Monday 28 February 2011
imbolc.
The pagan festival of imbolc celebrates the reawakening of the earth and the potential of manifestation inherent at this time. This is a cross quarter festival, its an opportunity for us all to use the developing energy of a new season. In pagan tradition, the triple goddess becomes her virgin self again. The maiden can be known as bride,brigit or brigid. The days are now beginning to lengthen. It is still cold but the signs of spring are beginning to show. Buds are forming on the trees, sap is starting to rise and the bulbs are pushing through the earth. There are signs of the earth stirring everywhere. Dryads and nature spirits are waking up now as the energies move from the underworld to our conscious world. All of nature is ready to re-born as our acceptance of winter gives way to the urge for us to move forward into springtime energy. Now is the time to prepare inwardly for the changes that will come. Plant your ideas and leave them to germinate. At lammas, opposite imbolc on the wheel of the year, consciousness began its decent into inner realms and the dark, to find inner wisdom and regeneration. Here at imbolc the unconscious is emerging from inner realms, revitalised,potent and fertile. The unconscious and the conscious join and unite to bring about growth, fertility and manifestation. Imbolc is a time for initiation and healing,for reclaiming what has been forgotten. The returning active phase of the solar year brings with it an opportunity to use the fire from within, to combine the dynamic inner power with the dynamic with the expansive energy of the year`s cycle.
Monday 21 February 2011
The discoglossidae family.
The midwife toad.
For a few weeks in late spring or early summer, a male midwife toad carries eggs from the female twined round its back and hind legs. The female expels her eggs for the male to fertilize externally. It then takes them to the water when they are ready to hatch, the male wades into shallow water allowing the tadpoles to enter the pool. One small colony was known to be in Britain. The midwife toad was accidentally introduced in the 1800`s with some water plants. The midwife toad is a very shy nocturnal animal. During the day they will hide under logs, stone walls and will occasionally dig into soft sandy soil , only emerging at night time to forage for food but they always return to the same hiding place during daylight. The midwife toad is smaller than the common toad with a rounded snout, and are normally light brown-greenish in colour with wort's on its back that release poison if the toad is handled, because of this the midwife has very few predators. Their tadpoles don`t posses the poison so are preyed upon by fish and sometimes insects. They hibernate during winter in a burrow or a hole and emerge in late spring. The midwife toad is more like a frog than a toad in its looks, but it crawls like all toads when out searching for food, they use their long sticky tongue to catch their prey, which include beetle, caterpillars,crickets,flies,centipedes and millipedes. The tadpoles feed on water plants, chewing them with their tiny, horny teeth. When they get a little bit bigger they eat similar food to the adults.
For a few weeks in late spring or early summer, a male midwife toad carries eggs from the female twined round its back and hind legs. The female expels her eggs for the male to fertilize externally. It then takes them to the water when they are ready to hatch, the male wades into shallow water allowing the tadpoles to enter the pool. One small colony was known to be in Britain. The midwife toad was accidentally introduced in the 1800`s with some water plants. The midwife toad is a very shy nocturnal animal. During the day they will hide under logs, stone walls and will occasionally dig into soft sandy soil , only emerging at night time to forage for food but they always return to the same hiding place during daylight. The midwife toad is smaller than the common toad with a rounded snout, and are normally light brown-greenish in colour with wort's on its back that release poison if the toad is handled, because of this the midwife has very few predators. Their tadpoles don`t posses the poison so are preyed upon by fish and sometimes insects. They hibernate during winter in a burrow or a hole and emerge in late spring. The midwife toad is more like a frog than a toad in its looks, but it crawls like all toads when out searching for food, they use their long sticky tongue to catch their prey, which include beetle, caterpillars,crickets,flies,centipedes and millipedes. The tadpoles feed on water plants, chewing them with their tiny, horny teeth. When they get a little bit bigger they eat similar food to the adults.
Tuesday 15 February 2011
The bufonidae family
Part two the natterjack toad.
