Every Sunday there is also a new episode of the Stuifmail podcast. Listen to it here:
Waiting for privacy settings…
What is along a hiking trail in Epen?
Anke and Marja sent me a special photo of a nuthatch. They wondered why this nuthatch had adopted such a pose. I think this is some kind of sleeping position. Then they roll up with their heads down. They often lie behind a loose piece of bark or behind branches. Sometimes they carve out a sleeping hole in rotten or half-decayed dead trees. You can also find them sleeping in the soft, living bark layer of conifers.
In winter, nuthatches seek out each other and then sleep in a group. Nice and close together, so they lose less energy.
Large feather found, from whom?
Jeanne Keusters sent me a photo of a feather. She would like to know who owned that feather. I think this is a feather from a peacock’s wing. This answer was somewhat reinforced by the information that Jeanne sent me. The feather was found in the vicinity of a petting zoo.
In the photo of the peacock you can also see the color of the above feather in the wings of the peacock.
There was something very strange in the forest of the Oude Buisse Heide
Brenda Hoppenbrouwers sent me a photo of whitish, jelly-like pieces on an old dead tree in the forest of the Oude Buisse Heide. I think she saw star shot. A long time ago, people thought that these transparent clumps or chunks came from shooting stars. Now we know better and we know this is the vomit of various types of animals. Birds and mammals vomit the oviducts of these animals after eating frogs or toads because it is not digestible. Animals that do this include herons, storks, seagulls, crows and buzzards. In addition, many mustelids, such as the polecat, also do this. But also the fox. Sometimes you see black dots in the star shot. These are the eggs, the embryos.
Bird high in the mountains in Germany
Jos Jochems saw a black bird high in the mountains. He wondered what bird he had seen. The bird in the photo clearly shows that it is one from the corvid family. The bird’s legs in particular reveal the species name. Those legs are nice red. In addition, the bird has a yellow beak, so we are dealing with an alpine chough.
Alpine jackdaws are real mountain dwellers and true aerial acrobats, diving and gliding along the highest mountain peaks. They look very similar to the Red Chough, but the big difference between the two is the red beak.
This fungus appeared when pruning a shrub
Peer van Gemert was pruning a bush when he came across something with a diameter of six to seven centimeters. He wanted to know what it is and sent me a photo. In that photo you can see that it is a fungus, but unfortunately the photo is not very clear. You only see part of the fungus. Yet I dare to put a name on it. I think this is a real fire fungus. Real fire mushrooms have a hoof-shaped fruiting body – which is slightly visible in the photo – and the color is between gray and brown. Real fire mushrooms are just as hard as tinder mushrooms and were also used in the past to make fire. These fungi mainly grow on poplar wood, but also on willow wood. They are parasitic, but not aggressive, so affected trees can remain alive for a long time.
Alpine Jackdaws – David Element
Alpine jackdaws are large songbirds from the crow family. They are one of the smallest members of this large family of songbirds. A quick look at the austere habitat of the Alpine Jackdaws reveals just how hardy these birds are! This film was shot at Gornergratt – overlooking the Matterhorn – at an altitude of over 10,000 feet.
Two larvae of the small newt in a pool
Will van Berkel scooped two larvae (unfortunately no photo) of the small newt into a pool in a nature garden. He wonders where these animals hibernate. The larvae of the small newt complete their metamorphosis in August or September. After they become adults, the young newts crawl out of the water and look for a good place to hibernate. They usually do this at night. When morning comes, they look for a moist hiding place, such as a wet clump of grass. By the way, these animals also look slightly different during their land phase. They then have somewhat dull dry skin – see Martijn Hoekstra’s video. Hopefully the larvae that Will found will soon transform into the adult stage.
Not a heart fly but a moth mosquito
Hannie Houben found a kind of fly in the house. She uses the name heart fly, but she wants to know what it really is. Her heart fly is not a fly, but a type of mosquito called the moth mosquito. Moth gnats are very small dipterans with large antennae and transparent wings. You also sometimes come across another name for moth mosquito: toilet moth mosquito. In recent years, you have often encountered this species in toilets and bathrooms. In England they call these insects bathroom flies. Previously they did not occur in our country, but in recent years we have received more and more reports of them in the Netherlands. Once you have mosquitoes in your house, you will soon see more. Because the development from egg to image – that’s what an adult insect is called – takes only seventeen days in this animal! And the images are sexually mature after just nine hours after hatching. In addition, males and females of the toilet moth can mate many times and produce offspring with more than one partner! In short: watch out for the toilet mosquito.
Black slugs eat birdseed every evening
‘Cobra Boxer’, the email says, wonders why black slugs slither towards a plate of birdseed every evening. The answer is very simple: they eat absolutely everything. Mainly various herbs, of course, but also garden plants such as hostas and fuchsias because of their succulent leaves. They also like to eat young leaves, young shoots, seedlings and soft fruits of all kinds of plant species. If they see a bowl of dog and cat food, they will eat it and they also like to eat bird seeds. They are undoubtedly very happy when they are served so beautifully on a plate, because then they don’t have to look for them one by one.
Beautiful photos section
In the beautiful photos section, this time a photo that Joep Leijendekkers took of a special mushroom: the yellow ringed bolete. He spotted it in Drunen.
Henk Voermans saw the first harbingers of spring on Thursday: snowdrops in Breda. He captured it immediately.
Nature tip
If you are looking for a nice nature outing, you can go to Geertruidenberg. This fortified town on the Biesbosch has a beautiful historic center with moats, strongholds and ravelins. You start at the tourist office in Geertruidenberg where you can (optionally) buy the booklet ‘The Key to Holland’. You then explore a living piece of history. During this walk you will get a taste of the past of this original trading town and later border fortress, to which Count Willem I of Holland granted city rights in 1213.
The package includes:
– the stroll
– coffee
– museum ‘De Roos’
– a lunch
Tip
the package ‘Exploring Geertruidenberg’ can be combined with a guide during the city walk. These costs amount to forty euros per group.
More information is available from Tourist Office in Geertruidenberg. This can be done by telephone (0162-517689) or by e-mail: [email protected]
Or via the website Tourist Office Geertruidenberg.