Microcosmic

Clue A Woodland Bird Answer Jay (Garrulus glandarius) Images When doing my blog post on camouflage I was messing about with a couple of moth designs in photoshop. I found that I could simplify the design a lot and it would still suggest the moth. So I thought what's the minimum amount of information, that's needed to suggest a certain species? I've tried to use just geometric shapes. I've also tried to get as far away as possible from any kind of representation of the species and still have it be in some way recognisable. I also quite like these as wildlife art - I'm going to hang them on my wall! What do you think these are? They could be birds, mammals, insects, flowers or fungi Clue A common butterfly Answer Small Tortoiseshell (Aglais urticae) Images Clue A tree climbing mammal Answer Red Squirrel (Sciurus vulgaris) Images Clue A common small bird Answer Goldfinch (Carduelis

Common whitethroat - there were 38 singing males in 2016, as well as 33 Blackcaps, 7 Garden warblers, 2 Lesser whitethroats, 46 Willow warblers 36 Chiffchaffs and 7 Grasshopper warblers I monitor the warbler populations on my patch, which comprises 152 hectares in Roby Mill, South Lancashire.  Much of the patch (rough grassland 16%, open scrub 27%, closed scrub 16%) is derelict farmland in various stages of succession – good habitat for several warbler species. This year I’ve made a concerted effort to verify the accuracy of my warbler counts. These are my preliminary results – 'preliminary' as the season is still very much in full swing. I mapped warblers using an app on a tablet with GPS Method . This year I’ve been more systematic about things. Rather than merely counting them, I’ve been mapping singing males. I’ve been doing this to hopefully increase the accuracy of the results and, in particular, to rule out the possibili