Your day's wildlife

[laurentian]

Probably. But considering how much more damage humans do, any idea how to control them?

Personally, I would like to see them subject to the same control as dogs and for their owners to be under the same obligations with regard to their pet as dog owners.

 

[potsy]

Love these, this one was particularly brave and stayed right there while I took it's picture, I like the 'ordinary' duck looking over in the background too 🤭

 

[potsy]

It's mate was keeping him company..

 

[blackrat]

It's mate was keeping him company..

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A very pretty pair, thank you for posting. The female looks malardish but not the male, so what, I wonder?

 

[potsy]

A very pretty pair, thank you for posting. The female looks malardish but not the male, so what, I wonder?

They are mandarins, very colourful males and not so females.

 

[blackrat]

Quire rare it seems with about 7,000 feral population in the UK - having escaped from a collection. Doesn't appear to be having a negative affect on native birds - Wiki.

 

[briantrumpet]

From this morning's local amble...

 

[blackrat]

From this morning's local amble...

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You are a gifted photographer. 📷

 

[rockyroller]

must be Spring, the rabbits are out during daylight hours! sure to drive Rosie the cat bonkers!

 

[briantrumpet]

You are a gifted photographer. 📷

Thanks, though you should see all the ones I throw away. It's mostly down to me learning to use a simple camera (Sony HX-60) on auto settings by trial and error.

 

[Rezillo]

We've been feeding two pairs of ducks who turned up in our garden a few weeks ago. Today one brought some guests to our rather decrepit pond.

 

[briantrumpet]

At the other end of the scale, this was on max zoom in poor light, and then cropped, so you'll have to forgive the poor quality... but as it's a gypaète barbu (Bearded Vulture), I think I might get away with it.

 

[Gillstay]

Purple Toothwort a parasitic plant.

 

[Rezillo]

We've been feeding two pairs of ducks who turned up in our garden a few weeks ago. Today one brought some guests to our rather decrepit pond.

View attachment 769456

Update: They returned to our garden this morning - all 14 of them. Last night they had problems getting out of the pond as the water was low (mostly ignoring two planks put there for frogs) so I built up some brick steps and this morning they gratifyingly used them straight away. They turned up, jumped in the pond and then swarmed back up the steps. After feeding, they've now cleared off.

It's been several years since our last family appeared and then 12 of 13 reached adulthood. We mustn't get too attached to this one as we are bound to lose some ducklings. We have regular patrols by sparrowhawks in recent years. Our own cat ignores them (a mother duck can be very aggressive and the last one beat him up) but there are others around.

 

[blackrat]

We've been feeding two pairs of ducks who turned up in our garden a few weeks ago. Today one brought some guests to our rather decrepit pond.

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What a treasure.

Update: They returned to our garden this morning - all 14 of them. Last night they had problems getting out of the pond as the water was low (mostly ignoring two planks put there for frogs) so I built up some brick steps and this morning they gratifyingly used them straight away. They turned up, jumped in the pond and then swarmed back up the steps. After feeding, they've now cleared off.

It's been several years since our last family appeared and then 12 of 13 reached adulthood. We mustn't get too attached to this one as we are bound to lose some ducklings. We have regular patrols by sparrowhawks in recent years. Our own cat ignores them (a mother duck can be very aggressive and the last one beat him up) but there are others around.

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It's a hard life for wildlife. Most are being driven off their homes by development.