Stag beetles, Devils Coach horse and a couple of others.

Devil's coach-horse beetles Ocypus olens or Staphylinus olens as they once were classified are still out and about here but with the current cold they will need to be finding winter cover soon, one of the many species that may find a place in our house if they are lucky.

They along with the Stag beetles have had an exceptional 2013 around here and I have never seen so many, at times it has been hard to avoid them and quite large numbers ended up being squashed on the roads. Although they are both common species it seemed worthy of a mention due to their completely different biologies.

In French the Devil's coach-horse is simply called "le diable", the Devil or "le Staphylin odorant" literally smelly staphylin due to the foul odour it emits from a pair of white glands at the end of its abdomen.

They belong to the rove beetle family (Staphylinidae) and are well known for raising their abdomens, and opening their jaws rather like a scorpion when threatened. As predators that hunt mainly at night they will have a go at most other invertebrates dead or alive as will their larvae with the food being repeatedly chewed, swallowed, generally messed around with covered with brown secretions from the foregut, reduced to a liquid and digested.

They only have the one generation a year, egg, larvae, (with 3 instars), pupa and adult, (which can live for two years).

Stag beetles, Lucanus cervus, Lucane Cerf-volant in French, (Cerf-volant means Kite in English and in this case it refers to the way the males fly), are completely different in just about every respect from the Devils coach horse and never fail to draw attention to themselves, often to their detriment. They can certainly come as a surprise, (along with many other creatures), to people from the UK that have never come across them.  The adult beetle has a short life and doesn't eat as such but does take some liquid sustenance often from fallen fruit. Cherries, plumbs and other soft fruits are particularly favoured as are plant secretions.

They are members of the Lucanidae family with a larval life that can last from between 2 and 6 years which is thought to depend on temperatures - egg, larvae, pupa, adult. This variable long life cycle seems to be quite an evolutionary insurance policy and one that is shared with many other species of beetle and some moths. Over time it should provide both genetic variation and smooth over bad weather years.

Unfortunately for these beetles they both can be thought to either be the Devil or have some connection with the Devil in rural France. This may seem strange to anyone with a modern or scientific mind set but I've actually seen older folk going out specifically to kill them. Fortunately with the way woodlands and copses are managed here, (or not managed as is more the case), Stag Beetles and other woodland beetles and insects are doing OK for now although I had to laugh the other week when my new neighbor who builds wooden "eco" houses and waffles about global warming informed me that leaving fallen trees and such like in the woodland was bad for the environment because it released carbon as it decomposed. Good job that doesn't happen when you put it on the bonfire !!!!!!!!.

I'll slip these photos in here as well.

Carrion beetle eating a dead Stag beetle.

and another eating a crane fly.

Wild life in France Stag beetles

More on Stag beetles, a really informative site.  

Stag beetles — All they need is love and wood

Coleoptera.    

Iconographie des Coleopteres Carabidae D'Alsace

Chris

The tragic decline of the Red Kite in France continues.

I remember back in the early 1990's when we lived in mid Wales being able to regularly see a couple of the UK Red Kites that there were remaining at that time and all very secretive it was, not something to be advertised! Who would have thought then that there would be such a fantastic recovery resulting in the numbers to be seen today in the UK following some introduced reinforcements? A true success story even if there are still some "local issues".

In France, just as in the UK, the Red Kite was just about everywhere in the 17th century, seen equally over "the streets of Paris as over the streets of London". Again just as in the UK the Red Kite in France and other Continental European countries had declined dramatically by the middle of the 20th century. The decline slowed down in France, with population sizes even increasing from the start of the 1970's largely due to the protective measures put in place (with legal protection for all birds of prey in 1972). The Red Kites distribution widened considerably until the end of the 1980's but then started to decrease again in the early 1990's – sadly a trend that continues today despite the efforts of various organisations participating in the national conservation scheme. A 2008 study essentially shows a population decrease of more than 20% between 2002 and 2008 alone.

