Speed Of Flight

Hummingbird Hawk-moths , Macroglossum stellatarum, regularly get mistaken for humming birds despite the fact that humming birds are never found in the Old World.


The moths are quite unusual as they fly during the day, even in the rain and hover when feeding from flowers.


The moths migrate to northern Europe but only breed in the warm south.
Their wings beat fast enough to make a humming noise and this also makes them very difficult to photograph.

These are the best humming bird hawk moth photos i've managed to take so far. I'm pleased I managed to get the details of eyes and long tongue.

Fly me to the moon

The moon was a very interesting colour last night so i grabbed a couple of shots.
I wasn't expecting them to come out very well because i was shooting through glass.
I was also leaning on something for balance rather than using a tripod .
I was amazed to discover that this photo turnmed out to be my best moon photo ever [so far?].

I was really pleased with the amount of crater detail.

Cascade de Gairaut

This weird Austrian style building and artificial waterfall is sited on the Gairaut hill in Nice.
It was built to mark the inauguration of a canal which brings water from the Vésubie river into Nice.

Work on the canal started in 1878 and finished in 1883 with the building of the waterfall and chalet style 'Maison de Garde' at Gairaut.

The water flows underneath the building and the tunnel is decorated with concrete shaped like stalactites and stalagmites . This was a popular fashion at the end of the 19th century and there are the remains of a number of similar artifical 'grottoes' around the area , though most are in poor repair.

Its very strange to walk through the tunnel and look out through the 'cave' mouths
This is a close-up of the faux-Austrian woodwork - its kind of a cross between Austrian chal;e decoration and Victorian 'gingerbread' woodwork
This is a view from the front , showing some of the artificial waterfalls. Its quite a popular place to have wedding photos taken - we saw two bridal parties while we were visiting.


The view from the site is lovely . Nice is just a sea of terracotta roofs in the valley with the Mediterranean sparking in the distance.


A view over to mont Boron and Mont Alban on the left

The Cascade de Gairaut was a popular tourist attraction in Victorian times partly because of the lovely view and excentric building and partly because it was seen as an amazing engneering feat to be celebrated and admired.
The increased water supply from the canal allowed a huge expansion in flower growing in the Nice area in the late 19th C and obviously had a major impact on the fortunes of the city of Nice .

Greensleeves

This summer we have had greenfinches [Carduelis chloris , Verdier d'Europe] , nesting in the trees in our street.
At dawn and dusk the male greenfinch sings at the top of the tree - he is really pretty loud.
I've been taking quite a few photos of him every evening but sometimes there just isn't enough light .

Luckily the greenfinch started singing earlier the other day so the photos turned out quite well.
I hope our neighbours across the street don't think I'm spying on them with my camera.




This particular greenfinch is a strong acid yellow-green colour- others are more green toned and females have a duller plumage.
He is quite a smart looking fellow and is looking more groomed and sleek now that the brood have left the nest. Birds often get very dishevelled when feeding you as they have less time for grooming and they also tend to eat less than usual.

He was peering up at some yellow legged gulls on a ledge here. He seems to be very wary of gulls , and for good reason as they are quite happy to snatch up a smaller bird to feed their own young.



This is a half grown baby greenfinch waiting to be fed. For a couple of weeks he spent quite a lot of time squeaking and calling to his parents at the top of the tree. Apparently the male greenfinches will continue to feed youngsters who have left the nest , even when the female is sitting on the nest with another brood .
Tags: greenfinch, Carduelis chloris, Verdier d'Europe, photos, bird

Morning has broken

I've been living in 'interesting times ' recently and not had much time for blogging.
Hopefully things will calm down for a while at least.

For once I was up at dawn around the Summer Solstice and managed to take these photos.
The little round topped building on the hill is the Nice Observatory.


This reminded me of some sort of sci film special effects-the sky looked like it was on fire.
I loved the massive wedge shaped sunbeams lighting up the angry clouds.
Its hard to believe that these thick clouds all disappeared within an hour .

