March 25th Colchester Zoo

Mum and a Lion at Colchester Zoo

Today, I went to Colchester Zoo with Mum as a pre-Mother's Day outing. It was a lovely day and the zoo was packed with families making the most of it. If you have never been, Colchester Zoo is a large zoo in Essex full of the classic zoo animals such as lions, tigers, elephants and many other things you can think of or didn't know existed. It is a great place to play around with my camera. Here are some of the best that I took today...

Lionesses

Cheetah

Komodo Dragon

Sea Lion

Orangutan

Black-footed Penguin

Squirrel Monkey

Rainbow Lorikeet

Ostrich

Ruppell's Griffon Vulture

Crowned Crane

White Rhino with calf

African Elephant

Zebra

Giraffe

Mandrill

Meerkats

Chilean Flamingo

Short-clawed Otter

Binturong

Red Panda

King Vulture

Andean Condor

Tiger

Harris Hawk

Barn Owl

Chimpanzee



Two-spotted Assassin Bug

While I was here, I thought it would be a great time to discover what the zoo has to offer in it's collection of invertebrates from around the world. Though there weren't an awful lot to see in this category compared to the selection of mammals, birds and even reptiles, it did have a few tarantulas and the odd scorpion, which preferred to hide away from prying eyes, and there was even a colony of leaf-cutter ants, but they were too tiny for my camera to detect. So I have to settle with things that were more obliging and didn't move so much like these two-spotted assassin bugs from West Africa. Assassin bugs may seem really small, but they are deadly predators. They sit and wait for their prey to crawl by, before pouncing at them and stabbing them with their mouthparts that injects powerful enzymes into them, making it easier for the bug to suck them dry. Yuck!


Emperor Scorpion

Sahara Thorny Stick Insect

Macleay's Spectre Stick Insect



Owl Butterflies

There is also a small butterfly house at the zoo. I have to be honest though, I was a little bit disappointed as they had only one species here to look at. Still, owl butterflies are not one species to turn your nose up at. They come from Mexico and down into the Amazon rainforest and are easy to recognise with those owl-like eye spots on the hind wing. They lay their eggs on the leaves of banana and coffee plants and I could see some here in this butterfly house. When they hatch, they become hairy, hungry caterpillars, which I saw on a nearby leaf to the one with the eggs on.

Owl Butterfly eggs

Owl Butterfly caterpillars



Giant African Land Snail

Of course, I wouldn't go to a zoo to discover more about invertebrates without holding a few. There were three to test my nerve, though sadly, not a spider among them. My mum took these photos for me, so if you want more proof that I held them than a hand shot, then I apologize. You just have to take my word for it. First up was the world's largest land snail, the giant African land snail. It is twice the size of any snail you will find here in the UK. This individual was rather shy as it retreated into it's shell, but you could still see part of it at the shell's entrance. It was surprisingly light and not that slimy as expected. It felt more earthy from the soil stuck to it with a hint of something cold and damp. Nothing unpleasant at all. Easy peasy!








Giant Spiny Stick Insect

Next up, a giant spiny stick insect. This guy needed two hands to hold it. It was definitely a step up from the snail. Stick insects don't move very fast, so there was little fear of it running off my hands any time soon. I felt the odd slight prickle of a leg moving against my palms and it was actually rather pleasant experience. Not bad at all!










Madagascan Hissy Cockroach

Finally, the most unpredictable of the three, a Madagascan hissing cockroach! I don't know what to think about this one. This an insect that has the potential to run off at short notice. I'm not a fan of cockroaches not since waking up one morning while I was in Texas in 2010 and found one staring at me on the loo from the sink before dashing onto the towel next to me. I couldn't help but let out a manly scream during that encounter. Thankfully, this hissing cockroach was well behaved and only moved about a little bit on my hand. Piece of cake! Bring on the tarantulas I say!

March 22nd Strumpshaw Fen

Redwing

It was a chilly morning at Strumpshaw. Though the sun was shining brightly for most of the time, a cold breeze was in the air and cancelled out any warmth that the sunshine was providing. It was as if winter had returned all of a sudden. And to add to this wintery feeling, there was a large flock of redwings moving around the woodland trail. I estimate that there were between 30-50 of these winter thrushes, which flew over me whenever a train rushes past the reserve. It was quite an impressive sight to see to start the day.

Reed Bunting

At Fen Hide, marsh harriers were displaying together in pairs or threes. I also managed to spot one common snipe hiding in the short cover of reed stubble and I was entertained by this male reed bunting pulling off the fluffy seeds of a reed mace.

Common Snipe

Teal

Mute Swans

Marsh Harrier

Tawny Mining Bee

Despite it being rather chilly, there were some insect activity to see today. By the bench at the start of Sandy Wall, tawny mining bees are emerging from their nesting holes. These are small orange bees that only appear for a few weeks in spring to mate, dig new nesting tunnels, lay eggs, collect enough pollen to feed the young when they hatch before their short-lived lives end with the next generation doing it all over again next spring. As it was a cold morning, I only managed to spot this one individual as well as this early bumblebee trying hard to warm up in the faint heat from this morning's sunshine. Once the mining bee was warm enough, it got to work on digging a hole.

Early Bumblebee

Sweet Violets

Little Egret



Jack Snipe

It was another jack snipe day at Reception Hide. This time there were two of them as well as a single common snipe. To begin with, we had a crowd of birdwatchers and photographers joining with us inside the hide as we watched the first jack snipe, which was in the same patch of reed stubble as it has been for much of this month. Then we saw the common snipe nearby at the edge of that same stubble patch. It was a great comparison for those who needed it, right until it disappeared into a taller, denser section of reed. The first jack snipe was a bit hard to see half the time, unless it was bobbing and it was proving difficult at times to show visitors who were interested in seeing it. Then I spotted a second jack snipe that was even closer to the hide and was much easier to see and photograph. It even came out from the reeds for some clearer shots. I think everyone were more than satisfied when I spotted that second bird, which makes me kind of pleased for finding it.



Common Snipe

The second Jack Snipe

Coot on nest

Also from Reception Hide, the broad was not full of gulls like last week. In fact there were very few gulls about at all, just a few mallards, teal, gadwall, greylags and tufted ducks. No need to worry about bringing earplugs at least. A pair of coot have created a nest out of reed stems in the middle of the small channel close to the hide. The female was sitting on it, while the male was busy collecting more material for it. I also saw a chiffchaff hopping around the edge of some scrub, but was too quick to get a photo of it.

Tufted Ducks

Greylag

Carrion Crows

Marsh Harrier

Marsh Harriers vs Carrion Crows