Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: mark smyth on April 01, 2011, 06:09:52 PM
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I'll kick off April with some good news -
Mongolia revokes the decision to allow leopard hunting for science
scroll down a bit http://www.birdsmongolia.blogspot.com/ (http://www.birdsmongolia.blogspot.com/)
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no comment except I think I'm getting obsessed
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What do you mean getting? ;D
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:o you think I'm obsessive ??? ;D
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Yes, and swiftly getting worse ;D
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Nothing wrong with being obsessive lol. Mark, i will be making my 3 Swift nest boxes next week. Got my budgie concaves today. They will be up by mid month.
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Thats excellent news, Gary. Are you following my design? Your local wood yard will cut good straight lines. That's where I get mine cut out. Using half inch 12mm ply they should cost under £5 each. Have I sent you the CD lure?
That's 4 of us on the forum with swifts boxes - Anne, Jo, you and me.
Any other people willing to help swifts? Please dont think someone else can do it. If only every forum member in mainland Europe, UK and Ireland put up a couple of boxes ...
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What, for corncrakes as well? ::)
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Went to B and Q today Mark but their 12mm ply was expensive so will go to a woodyard on wed. Yes you sent me the tape lure a few weeks ago. Many thanks for that.
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If only Anne. I miss them but not in nest boxes. Poor wording above and now you know why I got on C in my O Level English
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Also on the point of being lost in Ireland was the grey partridge Perdix perdix
Down to 7 pairs until something was done
http://www.rte.ie/tv/livingthewildlife/grey_partridge.html (http://Down to 7 pairs until something was done
http://www.rte.ie/tv/livingthewildlife/grey_partridge.html)
I cant find it on RTE player
Irish Grey Partridge Trust http://www.greypartridge.ie/ (http://www.greypartridge.ie/)
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I see you're putting in the electrics Mark for refrigerators, washing maches and TVs. What next? Electric blankets so they'll stay over winter? ;D
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saw the first Holly Blue butterfly of the year today & lots of Brimstones.
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That's 4 of us on the forum with swifts boxes - Anne, Jo, you and me.
....and one Norwegian one too...
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While you're waiting for swifts, we're quite happy to have our first Robins and Chaffinches, predominantly migratory here...
For about 10 years, my garden has had the biggest flock of Goldfinches this far north in Norway feeding on burdock (Arctium) - a rare winter resident - we think they come here for the winter from the east (Russia/Finland).
(http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=2692.0;attach=99458;image)
In recent years they've also been on my feeder in late winter and I've had them here for about 10 days now, up to 16 at a time, but only staying for an hour or so. This has also attracted birders and nature photographers and I've had 3 this week - the picture below is from yesterday, now the snow is gone. None of the photographers has managed a picture yet this year....
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A swift box Stephen? Can I suggest a second? Swifts will fight over one box. Have I sent you the CD lure?
Today a common swift was seen in Belgium
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Yes, I've had one on my house for 25 years and an artificial House Martin nest site which I got from the RSPB at about the same time! Neither have been used! I'm hoping that the tape lure you sent me last year will finally do the trick...
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saw the first Holly Blue butterfly of the year today & lots of Brimstones.
Not things I saw in Dunblane in spite of having both spp. of buckthorn ( for brimstones) in my front hedge and ivy and holly being ubiquitous! I think the holly blue is spreading north, but I take records (e.g. last years "big butterfly survey" produced some real lulus!) out of their normal range with a bucket of salt.
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i wouldnt mind putting up some swift boxes ;D . I think the bats and the sparrows use up all my roof space. Bats are noiser than you would think :-\ Plus the wrens who sleep in the roof during the winter, they make quite a racket sometimes too.
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Also on the point of being lost in Ireland was the grey partridge Perdix perdix
Down to 7 pairs until something was done
http://www.rte.ie/tv/livingthewildlife/grey_partridge.html (http://Down to 7 pairs until something was done
http://www.rte.ie/tv/livingthewildlife/grey_partridge.html)
I cant find it on RTE player
Here (http://www.rte.ie/player/#v=1095139) it is Mark.
I think the holly blue is spreading north, but I take records (e.g. last years "big butterfly survey" produced some real lulus!) out of their normal range with a bucket of salt.
And west; it's far more common in this part of Ireland than before, although I haven't seen any yet this year.
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i wouldnt mind putting up some swift boxes ;D .
Emma you have three weeks to be ready and a week late the eager birds will be flooding in. Do you want the lure CD?
Thanks Ashley
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Great excitement in the hills above Belfast. A great grey shrike (butcher bird) has been present for a few days.
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3FrL4ghBPbE/TZjVf5GT9gI/AAAAAAAAAUI/HJSJr5z_WNk/s1600/The-twitch.jpg (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3FrL4ghBPbE/TZjVf5GT9gI/AAAAAAAAAUI/HJSJr5z_WNk/s1600/The-twitch.jpg)
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.. and in Belfast city centre a flock of waxwings have been present for about a week. They are using the trees around the city hall. I was there for a look today. No berries to eat but they are eating sycamore flowers and or buds
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Great excitement in the hills above Belfast. A great grey shrike (butcher bird) has been present for a few days.
Do Great Grey Shrikes ever breed in the UK?
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i wouldnt mind putting up some swift boxes ;D .
Emma you have three weeks to be ready and a week late the eager birds will be flooding in. Do you want the lure CD?
No lure cd, no boxes as yet. i will have to look up how to build them and where to put them.
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Emma the two boxes with the round hole in reply 2 were cut by the guy at my local builders yard. It took under an hour to go to the yard and then screw the bits together.
I'll be selling flat pack nest boxes in a couple of weeks. The pack will include
6 panels including the nest entrance
pre drilled screw holes
the screws
screws and rawl plugs to fix to a wall, tree or ...
nest platform
CD lure
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Sounds great ;D Why the need for the cd lure ?
Would the swifts use the same space as bats inside my house ? Would they be able to use the same holes in the roof as the bats ?
I will put up some boxes as well, just wondered if they would cohabit with the bats .
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Great excitement in the hills above Belfast. A great grey shrike (butcher bird) has been present for a few days.
Do Great Grey Shrikes ever breed in the UK?
pretty sure they only over winter.