Tags: sunrise, solstice, photos

You shall have a fishy on a little dishy

Juvenile gulls are really well camouflaged against the pebbles with their dappled brown and white feathers.
This pair had found a fish that an angler had left on the beach.


I initially thought the angler was intending to use the fish as bait or that he had given an unwanted the fish to the gulls.

However , when the fisherman waded back to shore and saw the gulls tucking in to the fish he was really angry and tried to scare the gulls away; shouting and waving his arms.
He calmed down quite quickly [maybe because he had an audience] and ended up giving the gulls the heads and guts of the other fish he had caught.

The gulls seemed quite happy with their al fresco sashimi lunch.

Tags: juvenile gull, fish, pebbles, photos

Freebirds

There is a very unlikely bird sanctuary in Nice - its on the River Var estuary between Nice Airport and Cap 3000 shopping centre in St Laurent du Var. Its called La Petite Camargue after the huge river delta marsh area of the Camargue far to the west.

Strangely the birds don't seem to notice the planes taking off and landing and the folk visiting the shopping centre don't seem to realise there is a river and marshy estuary right next door.


This is a little egret [Egretta garzetta] -I was lucky to grab a few photos as the egrets took off. You can just about see that it has long black legs and yellow feet.
Another little egret taking off.

Here are two little egrets walking around -they stopped every so often to hunt for fish and amphbians.
I didn't notice the cormorant until I got home- it was so well camouflaged and most of the time has its head pointed towards the reeds.
Cormorants [ Phalacrocorax carbo] spend a lot of time with their wings outstretched. Apparently their feathers are not well waterproofed and this means they need to carefully dry them off between hunting sessions.
The immature gulls in the foreground are one year old yellow legged gulls .


There are supposed to be about 270 species of birds in the sanctuary- though some are just passing through on the way north or south. There are three different species in this picture- grey herons, moor hens and black winged stilts [Himantopus himantopus] .

The male black winged stilts has a black patch on his head [ left of the heron] and the female has a mainly white head [far left of the photo].

These birds are called stilts because of their exceedingly long red legs.



The two moorhens are in between the stilts.

A grey heron [Ardea cinerea] stalking majestically across the pebbles. Grey herons are very large birds with a huge wingspan . They mainly hunt for amphibians [esp frogs] and fish but they will also eat small mammals and birds.

Tags: black winged stilts, cormorant, little egret, moor hen, grey heron, Petite Camargue, Egretta garzetta, Phalacrocorax carbo, Himantopus himantopus, Ardea cinerea

Ugly bug ball

In spring, some of the pine trees in Portugal, Spain and the south of Franceand other parts of Europs start to acquire fluffy tufts of white similar to candy floss.

These innocuous-looking fluff balls are actually the nests of Pine processionary caterpillars Thaumatopoea pityocampa [Processionnaire du pin /chenilles processionaires in french.]

It still sounds quite harmless until you see that the trees containing the nests are less healthy looking with missing and yellowing pine needles.

The caterpillars are voracious eaters and weaken the trees by stripping the branches and reducing its growth cycle ands this in turn makes the tree more susceptible to plant disesases.
In fact, its easy to see the yellow needles and bare twigs in this photo.

As the caterpillars grow, the nest gets filled with rubbish. There is no entrance or exit to the nest, the caterpillars just push their way through the fibres. You can see one of the mature caterpillars on the outside here.
This is the final stage of caterpillar developement

I did not take any extreme close ups because these caterpillars are very dangerous.
The caterpillar hairs are extemely toxic and easily released as a defence against predators , causing terrible rashes , swelling and breathing problems [especially in the children, asthmatics and the elderly] and eye problems such as conjuntivitis and in extreme cases, galucoma and cataracts.
Even empty nests contain a lot of hairs which continue to be dangerous - some folk have reported problems from wearing clothes that are being aired in gardens next to the empty nests.


This was another ball of caterpillars perched on the edge of a kerb.

The caterpillars are also a huge problems for pet and horse owners -I've read that eating one caterpillar can kill a cat and 3 will kill a dog.

