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(4-11/7) How did I end up here?
We are in Norway, again, they plan to do some scuba diving, again...
Ok, what did they see then?
This, Pycnogonum littorale, better known as sea spiders even if they aren't spiders Chelicerates, but Crustacean. (Didn't bother about the small fish).
Or this even more spider like being, nymphon sp..
This one is much more beautiful, Cerianthus lloydii, a tube-dwelling sea anemone.
Even more beautiful, Urticina eques, sea anemones looking like candy.
Sea slug, small but beautiful, Flabellina pedata.
Let's look at something much more rare for a scuba diver, a soft Coral Capnella glomerata. They normally live too deep to be seen, but we found this species at a brand new dive site at only 36m.
Going close and you will see the polyps from each animal.
The non-retractable polyps often sit in groups.
Boooring, we are birds you know.
Ok, birds then - a European herring gull, Larus argentatus.
Or some birds eating at the dive centre, Great black-backed gull, Larus marinus. They are 64–79cm long with a 1.5–1.7m wingspan and a body weight of 0.75–2.3kg.
The Black-legged kittiwake, Rissa tridactyla , is most likely not to be seen in Sweden.
A cute and well-proportioned bird.
Let's leave the shore and go far out on the ocean, close to the territorial waters border. Then you will see the Northern fulmar, Fulmarus glacialis.
This robust bird has 102–112cm wingspan and is 46 cm in length.
What do birds do that far out? Eat when that opportunity comes. Watch the submarine in the middle of the picture.
These four pictures are taken within a fraction of a second when it is 0.1 seconds between them.
0.2s
0.3s
From a bit further away.
And when the Great black-backed have had enough, the smaller Northern fulmar come forward.
(12/7) Back home again. Some days to charge the batteries before next trip.
Having lunch outside is great.
(16-20/7) On the road again to meet some friends, where are we now?!
Maybe it's better to sit here and behave nicely.
One of our dear friends isn't only a parrot enthusiast, but has also a buff for butterflies. So one night he invited us to join him looking for moths. Simply put up a strong lamp, we used a 250w metal halide lamp, a white blanket and wait...
Poplar Hawk-moth, Laothoe populi.
Poplar Hawk-moth, Laothoe populi.
Poplar Hawk-moth, Laothoe populi.
Light Crimson Underwing, Catocala promissa.
Garden tiger moth, Arctia caja.
Lesser Swallow Prominent, Pheosia gnoma.
Pebble Hook-tip, Drepana falcataria.
Black Arches, Lymantria monacha.
Dusky Hook-tip, Drepana curvatula.
(17/7) Free space and time to stretch our wings, and this next door to our old friend Alpha.
Back in 2008, when still a chick, she visited our home. Now she has grown up, got a French husband and several chicks. Alpha (to the right) and Arnaud are Yellow-naped Amazons, A. ochrocephala hondurensis.
(23-27/7) More time at the summerhouse and we saw even more insects, even if being back from the trip, Brown Hawker, Aeshna grandis about to fly for the very first time. (Picture is turned 90 degrees clockwise).
It feels wonderfu to wash the road dust out of our feathers!
Nope.
(27/7) Chick from Spotted flycatcher. He or she seems to need some help with preening.
Then it will look just as beautiful as her parent.
(1/8) Incomming!
Cranes came to land on our front field.
Three of them.
Looking for food.
(16/8) This one was new for us, a common redstart female.
Don't know what redstart refers to, but the Swedish name translates to "red tail".
Another beautiful bird.
This then, it, a Fieldfare, was sitting on our lawn for days waiting for the parents to feed it.
(3/9) 21:00, Can someone please bring us in?
(5-7/9) Early September, we have had a lovely summer and it was still warm like in summer.
(13/9) Fresh corn cob, jummy!
"Al dente", as the Italians say.
What?
(19-29/9) For the second time we attended the International Parrot Convention at Loro Parque, Teneriffe. More the 850 persons attend the VIII International Parrot Convention, organized by the Loro Parque Fundación. More than 40 countries were represented at this meeting, which takes place since 28 years in Puerto de la Cruz.
The bad news is that we haven't had time to go through the pictures yet. We have more than 7000 pictures from that week and prioritized to update the webpage and publish what we could before Christmas. The good news are that we will update this page when we have had time to go through all pictures. The journey continues over October - December.
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