oldravendale
Western Thunderer
I thought we were looking at the bl**dy ivy! If it is the only way to control it is pull it out, but once you have it you have it. It'll never go away.
Wildlife in the garden - Indian summer?
- Thread starter Dog Star
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James Spooner
Western Thunderer
daifly
Western Thunderer
Max M
Western Thunderer
Not all bamboo's are invasive and take over the garden. We have a clump of Black Bamboo for many years and whilst it has spread out this has been very slow and easily controlled.
Suggest you wait until there is a little more growth which should make identification easier.
Suggest you wait until there is a little more growth which should make identification easier.
geoff_nicholls
Western Thunderer
If it is a black or other fancy bamboo, they're expensive to buy, you could dig it up and take it to a local plant swap/sale. It would be much appreciated.
PS
This is an excellent thread, I should have started following it years ago.
PS
This is an excellent thread, I should have started following it years ago.
oldravendale
Western Thunderer
This peasant pheasant has taken up residence in our garden. It's now hiding in the rose bed.
Apologies for the poor picture quality - taken on my Tesco Mobile.
It arrived while Mrs D was doing some gardening and followed her around for all afternoon. I've now taken to putting out a pile of seed morning and evening and it seems to have decided that this is a good place to stay.
Brian
Apologies for the poor picture quality - taken on my Tesco Mobile.
It arrived while Mrs D was doing some gardening and followed her around for all afternoon. I've now taken to putting out a pile of seed morning and evening and it seems to have decided that this is a good place to stay.Brian
Lyndhurstman
Western Thunderer
Taken last Monday, a grass snake basking in the sunshine. It's found a spot in the old wall that borders the old orchard next to our house here in Gunnislake.
Cheers
Jan
Thispeasantpheasant has taken up residence in our garden. It's now hiding in the rose bed.
View attachment 215650
Apologies for the poor picture quality - taken on my Tesco Mobile.
Brian
A slippery slope, be warned!
Sadly long gone, but this is Gonzales who visited us for many years:
He started by scavenging the seeds that fell from the bird feeders. Then he would wait for us to come out to replenish the feeders and get given some peanuts. Then, through the window, he spotted the container that held the peanuts on a shelf in the porch. He would summon us by tapping on the glass adjacent to the peanut container. Since we didn’t always hear him, he started coming to the kitchen window and noisily striking on the glass there using his beak. Latterly, he would bring his harem with him. We could find ourselves besieged at the front door by Gonzales and up to thirteen female pheasants. They could be quite intimidating.
michael mott
Western Thunderer
Thee were 6 magpies in the creek this morning and by the time I got sorted to take a picture a few of them had wandered out of image parameters 
Michael
Michael
simond
Western Thunderer
I spent last Saturday working on a motorbike, in the garage, because the weather was driech. I had some music playing and it seemed to be interrupted by some rather loud squawking.
Which turned out to be our friend here
Presumably he had nested in the garage, and had been (apparently, pretty well) fed. He didn’t appear to be fully fledged, but took the opportunity to escape the garage when the door was open. Whilst he was fluttering around outside, I kept the cat in, I have no idea where he eventually went, I’m reasonably confident that the cat did nothing untoward.
The volume of the squawking was surprising - I have an app on the phone which indicated over 80dB @ ~1m which is pretty impressive.
I conjectured a starling, a thrush or a cuckoo.
Anyone know better?
Which turned out to be our friend here
Presumably he had nested in the garage, and had been (apparently, pretty well) fed. He didn’t appear to be fully fledged, but took the opportunity to escape the garage when the door was open. Whilst he was fluttering around outside, I kept the cat in, I have no idea where he eventually went, I’m reasonably confident that the cat did nothing untoward.
The volume of the squawking was surprising - I have an app on the phone which indicated over 80dB @ ~1m which is pretty impressive.
I conjectured a starling, a thrush or a cuckoo.
Anyone know better?
richard carr
Western Thunderer
Hi Simon
Looks like a cuckoo to me.
Richard
Looks like a cuckoo to me.
Richard
simond
Western Thunderer
Thanks Richard.
My suspicion was that it appeared to be a singleton (generally rare), and given that it appeared to have been raised inside my garage, and could not obviously get out, it was likely much bigger than its foster parents.
if your target recognition is good, then I’d say my suspicion was justified!
it was squeaking and chattering. No sign of the signature tune….
at some point I’ll need to go up in the garage ”loft” and will find the nest, and a load of bird***t, I guess.
talking of going up in the loft, does anyone want an N gauge terminus on a baseboard about 18” x 8’? (Possibly adorned with…)
best
Simon
My suspicion was that it appeared to be a singleton (generally rare), and given that it appeared to have been raised inside my garage, and could not obviously get out, it was likely much bigger than its foster parents.
if your target recognition is good, then I’d say my suspicion was justified!
it was squeaking and chattering. No sign of the signature tune….
at some point I’ll need to go up in the garage ”loft” and will find the nest, and a load of bird***t, I guess.
talking of going up in the loft, does anyone want an N gauge terminus on a baseboard about 18” x 8’? (Possibly adorned with…)
best
Simon
Phil O
Western Thunderer
Not in the garden, but yesterday on my way to Torpoint there was either a large otter or a baby seal feeding a few yards off the ferry slip. I tried to get a photo on the phone, but the river was quite choppy and trying to spot the head was too difficult through the phone. I have never spotted anything like that in the river before.
Lancastrian
Western Thunderer
No photo, but a short video to peruse.
adrian
Flying Squad
I'll have to see if I can video something similar - we've a few bats nearby who appear to have learnt "to fish" in that if they fly past our front door they trigger the motion detector and floodlight over the front of the house - which attracts the flies and other insects to the front at which point the bats make their 2nd run past the house.
daifly
Western Thunderer
Bats are not always so clever. The BA flight from Barbados to London has been scheduled to depart at dusk for many years. The asphalt runway, warmed by the sun for many hours, attracts huge clouds of insects at dusk, which in turn attract cauldrons of bats to feast on them.
The speed and manoeuvrability of bats is no match for 300 tons of metal accelerating to 190mph.
What sounded and felt like machine gun fire hitting the fuselage signalled the demise of many bats on each takeoff. No doubt many more ended up being gobbled and minced by the big fan engines. In spite of us having a full set of very bright lights on and making a lot of noise, they never seemed to learn to keep out of our way.
Dave
The speed and manoeuvrability of bats is no match for 300 tons of metal accelerating to 190mph.
What sounded and felt like machine gun fire hitting the fuselage signalled the demise of many bats on each takeoff. No doubt many more ended up being gobbled and minced by the big fan engines. In spite of us having a full set of very bright lights on and making a lot of noise, they never seemed to learn to keep out of our way.
Dave
Lancastrian
Western Thunderer
Out in the garden doing some weeding and bramble removal, I came across these.
Cinnabar moth caterpillars on the ragwort. I've never seen so many before.
Cinnabar moth caterpillars on the ragwort. I've never seen so many before.