Dogs, horses [ and seemingly to a lesser degree, cats] are attracted to the pheromone trail and pick up the irritant hairs on their tongues and this can lead to necrosis and gangrene of the tongue or death if the animal isn't treated quickly enough.
Many animals every year require partial ampuataton of the tongue or have to be put to sleep after licking or eating these caterpillars.
This is straggler trying to catch up with the rest of the caterpillars on top of the kerb. The caterpillars follow a pheromone trail and are often found walking in long lines nose to tail, which is why they were given the name processionary caterpillar.
In experiments, these caterpillars can be made to wander round and round in circles endlessly following the pheromone trail.

After all the havoc of the processional stage , the caterpillars burrow into the soil and make a cocoon/crysalis. Over time they eventually hatch out as nondescript moths , who lay eggs on the pine needles and start the cycle over again.
The caterpillars have a few natural predators - cuckoos and great crested tits will eat the caterpillars untill they are covered in the irritant hairs and the hoopoes eats the cocoons when they are buried in the ground.

Humans have a variety of ways of dealing with the caterpillars - from releasing bacteria [Bacillus thuringiensis kurstaki ] and chemical insecticides - to removing the beginning nests by crudely blasting them with shotguns [the spread of hairs is still possiblity though] or carefully cutting off the branches whilst wearing protective clothing, face masks and gloves and then incinerating the nest , branch and all.

Tags: Pine processionary caterpillars, Thaumatopoea pityocampa, Processionnaire du pin, chenilles processionaires, photos, nest, caterpillar, hairy, France

Grandmother of Europe

Queen Victoria was once described as the Grandmother of Europe since her many children and grandchildren married into so many of the Royal families of Europe - Spanish, Prussian, Russian etc.
Unfortunately Queen Victoria was a carrier of haemophilia and this was passed on to her descendants and played a part in the collapse of the European monarchies.

This statue of Queen Victoria and her daughters is in the Cimiez district of Nice. It was placed there in 1912 to commemorate the Queen's visits to Nice.
During the Occupation of Nice during WWII , the Queen's head was knocked off the statue but the damage was repaired after the war ended.


Queen Victoria spent several holidays in Nice , exploring the arera by carriage and train and she adored the battle of the flowers and othe rlocal festivals.
On her deathbed she is reported as syaing, "Oh, if only I were at Nice, I should recover."

This is Victoria's hotel in Cimiez - the Excelsior Hotel Regina. It was deliberately built to attract the Queen's businesss and was built in front of the hotel she had stayed in previously, destroying the view.

The building is enormous and at the time it was built many people thought it was ugly and out of place in the Cimiez since it is right beside the Roman amphitheatre.

It is a totally over the top confection , like a wedding cake gone wild.



This is the part of the builiding reserved for Queen Victoria and her party. The tower has a little crown on top to show off the Royal connections.


The west wing of the Regina building with the crown on top of the domed roof of the turret. It resembles the small crown that Queen Victoria wore after her husband, Albert, died , although the real one was made of silver to signify mourning.

A gate into the private gardens of the Regina building. The little crown is part of the decorative ironwork. Initially the garden paths were laid out for easy access by the Queen's wheelchair. The gardens were quite elaborate and had croquet lawns, tennis courts, cycle paths and a tropical green house.

The Excelsior Hotel Regina closed in 1937 and Queen Victori'as coat of arms was removed from the private chapel and placed in the Holy Trnity Chrich in Nice where she worshipped once .

The former hotel is now subdivided into chic apartments and offices.

Tags: photo friday, queen victoria, cimiez, Nice, Excelsior Hotel Regina, statue, crown

I flit, I float, I fleetly flee, I fly

The photo Friday topic 'Extreme Closeup' was appropriate because I have just got a raynox dcr-250 supermacro lens.

This red eyed fly was sunning itself on a dead leaf and I was very impressed with the rainbow shimmer to its wings.
Flies are maybe not the most attractive subjects but I find them fascinating in extreme closeup.


I was really pleased to capture the facets of the compound eyes and its quite jolly grey and black striped torso like some kind of sport referee.

