Tag: susan forster

August 15th – A real treat for the seventh day of seven days of wildlife, the challenge set me by reader Susan Forster. I was riding through Pleck, and I spotted something wriggling, right in the middle of the road; stopping to investigate, I found this elephant hawkmoth caterpillar.

About two inches in length and ½ inch diameter, this is a big creepy crawly, not for the faint heated, but harmless and rather fascinating. Camouflaged to look like a plant stalk or twig, it has fake eyes and a bulbous head to make it look far more threatening than it really is, should it be threatened. Living mainly on willowherb or fuchsias, I suspect this one had been dropped by a bird, and thus escaped being lunch, and after posing for photos, was popped back on the scrub I think it came from, thus avoiding being squished.

This is a truly huge, fascinating caterpillar, and although common, a great chance find. Read more about it here.

August 10th – So, continuing Susan Forster’s seven day wildlife challenge, no such series would be complete without the swans. Truculent, grumpy, aggressive and temperamental, we all love these large waterfowl. 

I spotted the Bentley Bridge family – still doing well with their single cygnet – at the disused basin in Pleck on my way to work. Just one at first, drifting in classic leg-up rest position, preening with intense concentration. 

Swan feet are fascinating – so leathery and hard-wearing. A triumph of natural engineering.

The other two members of the family were nearby. I notice junior is now, like the Watermead cygnets in Brownhills, developing white back feathers now, and all trace of juvenile grey fluff has gone.

Oh, how these birds enthral me.

August 9th – Reader Susan Forster has challenged me to take a photo of wildlife every day for seven days.

The opportunities for animals are limited, obviously, but I’ll give it a go and start with the humble urban sparrow, one of my favourite birds. Sociable, gregarious and actually quite lovely if you look closely, these overlooked birds are a large part of our landscape, yet barely acknowledged as they’re so common.

This group were fussing around the steps of Bentley Bridge, preening, pecking for bugs and generally hanging out.