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Loads more oil beetles strolling round the lawns. Also now have seen the mining bees the oil beetles rely upon to survive.
Oil beetles also spotted in Fovant ( in a friends garden)
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According to the RSPB web site they only winter here. Red-backed shrikes bred in a secret location in England last year.
Emma the lure advertises to non breeding swifts that their is a colony of swifts on a building. They are always on the lookout for new nest sites. The lure is the duet of a male and female swift defending a nest site
I know of only one site where bats and swifts use the one entrance hole. If your building has open/ladder eaves with access to the attic floor then yes swifts will nest
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Do you supply the swifts too Mark? :'( We only have welcome swallows here. Today the front lawn seemed to be a magnet for sparrows and goldfinches. Yesterday I startled a pair of eastern rosellas out of a tree in the garden! The settling ponds (for storm water) near us attract little shags and paradise shelduck but mallards and pukekos are the commonest water bird.
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According to the RSPB web site they only winter here. Red-backed shrikes bred in a secret location in England last year.
Great Grey Shrikes are found as breeding birds in open mountain coniferous woods here, particularly with boggy areas and are spread throughout the country with an estimated 5,000 - 10,000 pairs. However, only about 1,000 are thought to overwinter, mainly in the lowlands below the snow limit where it's easier for them to catch rodents - a part of the population is thought to overwinter in the UK...
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.. and in Belfast city centre a flock of waxwings have been present for about a week. They are using the trees around the city hall. I was there for a look today. No berries to eat but they are eating sycamore flowers and or buds
Never heard of them eating flowers and buds? Are you sure it's not insects they're after - sycamore flowers are very attractive to insects?
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It's common behavior here for cedar waxwings to feed on flower petals when the fruit trees are in bloom.
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Stephen I never thought about them eating insects. When should they be breeding? I thought these were late heading home
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Stephen very few winter in the uk now, maybe between 10 and 20. During the 70s around 100 or more wintered and they have never bred here.
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during the last 3 evenings a few of us became trespassers to rescue a sand martin, Riparia riparia, colony. Over the winter the bank collapsed from a good bank to a gentle slope with a max of 60cm 2 feet of vertical bank.
I'm wrecked. My right tricep is hardly working, my left wrist tendons are in spasm, my legs hurt ...
We remade the bank by moving 13m of sandy soil.
My swift mailing list has 35 email addresses. Some are in England and Scotland so couldnt help. How many volunteered to help - 3.
Photo 1 is day 1
photo 2 is day
photo 3 is day 3 except I forgot to take it
The last photo shows claw marks left by an animal possibly a badger. This happened after the first days dig
This is the video I took yesterday. We have now cleared all the way to the left side
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TrsOC8TGwH4[/youtube]
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Stephen I never thought about them eating insects. When should they be breeding? I thought these were late heading home
Thanks, Lori! I looked it up in a comprehensive book on Norwegian Birds (by Svein Haftorn) and didn't find this mentioned, but then most of them have left for the breeding grounds when maples etc are in bloom.
Mark: There's still fair numbers around in Southern Scandinavia and I had a small flock in the garden at the weekend. Not sure when they arrive back on the breeding grounds, but there's still deep snow in those areas, so I guess they don't get started until June, but think most have returned by May as I've only once seen one here in May.
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Stephen very few winter in the uk now, maybe between 10 and 20. During the 70s around 100 or more wintered and they have never bred here.
OK, my reference was written in the 70s and I understand that breeding populations have increased in Scandinavia so I'd expected an increase in the UK too...
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during the last 3 evenings a few of us because trespassers to rescue a sand martin, Riparia riparia, colony. Over the winter the bank collapsed from a good bank to a gentle slope with a max of 60cm 2 feet of vertical bank.
Well done! That takes me back as I did the very same thing back in the late 70s with our very own conservation work party out of Edinburgh - we called ourselves FROG (Forth Region Outwork Group) and I was secretary and newsletter editor...
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Are there any geologists on the forum? The sand martin bank is interesting. It must be a glacial deposit but why is the lighter material at the bottom and the stones at the top? The bottom layer of sand is black.
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I'm ready for swifts 2011. There are 6 camera installed
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpCBrUYhkCI[/youtube]
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Had the wood cut today for my 3 Swift boxes from our local wood yard. Only cost a bargain £10.50. Just to fix them together and put them up.
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Gary don't forget to get the budgie concaves from the petshop for the swift to build on. The concave sits at the back of the box in the opposite corner to the nest entrance
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Mark got 3 of them a few days ago. So all ready to go. 2 and half to 3 weeks and the first ones should be back. 2 Swallows today at a local breeding site. Must be this very warm weather, around 19c here today.
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Well done Mark and co!
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Thanks Anne. I didnt get the final photos and footage because I've had a pounding head most of today
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Well done Mark and co!
what I found very annoying was only one person from the local RSPB group volunteered to help. Two different people from 50 miles away, in different directions, offered to help but I though it wasnt fair to let them drive so far for a couple of hours work
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Gary your set up should look like this.
If you are planning to set up a camera in the future this is what I do
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Thanks for that Mark. Wont be setting a camera up this year but may in the future.
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A small flock of sparrows and goldfinches on our front lawn.
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Anthony were you feeding them seeds?
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Are they native or imported?
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Mark, what's the set up at the other end of the wires?
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Mark, what's the set up at the other end of the wires?
The cable can be plugged in to the TV via white and yellow connectors or via a scart adapter. If you will be watching on a computer you need an EasyCap. Make sure the one you buy comes with the software
http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=easycap&_sacat=See-All-Categories (http://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=p5197.m570.l1313&_nkw=easycap&_sacat=See-All-Categories)
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here's the finished 13m bank
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaWgqkiMTRo[/youtube]
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Well done indeed, Mark and Friends for your effort for the restoration of the Sand Martin's bank. 8)
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A tour de force Mark. Remember that pain is temporary but the results of your labours last longer.
Here's what I've been spending my time building: an outdoor cage for keeping and breeding New Zealand geckos. This is bigger than the minimum required to obtain a licence for keeping these (it allows me to obtain geckos from licensed breeders). This one is 150cm tall (including 30cm legs); 90cm wide and 60 cm deep. I have yet to fit the feeding door centre left. The cage has an inner aluminium fly screen mesh to keep the geckos and food in and an outer plastic coated 1cm grid wire mesh outer covering to keep the cats from getting through. Cats account for a huge percentage of lizard etc. mortality in New Zealand. Personally I would exterminate them unless they were confined indoors. The mesh allows for ventilation and allows UV rays to penetrate.
