Wildlife - Summer, Autumn 2008

[Maggi Young]

Our house sparrow numbers have been very low this year and for the last few weeks there haven't been any. They always go out to stock up on the natural foods in the fields at this time of year, but, with so few during the summer, I'm wondering how many will come back.
Plenty flocks of mixed tits about, Coal, Blue and Great and they are having a grand time  playing and eating in the garden.
Have seen a couple of small flocks of migratory thrushes.. probably Redwings in the area and last week friends a couple of hundred yards down the road had a great spotted woodpecker.... very jealous of that! Nearest ones I know of are a half mile or so away in garden of Brian and Maureen Wilson.


Our Blackbirds go away at this time of year ,too.

[mark smyth]

I would expect the thrush family to go away to take advantage of nature's harvest

[Paddy Tobin]

Gerd,

It is an Irish tradition to never allow the facts get in the way of a good story.

Paddy

[Maggi Young]

Gerd,

It is an Irish tradition to never allow the facts get in the way of a good story.

Paddy

Bit like the average  government, too, eh, Paddy? 

[mark smyth]

You all know Autumnwatch starts again tonight? Right now!?

[Michael J Campbell]

That is a good number considering their numbers are plummeting.

Mark, there were none at all here for about four years ,then three years ago a few started visiting the garden, I fed them well and put up some nest boxes. They have increased to about fifty now,with lots of young this year.
There was just two in the garden today.

Cheers

Michael.

[Martin Baxendale]

You all know Autumnwatch starts again tonight? Right now!?

Already watching it with the kids, Mark, as I type.

[mark smyth]

Michael I used to feed the sparrows and collared doves also but there are so many starlings here 100s would arrive for the seeds so I stopped. I see someone is feeding the sparrows at their night roost with parakeet seed mix

[Michael J Campbell]

Mark,I use the seed feeders without the perches so the Starlings can't hold on to get at the seed,anything that falls to the ground is quickly picked up by the Collard Doves. The Starlings haven't a chance.

[Anthony Darby]

I was speaking to Roy Sexton at a Butterfly Conservation meeting on Saturday. He says he has Nuthatches in his garden! That's 4 miles down the road in Bridge of Allan! I have not heard of them in Scotland before, but that may be my fault?

[Maggi Young]

I was speaking to Roy Sexton at a Butterfly Conservation meeting on Saturday. He says he has Nuthatches in his garden! That's 4 miles down the road in Bridge of Allan! I have not heard of them in Scotland before, but that may be my fault?

What fun! Haven't seen 'em myself, though knew someone who THOUGHT they'd seen one in Scotland..... fab little birds, would be a delight to have them colonise, eh?

[Stephenb]

Hadn't realised that Nuthatches are rare in Scotland. I wonder what it is that limits them?. I live near the northern limit of the, in Norwegian, Spettmeis' (literally woodpecker-tit) distribution,  but they are much more common than they used to be and are spreading Northward and we had a breeding pair in our garden for the first time this year. The distribution of the Nuthatch coincides nicely with the distribution of Hazel (Corylus avellana) which is found near the coast to about 65 deg. N (we have wild Hazel in our garden and have always had overwintering birds but never breeding). Planting a Hazel in the garden certainly increases your chances of attracting a Nuthatch. Here Hazel also attracts Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Red Squirrels and Siberian Nutcrackers. The latter was formerly an invasive species here occurring in large numbers only when the Pinus cembra failed to produce in the east. However, Pinus cembra had been much planted in this area over the last 50-years or so and Siberian Nutcrackers have now colonized following a large invasion in 1995 and are now quite common. They are also partial to a Hazelnut or two. They can currently be seen systematically collecting nuts from areas of planted Pinus cembra in the city of Trondheim and there’s a shuttle traffic up to the forest above the town where the birds hoard the nuts for the winter. Fascinating and beautiful bird (sorry, no pictures as they are a bit shy). Perhaps it will eventually find Scotland? Perhaps I should start up a Siberian Nutcracker safari business?

Back to the Nuthatch, as far as I remember, Hazel is found throughout Scotland, so what is it that has limited its spread?

Incidentally, a new web portal for biological information started up this year here and this is the map of observations of the Nuthatch so far this year.
http://artsobservasjoner.no/fugler/uttag_karta.asp?art=710&art_leaf=False&fromyear=2008&tomyear=2008

[ranunculus]

Back to the Nuthatch, as far as I remember, Hazel is found throughout Scotland, so what is it that has limited its spread?

Could they be the secret (but essential) ingredient of haggis?

[Anthony Darby]

My RSPB bird book of 1998 states that it has yet to reach Scotland, so couldn't possibly be an ingredient in haggis. Also, haggis are vegetarian and may eat hazel nuts.?

[ranunculus]

That is why the ingredient HAD to remain secret, Anthony ... they were imported from England and force-fed to the poor wee creatures ... imagine the uproar if this had ever got out?
As a matter of interest, the pipes were invented to conceal the screams of the timorous beasties ... and scotch was used as an anaesthetic.

We were told all this in our history lessons ... so it must be true ...