Wildlife spotting

[Spoon of Ploff]

Swallows (or swifts i dunno) skimming over the surface of a pond at Doxey Marsh (Stafford).

[purlieu]

Some very white rumps there so could be a mix of swallows and house martins.

[Spoon of Ploff]

Some very white rumps there so could be a mix of swallows and house martins.

oooh house martins.   ta :)

[purlieu]

Our pond now has a resident newt, which is lovely. Been sat watching the tiny baby water boatmen swimming around in there this afternoon, while the sparrows flutter down nearby hunting spiders. It's a nice place to be.

[jobotic]

My daughter spotted newts in the pond by the library the other week so we had another look this weekend and they're still there.

Went on a little bike ride on Tuesday. Goldfinches everywhere. Flying out of hedgerows and going along the lanes just in front of me. At one point a green woodpecker did too.

Then sat by the estuary listening to a cuckoo while watching oystercatchers and an avocet do their thing.

[Spoon of Ploff]

there's a long tailed tit nest in a hedgerow not too far from the robins i've been feeding.

devilishly difficult to photograph, caught this one when it decided to do a bit of showboating.



reading up on them they seem a great bunch of lads, except for sometimes lining their nests with feathers taken from any dead brethren they may come across

[Attila]

I got three baby woad plugs in the post yesterday, so to keep them safe til I can plant them, I put them in pots lined with raw sheep's wool, and then tucked them between the garage wall and a bin.

Went out this morning to go to campus, and the foxes had found them and decided they were great toys. Fortunately, no harm done, but I had to gather up all the wool and the woad plugs off the driveway.

[Twonty Gostelow]

Superb.

[Voltan (Man of Steel)]

I don't know what it's like elsewhere in the country but over the last week I've been seeing quite a few starlings in our garden and it's made me realise that, prior to this, I can't remember the last time I saw even a single one. I saw five or six yesterday and there's three of them on the lawn now, bossing the place. They're a very welcome addition, the iridescent little scamps.

[Brian Freeze]

Stupendous photo of the long tailed tit. Brightened my day.

[bgmnts]

except for sometimes lining their nests with feathers taken from any dead brethren they may come across

That's an amazing bit of upcycling there.

Saw a huge rat that pegged into the trees on the canal path the other day. Hope they're still doing alright. Love a wild rat sighting!

[Spoon of Ploff]

I don't know what it's like elsewhere in the country but over the last week I've been seeing quite a few starlings in our garden and it's made me realise that, prior to this, I can't remember the last time I saw even a single one. I saw five or six yesterday and there's three of them on the lawn now, bossing the place. They're a very welcome addition, the iridescent little scamps.

there's always been a few around these here parts, but my folks in Stafford have noticed a number have been visiting the feeders in their garden for the first time in a while, where they're known affectionately as 'hoover birds'

[Voltan (Man of Steel)]

I'm in Wolverhampton and in the past I remember starlings being as common in our garden as sparrows, blackbirds, thrushes, etc so it's a bit odd that until this last week I hadn't realised that they seemed to have all but disappeared. Good to see them back.

[jobotic]

Stupendous photo of the long tailed tit. Brightened my day.

Brilliant innit?

[Des Wigwam]

Great photo @Spoon of Ploff . Are you very lucky or do you have limitless patience to sit and wait (and a massive memory card)?

There's a leucisitic sparrow (that's my best stab at the spelling) in the garden at the moment. Was excited it might be a chaffinch-sparrow hybird - imagine the combination of speed and power - but I got quite close the other day and it's just got white wings.

Lots of starlings out on the playing fields this morning and first butterflies I've seen. Need to get my book out as ever. Best guess so far: "white".

Fake edit - realised these aren't the first. I saw a couple of speckled wood last week.

[Kankurette]

My parents are on holiday in Northumberland. I'm hoping they get some seal photos.

[Voltan (Man of Steel)]

Walked out my front door about an hour ago and heard a right racket overhead. Looked up to see two crows ganging up on a buzzard. They weren't messing around either and kept charging at it, screeching. Even when the buzzard had had enough and changed direction, they followed and kept up the attack. Scary crows.

[Spoon of Ploff]

Great photo @Spoon of Ploff . Are you very lucky or do you have limitless patience to sit and wait (and a massive memory card)?