This morning I had three yellow admirals (Bassaris itea) emerge. These had been, as caterpillars, on one of the nettles I had bought. I let them fly off. One spent a bit of time on my finger before flying onto the fence where it stayed for a couple of hours.
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that's an excellent cage and looks like the maker knew what he was doing. I suppose it is too late in NZ and Aust. to bring in a law about cats. Too many ferals?
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Some of the wildlife laws are weird Mark. I cannot purchase a blue-tongued skink and have it delivered to Auckland as they are potential pests (of what?), but I can buy one elsewhere in New Zealand and bring it here, yet the pet shops round here sell red-eared terrapins which could destroy pond ecosystems if released.
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very odd
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Swallows are back today & saw the first Orange Tip of the year this morning, doing the first round of checks on our Barn Owl boxes this weekend.
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Swallows are back today
Here too, and fortunately more than one so I'm calling it summer 8)
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having a bbq tomorrow eve, just in case this week is our summer ;D
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Just back from Spain and saw these Griffon Vultures in a field near Grazelema. There were about fifty and they are sat watching a flock of sheep which I think are about to lamb.
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Have seen Small Tortoiseshell butterflies a few times and saw a Peacock butterfly yesterday. Good to know they survived last winter. It is not many years since the Peacocks started to hibernate here.
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Nice photos Tony.
an orangetip flew by the garden today and a few small white butterflies. Non stopped but tortoiseshells are present most days
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Here's a waxwing in a tree in Belfast city centre
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S-ocDjAtz9c/TZ9FG5XoRmI/AAAAAAAABgk/sjJx4tXiSa4/s1600/Waxwing+City+Hall+Nigel+Moore.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S-ocDjAtz9c/TZ9FG5XoRmI/AAAAAAAABgk/sjJx4tXiSa4/s1600/Waxwing+City+Hall+Nigel+Moore.jpg)
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Anthony were you feeding them seeds?
No. they must find something in the grass?
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Are they native or imported?
Both species were imported to New Zealand in the 1860s.
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Today I went to look for the rare great grey shrike, snow goose, ring-necked duck and ruddy duck. No show for the first two but excellent views of the other two.
Saw many displaying lapwings. Also saw and heard willow warblers, chiffchaffs, blackcaps, sedge warblers, swallows, house martins and sand martins, two different ravens and displaying great crested grebes. Also saw c. 600 golden plover
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Stephen, two reports of waxwings in different places eating - cherry buds and blossom
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and just remembered we saw three holly blues in a small city suburban garden
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A little bit of twitching then Mark.
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virgin twitcher no more :)
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Way too late Mark. The feral population is very high in some areas and in any case, many people love their moggies. I'm for dogs myself but our Teddy is death to the little brown striped lizards we have in hundreds in the garden.
Anthony I don't believe anyone ever suggested that there is either logic or common sense, involved in the drafting or application of our Wildlife/biosecurity legislation. If I've moaned and ranted on the Forum a hundred times about out import of seeds/plants regimes, you are now getting a taste of the reality and even though you may not have had a lot of head hair in the first place, any left will be pulled out very soon. I wish you well with your geckos.
When I came home from my market job yesterday, both dogs were away with Roger and whether or not that made a difference (Teddy chases and dances after everything that moves) I don't know but in the quiet of the garden I saw at least 50 yellow admirals, like yours all freshly hatched and pristine. We have two or three nettle plants in the veg garden but I haven't noticed any caterpillars on them so I'm not sure where these all came from but they were a wonderful sight, and I hope I can encourage them. Usually I see only one or maybe two at any one time and not all that frequently. I decided to go out and weed instead of collapsing on the sofa with my feet up and a book, as I usually do after the market. :D
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I just had a good look at the nettles, without getting too up close and personal. I can't see any sign of eggs, caterillars, lavae or discarded larvae cases. Lots of seed so no doubt there will be lots of nettles come the spring time. Do the yellow admirals lay on anything else? Lots were flitting around radishes and red chard, both in flower and going to seed rapidly.
Incidentally, why would anyone bother with silver beet when they could grow red chard instead? I've just started with it this spring/summer. It taste SOOOOO much better both in the leaves and the stems and it looks GORGEOUS as well. 8)
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Lesley, yellow admiral larvae live in a nettle leaf rolled into a tube. Once you know this you can spot them if they are present. Yellow admirals have done better since the introduction of the annual small nettle Urtica urens. The red admiral (Bassaris gonerilla) prefers U. ferox and both will lay on U. australis.
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disturbed a very grumpy Hornet at work this morning, lots of Blackcap/Chiffchaff singing now, spent a few hours searching for Wheatears but none through yet.
yesterday pm saw 5 Buzzards & 2 Red Kites circling very high.
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Richard, i nearly always find the best conditions for finding migrant Wheatears are after cloudy evenings with south westerly winds. Having said that, i saw 2 on the 8th after a clear evening. Thats the thing about birds. Very unpredictable.
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Some 10,000+ Pinkfeet (geese) passed over this weekend on their way to an area just north of here by the Trondheimsfjord where they rest until the final leg to Svalbard - always a joy to hear and I was woken twice in the night as more passed over. The first chiffchaffs were also sighted this weekend.
There's also a spectacular annual gathering of sea ducks and other sea birds just a couple of kms east of here - attracted by a Herring spawning site. Some 2,000 Eiders, 1,000 Velvet Scoter, 500 Long-tailed duck +++ fatten themselves up for the breeding season...
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Richard, i nearly always find the best conditions for finding migrant Wheatears are after cloudy evenings with south westerly winds. Having said that, i saw 2 on the 8th after a clear evening. Thats the thing about birds. Very unpredictable.
cloudy today so will go looking in morning, trouble is the crops have shot up so quick there's really not much chance of finding them now.
checked 3 Barn Owl sites yesterday and found one pair though no eggs yet, two boxes had been occupied by Squirrels >:( and were so full of leaves/bark nothing could get in, went back today to do a quick repair on one of the cleaned out boxes and an Owl flew out as I arrived so hopefully we'll have at least two pairs again.
