Forest ranger Frans Kapteijns shares his knowledge of nature on the radio every week. Listeners can submit questions via [email protected]. This time he pays attention to snails – which are very useful – lots of droppings, a lizard and a starling in winter plumage.
Every Sunday there is also a new episode of the Stuifmail podcast. Listen to it here:
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Strange shapes in a forest on the Veluwe
Thecla van der Meulen was walking in the Veluwe and saw some strange shapes in the forest. She sent me a photo and in that photo you can indeed see some strange protrusions coming out of the bottom that are rounded at the top. I think these must be carrots, but I wasn’t sure what. That’s why I called my good friend Alice from Naturalis. She came up with the right solution.
Aerial roots and trunk of the bald cypress (photo: Thea van der Meulen).
In Thecla’s second photo you also see the ‘culprit’: a bald cypress. I didn’t expect that in a forest on the Veluwe. So it is a typical forest, which also contains exotic trees. Bald cypresses have the property of producing aerial roots. So these are those strange things that Thecla saw. Would you like to read more about bald cypresses, then this is a nice link.
Gray feces with curves (photo Bas Cuppen).
Stone marten droppings?
Bas Cuppen found feces in his garden shed. He thought they might be from a beech marten. I don’t think so, because stone marten droppings are usually black and you can see hair or animal remains in them. The feces that Bas found are more gray and have curves in them. Birds to me this is bird droppings. I’m thinking of a pigeon-like one. At the top of the photo you see a string of poop that has a somewhat coppery color. This could indicate nitric acid. It is known that pigeon droppings contain nitric acid, which can damage plasterwork, wood, metal, paint, but also roofs. Cleaning up is therefore very important if you encounter this on such surfaces. Did you know, for example, that one pigeon can produce fourteen kilos of poop every year?
A starling (photo: Rik Wittenberg).
Which bird turns around for the photo?
Rik Wittenberg sent me a photo of a bird. He would like to know which bird he photographed. Rik took a very special photo, because when I saw this photo I had some doubts about which bird it was. The bird sits with its back to Rik and has a special look. Fortunately, the characteristics of that bird – the white spots and the red legs – are enough to classify the bird as a starling. This starling photographed by Rik is in winter plumage: black plumage with striking white speckles. In spring and summer the starling looks even more beautiful. The black colored plumage then has a special glow with purple, blue and green tones. In principle, there are many more starlings in our country now than in the summer. Starlings from the northern regions join the starlings wintering here. You can sometimes see very beautiful starling clouds. This can be clearly seen in the video ‘Starlings in flight’ by Bram Siertsema.
A lizard (photo: Marrona).
Found in the DAF factory hall
Ronald Rombout found an animal in the DAF factory hall. He thought of a salamander. He immediately had the animal picked up by animal ambulance staff. But neither he nor the animal ambulance people knew exactly which animal this was. Ronald sent me a photo. I immediately saw that this was not a salamander, but a lizard. I think it’s some kind of wall lizard. But since the animal may have traveled from another country, I dare not say exactly which species it is. The animal ambulance staff also approached me, because they knew nothing about this type of lizards and were afraid that the animal would not survive. So I started asking for help at Ravon. There they knew where the lizard should be taken. We will talk about this in the podcast of Sunday December 31, number 62.
Aerial roots, pneumatophores, of the bald cypress (photo: Thea van der Meulen).
Strange shapes in a forest on the Veluwe
Thecla van der Meulen was walking in the Veluwe and saw some strange shapes in the forest. She sent me a photo and in that photo you can indeed see some strange protrusions coming out of the bottom that are rounded at the top. I think these must be carrots, but I wasn’t sure what. That’s why I called my good friend Alice from Naturalis. She came up with the right solution.
Aerial roots and trunk of the bald cypress (photo: Thea van der Meulen).
In Thecla’s second photo you also see the ‘culprit’: a bald cypress. I didn’t expect that in a forest on the Veluwe. So it is a typical forest, which also contains exotic trees. Bald cypresses have the property of producing aerial roots. So these are those strange things that Thecla saw. Would you like to read more about bald cypresses, then this is a nice link.
A male sparrowhawk (photo: Eit Huitema).
Sparrowhawk male spotted in Eindhoven
Eit Huitema saw a bird in his garden in Strijp, in Eindhoven, that had struck a sparrow. He thought of a sparrowhawk. He even thought he could tell from the plumage that it was a male. Sparrowhawks are small, fast birds of prey that belong to the hawk family. Both the male and female have striking yellow irises, powerful legs and stubby wings.
