Wildlife - Summer, Autumn 2008

[Maggi Young]

I think the Eder dam was famous for something else?

Anthony - you are right ! ....
but I think only the "older" people will know what you mean ....

Crikey, and to think I thought the biggest danger was from the vultures 

[Anthony Darby]

Yes Hans. Not something to be proud of.

[Hans J]

but there is also a other nice story from this area :

in earlier time ( before the second worldwar) have some people the idea to breed there raccoons ...and those animals are really clever .....now since this time we have this animals wild in Germany - mainly in Hessen 

[mark smyth]

Hans I never knew that the Weimaraner was a pointer.

[Anthony Darby]

Me neither Mark, but I'm beginning to lose the will to live. Perhaps dachshunds should only be owned by people who hunt badgers, border terriers by rat catchers, deer hounds by... I forget.

[Hans J]

Mark , yes Weimaraner ,Deutsch Kurzhaar,Deutsch Langhaar,Münsterländer ,Griffon,Pudelpointer, are all Vorstehhunde
english races are :Setter ( Laverack - Redsetter-Gordonsetter.
french : Epalneul breton
hungarian : Magyar Vizsla

You have to realize - all our races are breed for a target ...not for fun ...only maybe Mops
Dachshounds are breeding to drive away the badgers and foxes from her holes
Terrier are breed for hunt Foxes - Bullterrier to fight with wild boar - and Yorkshire terrier to figth against rats ....

[ranunculus]

Images from today ... a fleeting visit to Three Owls Bird Sanctuary in Rochdale ... had to photograph the tiny owls through perspex, plastic mesh and thirty feet of cage ...

[Maggi Young]

Well, I've never seen so many owls together!
Is that beautiful heron sitting on a piece ofglass.... it is very shiny....
Ooh, no, it is water, I can see his feet in the last pic.... he must be completely still, there is no movement in the water whatsoever! Amazing!

[ranunculus]

Hi Maggi,
The heron was lying in partial shade on wet concrete ... I admit it does look like a mirror finish - I might have made a little more use of it at the time if I had realised just how reflective it was.

Those lovely little owls were just a few of the sixty plus individuals in one enormous aviary ... it is hard to believe the numbers of vulnerable or damaged birds that this rescue centre receives each year.

[annew]

But as Maggi says, you can see his feet and legs beneath!

[ranunculus]

Hi Anne,
I was probably fifteen feet away from the heron (reputedly one of the oldest in the U.K. - having been at the reserve for a considerable time), and from my vantage point it looked like a very shallow pool (6 inches maximum) in a sunken concrete liner. Very typical of aviaries all over the country. Wish I had noticed all this when I took the shots! 

[Roma]

Love the owls Cliff.  They look like ornaments sitting on a shelf.

[Roma]

I made some comments about squirrels in Anne's Newtonmore thread. Here are some pictures of red squirrels on my kitchen windowsill and near the back door.  The first two are baby squirrels taken last year.  They do not usually feed together.  There is lots of growling and squealing at times if one does not give way to another higher in the pecking order.   

[Paddy Tobin]

How wonderful to have the opportunity to view these animals at such close quarters.

Great photos.

Paddy

[mark smyth]

Roma I'll swap you 100 Greys for one of your Reds