It's all three, but mostly luck.

Long-tailed tit update: hadn't seen any activity near the nest site for a couple of days and feared the worst.. but it turns out the youngsters have already left the nest. Saw them chilling on a branch further along the path while the grown ups kept turning up to feed them snacks. Lovely sight, good luck to them all.

[purlieu]

First two swifts of the year soaring over the garden today, and a couple of potential dragonfly nymphs spotted in the pond. Post-covid symptoms are sticking around longer than I was hoping and it's honestly breaking my heart that I can't just go traipsing around the countryside with my dog every day, so a couple of hours every afternoon watching stuff in the garden is really, really needed at the moment.

[Voltan (Man of Steel)]

An goldfinch. They've started to reappear after a long absence so I'm happy.



Collared dove from above



The moon, because I'm short of wildlife pics so still trying to shoehorn moon photos under "nature". Crater Tycho visible at bottom right

[shoulders]

Classic, undramatic but reassuringly rhythmic English pastoral scenes around Yorkshire in the last two weeks. Rabbits and bunnies in the fields, thousands of lambs (soon to find their way onto dinner plates), little cows, first ducklings of the year.

Heard a few swifts or adjacent shriekers yesterday morning. They've arrived but I hear low numbers have made it over this year.

On the more unusual end, saw a wagtail on the canal but with a yellow instead of white breast. Not sure what it was, but we don't see many of those.

[Gurke and Hare]

On the more unusual end, saw a wagtail on the canal but with a yellow instead of white breast. Not sure what it was, but we don't see many of those.

Yellow breast with grey on top is a grey wagtail. Yellow all over is a yellow wagtail.

[shoulders]

Yellow breast with grey on top is a grey wagtail. Yellow all over is a yellow wagtail.

Thank you. What about a grey and white one? There's one of those that hangs around a back road near where I work and likes running on the ground. Charming little git but no idea why he likes it around there so much. Aesthetically it's a shithole, treeless, doubt there's much food to go at either.

[Endicott]

Thank you. What about a grey and white one? 

Common as muck. No resale value.

[Gurke and Hare]

Thank you. What about a grey and white one?

Pied wagtail. Yeah, they live in bleak places, you often see them running around car parks. Official peak deso bird of CaB.

[shoulders]

I saw a grey wagtail then. Seems so disappointing as it was very yellow and have noticed seeing a bird like that maybe 3 times ever. But it was beautiful and charismatic. Being on their own rather than flocking seems to emphasise all birds' nicest aspects. Free, so vividly alive. Two thumbs up. Would have for dinner (jk).

[Twonty Gostelow]

Long-tailed tit update: hadn't seen any activity near the nest site for a couple of days and feared the worst.. but it turns out the youngsters have already left the nest. Saw them chilling on a branch further along the path while the grown ups kept turning up to feed them snacks. Lovely sight, good luck to them all.

*jealous seethe*  Brilliant photos, beautiful birds (the feathered variety!!!!!!!). Seems to have been a successful winter for the vulnerable smaller birds like those and wrens and goldcrests. Numbers dropped drastically after the Beast from the East late winter Feb - April 2018. 

[Brian Freeze]

Walked out my front door about an hour ago and heard a right racket overhead. Looked up to see two crows ganging up on a buzzard. They weren't messing around either and kept charging at it, screeching. Even when the buzzard had had enough and changed direction, they followed and kept up the attack. Scary crows.

Last week we were somewhere where the ducks get sourdough chucked at them instead of Warburtons and there was some great crow action. Would have loved to stay and seen more of it.

In one instance a pigeon got a scrap of crust and headed off over the boating lake to eat it in peace and just like in Top Gun, two crows executed a search and destroy mission. I didnt see the finale as they took it down behind the sign for the pedaloes but the sad pigeon did appear a few seconds later still looking hungry.

Also saw a very angry Mandarin duck giving grief to squirrels and there were some tufted ducks for @jobotic as well.

[Brian Freeze]

Last night I spent half an hour stacking some wood in a shed for  my dad before either of us noticed this nest that was built in there at head height just by the doorway.




Is it Dunnock?

[Gurke and Hare]

Great spotted bastard poking around near a blue tit nest