Wildlife spotting

[New Jack]

Not glamorous, but I still melt, there's a blackbird(? Could be a thrush?) in my garden that sits there every day. Motionless, originally I looked out the kitchen window and thought 'huh, I don't usually put socks on the washing line, I barely iron em and they rarely have a beak'.

I went out - a few days ago - worried the little birdy was hurt, let me get pretty close then scampered off. I watched and blackbird returned! Daily thing now, it's cute. I avoid removing every fallen, wasp-destroyed apple (drunk wasp candid upclose shots is probably too small scale for this thread but hilarious).

Google suggests it's sunning... There's some vitamin D reaction for lubricating feathers or some shite... And the much more prosaic eating apples.

I'm happy the bird is back every day. It's nice. No, not glamorous, but animals touch me just by being. Expression is fucking great!

[BlodwynPig]

It's a blackbird and it's saying "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a bit shit, actually, at least not as good as Always Sunny in your back garden. Mate"

[New Jack]

Apt comparison. My back garden does see a lot of hilarious narcissism, sociopathy and utterly terrible jokes and the continuity to solidify that as permanent for a number of seasons that's popularly regarded as too high. What do you think, blackbird?



... Hey, you heckle me enough in the mornings, no need to walk out too!

[manticore]

Most often when I hear a beautiful bird song and look up to see what it is, it's a blackbird, so in that way they are glamourous to me.

Another underrated bird is the starling. I once sat by my window and listened to one go through a whole repetoire of six different tunes in a row. Now obviously anyone would say it has an evolutionary purpose, but I don't care, it was plainly full of the joy of life.

The struggle with anthropomorphism is fruitless, there's really nothing you can do, might as well succumb I reckon.

[Buelligan]

ItHe's a blackbird and it's saying "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia is a bit shit, actually, at least not as good as Always Sunny in your back garden. Mate"

FTFY, heheh.

[bgmnts]

What the fuck is that in my garden?!

Well I'll tell you what it was, it was a Coypu, that's what, I realised after a bit of googling.

Apparently there's loads of them knocking about but I'd Never even heard of the cunts before this week!  But one was living in my garden free as you like.

FUCKING RODENT WATCH YES!

[Buelligan]

Right here, in la belle France, we have copious coypu or ragondin as we tend to call them. 

So many in fact that we also have a plethora of recipes to enable our (not mine) full enjoyment of these delightful toothsome creatures.

[Captain Z]

2 golden eagles in rural Nova Scotia. Hoping for whales tomorrow, the humpbacks are particularly active this year we are told.

*exchanges briefcase*

[Spoon of Ploff]

My folks get a lot of birds in their garden... several generations of black birds have set up home there. This female with the gammy leg ran things for a few years, first dibs on all the feeders:


^{frog stupid?}


One year they built a nest up close to the kitchen window, and you could get into staring competitions with these guys:


^{food now or gtfo}


But there were small mammals too. Sadly no hedgehogs in recent times, but I made an obstacle course out of apples for the mice once:


^{fast as f**k!}


I was able to prove scientifically that they prefer red apples:

[thraxx]

Are you in Germany?

Nein.

[BlodwynPig]

Nein.

They have Coypus next to the Volkswagen plant in Wolfsburg.

France?

Nice pics Ploff. I regret not having a camera...

[manticore]

All you Canada people. When my Canadian girlfriend yes I did once have a girlfriend was living in a ground floor flat close to me, she rang me one evening utterly freaked out telling me that an evil dangerous big black creature was sitting on her carpet. She is not a nervous woman but she had come to Britain expecting an anodyne place free of such perils.

From her description I was pleased to be able to inform her that she was addressing a Devil's Coach Horse Beetle and that they do not kill you.

Still I mean look:

[New Jack]

That looks quite a fun little fella. Defo exudes a bit more personality than some bugs! Bet he's rambunctious

[Dex Sawash]

*exchanges briefcase*

I laughed

[manticore]

*exchanges briefcase*

I laughed

There have been very few things on CaB I've been more amused by than that one. Commended in the GUFFAW thread.

[Ferris]

I laughed

Yeah and me actually.

Didn't even see a whale to numb the pain :(

[Maurice Yeatman]

[photos of birds and mice]

Lovely pics, thanks.

In my back garden I saw a juvenile robin doing this a couple of weeks ago (took some video but probably not worth uploading here), and before that there was this young thrush basking in the searing late-June heat. (Always makes me panic that one of the neighbourhood cats is going to pounce at any minute.)

