Guests at my hotel

[little plum]

Talking about biting off more than you can chew, this wee fella did. First image it's stalking, second is after the strike.

[little plum]

2 more guests

[John Donnelly]

Hi Neil,

where are you? You've got my curiosity roused.

JD.

PS Hope your weather's better than mine. Nice pics BTW.

[geomacintyre]

Not exactly Chez Moi, but I had thrown my fishing bag down at Kielder Water, Northumberland, and was going to plonk my backside next to it when I noticed this adder which the dog had disturbed.

[morag]

That could've ended up (no pun intended, lol!) nasty!

[morag]

Cute pics, L.P.

[little plum]

Hi Neil,where are you? You've got my curiosity roused.JD.PS Hope your weather's better than mine. Nice pics BTW.

Hi John, I was on holiday in the cayos off the Cuban mainland. It has a large nature reserve which suits me down to a T, I'm not one for baking in the sun. It is the rainy season but only had one serious episode of thunder and lightning, it cleared the air as we used to say. The wildlife you see when you don't have a camera still have a couple of pics to post.

George, a good number of years back while fishing a hill loch in the Stranraer area, I encountered what I thought was an Adder. After a few prods with my Kevlar fly rod I realised it was only the skin it had shed. I have to admit, all notions of sitting down for a coffee and sandwich were cancelled. My biggest fright that day was, two fighter jets on a low level sortie, they suddenly appeared from no where. I don't think any snake would have come within 100 yds of me after it.

[geomacintyre]

Know what you mean LP, this was one of three adders in a 50-yard stretch so waited until I got back to fishing lodge for coffee and sandwiches and it wasn't so much cast and step but cast, have a good look down and step - played havoc with my fishing. Wife made me empty all my fishing gear outside when I got home just to make sure one hadn't crawled into my tackle bag.

I used to fish the River Machrie on Arran and once or twice thought I would catch a jet fighter/bomber on the back cast. They came in so low and fast they were over you and gone before the noise hit you. Always blamed them if I didn't catch a salmon that day.

[little plum]

This type of bird was a regular visitor at the pool side bar, it's a bit larger than our Blackbird with a gold coloured iris. I thought it looked a bit ungainly with the vertical tail feathers but they had a cheeky character. If anyone was having a snack at the poolside bar they would appear from nowhere. The males would sing to you hoping to get a tit bit, if you turned your back, it would help itself. One evening when I was going to the restaurant I noticed one of these birds by the pool, it had a lizard half way down it's throat, that steely stare took on a new meaning, hence the chip in the foreground.

[little plum]

Enjoyed watching this bird, it was a regular visitor to the man made waterway beside the pool. In it's style of hunting it was a bit like our Heron's, this bird would only be about 10 - 12inch high.

[little plum]

Mid right on this photo you might be able to make out the man made waterway and the boardwalk. In the foreground there are 3-4 burrows, my first thought on arrival was, what have I done, the place is infested with rats. It wasn't long before I discovered what was responsible for them, it was land crabs, there were literally thousands of them. They were in the lobby bar, in the reception area, around the pool, and every area of the hotel grounds. There was at least 2 other species of land crab, one was what I would describe as a hermit crab, you know the one, it lives in a conical shell. The other one I stumbled across in the undergrowth, it's legs spanned over 2ft and had claws like bolt cutters, I made a hasty retreat. I returned with my camera but it had disappeared into the vegetation, I checked out this area every day after this but didn't see it again. Second photo is the more common land crab.