Tags: macro, photos, fly, photo friday, raynox dcr-250

O'er the hills and o'er the main

A couple of weekends ago we went to Golfe-Juan for the re-enactment of Napoleon's escape from Elba.
Napoleon Bonaparte had been exiled to the island of Elba off the coats of Italy in 1814.
His exile lasted less than a year and he managed to escape with 1,200 men on the 26th February 1815 . The group landed in Golfe-Juan a couple of days later.

This is Napoleon about to set foot on French mainland once more. I thought 'Napoleon' looked as if he was contemplating his next step and wondering how he would be received by the French people - good acting .



After landing Napoleon was given a horse and insepcted the regiments.
The real Napoleon was welcomed back with open arms as the army refused to fire on the deposed Emperor.
However, the new reign only lasted until the Battle of Waterloo -a period called Napoleon's Hundred Days although it actually lasted 111.


Sappers from the Grenadier Guards - or in French sapeurs - the engineering corps who traditionally wore beards to distinguish themselves from other soldiers. They also wore leather aprons , gauntlets and carried axes.

The French fire service are called sapeurs-pompiers because Napoleon created the fire brigade from a military engineering division and, of course, firemen still carry axes like the original sappers.
Grenadier Guards tent insignia -they have little grenade insignias around Napoleon's eagle [the word for explosive grenade comes from the french word for pomegranante [grenade] because the early greandes looked very similar in shape]


I am not sure which regiment this standard bearing soldier was from but I liked his expression and the distant tiny soldiers across the sea in the background.

Some drummers drumming.
There are a lot of re-enactors in Golfe Juan for the Napoleonic weekend. They camp in Napoleonic era tents on the beach and everything looks very authentic.

These soldiers were just waiting to take part in the parades later in the afternoon but I thought they looked like a museum tableau or maybe a still from the tv series 'Sharpe'.

Tags: Napoleon's Hundred Days, re-enactment, Napoleon, Golfe-Juan, Grenadier Guards, sapeurs, sappers, sapeurs-pompiers, greande, photos

And it burns, burns, burns: the ring of fire, the ring of fire

Here are some photos of a fire spinner at the night carnaval in Nice.
I was playing around with long exposures to capture the trail of light.


They were taken hand held rather than on a tripod which would have helped the photos but wouldn't have been too good in the crowd.


She was using fire batons rather than poi.

Hopefully I'll manage to learn from these and get better photos next time but I liked the firey shapes that appeared.

Tags: fire spinning, fire juggling, Fire dancing, Nice carnaval

Nice carnaval- city life

Place Massena during the Nice carnaval - the sky was filled with confetti , streamers and thousands of spectators.
One of the statues in Place Massena

Lamp post and confetti
The carnval king - Roi des Masquerades. The cat mask in his hand is a reminder of last year's giant cat king. The king is ceremonially burned to mark the end of carnaval but tehre are often reminders of the previous king to symbolise the idea that 'the king is dead, long live the king'


The Queen float - towering above everyone in Place Massena. Her skirt was made up of a carnaval mask and underneath there were lots of teenagers dressed in venetian carnaval costimes. Its hard to appreciate how immense the float is , but the jester characters also attached to her skirts are much beigger than humans.
This band member's helmet is covered in silly string .

There have been some calls to ban silly string at the carnbaval since it makes such a mess , can stain costumes ,and not forgetting the chemical propellants and empty cans and lids.
I'm not sure if a ban is possible though i am not a great fan of the stuff.

A couple of bizarrely masked and costumed stilt walkers with the Queen in the background.
A traditional carnaval group playing strangely shaped natural gourd instruments.
Originally carnaval costumes were simple- a bag or stocking hat , a face blackened with soot and a gourd instrument to make a noise. Very different from the elabroate costumes today.
This balloon was controlled by people using ropes - it was raised and lowered while a woman dangled and spun above the crowd.
A closer view of the balloon woman acrobat. She posed in various gymnastic positions whilst dangling from the balloon.
The aftermath - tons of confetti, streamers and silly string containers cover the ground. You can seen part of the tram track is covered in debris. During the carnaval processions, the tram doesn't cross Place Massena.
The clean-up crew dressed in fluorescent yellow. Its amazing how quickly they get the carnaval route looking normal again .

