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spuggies and jackdaws and hedgehogs and frogs


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In the late 1970s, my the fiancée (now wife) and I were spending a few days with my mum in Bristol.

We had an epic day out while there.  We rose early and headed to central Wales.  Eventually, in the late afternoon, on a back road in the hills a little inland from the west coast, we achieved our ambition.  Soaring above us was the UK's rarest resident bird of prey...the red kite!

How times have changed.  The other day, looking at the daily list of Hampshire bird sightings, I was struck by no fewer than nine reports of red kites at or very near to the south coast.  They have progressively spread southwards from the Chilterns project.  OK, they still merit a mention in the opinion of those reporting them to the Hampshire website, but for how much longer, I wonder.  They are a bit like little egrets in that respect, except the egrets didn't have a helping hand from the RSPB.

it set me wondering.  Do any readers/contributors to this thread live in a locality with doesn't have red kites?  Are there any such areas of England now?

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On 28/03/2020 at 13:18, ivans82 said:

Starlings have started gathering nesting material in West Cumbria and like other posters Brimstones are about . 

Our garden feeder is well populated with starlings, they are like a bunch of teenagers squabbling.

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7 hours ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

In the late 1970s, my the fiancée (now wife) and I were spending a few days with my mum in Bristol.

We had an epic day out while there.  We rose early and headed to central Wales.  Eventually, in the late afternoon, on a back road in the hills a little inland from the west coast, we achieved our ambition.  Soaring above us was the UK's rarest resident bird of prey...the red kite!

How times have changed.  The other day, looking at the daily list of Hampshire bird sightings, I was struck by no fewer than nine reports of red kites at or very near to the south coast.  They have progressively spread southwards from the Chilterns project.  OK, they still merit a mention in the opinion of those reporting them to the Hampshire website, but for how much longer, I wonder.  They are a bit like little egrets in that respect, except the egrets didn't have a helping hand from the RSPB.

it set me wondering.  Do any readers/contributors to this thread live in a locality with doesn't have red kites?  Are there any such areas of England now?

There are still many parts of England where they don't breed and raise young. Unlike many birds of prey they are pretty social and this affects their ability to spread geographically. Here in the Pennines Red Kites fly in periodically, presumably from the reintroduced population in Harewood, which ain't a huge distance away, but they haven't bred successfully in the area AFAIK...

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11 hours ago, longboard said:

There are still many parts of England where they don't breed and raise young. Unlike many birds of prey they are pretty social and this affects their ability to spread geographically. Here in the Pennines Red Kites fly in periodically, presumably from the reintroduced population in Harewood, which ain't a huge distance away, but they haven't bred successfully in the area AFAIK...

Thanks for an interesting perspective, Longboard.

Beyond me, to the south-west, I am not sure how far they have got either; that was in the back of my mind as I posed the question initially.

There was a plan to introduce them into an urban setting, on Tyneside, but I cannot recall whether this has ever happened.

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| suppose it was bound to happen any day now.  Hampshire's first cuckoo report of the year; it's from near the M3 at Farnborough this morning.

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On 20/03/2020 at 09:44, ivans82 said:

Heard/saw my first Chiffchaff of the year yesterday , 4 days earlier than last year and 10 days earlier than the year before ,can`t deny global warming is having an effect .i

Hadn't heard one this year until a few days ago. Now they seem to be everywhere.

"I'm from a fishing family. Trawlermen are like pirates with biscuits." - Lucy Beaumont.

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On 23/03/2020 at 11:52, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

In the garden, the bullfinches were very vociferous yesterday; we had at least three calling simultaneously.  For such a boldly and brightly coloured bird, their call - though distinctive and hence easily recognisable when you have taught yourself it - is really very thin and insipid.

One visited our garden the other day. Never seen one anywhere in Hull before never mind in our garden. Wonder if the reduction in traffic and air pollution levels is leading some species to be a bit more adventurous. 

"I'm from a fishing family. Trawlermen are like pirates with biscuits." - Lucy Beaumont.

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Osprey sightings are now occurring with some regularity in Hampshire, as they arrive from Africa and head north up the country.  Some opt to hang about for a few days, typically at an inland lake where the fishing is probably pretty easy, or at the estuary of one of the rivers emptying into the Solent or Southampton Water. 

So, remember, look up!

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3 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Osprey sightings are now occurring with some regularity in Hampshire, as they arrive from Africa and head north up the country.  Some opt to hang about for a few days, typically at an inland lake where the fishing is probably pretty easy, or at the estuary of one of the rivers emptying into the Solent or Southampton Water. 

So, remember, look up!

There have been at least two sightings of osprey so far this week in Calderdale and at least one last week.

Small numbers of swallows have been seen. Willow warblers have started to arrive around here over the last few days also.

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4 hours ago, ivans82 said:

Robins nesting now , saw first Peacock Butterfly today along with first Willow Warbler , eight days earlier than last year .

it's great to see this stuff. i saw half a dozen peacock butterflies on Sunday and the same number of peacock birds! I think peacock butterflies are one of the species which overwinters as an imago, and the ones we see early in Spring are usually these ones, rather than ones which have been developing this year and have emerged from eggs, caterpillars or pupae... 

