Wildlife in the Garden and Beyond !!

[Chuckles]

Just checking the label to see if it's edible ;D



just spotted some of those blue bits that make me sick, I'm out of here.

[Spruance]

Just a few photos taken this lunchtime of the Blackbird family going about their business!...

Interloper male posing for camera.


Resident male gathering raisins.


Interloper male posing...


Resident male posing!...


Meanwhile, back at the nest....


There are actually three male blackbirds visiting the garden on a regular basis, two of which are resident, but the back garden male whose mate is sitting on the nest, tends to rule the roost over the young upstart from the front garden!

[Chuckles]

Don't you just love watching the birds and other wildlife in the garden. Heard the tap tap tap of a Thrush having a meal ;D another snail bites the dust ;D

[Juliet]

We watched a thrush eating snails on our patio yesterday - haven't seen one for ages, so we were really pleased.

Today we were sitting in the lounge & suddenly on the patio, right up against the French windows there was

one of these

No, not Alan! - the other one

We were gobsmacked - never seen one in the garden before & it was really close! It grabbed a small bird (which we think it had already killed & accidentally dropped on the patio), paused for breath, & then flew off again

WOW!

[Chuckles]

I'd have been gobsmacked too

[Chuckles]

Saw the Thrush again today having a feast on a snail ;D had to take a detour round the garden so as not to disturb it.

Spotted these pair taking shade Ooooh just noticed there are 3 of them.



And this clump of baby spiders made me dither when I saw the detail on the photo

[farmersboy]

Has anyone noticed how rare it is to hear a Cuckoo,or is it just in my neck of the woods,they used to be heard most days during May and June here,but last year i only heard one,and so far this year i have not heard any.
John.

[nightowl]

farmersboy said:

Has anyone noticed how rare it is to hear a Cuckoo,or is it just in my neck of the woods,they used to be heard most days during May and June here,but last year i only heard one,and so far this year i have not heard any.
John.

I said the same thing back in May FB. I asked if members were hearing them where they lived. Sadly, not many replied to say they had.

I remember when, by this time of year, the sound was becoming quite irritating and boring. That was 40-odd years ago, wish I could turn the clock back. Wouldn't complain now!

[oldmoleskins]

Dunno if this is 'wildlife in the garden' or 'travelling camera'... it's 'wildlife in the garden I travelled to':








OM.

[Chuckles]

OM what fabs Photo's, don't like the looks of critter No 2 though

NL and FB I was talking with my MIL about the Cuckoo the other day and she quoted this rhyme which I've never heard before.

In April I open my bill,
In May I sing night and day,
In June I change my tune.
In July away I fly,
In August, go I must.

[Juliet]

It's a song, Chuckles - my mum used to sing it when I was little - not heard it for ages though. There's another line: "Cuckoo, goodbye to you". I think the tune is supposed to mimic the cuckoo's song.

Where were your photos taken, OM?

[oldmoleskins]

juliet said:

It's a song, Chuckles - my mum used to sing it when I was little - not heard it for ages though. There's another line: "Cuckoo, goodbye to you". I think the tune is supposed to mimic the cuckoo's song.

Where were your photos taken, OM?

SW France, Juliet, between Bordeaux and Toulouse and left a bit... near a town called Agen, most famous for prunes...
And that critter is a stag beetle, Chuckles. Provoked a bit, it might give you a nip, but lovely in its way...

OM.

[nightowl]

greety said:

OM what fabs Photo's, don't like the looks of critter No 2 though

NL and FB I was talking with my MIL about the Cuckoo the other day and she quoted this rhyme which I've never heard before.

In April I open my bill,
In May I sing night and day,
In June I change my tune.
In July away I fly,
In August, go I must.

I grew up with the rhyme:-
"The Cuckoo comes in April,
He sings his song in May,
In the middle of June,
He changes his tune,
And then he flies away.

Those giant black bees are really sinister looking aren't they, but I've seen them a lot in Greece and been told they are very, very placid and don't sting. Never risked annoying one though!

BTW. Juliet, do you think your Peregrine might have been a Sparrowhawk? They are not unlike each other and a Sparrow hawk would be much more likely to be in your garden killing small birds. just a thought

[Deleted]

We only seem to have sparrows in our garden but they are so cute as they spend a lot of time dusting themselves in the soil. I go out after they have been in and find loads of little delves where they have been having fun! They also seem to like my lupins, Im just hoping they are eating the greenfly off them as they seem to suffer badly from them.
Sometimes we get the occasional blackbird in and the sparrows usually follow them around trying to steal whatever they find, they are so comical!

[Juliet]

Hi Nolawn, it's possible as we only saw it for a few seconds, but it was pretty close and we both thought it was a peregrine - I'd say it was bigger and the plumage was greyer than a sparrowhawk. We were rather surprised! We do live fairly close to a bird sanctuary though (http://www.raptorfoundation.org.uk/) so it may have been one of their birds.

[nightowl]

Fantastic Juliet. I saw somewhere that they nest in some cities now. The tall buildings are like cliffs to them and there's always a handy supply of pigeons!

[oldmoleskins]

look at these daft old wrecks - no 'women' to spar over, so they're squaring up over a handful of muesli instead:



OM.

[nightowl]

Never seen Phezzies in a garden before, OM. They do look as if they've had a hard breeding season. As you say, a pair of old wrecks, bless 'em.