The name of the natterjack toad is probably derived from the anglo-saxon word naeddre, which meant a serpent or crawling creature. This is probably because toads crawl whereas frogs hop. The term jack probably refers to the toads small size. The natterjack is found only in sandy places like heaths, mainly in coastal dunes in East Anglia and north west England, I actually came across some around the prestatyn area of North Wales while i was on a family holiday. The natterjacks numbers are declining and are now protected by law. Natterjack toads dig burrows in soft sand, and often shelter there together. They emerge at night, to hunt for insects such as sand fleas. They burrow deep into the sand using their forelimbs during winter and then emerge during spring. They spawn in april, but you can hear the males calling in the edge of the shallows to attract the females from March onwards. The ponds they spawn in have to have alight slope to enable them to get in and out of the pond. You can also hear the males calling out at night, this can be heard up to half a mile away because of a single vocal sack that amplifies the sound.Just like the common toad, their spawn is laid in a long stringy line, up to two meters in length. Their spawn will be in and around water plants. Their spawn has a single line of black eggs unlike common toads who lay their spawn in a line of double black eggs. Most of the natterjacks toad tadpoles die because their nursery ponds dry up before they become toadlets. Although natterjack toads have poisonous skins, crows and gulls have learned to eat them without eating their skin. They may live up to ten years in the wild. A yellow line down the middle of its back distinguishes the natterjack toad from the common toad. It is also slightly smaller and has a shinier, smoother skin than the common toad. Adults vary in colour from olive-green to yellowish- green. Their head and body measure up to two and a half inches. When threatened the natterjack toad adopts a defensive posture. It does this by arching its back towards an attacker so that the poison- secreting glands on its back are uppermost. They spend a lot of their time in and amongst reeds on the edge of the ponds, the natterjacks reaches maturity when they are about five years old.
The name of the natterjack toad is probably derived from the anglo-saxon word naeddre, which meant a serpent or crawling creature. This is probably because toads crawl whereas frogs hop. The term jack probably refers to the toads small size. The natterjack is found only in sandy places like heaths, mainly in coastal dunes in East Anglia and north west England, I actually came across some around the prestatyn area of North Wales while i was on a family holiday. The natterjacks numbers are declining and are now protected by law. Natterjack toads dig burrows in soft sand, and often shelter there together. They emerge at night, to hunt for insects such as sand fleas. They burrow deep into the sand using their forelimbs during winter and then emerge during spring. They spawn in april, but you can hear the males calling in the edge of the shallows to attract the females from March onwards. The ponds they spawn in have to have alight slope to enable them to get in and out of the pond. You can also hear the males calling out at night, this can be heard up to half a mile away because of a single vocal sack that amplifies the sound.Just like the common toad, their spawn is laid in a long stringy line, up to two meters in length. Their spawn will be in and around water plants. Their spawn has a single line of black eggs unlike common toads who lay their spawn in a line of double black eggs. Most of the natterjacks toad tadpoles die because their nursery ponds dry up before they become toadlets. Although natterjack toads have poisonous skins, crows and gulls have learned to eat them without eating their skin. They may live up to ten years in the wild. A yellow line down the middle of its back distinguishes the natterjack toad from the common toad. It is also slightly smaller and has a shinier, smoother skin than the common toad. Adults vary in colour from olive-green to yellowish- green. Their head and body measure up to two and a half inches. When threatened the natterjack toad adopts a defensive posture. It does this by arching its back towards an attacker so that the poison- secreting glands on its back are uppermost. They spend a lot of their time in and amongst reeds on the edge of the ponds, the natterjacks reaches maturity when they are about five years old.
Wednesday 9 February 2011
Conservation.
Bring back the birds.
A garden bustling with bird life will be brought alive by song and flapping wings, and also give us a chance to see wild creatures at close hand. But many of our most familiar visitors are suffering serious decline.
What to look out for.
As well as house sparrows, whose numbers have dropped dramatically, other birds in decline include starlings, dunnocks,song thrushes, mistle thrushes, swifts, house martins, spotted flycatchers, willow warblers, bullfinches, tree sparrows and linnets.