Tags: Nice, carnaval, carnival, confetti, silly string

Temple of Love

This is the Temple of Love [Temple d'Amour] aka temple of Diana in Parc Chambrun, Nice.

The land was originally bought by Comte Caïs de Pierlas en 1837 and he had a botanic garden planted on the site. There are still some of the original olive trees on the site from before the botanic gardens.

Count Joseph de Chambrun then bought the land in 1876 and brought in the famous Swiss brothers, Denis et Eugène Bühler, to do further landscaping.
At one point there was an artificial waterfall - probably similar to the one on the top of Colline de Chateau in Nice centre.
The neo-classical temple was designed by the architect Philippe Randon and dedicated to Countess of Chambrun , who wanted a sort of bandstand for classical music recitals.
Winter concerts were given here in winter from 1885 - Nice was originally a winter desination rather than a summer one, due to the very mild climate.

These are the steps that lead up to the temple. Kids [and some adults slide down the sloping edges] and the marble is now polished from thousands of bottoms sliding down.

The interior ceiling is beautifully decorated with gilded rosettes. Its still in very good repair considering its age.The tops of the columns are highly decorated with bull heads and foliate decorations. The pigeons like to use them as perches -this one started to fly away at the moment i took the photo.

The 12 columns are beautiful white fluted marble. The top of the roof is 19 metres from the ground The city of Nice bought the 'temple' and a small amount of surrounding land in 1920.

Since then , the Temple of Love has become a popular and very romantic place for local people have their wedding photos taken.

Tags: parc de chambrun, temple of love, temple of Diana, Nice, photos

He's a lumberjack and he's ok

This isn't spiderman -though the colours are nearly right. In January and February we see lots of folk with chainsaws dangling from trees all over Nice.

Thankfully they are firmly attached with harnesses and ropes.

I don't think I could be a tree surgeon since I hate heights. I guess tree surgeons have different phobias.
This is the end result. The plane trees end up looking gnarled and impossibly bald but they soon sprout new shoots and branchlets.

In a few weeks the trees in the boulevard will be leafy and green again-which is really hard to imagine when the trees look so lifeless.

The palm trees get pruned too.


The huge spikes on the feet help with climbing and hanging on to the tree.

Even with the ropes and harnesses and other precautions, its still a bit creepy to watch the tree surgeons at work. I worry about people falling -even when I don't know them.

Tags: tree surgeons, photos, palm tree, plane tree, tree climbing spikes

Pretty Flamingoes- happy valentine's day

I thought some cute kissing flamingoes were appropriate for Valentine's day. I liked the almost heart shape made where their beaks touch.


These flamingoes live in PARC Phoenix in Nice.
I have been lucky enough to see a wild flamingo flying and landing on a beach in Antibes but I wasn't fast enough to take its photo. I think it had been blown off course and was really heading for the nearby Camargue.

Tags: flamingo. valentine

Groundhog day

These are actually black tailed prairie dogs Cynomys ludovicianus rather than groundhogs- but they look a little bit similar to me.

These prairie dogs live in Parc Phoenix in Nice


Prairie dogs dig elaborate burrows with separate toilet areas, a listening area near the entrance where they can listen for predators, nurseries and sleeping chambers .
Prairie dogs are very social animals -and they often 'kiss' each other - a bonding and family strengthening behaviour. After they 'kiss' the prairie dogs groom each other and generally snuggle up.
I was lucky enough to catch a couple in the act.
The name, black tailed prairie dogs, comes from the black tip on the tail -just visible in this photo.

Tags: Cynomys ludovicianus, Parc Phoenix. prairie dog

meditation

Gandalf the cat spends a lot of time appearing to meditate - especially when the window is open. He stares off into the distance without seeing anything but he is really listening very hard for the scary pigeons and seagulls.