A female sparrowhawk (photo: Saxifraga/Martin Mollet).
Female sparrowhawks can grow up to 38 centimeters in size. They have dark brown plumage and pale feathers with a brown stripe on the chest. Males are at least ten centimeters smaller and have slate-gray plumage on the back and pale feathers with orange-red stripes on the chest. Females are dark brown and their pale parts are streaked with brown. In general you can say that males have more grayish plumage and females have more brown plumage.
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Wildlife in the Netherlands: the sparrowhawk – AVROTROS
The sparrowhawk is a lightning-fast bird of prey from the hawk family that can be regularly found in Dutch gardens, especially in winter. The main prey of sparrowhawks are songbirds such as sparrows, tits and starlings. The larger females also take some larger birds, such as collared doves, and live in a more open area. Sparrowhawks are fierce and persistent hunters. In this video above you can see how young sparrowhawks are fed, very special.
Probably the southern lantern mushroom (photo: Nol de Wit).
Strange mushroom in a garden in Dongen
Nol de Wit saw a strange mushroom in his garden in Dongen among the emerging snowdrops. He wondered what kind of mushroom this could be. I must honestly admit that I have never seen this mushroom (and there are more). But I recently read an article in Nature Today about a certain type of new mushroom in the Netherlands and this mushroom, which Nol photographed, looks like it. The name is lantern mushroom. This could also be the southern lantern mushroom. The article dates back to 2017, but I had cut it out and put it in a pile of articles to read. With these days off, it was the turn of this article. The article is called ‘New Lantern Fungus finds its way to the Netherlands’ and can be found through this link. I’m curious to see if I’m right and so I hope listeners will respond to this.
Excrement of the house shrew (photo: Toine van Erp).
Droppings found against the facade of a house
Toine van Erp found some droppings behind a raised tile on the facade of the house. He wondered what animal had visited them. They are small black poops. There are a bunch of droppings lying together, which look a bit sticky. In addition, on some turds I see one end that is a bit pointed, while the other side looks more blunt. I think we are dealing with the droppings of a house shrew here.
A house shrew (photo: Saxifraga/Rudmer Zwerver).
House shrews are fairly common throughout our country and prefer a stony environment. They have a gray-brown to gray coat and funny ears that clearly protrude from the coat. If you look closely at the droppings, you will see all kinds of insect remains in the droppings, because shrews are real insect eaters. They look a bit like hedgehogs in terms of their snout.
Slugs in a jar of peanut butter (photo: Josette Korsmit).
Slugs eat peanut butter intended for birds
Josette Korsmit sent me a photo of many slugs in a jar of peanut butter. Her question is whether slugs eat peanut butter. The answer is a resounding yes, they love it. Basically, snails – especially slugs – will eat anything that looks remotely nutritious. In the Stuifmail of Sunday, December 17, I also reported that they eat window kit, among other things. Some people wonder if snails are useful. My answer is always yes, also for animals. For example, hedgehogs love slugs and thrushes love snails. In addition, they are good for everyone’s garden, because most snails do not eat living plants. In fact it is the zappers ( litter packers) among the animals because they clean up all kinds of garden waste. In short, they are also useful animals for people.
A Fischer’s lovebird in the Christmas tree (photo: Justin Roovers).
Beautiful photos section
In the beautiful photos section, this time a photo taken by Justin Roovers. His pet Harry the bird, a Fischer’s lovebird, also loves Christmas and sits in the beautiful Christmas tree.
Nature tip
The ‘Haopertse snertloop’, a winter walk, will be organized on Wednesday, December 27. Departure takes place from half past eight in the morning.
This year again, organizer ‘Wandelen Hapert’ has all kinds of beautiful routes through the beautiful nature of the Kempen. Participants can choose from distances of 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 kilometers. As a participant, you will receive something to drink during the walk and a cup of pea soup upon your return.
More information:
• Departures from MFA Hart van Hapert at Oude Provincialeweg 21 in Hapert.
• Registration for this winter walk is not mandatory, but is preferred by the organization. This can also be done via the website, see below
• Participation in the short winter walk: three euros. You also play in a lottery full of great prizes, donated by local retailers and entrepreneurs.
• Participants are expected to arrive no later than five thirty.
• You can find more information on the website Walking Hapert.
2023-12-24 08:49:55
#Strange #protrusions #forest #Frans
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