Introducing my new lab

My Grandad asked me if I would like to have a lab in his very old garden shed, I excitedly said "YES!" He said it would be ready when I came to England (this conversation was on Skype). When I got to England the first thing I did was check out the shed. I opened the door and looked inside - I was in shock. It was so clean and for once it smelt alright ;) This is what I saw.

Our lab!!!!!

3 incredible microscopes all different types one of them looks at the surface of things, second one look through things, third one is the same as the second one but it is a binocular which is my favourite one. It is the strongest one. When you look at something under it you will be able to see the details in cells!!!!!
My Grandad and I are going to run a blood test and we will be able to see our red blood cells.  I will blog about our findings next week.

Some of the equipment 

   

Facts About Kestrels

Here is why I decided to do a blog post about kestrels. We got to a nature reserve  around  2:00 pm, the first thing we saw were 2 kestrels flying around looking for food and that is when I had the idea to make a blog about them. Hope you enjoy it

Kestrel

• Kestrels hunting behaviors are to hover over open country and swoop down on their victims, usually small prey such as lizards,large insects and small rodent.
• The female is larger then the male.
• Kestrels do not build there own nest,  but use nests made from other species!
•  These birds have adapted to live in city's.
•   Click HERE to see what a kestrels call sounds like.
•  Country kestrels feed on rodents  mainly voles, as for city kestrels, sparrows.
• Vole numbers affect kestrel numbers!!!
•  Kestrels have been seen to rob sparrow hawks and barn owls.
• The kestrel is one of the most smallest and common bird of prey    

Insect hunt

My Uncle and I decided to go for a little insect hunt in our garden. The first insect we saw was a hover fly, we caught it and identified it as some kind of Eristalis sp. Then we found a big, but beautiful locust, it was the size of my middle finger but it was pointing side wards, not upwards, we took some great pictures of it on a comfrey plant ( Symphytum sp.)

After we had taken the pictures we had caught a little meadow brown butterfly ( Maniola jurtina), we  weren't sure at first so we needed to identify it, it took us about 100 years ;)

Then we found another 3 species of hover fly's not to sure what their exact names were but defiantly Eristalis sp. That's when we decided to get some tea and carry on in midday, it turned out to be 6:30pm !!So much for midday!! ;) so we just decided to leave it.    

Grass snake Vs Frog

I was in the house when my mum came in and told me to go to the pond to see a grass snake eating a frog. I got on my shoes and ran outside excitedly. I saw the snake trying to eat the frog, It had grabbed the frog by the leg but it couldn't get it out of the reeds, because the frog had got caught in them. The snake was trying and trying, using all kind of techniques to get the frog out, my favourite one was ducking the frog under the water then up again. It was doing that trick for a couple of minutes then it would try another but the frog still wouldn't give up! I have got all the footage of it click here to see.  When people watch wildlife footage of a hunt, they are usually on the side of the prey. Personally, I was for the snake because I could tell how desperate it was to eat that frog. I see that snake all most everyday trying to get one frog but never having any luck ;( and after all, the snake needs to eat to live. I can always tell when there are snakes in our pond because the frogs are dead quiet and when there aren't any snakes they are so so loud. Anyway, the frog managed to escape and the snake looked very very annoyed. I have to admit I was a little disappointed. The frog was lucky THIS TIME ;)      


Check out my new video

Facts About Horned Nosed Vipers

In Europe the horned nosed viper is the most venomous snake and it lives in Bulgaria! I have only seen it twice. The females are normally bigger and heavier than the males, but the largest horned nosed viper has been a male. The snake has a horn on its head, it is about 5 mm and it is soft and flexible!!! They are manly found in rocky hill sides and very rarely in the woodlands. The snake is not aggressive  - it doesn't tend to bite unless it feels threatened.  Their main diet is small mammals and birds.  Larger pray are struck, released, tracked and swallowed. Smaller pray are are swallowed without using venom. Before mating these snake will have a combat dance and whoever wins gets the female.    

                   

List of snakes in Bulgaria

I have made a site with information on every single reptile species in Bulgaria /https://bulgarianreptiles.weebly.com/



1. Javelin sand boa (Eryx jaculus)  - Non venomous specie

2. Smooth snake (Coronella austriaca)  - Non venomous specie

3.  Caspian whip snake( Dolichophis caspius) -  Non venomous specie but looks similar to the Montpellier snake that is very venomous and it also lives in Bulgaria

4.  Four lined snake (Elaphe quatuorlineata) - Non venomous specie personally one of my favourite snakes in Bulgaria, but I still haven't seen one.

5. Blotched snake (Elaphe sauromates) - Non venomous specie, haven't seen one yet.

6. Montpellier snake ( Malpolon monspessulanus) - Venomous snake, but it is very rare here in Bulgaria

7.  Grass snake (Natrix natrix) - Non venomous species very common here in Bulgaria. They spend most of the time in or around water where they can eat frogs

8. Dice snake ( Natrix tessellata) - Non venomous species seen it twice click here for more info on this snake

9. Red whip snake ( Platyceps collaris)- Non venomous species looks allot like the Dahl's whip snake which also lives in bulgaria, also non venomous

10. Dahl's whip snake ( Platyceps najadum) - Non venomous species see if you can spot the difference to the red whip snake!

  

11. European cat snake (Telescopus fallax) - This is a highly venomous snake, but very pretty.  I've never seen one but really want to :)

12. Aesculapian snake (Zamenis longissimus)- Non venomous very, very common.  I've seen lots this year they have bitten a few times as well. They can grow up to 2 m long!!! The baby snakes look a alike to the grass snake, Natrix natrix

13. European rat snake (Zamenis situla) - Non venomous species lives near the black sea!

14. Worm snake (Typhlops vermicularis) - Non venomous species, it is blind I really want to see one they look like worm DUUUUUUUUUUU.

15.  Horned nosed viper (Vipera ammodytes)- The most venomous snake in Europe and I have seen it twice!! it is definitely my favourite snake in Bulgaria, apparently the horn on its head is soft and flexible!!!

  

16. Adder (Vipera berus) - Venomous snake only seen it once or twice they are very amazing snakes.

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