 IIRC small tortoiseshells and brimstones are the same. I'll have to look it up.

Keep your eyes open for bats. Some warmth and still weather really brings them out.

Edited by longboard
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On 08/04/2020 at 16:49, longboard said:

it's great to see this stuff. i saw half a dozen peacock butterflies on Sunday and the same number of peacock birds! I think peacock butterflies are one of the species which overwinters as an imago, and the ones we see early in Spring are usually these ones, rather than ones which have been developing this year and have emerged from eggs, caterpillars or pupae... 

 IIRC small tortoiseshells and brimstones are the same. I'll have to look it up.

Keep your eyes open for bats. Some warmth and still weather really brings them out.

Was cycling home just as it was getting dark on Wednesday evening. Had a barn owl and several bats for company.

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"I'm from a fishing family. Trawlermen are like pirates with biscuits." - Lucy Beaumont.

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28 minutes ago, Ullman said:

Was cycling home just as it was getting dark on Wednesday evening. Had a barn owl and several bats for company.

Reminds me of bouldering years ago at Caley Crags and Otley Chevin, getting buzzed by pipistrelles when it was coming dusk.  Fun times.

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Been sorting out my garden during the enforced ' holiday ' ? , shifted a load of timber , during which I had to relocate 2 frogs ( one a big slippery ###### ? ) and a 2 1/2 inch common lizard 

Edited by GUBRATS
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Pleased to see a Coal ###### on the bird feeders, they were regular visitors until we cut down our Pine trees a few years ago, I think they use them as cover and as a source of food. Saw my first Orange Tip butterfly this year as well. As yet no Swallows or House Martins, the Martins usually nest under the eaves of most houses in our street.

Coal t*t. ?

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Over here in North Hull, I have a keen interest in all things ornithological that take place in my rather urban front garden. As folk may remember, I was delighted to have a sparrowhawk visit not long since, the unfortunate blackbird it caught was obviously less so.

Just recently, I have another visitor that you might not expect to see. It looks like a sparrow, acts like a sparrow, and flies with other sparrows. The only thing is it's plumage is light grey/silver and I've never seen anything like it. I don't think it can be another species as it hangs around with all the other sparrows but is far more spectacular looking in flight.

Any thoughts from bird experts on here?

With Halloween coming up I decided to go to my local fancy dress shop to see if I could get a Dracula costume. After a few minutes the assistant handed me a Hull KR shirt asking "Is this suitable?", I replied "I think you may have misheard me, I said I wanted to look like a count."
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28 minutes ago, Old Frightful said:

Over here in North Hull, I have a keen interest in all things ornithological that take place in my rather urban front garden. As folk may remember, I was delighted to have a sparrowhawk visit not long since, the unfortunate blackbird it caught was obviously less so.

Just recently, I have another visitor that you might not expect to see. It looks like a sparrow, acts like a sparrow, and flies with other sparrows. The only thing is it's plumage is light grey/silver and I've never seen anything like it. I don't think it can be another species as it hangs around with all the other sparrows but is far more spectacular looking in flight.

Any thoughts from bird experts on here?

Three thoughts, OF, and none of them particularly conclusive or convincing, I fear.

The first is that this is simply a local house sparrow with some colour variation, but not as extreme in appearance as it were, say, albino. 

The second is that it is an escaped exotic bird.  Different species in this country do hang around together, most obviously in large flocks in winter when, for instance, you might get some bramblings in with a load of chaffinches.  So, I don't think you can be certain it isn't another species simply because of the company it keeps.  

The third is that it is a sub-species of house sparrow from elsewhere in the world and has hitched a ride - possibly when it was exhausted and over open sea - on a passing boat.  In suggesting that, I am reminded that a few years ago a Spanish sparrow (similar to a house sparrow but a definitely separate species) turned up in Hampshire, a few miles from the Solent and Southampton Water.  Almost certainly this came in on a boat, which is always a possibility near large ports like Southampton and Hull.  Once here, it seemed to turn on its Mediterranean charm, and was reported to have successfully mated with a local house sparrow!

Of these three possibilities, the first is arguably the least exciting, so is probably true!

Any chance of a picture of it?

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I haven't seen a swallow or house martin yet, but now there are reports in neighbouring Hampshire of swifts coming in each day, which strikes me as being quite early; I always think of them arriving during the first week of May.  But there was, for instance, a flock of twenty over water near Romsey yesterday, apparently.

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2 hours ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Any chance of a picture of it?

I'll see what I can do but tried earlier on only to find it wasn't too keen on posing for long.

Thanks for your thoughts anyway. 

With Halloween coming up I decided to go to my local fancy dress shop to see if I could get a Dracula costume. After a few minutes the assistant handed me a Hull KR shirt asking "Is this suitable?", I replied "I think you may have misheard me, I said I wanted to look like a count."
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