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that would be an exciting spectacle. Geese are on the move from here also. Large numbers were in County Donegal
Here's a waxwing with an Acer petal in it's beak
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bbl-dkMn6hA/TaISbthFD7I/AAAAAAAABhE/Ut_CQl5ssrc/s1600/Waxwings+Carrickfergus+Pauline+Majury.jpg (http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-bbl-dkMn6hA/TaISbthFD7I/AAAAAAAABhE/Ut_CQl5ssrc/s1600/Waxwings+Carrickfergus+Pauline+Majury.jpg)
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Tadpoles in the ponies' waterhole.
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Roma I hope the waterhole won't dry up :o
Angie :)
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Redwings and Fieldfares are back and in full song this morning....
...and last night I had a Swallow hawking after insects over the house. Summer is here I thought. Then I looked at the thermometer and it was only +3C - what's a swallow doing here? Two weeks earlier than I've ever seen a swallow here!
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Never heard redwings or fieldfares sing - I must Google their song
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I think you can sometimes hear Redwings singing in the UK as they depart for the breeding grounds. I regularly hear individuals singing while still in flocks here as they rest on their way north. Redwings also have very distinct dialects even varying over relatively short distances, birds from different dialect areas not mixing that much...
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Here's my finished gecko cage and a close-up of the door lock. The lock has been in my garage in Dunblane almost as long as I've had the organ stop, which came from Dunblane Cathedral when the organ was replaced in 1989. I knew I'd find a use for them! 8)
Yesterday I went to Shakespeare Point, north of Auckland. I spotted a couple of stick insects. The fields leading up to the lookout were full of pukekos (Porphyrio porphyrio melanotus) and masked lapwings (Vanellus miles novaehollandiae) - also called spur-winged plovers, but they're not plovers and all these types have spurs on their wings. I was followed by some enthusiastic fantails (Rhipidura fuliginosa) which must have been using me as a beater?
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Anthony, have you been out to Tiri (http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/) yet?
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heard my first cuckoo of the year today ;D
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It's a few years since I heard a cuckoo
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Italian bird hunters accidentally killed each other and passing walkers as they scoured the countryside for prey ::)
This hunting season in Malta 6,000 hunters have been licensed to kill birds on the small island. Government quotas allow only 16,000 birds are allowed to be killed. How is the government planning to make sure each shooter kills only 2.66 birds ???
Spring and autumn migration isnt a good time to go to Malta.
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I think you can sometimes hear Redwings singing in the UK as they depart for the breeding grounds. I regularly hear individuals singing while still in flocks here as they rest on their way north. Redwings also have very distinct dialects even varying over relatively short distances, birds from different dialect areas not mixing that much...
always hear them singing here for a few weeks before they depart, when there's a fairly big flock they make quite a noise!
heard the first Whitethroat singing today, pair of Red Kites still calling/displaying over the garden, watched a Blackbird escape the clutches of a Sparrowhawk.
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Anthony, have you been out to Tiri (http://www.tiritirimatangi.org.nz/) yet?
Not yet Ashley. It's on my to do list but getting the children settled into school was the first priority. It's the nearest place to see wild takahe, which have fascinated me ever since I collected the Brooke Bond picture cards "Wildlife in Danger" illustrated by Peter Scott.
Italian bird hunters accidentally killed each other and passing walkers as they scoured the countryside for prey ::)
This hunting season in Malta 6,000 hunters have been licensed to kill birds on the small island. Government quotas allow only 16,000 birds are allowed to be killed. How is the government planning to make sure each shooter kills only 2.66 birds ???
Spring and autumn migration isnt a good time to go to Malta.
That's one of the reasons why I would never go to Malta on holiday. I have heard of morons in fast boats speeding between tourist boats shooting eagles as they go. Bird sanctuaries throughout the Mediterranean region seem to be littered with empty shotgun cartridges! Primitive peoples! The worst way of catching small song birds I have come across in using limed twigs. I deliberately wrecked a man's day by spending an hour wandering back and forth looking for beasties (I think it was on Zakynthos?) scaring the birds away. He had one or two birds tethered and a whole load of sticky twigs. No doubt he would be back. >:(
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It's a few years since I heard a cuckoo
Here you are Mark. ;D (in a creaky mezzo voice)
Cook
oo. :-*
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after seeing 4 under my feeders a few weeks ago heard a Brambling singing at work today & 2 Mandarin on the lake first thing.
no cuckoo here yet.
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quick! someone drum on the tree with two stones!
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We were brought to a secret location in Northern Ireland where there are two nest holes belonging to greater-spotted woodpeckers
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Are they rare in N I? It's the most common species locally, you always hear their pecking when walking in the woods in summer time.
Any sign of swallows or swifts yet?
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They used to be as common as hen's teeth.
Ireland has never had woodpeckers due to the land bridge being submerged at the end of the last ice age. By the time the ice retreated far enough north it was too late.
There have been reports here and there for a few years and in 2009, I think, they bred in the north and south . Due to the expansion of the range of these birds they eventually arrived here.
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Great Spotted Woodpeckers have also spread their range westwards into my area over the last 20 years (Trondelag in mid-Norway). Black Woodpeckers used to be more common! Never saw GSW's in the breeding season 20 years ago. This year I've heard drumming birds in 4 places in my limited wanderings... I suspect that this is in part due to changes in forestry practice whereby old and dead trees are now left for the wildlife...
Re- Black Woodpecker, I quite often find the oval shaped nest holes excavated by this species in dead trees when skiing in winter (seen in the picture in the link): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BlackWoods.jpg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:BlackWoods.jpg)
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oops I keep calling them greater when it's only great.
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Something very exciting happened in N Ireland a few weeks ago. Tesco agreed to fund and erect a swift apartment block
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFkcStwutBE[/youtube]
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had a lovely morning yesterday watching Black necked Grebes, seen a few winter birds over the years but not in all their summer/breeding glory, beautiful!
House martins back in the nests next door.
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Richard were your grebes inland or at the coast?
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inland at a nesting site, got an invite from a ringing group to tag along, wish I had taken my camera :( some of them were very close.
