spuggies and jackdaws and hedgehogs and frogs

[hindle xiii]

I don't know if it's the Baader Meinhof phenomenon at work here, but it seems to me there are a shitload of cleavers or sticky weeds about this year. They're a bloody nuisance.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

This morning's dog-walk at Turf Hill in the New Forest threw up a couple of interesting wildlife moments.

First, we heard a cuckoo calling.  This is late and the first that Mrs WWD and I have heard since late May.  That said, I have read re[orts of them calling elsewhere in Hampshire in the last few days.

Then, we saw an adder, that had been sunning itself on the gravel pathway, slide away when we had the audacity to disturb it.  This is a typical snake reaction: if they can avoid trouble by quietly moving away, they will; snake bites invariably come from a snake being taken by surprise and, typically, being stood on by a person or their dog.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

 

[ivans82]

Been a poor year for nesting birds in Wesr Cumbria , don`t know why . Also noticed now we are in July the lack of young Swallows/House Martins , have only come across 5 young Swallows up to now . It`s as if the first nests have failed and the 2nd ones are still on their way , anyone else experienced the same ?

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

On 09/07/2023 at 09:11, ivans82 said:

Been a poor year for nesting birds in Wesr Cumbria , don`t know why . Also noticed now we are in July the lack of young Swallows/House Martins , have only come across 5 young Swallows up to now . It`s as if the first nests have failed and the 2nd ones are still on their way , anyone else experienced the same ?

Not seen any fledglings in the garden this year at all.

News like this isn't great either

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jul/10/dead-arctic-tern-chicks-northumberland-long-nanny-bird-flu-suspected

[Futtocks]

I'd forgotten my dad took a picture of this, and he's just tracked it down.

[Ullman]

1 hour ago, Futtocks said:

I'd forgotten my dad took a picture of this, and he's just tracked it down.

Wow! An actual rook parliament?

[Ullman]

Saw a pair of stoat kits by the roadside yesterday. Looked far too cute to turn into the killing machines they become as adults.

[Old Frightful]

On 25/07/2023 at 20:16, Ullman said:

Wow! An actual rook parliament?

And you know this because they're all squabbling and talking bo11ocks presumably?

[Futtocks]

2 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

And you know this because they're all squabbling and talking bo11ocks presumably?

If you zoom in, you can see the brown envelopes.

[Ullman]

16 hours ago, Old Frightful said:

And you know this because they're all squabbling and talking bo11ocks presumably?

At least this lot have all turned up.

[Futtocks]

 

[DavidM]

I’ve got a hedgehog in my garden 

[Futtocks]

58 minutes ago, DavidM said:

I’ve got a hedgehog in my garden 

Sounds like an euphemism.

You can probably get an ointment for it.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

This morning's dog walk in the New Forest threw up an interesting sighting, but only when we returned to the car, which was parked in a gravel surfaced lay-by.  I realised that just underneath the car (but in direct line of where the tyres would go when I moved off) was a slow worm, about six inches long, so I presume a this year's baby.  I eventually managed to move it away with the help of a twig and it seemed to make the sensible decision to head away from the road.

I suspect that slow worms are an example of a wildlife species that isn't that rare and yet which you only see very occasionally, and then, sadly, possibly in squashed form in the middle of the road.

Slow worms are not worms and are also not snakes, despite looking a bit like them.  I believe they are, technically, legless lizards (a few of a different sort of which can, no doubt, be seen on a Friday or Saturday night in a town or city near you!!) 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

First toad seen in the garden for a couple of years hiding under a bag of wood chippings. Called Mrs S but it had hopped off before she arrived.

Also shopping took longer than planned today as the rambling rose in front of where we'd parked was filled with a dozen or so long tailed titmice flitting about its branches so we had to sit and admire them for some time.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

1 hour ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

First toad seen in the garden for a couple of years hiding under a bag of wood chippings. Called Mrs S but it had hopped off before she arrived.

