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Many insects with the hydrangeas, why?
Hennie Dirven saw that many insects came to her hydrangea. That surprises her because she does not have much to offer. She is absolutely right about that, because hydrangeas have no nectar and no pollen. The flowers are even sterile, so they don’t make a nectar and pollen. Pollinators actually have nothing to do with the hydrangeas. Yet Hennie regularly sees insects with these flowers. She even sees bumblebees on the flowers of the hydrangeas. This can be true. It is known that bumble bees and bees can go to sleep on those hydrangea flowers. When bees and bumble bees get tired in the evening or the circumstances suddenly change, they do not fly to their nests. They then spend the night – and also sleep – in various types of flowers. Especially with a lot of rain or when it suddenly gets cold in the evening, they use flowers to spend the night there. The flowers then serve as a beautiful and soft shelter. Although the hydrangeas have nothing else to offer, they are very suitable as an overnight place for those insects. The question remains: how do the hydrangeas then increase? That is possible through cuttings – that is what man does – but they can also multiply themselves through their shoots and root shoots. You therefore do not see fertile seeds in the hydrangeas.
Two exotics and a native bird
Reinder Smid sent me a photo and wrote in his message that this is a good example of integration at Vogels. On the photo you see a mangans, a blue heron and two hippo geese. Of these, the Blue Reiger is a native bird, which has been around for many generations in our country. The Manengans is a species that originally only occurred in Australia and Tasmania. In those countries, mangaezen live in open landscapes with trees scattered, provided that grass is under it. In addition, you will also find them in culture on culture areas. They do not occur in dense afforestation. Manenganes are therefore exotics. They have been found in our nature reserves since some of them had escaped from captivity.
Nile geese are also escaped geese from ‘held situations’, such as zoos and avifauna parks. They now fall under the invasive exotics because they do damage to nature. They attack smaller duck species and even eat young duck chicks. They are aggressive and are now on the union list of invasive exotics. Because they are harmful to Dutch nature, they can be actively combated. In a European context, the Nile goose has been placed on this list since 2017, which also means that there are restrictions on possession, trade, breeding, transport and import of this species.
Is this a cockroach or another animal?
Jolanda Vloon saw animals walk through her room in the evening. She wonders which one. I think it was Roodpoothalmkruipers, who are also known under the name Straw -Mail beetles. The Roodpoothalmkruipers belong to the large family of the walkers. This special walking beetle can be nearly almost two centimeters in size. They have a black abdomen and red legs. They are also known as pest beetles, but especially with strawberry cultivation, hence that second name: strawberry beetles. They are walkers that prevent both in our country and further in Europe. In addition to being good runners, these are also good kites. At suitable temperatures above 18 degrees on warm evenings, they can even start swarming en masse. Roodpoothalmkruipers can hibernate as adult beetles. The males come from the winter period at the beginning of spring, while the wintering females only become active from May. In addition, it is known that there are also Roodpoothalmkruipers who hibernate as larvae. According to scientific research, this is because it can also be accompanied in the fall.
A nest in a drainage pipe, very strange or not?
M. Treur cycled through the forest one evening when she heard a pretty squeak next to the cycle path. What turned out? A great tit had made a nest in a broken drainage pipe. There were young squeaking great tits. Funny that M. Trept had discovered this great Meas Nest in that drainage pipe. Great tits nest everywhere it is possible. I once read an article that described all kinds of nests that are found of Koomes. I have saved that article and I will place the examples here. You can then read yourself that great tits are enormous ingenuity. So they not only nest in tree cavities and nest boxes, as often thought, but also in:
Post: In Germany, the United Kingdom and even in Heelsum, great tits are nestled in poles.
Boxes: Both in wooden boxes with electricity wires and in old bee senkry.
Water pumps: Great tits were found in the Biesbosch that had built a nest in a water pump.
Bicycle bags: Even in bicycle bags, great tits have made their nests.
Mailboxes: Different great tits have brooded in mailboxes.
Ashtrays: In the England and in Meeden, great tits have nestled in ashtrays.
Barrels with compost: In England, great tits made a nest in a barrel with compost.
Reverse flower pots: Even in a reverse flowerpot, close to a house, great tits can nest.
Barbecues: A nest was also found in the leg of a barbecue, where the ventilation holes served as an entrance.
Extractor: A nest was found in the removal of the drainage of a holiday home.
MEEENFLATS: Great tits can sometimes be found in nests in apartment buildings or sparrows, where they sometimes even close the holes.
A tree with a special leaf
Nel Jansen came across a tree during a bike ride in Hooge Mierde with a very special leaf. She wonders what a tree it is. She had never seen such a tree. When seeing the photo – and especially when seeing the leaves – I could imagine that she had never seen such a tree before. Yet it is a tree that is common in our Brabant landscape. It is an American oak, but not just an American oak. The leaves of that tree look very special. I think the oak has sustained a disease. Unfortunately I have no experience with this and so I started inquiring with friend Harm, a tree expert. He came up with the following answer; “I do know a yellow -leaf variant of the American oak, but that magazine looks very different. I think this is a deficiency phenomenon, perhaps chlorosis or something similar.” I know the concept of chlorosis and therefore an explanation of what is probably going on with that American oak. Chlorosis is a plant disease in which the leaves turn white due to a lack of chlorophyll, the green pigment in plants. This can be caused by a shortage of nutrients such as iron, zinc, manganese, magnesium or potassium or by a too high or too low pH of the soil. Even in humans, something like that can take place and Chlorosis refers to a disappeared condition that hit young women. They were given a bleaching green skin and other symptoms such as anemia and they showed fatigue.
Dragonflies and water teachers – AVROTROS
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Under the title ‘Meer Wild in the Netherlands’, the above film has been made in which attention is paid to real dragonflies and water teachers. Both species are species that belong to the family of dragonflies, but they differ in terms of construction and behavior. Real dragonflies are generally larger and firmer than water teachers (now called teachers) and their wings are often spread at rest, while water teachers often fold their wings.