Oldt1mer - Keith's photos with the keyword: Mating

The Eurasian Oystercatcher - Haematopus ostralegus – is also known as the Common Pied Oystercatcher, the Palaearctic Oystercatcher or just the Oystercatcher. Despite its name, oysters do not form a large part of its diet, preferring molluscs such as cockles and mussels where available and earthworms and insect larvae when inland but this does change depending on location. It is the national bird of the Faroe Islands. This pair had just flown in, pecked around for a minute then the male decided that he would like a family and went straight to the female and hopped on board. This shot was just before he settled down to business and was taken at Martin Mere Wetlands. I do have further shots of the procedure but I liked this one the best. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.

This is the Alder Leaf Beetle - Agelastica alni - and it is that little black (actually a very deep metallic blue as you can see) shiny beetle that is seen, in sometimes large numbers, chewing holes out of every leaf on alder trees in the springtime (although these two seem to have found something else to occupy them). They greatly favour the Alder but will also munch their way through Beech, Birch, Hazel and Hornbeam leaves as do their black caterpillar larvae. They are widespread in Europe and were also introduced to the US in the 19th century. Once considered extinct in the UK it was found again in Manchester in 2004 and seems to be thriving and extending their range to other areas. This pair were seen at Pennington Flash, Leigh. This Picture is fully © Copyrighted. None of my images may be copied, reproduced or altered in any form or manner or placed on the internet or any other social media, or in any form of publication either print or otherwise, in any form or manner without my written permission.