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What kind of crazy appendix to a tree is that?
Loes Goossens saw a tree with a crazy appendix in a lane and she wondered what it was. The crazy appendix to that tree is a kind of fuse. We call that a warrel nod, but there are also other names for, such as Maserkrop, Maserknol or carrot tuber. Whatever they are called, they are in any case tumor -like growth disorders that are caused by fungi or bacteria species. These fungi and bacteria cause unrestrained growth in the infected wood cells. The warrel nodes take on extraordinary shapes that differ greatly from the normal growth pattern of a tree. They can stick to the trunk as large balls and even enclose the whole trunk or root. Despite the fact that these warrel nodes grow a piece every year, the growth of the tree is not inhibited.
Who left his excrements here?
Bep Klijsen sent me a photo showing some droppings to see. She asked me who those droppings could be. I suspect that the droppings are of a rat and no excrement of a mouse. Mice often have dark droppings, they look a bit like rice grains or chocolate sprinkles. They are a maximum of five millimeters long. The droppings of a rat are brown, somewhat thicker and can be a maximum of two centimeters long. Finally, it is good to see if they are fresh keys. They are a bit shiny. Older droppings often turn gray and look some dull. The perpetrator could therefore be a brown rat in this case.
What kind of worms are that on the Wellenseind estate?
Willeke van Delft sent me a photo on which two different animals are depicted. She knew the butterfly, because that is a leaf roller, but she wants to know the name of the two worms below. At first I immediately thought of horsehairworms, but I doubted because of spring and thickness. That is why I think it is nematoda, or roundworm. These are very common worms of which more than 25,000 species have already been described. Yet the scientists still have enough to do, because there are an estimated ten million species!
Nights are also roundworms. Some species are used when combating caterpillars and pests. This can be all kinds of pests of a diversity of insects, such as grieving flies, ants, moths, caterpillars, piss beds and more. They are all different species, each with their own specific task. And so I think that the photo of Willeke Aaltjes stood, they were used to fight an insect plague.
Above you see another photo of horsehairworms. These are parasitic worms that manipulate the brains of grasshopes and crickets, for example. They can encourage these hosts to visit water. With the water, the adult horsehairworm can leave the host again and look up other horsehairworms to mate.
What is that green on a tree?
Marja van de Hurk wondered what the green the green on this tree was and sent me a photo. Since the photo is not that sharp, I found it difficult to stick a name on it. My thought went out to a Lichtmos species, but I started to ask something around. Tim Claerhout confirmed that it is a lichen, he thinks it is an injured powder breast (Lepraria Incana). I agree with that, it is indeed a crust species.
Lorstmossen are organisms that consist of a fungus and an algae. We call this a symbiosis. Many of those lichens grow like a sort of crust on a substrate, in this case on a tree. But they can also be found on wood, stone or just on the floor. Ordinary powder brights mainly come across on damp and somewhat shaded environments. There they prefer to grow on the bark of trees, often at the foot. The ordinary powder breast can mainly be recognized by the bluish color. Yet it is always babysitting, because many powder -like corpses. If you want to know one hundred percent for sure, then you have to let go of chemical tests.
Forty storks were seen on Friday 17 January. How is that so early in the year?
Jannie Bravenboer counted forty storks on Friday, January 17. They were on lampposts along the N261 in the outskirts of Tilburg. She wondered how it is possible that the storks can be seen so early. Storks are, certainly in recent years, among the very first spring guests among the migratory birds. They usually come around mid -February, but in recent years we see that they can also be back in mid -January.
The explanation for this is actually very simple. Storks pull less and less far away during the winter period. Previously our storks flew thousands of kilometers, all the way to Africa, but nowadays they often hibernate somewhere in the south of Europe. This has everything to do with climate change, because it disrupts the bird migration. Winter periods are getting milder and that is why they can find enough food closer than Africa. Even in our country there is often food to be found during the winter period, because I see frogs jumping around almost the entire winter.
In this video from 2011 you see more than a hundred storks at Eerde
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Storks are migratory birds. From August and September they will move away from our country and go to the south to hibernate in warmer places. Dutch storks mainly follow the migration route to France and Spain. They stay there more and more often and don’t go to Africa anymore. On the video above you see more than a hundred storks making a stopover at Eerde. We just came by at the right time for the ‘take-off’ to experience. The storks will come back in January and February.