The star shaped catchlight in his eye might have a mundane explanation like camera optics and the sunlight or maybe its a sign of cat enlightenment .

Tags: gandalf, cat. photos

white

I think a lot modern people forget that street lighting is a modern innovation so it was interesting to see how the Romans dealt with the problem of low light levels.

This is a road surface in Pompeii. The white stones were deliberately inset between the large slabs in order to help people see their way around at dusk or to catch the light from torches or lamps . Quite an ingenious solution to a problem.



As well as in the roadways, Roman people also made use of white and light coloured stones inside their houses.
In this peristyle [a covered walkway in the middle of the house surrounding a garden or courtyard] there are large pieces of geometrically shaped marble as well as a circle and cross stud pattern made up of small pieces.
This meant that people were able to walk around in the evening or night and make use of the open space and fresh air without the risk of falling into the plants or ponds.



This is some of the mosaic edging from a differnet house entrance way to light the path of any guests.
This is the imposing gateway of the House of the Faun-so called because of a dancing faun statue found there.
The greeting 'HAVE' means 'Hail' so it acted a bit like the modern doormats that say 'welcome' and with the added advantage of really impressing the neighbours.
The white lettering would have also helped the greeting stand out when guests arrived for a dinner party.


This is the faun that gives the house the name. Its actually a copy , the original is in the archaeological museum in Naples. The pond the faun is dancing in is actually an impluvium which collected and stored away rainwater. The white surrounding and the multicoloured slate tiles also make it stand out in low light.

We were there in November and by 5pm when the site closed, visibility was very poor so we were quite thankful for the Roman ingenuity that allowed us to see the last few things.

Tags: pompeii, mosaic, house of the faun, road, peristyle

Sunrise, sunset

Happy new year and all the best for 2009!

I took these photos yesterday morning when I saw the spectacular sunrise and I'm afraid it started a number of show tunes and cheesy songs playing in my head - starting with "Oh what a beautiful morning" from Oklahoma and Rolf Harris' song 'Sun Arise.'


We live on the 4/5th floor of an old apartment block so we are 'high above the chimney tops' so we get a lot of light and a view of the most amazing jumble of tv aerials .
When we first looked at the apartment it reminded me of the singing chimney sweeps from Mary Poppins because of the views over the roofs.
I particularly like this aerial against the intense orangey sky.

At the other side of the house , the sky was mottled blue and pink with candy floss clouds.
This is one of our neighbours , a yellow legged gull , calling out at passing birds. I'm not sure whether it was a cheery good morning or more of a grumpy call. I liked how he looked ,almost silhouetted against the dawn clouds.

I managed to capture the last of the sunset yesterday -it was much more subdued in colour than yesterday's sunrise by the time I managed to get home to take the photo.

Of course , this reminded me of Fiddler on the Roof and the song Sunrise, Sunset.

Tags: sunrise, photos, sunset, dawn, bird

Invaders

The south of france has a very favourable climate attracting millions of tourists but the pleasant climate also suits invading species of bird and animal and plant.

This is one of a colony of feral Fischer's Lovebirds that have taken up residence in St Jean Cap Ferrat , Beaulieu and Villefranche. Fischer's lovebirds aren't the only parrots that have taken up residence - peach faced lovebirds Agapornis roseicollis, Yellow-collared Lovebird Agapornis personatus, black cheeked lovebirds Agapornis nigrigenis have all been spotted and there is some suggestion that they are interbreeding.

Lovebirds form a lasting pair-bond, hence the name. They are called 'les inséparables' in french.
They make a lot of noise in groups and they can be destructive but i think a lot of people enjoy seeing parrots flying around -though maybe not actually nesting in their eaves.

This is an Indian silverbill Lonchura malabarica lit up as the sun was setting. as the name implies they are native to India but they have established a substantial breeding population in Nice.
They are very gregarious and often seen in flocks and groups. They move quickly and are very alert so these shots were digiscoped [shot through a telescope] so that i could stay as far away as possible.
They prefer to be beside water -this group is having a bath and one is calling out that a potential threat is lurking nearby with a camera. They flew off immediately after this shot.

