spuggies and jackdaws and hedgehogs and frogs

[Ullman]

7 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

Do you think it was the inspiration for the New Order tune?

All these years and I never knew the title of that song.

[Old Frightful]

1 hour ago, Ullman said:

All these years and I never knew the title of that song.

Was in the Rising Sun quiz one night and a bloke called Jamie had compiled it, some were music intros. When I handed our sheet in, he took it off me and scanned our answers. Satisfied after finding something, he began writing down on his answer sheet. I asked him what he was up to and he explained he'd forgotten to write down the title of the New Order song he'd included and had no idea what it was called but now he knew.

Probably the biggest compliment of my musical knowledge anyone has ever given me.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

Finally got to see this little beauty at Fairburn Ings this afternoon

 

[Ullman]

13 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Finally got to see this little beauty at Fairburn Ings this afternoon

 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

26 minutes ago, Ullman said:

It made Mrs S's day - her friend had seen it a couple of day ago on her first visit!

There was another master angler (heron) lurking about 10ft away too but my photo's blurred as it was starting to get very dusk like by then. A lovely robin gave a us a fantastic serenade too. Only very slight disappointment on a wonderful walk was not seeing the woodpecker on the path over to Ledsham that a few people coming the opposite way had seen.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

Mandarin duck on the canal at Knottingley

 

[Ullman]

1 hour ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Mandarin duck on the canal at Knottingley

 

Great stuff!

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

1 hour ago, Ullman said:

Great stuff!

Probably would have missed it if we hadn't been actively looking as it was hiding among a load of mallards when we first spotted it. 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Great mandarin pictures, LTS.  Thanks for sharing them.  Did you know that the mandarin is one of the duck species that nests up trees?  I think goosanders and mergansers do the same.

[Ullman]

14 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Probably would have missed it if we hadn't been actively looking as it was hiding among a load of mallards when we first spotted it. 

My brother lives near Endcliffe Park in Sheffield. It's a good place to spot mandarins. 

[voteronniegibbs]

This year's RSPB birdwatch is at the end of January.

 

Take part | Big Garden Birdwatch 2021 - The RSPB

[DavidM]

12 minutes ago, voteronniegibbs said:

This year's RSPB birdwatch is at the end of January.

 

Take part | Big Garden Birdwatch 2021 - The RSPB

Yes , I’m in

[Ullman]

Busy pair of little egrets put on a good show at Welwick Saltmarsh on the Humber this afternoon. Biggest starling murmuration I've seen in a while too and just as we were leaving a group of avocets appeared over the saltmarsh.

[Ullman]

Not seen so many fieldfares this winter but saw a big flock of them at Meaux a couple of days back.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

It has been a mild, occasionally sunny day in our corner of Wiltshire and in the adjacent bit of the New Forest.  Mrs WWD and I, out dog walking this morning at Hale Purlieu (poronounced 'Purley', I was once told) in the forest heard our first great-spotted woodpecker drumming this year.  Just a couple of times, but that was definitely what it was.  Spring must be near...

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Various of us reported on peregrines last year.  My daughter, who lives and works in Winchester, has drawn to my attention the latest soap-opera-esque news on the Winchester Cathedral peregrines.

 

Winnie lost both a chick, to disease, and her longstanding mate, Chester, to a mixture of ill health and age,, last year, but seemed to have found a new mate when an Andover Parish Church-bred young male (ie from about 20 miles away) turned up and took on step-dad duties, thus helping to rear the remaining chicks.

 

Well, Winnie is back...but with a new fella in tow!

 

They are at the cathedral nest site and the webcam is back in action, possibly one of the first peregrine cameras for this year!  Here is the link

 

https://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/explore/peregrines/

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

Typically wet and windy Lakes day so just a gentle stroll around Aira Force. Not much wildlife about but we did get 15 mins watching one very photo shy Treecreeper. 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

Winnie, the Winchester Cathedral peregrine, has laid her first egg of 2022.  Others will follow, each at a few days' interval from the one before.  Only when she knows there are no more to come will she start sitting on them in earnest, to incubate them.  I think she will probably lay four, but three and five are possible.  Here is the webcam link:

Winchester Cathedral | Peregrines (winchester-cathedral.org.uk)

Meanwhile, we have had a warm sunny day, with a little breeze and temperatures climbing into the lower teens.  I have seen three brimstone (bright yellow) butterflies, two in the New Forest and one here in the garden of WWD Towers.

Spring must surely be here!

[DavidM]

There was a mouse in my squirrel cafe this morning when I went to put the nuts in . Give me a right shock 

[Futtocks]

I also posted this in the photography thread, but it deserves double exposure.

 

[Josef K]

I believe Britain’s noisiest bird the Bittern is making a comeback which is good news. I don’t think i’ll ever see one around the ghetto where i live, or am i likely to hear one but im pleased about that. 

[Ullman]

On 31/03/2022 at 17:56, Josef K said:

I believe Britain’s noisiest bird the Bittern is making a comeback which is good news. I don’t think i’ll ever see one around the ghetto where i live, or am i likely to hear one but im pleased about that. 

Heard one booming away in the reedbeds at Far Ings, Barton-on-Humber on Sunday. Sadly he didn't show himself. Did get to see a marsh harrier though so was pretty pleased about that.

[DavidM]

On 31/03/2022 at 17:56, Josef K said:

I believe Britain’s noisiest bird the Bittern is making a comeback which is good news.

My sister would give it a run for it’s money 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

It is a sure sign that summer is coming up quickly when the reptiles get active.

Mrs WWD and I are just back from our New Forest dog walk at Turf Hill.  We spotted a common lizard making its way over an area of short grass (a 'lawn' in the vocabulary of the forest)  Then we also noticed an adder very nearby.

Was it maybe eyeing up the lizard for lunch?  Quite possibly, in which case our arrival on the scene will have thwarted its ambitions.  The adder slithered off into the dry heather and bracken roots, while the lizard ran erratically ahead of us, and thus in the opposite direction to the adder.