Wildlife spotting

[BlodwynPig]

Any hawk experts out there

Saw this last evening and it had a very distinctive non-hawk like call. The only hawk seen in this area with greyish colour is the Sharp-shinned Hawk and actually just looking up the calls, I think it was this bird.



Note to self - invest in a fucking camera

[NattyDread 2]

Big elm across the road from us is chock full of goldfinches at the moment, getting stuck into the seeds. When the pods start getting blown off the tree we get a load of siskins come to feed on them at our front door.

I sat out in the garden yesterday with the binoculars in hand and as if on cue the birds promptly fucked off, including the sparrow fledgelings our gable end has produced. Patience paid off though as eventually the male blackbird I'd not seen in a while (presumably the same one) appeared with his latest offspring, fannying about in the grass not more than 3 metres from where I was sat listening to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBOdZAObsgQ

It was beautiful.

[BlodwynPig]

A decent day in the sun - also saw a Coywolf in the dawn light, but luckily it stayed quite far from me

[BlodwynPig]

Bullfrog

[chveik]

Canada looks lovely. bit gutted that my sister didn't pass the entrance exam of the Quebec circus school, it would've made a nice holiday.

[Ferris]

Canada looks lovely. bit gutted that my sister didn't pass the entrance exam of the Quebec circus school, it would've made a nice vacation.

That's no way to speak about l'Université de Montréal

[Attila]

Fantastic pics, Blods!  Lovely, lovely, stuff, thank you for sharing them with us. 

Sorry to hear about the Party Palace Attila, I hope they come back.  Have you considered making another feeding station for the badger further away, perhaps it would be possible to support both?  Whatever happens, please keep us up to date with developments, I am very invested in this hog saga.

Recent updates for the Party Palace: the hedgehogs aren't around, partly I think because it's so green and warm now that they're finding fodder elsewhere for the summer. And party because of badger carnage. We've temporarily shut down the PP (unless we get another horrible drought like last year, we'll start it back up again in the autumn) because of said badger -- we think he killed one of the hedgehogs after a terrible battle one evening (Mr Attila took photos of the aftermath because of the clear footprints -- he's been trying to ID what the animal was. I say a fox, but he insists it's a badger).

That said, we've set up a motion-sensitive camera in the garden at night to see if any hogs are still around. So far, we've captured about 348 photos of Mr Gus, Mr Gus's nose in close up, and Mr Gus's arse, but the other night, we got two very clear night-vision photos of a big-arsed badger messing about by the rose bushes.

Really enjoying your photos, Blodwyn. I didn't have a very nice time with my ex when I lived in Virginia, but the area, with its lake, woods, and wildlife over those years were beautiful and really the best thing about that place. You've got really lovely photos there of a number of animals, especially birds, that I miss. If you get any cardinals, please do share those pictures as well.

[BlodwynPig]

Thanks Attila, im off to Alonquin Park with QDRPHNC today, so moose, bears but more likely tonnes of black fly. Did see a squirrel fall out of a tree this morning.

Took a good video of a cardinal last night, lets see if i can post a still on my phone...

Cool that you have a motion camera now, jealous

[BlodwynPig]

[BlodwynPig]

[Ferris]

Saw a fucking massive cardinal yesterday here on the east coast. It sounds banal, but they really are very red aren't they? They don't look right, like a bird that fell in paint.

[Twit 2]

Was it preaching a sermon from a fish tank?

[Ferris]

Was it preaching a sermon from a fish tank?

Strangely: yes!

[BlodwynPig]

Saw a fucking massive cardinal yesterday here on the east coast. It sounds banal, but they really are very red aren't they? They don't look right, like a bird that fell in paint.

Well you also have the bluebird and american goldfinch that are extremely colourful. The orange oriole is my favourite with their hanging nests.

[BlodwynPig]

When u back Ferris? Heading to Patrician now.

[Attila]

Well you also have the bluebird and american goldfinch that are extremely colourful. The orange oriole is my favourite with their hanging nests.

Orioles are my top birds, of course, growing up a massive Orioles baseball fan -- which makes having anything cardinal-related around the house a source of deep conflict.

Top cardinal bird photo there -- much appreciated! Whenever I'm back home, that's the one thing I really like hearing are all the birdsong that's 'missing' over here. Cardinals and bobwhites top of that list.

[BlodwynPig]

[Attila]

Thanks Attila, im off to Alonquin Park with QDRPHNC today, so moose, bears but more likely tonnes of black fly. Did see a squirrel fall out of a tree this morning.

Took a good video of a cardinal last night, lets see if i can post a still on my phone...

Cool that you have a motion camera now, jealous

The motion camera showed up as part of Mr Attila's contribution to getting the errant Mr Whiskers back inside.

Gus on patrol, night and day









Fat-arsed badger




ETA -- Ohh a bunny and cardinal as I was posting, yay!

[BlodwynPig]

Wow! Pregnant badger. At least there is some wildlife to look forward to seeing when i return to uk in 2 weeks

[Ferris]

When u back Ferris? Heading to Patrician now.

Not til next week. Wish we could stay, the sun has come out and the city is quieter and friendlier than Toronto.

[Blue Jam]

There are loads of buzzards around the park near my workplace. I hear them more often than I see them, mind. Never spotted one of the voles they apparently prey on up here, but I think it's because the buzzards spot them first.

Saw a vole on Cramond Island once.

[MiddleRabbit]

We've had a pair of bluetits nesting in a box in the side of our garage which isn't unusual.  What I've not seen before is that the pair of bluetits have a great tit helping them.  He goes in e box, brings food, takes crap out, all of it.
Anyone heard of this sort of thing happening before?

[Spoon of Ploff]

We've had a pair of bluetits nesting in a box in the side of our garage which isn't unusual.  What I've not seen before is that the pair of bluetits have a great tit helping them.  He goes in e box, brings food, takes crap out, all of it.
Anyone heard of this sort of thing happening before?

Found this, which is similar, but different:

https://www.birdguides.com/news/caught-on-camera-great-tit-parents-raising-blue-tit-chicks/

[Shoulders?-Stomach!]

Saw a vole on Cramond Island once.

He is of course dead now

[Blue Jam]

He is of course dead now

One Christmas I adopted a water vole for Mr Jam, as a bit of a joke present. I had the adoption certificate and card read "I VOLE YOU". Mr Jam named his vole Larry. So romantic.

Larry is also dead now.

[dr beat]

It wasn't a joke to Larry.

[Blue Jam]

ADOPT A VOLE:

https://www.wildlifetrusts.org/adopt-animal/adopt-water-vole

Go on, I guarantee that the warm fuzzy feeling will last longer than the actual vole.

[shiftwork2]

The adventure of Hamilton?  With some imagination maybe, once you've stopped coughing on the smog and the smell and, at this time of year, the humidity.  Dofasco and Stelco still pumping it out?  I think this board needs a representation of real Canada.

[Twit 2]

If you want me to GAS that badger, I'll do it for free, like.

[Brian Freeze]

We saw loads and loads of ladybirds at the beach earlier this week. Just mooching about on the foreshore, hundreds of them though. I didnt know they liked sunbathing - is it a salt thing for them?

We collected a few in a pot back in Lancashire while out walking later in the week to see if they wanted to eat our greenfly that have been buggering a rose bush. We got five and they'd all flown away home within five minutes, but a couple did start shagging in the pot on the way home. The kids loved that bit and have never even seen the John Smiths advert.