# Things I find while gardening.



## Kazaam (Jun 16, 2013)

Hey guys, I work as a gardener and find a lot of things during my work, I also go on hikes in weekends and vacations.
Now, in this thread I will be posting pictures of my findings, this will usually be daily.
I'm not sure if this is the right section of the forum for that though, as it isn't limited to natural habitats or man made habitats.

I'll be starting with some orchids that I found today, which I think are Dactylorhiza majalis subsp. praetermissa var. junialis.





















And then an orchid that I found yesterday, which I think is a Dactylorhiza majalis subsp. praetermissa.





This is what the area looked like:






And a male dungbeetle that is chasing a female.





The species is most likely Geotrupes stercorarius.
I also found some fungi:























---------- Post added 06-16-2013 at 02:30 PM ----------

I also found some dragonflies:










Area:

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## Shrike (Jun 17, 2013)

Looks like a beautiful area!  Nice pictures.


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## Kazaam (Jun 17, 2013)

Found more orchids today.

Having the idea that these are Dactylorhiza praetermissa and Dactylorhiza majalis subsp. praetermissa var. junialis.















Orchids are rare here, I just happen to find them all of the time.

Some orb weaver having dinner:





Rana temporaria:

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## Kazaam (Jun 18, 2013)

So I saw a magpie eating a mole today.






Aglais urticae:





Too bad it flew away before my camera could focus, but don't worry you'll probably see a lot of them soon as my caterpillars started to pupate.






I was building a trampoline today, and as you probably (atleast if you've had a trampoline before) know, water bugs can't see the difference between a trampoline and water, so I found quite a few of these guys after they tried to kamikaze on the trampoline I was building.

Reactions: Like 1


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## vukic (Jun 18, 2013)

Kamikaze bugs!! What more do you need.. Lol.

Tiger

Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


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## Kazaam (Jun 18, 2013)

vukic said:


> Kamikaze bugs!! What more do you need.. Lol.
> 
> Tiger
> 
> Sent from my LT18i using Tapatalk 2


Eyes that can see the difference between trampolines and water, obviously.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Akai (Jun 19, 2013)

It looks like you enjoy your job.  You have some gorgeous fauna in your neck of the woods.  thanks for sharing.


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## Kazaam (Jun 20, 2013)

Great cormorant:





Ducklings:






More orchids:




















I think they're Dactylorhiza maculata subsp. maculata, Dactylorhiza majalis subsp. praetermissa and Dactylorhiza majalis subsp. praetermissa var. junialis.

The weird thing is, I found these in the middle of a city.

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## Kazaam (Jun 25, 2013)

Found some swallow nests today:











And a moth, which will be staying in my car for a while as it can't fly yet.

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## sr20det510 (Jun 26, 2013)

Cool pics!
What type of camera do you use? Fungi pics are nice and clear!


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## Kazaam (Jun 28, 2013)

sr20det510 said:


> Cool pics!
> What type of camera do you use? Fungi pics are nice and clear!


Thanks!
I use a Nikon D3100.


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## MarkmD (Jun 28, 2013)

Love the pics, nice area.


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## Kazaam (Jun 28, 2013)

Found myself a new pet today, it's an Arctia caja, the poor thing was drowning in my rain barrel.






Other than that, the weather has been too crappy lately to make pictures.

I also ordered a Vanda today, looking forward to seeing it.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Akai (Jun 29, 2013)

Love Vandas.  Especially when you see them in their native environments growing high up in the trees.  One of my favorite memories of SE Asia.


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## Kazaam (Jun 29, 2013)

I went for a short walk in the forest today.






Found myself some subhuman slime:





I have no idea what it really is, I'm guessing some kind of fungi, I'll be calling it forest jellyfish either way.
Digitalis:















Mutant planet eating wasp.





Carduus flower:





Also caught a few of these guys for an experiment.





These poor guys have mites crawling all over them, the experiment was to remove them without killing the beetle, and it worked.

MY DOG:

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## Kazaam (Jun 30, 2013)

Tried to find an European adder and a viviparous lizard today, no success.











I found an area that seems to be able to support them though.