Faced with the continuing declines the French Ministry of Ecology told the LPO, in January 2012 of the development of a second National Action Plan for the Red Kite. Unfortunately, nearly two years have passed and the document is still not validated which sadly is about par for the course here.

Unlike the UK where the Red Kite population is sedentary,  Red Kites from Germany are fully migratory and French Red Kites are either fully or partially migratory flying mainly to the Massif / Pyrenées area or Spain.

The map gives an idea of the situation. (Hivernant = wintering. Nicheur = nesting).

The causes for the decline aren't entirely due to the situation in France and result from a number of factors however a major cause is the use of anti-coagulant poisons in large quantities to kill voles plus illegal poisoning using banned substances. For the year 2013 alone so far we know of at least 34 dead red kites that have been discovered in France and it's safe to assume that there are others. This is a bird that has gone from being of "least concern" in 2004 to "near threatened" in 2009 according to IUCN Red list and I quote here from them. 

""The most pertinent threat to this species is illegal direct poisoning to kill predators of livestock and game animals (targetting foxes, wolves, corvids etc.) and indirect poisoning from pesticides and secondary poisoning from consumption of poisoned rodents by rodenticides spread on farmland to control vole plagues, particularly in the wintering ranges in France and Spain, where it is driving rapid population declines""

There are other factors, habitat loss, reduced availability of food, illegal destruction and wind-farms play a role and all of these need addressing if we are to avoid taking the Red Kite back to the brink or even possibly extinction given the low population numbers of some 19,000-23,000 pairs across its range.

Link.

IUCN Red List

Roe deer in the early morning mist.

Finally I got round to buying a Trail Camera and this is my first capture other than a hardly visible rat scurrying around in the dark and a feral cat that roams around the immediate area.

The model I’ve bought is a NatureView Cam HD Max 119439 and I’m hoping it comes somewhere near their glowing sales pitch! I like the idea of the two close focus lenses 25 and 46cm for use with a bird feeding station and the automatic switch from daylight colour to darkness IR.

  

Of course there is the small matter of what’s actually around, some of which I’m already aware of from either actual sightings or traces. The Roe deer I see quite often and plenty of Red squirrels when they decide to show themselves. Occasionally I have sightings of Marten and Weasel, (dawn or dusk), but I more often see their excrements although I haven’t seen any for a month or two and I suspect I may have to resort to a bit of “baiting” to try and attract some creatures to a feeding zone. 

Anyway with the hunting season in full swing this male with his three females would do well to stay on our land where hunting isn’t permitted.

Chris

Three hairy caterpillars and an ichneumon.

I've been coming across three common hairy caterpillars for the last few weeks as I do every year in autumn and although they are widespread and common I thought I'd just pop them on here. Anyway, I often find that caterpillars are prettier than the moth or butterfly they will end up as one day if they make it AND they don't fly away when I want to take a photo!

These three all spend the winter as a caterpillars and pupate in the spring.

The Fox Moth Macrothylacia rubi is called either Anneau du diable  or Bombyx de la ronce in French. They belong to the family of Lasiocampidae and as one of the French names Bombyx de la ronce implies one of its preferred food plants is bramble, (no shortage of that on our land), although they will happily eat a range of food plants including different species of heather. Moth here.

The Ruby Tiger Phragmatobia fuliginosa is called Écaille cramoisie in French and belongs to the family Arctiidae. Some preferred caterpillar foods include Ragworts, Plantains, Heather,  Docks, Dandelion, Spindle and Broom, so quite a selection. Moth here.

The Garden Tiger Arctia caja  is called  L' Ecaille martre in French and is from the family Arctiidae. Caterpillar food plants include raspberry, blackberry, viburnum, honeysuckle, heather and broom. This caterpillar really is the most splendid "beast" and the moth isn't bad either. Moth here.

