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Slim

Joined: 05 Mar 2006
Posts: 6540
Location: New England (In the US of A)

Posted: Sat Oct 01, 22 10:09 am Post subject:

I missed the show last night, but apparently Mrs Slim had to fetch our older cat in, as he was stepping aggressively towards a skunk that was backing away from him.

I haven't the seen the skunk yet, but I've been aware of its presence in our compost pile all summer. I think it's likely no stranger to my cat, and clearly the car hasn't been sprayed yet, so I'm guessing they've been playing a bit of get to know you, also "this is my turf", but without either side being interested in overarching

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15598

Posted: Sun Oct 02, 22 8:18 am Post subject:

Well at least we don't have skunks. You are probably right if the can hasn't been sprayed; both parties know their territory and only if one trespasses do they make a show.

We have badgers in the woods that keep burrowing into our sawdust heap by the firewood processor. There are grubs in the sawdust as it decomposes and they dig them out, or try to leaving rather large holes and throwing the sawdust everywhere. The stuff I sell to the butchers has to be gathered fresh to make sure it doesn't get 'badgered'.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45504
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Oct 03, 22 12:27 pm Post subject:
rather strange, the pensioner wasps are youngsters, and they are hunting invertebrates and taking them home late brood does seem plausible

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15598

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 22 6:11 am Post subject:

We had quite a good wildlife day yesterday. Started off by finding a magpie inkcap near the gate whee we come into the woods.

I then went dormouse surveying with the people doing the checking and we found 3. They found one before I got there, but we found a pair of siblings in one tube; a juvenile male and juvenile female. I was allowed to pick on of them up so it could be weighed. All of them were about 20g so hope they can put on a bit more before winter. They really are lovely.

Heard what I think were ravens around the wood; at least 2.

We were filling the charcoal kiln when husband saw a magnificent crop of fungi in some general wood waste. So many they looked like a mini forest. I haven't yet identified them, but will try to do so over the next few day. Also found some porcelain mushrooms on a fallen beech branch.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45504
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 22 7:05 am Post subject:
, they are very cute and need good folk to protect their habitats

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45504
Location: yes

Posted: Tue Oct 04, 22 10:01 am Post subject:

post event fauna report

there was a just fledged robin chick in the homestead, ie at least one adult+a chick old enough to survive winter
there was a young adult a similar distance away in another direction

the wasps are not pensioner wasps here or at the homestead, both have young fit workers shopping for "meaty snacks" from the invertebrates counter and are plausibly serving the queen of next spring
there were no pensioner wasps as would be expected and that generation disappeared

the worms are bold with no blackbirds etc

it is interesting but not fun to observe an extinction level event across multiple species up close

the sammisons are happy as happy mice from happy mousetown, i must practice the mouse in a windmill song as a "treat" for them

did i mention the happy frog? a few days back, a healthy adult frog was having a shower in the rain outside the back door which was nice for both of us

my backyard microclimates did have serious geoengineering for moisture and temp etc, it got rather carboniferous for a couple of days during the event

as far as i can tell, it is a survivalist biodiversity island compared to much of the area

some places seem almost sterile of the expected life forms that were present

avian numbers and diversity has a lot of zeros in the diversity observations and some very low % in the numbers. many well known populations are extinct

we have the wrong geology etc to make a volcano, but the fallen might have looked similar in extent if they had not fed flies etc

ps the NT, RSPB and EN have all declared themselves terrorist organizations if one uses some criteria

i wonder what the venn diagram of those and, careful tory voter a bit worried about radicals might look like
pps ages ago we looked at legal implications of even simple things such as a few pensioners defending a village pond or some fluffy Buddhists dressed as missiles at a military fence, ummm terrorists if the law was applied as it could be, opposing destructions may be seen as more dangerous than causing them

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15598

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 22 7:49 am Post subject:

Currently we seem to be in the season of nuts and fungi in the woods. I found some acorn cups under a Corsican pine in the 'yard' yesterday that must have been brought in by a squirrel, a rather pretty little pale pink mushroom, and think I saw a parasol mushroom somewhere, but can't remember where.

I both the garden and woods we seem to have a good survival rate of birds. Hope the extinction in your area is locallised Dpack, as that means others will be able to extend their territories to make up.

sgt.colon

Joined: 27 Jul 2009
Posts: 7380
Location: Just south of north.

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 22 12:09 pm Post subject:
I hope you put that video of your Ronnie Hilton impersonation onto YouTube DPack? Is it the hot weather that got the birds? I was reading yesterday about the worst avian flu that has even been, sweeping the country. We've still not got any blackbirds around here.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45504
Location: yes

Posted: Wed Oct 05, 22 12:22 pm Post subject:
flu and 45+C on the same day does seem a rather compact schedule for a six hour extinction event avian flu is killing some populations, this has a very tight time correlation to extreme local temps

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45504
Location: yes

Posted: Thu Oct 06, 22 10:52 am Post subject:
ballsi sammison was very busy overnight, several pints of very nice black soil from the hedge bed as a spoil heap from the new bunker and grain stores that start under the birdbath it does mean i need to be careful when cleaning and filling the bird bath

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15598

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 22 7:39 am Post subject:

Son saw a large bird fly into the open fronted shed we use for processing charcoal. On investigation a tawny owl flew out, thoughtfully decorating the floor as it went. We have seen one during the day at ground level nearby, but usually we just hear them.

Did some investigation into the fungi we have near the 'yard'. Think the ones we have on a heap of soil and wood may be Liberty caps; certainly that family anyway. Have some rather pretty pink ones too that I have identified as Mycena pura, some common puffballs and what is probably honey fungus.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15598

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 22 7:39 am Post subject:

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 45504
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Oct 07, 22 9:56 am Post subject:

on a pile of soil and wood they are almost certainly not P. Sem. which is a "grassland" species
without a photo i could make a few suggestions as to what they might be based on substrate, with a photo i might know but could probably find out

P. is a large extended family(not all of them are named P.), some of them might be found on a soil/wood pile, there are numerous looks a bit like among the extended family of P. shrooms, some are closely related some are not, some are very close in psychopharmacology but look very different, some look similar and have very different pharmacology
just for fun , the same species, even in the same environment can have different pharmacology depending on "things"

the linnaeic naming of life is a bit crude for shrooms, shroom names are rather messy, many shooms have several names or no name yet

re alkaloid contents

all snakes have venom, some have lots some almost none and the mix is different in each type of snake
some reptiles other than snakes have similar venom to that of snakes

the shrooms with P. family alkaloids(quite a complex and varied pharmacy) are as diverse as snakes, the odd gila monster or komodo dragon just for fun

for instance, the most potent (AFAIK) psylocin/psylocybin type of shroom from the uk looks nothing like P.Sem
and has had at least 2 names in the books of the last few decades neither of which mention the massive alkaloid content or the type of mixture it is
it was the colour led me to try that one, proper shaman shroom whatever it might be called or what family it has been registered as

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15598

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 22 7:48 am Post subject:
I looked it up in two books and it seemed to be Liberty cap, but not that good at fungi ID, so could well be wrong. Certainly that family as it has the right shape and a brittle stem as description. It is an open area, just no grass and rather a lot of charcoal mixed in. I wouldn't even consider eating the things. Same goes for all fungi unless I am really 100% sure as some are rather nasty.

gz

Joined: 23 Jan 2009
Posts: 8613
Location: Ayrshire, Scotland

Posted: Sat Oct 08, 22 8:10 am Post subject:
On our foraging walk in field and wood yesterday it was a relief to see groups of chaffinches and a few robins, and also some wrens. Plus some unidentified chirps and tweets from the treetops!

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