wise birds

Some of you may have seen these photos before on the story of the,  egrets and the snake
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/egrets-3-species.html
 Today I have not been out on my usual walkabout  because my back was playing up again,   so I was looking through my photos. and it came to mind that most  think of our birds and wildlife as brainless creatures. these birds know when there is danger  they know that when the fields are ploughed there is food they also know that when the field is inundated the grubs in the ground will surface. they have special calls.
like the one they made this day of the photo. the Hooded crow knows this call and comes to take whatever is there that has alarmed the  Egret, this time it was a snake in the water,   last time I heard this alarm call was in the field next to my flat. when the crow took the rat from the field. the Kite was  also over head but would not take the snake because I was too near. but what fascinated me was the expressions on the birds they were not sure if it was dead  because it was moving in the water. I went to see what was alarming them and as soon as I took the snake from the water  they all went on with the business of catching grubs in the field.  even though the snake was on the bank besides the culvert. they took no further interest in a dead snake..



 

The Hooded crow with its catch first it wedged the rat in the branch to kill it  then puts the dead rat under its claw to eat.  the kites and falcons kill  as soon as they catch it then fly to a tree or wire to eat using the same technique  with the claw to eat,

Pigeons & wasps

photos from friends

Yesterday I went to Tutti fruitti coffee shop  and met  A lady who lives 10 kilometers out from Luxor
We had a common interest in wildlife she said that she would send me some photos of what she had
I have not seen any of these three species as yet the desert fox I have seen stuffed above peoples doors.
She said the spider is Quite big  and the green moth was a nice find, so thanks for sending me the photos Amanda.  



 

Oleander Hawk-moth

myegypt.co.uk

Missed out on the birds they are on www.myegypt.co.uk

Graceful prinia, prinia gracilis.

 I am to be Congratulated  on finding  another species  the
I said it was the Lesser spotted eagle,    the Kite has never been seen in This part of Egypt not in the book anyway.  so if you are going to pull me up on names of birds  as I most welcome you to do   please give me the proper name.  I rely on the book for species its hard sometimes as the light plays tricks with the colours.
 
This is what birding is about this little bird is smaller than a wren almost like trying to get a photo of a large grasshopper,  but today this little one decided it would let me get quite close so i could take a photo only problem  was,   the reed beds are not a good place for a photo session'

 and these are what  shots I got today, its ok for me I saw these birds out in the open hunting for food, before they dived for cover,  in these reeds.

It decided to have a good scrach. then a good preen making sure there was no small wildlife under its wings.

        Then it flew off into a more open area by the Nile.

Little Egret

http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/2009/12/little-white-egret.html

The spiders Web

I take lots of photos each day anything that gets my attention, costs nothing and its easy to delete a frame ( as the professional photographers call a photo shot) if not wanted
so before I log off I will share these wonderful feats of nature, the first is the web of the garden spider, the spider itself is a work of art by our creator, the photos of spiders and bugs are on.
http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/2009/11/blog-post_23.html


this spider is just a spider but this spider shares its web with other spiders and sometimes a whole bush will be covered in hundreds of spiders webs
this one is on the side of the main road and the shrub is regularly trimmed if the webs are disturbed and broken they will build another over night. I tested them this web I destroyed 2 days ago. If you enlarge its easy to see the different webs the small bits are the spiders as soon as some thing big gets near they curl up into a ball shape I do have photos of them but without the legs sticking out of the body they just look like something they have caught and wrapped a web around it.

myegypt.co.uk

Click on the photos to enlarge
http://egyptwildlife.blogspot.com/ birds of Egypt
http://egyptswildlife2.blogspot.com/ birds of Egypt
http://www.nilelife.blogspot.com/ photos from around Luxor Egypt
http://www.nilelife2.blogspot.com/ photos from around Luxor Egypt
http://egyptdragonflies.blogspot.com/ Dragons and damsels
http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/ butterflies and bugs
http://myegypttours.blogspot.com Tombs and temples of Egypt
http://mydeserttrip.blogspot.com/ new in the process of building lots of photos of the white desert already on. 30/11/09
http://reflectionsofegypt.blogspot.com/ A trip down the Nile
http://tonythevolunteer.blogspot.com/
www.myegypt.co.uk my website

The dropped skeleton of a fish.

As I was walking over the bridge Yesterday the Kingfisher did his droppings. isn't that a nice word we do not say our feathered friends have a shit. we say have a drop the reason is because they only have one rear passage. no number one's or two's. getting back to the pile of dropping.
As I walked past the bridge rail I had forgot all about what the bird did yesterday well its not something one dwells on, a bird doing its droppings unless its a seagull that has dropped one on your head while sunbathing on a beach. any way this dropping on the rail caught my attention I thought first it was a cocoon of one of the dragons. my name for the dragonflies, Of which I have another blogspot so I would take a photo of it. then I noticed a fish bone sticking out of it as I was looking at it through the macro lens, aah! I thought its a stool . and my mind raced back to yesterday and the kingfisher doing its business on the rail of the bridge. it was dry to the touch so I dissected it , not afraid of getting my hands dirty me. all it was is bones and fish gills. well do not expect anything else its not a vegitarian, fish and Nile water only on its menu, boring I know but thats nature for you. so now you know what kingfishers drop. click the photo I went to a lot of trouble to get this photo so please have a look at this pile of bird droppings that I now call a skeleton of a fish.


Photos of Thirty seven species of bird to Date 29/11/09

Maretim Luxor

The birds have mooved not Migrated but just gone to their own blog
http://birdinginegypt.blogspot.com/
This Island was bought by the Hotel maritem. They also renamed the Island kings Island for obvious reasons. but to me its crocodile island. and its from the bridge that todays birds and fowl were photographed. the sparrows are photographed on my balcony roof.
View of bridge from what was Banana Island. this a good hotel to base for birdwatching in Luxor.
but be warry if the money hungry guards and Taxi drivers. they do have there own free transport to and from luxor town centre,

Love this tree

View both sides of the bridge

reflections in the Nile

Early morning Egypt

Spiders web in the early morning sun


The little white egret looks half asleep

The path is part of my daily walk I am not usually out this early I just wanted to photograph what I could. dragons etc.


The low sun brought out the colors in this tiny wasp

Fast asleep, I actually touched this dragon before I took the photo in macro

and another small bug fast asleep.

Another tiny wasp usually these are in groups Next photo.from

http://insectsonwings.blogspot.com/2009/11/tiny-wasps_19.html

Monitor Lizard

This is my first photo of the monitor lizard. I have seen it almost every time I go on my walk.

I do not think this one is feeling well I stayed a distance away in case it made her afraid.
usually this is afraid and gone into the murky waters as soon as it sees any danger.

The crow and rat

this is where the rat was caught the egrets only eat grubs and small mice when they see something they are afraid of they screech. usually the rat would have been caught first but the crows keep away from the farmer.

who's doing what.

Father and son on the way to work in the fields what shall we do today son . I duno Dad.

What are we going do today then.

Just like the world wide web its full of holes.