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.