A Walk With Unexpected Sightings

Today me and my first mate took advantage of the sunny weather and rose early to take a walk in the Botanic Garden in Hamburg. The first thing we noticed was that it has been recently renamed to Loki-Schmidt-Garten. This was not at all unexpected because the wife of former chancellor Helmut Schmidt was very dedicated to environmental protection - especially concerning the local flora.

The first birds we saw that one might not expect to find in an city were two Eurasian Oyster-catchers. For us it was not that unusual. We had seen one there last year. Also it is not at all unusual to find sea-birds in Hamburg.



During our walk we saw and heard lots of Great Tits and Blue Tits. These little buggers were to evasive for a decent photo. But they are common enough to get other opportunities to catch them on camera.

As we walked on we saw a group of pigeons feeding on the grass when a loud noise startled them. As they flew away we also noticed another bird evading from a patch of grass a little further away. It was green and from the way it landed on the trunk of an nearby tree we were really certain that this mast have been a European Green Woodpecker. But it few further away. Hence we were unable to follow it.

After a little while we heard another bird calling. We knew we had heard this bird before. But we were unable to identify it. But we were lucky. It came towards us and was very cooperative. So we could easily identify it as a Eurasian Nuthatch and take some photos of it.




After having left it to his own business we heard the call that could only be that of a bird of prey. We saw it gliding above us. And it was immediately clear that this was no buzzard, which you see quite often in Hamburg. I was lucky enough to have the camera ready for some in-flight shots. It was a Northern Goshawk. A few years ago I had read that in the last years some had migrated to Hamburg. But this was the first time I had actually seen one here.



The garden became more and more crowded. So we decided to leave for breakfast, as we heard a call that could only belong to the woodpecker we had seen earlier. And a moment later we so it coming down from a tree and landing on a nearby patch of grass. We decided to go after it. And we came close enough that I could take a photo. I tried to get nearer, but then there came two walkers from the opposite side, we couldn't stop. The either hadn't noticed the woodpecker or they didn't care. Anyway, they were closing in to fast and by it scaring it away before I could take a better picture of the Green Woodpecker. But at least the first one was good enough to see that it was a female.



But all in all it was a good yield for a lazy Sunday morning walk.

No change on the outside

Don't panic. I haven't forgotten about the butterfly. I just haven't got around to post the pictures. Although, there is no visible change. According to various sources the metamorphosis should take two to four weeks. Due to the colder temperatures at the moment my estimate is on the longer duration. Here are the photos of the last few days.

5th September

8th September

todays update

A new photo of the pupa. it seems to be a little bit darker now.

State of the pupa

Over night the pupa has fully developed. And there were no significant changes till this afternoon. As I took it out it wiggled a little I don't know if this was a defensive reaction to the movement of the stick. But I guess so. Letting the light shine through it is clearly visible that the top is almost empty at the moment.

Back to our main programme

Two new photos I took today. The first one is from this morning the second from this evening. The changes in colour and form are subtle but visible.

intermission - SQUIRREL!

In the botanic gardens in Hamburg my first officer spotted this squirrel. It was clearly upset about us being there.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

This afternoon it had turned around and and buckled up. It found its final position. The first changes are clearly visible. This is exciting because I have never witnessed this process. O cause, I have seen this in documentaries before. But it is a quite different experience to see it first hand and in its real speed.

time to grow up

Yesterday evening the caterpillar had finished the big leaf. This is what was left of it.

 

The little bugger was desperately searching for a place to metamorphosise. It didn't like the horizontal stick I had put into the jar. So I added a horizontal twig with leafs and a put in a stick at a steep angle. The caterpillar took the latter option. This is how it looked like this morning.

And back on top

My caterpillar is back on the upper leaf. I guess the other one was simply to small for a decent meal. Hence I will give it a new bigger leaf tomorrow. I hope the few green leaves still available will be enough.

Alive and munching

One leaf was nearly gone, so I replaced it with a fresh one. I could position it only beneath the big one. And what do you know, the caterpillar obviously likes to hide. It snug in-between the two leaves. In the picture I folded back the top one. The fact that it's eating is a good sing. :-)

Bottoms up!

Butterfly-Experiment

I have some withering monks cress on my balcony. I just didn't have the time to get rid of it jet. And I was really surprised to find some caterpillars grasing on it. A quick research revealed the species: Gonepteryx rhamni (Common Brimstone). I decided to get one of them and put it in an open jar with some leaves and a twig where it could build its chrysalis. Now I am waiting for it to happen. This is how it looks like today. It is approximately 5 cm long.

And here a picture of the jar itself.