The Ichneumon I've been seeing is both widespread and very common in late summer and autumn, the Yellow Ophion Ophion luteus called Ophion jaune-brun in French. It is from the family of Ichneumonidae which are a family within the order Hymenoptera, (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies) and these are generally called Ichneumon wasps. It is an endoparasite  of various caterpillars and the female injects a single egg into each of its victims where it then hatches and consumes the caterpillar from the inside, perhaps not the nicest of methods to reproduce but an interesting insect all the same.

Don't forget, all hairy caterpillars can cause itching or rashes on sensitive skin as I remember from my childhood, especially when we used to put them down the back of each others shirts - poor caterpillars!

Chris

Poor year for wasps and hornets

As far as I can gather this really hasn't been a good year at all for the social wasps including Hornets in much of France. It’s that bad first 6 months to the year again that caused all the problems, cold nights and too wet, especially bad for the ground nesting wasp species.

Now I guess a lot of people will be happy with this as they are a group of insects that people generally love to hate, or if hate’s too strong a word, dislike intensely. Broadly I can understand why, they are known to sting in certain circumstances and very few people actually enjoy pain or the reaction that can sometimes follow, swelling, itching, soreness and so on although in reality most people are rarely stung or experience very strong reactions if they are. 

Of course as usual the media plays a largely negative role with "shock stories" should someone actually die, usually as a result of disturbing a nest and receiving a large number of stings, or perhaps because they are one of the relatively rare people that go into Anaphylactic shock from wasp stings. However when looked at objectively what we find is that wasp stings are just about at the bottom of the list of events likely to cause a serious ongoing health problem or death.

If I take for convenience the official cause of deaths in 2010 for England and Wales which totaled 493,242 registered during the year we find that only five people suffered fatal “contact with hornets, wasps and bees".

BUT a total of more than 3,600 people died in falls, including 50 who slipped on ice or snow.  99 people were killed in falls from beds, 52 in falls from chairs, 655 fell down flights of stairs and 13 died accidentally after falling off a cliff.  

Needless to say you will have gathered by now where I'm going and that I quite like wasps and hornets and I would like to think not without good reason.

Top of the list is that they kill tons and tons of other insects throughout a full season to feed their larvae. The insects chosen will vary according to the species and to what are available but will include lots of aphids and other so called garden pests. Beats using pesticides and promotes balance.

Secondly they are a food source themselves for other creatures. A couple of good examples are the Honey Buzzard, Pernis apivorus,  that will rip apart perhaps a 100 or more wasp nests during the summer months to feed both themselves and their young with the larvae, and the Bee-eater Merops apiaster will also take large numbers of wasps and hornets among other insects to feed themselves and their young.

A lack of wasp nests will lead to Honey Buzzards digging out Bumble bee nests which is something to be avoided if at all possible.

So perhaps wasps and hornets aren't really that bad after all?

Links: 
Honey Buzzard in France
Bee-eater in France

Feeding my bees

Usually I don't need to feed any of my bees before winter but due to the bad weather this year, especially the first 6 months, everything was behind with some colonies swarming as late as July with a corresponding slow build up in colony population strength.

As things worked out it wasn't too bad by the end of August although the honey yield was poor, probably only about a third of what it should have been. Most hives were already well loaded and heavy with honey for the winter leaving all of September remaining to forage the ivy which was abundant this year. Ivy, a much maligned plant, is a great source of nectar and pollen for the bees at the end of the season and plays an important role for a number of species.

However I had half a dozen underweight colonies from late reared Queens and I've been feeding these to boost their population size and hopefully get them up to weight with sufficient honey stores to get them through winter but I'm still left with three that are underweight even now towards the end of October.  

The plastic feeder sits over a hole in the top or crown board of the hive enabling the bees to climb up and take the syrup and the clear plastic cap prevents the bees from actually getting in the syrup and drowning. There are many views on what, how and when to feed bees and I make mine with water, sugar, honey plus a small amount of cider vinegar. In an ideal world I wouldn't be feeding any this late in the year and really need to stop before November.

