spuggies and jackdaws and hedgehogs and frogs

[Old Frightful]

Wow!, and I mean wow!

Just heard a magpie making a commotion out front so had a look out and saw it in a stand off with a sparrowhawk in the middle of the street. Never seen a confrontation between these two types of bird so close up before so shot upstairs to get my phone for a photo but by the time I returned one of the #### local moggies had chased them off. 

I bloody hate cats.

[DavidM]

One of the baby blackbirds  died after starting to sneeze then it became persistent , and three others have started to sneeze now . Never known it ?

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

This is the time of year when many birds start to drift south towards Africa.  If you live near a decent sized stretch of water, it's worth looking out for an osprey.  A female, born in 2016 at Loch Fleet, near Dornoch, north of Inverness, has been at Romsey in Hampshire for the last few days, presumably stocking up before heading across the channel and, in due course, the Med.

[DavidM]

Luckily I live not far from the ospreys in the lakes 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Ospreys still drifting through Hampshire pretty well daily, albeit in penny numbers.  Quite a few hobby reports too.  They are, of course, summer residents and breeders hereabouts.  Now, I suspect, before they themselves head south over the channel, they are eagerly following the ever larger flocks of martins and swallows which are foregathering, particularly over inland water.

[Bedford Roughyed]

 

[ivans82]

Saw a Little Egret by the banks of the Derwent behind the Workington Reds ground on Sunday , first time i`ve been lucky enough to see one .

[Ullman]

On 9/11/2018 at 9:22 AM, ivans82 said:

Saw a Little Egret by the banks of the Derwent behind the Workington Reds ground on Sunday , first time i`ve been lucky enough to see one .

Started to see them in East Yorkshire within the last couple of years. Saw a Great White Egret at North Cave wetlands a few months back, the only one I've seen in this area.

[Ullman]

Been watching the thousands of gannets at Bempton Cliffs this afternoon. Something in the sea was attracting their attention just offshore. You could see what looked like a large white fin sticking out of the water. The RSPB people reckoned it was most likely a dead minke whale.

[DavidM]

On 7/10/2018 at 6:31 AM, Old Frightful said:

Wow!, and I mean wow!

Just heard a magpie making a commotion out front so had a look out and saw it in a stand off with a sparrowhawk in the middle of the street. Never seen a confrontation between these two types of bird so close up before so shot upstairs to get my phone for a photo but by the time I returned one of the #### local moggies had chased them off. 

I bloody hate cats.

I love birds and bloody hate cats to , with a passion . And of course Sod’s law both neighbours have one 

[Red Willow]

Had an odd thing happen today. Saw a Nuthatch trying to get into the bluetit nesting box, all of a sudden out flies  bluetit and they fight over the box. This happened a number of times.

Not seen this before, I assume they wanted to shelter from the wind.

[Leeds Wire]

You probably need to zoom into this, but this is a weasel stalking a young rabbit in Golden Acre Park in Leeds the other day. 

The rabbit ran off but the weasel came back. I managed to record one encounter on video but the rabbit actually ran to me for shelter and my daft dog got involved. The rabbit was injured but my dog chased it into a burrow.  

[Leeds Wire]

There's a flock of fieldfares munching on our rowan berries today. Beautiful birds, they are. 

Last year it was all redwings - no sign of them at all this Autumn.

[Ullman]

On 10/25/2018 at 3:25 PM, Leeds Wire said:

There's a flock of fieldfares munching on our rowan berries today. Beautiful birds, they are. 

Last year it was all redwings - no sign of them at all this Autumn.

Saw a flock of fieldfares at Skipsea Brough the other day. My first sighting of the autumn. They really are beautiful, as you say.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

On ‎10‎/‎25‎/‎2018 at 3:25 PM, Leeds Wire said:

There's a flock of fieldfares munching on our rowan berries today. Beautiful birds, they are. 

Last year it was all redwings - no sign of them at all this Autumn.

Both redwings and fieldfares now making it south-west into the New Forest in some numbers.  I saw probably about 45 redwings and 25 fieldfares during a short walk I had at Fritham Plain in the forest this morning.  I haven't seen - but have noticed a report - of the first overwintering hen harrier in the forest, and a couple of great grey shrikes have been reported too.

[ckn]

We had two Jays in our garden today eating the sunflower seeds that none of the other birds wanted.  Lovely birds but very shy.

We've found that by putting out the seeds and other birdfood in the middle of the garden that they're far more likely to come in as they can get a good field of view around them for things they don't like.

[Shadow]

11 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Both redwings and fieldfares now making it south-west into the New Forest in some numbers.  I saw probably about 45 redwings and 25 fieldfares during a short walk I had at Fritham Plain in the forest this morning.  I haven't seen - but have noticed a report - of the first overwintering hen harrier in the forest, and a couple of great grey shrikes have been reported too.

Fritham Plain is one of my preferred runs, depending on what time of day you're there it's a great place to spot Owls, Buzzards and other Raptors.

Running there after dark is fantastic on a clear night, there's a lot of sky and no light pollution, you'd be surprised how many meteors and satellites you see with no interference. 

Plus the Royal Oak is one of the finest pubs in the world.

Edited November 26, 2018 by Shadow

[DavidM]

10 minutes ago, Shadow said:

Fritham Plain is one of my preferred runs, depending on what time of day you're there it's a great place to spot Owls, Buzzards and other Raptors.

Running there after dark is fantastic on a clear night, there's a lot of sky and no light pollution, you'd be surprised how many meteors and satellites you see with no interference. 

Plus the Royal Oak is one of the finest pubs in the world.

Velociraptors ?

[Shadow]

23 minutes ago, DavidM said:

Velociraptors ?

Further south, you want the Jurassic Coast

[DavidM]

10 minutes ago, Shadow said:

Further south, you want the Jurassic Coast

Bravo , you win !

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

1 hour ago, Shadow said:

Fritham Plain is one of my preferred runs, depending on what time of day you're there it's a great place to spot Owls, Buzzards and other Raptors.

Running there after dark is fantastic on a clear night, there's a lot of sky and no light pollution, you'd be surprised how many meteors and satellites you see with no interference. 

Plus the Royal Oak is one of the finest pubs in the world.

Agreed, on all counts (well, except that I don't run!)

Also, it's a good place in April and May for hearing - and seeing - the sadly increasingly rare cuckoo.  My record count there was, if I remember correctly, five in one visit.  They criss-cross from side to side over the open heathland, to and from the woods on either side, stopping to sing in some of the individual trees in the open heathland.  I once saw one being seriously chased and hassled by two small brown birds, possibly pipits that had disturbed the cuckoo trying to lay its egg in their nest.

Also in spring, it is a place to keep an eye out for nesting redstarts and Dartford warblers, both of which I have seen there, albeit the latter only once.

[Ullman]

Saw a little egret at the Beverley end of Long Lane this morning. Don't see them that often but that seems to be one of their regular spots.

[Old Frightful]

A cormorant seems to have taken a liking to hanging around Barmston drain this past few days, not seen one around there before.

Perhaps it's looking for one of the many mid size Tesco shopping trolleys that are becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of at the Hall Road store.

[Ullman]

9 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

A cormorant seems to have taken a liking to hanging around Barmston drain this past few days, not seen one around there before.

Perhaps it's looking for one of the many mid size Tesco shopping trolleys that are becoming increasingly difficult to get hold of at the Hall Road store.

I think they usually go to Heron.

[Old Frightful]

5 hours ago, Ullman said:

I think they usually go to Heron.

It's not that cold yet.