A collection of pictures, videos, news and facts about animals and their habitats.
Posts are those which are submitted or found on external sites as noted.
A butterfly sits on a flower in Obergünzburg, Germany. The coldest start to spring for half a century has led to many butterflies emerging weeks later than usual, said a Butterfly Conservation report
Photograph: Karl-josef Hildenbrand/AFP/Getty Images
(Source: Guardian)
First of the year by Rob Felton
Feeling on top of the world! by Waheed Arshad
Bambi’s Photoshoot by Steven Lamar on Flickr.
Thirsty Grasshopper by riggy-riggo on Flickr.
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You might think that a sticky summer’s day is ideal for viewing adders, grass snakes and lizards, but spring is better. They are distracted by courtship now, so less intent on hiding, and need to bask intermittently to maintain their body temperature.
Pick a still day for your heathland safari, when the temperature is 9 - 18 Degrees Celsius. Don’t just search open areas - reptiles tend to bask close to cover, sometimes in half-shade. They can be tricky to approach, even if you tread lightly, so join a walk with a practised reptile-spotter (contact www.arc-trust.org) and hope you get lucky.
Dominic Couzens (BBC Wildlife Magazine)
(Source: discoverwildlife.com)
Set your alarm to hear a full dawn chorus this spring - and make sure it’s an experience not a tutorial. Being out in the ‘pre-dawn’ (in May, this still-dark period is at roughly 4am) ensures a thrill of unfamiliarity, and the first voice - usually the skylark or robin - can send shivers down the spine. Then, little by little, new species and individuals start up. Within 10-15 minutes the atmosphere is swollen with birdsong, a jumble of sounds akin to a human street market. The main dawn chorus lasts only about 20 minutes, so don’t try to learn the songs. Instead, get soaked in the wave of wild noise and marvel that all of the male birds in the neighbourhood feel so strongly compelled to sing.
- Dominic Couzens, naturalist and author (BBC Wildlife Magazine)
(Source: discoverwildlife.com)
A bird amid spring blooms in Agartala, India
Photograph: Sushanta Das/AP
(Source: Guardian)
Photo and caption by Robert McLean
With the onset of spring, male western grey kangaroos fight to establish their place in the mob.
