Spiders and Some Birds

Friday 5th - Thursday 18th January 2018
Male Lace Weaver Spider, Amaurobius similis, Quedgeley, 18th January

With the help of the folk on the spider ID Facebook group I have the identification of two Spiders seen in my house recently. A rather dehydrated male False Widow Spider Steatoda nobilis baffled me, I am familiar with females but this one initially struck me as False Widow but the more I looked through the guides the more puzzled I became. The other Spider was a bit more straightforward. I was pretty certain it was a male Lace Weaver, Amaurobius sp. and that given it was in my house it was most likely to be similis. However, when I read that microscopic examination of the genitalia is necessary to separate from similar species, in this case fenestralis, I turned to the experts. Luckily there is a good view of the palps which confirms it as Amaurobius similis. 
Male Lace Weaver Spider, Amaurobius similis, Quedgeley, 18th January
  
Male Lace Weaver Spider, Amaurobius similis, Quedgeley, 18th January
Male Lace Weaver Spider, Amaurobius similis, Quedgeley, 18th January
Male False Widow Spider, Steatoda nobilis, Quedgeley, 12th January
The Great Norther Diver has continued its long stay at Sharpness marina / SARA into the New Year, and I couldn't resist another visit to study it recently on 5th January. Later at WWT Slimbridge I found a nice Spotted Redshank on the Rushy along with 74 Redshank, 14 Ruff and two Little Stints. I counted 52 Snipe on the edge of South Lake, seen from Hogarth Hide.
Great Northern Diver, Sharpness, 5th January
Great Northern Diver, Sharpness, 5th January
Spotted Redshank with Common Redshanks, WWT Slimbridge, 5th January
Spotted Redshank, WWT Slimbridge, 5th January
Spotted Redshank, WWT Slimbridge, 5th January
Ruff, WWT Slimbridge, 5th January

Snipe, WWT Slimbridge, 5th January

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