spuggies and jackdaws and hedgehogs and frogs

[Kayakman]

1 hour ago, Shadow said:

On my trip to work on Monday I was fortunate enough to see Donkeys, Deer, Free roaming Pigs and a pair of Emus. 

On a drive here we sort of see the same thing but in a different context...one can see donkeys in the field but they are with the other livestock...the donkeys have been trained to attack and kick/kill coyotes...they protect the herd.  Deer hunting season has just ended....meat is in the freezer and the homemade pepperettes are in the fridge...many large bucks were taken this hunt.  We call the free roaming pigs wild boar and they are dangerous...all should be shot and killed on sight...they are very destructive to the environment....the meat has to be cooked a certain way or it is way too gamey.

The pair of emus is what we would call Conservative MP's over here in the Bruce.

Edited December 1, 2021 by Kayakman

[DavidM]

26 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Okay, Shadow, you knew I would take the bait! 

Where were the emus and were they free-ranging like the other creatures you mention?

I have only seen two sets of free roaming pigs in the New Forest this pannage season, presumably because the acorn crop is so small.  The first were at Eyeworth and the second at Brook.

He works in London Zoo

[Shadow]

23 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Okay, Shadow, you knew I would take the bait! 

Where were the emus and were they free-ranging like the other creatures you mention?

I have only seen two sets of free roaming pigs in the New Forest this pannage season, presumably because the acorn crop is so small.  The first were at Eyeworth and the second at Brook.

The Emus live in a field approaching the village shop in Bramshaw, on the right as you come from Landford. 

I suspect they are there all year round but you can only see them when the leaves drop as there's quite a substantial hedge.

I'll try to get a picture next time I see them.

Pigs have been greatly reduced this year, there's often some around the farm on Black Hill Lane  and I spotted a collection (Drove? Herd? Litter?) of young ones on the corner of Furzey Lane and Black Hill Road

 

[Shadow]

7 minutes ago, DavidM said:

He works in London Zoo

No, I live in Narnia

[Ullman]

The Humber is a great place for spotting birds at this time of year. Among other recent sightings I've seen pochards, wigeons, redshanks, curlews, a big flock of lapwings and more little egrets than I've ever seen in one place. Seen some huge skeins of geese too but they were too high and far away to tell what they were.

[Ullman]

19 hours ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Thanks for posting that, Futtocks.

It is a good reminder of why the kestrel has the old country name of 'the windhover', which of course the poet and Jesuit priest, Gerard Manley Hopkins, used as the title for his poem inspired by the bird (or maybe, more specifically, God's creation of this bird, as Hopkins would have seen it).  Here is a link to that poem's text:

The Windhover by Gerard Manley Hopkins | Poetry Foundation

I sometimes think that Hopkins creation of hyphenated words and juxtaposing of other words is a precursor of Dylan Thomas's distinctive style (vide, e.g., "Under Milkwood"), but that is no doubt a discussion for another day and another thread.

Kestrels seem to be thriving in this part of the world. Saw three of them this morning alone.

[Old Frightful]

On 01/12/2021 at 15:05, Ullman said:

Kestrels seem to be thriving in this part of the world. Saw three of them this morning alone.

If there were three of them, how could they have been alone?

I did a job out at Great Hatfield a couple of days ago, on my way back to civilisation, I saw three kestrels hovering over the edge of a field nearest the road, all within a hundred yards or so of each other.

Not sure if that counts as them being alone though...

[Ullman]

20 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

If there were three of them, how could they have been alone?

I did a job out at Great Hatfield a couple of days ago, on my way back to civilisation, I saw three kestrels hovering over the edge of a field nearest the road, all within a hundred yards or so of each other.

Not sure if that counts as them being alone though...

Three's a crowd.

Especially in Holderness.

[Ullman]

Saw a little egret at Walling Fen this morning. Regularly see grey herons around the drainage dykes but that's the first little egret I've seen in that location.

[Futtocks]

15 minutes ago, Ullman said:

Saw a little egret at Walling Fen this morning. Regularly see grey herons around the drainage dykes but that's the first little egret I've seen in that location.