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Something very exciting happened in N Ireland a few weeks ago. Tesco agreed to fund and erect a swift apartment block
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFkcStwutBE[/youtube]
Bet they charge them for parking :P
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Not wildlife perhaps but certainly adventurous. We saw on TV last night that a black cat called Douglas, resident at Te Puke found his way into a container at the port of Tauranga. He is the close mate of a cartage firm or the people who load the containers or something. Anyway, the container was loaded onto a ship which went, over several days, first to Sydney, to unload some, then to Melbourne and finally to Adelaide in South Australia. Douglas was found and rescued by quarantine staff in Adelaide who fed and watered him - he'd had nothing - had him vet-checked then airmailed him back to Auckland and Tauranga. I was reminded of this because one of the port guys talking about it, had TESCO blazoned across his overalls. We don't have Tescos in NZ.
The rightful minders of Douglas were worried when they knew he was returning, that the Aussies would have died him green and yellow but he was found still to be All Black, on arrival. He was apparently quite unfazed by his adventure. ;D
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Common Swift today in Northern Ireland. Need to get my nest boxes up quick.
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Quick quick. I was about to announce the arrival of swifts. Do you follow nibirding?
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:)
(http://cs10109.vk.com/u6450879/97713647/y_dd5f909e.jpg)
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A nice portrait of Hyla arborea, the common tree frog. 8)
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How well it posed for you, Olga.
Paddy
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Mark, i follow birdguides mostly.
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A nice portrait of Hyla arborea, the common tree frog. 8)
Yes. :) It's common but not common for mid Russia. I was very pleased to meet and shoot it at Caucasus coast. I like it's hands... or legs. :)
How well it posed for you, Olga.
Paddy
It was quick until I made it tired. 8)
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Birdguides covers all the latest UK sightings.
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Olga, quite how it came to be called the "common tree frog" I don't know as it's not found in the UK.
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Orange tips seem to be all over the place just now. This one was taken in Geilston gardens today
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First up
Orange Tip Butterfly
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5264/5603597337_0bfec37927.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/e-bygum/5603597337/)
Speckled Wood
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5230/5604181732_88ea36b7a9.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/e-bygum/5604181732/)
And finishing with one of our local spots
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5146/5638715236_93d9520caa.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/e-bygum/5638715236/)
CLose-up
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5108/5638160723_f473f4f0e1.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/e-bygum/5638160723/)
Isn't spring wonderfull .. Birds singing and making nests
(http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5227/5638711948_fff9565ed4.jpg) (http://www.flickr.com/photos/e-bygum/5638711948/)
Chiffchaff (http://www.flickr.com/photos/e-bygum/5638711948/) by nick_the_grief (http://www.flickr.com/people/e-bygum/), on Flickr
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Nick that Chiffchaff isnt wasting any time getting down to nest building.
A warbler with an unusual song is causing a stir over here. So far no one knows what it is
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The English form of the speckled wood (tircis) was found as far north as Perth up until about 1921. To my knowledge it is no longer found in Scotland. The form oblita, with pale cream spots, is found in the west and the Black Isle and is probably spreading?
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This is the lady who pollinates my early woodlanders :) :)
when she is not cheating by biting through the spur >:( >:(
Sorry for the bad focus but she was moving fast :P :P
Göte
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I saw my first baby/first generation bees today
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Could see 12 Red-throated Divers (loons for those on the other side!) below the house today, some calling and displaying - waiting impatiently for the ice to disappear on the inland lakes....
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Could see 12 Red-throated Divers (loons for those on the other side!) below the house today, some calling and displaying - waiting impatiently for the ice to disappear on the inland lakes....
very jealous, beautiful birds.
Speckled Wood also seen at work today, lots of Blues & Orange Tips. Also 3 Red Kite, 2 Ravens, 5+ Buzzard.
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I hate it when movies put the diver calls in movies
This is going to be a great butterfly year
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At last, my 3 Swift nest boxes are up. It was a little scary up those ladders.
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The midges have hatched :P
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The midges have hatched :P
Yes, here too. :(
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Any photos Gary?
More swifts reported today over here
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Here are the nest boxes
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The reason i have lowered the middle box is because a pair of House Sparrows nesting between the top two. Please excuse the holes in the boxes as the drill kept slipping and was not due to drink lol.
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well done Gary!
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I hate it when movies put the diver calls in movies
??? ??? ???
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You can easily set the speaker on top of or to the side of a nest box
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David, the movie business loves the call of divers to add suspence. This includes places where they are not present
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hw1It3AlXmQ[/youtube]
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Oh! Ta.
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Mark, how long does it usually take to attract the Swifts with the tape lure?
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how long is a piece of string? Some people like Anne Wright could a couple of pairs in a couple of days. A guy in Germany has never got swifts to nest. It too me a couple of years. The problem is we can see clearly where the nest entrance is but the swifts will land on top of the boxes, at the sides, underneath, on the speaker. Once you get 'bangers' you'll soon have birds using nest boxes. Bangers are non breeding swifts that are looking for nest sites. The CD lure, duetting swifts, attracts them by making them believe established pairs are defending nests against bangers.
My speaker is on top and between the 4th and 5th boxes. Listen to the sound change when real swifts shout at potential intruders
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcrwhQf-ERs[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWmXqVwuSb4&feature=related[/youtube]
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Could see 12 Red-throated Divers (loons for those on the other side!) below the house today, some calling and displaying - waiting impatiently for the ice to disappear on the inland lakes....
Does anyone on the Forum see Great Northern Divers? Takes me back to my Arthur Ransome days. ::)
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A few minutes ago I played the little youtube clip of the Diver's call. My poor Teddy went tearing out the hole in the door, wailing piteously and down the back driveway as if the devil were after him. Have just manged to coax him back inside. ::)
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Gary the videos are from my house
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Could see 12 Red-throated Divers (loons for those on the other side!) below the house today, some calling and displaying - waiting impatiently for the ice to disappear on the inland lakes....
Does anyone on the Forum see Great Northern Divers? Takes me back to my Arthur Ransome days. ::)
Me too! Are we showing our age? :)
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Mark:
I think I found my new ring tone!
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That's just what Roger said - that it would make a great ring tone, especially when one find's the surrounding conversation boring. :o
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The original Loon-y tune?
