Wildlife February 2011

[Lesley Cox]

I'll try to be thankful Maureen but they are so pretty. I'd like blue tits too and I know they can be a pain but.....

[angie]

Lesley - be thankful you don't have bullfinches.  They may be beautiful but are very destructive.  In the Spring when their natural food of seeds has run out they turn their attention to your soft fruit bushes and will strip the buds in no time. 

We get them every spring just in time for my Amelanchier buds. They come from no where just in time for the buds to open. They strip both shrubs so I never get to enjoy the white flowers anymore. One year they started to attack a very large Acer palmatum dissectum. I watched from my conservatory window all the new buds being picked of and thrown to the ground. The Acer still looks sad two years on but has survived. As for the Amelanchier they are still there but I cut them down to the ground. So last year these lovely birds came at the same time but no dinner for them. I can imagine what you all must be thinking but I  was proud of my Acer, taking it from my last house was a big job so no bird was going to destroy my plant if I could help it. Waiting to see if they come back this spring if not I can let my Amelanchier grow again and maybe enjoy the their white flowers again.

Angie

[Paul T]

Oh dear, I have to thank Lesley for her chuckle.  My wonderfully immature mind had a field day with blue tits being a pain.    Thank you so much for the (unintended) laugh.  It really is good for the soul.

And back to seriousness.... the bullfinches look gorgeous, and that is a rather impressive Camel, Olga.  Do you get many of them in your area?

[annew]

I'm trying to imagine a camel with antlers...

[Olga Bondareva]

  What a big discussion on a camel!
Of course it is not wild... It ran away from a circus at the forest border and soon was returned home. I don't know did it has a time to communicate with elk.  But it really eat branches like elks.

I've never heard here about bullfinches are destroyers. May be because there are no any plants her they for their taste. Only winter berries like ashberry.

[Paul T]

For those archnid fanciers..... I've put a spider up for ID down in the ID section with the plants....

http://www.srgc.org.uk/smf/index.php?topic=6740.msg186890#msg186890

Thanks for any help in identifying it. 

[Stephenb]

Bullfinches are common garden birds here in Norway and figure on Xmas cards like the Robin does in the UK. In this year's national garden bird count the Bullfinch was seen in 54% of gardens (4th most common). Here's the complete list - Google Translate does a good job on many of the species.


http://www.fuglevennen.no/data/ut/land/natur/ln9/?c=hagefugl&periode=2011-01-22/2011-02-06&side=arter

Click on ny species and you will see a map over the whole country.

The top ten are Great Tit, Blue Tit, Magpie, Bullfinch, Greenfinch, Blackbird, Nuthatch, Yellowhammer, House Sparrow, Redpoll

In my garden, Bullfinches are regular visitors from October to March. I also see them regularly on a Norway Maple (Acer platanoides) in my garden (they take the seeds - they can take as many as they want as this is a rather invasive species on my shallow soil).  They then disappear (their breeding habitat is in the forest) for a month when a few return briefly when the apple buds are swelling in May. I've never seen them on Amelanchier - I guess they prefer apple if it's available?

[angie]

Stephen don't say the prefer apple. I bought six apple trees last year. I never seem to see much of them. Just in the spring when the buds are ripe. I have a pine forest right at the back of my house so I suppose that's where they spent most of there time.

Very interesting link.

Angie

[Stephenb]

Angie: Think of it as a scientific experiment. You can tell people that you planted the apples as distraction strategy so that you can finally get to harvest those wonderful Amelanchier berries...

[Stephenb]

A friend on FB posted this picture yesterday. Roe Deer are struggling in the record deep snow in the south of the country:

[Hoy]

Stephen don't say the prefer apple. I bought six apple trees last year. I never seem to see much of them. Just in the spring when the buds are ripe. I have a pine forest right at the back of my house so I suppose that's where they spent most of there time.

Very interesting link.

Angie

I participated in that count too
What I thought to say was here he bullfinches prefere flower buds of plum trees! I had to cut down my two plum trees due to that bird

[angie]

Stephen don't say the prefer apple. I bought six apple trees last year. I never seem to see much of them. Just in the spring when the buds are ripe. I have a pine forest right at the back of my house so I suppose that's where they spent most of there time.

Very interesting link.

Angie

I participated in that count too
What I thought to say was here he bullfinches prefere flower buds of plum trees! I had to cut down my two plum trees due to that bird

I don't feel so bad now knowing that someone else has done the same.

Stephen, like that picture.
Well if the bullfinches don't get my apple trees the dear probally will 

Angie

[Lesley Cox]

Those poor, poor deer. Really tough on the one in front.

[Hoy]

The worst enemy for roe deer in winter is dogs. They can cope with the snow but dogs frighten them and they die of exhaustion. If the snow has layers of ice (what we call "skare" in Norwegian) it is even more dangerous for the deer to try and run.

[Hoy]

Even without snow the birds have problems getting enough food. This robin takes a sunbath in the cold weather (+2C) today.