[RedRevolver]

There's a lot of hedgehogs in my parents' garden, as well as newts, frogs, owls, jackdaws and the occasional deer. Wouldn't be surprised if there were badgers, but I've never seen one (although one did try to break into the cottage in the Lake District once, but that was ages ago and also countered by the dead one we found that had apparently starved to death, stuck between a stone wall and a wire fence). A lady cat (who I've named Lady, how fucking clever am I) had some kittens in the garage and now they're ours but they're accidentally wild rather than being proper wildlife.

A lot of butterflies and bees too. All is rather nice.

[Attila]

No updates on the hedgehogs here aside from hearing them scrambling around at night, and the morning-after carnage at the party palace they leave behind. Lately they've been picking all of the suet out of the party-platter (whereas before they hated it) and the red kibbles from the kitten kibble. They seem to go through phases in taste.

We always know when they show up because Mr Gus, the neighbours' cat, appears on the back step, looking in through the cat-flap with an expression of great indignation. Once we go out to give him a pat, he lets us know he disapproves of the whole rave scene behind the crockery.  He doesn't bother them; just has that NIMBY thing going on.

[Attila]

Hedhegog update:

Downstairs this evening, looking at a Star Trek TNG episode, when we heard really loud crunching coming from just beyond the cat flap -- peeked out to see on the back step an even Smaller Robert chowing down on the handful of cat treats we put out for Vince and his pals.

Opened up the door, and Smaller Robert wasn't fussed at all; even when I knelt down to bring in the cats' milk saucer, he just stopped crunching, got nose to nose with me, and had a look round past me and into the kitchen. So I gave him another dollop of cat kibble and let him get back to it. I didn't get a photo, but Mr Attila did, so once I get those off his phone I'll post them.

Deffo a youngun, as Small Robert and his pals have grown fat and sassy over the past few weeks since they've been hitting up the two food stations in the hedgehog party palace. This little guy was about 1/3 of their size and not afeared at all of us or the cats (who tend to hang around as bouncers every evening, especially Mr Gus).

When will they be headed for hibernation? I'd like to set up a shelter for them.

[bgmnts]

I bet the cats are DYING to kill the hedgehog but can't.

[Attila]

I bet the cats are DYING to kill the hedgehog but can't.

Actually, and happily, they're not.

Vince doesn't pay them much attention, and Mr Gus mostly just dances around like an idiot when they're raving it up. Or else he'll be sat looking in through the catflap to alert us that party time has kicked off.

Vince wandered past this evening when I was sat with Smaller Robert and was more interested in chasing after moths attracted to the back light than the hoglet.

[Twit 2]

I don't think they're hedgehogs. They're just clumps of compost blowing in the dusk.

[Buelligan]

Thanks for the update Attila.  I think heggies need to be fairly portly to survive hibernation, so make sure that little one eats constantly, I think you have a couple of months to fatten him up.

[holyzombiejesus]

*exchanges briefcase*

[Attila]

Thanks for the update Attila.  I think heggies need to be fairly portly to survive hibernation, so make sure that little one eats constantly, I think you have a couple of months to fatten him up.

I've been reading up to find out when they go into sleep mode, so I think I have another few weeks (although it's been turning chilly at night).

If Smaller Robert is anything like the adults, he'll be porking up nicely til then. They completely wrecked the party palace again last night (they trash the place every night) with most of the kibble gone. Currently they're all eating a mix of kitten food, hedgehog chow, and bird suet (insect-flavoured, yum!). Now that it is getting cooler at night, I may up the ante with moist & wet food and see how they get on with that, as well.

[manticore]

Twitter is not all evil! If you want to keep up with news and advice etc. about hedgehogs there are at least a couple of good pages:

https://twitter.com/HedgehogCabin

https://twitter.com/hedgehogsociety

I learned this:

Please never feed mealworms; they are not hedgehog food and are very harmful. They cause Metabolic Bone Disease, a crippling painful condition leading to death from starvation. Dry complete kitten/cat food and a dish of clean water is perfect and will keep them healthy

[Dex Sawash]

Caught a pair of hawks bumming in the white oak at work. They quit before I could snap a shitty over-zoomed image.

[BlodwynPig]

They're just corvids, mate.

[Dex Sawash]

Been a ton of crows around but looked like these had lighter chests. I can't see good though.