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Covid Creatures

alias

Bedside Beastiescompiled by Rose Hislop

Ruthin and District

U3A

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Karen MorrisFrogs in the garden

Kelly BentonOne of my favourite photos

Delyth EdwardsSupper time for Spikes.

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Delyth EdwardsA little long - tailed tit chick rescued from the jaws of Henry the cat. Don’t know whether it survived!!

Rose HislopGrizzly Footprints

Icelandic Ponies

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Rose HislopSleepy Seal on a beach in New Zealand

Goats in Bulgaria

Grizzly Bear fishing for Salmon in Alaska

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Ruthin Castle Peacock showing off

Black Bear getting a little too close.This sow black bear was just out of hibernation and she was hungry. She could smell the barbecue we’d had that was on the back of the truck. We had to drive off pretty quickly as she was about to climb on the truck.

Croc on the Daintree, Queensland

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Rose HislopKomodo Dragon, Australia

Feeding time for Parakeets

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Hazel ThackeryThese pictures were taken in 2017 when I spent two weeks camping in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The pictures were taken on a simple point-and-shoot camera

This African wild dog had got separated from its pack during a hunt. It eventually managed to cross the hippo infested river and safely return to the pack.

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Hazel ThackeryPictures from Botswana

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This Black Backed Jackal is about the same size as a border collie

This beautiful bird is a Lilac Breasted Roller and is quite common in Botswana.

According to our brilliant guide this lioness is from the “Marsh Pride” of the Okavango who are famous for hunting elephants

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Hazel ThackeryThis cutie is a Yellow Mongoose – what a poser!

This is a solitary wasp that took a liking to a convenient hole in my kitchen cupboard. I watched it going in and out a few times with small grubs and caterpillars, then it flew off. A few days later there was a paler version on the kitchen window so I opened the window and off it went

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Philip JohnsonTwo photos from our holiday in Australia a couple of years ago. This is on Kangaroo Island, off the South coast of Oz. At that time it had a population of over 50,000 koalas – eucalyptus trees everywhere – of which over 50% lost their lives in last year’s bushfires. There is a huge breeding colony of grey seals. The hotel in which we stayed was burnt to the ground.

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Philip Johnson - South Africa

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Karen Kluiters Queuing outside the Coop. Sitting on someone’s car gives this seagull a good 2 metre isolation zone.

Peter LundTadpoles on a water lily

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Peter Lund - Toad

Playing Leapfrog

Two banded Longhorn Beetle

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Scarlet lily beetle

Chinese Dragon

Young newt

Seagull

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Peter LundAnd another seagull

Jesus and the rabbit

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Isabel StewartThis is my 7foot Mullein plant plus its little friends.

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Gillian WheatleyDuring the lockdown, I added to my flock of chickens by rescuing 4 ex battery hens from a local poultry farm. When they first arrived they were very pale and scrawny but with a little TLC, they are beginning to look more like chickens! I have had them for four weeks now and they seem to be settling down well, producing 2 or 3 eggs per day. I attach a photo of three of the chickens free ranging in our paddock

Mike SkuseBaz, the household Buzzard, who stayed for 3 months a few years ago

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Lesley BordoliThis was taken at South Stack, Holyhead. It's a Peregrine Falcon feeding its young. Just as I clicked she turned her head towards me!

Sea Eagle

White Reindeer

Rose Deer seen from our front garden

Black Kite at the Taj Mahal, India

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Lesley BordoilDarter (Snake Bird) River Gambia

Elephant Kerela, India

Rhino & Warthog National Park - Senegal

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I am always grateful that I live in a beautiful part of the country but more so now during the ‘shut down’. Walks in the Clwydian Hills always hold the prospect of a chance encounter with nature and recently, have been especially productive due to the scarcity of other walkers. As well as the magnificent scenery and views across the valley. I have watched Buzzards being harassed by Crows, seen Ravens performing acrobatic flights, viewed Stonechats, Meadow Pipits, and Linnets, but best of all I saw a Yellowhammer. It was sitting on the top of a small Holly tree, catching the sun so it shone like a jewel. I waited in case it sang ‘a little bit of bread and no cheese’ but no, it just flew away.

At home, I have also been rewarded with visitors to the garden not seen before. I knew they were in the area, but this was the first time I had positively identified a Willow Tit. It came several times to the bird feeder and was hard to pick out from the Coal Tits. Its dark black cap, much larger than the Coal Tit and with no white flash, gave it away.

Des James Wildlife in and around Graigfechan

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Des JamesThe next new visitor was the magnificent Bull Finch. It also has a black cap but with a wonderful scarlet chest. It was feeding on the Columbine seeds for long enough for me to take a photo.