Heracleum sphondylium:





Maniola jurtina:

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## nikoli_ca (Jul 1, 2013)

Great pictures, the first dragonfly is Libellula quadrimaculata and  blue one is Libellula depresa, and the orb weaver is Tetragnatha sp.

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## Kazaam (Jul 2, 2013)

Found these things in an area of which the upper ground layer was scraped off to make place for a pond, this means that they exposed old seeds that were trapped in it and those started to grow again.





I need some help identifying these as I have never seen them before.










Sweet fungi.





Mating dragonflies.

Reactions: Like 2


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## sr20det510 (Jul 2, 2013)

Your pics continue to impress!!!
Keep them coming!

are you using a kit lens?


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## Kazaam (Jul 3, 2013)

sr20det510 said:


> Your pics continue to impress!!!
> Keep them coming!
> 
> are you using a kit lens?


It's a 18-55mm lens that came with the camera itself.

I might get myself a macro-lens someday as I have some trouble taking pictures of tiny things such as slings.

---------- Post added 07-03-2013 at 04:15 PM ----------

I forgot to mention that I received the Vanda that I ordered last weekend today, here's a picture.











I'd like some tips and tricks on the care, if possible.


I plan on fertilizing it every two weeks with a normal 20-20-20 fertilizer by applying it with a sprayer but I will stop fertilizing it between November and January.
Watering (as in letting the roots soak in a bucket of water for half an hour)will happen every 4-5 days (unless it's really hot or dry, but that never happens in the Netherlands) by gently putting it in a bucket of rain water after I've sprayed the roots so they become more manageable, I will also spray it in the morning when it's going to be a sunny day.


Every page about Vanda care seems to be different, but this is what I got out of it.


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## Kazaam (Jul 6, 2013)

Changed the watering to once every 2 days as the plant seems to enjoy it.


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## Kazaam (Jul 10, 2013)

I'll be going to France at saturday, won't be back for a good 10 days.

Expect pictures after that!


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## Kazaam (Jul 22, 2013)

I spend most of my time in France walking through rivers such as this one.





Caught this little guy drowning in it.





Random flower:





Graphosoma Lineatum:





More river:





Found my little guy a female:





Oh, the species is Lucanus cervus by the way.

They make a cute couple:






Caught myself a watersnake:










Pics are a bit blurry, they were taken in a hurry as it was trying to get away.
Another snake:










Dem beetles vary a lot in size:





Dem area:





Podarcis Muralis eggs:





Huge grasshopper:





Saturnia pyri caterpillar:





I caught like 200 of those Lucanus cervus beetles in this field, they start flying at 9-9:30 pm and stop when the bats appear.





Mimas tiliae moth was trying to crawl into my shirt.

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## The Snark (Jul 23, 2013)

Vanda. Equatorial. Grows year round with up to 4 flowering cycles per year but normally just 2. The farther from the equator the more likely to only get 1. Watering: You can't water it too much unless the temperature gets very cold. Some growers here keep an algae laden pond (ultra high nitrogen) that they dip the entire plant in once per day. The big exporter down the road has a pressure watering system that draws water from a nutrient tank. The plants get up to 4 heavy mistings per day. He raises and sells around 150,000 a year so he has to be doing something right.

Orchids are pretty much unique, unlike any other plants in the world. Sprouted seedlings can create their own biosphere. They are often (factory) raised in hermetically sealed glass containers and need no air until they reach maturity which can take up to 10 years or more depending on the subfamily.

I've been thinking of going down to the big grower and doing a photo essay of his operation if there is the interest.


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## Kazaam (Jul 24, 2013)

The Snark said:


> I've been thinking of going down to the big grower and doing a photo essay of his operation if there is the interest.


That would be neat!


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## Kazaam (Jul 25, 2013)

The caterpillar from the 'Found myself a new pet today, it's an Arctia caja' post hatched out of it's cocoon today!

It's a female.
















---------- Post added 07-25-2013 at 02:52 PM ----------

I also found this Pholcida eating one of my escaped crickets today!


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## The Snark (Jul 25, 2013)

I'm wondering how a pholcid, natures professional clutz, managed to catch that cricket. Maybe they are better at grabbing crawlers than aerial acrobats?


