Every Sunday there is also a new episode of the Stuifmail podcast. Listen to it here:
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Spider with ball between her jaws
Antje de Bruyn loves sending questions to Stuifmail because it is so accessible. In addition, she writes to me that many natural phenomena are happening around her house, of which she would like to know how and why. In this case she saw a spider with a ball in its legs. She wondered what spider this is and what that ball is. Antje took a picture of a large wolf spider, also known as the nursery web spider. The latter name is the reason for the bubble. The females of the nursery web spider – after they have mated – make large balls (cocoons) with cobwebs that contain the eggs. When the balls are finished, the females hold those balls under them with the help of their jaws and palps and also go for a walk with them. The moment the eggs threaten to hatch, the females attach the balls to the vegetation present. But not only that. They also spin a kind of tent-shaped web around those balls, which is then called the nursery web.
Wood warbler or warbler?
Yvonne Rommelaars came across a bird during her walk through landscape park Moerenburg in Tilburg and photographed it. She couldn’t figure out which bird it was. I hesitated between a warbler and wood warbler. Caroline Moelker finally came up with a clear explanation: a warbler has no black speckles in the neck, so it is a wood reed warbler.
Beautiful caterpillar that is growing fast
Teun van de Mortel, 9 years old, sent me a picture of a caterpillar through his mother. He wrote that this beautiful caterpillar was growing considerably. He wondered what the name of this caterpillar is. The caterpillar is yellowish brown and has light brown warts all over its body with brown bristles on top. We are dealing here with the caterpillar of the yellow tiger.
Yellow tigers are nocturnal moths from the spider moth family. The food for this caterpillar consists of all kinds of plants, but also deciduous trees. You can come across them quite often in Brabant. Especially near nettles, honeysuckle, plantain, various sorrel species, hops, birch and even in plum trees. After this caterpillar has fed itself, it pupates and then hibernates in a layer of litter. From mid-April to at least August, these pupae hatch and you can see the yellow tiger moth.
Which cutie is this?
H Siepel came across a cutie, as he described this animal, and wondered what this is. What he or she has encountered has, I think, the beautiful name of the common carrot owl. Yet I still find it difficult to recognize this species properly, because there are a number of butterflies that look very similar. So if this is the common carrot owl, then this moth is also active during the day. But they also respond well to light. By the way, common carrot owls are difficult to see because they keep themselves well hidden. If you encounter them, they will quickly try to disappear. They don’t often do this flying, but hopping through the vegetation.
Young bird landed on the mat
Wout Verhoeven sent me a picture of a completely white bird with a beautiful orange beak. He wondered what he saw. I immediately see that this is an escaped aviary bird, which belongs to the zebra finches family. So I consulted the fast internet. It turns out to be a Sunda Zebra Finch. Sunda Zebra Finches, also known as Timor Zebra Finches, are small birds that belong to the estrildid finches family. They are offshoots of the Australian zebra finches. These sundazebra finches have various plumages and therefore also this white variant. On Waarneming.nl you can read that these finches belong in Australasia, at least certainly from Lombok to Timor. And so also in the Netherlands, but in principle in aviaries.
Sleeping bees in the campanula?
Vanessa Webley sent me pictures of two different insects in the flowers of her campanula aka bellflower/Carpathian bellflower. Her question: what is happening here? Well, insects shelter from bad weather, but even those insects – as strange as that sounds – need to sleep. This is of course very different for every insect. Insects such as honey bees, but also the well-known lemonade wasps, often sleep in their nests. And then there are insects that sleep outside during the flying season, on or in flowers and plants. Below many solitary, also called wild bees. Sleeping in flowers can sometimes lead to large sleeping groups.
On Vanessa’s photos you can see how the large bell bee and bell pepper do this. Touching and relaxed they lie there in the flower with sagging legs and the antennae / feelers also collapse. Sometimes they even fall asleep.
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Abbe saw a slow worm on the sunny Strijbeekse Heide
Abbe Dijkstra made a very nice observation with his family: a slow worm quickly squirmed ‘away’. That is visual, because it concerns a ‘legless’ lizard.
Beautiful spear thistle with a strange flower bud at the top
Kees Aarts sent me the above photo of a spear thistle that had a very strange flower bud at the top. In the second photo you can see that strange flower bud in full bloom.
Kees wondered what this could be. This immediately reminded me of the strange flower buds I’ve seen in my own garden, with foxgloves (see Barbara Mans’ photo).
About foxglove with such a strange flower I wrote the following: “The term peloric means something like monstrous. This kind of unusual flowers mainly occur in plants that are semi-symmetrical and in which inbreeding occurs. These peloric flowers are particularly striking because they always grow at the top of the plant.” Who knows, this may also apply to Kees’ spear thistle.
Beautiful butterfly on the wall of the barn
Tonny van de Moosdijk saw a butterfly against the wall of the barn and wanted to know which butterfly this is. Personally I think this is one of the more beautiful small moths, the Sint Jacobsvlinder. This moth species is active both during the day and at night. The birds know – because St. Jacobs butterflies have bright red colors – not to eat them. This is because the caterpillars of this butterfly store the toxins of the ragwort plant in their body and those substances are later also in the butterfly. Unfortunately, many ragwort plants are still being destroyed, as the poison in them is also toxic to horses. But if horses see that plant in the meadow, they will definitely stay away from it. They know that this plant is poisonous to them. Only in the hay are the plants inconspicuous and horses cannot recognize them. Dear mower, make sure they don’t end up in the hay!
Spoonbills in Den Dullaert near Sprang-Capelle
Giovanni de Waal sent me a photo that his wife had taken in the Den Dullaert area near Sprang-Capelle. According to them, the birds in the photo are spoonbills. That’s right. They also wonder whether spoonbills are breeding there in Sprang-Capelle. In principle, spoonbills mainly breed in dynamic wet environments, especially at the transitions from fresh to salt. But it could be, because very small colonies are increasingly being created on the mainland. But two spoonbills do not yet form a colony. That’s why I think in this case they were looking for food there. Still, I’d keep an eye on this. Who knows, maybe one day a colony will breed in Den Dullaert.
Beautiful photos section
In the section beautiful photos this time a beautiful photo of a hornet predatory fly. This was recorded in nature park Voskuilenheuvel near Venhorst by Piet Hendriks.
Nature tip
On Saturday 8 July, an evening walk will be organized through the Loonse and Drunense Duinen. This lasts from half past eight to half past ten in the evening. This walk is all about the nightjar. This is a rare bird that only becomes active at dusk. The nightjar has a very distinctive call and was formerly known as the goat milker. How does that call sound and why does this bird have such a special nickname? By participating in this exclusive excursion you will have the chance to see the nightjar and discover all its secrets.
More information:
• Registration required, is possible through this link.
• Non-members of Natuurmonumenten pay 12.50 euros, members 8.75 euros.
• Starting point is the Bosch en Duin car park at the Schoorstraat 50 in Udenhout.
• This excursion is aimed at adults. Older children are welcome accompanied by an adult.
• Put on sturdy walking shoes.
• Wear clothes appropriate to the weather.
• Always check yourself afterwards for ticks!