Every Sunday there is also a new episode of the Stuifmail podcast. Listen to it here:
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How do you get rid of your spider phobia?
Are you afraid of spiders and do you want to do something about it? The best method is then confrontation. Build this up slowly. If you do it too fast, it will go wrong. First, study such a spider from a distance. Maybe with a viewer first. Then you go a little closer, then without binoculars and a step closer each time. This method works. Getting out of the way of something you fear perpetuates the fear. In fact, this only reinforces the fear.
Some more tips:
1. Look at pictures of spiders.
2. Watch videos of spiders and avoid movies that portray the spider in the wrong light.
3. Holding a fake spider.
4. Go outside to look for spiders.
5. Catch a spider and watch it.
6. Go to the spider enclosure in a zoo.
7. Visit the Oliemeulen in Tilburg and hold a tarantula.
8. Watching a spider without a lid on the insect jar.
9. Watching them feed spiders in a zoo.
10. Watch the caretaker hold the spider.
Beaver spotted in the Eindhoven canal
Hans van Deursen saw a beaver in the Eindhoven canal on Tuesday. He wondered if this is something special. Well, beavers are clearly more and more present in our Brabant country and so the chance that you encounter a beaver in our streams and rivers is increasing. They are not spotted that much in channels, so you can say that this is a special sighting. However, you should always pay attention, because people often confuse swimming muskrats and coypu with beavers. In swimming beavers, the ears, eyes, and nostrils are all at the same height. As a result, not much protrudes above the water, which is the case with other swimming animals. In addition, the tail of beavers is characteristic, because no other animal has a flat tail.
What is the name of this mushroom?
Rosemarie de Wit sent me a photo with a mushroom on it. At least, she thinks so. She also writes: “Under the trunk of a fruit tree is manure. This mushroom came out of that.” She’s right, it’s definitely a mushroom. That additional description tells me that this is a ringed spot plate. Ringed spot plates are mushrooms that grow on straw-rich manure from cattle and horses. In addition, they are mainly found on sandy soils and strips of grass or grasslands should not be heavily fertilized. The color of the cap of this mushroom varies from white to dark brown or yellow. In addition, in humid or wet conditions, the hat is slightly sticky, which you can feel.
Large yellow wagtail spotted at the Gender
Kristel van den Hoven and her son Marco (10) saw a bird the size of a sparrow, but with a yellow tail, above the Genderbeek in Eindhoven. The attached photo is out of focus, but their description is very clear so I think Kristel and Marco have seen a special bird: the big yellow wagtail. Still, I started looking on the internet to be even more sure. There I indeed found a number of articles about the large yellow wagtail in Eindhoven. Here’s the link where they can read more about this beautiful bird.
Unknown plants in large numbers in the garden
Frans van Loon has been suffering from too much horsetail in his garden for several years now. This spring a very strange plant is growing in that spot and he would like to know what it is. In his photo you see stems with alternating dark brown parts and pale brown parts with a granular, elongated cap on the head. We are dealing here with stems without chlorophyll and with spore spikes on the top. These are the fertile (fertile) stems of horsetail. These fertile stems appear in early spring. After about two weeks, when these fertile stems have lost their spores and thus begin to wither, the leafy green stems of horsetail emerge. So what Frans van Loon does, removing these stems, is fine, because that prevents even more green horsetail.
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Large yellow wagtail in Winterswijk – Early Birds
Stream birds, such as the kingfisher and the large yellow wagtail, breed in the edges of the Boven-Slinge. The natural walls there are perfect for these birds. The kingfisher breeds in holes, the wagtail makes its nest right on the bank. Together with Robert Kwak (Bird Protection), Menno goes in search of the large yellow wagtail in the video above. These birds mainly eat small invertebrates that live around and near the water, such as insects, spiders and small snails. The great yellow wagtail benefits from a meandering, ‘natural’ stream and improved water quality.
Strange beetle found while cleaning
During his cleaning job in an apartment building, Marco Eggebeen says he encountered a kind of beetle. On his photo I can immediately see that this is not a beetle, but a bug. The name is gray shield bug. At night and in winter, these insects seek sheltered places, for example in houses and buildings. The best thing to do is to catch them and put them outside, because beating them causes a huge stench. Gray shield bugs feed during the day on plant juices from woody plants. Examples include various prunus species – such as hawthorn and bird cherry – but also rowan, hazel and elm. If there happen to be dead insects lying around, they also suck them empty. Originally, the gray shield bug did not occur here, but in the south of Europe. This bug probably came along with plants from that region.
When do young wasp spiders emerge from their cocoons?
Thea Willems sent me a photo of a cocoon of a wasp spider. Her question is whether I can indicate when young wasp spiders emerge from such a cocoon. In principle, that is in March of the following year, but weather conditions can influence this and then it may well be April. Such a wasp spider cocoon contains hundreds of eggs and is usually already spun in August. After the wasp spider has made the cocoon with the eggs in it, it guards this cocoon until it dies.
A month after spinning the cocoon, the young spiderlings hatch from the egg, but they remain in that cocoon throughout the autumn and winter period. The following spring they all leave the cocoon.
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Special video
On Easter Monday, CCTV footage from Will and Rina Diepstraten showed that a tawny owl family had made a large catch. The tawny owl can be seen pulling a rabbit into the owl box for her three young chicks.
Beautiful photos section
In the section beautiful photos this time a photo that Marij van Driel took last year of a black woodpecker in the Oisterwijk woods.
Nature tip
A walk through Huis Ter Heijde will take place on Saturday 6 May from seven to nine in the morning. In the early morning it is buzzing with bird sounds. The animals have just returned from a long journey from Africa and sing to defend their territory and to attract females at the same time. You can listen to, among other things, the willow warbler, chiffchaff, tree pipit, blackcap, garden warbler and warbler. Of course this depends entirely on the weather conditions, but the chances are high. We walk through partly open areas, through bushes and along forest edges. All different habitats with their own inhabitants. We are simply surprised.
More information:
Registration is required and can be done via this link.
The excursion is aimed at adults, older children are also welcome if accompanied by an adult.
Adults pay ten euros, members of Natuurmonumenten seven euros.
The starting point is the parking lot Intermediate track in De Moer.
Put on sturdy walking shoes.
Wear clothes that suit the weather.
Always check yourself for ticks afterwards.