Reasons for their decline.
Cats and non native grey squirrels are to take some blame for falling populations of these birds, but the main reasons are man made. Patios, decking, drives and the general tidiness of our modern gardens eliminate the seed and insect food of many species. Birds like house sparrows, swifts, house martins and swallows are finding it harder to find nest sites because we are much better at maintaining our houses nowadays, whereas in the past they`d have nested under the eaves. We have also taken out a lot of hedgerows in our inner cities and filled in all of the nooks and crannies on the outside of our houses with p.v.c. Also some modern farming practices, pesticides, the lack of weed seeds and a change to planting times all play their part.
Tips to help.
Leave parts of your garden to go wild.
You don`t have let your garden get hopelessly overgrown, but areas of long grass are a great habitat for insects and nearly all small birds need insects during the breeding season to provide protein for their young.
Plant plenty of native species.
As they will provide seed foods for birds and attract insects. Annual plants that produce seeds in late summer are a good source of food in the autumn and delaying cutting back your perennials until the spring means the seed heads provide winter food. Berry-bearing trees are always good for attracting birds. Varieties of cotoneasters, pyracantha and rowans are popular for redwings, fieldfares and waxwings.
Give the birds a banquet.
With lots of feeders and a variety of food including seeds and energy rich foods like fat balls. Various birds will always come back to your garden so if you put feeders out you must always make sure you keep them topped up. Great tits, blue tits,long tailed tits, chaffinches, goldfinches, robins, blackbirds and starlings. Theses species doing well largely because of their success adopting to garden feeders.
Provide a home to nest.
Many garden birds share a willingness to use nest boxes. But you can buy boxes that fit under your eaves to attract house- nesting species. Boxes with metal reinforcement around the opening can stop woodpeckers and squirrels from getting in to them as well.
A garden bustling with bird life will be brought alive by song and flapping wings, and also give us a chance to see wild creatures at close hand. But many of our most familiar visitors are suffering serious decline.
What to look out for.
As well as house sparrows, whose numbers have dropped dramatically, other birds in decline include starlings, dunnocks,song thrushes, mistle thrushes, swifts, house martins, spotted flycatchers, willow warblers, bullfinches, tree sparrows and linnets.
Reasons for their decline.
Cats and non native grey squirrels are to take some blame for falling populations of these birds, but the main reasons are man made. Patios, decking, drives and the general tidiness of our modern gardens eliminate the seed and insect food of many species. Birds like house sparrows, swifts, house martins and swallows are finding it harder to find nest sites because we are much better at maintaining our houses nowadays, whereas in the past they`d have nested under the eaves. We have also taken out a lot of hedgerows in our inner cities and filled in all of the nooks and crannies on the outside of our houses with p.v.c. Also some modern farming practices, pesticides, the lack of weed seeds and a change to planting times all play their part.
Tips to help.
Leave parts of your garden to go wild.
You don`t have let your garden get hopelessly overgrown, but areas of long grass are a great habitat for insects and nearly all small birds need insects during the breeding season to provide protein for their young.
Plant plenty of native species.
As they will provide seed foods for birds and attract insects. Annual plants that produce seeds in late summer are a good source of food in the autumn and delaying cutting back your perennials until the spring means the seed heads provide winter food. Berry-bearing trees are always good for attracting birds. Varieties of cotoneasters, pyracantha and rowans are popular for redwings, fieldfares and waxwings.
Give the birds a banquet.
With lots of feeders and a variety of food including seeds and energy rich foods like fat balls. Various birds will always come back to your garden so if you put feeders out you must always make sure you keep them topped up. Great tits, blue tits,long tailed tits, chaffinches, goldfinches, robins, blackbirds and starlings. Theses species doing well largely because of their success adopting to garden feeders.
Provide a home to nest.
Many garden birds share a willingness to use nest boxes. But you can buy boxes that fit under your eaves to attract house- nesting species. Boxes with metal reinforcement around the opening can stop woodpeckers and squirrels from getting in to them as well.
