ABtrees

Excellent. Its a Bagworm (moth). Almost certainly female, wingless and never leaves the 'bag' apparently. I had never even heard of them before yesterday let alone seen one, so all credit to you. Below is the photo taken a couple of minutes later once it poked its head out. Reminded me of Caddis fly larva that we would find in little brooks and streams in our youth. Enjoy your weekend.

What do you think this is ? It's about 6-7cm long and I found it in the yard.

I agree with that - Lily has a black head. Below are pictures of the 2 Cardinals and then one (which is really similar but) I believe it to be an Oak Longhorn, Pyrrhidium Sanguineum, (sorry phone photos !). The Lily tend to be a lot rounder both in terms of size and shape of the wing cases - I'll try to find a photo later. Not sure but it might be a bit early for Lily beetles??? Btw by far the most obvious way of telling them apart is at the larval stage : The Lily larvae are on Lilies (obv.), leeks or onions and are basically a ball of crap (within which is the larva) whilst the Cardinals are flat and found under the bark of recently dead trees (1-2 yrs). Final photo taken yesterday was exactly this (whilst moving an old Poplar log). You can see the little area each one has cut in order to pupate - which is what the odd looking things at the top are. The longhorn larva are totally different. Shame I disturbed them. I

Today's offerings

Really good - I think. Only.... I was hoping 1. was a Gothic moth - v. similar 2. Definitely NOT VGB - we have those and the Blue GB and the Golden GB. I don't know what it is but it was found on our blueberry bushes if that helps anyone ? 3. Yes. Not rare round here -apparently. We also have Wood crickets and something much rarer (in the UK anyway) - later 4. Yes - Cardinal 5. Yes - Oil 6. Yes - Rufous-shouldered Longhorn 7. Yes (Ruby) 8. Yes - very early for this fella I thought Do we want some more ???

Evening. Some great pics on here recently. Been out and about (in the wood/field) and got a few bug pics on my phone (quality not great) but thought I'd share them anyway. Shall we do a quiz ? No prizes - just for fun - please tell me if you get bored.

Hi AJS Yeah - not silly though - a 300mm but with a 1.4x converter. Tbh they seem tame enough - hide at about 15-20 m and within 2-3 minutes after going in, they're there. Reckon I could get to 10-12m and they'd still be OK. The Green is way more flighty - walking 40m from the tree and he's off. Heard that super fast drumming one again this am but just cannot see it, now its gone a bit greener in the wood. Hoopoe heard yesterday. Expect to have the Orioles back here within 10-14 days - now there's a bird I can never spot. Always just a fleeting glimpse - a flash of yellow (on the male) and they're gone.

Not so much 'up north' as way further south - central (rural) France. We have no Greys. As for the peckers, we have Greater, Middle and Lesser Spotted along with the Green (I'll get a picture tomorrow). The 5th is an 'occasional' visitor - The Black. A truly awesome bird - huge at circa 45cm - you tend to hear them before you see them - seriously loud and unmistakable. Hopefully we'll be lucky again this year. Today it's possible I have heard (not seen) a 6th variety - a Grey Headed - like a Green but you guessed it …. ! Super fast drumming - goes on for 2-3 seconds. Below is one of the 2nd pair of MSWs (in the Alder) along with a male Blackcap and a Willow Warbler (or Chiffchaf ???).

Very good Paul. Clandestine is exactly what it is. I like the idea it is a holoparasite (according to Wiki) - it has neither leaves or chlorophyll and gets all the nutrients it requires from the host. It favours Willow or Poplar but will parasite many other species apparently. ( The wiki link is here : Lathraea clandestina - Wikipedia EN.WIKIPEDIA.ORG if anyone is interested). For me it is almost fungus-like it flowers only appear in the spring and a bit like a truffle, it attaches to the root of the tree and the largest part of it remains below ground.

