Your day's wildlife
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Psamathe
Über Member
Yesterday was a sort of "Flying Ant Day".
I have a lot of ant nests in my grass. Leave them as the Green Woodpeckers frequently visit them. But this year they've been looking a bit dead. Still get some Green woodpeckers but most nests have no ants.
Yesterday sitting outside a few flying ants around though not vast numbers. So I searched over the grass and the big nests all still dead. I found one area sq m or so with a fair number of flying ants more ants towards the centre but no sign of nest in ground. Also not vast numbers like I generally see on flying ant day.
I did wonder if it wasn't a nest I found but maybe where a virgin queen landed ... But I don't know a lot about the ants so maybe completely wrong on that — anybody ideas?
Ian
I have a lot of ant nests in my grass. Leave them as the Green Woodpeckers frequently visit them. But this year they've been looking a bit dead. Still get some Green woodpeckers but most nests have no ants.
Yesterday sitting outside a few flying ants around though not vast numbers. So I searched over the grass and the big nests all still dead. I found one area sq m or so with a fair number of flying ants more ants towards the centre but no sign of nest in ground. Also not vast numbers like I generally see on flying ant day.
I did wonder if it wasn't a nest I found but maybe where a virgin queen landed ... But I don't know a lot about the ants so maybe completely wrong on that — anybody ideas?
Ian
deptfordmarmoset
Full time tea drinker
Flying ants may just have stopped play at Lords. So they don't seem to have coordinated their ant calendar this year.
EDIT: no, it's a swarm of ladybirds!
Andy in Germany
Guru
More buzzards and red kites than I could count. Often flying in the same space too.
Oh, and a green woodpecker flew ahead of me on the bike path by the river...
Oh, and a green woodpecker flew ahead of me on the bike path by the river...
Chris S
Legendary Member
There have been reports of parakeets in Shard End Park for years. I went over there before lockdown but didn't see any. I went back again yesterday evening at dusk. There were dozens of them swarming around the lake. It was impossible not to see them, or hear them! They're really noisy, I can see them becoming an urban pest.
Gillstay
Veteran
Yes I take care of a good few ant nests and they were thriving over the last 5 years, but not this year and no sign of swarming yet. Odd.
Psamathe
Über Member
Deer are a real nuisance and do immense damage. Trouble is what to do about them. Pretty well any time I look out of the window I have at least 3 in my garden and they's turned hedges into weird shapes, pulled bits of fruit trees down. Even got a particularly high voltage electric fence at one point but they learnt that run at it and jump through and they'll mostly get away without getting shock. Mostly Roe deer.
Only thing I have found is:
1. They don't eat walnut trees
2. They don't eat holm oaks
3. They don't eat holly (variants with sharp leaves eg Ilex aquifolium) but they do eat blunt leaf variants eg J.C. van Tol
Ian
Poacher
Gravitationally challenged member
About three weeks ago I noticed that the water level in the pond had dropped, and emptied a water butt into it so the "shallows" had water cover again, and badgers didn't have to reach too far to get a drink. Next day, the level had dropped again, so there had to be a serious leak somewhere. At the opposite end to the shallows were two rips, which I'm only just about to try mending with Gorilla Patch and Seal tape (ordered "proper" mending kit from a pond supplier 9 days ago, and they're making excuses for non-supply). It's quite possible, but no proof, that a badger had fallen in and scrabbled its way out. I've provided a shallow bowl of water elsewhere, which they quickly adopted, but forgot to replenish it once or twice, so some still visit the pond.
Here are some stills from a video from a couple of nights ago of a badger over-reaching a teensy bit to move the duckweed aside and enjoy a cool drink, getting a cool dip into the bargain. Shame I can't post the video - it's hilarious!
In other news, Naturespy appear to have reacted to criticism of their Ursus using Avi format, which is profligate with storage, and being almost inaudible; they've released an upgraded camera which records in Mp4 and has better sound recording!
Here are some stills from a video from a couple of nights ago of a badger over-reaching a teensy bit to move the duckweed aside and enjoy a cool drink, getting a cool dip into the bargain. Shame I can't post the video - it's hilarious!
In other news, Naturespy appear to have reacted to criticism of their Ursus using Avi format, which is profligate with storage, and being almost inaudible; they've released an upgraded camera which records in Mp4 and has better sound recording!
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
They already are in London. Squawky things.
Poacher
Gravitationally challenged member
Female Migrant Hawker (Aeshna mixta), I think. Nice one!
biggs682
Itching to get back on my bike's
Biggest one I have seen in our garden for ages.
Love how the wings are see through and such detail
