mamestraconfigurata's Journal

Saw a couple of small dramas today. This is about predatory birds and crows. I saw a crow being pursued by a pair of smaller raptors. It happened so fast that I was unable to get a good shot except for one where one raptor is flying away. The crow was making a Kweeee sound, that seemed to attract other crows, but somehow a bald eagle showed up and they went after that instead of the falcons. I got a number of shots of the crows and the eagle, but only one of the departing falcon. It was all quite fascinating!

This was the second small drama that I saw. A ground beetle had a lepidoperan lava, and was eating it on the path. There were several Calliphorids buzzing around it's mouth, trying to get at the larva. I'm not sure how the beetle did it, but it managed to keep the flies at a bit of a distance. I scooped the beetle up in a small jar, and put it into the long grass for some relief. Don't know if it was successful or not, but they will all sort it out.
I've seen a number of these beetles on the paths, squashed. I presume they like it for the heat, but get run over by bikes or stepped on by people.

It's been a somewhat odd spring/summer. Usually by now there are lots of robins, waking me up in the false dawn with their tuneless song. Now it is a crow, and although I have heard robins around, I have not been able to take a photo of one yet.
Other differences:

• The wood ducks seem to have vanished. Usually they hang around a specific part of the river for most of the summer.