Inspirations: Critter (Formentera)

Fly.

Always a cat picture!

Fluffy ones.

Bed occupiers.

High reaching snails.

Giant ants.

At first I thought this young one (a gull in its first year / winter feathers) was a herring gull (in german - Silbermöwe, this would be translated as silver gull, much more beautiful than herring ^^). 

But no, the wrong place for living... and as well a changed knowledge about the heritage of the different gull families. The mediterranean or yellow-legged or western yellow-legged gull (Mittelmeermöwe) was thought to be a subspecies of the herring gull until some recent genetic studies reveals otherwise...

You see how sad the little one looks down? 

*sniff*

But hey...! Now you are a full species with your own name! 

Larus michahellis! 

And it is a really big bird! Between 52 and 58 cm high... 

.oO(Okay... enough fan fotos... can I go now?)

(And yes... before you may ask... I am already sitting to long at this computer today... ^^)

New stamps - ocean stuff

I registered myself in a new forum (a german one) and they have these challenges or week topics. One was "maritim" and I made some new stamps for it:

a sailing ship, little fish swarm and two kinds of flying sea gulls

I used erasers as carving rubber as most of the time (because it's cheap and everywhere avaiable!) but have to say with this little details it is not really useful. It doesn't carve so nice and easily like the rubber plates made for carving stamps and with little details it is horror...!

But still... I like them!

Raw material (brain energy... the name is great!)

Different companies, different sizes and different consistency!

I always make a lot of test stamping...

Formentera: Critters

One of the most beautiful cats I have ever seen! Her owner found her in a trash can! An adorable accidental mix between some siam and a tabby cat? 

Look at the blue eyes!

GECKO!

He was in the toilet, hiding for the day...

A lot of lizards...

Out of wiki:

The Ibiza Wall Lizard (Podarcis pityusensis) is a species of lizard in the Lacertidae family. It is most closely associated with the island of Eivissa, or Ibiza, in the Balearic Islands, but has become endemic to Spain.

A sub-species, P. pityusensis formenterae, is limited in natural habitat to the island of Formentera, south of Ibiza, but has been transported by man to several other locations in the Mediterranean. The Formentean subspecies tends to be more brightly coloured than its Ibizan and mainland conspecifics.

They are really curious (I mean there could always be something to eat?!) 

Invading your space.... (in this case the terrace)

Sometimes they show a lot of similarities with cats especially if food is involved:

Are you taming them... or are they taming you...?

Yes i know, sea gulls are the rats of the sky. Still I like them!

Snails, the three on the first pictures are dead, just the houses...

But these snails are all living! Just having a break for the summer (to hot, to dry...)

Most of the time they form colonies of the same kind. But from time to time a snail wanders in the wrong colony ^^

To be honest: I am a little bit frightened of spiders. not too much... but if I don't have contact to spiders for some time it gets worse...

Having a closer look at them helps! Because spiders are real beauties! They have wonderful coloured eyes (most kinds have!) and their pattern is often ornamental! And they make gorgeous spider webs! They are all belonging to the genus Araneus but this kind of them is better known as diadem spider, cross spider or simply garden spider. But these terms are generally used for nearly all orb weaving spiders!

Have a closer look!

Another one, this time you can see her bottom...

I think they are both female because they were 2 to 3 cm big.

Again, have a closer look!

In the summer you can here this sound in most mediterranean countries: the buzz of the cicades!

A dry shell of a cicade after skinning...