There has also been an array of butterflies recently, Commas, Peacocks, Large Whites and Holly Blues. The best for me was a Brimstone, a large, bright yellow butterfly. It would not settle so I did not get a photo. However, I was luckier with the next one, a Common Blue, which is not so common Finally, not a bird or a butterfly

but a four-legged animal. I had seen it briefly as it passed through the top of the garden but as we were eating our dinner, my wife, Helen spotted it on our front lawn. It was raining heavily, so it looked a bit bedraggled but there was a Vixen eating what seemed to be a dead squirrel. Not a pretty sight but one not seen every day. Again, I had time for a photo which I have cropped to protect the squeamish.

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Paul EdgarThese were taken at the Ynys-Hir nature reserve. The first one is of an oyster catcher on its nest and the second one is of a pair of Canadian geese with a gosling.

Dee MillenasLocal frog mating season

Baby Lesser spotted woodpecker in our garden waiting for mum to return with his lunch

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Dee MillenasCrabs on the beach in Barbados

Frog that one our cats kindly brought into the house as a present

My lovely team of huskies when adventuring overland in Finland

All lunching together

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Alligator in Florida

Attempting to blend in

Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge Egret

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Dee MillenasLoxahatchee Wildlife Refuge Stork

Peacock proud display of feathers

Waiting for my treat

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Walter and Jessy as kittens

Peter Blundell 2 photos taken when I was on safari in Botswana February 2019

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Barbara TownsonCae Ddol, with its wide open spaces, the lake and the river has been much used over the recent lockdown. Many people have come for their daily exercise and enjoyed following the arrival and progress of the cygnets and ducklings

The 8 cygnets which hatched on the island in the lake at Cae Ddol, Ruthin on April 18th. Sadly 2 were lost quite early on. The seagulls were the main predators of both the young cygnets and the many ducklings which were hatched this year.

Most recent photo of the six cygnets. All doing well

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A surprise visitor who came to enjoy the crumbs I'd put out for the small birds

Kathy & Mike JonesPhotographs from our Stealth camera( triggered by movement)Can you spot the badger’s head in 001 -bottom left.Our hare in daylight and night.

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Julia and Berwyn RobertsLioness from landrover. Amazingly we travelled thousands of miles from Nigeria to Cape Town without seeing a single lion, although we did have them padding around our tent and roaringThis lion is in Zambia on a different trip

Kathy & Mike Jones

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This mighty fish eagle is common on all big rivers in Africa and has an amazing call

The Chobe river is a tributary of the mighty Zambezi.It is one of those strange rivers that flow backwards when the big river is in flood.We went on a boat trip and saw this elephant swimming out to an island with lush grass

The Oryx is one of the few creatures to be able survive in the vast sand dunes of Namibia.The Africans call it gemsbok and its meat is delicious

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Julia and Berwyn RobertsIn 2009 we did a long trip in a small 4x4 from Nigeria down to South Africa with Nigel and Jenny Horrocks. We saw lots of animals and birds, this one is a Carmine bee-eater.

Half way through Africa we stopped in Zimbabwe .We stayed a few days in Bulawayo in the land of the Ndebele people. Not far away is the Cecile Rhodes burial site. This lizard caught my eye and luckily I had my camera with me

David CanterThe red admiral showing off

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A hedgehog eating our cats’ food!

Shirley JonesPictures of my bees. One in the garden the other of bees in the hive

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Heather WilliamsEach year we watch wood pigeons and enjoy watching male pigeons trying to mate with females. The females usually try to resist and fly away. However this year we have been watching a pigeon making a nest in a maple tree in the front of our garden. Now (last few days) the pigeon is sitting in the nest. In one photo you can see its beady eye looking down on us. In the other it shows its tail. Nest doesn't seem to be big enough & twigs drop off on to grass. Think it was a bit of a rush job!

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Janet JenkinsRed Kite over Bylchau

Rose HislopElk were all around us on our campsite near Jasper, British Columbia

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Ruthin and District U3ARuthin and District U3A is part of the International group of learning networks for people no longer in full time work or seeking work. There are no exams or qualifications sought. Instead members who have acquired skills and interests over the years set up Interest Groups which other members can join. There are also regular meetings with a variety of speakers and many special events like a Christmas party, quizzes, trips and relevant learning and social opportunities. We aim to be friendly and welcoming to all.Prior to the lockdown there were over 40 different interest groups ranging from Away Days to Whist, Backyard Chickens to Walking groups.It costs just £15 a year to join. For more information contact the Secretary, Rose Hislop on rose@hislop.co.uk or checkout our website u3asites.org.uk/ruthin or phone 01824 705331This is the 3rd booklet of the trilogy of the Corona Chrinicles! Many thanks to everyone who has contributed, it is a real team effort and I hope you enjoy them.The other two booklets can be found by following these links:

Lockdown Larderhttps://u3asites.org.uk/files/r/ruthin/docs/recipesfromthelockdownlarder.pdf

Corona Cultivationhttps://u3asites.org.uk/files/r/ruthin/docs/coronacultivation2.pdf

Karen KluitersThis Light Emerald Moth landed on my back door