I saw an egret on the banks of Silk Stream in Hendon a while back. They really stand out, compared to the herons who are often in the same place.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

20 hours ago, Ullman said:

Saw a little egret at Walling Fen this morning. Regularly see grey herons around the drainage dykes but that's the first little egret I've seen in that location.

 

20 hours ago, Futtocks said:

I saw an egret on the banks of Silk Stream in Hendon a while back. They really stand out, compared to the herons who are often in the same place.

The egret family of species seems to be doing well, in the sense that they have expanded north progressively for a number of years.

My prediction is that you will see first, growing numbers of little egrets, followed by occasional great white egrets (they really are a spectacular sight!) and cattle egrets, and then growing numbers of those two species.  For instance, just a couple of days ago, somebody birdwatching at one of the flat areas of coastal marshland a little to the east of Portsmouth, counted ten cattle egrets.

Indeed, you may well be getting some great white and cattle egrets already.

[Futtocks]

The Silk Stream runs into the Welsh Harp reservoir, which is a great place for birdwatching. There's a bridge across the middle of it where it narrows, plus some hides in the undergrowth. And you get a lot of birds there too.

https://brentres.wordpress.com/birds/ 

[Ullman]

57 minutes ago, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

 

The egret family of species seems to be doing well, in the sense that they have expanded north progressively for a number of years.

My prediction is that you will see first, growing numbers of little egrets, followed by occasional great white egrets (they really are a spectacular sight!) and cattle egrets, and then growing numbers of those two species.  For instance, just a couple of days ago, somebody birdwatching at one of the flat areas of coastal marshland a little to the east of Portsmouth, counted ten cattle egrets.

Indeed, you may well be getting some great white and cattle egrets already.

You're certainly right about the growing numbers of little egrets. Up until a few years ago I'd never seen any in this area now they're a regular sight. Saw the first great white at North Cave wetlands a year or two back which also lends weight to your prediction. 

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

1 hour ago, Futtocks said:

The Silk Stream runs into the Welsh Harp reservoir, which is a great place for birdwatching. There's a bridge across the middle of it where it narrows, plus some hides in the undergrowth. And you get a lot of birds there too.

https://brentres.wordpress.com/birds/ 

Thanks for the link, Futtocks.  What a great list of species seen over the years!

[Ullman]

Pleased to see a treecreeper a couple of days back in Burton Bushes on the lovely spot that is Beverley Westwood. Not seen one for quite some time.

Fieldfare sightings have increased in the last week or so too.

[Bostik Bailey]

For anybody with an interest in all things wild and wonderful, this site is very good for keep up to date on why you don’t see many birds of prey when you are out and about (especially in North Yorkshire)

https://raptorpersecutionscotland.wordpress.com

[Red Willow]

We discovered a field mouse living in our Robin Box. Comes out every night  to attack the bird feeders

[voteronniegibbs]

Our garage mouse was helping himself to the bird seed, he'd even chewed a hole in the plastic lid of the biscuit box to get at it. And another hole in the bag of suet balls. I left a suet ball on the workbench for him which he has reduced to crumbs in a week.

[DavidM]

I’ve started to get a Jay in my garden really blitzing the fatball feeder . I haven’t had one before but it’s pretty striking in flight with a sort of turquoise stripe on its wings 

Edited December 23, 2021 by DavidM

[Red Willow]

Looked out the window this morning and there are 2 piles of feathers. looks like it was a dove so I assume the local Sparrowhawk visited

[Old Frightful]

On 23/12/2021 at 10:01, voteronniegibbs said:

Our garage mouse was helping himself to the bird seed, he'd even chewed a hole in the plastic lid of the biscuit box to get at it. And another hole in the bag of suet balls. I left a suet ball on the workbench for him which he has reduced to crumbs in a week.

[Old Frightful]

On 22/12/2021 at 18:56, Red Willow said:

We discovered a field mouse living in our Robin Box. Comes out every night  to attack the bird feeders

Sounds a bit vicious to me, I'd stay indoors at night if you're one of the ones feeding the birds.

[Old Frightful]

On 16/12/2021 at 14:23, Ullman said:

Saw a little egret at Walling Fen this morning. 

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

[gittinsfan]

Over Christmas went to stay with my partner's son in rural Suffolk.There was o beautiful pheasant walking about on the front lawn.Not something you'd see on Christmas morning in Great Yarmouth.