Male Tegenaria

This male house spider was suspended in the web of a large female Pholcus, which was sitting about 10 inches away. I stood for ages on a chair above the toilet, waiting for the two to come to blows. Unfortunately, i accidentally touched a thread of web and the male Tegenaria reacted like greased lightening, running at the camera and my face and making me fall off the chair and nearly head first in to the bath. It reminded me of a very simliar incident that i had with a huge orb spider in Vietnam. Not nice.

Pholcus

Female holding egg sac and bottom two show a male. This pair hang just above the toilet. They specialise in catching other spiders (their long legs enable them to wrap up another spider without getting too close) and i would love to see one take on a tegenaria, like the one below.

Male Tegenaria

A large male sitting next to the kettle.

Barn Owls, Rutland, 15th September

Many pairs in Rutland seemed to have delayed their breeding until later in the summer. This brood were ringed tonight.

Whinchats, RW, 13th September

A very confiding pair, digi-scoped while they caught grasshoppers from a fence.

GBBG trying to swallow the impossible, RW

This Greater Black-backed Gull spent over an hour trying to swallow an enormous Rainbow Trout corpse. Most of the fishes body was like a thick decaying sock but it was still connected to a huge skull. The gull was able to swallow the whole body but not the skull. It would then walk around with the skull hanging out of it's bill before eventually sicking the whole thing up and trying again. Truly disgusting but entertaining at the same time.

Ospreys, RW

Hobby, RW

A passing adult Hobby suddenly locked on to a Dunlin and performed manoeuvre's that would have caused a human body to explode. Two casual visitors sitting next to me had never seen a Hobby before and were literally gobsmacked at the twists and turns that both birds were performing over the water. The Dunlin won this time and the Hobby sauntered off south.

Common Terns, RW

A group of 26 migrating Common Terns arrived from the east and paused briefly before carrying on south-west.

Little Egret bill bubbling

I must confess that i don't spend that much time watching Little Egrets but i don't remember ever seeing one fishing like this one. It was creating bubbles with its bill which then attracted fish to either the noise or increased oxygen?, like an air stone in a garden pond. It never foot paddled like they usually do and seemed to be catching plenty of sprats with the bill bubbling method.

Funghi and Common Hawker

The funghi looked like a basking Buttterfly from a distance.