Thanks. We're very fortunate to have 5 different woodpeckers where we live. It's actually neither of the above but somewhere in between ! It's a Middle Spotted Woodpecker in an old dead Sweet Chestnut. We also have a Green in another tree (Indian Bean) in the garden and the Lesser is around but I have yet to find the nest. Since posting this I have in fact found another MSW pair in the garden in a dead Alder - I'll set the hide up and try to get a pic later on. Whilst waiting for the pic above, I had 2 pair of Nuthatch and a Treecreeper in the trees above and then a Red Squirrel came past about 10m in front of me. Yesterday was one of my best days ever in the hide. Unfortunately the camera was rigged up on the tripod (aimed at the hole) so I couldn't get any of them - tough call tho !

The sizes can be a bit variable tho - can make the timing for 'dippy eggs' a bit tricky !

OK here's the owner. Can't be sure I've ever seen / had chance to study them before but I guess I will now !

Do you know your hole ?!!! Woodpecker hole - obviously - but which one ? OK the clue is in the 2nd photo

Spring in full flow, here in lockdown France. Took my daily exercise tramping through the wood yesterday - flowers abound - couple of photos - although I've posted before, anyone want to have a guess at the last one (I now know what they are - v. interesting plant tho). Just about to post on show us ya birds thread - guess it's spring related - may be of interest

You mean something like this ?!!!

Hi. Not sure if this will be any use but found the guys below v helpful so even if they don't have the exact size they may be able to advise. Good luck ! https://www.scosarg.com/tooling/bandsaw-blades

I've decided not to climb trees any more it's much easier waiting for them to come to me ! This won't be 'today's job' - it's going to be at least 2 days (working on my own) and then 2 more waiting for my back to recover - looking forward to next winter a bit more now though (and the one after that !).

Hi Wizard. I've used this (followed by the OSMO exterior) : https://www.screwfix.com/p/sika-sikagard-universal-5-star-wood-treatment-clear-5ltr/66962 Non solvent, can be overpainted, protects against all the baddies etc.etc. Treated planks on shed inside and out - hit by all weathers. That was 8+ years ago and haven't touched it since - nothing bad to report so far ! May give it another go this year when the sun finally arrives. One word of caution though - its deadly (obviously) to all insect life and fish - it cannot enter the watercourse.

Just for interest, found a lot (40-50+) of these fellas in a windblown Alder (there's your clue !) that I was tidying up the other day. Haven't seen them before and apparently they normally overwinter in the leaf litter not in the bark where these were. About 7-8mm and a lovely shade of blue (the pic doesn't really do it justice). The second pic is (I think) a Large Tortoiseshell trying to stay cool till it's time to wake up !

With the hassle factor over here at the moment, you'd be lucky to get back in time for Xmas !

Really appreciate the thought and offer. Sadly (happily) based in deepest darkest France about 2 hours deeper than Mick !!! so unless someone needs a (busman's) holiday sometime soon....... and doesn't mind waiting to talk to the yellow vests on every 3rd roundabout !

Thanks to everyone for their replies and yes Stihlmad that is exactly what I have done probably 20 or more times over the years. with this one though (maybe proximity to the road, overall height - the interlock with the oak is est. 60 ft up because of the slope, and though my picture doesn't show it very well, has some substantial branches interlocked), I thought I would put it out there to see if anyone could suggest a better idea. I think I should have set out my stall a bit better (apologies for not doing so). I'm not a professional arb. this is on my own property for my own benefit / piece of mind. Been working in my own woods for the last 12 years and using a saw for over 30 yrs. but still feel (relatively) I know nothing and as said am always ready to learn / take advice. Unlike most of you guys on here I have the luxury of being able to take my time and look at it for a long while and work out a solution. in this case I just thought I would ask !

I'm beginning to think that may be my best option - always keen to learn and I'm sure it won't be the last one of these !

OK Am I getting that second bit right - are you suggesting pulling the butt down the hill ? I can't get above it with the tractor and for the reasons above, there really isn't a decent anchor point above it

Thanks both - and don't worry like I said, skill set and a degree of timidity / reality will keep me from climbing the oak !!! I can't go down the ground anchor root either (I don't think) the soil is shallow, loose and straight onto the bedrock (such as it is) which is deeply fissured and can be dismantled with a gemmy bar (which is probably why the tree blew over in the first place !) ! Apart from which the angle of the slope above wouldn't help.