Your day's wildlife

[coffeejo]

I've heard little noises and shuffling before but this was quite loud grunting etc, I'm a little worried that I disturbed them whilst they were "courting" as I would like lots of baby hedgehogs.

My next worry is that they can't get from our front garden to the back due to our side gate, but they go via next door (I've seen them go that way several times before), but they seem to be building a shed or something at the end of their passage to the back garden. So we are going to have to cut a hog hole in our fence.... I hope they find the new route when we do.

Cut the hole now and put some dried mealworms or something like that by it so they find it before their route is cut off. The big one who died was a right noisy so-and-so, and that was just snuffling for food. Having kept pigs several years ago, I've now learnt where the "hog" comes from.

Hedgehog in the garden

• coffeejo
• 14 Jun 2015

Out and about at dusk (June 2014)

 

[gbb]

Cut the hole now and put some dried mealworms or something like that by it so they find it before their route is cut off. The big one who died was a right noisy so-and-so, and that was just snuffling for food. Having kept pigs several years ago, I've now learnt where the "hog" comes from.

Hedgehog in the garden

• coffeejo
• 14 Jun 2015

Out and about at dusk (June 2014)

They are the cutest creatures but i watched a programme once and it showed them eating worms or similar , no manners whatsoever

 

[coffeejo]

They are the cutest creatures but i watched a programme once and it showed them eating worms or similar , no manners whatsoever

Absolutely none. I think it's one the reasons I like them so much.

 

[coffeejo]

Ha! Just seen a young woodpecker try and fail to climb the metal pole get to the suet block and then had to dig deep to muster the courage to try again on the wooden feeder. Oh, it just flew from the wooden one to the metal pole and is clinging on for dear life and trying to work out its next move. I'm not saying that the blue tits are laughing, but if I could draw, they would be in my illustration.

 

[Diggs]

Safe in the knowledge that the neighbour's cat is hiding from the rain, this little fella popped out to say hello.

 

[Dayvo]

Working early this morning (05:00) at the golf course, saw three red deer and hoof prints from an elk.

A few hares were seen, too, and lots of slugs.

Occasionally we get foxes, as well. And a few eagles and smaller birds of prey.

Working at the weekend is a delight as the distant roar of the traffic isn't there and it's me and nature.

 

[coffeejo]

[QUOTE 3752076, member: 9609"]baby woodpecker

[/QUOTE]
Lovely. There have been similar scenes in my garden this week but I've even bothered with the camera.

 

[anothersam]

Another hopper

heard serenading a potential paramour; couldn't catch the decisive moment of the sides of his throat bellowing out.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I just saw 3 little egrets fishing in Deptford Creek, cycled back home to get my camera, returned just in time for a train to pass over the creek and frighten them off. I didn't even have time to get the camera out. Still, I've only ever seen them in ones before and only ever once in the creek, so at least the river must be clean and the egret population growing.

 

[Poacher]

Ok, so now you reqlise how difficult it is to identify raptors at a quick glance.
My last few sightings of raptors at a very specific point, now I know...and its not so exciting, but very nice to watch them.
Went to work early with the binoculars and planned to park up and see if theyre out there before continuing to work. Pulled round the corner ...there he is, bold as brass on a lampost. I sat and studied everything about him although light was poor and so was the detail. The most striking thing was a grey chest, sweeping round from wing to wing, first time ive seen that detail on these ones...plus as he flew off, very light patchy tail / rump feathers...but not a block of white.
He flew off to be mobbed by a crow, all this happening 40ft away from me and then another of his kin came swooping across from some nearby trees, same grey chest...butstill too dank to get further detail.
So realistically, Buzzard s...just seemed longer winged, slimmer than the ones ive seen so often plus the light feathers...I gather they can enter a pale phase.
Not so exciting now, but still a really good study of them quite close up for 5 minutes or so.

Please pardon my pedantry. A phase in this context isn't something they enter ( as in "She's going through a phase" ). You can see pale-phase Buzzards, dark-phase, and loads of in between birds - they're notoriously variable, but tend to stay their particular depth of colour. Due to the confusion, there's a trend to use "morph" instead of "phase", but this can lead observers to expect some sort of plasticine figure, apparently. See Wikipedia on polymorphism for a more articulate and detailed explanation.
I blame the Victorians.

 

[gbb]

Please pardon my pedantry. A phase in this context isn't something they enter ( as in "She's going through a phase" ). You can see pale-phase Buzzards, dark-phase, and loads of in between birds - they're notoriously variable, but tend to stay their particular depth of colour. Due to the confusion, there's a trend to use "morph" instead of "phase", but this can lead observers to expect some sort of plasticine figure, apparently. See Wikipedia on polymorphism for a more articulate and detailed explanation.
I blame the Victorians.

Not pedantry, thats interesting. See, however old you are, however much you think you know (and accept how much you don't know)...there's so much you actually dont know.
Interesting, thankyou.

 

[Glow worm]

First glow worm of summer for me here tonight

 

[coffeejo]

Saw several swan families on the canal yesterday, thankfully all in the water on the opposite bank. Also clocked a family of rats a short while later! Earlier sightings included the usual birds, including several buzzards, and a stoat crossing the road.

My dog saw one of the resident foxes in the paddock next to my garden at bedtime and let the whole world know about it. The fox ignored her.

Swan on the canal

• coffeejo
• 20 Jun 2015

19 June 2015

 

[Tail End Charlie]

First glow worm of summer for me here tonight

View attachment 92619

Do selfies count??

 

[Levo-Lon]