Bittern biting off more than it could chew?

Yesterday I witnessed something pretty incredible! As you may have heard already, there is a Bittern showing really well at Morgans Pond in Bettws. It's been there for over a week now and many people have come to see it. There has also been quite a few sightings of the local Mink during this time and people did wonder what would happen if a Mink and the Bittern were to cross paths.. Well, today that exact scenario happened and I managed to witness it all right from the beginning. I didn't however manage to capture it very well, but I could win an award for most blurring pictures! 

Bittern Displaying at Mink

Above is where it started! The mink was approaching from the right, climbing on-top of a log to get more height. You could clearly see the Mink was thinking out a strategy to get close enough to pounce at this point. 

Mink looking at Bittern

Mink Charging with mouth open

Cutting to the chase, it all happened so fast, the Mink charged at the Bittern and narrowly misses the bite around the neck by a couple inches. The Bittern saw it coming so just about had enough time to get air born and out of reach. The mink is by far the biggest I've ever seen! It could pass for a small Otter its that fat! You can see that it has obtained an injury at some point also, no doubt from its crazy attitude. 

Iolo's Spider Fetish

All this talk lately about False Widow Spiders caught the attention of the media today, this time thankfully the good guys! Iolo Williams and his film crew turned up to film the Nobel False Widow Spider in my garage, footage of which you will get to see in his new series about Urban Wildlife in Wales. It was really nice to catch up with Iolo and the crew, the same crew of which filmed Iolo's Great Welsh Parks two years ago. Where has that time gone! 

False Widow Spiders - Steatoda Nobilis

Turns out I have all three species of False Widow Spider known to be in South Wales but there is a fourth found in southern Essex called 'steatoda paykulliana', which is a relatively new comer to the Uk,  said to have transferred over seas in our grapes carts. One of the female spiders I blogged about yesterday was in-fact a Nobel False Widow - steatoda nobilis. This particularly species is the one that the media went crazy about, giving them a terribly name as a result. They aren't all that bad at all. 

Here is a picture of all three Spiders as you can roughly see by the non cropped images, they do vary in size. Noble being the largest and bipunctata being the most commonly found. I suspect that nearly every home in the Uk will likely have one of these three species living there - un-noticed. 
 

False Widow Spiders - Steatoda bipunctata

I mentioned a second species of False Widow in my last blog (S. bipunctata) but didn't show you a picture. How rude and unprofessional of me. Here it is, the Rabbit Hutch Spider. Just took these photos at 3 locations around the back garden. First picture below shows a female and a very tiny male which was barely noticeable. These are the smallest of the 3 species of spider under the name 'False Widow' at only 8mm long. The third species I'm yet to see is called the Noble False Widow (Steatoda nobilis) which is 14mm long and I'm told theres only one known place in Gwent for them (by local spider expert Mike Kilner). 

False Widow Spiders - Steatoda grossa

After a little clean out of the garage this weekend, I disturbed my first female False Widow Spider from a cardboard box in the corner. This particular False Widow (Steatoda grossa) is also called the 'Cupboard Spider' and for the obvious reason that it used to turn up in cupboards / out houses. This is different however to the False Widow's that I have in my Shed (Steatoda bipunctata) also called the 'Rabbit Hutch Spider', which is conveniently named considering that my shed was formally used to home rabbits by the previous home owners. 

I don't have a Macro lens, so these pictures are taken with my phone. Both spiders below are the 'Cupboard Spiders' from my garage, a second female of which I found today surrounded by the much smaller males in a pathetic excuse of a web. False Widow webs aren't very elaborate but are however much harder to see, therefor just as effective. 

I know lots of people don't like Spiders, especially ones with such a reputation as these for biting, but don't believe all the hype you hear about these. Yes they can bite but they rarely do. The bite itself for most people is just like a wasp sting, but just like bees and wasps, some people have an allergic reaction, resulting in being hospitalised. I personally have been bitten in the centre of my back by one of these and it was painful, but I'm still here.  

Spring is near

Despite being wet, windy and cold, spring is very much so around the corner. Spring plants are already emerging, my Daffodils in the Garden are almost flowering and Snowdrops are popping up everywhere. Saw my first yesterday at my local fishing ponds. 

Birds are also sensing this change, with temperatures slowly rising as the days get longer and those cold nights shorten. One bird particularly has adopted the help of family in order to survive the cold winter nights and thats the Long-tailed Tit. Once fledged from the nest, the youngsters will even help their parents to raise a second brood of chicks. This includes assisting to build new nests, chick feeding and maintenance. This family bond takes them right through the winter also, with strength in numbers, not just for the extra eyes to look out for predators and food, but to physically huddle up with to keep warm at night.

Waxwing, Redwing and X-rays

A week of pain, and pleasure: A growing problem with my back has caught up with me, so x-rays and mri scans to come will hopefully get me back on track. Luckily for me however, I haven't had to do any travelling at all! with Waxwing literally turning up on my doorstep. If you'd like to see some for yourself, there is still a flock of 6 near Morrisons Car Park in Cwmbran. I've even embedded the location for you below, doesn't get easier than that! Enjoy
 

Patching

Spent a lot of time close to home this weekend. Even walked around Cwmbran Boating Lake which is especially busy on the weekends which I generally try to avoid. Glad I visited though as I did record a Marsh Tit on arrival and had a great time watching early spring behaviour coming from the waterfowl / Great Spotted Woodpeckers that have already lined up a few nesting holes ready for spring. 

Last night I gave my second ever talk, this time at Gwent Ornithological Society' AGM meeting. Still not a massive fan of talking in front of people but it was received well with some very good questions at the end which proved they were listening lol. On a serious note, my talk was on Mimicry in birds, something that is a difficult topic to talk about considering how much mimicry happens day-to-day. 

Today also saw a small flock of Waxwing at Morrisons Carpark in Cwmbran! Finally starting to get some local sightings. They weren't showing very well though due to the activity there, they seemed a bit shy compared to the urban sightings I've had so far. 

Old Man Photography

For those expecting photos of old men, sorry to disappoint you. The only old man today was the person taking the photos, or at-least, that is how I feel currently with back problems. Despite that I tried my best today with good friend Ian Howells. Spent more time in the car today driving around to different locations but I'll let you decide if the results paid off. I'm pretty happy with some of the photos from today with some decent light for a change. 

Local Waxing

Dropping in before the weather turns bad, but what will it find but an angry mob of local Thrushes protecting their stash of food. That is what awaited this poor girl before having to find a new location to feed. There isn't much left in terms of berries in Pontypool, as you can see in the pictures! Was a great find by local Birder Craig Constance and a shame it didn't stick around. Hopefully more will come through.. would be nice to get some pictures of these in the snow! :O