[oldmoleskins]

Just out tending the bonfire, and heard a piping call above - a pair of Oyster Catchers, really low and slow... lovely.
Called 'Sea Pie' when I was last in Ireland - nearly a quarter of a century ago - black and white you see, like a Magpie.

Now there's a thing, why Magpie?

OM.

[Chuckles]

Look what I spotted the other day cleaning up what the birds had dropped

[nightowl]

Awwww. So cute I love mice. I love rats too and have had several as pets.

Cue for everyone to go " Arrrgh!! The tails! It's the tails!"

[Shrubrose]

I've just been through the whole thread and have loved reading about everyone's encounters. We've had some lovely 'wildlife' moments too. Probably the two most unusual for us:

Three tawny owls - mum, dad and youngster - sat in the ash tree at the back of the house. They were making a right racket. We didn't know what the noise was so went to investigate. They had their backs to us as we approached but one and all turned their heads as they heard us. Those big eyes, one blink and then off into the night, silently. It was a sacred moment

OH walking the dog up the lane, just going dark when he saw a lumbering shape ahead. He thought it was a dog. Another dog walker, coming down the lane stopped to chat. 'Did you see that?' he said. 'Yes' said OH, 'didn't recognise it, is it a stray?'. 'Stray? stray? It's a bl**dy badger lad'. ;D Wish I'd seen it.

When we moved here we didn't get a lot of birds but we've planted native hedges that are now getting established and am pleased to say we're getting more and more. Blackbirds are around, permanent fixture, thrushes - occasional visitors. Have had lots of greenfinches, goldfinches, chaffinches and one sighting of a bullfinch, great tits, blue tits (rarer). Sparrows occasionally, starlings in fits and starts. We had a number of long tailed tits the other day- must have been passing through. A heron has now taken to visiting our pond - dont know whether to feel pleased or saddened as I am fond of the frogs and it feasts on these.

Sadly, we dont seem to get hedgehogs - although we did find one 'over-wintering' under the tarpaulin on our compost heap (it had a very lucky escape as we were walking over it at the time!).

The natural(ish) pond hosts a wide variety of life and is endlessly fascinating. Frogs, newts, dragonfly nymphs, BIG beetles (anonymous at the moment), water boatmen, mozzies (thankfully only few in numbers), thousands of snails, leeches(?). During the mating season we get a male and female duck who splish splash about but dont stay. It's probably too small for them but they're lovely to see all the same - though wish they'd leave the iris alone!

Rare sighting of foxes (and we live between the town and countryside) though we know they visit in the night-time. Lost two hens! Our first night here we were woken sharply by (we now know) a fox's cry. Sounded like what I imagine a banshee to be. Very un-nerving. We've never heard it since.

During the winter we have mice who find their way into the pantry. Hence, everything now is in plastic containers. We use humane traps and OH takes them down the lane and lets them go.

I love living here and hope to attract more wildlife in the coming years.

Shrub.

[nightowl]

That was lovely Shrub!

I've not often seen a live badger. (plenty of dead ones on the roads. )

Your banshee fox would have been a vixen looking for a bit of loving. You haven't heard her since cos she got it and now busy with the results!! ;D ;D

Sounds like you live in a really lovely spot. I'm on the edge between town ( not quite but will be soon ) and woodland/ heathland. So not far to go but most wildlife doesn't cross the main road to show itself to us.

I've had my heart in my mouth travelling home from work in the early mornings lately cos of the tiny baby bunnies on the road verges. Not much bigger than my fist ( I've always known them as "stoppers", think it's a dialect word, maybe W. Sussex.) Mum never seems to be there to stop them hopping on the road so lots of tiny flat bodies too. . Yet!

BTW Long-tailed Tits are among my favourites! So cute !

[isabella]

I went upstairs to get changed when I came in from work today and heard a noise in the spare room - went to investigate and found there was a baby Goldfinch on the windowsill behind the curtain
The small window had been open all day so it must have got in through this
I called Barry and while I held the curtain up he gently got hold of the beautiful little bird and put it out of the window
It flew into the Eucalyptus tree where it's Mummy was waiting and they then flew off together

[nightowl]

Aaaaah! How lovely I hope they both live happily ever after.

[Shrubrose]

Thanks nightowl. Hope you have as much enjoyment where you are. I know what you mean about bunnies. It's cringe-making isn't it when you see them. I remember my dad stopped his car in the middle of the lane so's he could rescue a baby. Drivers would go flying down at ridiculous speeds (narrow country lane). He was a big softy and couldn't bear to see any animal harmed (no matter vermin or otherwise). He was always 'rescuing' something.

Goodnight, godbless

Shrub.

[retropwr]

Just thought I'd jump on the bandwagon with some pictures from the last year or so (hope there's not too many)
















Vapourer moth caterpillar


















Remember when we had hot weather? This chap was suffering (plenty to drink in the garden if he wanted it)


This moth has a wingspan of about 1.5cm














Great Spotted Woodpecker

[nightowl]

They're brilliant photos R. Love the finches! And that heron!

[Rosefriend]

Some really lovely photo's there Retropwr - every time I see a bird that would be ideal to take a photo of, I either don't have my camera or I move to quickly and they fly away.

RF

[snowowl]

Just read through this thread and well done everyone on catching superb wildlife on camera.
Retropwr what brill photos i love the hedgehog and the damsel flys but they are all lovely thanks for sharing them.