oldravendale
Western Thunderer
I suppose this should be in the "Just for a Laugh" thread, but for obvious reasons it's more appropriate here...
Brian
Brian
Wildlife in the garden - Indian summer?
- Thread starter Dog Star
- Start date
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
Looking back at my post of just about one year ago I noted (a) that there had been few sightings of a Bullfinch... and (b) that there was problems with a rat (referred to as a class 24 or 25). Bird activity through 2023 was not good - no wrens, no thrushes, no bullfinches, no starlings.... and then things improved as we entered 2024.
In the past two weeks there have been squabbling robins, pied wagtails, an increase in the charm level, the visits of greenfiches. chaffinches and dunnocks. And the best bit is that today there were several visits from a male bullfinch.
As for the rat, I have come to accept that if I feed the peck and spit brigade (finches of any sort) then there is going to be sunflower debris on the ground under the feeders and hence there is an increased likelihood of a rat coming for food. All is not lost because the squiggles have taken a liking for the dropped seeds and the rat does not like the presence of squirrels.
regards, Graham
In the past two weeks there have been squabbling robins, pied wagtails, an increase in the charm level, the visits of greenfiches. chaffinches and dunnocks. And the best bit is that today there were several visits from a male bullfinch.
As for the rat, I have come to accept that if I feed the peck and spit brigade (finches of any sort) then there is going to be sunflower debris on the ground under the feeders and hence there is an increased likelihood of a rat coming for food. All is not lost because the squiggles have taken a liking for the dropped seeds and the rat does not like the presence of squirrels.
regards, Graham
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oldravendale
Western Thunderer
Interesting stuff from my perspective, Graham. We are still in our first year with a feeder on the lawn and have seen a massive increase in the number of birds. We've had hedge sparrows, lots of gold finches, chaffinches, blue tits, long tailed tits and great tits, green finches, blackbirds, robins, starlings, the inevitable pigeons, collared doves, jackdaws and a pair of carrion crows as occasional visitors. There have been green woodpeckers in the church graveyard behind our house too. All in all a wonderful winter of wildlife (we can't ignore the Chinese Water Deer in the garden too). We saw a rat last year but that seems to have gone away, although I'm sure they are around as we're close to farms. We've hd the traditional visit from a house mouse too. Very sadly there are no hedgehogs around here and I've not seen one for many years.
Brian
Brian
Rob Pulham
Western Thunderer
We have had the good fortune of a pair of last years Buzzard brood taking up residence nearby for the last few months. Until recently although seen regularly on the ground, they were just too far away for photographs. They came a bit closer a couple of days ago having brought down a pigeon.
michael mott
Western Thunderer
This morning close to lunch time a coyote wandered through the front yard and then crossed the road to check out the neighbor 
We were warned about coyotes by the neighbours but this was the first one we have seen, it was a pretty healthy looking specimen. Probably why we haven’t seen any rabbits lately.
Michael
We were warned about coyotes by the neighbours but this was the first one we have seen, it was a pretty healthy looking specimen. Probably why we haven’t seen any rabbits lately.
Michael
oldravendale
Western Thunderer
Indeed! We already have blue tits in and out of the box. That's much earlier than usual. No skylarks yet, though. Lots of snow drops on display too.
Brian
James Spooner
Western Thunderer
I think nature must be totally confused at the moment. Walking around the commons which surround our village over the last few weeks I saw gorse in full bloom and then a cherry tree in full bloom in a neighbour’s front garden.
Nigel
Nigel
Arun Sharma
Western Thunderer
Seeing as the Black Sea and Crimea is becoming rather unhealthy for the Gorschkovs of the world, perhaps not surprising that a few are defecting westwards
Except in very cold winters, gorse flowers can be found 12 months a year. Hence the old saying ‘when the gorse is in flower, kissing is in season’. Not all bushes will be in flower all the time, but there will nearly always be some bushes that are in flower. The main flowering season of the common gorse is January to June with a peak in April and May. There are varieties of cherry that flower in mid winter. You might have seen one of these or a confused individual of some other type.
James Spooner
Western Thunderer
Many thanks and it only goes to show that one can carry on learning throughout one’s life!
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
For completeness... a quote from the Manx Wildlife Trust website:-
"Common gorse is a large, evergreen shrub, covered in needle-like leaves and distinctive, coconut-perfumed, yellow flowers during the spring and summer. There are three similar species of gorse in the UK: common gorse is widespread and flowers form January to June; western gorse flowers in late summer and autumn and is mainly found in western UK; dwarf gorse flowers later and is mainly found in Southern and Eastern England.".
Dog Star
Western Thunderer
Envious... all I got worthy of note is one Wren, 2 Robins and 1 male Bullfinch.
But the Goldfinches arrived after the survey Having said that, I did manage bullfinches, nuthatches, treecreeper et al, but no sparrows or starlings. Indeed, I have never seen sparrows or starlings in our garden, and we’ve been here 30+ years.
Eastsidepilot
Western Thunderer
Our school of Sparrows ( rough estimate is 20 -30 which live in the hedges surrounding our property ) look as if they are collecting stuff to build nests already, yesterdays bird watch in our garden here in Mid Suffolk saw Long Tailed, Blue, Coal and Great Tits, Robins, Blackbirds, Wrens, Magpies, Jackdaws ( we regularly see a pair or three as they live in one of our neighbours defunct chimney pots ) and Jays, the highlight was a small group of Redwings which briefly landed in a small tree but left after about 2-3mins. Over head were a pair of Red Kites, a Buzzard, Ducks and of coarse the usual Crows. We have Goldfinches and Chaffinch which chose not to show up on the day.
An odd time of year for us as some days we see hardly anything in the skies around us whilst other days as yesterday we were spoilt for choice.
We think we still have our hedgehogs although you'd think they were hibernating but Bett reckons she's seen their calling card unless that's the squirrels which are constant visitors.
Col.
An odd time of year for us as some days we see hardly anything in the skies around us whilst other days as yesterday we were spoilt for choice.
We think we still have our hedgehogs although you'd think they were hibernating but Bett reckons she's seen their calling card unless that's the squirrels which are constant visitors.
Col.
Sparrows are my favourite bird. I find it amazing that I can hear a hedge chirping away like anything, yet never see the sparrows that make that noise!