a big fly (Muscidae?) was licking honeydew (aphids' secretion)

invasive species from Central Asia; usually heteroxen (Smilax-Impatiens) in Euope they are homoxen (ohne Wirtswechsel/primary host lost, Impatiens only);
It is not attended by ants, and produces sexual forms on the secondary host.

more info: https://influentialpoints.com/Gallery/Impatientinum_asiaticum_asian_balsam_aphid.htm

This is the Outramps CREW 100,000 obs and we celebrated it with Tilla who is the Head of the Threatened Plants Programme and the CREW Programme. It represents our involvement with plant monitoring from 1992 to 2021. It has been a joyous ride. So thank you all for so many years of fun, laughs and learning. Keep going!

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/313477209_Zur_Problematik_von_wildwachsend_auftretenden_Eselsdisteln_Onopordum_spec_in_Deutschland_Diffficulties_with_wild-growing_cotton_thistles_Onopordum_spec_in_Germany

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/337058993_Mediterranean_mysteries_notes_on_Plantago_sect_Lancifolia_Plantaginaceae

http://www.rareplants.es/shop/product.asp?P_ID=11259&strPageHistory=related

https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.specimen.ny01843089

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plantago_leiopetala#:~:text=Plantago%20leiopetala%20is%20a%20herbaceous,rosette%20at%20end%20of%20stem.

Plantago leiopetala is a herbaceous perennial, caulescent with a thick woody, white pubescent stem up to 6 cm in height, bearing the bases of old petioles and scapes. Lanceolate, glabrous or glabrescent leaves up to 21 cm in length, borne in rosette at end of stem. Spikes, 1–3 cm, supported by scapes, 30 cm in length. Flowers with generally glabrous sepals, sometimes shortly villous above, corolla-lobes 2.1–3 mm. Flowers from March to July.[1][2]

Distribution
Edit

A rare plant endemic to the islands of Madeira and Porto Santo. It inhabits cliffs and rocky slopes on the north coast of Madeira from São Jorge west to Porto do Moniz and on higher peaks and rocky areas of Porto Santo.

Taxon is obsolete
Latest comment: 10 months ago
cf. Mediterranean mysteries: notes on Plantago sect. Lancifolia (Plantaginaceae) GUSTAVO HASSEMER Laboratory of Plant Systematics, Federal University of Santa Catarina, CEP 88040-900, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil. https://doi.org/10.11646/phytotaxa.423.3.1

-> citation from this article:

"Study of type specimens, complemented with examination of extensive amount of material of P. lanceolata from different continents, convinced me that the lectotype of P. leiopetala is a rather ordinary specimen of P. lanceolata. This conclusion was also annotated on the sheet by Alexey Shipunov in 2013 (see Figure 7). The same taxonomic conclusion applies to all herbarium specimens from Porto Santo Island identified as P. leiopetala that I came across during my herbarium revisions. Based on herbarium work and literature review, I conclude that these two names should be considered heterotypic synonyms, and the morphological variation attributed by Pilger (1937) to P. leiopetala should be included in the morphological circumscription of P. lanceolata. As further support for my conclusions, Rahn in Löve (1976: 499) and Dalgaard (1985: 144) reported the chromosomes of P. leiopetala as 2n = 12, which matches that of P. lanceolata (Rahn 1957).

Regarding the poorly known P. malato-belizii, my studies evidenced that, contrary to Rahn (1996), this name is not a synonym of P. leiopetala. Instead, I concluded that the name P. malato-belizii refers to a good species, which can be distinguished from the other species in Plantago sect. Lancifolia by the combination of the following characters: leaves 10–15-nerved, bract and sepals pilose on the keel and around the base, and anterior sepals connate for more than two-thirds of their length (see the description and illustrations in Lawalrée [1959], and also the identification key below)."

Miwiki12 (talk) 16:47, 18 July 2022 (UTC)

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Plantago_leiopetala#c-Miwiki12-20220718164700-Taxon_is_obsolete

Blätter 3 - 8 mm breit
Blütenstand bis 22-blütig, Perigonblätter bis 30 mm lang,
Zwiebel mit zahlreichen runden, im 1. Jahr blattlosen Brutzwiebeln, Blütenstand bis 5 - 9- blütig
Blütenstiele 2 - 7 cm lang, in Vollblüte aufrecht bis schräg abstehend

http://www.bibermanagement.de/Biber_im_Ueberblick/body_biber_im_ueberblick.html
http://www.bibermanagement.de/Europa/body_europa.html
http://www.bibermanagement.de/Biber_im_Ueberblick/Biologie_des_Bibers.pdf

Kanadischer Biber in Finnland:
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/7121627
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/6887190

Inquisitive Greenback

Always inquisitive and super snake-mobbers, but keeping to the densest undergrowth, they are difficult to photograph.
This one came looking at what insect I was trying to photograph.

Toppies^ afternoon feeding technique

I always wondered why so many Snout Bugs find themselves trapped in our kitchen yard. They're unable to launch effectively from the smooth tiled floor. They jump vigorously then open their wings and glide mainly. They don't appear to fly very effectively. Without traction, they're unable to launch and crawl pathetically about having to be saved from human and dog feet.

They congregate in their host plant, Bushman's Poison Bush (Acokanthera oppositifolia), growing beside the yard.

A pair of Toppies (Dark-capped Bulbuls) were going crazy in and around the Acokanthera. I assumed they were mobbing a snake or other interesting predator. But a careful scan of the tangled bush revealed nothing - except wildly leaping Snout Bugs. They caught and quickly ate several - on the tree, in the air and on the kitchen yard floor.

Sadly I failed to get any shots of the actual feeding - the Toppies were far too quick and the bush too thick.

The Toppies seem to have perfected this technique and have repeated it on several afternoons. Why they have to make such a noise about it i don't understand. Perhaps the bugs can hear the calls and they increase their panic. Maybe Toppies just like sharing their excitement with the world?

One of the 2 is fake - guess which one.

Solution for all who are still wondering: The plastic rattle snake has been put in the entrance of the camp kitchen as a deterrent against the local troop of Malbrouck Monkeys, which used to raid the stored food, and surprisingly they never ever entered the kitchen since then.

This skink, however, equipped with astounding cognitive abilities, shows off with his balls of steel.

Err, I think it's a female....