Past two days of SUN and horny wildlife.

Well it may only just be Spring but after the past two days (Wednesday and Thursday) anyone would have believed we were in Summer.  Yes it may of only been 14-15 Celsius but for the people that don't know me that's the perfect temperature for me before I start to bake!!  So on both days I decided to make a little time in going just a short distance from home and from work and got some nice little sightings.

Spring has sprung and all the birds are at it... literally!!!  And after work on Wednesday myself and Liz took Briony for an early evening walk in Stanley Park, Blackpool and my first sentence in this paragraph became real, when I clamped eyes on a male and female Great Crested Grebe doing there courtship display in the middle of the lake. (Click image for larger view)

Great Crested Grebe - Stanley Park, Blackpool 23/03/2011

This elaborate courtship display involves beak to beak head shaking, to fluff out and enhance the crest feathers (see below pic).  Male and Female dive under the surface to grab at pondweed, then raise themselves out of the water, breast to breast, by paddling very rapidly.  The water frothing at their feet, their bodies raised up and their heads swinging from side to side, a sight to be seen... well I believe so. (Click image for larger view)

Great Crested Grebe - Stanley Park, Blackpool 23/03/2011

On to Thursday.  Seeing as I was stuck in work and the previous day I hand not headed out during lunch, I decided that seeing as it was a glorious day I would go for a walk up the River Ribble.  I would recommend this walk to anyone on a quiet day, when there is no idiots setting fire to the side of the river bank!!!  Location below

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I made a point of looking out for butterflies as its starting to be the time of year they come out of hibernation.  And not surprisingly the only species I saw was the Small Tortoiseshell, which is very common in the UK and one of the first to come out of hibernation during a warm spell.  Luckily enough this pair were at it as much as the birds were. (Click image for larger view)

Small Tortoisehell - River Ribble, Preston 24/03/2011

For anyone who has not had sex education the male is on top and the female is on the bottom (not always the best LOL).  The male is drumming his antennae on the hindwings of the female, making a feint sound that is audible to the human ear but I heard nothing.  The female may fly a little distance, with the male in tow and the process is repeated.  This can go on for several hours (lucky sods) with the couple spending alot of time basking in the warmth of the sun together.   In the early evening the female leads the male into a small patch of vegetation, usually nettles and eventually they will mate and what most women will like here is that they remained coupled until the following morning, to which the male will then do one... like SOME blokes LOL.

Anyway there is a post on the mating habits of 2 British species of wildlife and something that you can all witness IF YOU GET OUT MORE!!!! So what you waiting for... get outside, the weather is beautiful!!!