The Wildlife (and Gardening for Wildlife) thread

[6Foot2]

I spotted this little fella in a high traffic area of school (stairs up/down to Languages)

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]54697[/ATTACH]

 

I picked him/her up and put him/her on a tree outside.

 

Found this chap on the opposite Languages stairs this morning:

 

 

Also (gently) returned to the outside world.

 

[elsiegee40]

Found this chap on the opposite Languages stairs this morning:

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]54728[/ATTACH]

 

Also (gently) returned to the outside world.

 

 

My tame moffer has just departed for the airport so I can’t get an ID for this one yet.

[Dos_Box]

Had this flying around a petrol station a few weeks back and had to take a snap when it settled on a car next to me.

An Old Lady moth (quite large too).

 

[elsiegee40]

Had this flying around a petrol station a few weeks back and had to take a snap when it settled on a car next to me.

An Old Lady moth (quite large too).

 

[ATTACH=CONFIG]54735[/ATTACH]

 

Britain’s largest moth. I found one on our wheelie bin last year. They’re enormous!

[6Foot2]

This chap was in the stairwell of Languages (again!) sitting on the window sill:

 

 

He/she was unwilling to accept my help, and was too lively to capture without doing harm. I decided to leave well enough alone as school is quiet today.

[Dos_Box]

Went to Foulshaw Moss in Cumbria late yesterday afternoon and had the place to ourselves. Thousands upon thousands of dragonflies out and finally got to see the very rare white faced darter

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by Dos_Box

[titch]

Had this big guy hanging around our garden all weekend. Thought he was injured so rang RSPCA and fed him a fish finger. He seems ok now and has flown back but has come back for another fish finger! He seems scarily tame as I can get right next to him/her.

[titch]

Any tips on and feeding creatures in gardens without attracting rats. Don't mind anything else in the garden other than rats!

[elsiegee40]

We’ve never had a problem with rats... even though a neighbour with a pigeon loft has had problems.

 

You need hanging feeders, not those on the ground.

 

We have seed, peanuts and fat feeders hanging. All have squirrel (and thus rat) resistant access. We have hemispherical domes over the feeders hanging from the apple tree and feeders where weight on the perch makes the feeder port close hanging from a pole.

 

We do get visited by mice. Ecologist daughter has trapped them and they’re yellow-necked mice, a relation of the wood mouse. They’re cute and not a pest

Edited August 26, 2019 by elsiegee40

[elsiegee40]

Ecologist daughter has established a new monitoring site for dormice this year. It has been very successful

 

These two juveniles in one nest. A heavily pregnant female in an another, a new litter of pink and blind babies in another... She’s delighted

 

She gets paid to do this kind of thing in her day job too.

[Dos_Box]

Had this big guy hanging around our garden all weekend. Thought he was injured so rang RSPCA and fed him a fish finger. He seems ok now and has flown back but has come back for another fish finger! He seems scarily tame as I can get right next to him/her. [ATTACH]54796[/ATTACH]

 

Looks like a Harris Hawk. Very popular with falconers and often used for pest control. Someone local would have reported it missing. I'd put out a Facebook post and tweet if you can't find one from a concerned owner.

[Dos_Box]

Went for a baking walk up Langden Brook in the Trough of Bowland today.

Loads of butterflies out feeding on the heather including lots of painted ladies, small tortoiseshells and red admirals.

Also plenty of redstarts near the small oak coppices on the northern edge of the vally.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 26, 2019 by Dos_Box

[elsiegee40]

Baby stoat admitted at the rescue where I volunteer while I was on shift this afternoon [emoji7]

[elsiegee40]

I cleaned out our nestboxes this morning.

 

The bluetit nest in the camera box (failed - 2 dead chicks but no unhatched eggs)

 

The successful great nest in a woodcrete box made from dog hair and hoover bag/tumble dryer fluff

 

And the mystery of the breadcrumbs in the (unused) sparrow terrace

[GiggleKitteh]

Not today but while on holiday in Somerset last week.

Went on a bat walk, with bat detectors.

I think I was channeling my inner 5 year old

Saw Soprano Pipistrelles, Common Pipistrelles and Daubentons

[witch]

Not today but while on holiday in Somerset last week.

Went on a bat walk, with bat detectors.

I think I was channeling my inner 5 year old

Saw Soprano Pipistrelles, Common Pipistrelles and Daubentons

 

Going on a bat walk on Saturday with a friend who is very knowledgeable - can't wait

[mavhc]

Going on a bat walk on Saturday with a friend who is very knowledgeable - can't wait

 

A Bat Man/Bat Woman?

[36Degrees]

Went on a bat walk, with bat detectors.

 

My OH and I did one of those, organised by the RSPB. It was amazing so we might go again when they start next year,

[elsiegee40]

I got given an Echo Meter Touch bat detector that connects to my phone for my birthday/Christmas. While the app that the detector uses identifies the bats, ecologist daughter put together an idiot’s guide to recognising bat calls for us which has really helped us filter out the false positives Edited September 11, 2019 by elsiegee40

[witch]

Went out to a local reservoir tonight with a group of friends, one of whom is an expert on bats. We had a bat detector and he gave us a lesson on what the various noises meant and who makes them! We saw various species of pipistrelle and a long-eared bat but no noctual bats, although we could hear them everywhere.

We had a great time, made even more special by the gorgeous sunset and lovely moon

[elsiegee40]

Last year we had three hedgehogs visiting our garden. This spring we were down to one... then none by the summer [emoji22]

 

However, my trail camera has been picking up mice taking the hedgehog biscuits I put out. At first glance they look like wood mice, but ecologist daughter has trapped them and identified them as yellow-necked mice (they’re bigger and have just a spot of colour at the throat instead of a collar of colour)

 

Now they are clearly caching the biscuits for the winter and being caught in daylight

[mavhc]

my niece made a wifi wildlife camera with a raspberry pi, she's 7

[elsiegee40]

American Golden Plover have turned up in various places across the country since the tail end of hurricane Dorian came over.

@Dos_Box Lunt Meadows nature reserve

 

Davidstow, Cornwall and Oare Marshes, Kent

[Dos_Box]

American Golden Plover have turned up in various places across the country since the tail end of hurricane Dorian came over.

@Dos_Box Lunt Meadows nature reserve

 

Davidstow, Cornwall and Oare Marshes, Kent

 

I'll add it the list. There is a very rare eastern black-eared wheatear at Pilling atm.

A friend went to see if he could spot it the other week and found it on the wall at the car park as soon as he arrived. Apparently it's been very obliging for picture takers.

[Guest Guest]

Went out to a local reservoir tonight with a group of friends, one of whom is an expert on bats. We had a bat detector and he gave us a lesson on what the various noises meant and who makes them! We saw various species of pipistrelle and a long-eared bat but no noctual bats, although we could hear them everywhere.

We had a great time, made even more special by the gorgeous sunset and lovely moon

,,,ovv