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The original Loon-y tune?
That's a good one, Anthony.... glad to see your ability in such matters has not been discombobulated by the hemisphere change! :D
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Mark, the nest boxes are next to my bedroom window so putting the speakers in place should be no problem. One pair of Swifts nest next door in my neighbours house and at least two more pairs on the same street. You certainly have a good set up there.
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You certainly have a good set up there.
only 23 nest boxes and 10 pairs
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Lesser Whitethroats back now, the Diver calls are amazing, something I've always wanted to hear.
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I have often heard them calling on the Isle of Mull during May. There seems to be good numbers here at that time of year before they depart to breed in more northerly climates.
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A lot of wildlife here! The European elk being the biggest. I haven't seen the animal itself but footprints and droppings are all over the place. They are grazing early in the morning. Hares too. A pair of Peregrine Falcons build their nest in a spruce 100m down the path and flocks of trushes are busy in every tree. The white wagtail has arrived and catches all kind of insects in the meadow. Ptarmigans and grouses play around in the morning. Rumor says a bear is observed not very far from here but I am not that lucky!
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No elk here in my garden, but the green frog is an occupant in my pond. This week, they laid their eggs.
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Could see 12 Red-throated Divers (loons for those on the other side!) below the house today, some calling and displaying - waiting impatiently for the ice to disappear on the inland lakes....
Does anyone on the Forum see Great Northern Divers? Takes me back to my Arthur Ransome days. ::)
Yes Leslie. Many of them overwinter in the Clyde and off the west coast of Scotland. At this time of year they are heading North to their breeding grounds.
On the 19th, there were 3 Red Throats 20 Black Throats and 13 Great Northerns on a 10 mile stretch of the coast about 12 miles South of me.
The Red Throats breed much further South than the other two. There are a few scattered breeding pairs on Arran and KIntyre with bulk of them found on Argyll, Inverness shire, W.Ross, Sutherland, Hebrides and the Northern Isles. The Black throats breed further North, mainly on larger lochs whereas the Red Throats prefer lochans.
Every time we go far North in Summer, we always see a few non-breeding Great Northerns in their breeding plumage on the sea lochs.
I was lucky enough to take a video of three Black Throats in a mating display. They were swimming in a circle, equally spaced for about five minutes until one peeled off and left the other two. How it was decided I have no idea as there was no aggression involved. The Red Throats are more vocal and display against intruders by calling, extending their neck lowered to the water and launching themselves at their rival
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Will you take some pictures for me please Tom?, later, when you see them, or any of the divers. I think they are such beautiful birds and with wonderful calls, judging from the loon we heard in the little Youtube video. Nothing like them close here but we see crested grebes occasionaly on the inland lakes.
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Yes Leslie. Many of them overwinter in the Clyde and off the west coast of Scotland. At this time of year they are heading North to their breeding grounds.
On the 19th, there were 3 Red Throats 20 Black Throats and 13 Great Northerns on a 10 mile stretch of the coast about 12 miles South of me.
We have these plus White-billed Divers in the fjord here, but they are rare on this side of the fjord (listening to calling Red-throats on the fjord as we write...)
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No elk here in my garden, but the green frog is an occupant in my pond. This week, they laid their eggs.
Beautiful frogs. Are they ridibunda or lessonae?
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Frog too. :)
(http://cs5796.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/20107304/x_9cbafce4.jpg)
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The barn swallows have arrived here, no signs of house martins or swifts yet, but they can't be far off.
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Leslie
The only way to take pictures is to see the birds away from their nesting areas. It is an offence to photograph any of the species anywhere near their breeding sites during the breeding season. After this, they disperse South and go back to the sea. Normally they are about 100 yards offshore although I have taken some pictures closer in, but this is a matter of luck. I have some fairly good pictures of Red Throats in Winter and a juvenile Great Northern if I can find them. My computer is suffering a glitch just now and refusing to open any of my pictures - more fun!!
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Frog too. :)
(http://cs5796.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/20107304/x_9cbafce4.jpg)
Looks a bit energetic to be out and about in the snow, or is it frozen solid Olga? Looks like Rana temporaria?
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Will you take some pictures for me please Tom?,
click on the small + symbol to see larger photos
black-throated divers
http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=search&sp=8002&rty=0&r=1&off=255268&v=0 (http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=search&sp=8002&rty=0&r=1&off=255268&v=0)
Great Northern
http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=search&sp=8004&rty=0&r=1&v=0&off=281811 (http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=search&sp=8004&rty=0&r=1&v=0&off=281811)
red-throated
http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=search&sp=8001&rty=0&r=1&v=0&off=260240 (http://www.birdguides.com/iris/pictures.asp?mode=search&sp=8001&rty=0&r=1&v=0&off=260240)
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Anthony
I have a pond at the lowest part of my garden. Every spring frogs from everywhere jump to it. Sometimes they meet large places of melting snow. Frogs don't go around but jump directly. :)
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Wild, wild and hungry insects at Galanthus graecus
(http://cs5796.vkontakte.ru/u6450879/20107304/y_cbbe8b87.jpg)
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No elk here in my garden, but the green frog is an occupant in my pond. This week, they laid their eggs.
Beautiful frogs. Are they ridibunda or lessonae?
These are lessonae, Anthony.
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Thank you Tom, for the notes about the divers. I must read 'Great Northern' again.
And thanks for the links Mark, Wonderful pictures there. The red throated divers have lovely colouring, that rusty red and a soft grey combo. All of them, such beautiful birds.
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It's years since I read that book - probably 50!! It was prophetic as the breeding of a Great Northern Diver possibly took place on Loch Maree, Wester Ross, in 1970. A pair of Divers were seen in April and then with two young, in the middle of Summer. However, one of the birds may have been a hybrid Great Northern X Black Throat and was not accepted by the records committee. In view of global warming it is unlikely that they will ever breed in Scotland now.
As a group of birds, Divers are among my favourites. You have to admire birds as tough as these. Every time we go out bird watching in Winter, we always see them - regardless of weather. It can be infuriating watching them. When they dive, they go down like a submarine with no initial jump and virtually no splash. When they surface, it can be over a hundred yards away
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You shouldn't feel too sorry for them, Tom! After all, your birds have almost tropical conditions compared to those that regularly overwinter in the far north of Norway - not even daylight up there! :)
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A couple of weeks ago whilst I was in Stella Tracey's garden I saw quite a few Orange Tip butterflies, I'd never seen one before. Today I had two in my garden. Are they a familiar species or maybe new to this part of the world?