While I was filling the feeders I had a visitor to the hive top, an Asian Hornet. These are still taking bees from the hive entrances even though there are hardly any bees flying now.

On the good news front an insect that hasn't had a bad year at our place is the Praying Mantis, they go from strength to strength here and every other hive seems have one sitting on it for the last 6 or 7 weeks or so, often right on the hive entrance. Of course Mantis like everything else have to eat and they don't eat many bees really, not enough to worry about.

29th International Ornithological Film Festival Ménigoute

This week it's  the 29th International Ornithological Film Festival at Ménigoute, Deux-Sevres, Poitou-Charentes and I'm really looking forward to spending some time there on Thursday.

Festival runs from 29th October until 30th November and I should say right from the start it's a lot more than films and however good the films may be it's the other things that interest me, especially spending a bit of time looking, (drooling), at all the optical kit, cameras, field glasses and scopes I can't afford. Not that I can't get by with what I've got but it's like everything else, it would always be nice to have better things and there really are some incredible optics available these days.  Hmmm, best stop dreaming.

I must mention before anything else that the first thing to grab my attention was this stunning old bee "hive" apparently about 150 years of age. I just love this type of thing however impractical it may have been compared to current bee hives. Sadly not for sale.

Inside the large exhibition buildings there were all the stands with goods and services for sale, optical goods as mentioned, seeds for old varieties of vegetables and plants from Association Kokopelli, regional products, producers of organic wines, producers of organic fruits and juices, honey and bee products, cheeses, bee-keeping associations, wildlife tour organisers, cane work, conservation and planting of trees and hedgerows with Prom'Haies, all manner of wildlife and nature books, DVD's and other publications. 

As to be expected numerous Associations, Organisations and other structures connected with wildlife / environment protection and management including the State bodies such as the ONCFS , the Conseil Regional Poitou-Charentes and the Conseil Général des Deux-Sevres were represented. 

The two main Associations for Deux-Sevres had large stands as one would expect. For birds Groupe Ornithologique des Deux-Sevres, (or GODS as it is known), and for everything else Deux-Sevres Nature Environnement.

For the Region of Poitou-Charentes there was Société Française d'Orchidophile Poitou-Charentes for Orchids, the Conservatoire d'Espaces Naturels de Poitou-Charentes and Poitou-Charentes Nature. To be truthful it's all a bit too complicated to explain here but I will put links at the bottom of this post.

I really must give a mention to L'Abeille des Deux-Sevres a Bee keeping Syndicate that provides information and education to prospective bee keepers. These children were fascinated by the glass sided display hive heaving with bees which could also be viewed though a small section of roof that had a ventilation grill and access to water. 

Another special mention is to L'Association pour la Protection des Animaux Sauvages - ASPAS, a National Association that campaigns and uses the legal system to take action against both individuals and the French authorities for breaches of both National or European law. They also provide a service to people that wish to prevent hunters from entering their land and provide assistance if there are "issues".

For those that know France it goes almost without saying that the LPO, (Ligue por la Protection des Oiseaux), Frances largest Bird protection organisation had a large stand providing information, signing up members and selling related books and product

In a large separate section of the exhibition centre there was a section dedicated to what I would broadly call wildlife & nature "art", paintings, sculpture, photography and so on. Some interesting work and much of it a very high standard as far as I can tell!

This is a snip from the winning film The Moor 

However most importantly to me there were a large number stands and even some dedicated areas where they had educational games or other activities for young people to play and learn with motivated adults available to make it fun and interesting. Here's a few photos and I think an appropriate place to end with building the future.

Some Links from this post.
The Festival

Association Kokopelli
Prom'Haies
ONCFS
Groupe Ornithologique des Deux-Sevres
Deux-Sevres Nature Environnement.
Société Française d'Orchidophile Poitou-Charentes
Conservatoire d'Espaces Naturels de Poitou-Charentes
Poitou-Charentes Nature.
ASPAS,
LPO