Jolty the Joltik - August 25th, 2012

25 August 2012 @ 02:05 am

[ 0068 ]

You know what we're looking at today? That's right, more birds. Only this time they're tiny ones that you can probably fit in your hands. Not that it's a good idea to try to fit these into your hands- cute as they might undoubtedly be, wild animals are still wild animals. General protocol if you see baby birds (or just baby animals) is to leave well alone for at least a day or so if they don't look unhurt and just keep an eye on things, even if their parent isn't in sight. If you do handle them though, don't worry! Their parents will take them back. The whole thing about animal moms not taking back their kids if humans handle them is honestly very bunk, and mostly there so that children don't handle animals. I'm assuming you're all not children, so.

Anyway, that's all for today's pre picture natter, so on with the cute!

( Tiny birds and a pretty spotted spider! )

<img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5015/5427576161_51b4b8277c.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34517255@N00/5427576161">ruby crowned kinglet</a>

<img src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/169/437084214_93a8321a02.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/60572205@N00/437084214">golden crowned kinglet</a>

<img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4006/4638445649_b8fdbb37b9.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/45105372@N08/4638445649">variegated fairywren</a>

<img src="http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8163/7282973326_da9c5b5555.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/25027666@N02/7282973326">superb fairywren</a>

<img src="http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5249/5273058307_f9a6f94cca.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/53196512@N07/5273058307">robin</a>

<img src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/170/474685182_2afed5568f.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/18347350@N00/474685182">ruby throated hummingbird</a>

<img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2061/2419059438_8a740b3dda.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/janinerussell/2419059438/">anna's hummingbird</a>

<img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2129/2052861036_22e350ca59.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/22823317@N00/2052861036">gouldian finch</a>

<img src="http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1341/1353993093_57128dd3ab.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/14867000@N00/1353993093">doubled barred finches</a>

<img src="http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1287/4665597904_ef7cf68ecb.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/32797340@N07/4665597904">painted bunting</a>

<img src="http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7018/6808705629_f236dfa934.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/31178543@N08/6808705629">snow buntings</a>

<img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4009/4292254977_017020f95b.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/44574634@N03/4292254977">song sparrow</a>

And today's spider, wait for it...

Here it is!

This is Araneus quadratus, which is really mostly just called the four-spot orb weaver. It's actually one of the most common spiders around Europe and Asia and isn't very big, at their very largest, the females might only ever get up to... well, just under 2 centimeters. You might note from these pictures that they all look a little different, apart from the four white sports. That's because a) they do actually come in different colours and b) they can change their colours over several days. It's pretty impressive, isn't it?

Like other orb weavers, they build their nests to catch insects that come by. Unlike other orb weavers, they tend to prefer lower web building sites, so you won't see these high up in trees. Rather, they'll construct their homes closer to the ground or between lower bushes so as to catch insects that jump around on the ground when they take wrong jumps into their webs. Here are two more pictures of these pretty ladies:

25 August 2012 @ 11:19 pm

[ 0069 ]

More tiny birds! If I could do two whole days of ducks, then I can certainly give a day to these little wonders. Someone requested hummingbirds, and of course I'm happy to provide. These are all very tiny things- in fact, the smallest bird in the world happens to be one of them! That'd be the bee hummingbird, which is in the first pic here, and the real life version of it is even smaller than what it looks like on the screen.

The humming part of their name comes from the characteristic sound that their wings make when they go as fast as that, and watching them in flight is a real treat! They can go up, down, backwards, sideways- basically they're tiny nectar drinking helicopters, with a lot of emphasis on the nectar drinking part. Because of how fast they move, their metabolism is intense- so much so that they end up having to take in more than their own weight in food every single day, and can only survive overnight with what they do store up before it all repeats again.

Here's one last fact for you for today: hummingbirds very often use bits of spider silk to reinforce and bind their nests together, to make the structure stronger than it is. This unique building material also allows the nests of the birds to expand a little as the chicks grow. Neat, isn't it?

( More tiny (humming) birds, and a bold little spider. )

The humming part of their name comes from the characteristic sound that their wings make when they go as fast as that, and watching them in flight is a real treat! They can go up, down, backwards, sideways- basically they're tiny nectar drinking helicopters, with a lot of emphasis on the nectar drinking part. Because of how fast they move, their metabolism is intense- so much so that they end up having to take in more than their own weight in food every single day, and can only survive overnight with what they do store up before it all repeats again.

Here's one last fact for you for today: hummingbirds very often use bits of spider silk to reinforce and bind their nests together, to make the structure stronger than it is. This unique building material also allows the nests of the birds to expand a little as the chicks grow. Neat, isn't it?

<img src="http://i.imgur.com/ctLZb.png">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/universityofreading/5201332538/">source</a>

<img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4004/4698958232_e7c2d53168.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/32614064@N03/4698958232">source</a>

<img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4138/4862410552_5a16bc3548.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/32614064@N03/4862410552">source</a>

<img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4085/4837550833_6c921ed02b.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/32614064@N03/4837550833">source</a>

<img src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/253/447876990_1f3cabdfec.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/66238250@N00/447876990">source</a>

<img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3252/2738879721_23839e5a80.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/7818331@N02/2738879721">source</a>

<img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3463/3958955046_8a4bca37d8.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70938611@N00/3958955046">source</a>

<img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3110/3126197310_a8ee957207.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11168597@N07/3126197310">source</a>

<img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3129/2633824567_93e28fbed3.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11168597@N07/2633824567">source</a>

<img src="http://farm2.staticflickr.com/1143/1441590310_32be687e38.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/70938611@N00/1441590310">source</a>

<img src="http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2042/1751968367_9ee380e63a.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11168597@N07/1751968367">source</a>

<img src="http://farm1.staticflickr.com/196/495033773_3f0ec456b4.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/23084352@N00/495033773">source</a>

And as for the spider...

Here it is!

<img src="http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4154/5042513747_7cbf8429fd.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/65987396@N00/5042513747">source</a>

This is really quite a bold spider- which is what it's called. That, or the daring jumping spider. Phidippus audax is one of the most common jumpers that can be found in America and southern Canada, and generally like roaming around flat surfaces- which includes decks and the insides of buildings. As far as jumping spiders go, they're pretty big, usually larger than a centimeter, and can actually go up to two centimeters in length at their very largest. Like the regal jumping spider from the other day to which it's related, they also have irridiscent chelicerae; bright metallic greenish-blue chelicerae, in this case.

If you ever see one in real life, congrats! Take a photograph of it or something- and don't worry too much if it hops on you for a bit. Like their name, they can be curious, but would never bite humans unless threatened (like if you accidentally roll on one, for instance). Even if they did, though, the absolute worst that would happen would be a small bit of pain and slightly reddish skin. These really aren't very nasty at all.

<img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4028/5075199182_565c1629a6.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/65987396@N00/5075200474">source</a>

<img src="http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3650/5790477031_5a7d00cf5f.jpg">
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/8047442@N06/5790477031">source</a>

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