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A couple of weeks ago whilst I was in Stella Tracey's garden I saw quite a few Orange Tip butterflies, I'd never seen one before. Today I had two in my garden. Are they a familiar species or maybe new to this part of the world?
They're not uncommon here in Norway but I think they have increased the range the last years.
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David, orange tips have been spreading since the late 1970s. As recently as 1979 I would have had to drive to Kingussie, not far off 100 miles, to see them in the bog surrounding Ruthven Barracks. By the mid 80s they were breeding in Dunblane! I wouldn't surprise me to see them continue to spread. Their larvae feed on Cardamines pratensis but Jack-by-the-hedge (Alliaria petiolata) is the usual food plant in England.
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They have been here all my life. This has been a brilliant year for them
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A couple of weeks ago whilst I was in Stella Tracey's garden
Lucky you, David! It's the garden I dream about, such a marvellous design. Will never forget that 4ft long trough smothered in the flowers of Gentiana verna, that pitch black Hellebore, those rhodos and......
johnw
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Such dreams you have John. 8)
Here is a spider, on a shrub (Duranta erecta 'Geisha Girl') in my garden, that has had me stumped until my new spider book arrived today ("Spiders of New Zealand and their Worldwide Kin" by Ray and Lyn Forster. A superb book and well worth the price. I showed it to Art Polkanoz of the NZ DOC and he was well impressed, so much so he noted it down and said he would buy one for the office). The spider is known as a bird-dropping spider (Celaenia sp.). It is an orb weaver, but in the weeks I've been watching it it has never spun an orb web. I now know why. At night it hangs from a single thread and releases pheromones from pores in the front legs that attract male tortrix moths which are then caught on the wing. The young hatch from the egg batches seen in the pics and do likewise but catch moth flies (Psychodidae).
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A couple of weeks ago whilst I was in Stella Tracey's garden
Lucky you, David! It's the garden I dream about, such a marvellous design. Will never forget that 4ft long trough smothered in the flowers of Gentiana verna, that pitch black Hellebore, those rhodos and......
johnw
John, Stella had a lot of building work done on her house in the last 18 months which disturbed her garden a lot. She is now in the process of re-structuring it but it's still a lovely garden.
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People returning from Easter in the mountains are full of stories about the enormous numbers of Lemmings (Lemmus lemmus) at the moment. In some areas roads have become slippery because of the large numbers of dead lemming corpses and people report running over lemmings every 50m or so.... The local paper's web site has a number of videos of both aggressive and docile lemmings (see below). Under good conditions, lemmings continue to breed regularly all winter under the snow feeding on mosses leading to the present huge numbers. It's many years since this last happened to this extent.
Google Translate is usually quite good on Norwegian.
Lemming attacking skiers and ending up stuck under a ski (Klister wax)...
http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/trondheim/article1622192.ece (http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/trondheim/article1622192.ece)
Agressive lemming:
http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/kuriosa/article1622850.ece (http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/kuriosa/article1622850.ece)
Could you scratch me behind the ear?
http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/kuriosa/article1623263.ece (http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/kuriosa/article1623263.ece)
Story about mass lemming deaths on the roads in the mountains
http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/kuriosa/article1623331.ece (http://www.adressa.no/nyheter/kuriosa/article1623331.ece)
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I actually saw one down here in February, probably felt right at home in all the snow.
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Seen my first Swift today.
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A few swifts now starting to appear but the east winds will keep them in Europe or Africa
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Hummingbird web cam
http://www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdnestcam (http://www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdnestcam)
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5 Swifts over breeding site this evening. I will try the tape lure tomorrow.
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Argaty House near Doune (And Dunblane) home of Red Kites breeding area was gutted by fire on Saturday
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Argaty House near Doune (And Dunblane) home of Red Kites breeding area was gutted by fire on Saturday
A real shame for a nice old building. Fortunately it's safe distance from "Argaty Red Kites" itself, which is based at Lerrocks about half a mile further up the hill.
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The wonderful weather has brought out lots of butterflies and this Speckled Wood (Parage aegeria) looked newly hatched and wonderfully marked. Spotted in the New Forest, Hampshire, as it paused to bask in the sunlight. :)
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Robin,
What a nice pic of a species which seems to be quite unobstrusive
at first sight! Obviously the dots on its wings reflects the sunshine.
Gerd
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Thanks Gerd, I think you are right because it definitely caught my eye and magically landed almost at my feet!
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Never seen this species before, maybe Aberdeen is to cold for this butterfly. Nice picture.
Angie :)
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Angie this butterfly likes hedgerows and open woodland
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went to a dawn chorus walk this morning at a reserve famous for Nightingales, lots singing and sitting in the open for a change, masses of warblers around plus Hobby, Turtle Dove & Cuckoo.
spent this afternoon sawing up a log pile and was joined by 3 B52 Hornets, fascinating watching gathering wood pulp.
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I can't recall seeing orange tips in our part of the world before ... three images captured today on their host plant.
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Well captured Cliff, they move so fast and I have never managed to be that close to one. Orange Tips have such a dancing flight they are fascinating to watch and I only learnt the other day that the females have greenish underwings.
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Never seen this species before, maybe Aberdeen is to cold for this butterfly. Nice picture.
Angie :)
Angie, the species is found in the Black Isle. I have seen them in Glen Lonan, south of Oban. Males are very territorial and soon chase away any intruders from their area. The resident male always wins. Experiments with two males fooled into thinking they are each the resident male will make them "fight" for hours.
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Anthony, nice to think that these butterflies are in Scotland. Males have a tuff life ;D next time I am over in the west coast I will keep a look out for them.
Angie :)
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Males have a tuff life ;D
Angie :)
Well they do when "scientists" are fooling them into long battles.... I am reminded of the study that "discovered" that when pigs are shot they become very distressed. :-X
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I can't recall seeing orange tips in our part of the world before ... three images captured today on their host plant.
