Thanking you with a Sparrow.

Many thanks to everyone for your visits. I really appreciate all your lovely comments, but will be taking a little longer before making  return visits to your blogs, as I had a health scare recently, and it's taking me a while to adjust to regular blogging again.  In the meantime, here is a chubby little sparrow.:)   

 

The Egyptian Grasshopper 2

Hello again! I'm sorry not to have been in touch, but ill health has kept me away. I'm only now beginning to feel a little better, but not up to visiting just yet. I just thought that I would  let you know. All these photos were taken in the garden this year, when I was deadheading some Hydrangeas. The green grasshopper gave me quite a start, as I only saw it just before I was about to cut off the flower. It is only my second sighting of the Egyptian Grasshopper, the first being in the Algarve wetlands, in April last year. I will resume regular blogging, as soon as I'm able to visit you all.:)

The Egyptian Grasshopper   Anacridium  aegyptium
 

This is the female. The males are not so decorative,
 

In this shot you can see that the hind tibia, has two rows of spines.....
 

These spiny projections on the underside of the legs, help them to cling to vertical surfaces.
 

The large impressive female grasshopper is one of the largest European Grasshoppers.
 

They are harmless to humans, and although the species is folivore, they do very little damage to leaves.
 

This one was olive green in colour, but they can be grey or brown.
 

They fly very well,, but thankfully this one stayed still as I took these shots.
 

The pronuptum, ( the shield type shape behind the head,) is distinctly ridged, like plates of armour.
 

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SPRING IMAGES, For WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY

As I look out the window, I wonder when the rain will stop. We had one day last week when the sun shone, but it's been raining ever since, and not just drizzle, but heavy rainfall  accompanied by thunder  and lighting storms. A far cry from from our usual March and April weather, so here are some spring photos from last year, and few from last week on the day it didn't rain.



THE LESSER SPOTTED WOODPECKER:
 

THIS WAS MY FIRST SIGHTING, AND I WAS QUITE SURPRISED TO SEE HOW SMALL IT IS:
 

 

SPRING FLOWERS COMING INTO BUD.
 

PINTAS, GOING DOWN SOME STONE STEPS TO THE ORCHARD, actually took this photo two springs ago..
 

MALE AND...
 

FEMALE WALL LIZARDS
 

FISH IN OUR POND, taken one day last week when I went to feed them.
 

ALSO BY THE POND, A TOAD IN HIDING! :=)
 

IS THIS A KIND OF RAT ANYONE!!! MEL CHASED IT DOWN A ROAD ON THE FARM,
 

IT HAD NOWHERE TO HIDE;  AND I GOT A GOOD LOOK AT IT'S TINY EARS AND SHORT TAIL.
 

THE GREATER SPOTTED WOODPECKER
 

GREEN-VEINED WHITE.
 

 

 

THE HOOPOE (PHOTO TAKEN IN APRIL LAST YEAR).
 

WHEN I FED THE FISH I ALSO TOOK A PHOTO OF THIS LITTLE BIRD. he he!!:)
 

WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY
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I'D-RATHER-B-BIRDIN Many thanks to Stewart, Eileen and Annie for hosting. Just click on their links to see more wildlife pictures.

Fun with Gulls

I still had a few more photos of the Yellow Legged Gulls, so I thought I would have some fun with the captions. I'm not good at this, and it took me ages to come up with something. Still, I had fun, and I hope you enjoy.

Mr Grumpy Gull said, FOR THE THIRD TIME, GET UP! LETS GO FISHING!
 

Mr Grumpy Gull said SQUAWK, SQUAWK, SQUAWK,/ NAG, NAG, NAG!!!!! 
 

"OH FOR GOODNESS SAKE; STOP YELLING / SQUAWKING AT ME," ..said Mrs Losing Her Cool.
 

Mrs Losing Her Cool said ... "I'VE  JUST ABOUT HAD ENOUGH OF YOUR SCREECHING"!!
 

"I'M SORRY DEAR"!
 

"HEY"!  "I SAID I WAS SORRY"!
 

"OH; BE LIKE THAT THEN"!!
 

Mrs Not Grumpy whispers ..."EVERYONES LOOKING AT US"!!
 

"I'M SORRY DEAREST, BUT I GET CRANKY WHEN I'M HUNGRY."
 

Mrs Not Grumpy whispers...  "I KNOW DEAR, YOU GET HANGRY". "LET'S GO"!:)
 

WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY SATURDAY'S CRITTERS
I'D-RATHER-B-BIRDIN

Algarve and the Yellow Legged Gull

At last Spring has arrived, but it still doesn't look much like Spring here. We needed the rain after last years drought, but now after several months of it, I long for the rain to stop, so...I can get outside and take some photos. In the meantime, as I still have photos from the Algarve, here are a few shots of the Yellow Legged Gull.

 

 

 

 

 

WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY
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I'D-RATHER-B-BIRDIN

Algarve and the Cattle Egret.

Throughout Portugal there is a large gypsy community, but most can be seen in the Algarve. They have lived in Portugal since the second half of the 15th century. They rely on their horses for many aspects of their lives. I took the next photo through our windscreen window, as we were returning home one day. There are eight horses in the photo, and tethered gypsy horses can be seen on waste land all over the south of Portugal. At least the poor tethered horse, (which is the way gypsies leave their horses to graze,) had the company of the little Cattle Egret.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WILD BIRD WEDNESDAY
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I'D-RATHER-B-BIRDIN