What wildlife did you spot today?
- Thread starter demented dale
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I found a couple of big fat crickets in the house this evening, and heard the edible dormice shouting at each other in the trees at around 22h00.
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He’s the one following the big guy about, I reckon he’s been denied his share of the glut of nuts and acorns.
There maybe some truth in that, but whatever, he needs culling from the herd. He is going to have a very sad winter with very little fat reserves.
Thank you, yes he is part of the 6 week cull. There are over 900 in the park at the moment, or were, ideally there should be 700-800. The cull is 4 weeks in and very carefully managed, but he’s on the list. I’d like a bit of Leconfield venison but the estate grown product, with its long pedigree, sells for a lot of money.
A small bare tree with snow on the branches and four Northern Cardinals artfully arranged. It is a sight I have seen before but which never fails to impress. Slightly surreal in the morning quiet.
The leaves falling means that several large but precariously situated wasp nests have been revealed in the trees. Saw a lot of pretty little Downy Woodpeckers this morning, too.
The leaves falling means that several large but precariously situated wasp nests have been revealed in the trees. Saw a lot of pretty little Downy Woodpeckers this morning, too.
Saw another king fisher on our stream today. Somewhat bittersweet as I expect it's a youngster yet to realise there's hardly any fish about due to the pollution. If the streams in the area were cleaned up these sightings along with otters etc would be far more common.
Re. Kingfishers - at the intersection of the Rhondda Fach and Rhondda Fawr rivers, I remember seeing Kingfishers frequently. In the 1970s, the waters there were literally black with coal pollution and reeked of sewage. But, the rivers still supported minnows and sticklebacks (as well as newts and tadpoles; seasonally, in the side ponds). Exactly what the Kingfishers ate. More robust than we tend to think, maybe.
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It is, and along with the lack of the of the more obvious things such as Kingfishers there's a large number of less obvious things killed off.
I've spent quite a bit of time exploring our stream and I've never seen a live fish in it sadly. There's been the odd dead fish during the very hot and dry weather but nothing to sustain an otter or kingfisher. It's a shame because it used to be full of fish including trout, many years ago.
It's not just the mud or slurry that's the problem, it's the oils, weed killers etc that run off from the roads along with the pesticides, wormers etc from the fields. Plenty of money seems to be spent on leaflets, social media and 'initiatives' but nothing much on actually doing something meaningful.
Met up with the stalker and manager of the herd yesterday and showed him the pic. He laughed and said he knows the one, said he's completed rutted out, been at it for weeks. As the herd is both contained and managed, he'll be fine.
Inconsiderate.. Felled it the wrong way straight across a Foot path!
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After supper I took a bowl of kitchen waste to the compost bin at the bottom of the garden, opened the lid and surprised a little field mouse that was running around inside.
I suppose he had been rummaging for pumpkin seeds.
I suppose he had been rummaging for pumpkin seeds.
Driving down our single track road yesterday I saw a dark object on the road ahead. I slowed right down and got to within about 20m when I realized it was a peregrine with a catch; it looked at me for about 10 seconds then flew off, with its dinner, down the lane and over the hedge - a very uplifting encounter 
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