True cannibalism - the larger ate the smaller - same species - then dragged off the empty shell on its tail to absorb the calcium at leisure.
See predator: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/11209847
Part 2: The beating, squeezing & eating.
Caterpillar well beaten, squeezed what must have been almost "clean" of gut contents and very dead before being very quickly swallowed.
Part 1: The catching process.
The bird was noted high up in a tree, flew down into low shrubby growth, perched for a few seconds then flew up and got hold of a large caterpillar. After much flapping and tugging, freed the caterpillar for the shrub and flew off with it's catch.
Drying itself in the sun, approx 1cm above the water. Flew away after about 10 minutes.
A 2.4m long Green Mamba caught this Village Weaver then dropped the prey onto the ground below. Within 30 seconds it went down onto the ground and positioned itself to ingest the bird and once the bird was partially swallowed it pulled itself back into the undergrowth and later was seen in the tree with a lump in its body. There is a resident pair of these snakes in my garden that I see regularly. I have posted this same snake earlier this year with a Grey-headed Sparrow. Has a yellow scale above its right eye. It hunts over my bird table in the garden.
Two birds seen, one carrying the prey, passed it on the the second bird, juvenile (?), which sat for a while then swallowed it very quickly.
Nest nearby. 20 minutes to dismember the chameleon and feed it to the chicks.
The Great Toad massacre, who DUNNIT?
Many corpses found all with wounds mainly to the top of the head and some partially eaten. Toads calling loudly today, probably spawning.
Carcal caught on 3 camera traps - as per time you cna see his route
Vue à 5 Kms de la sortie du parc d'Etosha, coté porte Otjovasundu au nord de Kamanjab
Proche du camp-side Olifantsrus.
Photo credits: Etienne de Beer.
For the fish.
Very large, very unhappy Rinkhals. Removed from a small holding with 17 dogs, and released a ways down the road.
Nymph collected from water trough in garden 27 March 2020 (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/40874462)
22 July two more nymphs added.
20 August - nymph positions itself on the side of the container above the water line.
24 August - adult emerges. First photos 07:00.
25 August - final photos 08:30 when it had to be encouraged to leave.
26 August - second adult emerges.
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/57716400
Locals claimed it before any measurements could be taken. Photo captured by Gerrie Heyns
Going for a quick swim!
Uploaded on behalf of Cannon Rocks resident.
Ron Mackenzie
https://www.instagram.com/p/CDreN_BDMvo/
I went down to my swimming spot with the aim ofremoving some branches from a tree which had fallen across the river. As I arrived I disturbed a young Fish Eagle who was sitting on this tree. Rustling in the undergrowth on the opposite bank alerted Dog and me that we were not alone and soon an otter popped up its head, sending the dog into a fit (she probably thought it was a swimming honey badger). Another otter also started popping up and down and doing a sort of long moan-growl. To my surprise the closer otter started making a bee-line for us and was probably only 3m away from the dog when I called her back. After a while they settled down so I entered the water to commence my pruning task, keeping a close eye on the nearest otter. Dog was sensibly sticking to the bank. After a few minutes I noticed the otter had moved closer, was staring at me intently and again moan-growling. Being waist-deep in water with nothing for protection but a swimming costume and a folding saw, I decided to calmly retreat and the otter immediately snaked over and claimed the territory I had just vacated. Video here:
Fly larvae hatched from caterpillars taken from a Delta nest on 11 May.
Pupated 1 June.
Emerged late June.
Video: https://youtu.be/_dUXl4Ut7xA
A female Giant Ichneumon wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus) oviposits into the side of a tree.
I was honored to have this observation selected as observation of the day for June 11, 2020, and again as observation of the week (week of June 21, 2020). It is covered in this blog post: A Trip to Texas Provides a Long Sought Photographic Opportunity - Observation of the Week, 6/21/20.
Iridescent green beetle with coppery head and thorax colour when viewed with the naked eye. Found in the garden and measures 13mm.
Studio photographs of dead, collected specimen.
Crab Spider mimic bug...
guarding eggs under a flat rock in the intertidal zone.
Found on the underside of a branch of a Voacanga thouarsii that the beetle had, beaver-like, felled.
The beetle lays its eggs in a felled branch such as this and the larvae develop in the dead wood.
Last two photos show the cut stem of the plant and the felled branch.
Habitat = Swamp forest
See obs of the plant: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/45852253
Dragonfly caught by Spider in web
Following on from my previous observation (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42458753), this was the split second before the Cape fur seal escaped the white shark's jaws... surprisingly without a scratch. Seen in the bay of Mossel Bay, a couple of hundred meters from Seal Island.
Spotted from our research vessel, escaping a white shark (Carcharodon carcharias).
Links to https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/42737857 - taken a split second before this photo.
I found this brown button spider (I think), hanging lifeless in her web. After close inspection I noticed a parasitic cocoon/larva on her abdomen. Look at its size.
Lock-down Challenge. More to follow once a correct id has been agreed to!
A once in a life time sighting of the African Rail? Excuse the many photographs, a small selection of the thousands taken during a two-hour long sighting of two of these birds. Two of us in the hide, observation only stopped when a family, complete with bicycles, dogs and noisy children burst it.
Raríssima e pouco conhecida, essa planta parasita fungos micorrízicos. São conhecidos apenas dois indivíduos que estão depositados em uma coleção cientifica do Rio. Essa é a primeira foto na natureza dessa espécie.
Failure to launch ...
On 11 Feb 2020 I was inspecting a small clump of Virgilia for pupae (larvae previously recorded, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/33054859).
At the original site the tunnels had been colonised by Anoplolepis ants and no pupae were found. Empty tunnels and ants were noted at several other trees. When I found a single pupa I worried that it might also fall prey to the ants and removed it.
The pupa was very vigorous and appeared to be developing well - I last took pics of it on 9 March. Shortly after that no more movement was noted.
I manually exposed the moth for photographs.
Hatchlings; we counted 36: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/39349826
First two recovered long dead in very wet holes. Rest recovered alive from lower section of felled tree.Thanks to Shauns for the professional demonstration of the use of a chiansaw!
the only wild (living?) pop of this uber rarity; 7 plts currently alive, 3 dead; to 3m tall in veld about 8yr old, seems to be in bud, but stayed a good 10m away so not sure
For the blue wasp, which was "walking" the cockroach, not dragging it along. The legs of the cockroach moving normally, but stopped dead when the wasp released the antenna to scout ahead. Went down a steep rock face and up an equally steep rock, before both disappeared into a hole between rocks.
Thanks to Tyrone Ping for permission to use them to add to the GRBG Project.
This obs. is for the larger pugnacious ants which were harassing the smaller Tetramorium. The red fierce ants can be viewed at: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/37296694