Beautiful Bird Wallpaper

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.

SATURDAY'S CRITTERS

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
SATURDAY'S CRITTERS
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.