Meeting a bat in my school!!!

I was at school having a 5 min break when my friend came running in the class saying there was a bat in school so I went to have a look and for sure it was a bat. It was very small and it just about fitted in a crack.  I decided I was going to get it out then a teacher came and asked if  I wanted a glove to prevent biting.  Then I asked for a chair so they gave me one.  At first I was quite scared, but when I saw that it didn't want to bite me I just picked it out.  By now there was a huge crowd so I looked at the bat then put it in a bag and I went to let it out and the crowd followed me which was about 40 - 50 children and I felt like I was the most famous kid in the school! But I didn't want 40 - 50 children to follow me, so I ran out as fast as I could and me and 3 friends got it out of the bag and got out our phones to take photos and videos. Then we saw that it wasn't moving so I pushed it gently and then it twiched so we knew it wasn't dead (lol). Then we put it in a crack of a wall and it crawled into the side were it was safe and as far as I know it hasn't moved for 4 days. We were thinking of keeping it as a pet for a while.

I think the bat is (Nathusius pipistrelle)

My Bird and Worm Comic

I made a comic, its about a bird and a worm.

My comic

How to make a very simple bird feeder!

 Every year we make bird feeders. This post is gonna be telling you how to make a bird feeder.

1. First you have to get fat and put it in a pot and get it really hot. It stinks!!!! :)

2. Mix lots of seeds such as sunflower seeds, rye and wheat.

Seeds and fruit from our garden

3. You can also add dried fruit, we put in dried apple slices and sultanas

4. Get a length of wire or string, tie a knot in the bottom and get a plastic cup and put the string or wire in the middle.

5. Poor the fat with the seeds and fruit  in the cup.

Me pouring the seeds and fruit in the cup

6. Then you just wait for the fat to cool down for like an hour or two (depends how hot the fat is).

7. Then you get the bird feeder out of the cup.

8.And finally you put it on a tree and in two or three days your garden will be full of birds.

The bird feeder waiting for the birds

We do this so the birds don't starve to death in the winter and for us to see the amazing birds. We sometimes put a plate of fat and seeds right next to our window and watch them from close up. I think its awesome. The birds that visit the feeders in our garden are: Great tits, Blue tits, Haw finch, Chaffinch, Wood Peckers, Blackbirds, Sparrows and Song Thrush

Here is a video that I made of Great Tits and Syrian Woodpecker (i think) feeding in the winter.

Pine Processionary Caterpillar

The Pine Processionary (Thaumetopoea pityocampa) is a moth of the faimly Thaumetopoea. It is one of the worst pine pests. They build their nests in Pine trees. The nest is made out of silk, definitely the strongest silk I've ever seen. They are active in the winter but they only come out at night to eat the pine leaves.

Nest of the Processionary caterpillars and in the back ground even more

They do have some  predators, Eggs can be eaten by a Cricket (Ephippiger ephippiger),  Larvae can be eaten by birds such as a Great Tits and Adult Moths can be eaten by Bats
The Processionary has lots of stinging hairs that can give you a rash and cause eye irritations.
The reason i am writing about them  is because me and my dad have seen many in the pine trees around where we live, more than last year. We think its because last winter it was quite warm. I am looking forward to the spring when the Processionary caterpillars march out  of the trees to find places to pupate.   Check out my Pine Processionary video!!

 

The Processionary caterpillar!! ;)

Another nest

The Processionary caterpillars that we found

SNAKES MADE OUT OF PLASTICINE

I was bored and I found some plasticine. I made snakes out of it and named them: The red viper, Coloured Pit Viper, Blue Spotted Cobra, Blue Twisted Grass Snake, White Python, White Spotted Tree Snake, Green Striped Tree Snake, Green Bulgarian Tree Snake and the Bird Eating Tree Snake. They eat mice, birds, fish, lizards and other snakes.

My snakes hunting :)

 The most poisonous snakes I made are: Coloured Pit Viper, White Spotted Tree Snake, Bird Eating Tree Snake and Blue Twisted Grass Snake. One bite and they will kill you!  Most of them live in trees and under rocks. Their favourite food is birds and lizards.

My White python hunting a green Lizard

European Copper Skink

European copper skink

I found a European copper Skink (Ablepharus kitaibelii) in a field in the town Kazanlak in Bulgaria.  I found it under a stone. It eats insects and small snails. It is a shy species, which lives under stones and leaves. It lives in fields and meadows. It doesn't like climbing. It looks like a slow worm with legs,and when I found it I was screaming that I'd found a slow worm with legs!  But dad said it could be a Skink and I looked it up on the computer and it was a copper Skink.  I was really pleased because it was the first time I have ever seen a Skink,  but it would have been better if it was a slow worm with legs. I went again many times and we saw lots of Skinks and lizards, mainly lizards. The lizards we found were meadow lizards they were beautiful one of them had some blue scales witch was really magnificent. The best place your going to see a skink in Bulgaria is Kazanlak.  Also I saw a Praying Mantis there and a really weird black spider with a yellow stripe does any one know what this spider is?. Im gonna make a video on skinks soon :)

What is this spider?

Praying Mantises!!

Every October I see around 10 - 15 Praying Mantises. But this October, I've seen around 36 - 45 Mantises. I mainly see green ones, but sometimes I see brown ones. I like the green Mantis better and I love it when they think you are going to do something and they show their wings and make a sound.  They show their big fake eyes that are actually black spots on their front legs. I feed them the following food: flies,grasshoppers, ants and caterpillars. Some species can eat snakes, lizards,  rats and even rabbits!

Praying mantis eating a gecko! 

 But not the ones that I have :( . My favourite one I have is missing  its' front legs so that means that it can't eat. I saved its' life, yey!  I feed him every day and he loves it. His favourite food is caterpillars and grasshoppers. His favourite place to go is on a drum in our lounge! ;) He is the coolest mantis and I will never forget him. Praying Mantises are my favorite insect and always will be. But nothing can beat a snake! I really want to see the praying mantises that can eat a snake.

here is a video i made of a Mantis eating a Grasshopper

A really cool film we saw about the Mantis