Tuesday 1 February 2011
The bufonidae family (toads)
The common toad.
The common toad has a dry,warty skin and is generally brown, yellowish,greyish or olive green with dark brown spots on their skin. The common toad is an amphibian so it will always come back to the water to breed, but will quite happily live on land when not breeding.Toad migration starts in March or early April which can be a spectacular affair. What the toads are doing is leaving they hibernation places and head straight for their breeding pools. They will be in their hundreds, crossing roads on mass. Because of this many are killed in the process. Common toads like to spawn in fairly deep water and are more particular where they spawn compared to common frogs. Male toads will start to croak to attract females, he will then clasp her tightly from behind and fertilise her spawn as she lays it. The females lays her eggs in long stringy lines, usually about seven to ten feet long that will be wrapped around various water plants. The eggs then develop into tadpoles and then young toads after about fourteen weeks. Their development depends on the weather in spring. Young toads then leave the pool in June or July, with about one in twenty surviving. Unlike common frogs, toads walk whereas frogs leap to get about. Male toads are ready to breed after three years with female being ready after four years. Male toads heavily out number females at breeding time. Toads like to eat live prey, such as worms,insects and even small mammals which they will swallow whole. They will normally sit and wait for their prey to come into their range. They seize them by sticking out out their long sticky tongue which is rooted at the front of their mouth and can extend to about one inch.. The female will be up to four inches in total with the male being slightly smaller than the female. They are preyed on by grass snakes and hedgehogs which are immune to bufagin, this is the foul tasting substance which is ommitted in their skin so deterring most other predators. Toads mainly hunt at night and mainly in the wet. A toads pupils are circuler at night, they contract back to being a small slit in the day time. Their pupil is black and bordered by a yellow iris. Common toads hibernate from October to the middle of March, but this does variey depending on the part of Britain where they live. They may hibernate under logs or in dry stone walls near to their breeding pools. Gardens and parks are quite common places to fing toads. They leave the pools after spawning and spend most of the day under logs, emerging at night. Common toads may live up to about ten years in the wild.
The common toad has a dry,warty skin and is generally brown, yellowish,greyish or olive green with dark brown spots on their skin. The common toad is an amphibian so it will always come back to the water to breed, but will quite happily live on land when not breeding.Toad migration starts in March or early April which can be a spectacular affair. What the toads are doing is leaving they hibernation places and head straight for their breeding pools. They will be in their hundreds, crossing roads on mass. Because of this many are killed in the process. Common toads like to spawn in fairly deep water and are more particular where they spawn compared to common frogs. Male toads will start to croak to attract females, he will then clasp her tightly from behind and fertilise her spawn as she lays it. The females lays her eggs in long stringy lines, usually about seven to ten feet long that will be wrapped around various water plants. The eggs then develop into tadpoles and then young toads after about fourteen weeks. Their development depends on the weather in spring. Young toads then leave the pool in June or July, with about one in twenty surviving. Unlike common frogs, toads walk whereas frogs leap to get about. Male toads are ready to breed after three years with female being ready after four years. Male toads heavily out number females at breeding time. Toads like to eat live prey, such as worms,insects and even small mammals which they will swallow whole. They will normally sit and wait for their prey to come into their range. They seize them by sticking out out their long sticky tongue which is rooted at the front of their mouth and can extend to about one inch.. The female will be up to four inches in total with the male being slightly smaller than the female. They are preyed on by grass snakes and hedgehogs which are immune to bufagin, this is the foul tasting substance which is ommitted in their skin so deterring most other predators. Toads mainly hunt at night and mainly in the wet. A toads pupils are circuler at night, they contract back to being a small slit in the day time. Their pupil is black and bordered by a yellow iris. Common toads hibernate from October to the middle of March, but this does variey depending on the part of Britain where they live. They may hibernate under logs or in dry stone walls near to their breeding pools. Gardens and parks are quite common places to fing toads. They leave the pools after spawning and spend most of the day under logs, emerging at night. Common toads may live up to about ten years in the wild.
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