A Geranium bronze butterfly Cacyreus marshalli is well camouflaged on this withered flower head. The geranium bronze is a native of South Africa where it feeds and lays its eggs on wild geranium plants.

The butterfly was accidentally introduced into the Balearic islands in the late 80s and since then has spread along the Mediterranean coast where it feeds on Pelargonium and Geranium sp. Unfortunately, it can have many generations of offspring - up to 5 in one year- so it competes with native butterflies and also causes a lot of damage to the geranium host plants.

It is not considered a pest in its native land because the numbers are well controlled by parasitoids which lay eggs in the caterpillars and eventually kill them.

Tags: Agapornis fischeri, Fischer's Lovebird, indian silverbill, Lonchura malabarica, Cacyreus marshalli, Geranium bronze butterfly, digiscope

Photo Friday- food

One of the Niçois speciality foods is socca- a kind of chickpea pancake .

This is a mobile socca oven. Socca ovens are traditionally wood or charcoal fired. The pancake mixture is cooked on a large copper pie plate called a 'plaque de socca' . The huge pie plate is visible in the photo leaning against the oven.


This is the socca man watching the socca . The socca plate stays at the front of the oven and the wood burns at the back. The copper plate is essential to allow the heat to be distributed evenly. It takes about 6 minutes for the socca to cook. This is the socca is nearly ready to eat. It always smells wonderful - but I am allergic to chickpeas so I've never tasted it.

Tags: socca, chickpea, photo friday, Nice

Photo Friday- Autumn

Autumn would be hard to miss here in Nice as the trees outside our house gradually fill with European Starlings Sturnus vulgaris and the noise is unbelievable. Its like a scene from 'The Birds' by Alfred Hitchcock.

They start to appear by mid October -one or two at the beginning, then a dozen , then fifty , until it seems as if every branch of every tree in the street is covered with dark bird shapes.
The birds look almost black from a distance but close up they are speckled with white in winter plumage and have a greenish purple gloss and fewer speckles in summer


Here are a couple of the starlings sitting as if they were posing for a William Morris tapestry or wallpaper.



Starlings are very gregarious and roost in flocks of hundreds and even thousands of individuals [which is partly why they make so much noise].
Every year people park cars under the starling roost trees and come back to find the car is completely covered in guano which has a negative effect on the paintwork.
I suppose the unlucky car owners don't anticipate that hundreds of birds equals lots and lots of droppings.

Flocks of starlings make some amazing acrobatic and

I took this video today -it gives an idea of the noise and the number of starlings . The windows are all closed so imagine how loud it would be if the video hadn't been taken through glass.




Starlings are good mimics and can be taught to 'talk' like myna birds. William Shakespeare refers to the mimicry in Henry IV :

“I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak
Nothing but ‘Mortimer,’ and give it him,
To keep his anger still in motion.”

Sadly , the birds were introduced to the US in the 19th century by the American Acclimatization Society who had the bizarre goal of releasing all 600 species of bird mentioned by Shakespeare.
Under 100 starlings were initially released in Central Park but now there are estimates of over 200 million starlings in the US.

Tags: European Starlings, Sturnus vulgaris, photo friday American Acclimatization Society

Photo Friday - sharp

The sharp back end of a European hornet Vespa crabro- the stinger is not extended which would be even sharper.

Hornet stings are more potent and painful than those of wasps and bees but they actually very gentle and timid .

They definitely don't sting on sight despite the comments in the SAS survival handbook -though my kids say that's because i have been nominated the hornet press officer and i am an exception.

Hornets mainly eat flies so they are useful to humans - and in some places they are protected species.

In Gerrmany, a fine of up to 50,000 euros is levied on people killing hornets or destroying their nests.



These are the best photos i managed to get of a hornet this year - it was half way down a wall at the mediaeval village of Eze - so I did quite well getting the shots before the vertigo kicked in .

Tags: macro, photo friday, European hornet, Vespa crabro