Also shopping took longer than planned today as the rambling rose in front of where we'd parked was filled with a dozen or so long tailed titmice flitting about its branches so we had to sit and admire them for some time.

I think it is hard to imagine anything more uplifting (especially if you are feeling a bit down in the dumps) than to watch a long-tailed titmice group foraging and flitting about.  Great sighting, LTS.

[Ullman]

On 02/09/2023 at 13:31, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

Slow worms are not worms and are also not snakes, despite looking a bit like them.  I believe they are, technically, legless lizards (a few of a different sort of which can, no doubt, be seen on a Friday or Saturday night in a town or city near you!!) 

They're not slow either. They can cover the ground remarkably quickly.

[Wiltshire Warrior Dragon]

5 hours ago, Ullman said:

They're not slow either. They can cover the ground remarkably quickly.

Good point!  I wonder who came up with the common name and why.

[Futtocks]

Finally joined the world of smartphones, decades after the most people. One of the apps I've installed is called Merlin, and it helps identify birds, either from their call (like the Shazam music app), but also by photograph. When the weather's a little less oppressive, I'm off down to the reservoir footbridge, to see what's flying around my neighbourhood.

Testing the listen function in my garden gives me sparrows, parakeets, magpies, pigeons and a robin, but I want to test it with a lot more multiple bird calls at once.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

8 hours ago, Futtocks said:

Finally joined the world of smartphones, decades after the most people. One of the apps I've installed is called Merlin, and it helps identify birds, either from their call (like the Shazam music app), but also by photograph. When the weather's a little less oppressive, I'm off down to the reservoir footbridge, to see what's flying around my neighbourhood.

Testing the listen function in my garden gives me sparrows, parakeets, magpies, pigeons and a robin, but I want to test it with a lot more multiple bird calls at once.

I've got Obsidentify installed which can be used for identifying plants and animals from a photo taken in the app

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

Our garden male blackbird returned today after disappearing for a few weeks on his late summer holiday.....

We've also got a young hedgehog visiting each night at around 10pm. Haven't seen our adult regular visitor actually in the garden this year although spotted him wandering past the front of the house a couple of weeks ago.

[DavidM]

On 10/09/2023 at 21:22, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Our garden male blackbird returned today after disappearing for a few weeks on his late summer holiday.....

We've also got a young hedgehog visiting each night at around 10pm. Haven't seen our adult regular visitor actually in the garden this year although spotted him wandering past the front of the house a couple of weeks ago.

Yes our blackbirds have been absent for a few weeks bar the odd one making a fleeting appearance . Plenty of bluetits though 

[Ullman]

On 05/12/2018 at 13:10, Wiltshire Warrior Dragon said:

It's easy to get depressed about the statistics on various species of bird being in decline, either in this country or elsewhere or both.  However, in a UK context, the egret family are doing well and give us something to be cheerful about.

It's interesting, Ullman, that you are now seeing little egrets in the East Riding.  I saw my first, decades ago, in France and got very excited at the time.  Then they spread across the channel, initially I suspect to over-winter on river estuaries, and then they began to breed here.  I know see them in quite urban contexts (eg flying over and within Salisbury city centre), and at all times of year.

Next, there were occasional sightings of wintering great white egrets, and now they are sometimes reported in places like old mineral working based bird reserves in totals up to four or five (eg that sort of number at Blashford Lakes between Salisbury and Bournemouth, just the other day)

And now, on top of all that, we seem to be getting increasing numbers of cattle egrets too.  There are currently nine spending their time in a field near Romsey, in Hampshire.

So, if you haven't seen great white and cattle egrets up your way yet, Ullman, keep looking!  I am sure that they too, like their smaller, daintier relatives, will gradually spread north up the country!

As predicted by your good self WWD, cattle egrets have arrived in the area.

 

[Futtocks]

I saw some Egrets in the Brent last Friday, by the shopping centre. What with the whiteness of them and the swans, it made the water look even more dirty.

Edited September 19, 2023 by Futtocks