CycleChat Springwatch!

[coffeejo]

My regular visitors aren't happy with me - something keeps stealing the feeders (crows, I think, having gone through the long list of possible suspects) so I can't put out any suet sticks or fat balls, only seed. Not seen the woodpeckers or blackbirds for ages.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

My regular visitors aren't happy with me - something keeps stealing the feeders (crows, I think, having gone through the long list of possible suspects) so I can't put out any suet sticks or fat balls, only seed. Not seen the woodpeckers or blackbirds for ages.

Have you eliminated Squibbles from your enquiries? They have form for voracious vandalism.

 

[coffeejo]

Have you eliminated Squibbles from your enquiries? They have form for voracious vandalism.

Yup. Found one feeder half way down the orchard - the tree rats don't tend to go that way, preferring the oaks that are in the fields adjoining my garden

 

[Glow worm]

My wildlife for today was a bee ... I could hear buzzing near my ear as I cycled so I stopped and took off my helmet - nothing.... put it back on again - again quiet buzzing, removed it again and thoroughly rechecked - no nothing, put it on again. Still mild buzzing - I must get my ears checked - decided to take it off and somehow it had been tucked into the straps at the back. It survived and so did I.

My fly count so far while cycling this spring, has been 3 in the eye and 1 swallowed - extra nutrition I guess!

 

[Stringy Bob]

A housemartin nest, built in the apex of the roof,on the outer wall of the house over our back door, was discovered on return from the family day out today, lying in a sorry and shatterd dried-muddy heap outside the back door.
The woven nest, costructed after the long and dangerous return journey from sub-Saharan Africa, filled with feathers, dog hair and..........3 tiny chicks, featherless and blind, in all probability hatched today, their tiny forms never stood a chance as they met their crushing end, when they splattered to their pulverising demise on the patio.
Tragic.

 

[gbb]

No photos I'm afraid, but seeing plenty of Yellowhammers this spring....are they migrant or resident, anyone know ?
They're not rare round here, lovely seeing them perched atop hedges, but seem to be seeing more, and early this year.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

A housemartin nest, built in the apex of the roof,on the outer wall of the house over our back door, was discovered on return from the family day out today, lying in a sorry and shatterd dried-muddy heap outside the back door.
The woven nest, costructed after the long and dangerous return journey from sub-Saharan Africa, filled with feathers, dog hair and..........3 tiny chicks, featherless and blind, in all probability hatched today, their tiny forms never stood a chance as they met their crushing end, when they splattered to their pulverising demise on the patio.
Tragic.

It's horrible when you find things like that - all that work for nothing.

Meanwhile, my chicks are doing well - two parents in attendance, a nest largely built with moss (and bits of green string) securely lodged out of harm's way in the crook of a tree, and out of the worst of the wind. So I'm optimistic.

Here's one of them - don't ask me which one is which, I haven't managed to distinguish them. And the 2nd pic is the first bit of infantile wing stretching.

 

[vernon]

I pass a couple of donkeys, llamas, sheep and a very large pig (no included in pic)

That must be an industrial strength laxative you're taking.

 

[Tight Git]

Had a partridge nest 6 feet from the french doors in my lounge. They managed to raise a brood last year, obviously our Airedale terrier had no idea they were there! Also see pheasants occasionally and the dog won't let them stay if she sees them...

Get the usual birds on the feeders including a greater spotted woodpecker and goldfinches, it's lovely watching them all.

 

[vernon]

The list of birds spotted at Chateau Vernon:

Blackbirds
Song thrushes
Great tits
Blue tits
Coal tits
Long tailed tits
Black caps
Green finches
Goldfiches
Goldcrests
Bull finches
Jays
Collared doves
Wood pigeons
Nuthatches
Bramblings
House sparrows
Starlings
Siskins
Robins
Wrens
Greater spotted woodpeckers
Tawny owls

It's amazing how many species appeared once my wife put out bird feeders.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

The list of birds spotted at Chateau Vernon:

Blackbirds
Song thrushes
Great tits
Blue tits
Coal tits
Long tailed tits
Black caps
Green finches
Goldfiches
Goldcrests
Bull finches
Jays
Collared doves
Wood pigeons
Nuthatches
Bramblings
House sparrows
Starlings
Siskins
Robins
Wrens
Greater spotted woodpeckers
Tawny owls

It's amazing how many species appeared once my wife put out bird feeders.

It's curious. I first lived in Leeds but never remember seeing a magpie until we moved south. I thought The Thieving Magpie was about some exotic foreign creature. I definitely got that wrong - they're all over the place here.

 

[vernon]

It's curious. I first lived in Leeds but never remember seeing a magpie until we moved south. I thought The Thieving Magpie was about some exotic foreign creature. I definitely got that wrong - they're all over the place here.

I forgot to add magpies. They are very common here in Meanwood. They're easily spooked. My wife spotted one from the bedroom window eating a young starling on the garage roof. It's coloured her opinion of them now.

My kid brother in Darlington had a pet magpie and he taught it to speak. It became over familiar with humans and it started to pester kids in the local primary school. It ended up being incarcerated in an aviary at the local park.

 

[gbb]

It's curious. I first lived in Leeds but never remember seeing a magpie until we moved south. I thought The Thieving Magpie was about some exotic foreign creature. I definitely got that wrong - they're all over the place here.

Kinda the same here...
My dad taught me so much as a kid about the countryside, we walked for miles, his love of birds has passed to me, from me to my youngest son (now 28)
Having lived as a kid in Lincolnshire and Notts for the most part, I NEVER saw a Magpie. Having moved to Peterborough some 30 years ago, I still didn't see any till about 15 - 20 years ago, and now they're prolific, everywhere.

Perhaps they're more at home in urban environments...till I moved to Peterborough, I always lived in the countryside, perhaps that's why I never saw them.
That said, I now see them on my countryside commute by car, albeit not as many as in town.

 

[biggs682]

we went for a walk today and only saw 2 sets of ducks with ducklings .. expected to see a few more

 

[vernon]

Kinda the same here...
My dad taught me so much as a kid about the countryside, we walked for miles, his love of birds has passed to me, from me to my youngest son (now 28)
Having lived as a kid in Lincolnshire and Notts for the most part, I NEVER saw a Magpie. Having moved to Peterborough some 30 years ago, I still didn't see any till about 15 - 20 years ago, and now they're prolific, everywhere.

Perhaps they're more at home in urban environments...till I moved to Peterborough, I always lived in the countryside, perhaps that's why I never saw them.
That said, I now see them on my countryside commute by car, albeit not as many as in town.

As a kid, when egg collecting was not frowned upon, we had to walk for several miles out of town (Darlington) before we could find magpie nests.