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## Kazaam (Jul 26, 2013)

The Snark said:


> I'm wondering how a pholcid, natures professional clutz, managed to catch that cricket. Maybe they are better at grabbing crawlers than aerial acrobats?


Maybe the cricket caught the pholcid.


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## Kazaam (Jul 30, 2013)

Building some insect-frames at the moment.










Haven't been working a whole lot, that's why I'm not posting pictures daily.

---------- Post added 07-30-2013 at 02:21 PM ----------


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## Bryan64 (Jul 30, 2013)

All these pictures are very good, you really know your stuff. I would be hard pressed to classify so many  :3


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## Kazaam (Jul 31, 2013)

Well, a few months ago my leopard geckos laid eggs for the first time....and you can guess what happened today.







Expanded clay aggregate makes good incubating substrate, I think.


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## Kazaam (Aug 3, 2013)

Update on the babies, they've eaten for the first time and they seem to be doing great.










My Pachnoda marginata larvae pupated a while ago, and they started hatching today.






---------- Post added 08-03-2013 at 10:40 AM ----------

Decided to take a look at the Saturnia pyri cocoon, looks healthy and all.


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## Sadistik (Aug 6, 2013)

Kazaam, you posted that you caught 200 Lucanus cervus?!?! 
I hope you know that these are protected by European law and that you are not even allowed to keep a dried specimen of these in the Netherlands. I really hope you meant that you saw these and didn't catch them all.


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## Kazaam (Aug 7, 2013)

Sadistik said:


> Kazaam, you posted that you caught 200 Lucanus cervus?!?!
> I hope you know that these are protected by European law and that you are not even allowed to keep a dried specimen of these in the Netherlands. I really hope you meant that you saw these and didn't catch them all.


I didn't keep them baby, it's all fine.

The framed ones were already dead, found them in the river.


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## Kazaam (Aug 11, 2013)

Found some wild sundews.










Random Fungi





Badger den

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## Shrike (Aug 12, 2013)

Those baby geckos are gorgeous.  Nice work!  Did the sundew capture a moth/butterfly in the second photo?


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## Kazaam (Aug 12, 2013)

Shrike said:


> Those baby geckos are gorgeous.  Nice work!  Did the sundew capture a moth/butterfly in the second photo?


Thanks!

Yeah that's a Pararge aegeria.
Oh and the sundews are Drosera intermedia I think.


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## Kazaam (Aug 16, 2013)

So my Buthus sp (I think it's an atlantis) gave birth last night.





And so did one of my centipedes apparently, and I've made a thread about it earlier in the Myriapods section of the forum.





While I have some experience raising them (atleast, when they've left the mother), tips are always welcome.

Oh and I'd like to add that since I've been posting things that aren't related to field trips at all I think my thread should be moved to another section of the forum, I'm not sure which one though as it's kind of a mix of everything.
I could make seperate threads too but I'd rather keep it together.


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## VickyChaiTea (Aug 16, 2013)

I enjoy this thread. <3


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## Kazaam (Aug 17, 2013)

Update on one of the geckos, the other is in good health too but not half as calm and photogenic.















They seem to be doing incredibly well and are little blackholes when it comes to eating.


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## Kazaam (Aug 24, 2013)

I've been neglecting my thread a bit lately, I'm sorry!

So the Mastigoproctus giganteus that I ordered from 'Murica arrived a day or two ago!





And so did my Bothriurus dumayi










I also found another swallow nest.










And my C. huahini molted










My other baby gecko:










While I didn't expect my vinegaroon to eat just yet, it happily took a cricket yesterday






And last night, I took pictures of my leopard gecko eggs that were hatching.





There goes the first one, I didn't know the other one was going to hatch as well at this point.





But then the 'lil guy decided to stick its head out of the egg.

Reactions: Like 1


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## heidir1224 (Sep 20, 2013)

I love this thread. All of your baby leopard gecko's are beautiful!


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## Bunyan van Asten (Mar 9, 2017)

Kazaam said:


> I'll be going to France at saturday, won't be back for a good 10 days.
> 
> Expect pictures after that!


Where are you drom actually?


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## jaycied (Apr 12, 2017)

Beautiful, beautiful area, animal, and pictures. Where are you?


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