What do you miss seeing in the country side

[Levo-Lon]

[QUOTE 5264159, member: 9609"]Both red listed

still plenty Yelllow Hammers round here but havn't seen a Linnet for ages, they seem to have gone from this neck of the woods.

Cuckoos are the ones that sadden me, used to here them all the time, now its an increasingly rare event, may be just 2 or 3 times this year.[/QUOTE]


Only heard one Cuckoo this year sadly, no swallows and only a few swifts.
Birds are really struggling

 

[Levo-Lon]

Come around this neck of the woods for yellowhammer. Occasionally I see linnets, but South Devon on the coast they're 10 a penny.

So pleased to hear that.

 

[slowmotion]

I used to see barn owls when I was at school in the Meon Valley. An absolutely magical sight as the night closed in.

 

[Bollo]

I used to see barn owls when I was at school in the Meon Valley. An absolutely magical sight as the night closed in. View attachment 412187

Owls are still not uncommon today around mid Hants. If I’m out on an evening ride in winter they often fly ahead at the edge of my bike light’s coverage. It can make you jump because they’re completely silent and they get closer than you’d expect. The most common spot is the road that runs roughly parallel to the A272 to Owslebury, so not afar from your youthful stomping ground. I’m relatively central in Winchester and I can hear an owl hoot most nights.

 

[slowmotion]

Owls are still not uncommon today around mid Hants. If I’m out on an evening ride in winter they often fly ahead at the edge of my bike light’s coverage. It can make you jump because they’re completely silent and they get closer than you’d expect. The most common spot is the road that runs roughly parallel to the A272 to Owslebury, so not afar from your youthful stomping ground. I’m relatively central in Winchester and I can hear an owl hoot most nights.

You are a lucky person. I can hear owls hooting in lots of rural locations, but I rarely see them. The hoots down in Cornwall are really good. The memories of barn owls from my childhood are pure magic.

BTW, I spent 17 years of my youth growing up in Winchester.

Edit: "attempting to grow up in Winchester"

 

[classic33]

Fresh country air.

 

[Glow worm]

We're lucky to still have relatively good numbers of linnets and yellohammers here. Even cuckoos - was out for a POETS day ride earlier and two flew right past me. But the turtle doves have now gone from here I'm pretty sure. I last saw one about 3 years ago.
I also miss the tranquility. Proper quiet seems lost now under all the road/ aircraft noise. Even way out on the most remote bits of Fen hereabouts you can guarantee being able to hear some sad mid-life crisis tosser's motorbike from about 3 miles away.

 

[classic33]

[QUOTE 5264364, member: 9609"]as in for peat fires ? have you done that ?[/QUOTE]
For turf fires, aye.

Their now being paid not to dig it. Around €180 a year, which isn't much when you think how much gas/electric you'd use in the same period.

Now done by machine that digs a trench about 4 inches wide, and up to thirty foot deep. Used to digging it on the bank, which moved forward each year.

 

[raleighnut]

I remember when this was all fields.

 

[Milzy]

hadn't realised yorkshire used the Euro.

L O L !! !! !!

 

[Drago]

Cutting turf on the bog.

Your bog must be I serious need of a splash of Domestos if you can cut peat out of it.

 

[Fnaar]

Sticky copies of Men Only in the hedges

 

[Bollo]

You are a lucky person. I can hear owls hooting in lots of rural locations, but I rarely see them. The hoots down in Cornwall are really good. The memories of barn owls from my childhood are pure magic.

Its surprising what wildlife you can come across even in the evil south of England once away from the towns and big roads. I’m in the west of the city so the wildlife can come in from Farley Mount way without being blocked by a massive motorway cutting.

BTW, I spent 17 years of my youth growing up in Winchester.
Edit: "attempting to grow up in Winchester"

Did that involve some underage drinking on St Catherine’s Hill? That’s practically a right of passage.

 

[Supersuperleeds]

Scarecrows* outside themed village scarecrow events

* - proper scarecrows, like Worzel Gummidge (but without the talking / head swapping / Aunt Sally fixation), rather than a tatty old hiviz jacket stuck on a pole.

I saw a proper scarecrow today guarding an allotment in Seagrave.

 

[snorri]

You don't see friendly cyclists nowadays who wave to you as they pass with a cheery greeting.