markcarmodyphotography.com

 

There are three species: the Bohemian waxwing (B. garrulus), the Japanese waxwing (B. japonica) and the cedar waxwing (B. cedrorum). The Bohemian waxwing is a starling-sized bird. It is short-tailed, mainly brownish-grey, and has a conspicuous crest on its head. The male of the nominate subspecies has a black mask through the eye and a black throat. There is a white streak behind the bill and a white curve below the eye. The lower belly is a rich chestnut colour and there are cinnamon-coloured areas around the mask. The rump is grey and the tail ends in a bright yellow band with a broad black border above it. The wings are very distinctive; the flight feathers are black and the primaries have markings that produce a yellow stripe and white "fishhooks" on the closed wing. The adult's secondaries end in long red appendages with the sealing wax appearance that gives the bird its English name. The eyes are dark brown, the bill is mainly black, and the legs are dark grey or black. In flight, the waxwing's large flocks, long wings and short tail give some resemblance to the common starling, and its flight is similarly fast and direct. It clambers easily through bushes and trees but only shuffles on the ground.

 

The range of the Bohemian waxwing overlaps those of both the other members of the genus.

The Bohemian waxwing's call is a high trill sirrrr. The Bohemian waxwing has a circumpolar distribution, breeding in northern regions of Eurasia and North America.

 

This waxwing is migratory with much of the breeding range abandoned as the birds move south for the winter. Migration starts in September in the north of the range, a month or so later farther south. Eurasian birds normally winter from eastern Britain through northern parts of western and central Europe, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and northern China to Japan. North American breeders have a more southeasterly trend, many birds wintering in southeast Canada, with smaller numbers in the north central and northeastern US states. Birds do not usually return to the same wintering sites in successive years. One bird wintering in the Ukraine was found 6,000 km (3,700 mi) to the east in Siberia in the following year.

 

In some years, this waxwing irrupts south of its normal wintering areas, sometimes in huge numbers. The fruit on which the birds depend in winter varies in abundance from year to year, and in poor years, particularly those following a good crop the previous year, the flocks move farther south until they reach adequate supplies.They will stay until the food runs out and move on again. (wikipedia)

 

This bird was one of a flock of a dozen feeding on some fruit trees in a quiet estate in the suburbs of Glasnevin, Dublin. Every few years, there is a larger invasion into Ireland when the food supplies in their normal winter range is exhausted prematurely. Flocks of up to 400 Waxwings have been recorded in Ireland. This year seems to be one of those irruptive years for the species.

© All rights reserved

 

blue tit ~ parus caeruleus

 

RSPB Green status list.

 

Behavioural: courtship ritual offering of food.

This was a rushed grab shot as I had never seen blue tits do this before.

Since they are often "frozen" still in "don't detect me" mode , it is always enjoyable to see them just carrying on "being snipe". Moreso if there are more of them.

  

Wilson's Snipe WISN (Gallinago delicate)

 

& also

Mallard MALL (Anas platyrhynchos)

  

Welch Pond

Martindale Flats area

 

Saanich

Greater Victoria BC

 

DSCN1818

This species is not known for their gatherings mostly because they are so cryptically shy & camouflaged

 

This location was a stake out for a local rarity a Black Phoebe...which i did not see on this occasion but the snipe obs were great

 

Also--

Quickest way to "find" a helicopter is to try to do a video or audio clip..?

what's with that?!?

Grandson

Slowly but surely I am figuring out these little critters, watching their pattern of behaviour so I can be more ready. I saw this one come stealthily into the room upside down in a doorway. I knew s/he liked to crawl straight up the wall (here s/he is about 15 feet off the floor) to exit onto the roof through an open vent. I was able to get the camera and stay on the other side of the room so as not to spook him/her -- if I do they are lightening quick and disappear in the blink of an eye.