Way back in 2005 The Ranger blogged about an unexpected sighting of a flying Great Bustard (Otis tarda)seen over the Channel. It was one of what was then a few reintroduced birds which were at a secret location on Salisbury Plain.

Since then the Great Bustards have been doing pretty well - with quite a bit of help. In 2007 wild Great Bustards bred in England for the first time since 1832. Now they have a great website, too, to explain a bit more about the world's largest flying birds and the ongoing project to reintroduce them to Salisbury Plain.

So, just how big is a Great Bustard?

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By Ruth D'Alessandro, The Wildlife Gardener
The Wildlife Gardener is not usually late doing the school run, but this week, nature landed such an entertaining little display on my car that I just had to sit, wonder and chuckle at it. As I was about to turn the ignition key, a tiny white, black and pink bird with a long tail landed on the window sill next to me. A long-tailed tit (Aegithalos caudatus) was peering in.

I kept very still as it pecked at the glass with its impossibly petite beak, then it hopped onto the door mirror.

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By Ruth D'Alessandro, The Wildlife Gardener

The Wildlife Gardener, as regular readers will have noticed, has been fretting about the absence of frogs and frogspawn in the Wildlife Pond this year. Fellow nature-lovers have been very kind: Richard of the Harlequin Ladybird survey wrote two very useful mini essays in the comments section of Croaked, and Sally Walker, one of the doughty ladies of the village, posted some clippings from The Telegraph letters page through my door, showing that others have been concerned about the amphibian absence too. And ghostmoth, here’s the next instalment, and it is positive.

Well, I’m delighted to report that the party has indeed started this week. I checked the pond at the weekend and found a single female suspended in the deepest part of the pond, clasped by two males and unable to push herself to the surface for air (above).

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This week saw the inquest into the death of a woman on the Isle of Wight who ate the deathcap mushroom Amanita phalloides and died.

Amphon Tuckey died in 2008, two days after eating a meal of cooked Amanita with her sister-in-law and niece, Mrs Kannika Tuckey, who survived despite becoming gravely ill. Both women were from Thailand.

Deathcaps are responsible for 90% of all fatal mushroom poisonings in the UK and are said to have caused the deaths of both Roman Emperor Claudius in 54AD and Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI in 1740. They look innocuous enough, are pleasant to eat, and once you've eaten enough - and a small amount is enough - you're highly likely to die an unpleasant death and no treatment will save you. But despite this common fungus growing pretty much everywhere, incidents of Amanita poisoning, let alone deaths are almost unknown. So what went wrong? Why did Mrs Tuckey die?

Back in 2008 when this incident occurred, I was indirectly involved, as it involved a wild species (possibly) on council land. At that time I had do do some very quick research into Amanita poisoning and the risks thereof to satisfy concerned senior types who were advocating the immediate elimination of all fungi in public places and other such unachievable goals. Whilst I was easily able to calm down the over-reactors, something else I discovered on the way was very interesting. Now the inquest is over and done with I thought it might be time to bring it out. It has something to do with Mrs Tuckey's country of origin.

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By Ruth D'Alessandro, The Wildlife Gardener

The Wildlife Gardener has amphibian anxiety. Last week, there were NO frogs in the Wildlife Pond. No croaking, no splashing, no churning. In previous years, frogspawn has arrived in the middle of February. The surface was millpond flat, and so was my mood. What has happened?

At first, I put this dearth of amphibians down to the prolonged, harsh winter. Perhaps the newts and frogs hadn’t ventured out of hibernation. That’s fine, they’ll wake up when the time is right. Then my friend in the next village told me that her little pond has 70 frogs in it, so many that it was overflowing and gelatinous with spawn and several female frogs had been drowned by amorous males. I didn’t want 70: fifteen would be enough, five even, but none?

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The Ranger was privileged to get an invitation to a special party on the Isle of Wight this weekend.

Astronomy enthusiasts from across the south-east of England know that the south-west part of the Isle of Wight has some of the darkest skies in the region - and because of the nice weather it also has the advantage of a good chance of a clear sky.

Leo Triplet from iowstarparty with Televue Genesis
© Richie Jarvis @richiedeepsky
See full size image here - worth looking at

Brighstone holiday camp on the south-west coast has a great outlook over the unlit English Channel, and the bulk of the downs to prevent the light from the mainland leaking over. It really is pretty dark down there so I was delighted when Dr Lucy Rogers of the Vectis Astronomical Society used Twitter to invite me to come and see this important part of the Island's natural resource for myself. This was no public meeting either, a star party is where the astronomers are on their own territory - so as a neophyte I was lucky to get such a well-qualified guide to introduce me to this extraordinary event.

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Well, it seems it's actually come true. As reported on this blog and elsewhere, CABI have been looking at possible biological control agents for the invasive Japanese knotweed Fallopia japonica. They're now ready to release one, the jumping psyllid plant louse Aphalara itadori

To their credit, CABI have done a remarkably good job in getting publicity not only for the process of assessment, but also for the release. Few with even a passing interest in knotweed can be unaware of the work they have been doing, or the results. This is no mean achievement for what might otherwise appear to be a fairly non-dramatic bit of biodiversity-based science.

But needless to say this hasn't stopped the hard of thinking from gathering their meagre wits and bleating caution. Luckily the Daily Mail is there to provide an outlet for such folk.

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Spotted by Ruth D'Alessandro, The Wildlife Gardener

Southern fried chicken and chimps, anyone? Mmm.

It had to happen eventually - I'd been wearing that old hat for years, and eventually I lost it, somewhere in a wet field near Reading. Yes, gone, the very hat that appears in my picture on this blog. Still, it was probably for the best. It was a tatty old thing that had seen much better days - it didn't even keep the rain off particularly well.

Look at the state of that hat! It looks as if it's been sat on many times. You can probably guess why it looks like that.

So this spring I went down to SCATS to see if they had any Barbour hats.

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