Cliff look out for their orange eggs on the Lady's Smock. They are laid singly and look a bit like a skittle. One plant can only support one caterpillar so they are cannibalistic. It's amazing to think that the resulting pupa remains immobile on a twig from July until the following May before the butterfly emerges.
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Hummingbird web cam
http://www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdnestcam (http://www.ustream.tv/hummingbirdnestcam)
Not sure if I watched the whole piece of film because some local ads popped up in the middle of it.
What a tiny nest, and so perfectly formed, like a pottery cup. I like the way it is attached to a stem of a rose - a climber? - which gives the proportion perfectly. How wonderful to have such nests in the garden, and their birds of course. :)
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Anthony your remark about the caterpillars being canaballistic reminds me that a few days ago there was a news item in the farming programme that army worms were invading the northern part of the North Island. I believe there are a number of different army worms but years ago when we farmed near Timaru, my father found these for the first time on our farm, in great numbers, a seething mass in fact, visibly moving across pasture. He put a dozen in a glass jar (and covered it) to take to MAF for ID, next day. But when he went to get the jar, there were many droppings and only one worm. The others had all been eaten by the last remaining one.
Of course they are caterpillars, not worms as such. even with Google I can't find an image of the mature moth.
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Had a visitor this evening. A House Wren flew into the house (well where else would a "house" wren fly?) and decided to perch on a shelf in the living room. Surprisingly, I was able to "capture" it gently and take it outside to fly away. However, it had different ideas and would not let go of my finger. It didn't appear to be hurt, or frightened, it wasn't trembling, just didn't want to fly away.
Anyway, here's a photo for all you bird lovers out there.
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As they say here: "sweet as". 8)
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Anthony your remark about the caterpillars being canaballistic reminds me that a few days ago there was a news item in the farming programme that army worms were invading the northern part of the North Island. I believe there are a number of different army worms but years ago when we farmed near Timaru, my father found these for the first time on our farm, in great numbers, a seething mass in fact, visibly moving across pasture. He put a dozen in a glass jar (and covered it) to take to MAF for ID, next day. But when he went to get the jar, there were many droppings and only one worm. The others had all been eaten by the last remaining one.
Of course they are caterpillars, not worms as such. even with Google I can't find an image of the mature moth.
It's a pretty boring moth. Try here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dhobern/2928837008/
and here: http://www.google.co.nz/imgres?imgurl=http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts%3Fu%3D/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/cc/Mythimna_separata.jpg/220px-Mythimna_separata.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ask.com/wiki/Mythimna_separata&usg=__32ktrVjyjg6tBV9Q4lthz63Q954=&h=165&w=220&sz=13&hl=en&start=24&sig2=bpFkiFXI3avJ-A0Nim9g7A&zoom=1&tbnid=tPolTpnZIe8ogM:&tbnh=132&tbnw=176&ei=IVy_TfqVMe_ciAKExr2fAw&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMythimna%2Bseparata%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26biw%3D1440%26bih%3D799%26site%3Dsearch%26tbm%3Disch0%2C700&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=403&page=2&ndsp=25&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:24&tx=113&ty=52&biw=1440&bih=799
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The wee wren must have felt at home. I just love them and can never get over how such a tiny wee bird can survive our hard winters.
Males have a tuff life ;D
Angie :)
Well they do when "scientists" are fooling them into long battles.... I am reminded of the study that "discovered" that when pigs are shot they become very distressed. :-X
Maggi so would I ;D ;D
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I thinks that's about the only thing that would distress a pig!
I found this moth on the back path yesterday. A magpie moth (Nyctemera amica) or Mōkarakara to give it is Māori name. Its caterpillars (they are furry and like tiger moth caterpillars in the UK are called "woolly bears") feed on ragwort and cineraria making them poisonous to lizards and most birds. It's a day flier often mistaken for a butterfly.
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A pair of Robin's have been frantically feeding their early brood hidden in the ivy - what a mouthful!
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Met this person some days ago.
Does the round belly hint that it is a she in "Interesting conditions" as The Tale of Genji puts it? ;D
Göte
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Gote maybe the lizard ate too much
There is a robin nest close to my house but so far I cant find it
Every morning the blue tits, great tits, blackbirds and robin are shouting at the local cat that come see what it can catch. I'm trying to teach it to catch lead :o ::) ;D
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The magpie moths seem to enjoy any species of Senecio. I had two lovely plants of S. magellanica utterly decimated by the woolly bears.
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Just a note , Folks, that there is now a MAY wildlife thread....... ;)
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Just a note , Folks, that there is now a MAY wildlife thread....... ;)
Sure but I met my lizard in April. :P
Göte
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Strange behavior of carrion crows
Some crows living here around (and unfortunately fed by a lady in the neighbourhood) started to soak old and hard white bread in the water of my bird bath.
Of course I admire their ingenuity but nevertheless I stopped the mess by covering the bath with mesh wire.
Don't know if smaller birds are able to drink now.
Is this a unique behavior or does it occur elsewhere also?
Gerd
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We've seen crows soaking their bread here, too. Luckily no-one locally is feeding them bread now, so that has stopped.
Just as well.... Lily will eat anything! For a small white dog, Lily has no fear of large white birds and will wade into the river to try to steal bread from the swans being fed bread by children. That's after she has made a direct raid on the children!
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Strange behavior of carrion crows
Some crows living here around (and unfortunately fed by a lady in the neighbourhood) started to soak old and hard white bread in the water of my bird bath.
Of course I admire their ingenuity but nevertheless I stopped the mess by covering the bath with mesh wire.
Don't know if smaller birds are able to drink now.
Is this a unique behavior or does it occur elsewhere also?
Gerd
Our American Crows like to soak their food too... bread is one thing but worse yet is find tasty bits of carrion (e.g. the disembodied head of a robin, discarded chicken bones) in the birdbath! ;D
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I see - the crows here are doing nothing special!
Hope the feeding neighbour will not offer them roast chicken.
Gerd
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Crows are very intelligent: We used to hang suet tied to a long piece of string from our birch tree so that the crows could not get at it. They soon worked out that if they stood on the branch to which the string was tied they could haul it up section at a time, then stand on it before reaching for the next section until it was fully raised. Have also seen a crow fumigating itself on a smoking chimney pot. Pity the occupant in the room below!