Jump to content

spuggies and jackdaws and hedgehogs and frogs


Recommended Posts


Why it's not such a great idea to use cheese...

 

 

Watchable for the squeamish!  :D

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."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Every time the weather warms up a touch and the sun comes out our pond is a sea of angry rampant male frogs.

Obviously the girls have decided it's far too cold for that sort of thing and haven't arrived yet.

The boys just fight amongst themselves more.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There's a great line in this article about a Kamchatka Leaf Warbler turning up in Broome, WA. When a local bird "expert" was asked how the bird got there, he replied, "In all likelihood, he would have flown."

 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-03-09/rare-birds-flock-to-western-australia/7220682?section=wa

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Living in an urban environment I'm often amazed at the wide variety of birds attracted to my bird feeder. I've had the usual house/hedge sparrow,chaffinch, robin, blue/great ###### but this spring has also seen a coal ######, a flock (charm) of goldfinch, a sparrowhawk catching and eating a rodent and today I was chuffed to see a siskin enjoying the nijer seeds along with the goldfinches. We even have a resident wood pigeon who patrols underneath the feeders hoovering up any overspills. The rain doesn't seem to bother them, it's been raining nonstop since 11am but all the regulars still come to dine.

I see I've fallen foul of the swear filter

Edited by Moose
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

The wife saw a buzzard on the fence yesterday but before she got chance to take a picture it flew off. This morning though there was just a massive pile of pigeon feathers in the back. Pretty sure it wasn't a cat as usually if a cat gets something there's bits left over.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The wife saw a buzzard on the fence yesterday but before she got chance to take a picture it flew off. This morning though there was just a massive pile of pigeon feathers in the back. Pretty sure it wasn't a cat as usually if a cat gets something there's bits left over.

Impressive if it was a buzzard and a shame she didn't get a snap of it but the pile of feathers was almost certainly left by a sparrowhawk.

 

The sparrowhawks are beautiful birds and extremely low and fast when hunting doves, pigeons and the like.

 

Sparrowhawk%20%20%20Sept%2010%20055.jpg

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."
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Impressive if it was a buzzard and a shame she didn't get a snap of it but the pile of feathers was almost certainly left by a sparrowhawk.

 

The sparrowhawks are beautiful birds and extremely low and fast when hunting doves, pigeons and the like.

 

Sparrowhawk%20%20%20Sept%2010%20055.jpg

I saw a sparrowhawk hit a pigeon mid-air once, a very impressive ball of feathers just erupted.  Quite a punch those fairly small birds have.

"When in deadly danger, when beset by doubt; run in little circles, wave your arms and shout"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I saw a sparrowhawk hit a pigeon mid-air once, a very impressive ball of feathers just erupted. Quite a punch those fairly small birds have.

You could well be right I've actually just found the pigeon and it is in almost exactly the same state as the one in that picture.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Walking the dog around the lake at Golden Acre Park this morning, I got several fantastic views of a pair of kingfishers. They were flitting in and out of the bushes at the lakeside, then darting back and two across the lake in full view. Maybe they were moving home or something, but I've never had a better view of the stunning little birds.

 

There were also about 20 female goosanders on the lake who looked to be building nests, but there were no males at all to be seen. Very odd.  

 

For good measure I also caught sight of the resident jays, as well as a nuthatch, a treecreeper and a kestrel.  Not bad considering I wasn't out looking for anything. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Walking the dog around the lake at Golden Acre Park this morning, I got several fantastic views of a pair of kingfishers. They were flitting in and out of the bushes at the lakeside, then darting back and two across the lake in full view. Maybe they were moving home or something, but I've never had a better view of the stunning little birds.

 

There were also about 20 female goosanders on the lake who looked to be building nests, but there were no males at all to be seen. Very odd.  

 

For good measure I also caught sight of the resident jays, as well as a nuthatch, a treecreeper and a kestrel.  Not bad considering I wasn't out looking for anything. 

 

Some good stuff there LeW. With regards to the goosanders, it's not really the time of year for nest building, as spring is well and truly gone. Perhaps they were chumping. In autumn and winter you will often see groups of female goosanders with a small number, or no males present. Always good to see kingfishers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Walking the dog around the lake at Golden Acre Park this morning, I got several fantastic views of a pair of kingfishers. They were flitting in and out of the bushes at the lakeside, then darting back and two across the lake in full view. Maybe they were moving home or something, but I've never had a better view of the stunning little birds.

 

There were also about 20 female goosanders on the lake who looked to be building nests, but there were no males at all to be seen. Very odd.  

 

For good measure I also caught sight of the resident jays, as well as a nuthatch, a treecreeper and a kestrel.  Not bad considering I wasn't out looking for anything. 

I've only been to GAP once or twice in the last few years after previously going quite frequently.

 

I dunno why but I really do want to see a kingfisher. Not so much a bucket list but one of those mini buckets restaurant's serve chips in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If by "goosanders" you mean mergansers, there is a possible explanation for the apparent lack of males - eclipse plumage. Many ducks, mallards in particular, only display distinctive male plumage in the lead-up to breeding. In the "off-season" they revert to a duller colour pattern, often similar to the plainer female colours.

 

Another possibility, given the time of year, is that juvenile males haven't reached a breeding season yet and haven't adopted full male plumage.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If by "goosanders" you mean mergansers, there is a possible explanation for the apparent lack of males - eclipse plumage. Many ducks, mallards in particular, only display distinctive male plumage in the lead-up to breeding. In the "off-season" they revert to a duller colour pattern, often similar to the plainer female colours.

 

Another possibility, given the time of year, is that juvenile males haven't reached a breeding season yet and haven't adopted full male plumage.

 

Yes, the male goosander (mergus merganser) are less distinctive outside the breeding season and their colouring is closer to the females and juveniles, though there differences. Sometimes people here confuse them with the red breasted merganser, which is seen far less often inland.

 

Goosander have spread southwards through Britain in my lifetime and breed a lot further south than they used to do. They migrate south in the autumn/winter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've only been to GAP once or twice in the last few years after previously going quite frequently.

 

I dunno why but I really do want to see a kingfisher. Not so much a bucket list but one of those mini buckets restaurant's serve chips in.

They were there again today, in exactly the same place. There were a few twitchers and photographers around too so maybe the word is out that they are 'showing'.

 

If you look on THIS map, they seem to be nesting right at the bottom of the pointy bit at the southern end of the lake. Get yourself down there!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

There's a right commotion in our garden this morning, with a flock of redwing trying to devour the ripe rowan berries.  Our resident blackbirds are not happy about it at all.

 

I'll try and get some photos but I can't promise anything, as none of them seem to want to stand still for a picture... 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.