News from March 2022

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Pipistrelle bats we have on iSpot, but is there a False Widow spider observation yet?

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It turns out quite a few of ‘us’ (but not me ) have posted these lovely though alien arachnids. Here is an obs with comments. Steatoda | Observation | UK and Ireland | iSpot Nature

Wikipedia has this, not entirely comforting, information. " The mechanical bite from an adult S. nobilis is usually painless. It is the release of venom that causes the intense pain commonly reported". Steatoda nobilis - Wikipedia

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Interesting that the paper chose to go with a web that is clearly not from that species of spider

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Yes, I noticed that…. but then this is The Gurniad whose journalists often get their spelling wrong and have minimal mathematical skills to boot (percent or percentage points anyone?)
However… they have included a couple of photos from Ecosphere that “show and tell” the real web structure.
Unless we want to write and tell them and wait for an erratum…
Annoying though, isn’t it.

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Good News from France. A pair of Lammergeier has laid an egg in the south of Vercours. First time in 100 years in the region. https://www.ledauphine.com/environnement/2022/02/24/l-essentiel-de-l-actualite-de-l-environnement-de-l-ecologie-et-du-developpement-durable-de-la-semaine-en-isere-savoie-haute-savoie-drome-ardeche-vaucluse-hautes-alpes-et-alpes-de-haute-provence

Vultures were shot, along with other ‘ vermin’ and the Bearded Vulture was almost exterminated in France where only a few pairs remained in the Pyrenees and Corsica and it disappeared from Switzerland around 1890.
There’s an annual vulture count in French Alpes each August.

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Good news indeed, especially for those who helped take the first steps towards this milestone about a decade ago. So vulnerable with just one egg.

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Keep Calm and Carrion….

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